Dan Phiffer
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phiffer.org
Dan Phiffer
@phiffer.org
Web developer at @propublica.org. Sometimes (rarely) mixed up with the Dan Pfeiffer who has a podcast. Lives in Troy, NY. He/him.

More active on Mastodon: https://social.coop/@dphiffer
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
"President Donald Trump faces an unexpected rift in the MAGA movement as Republican officials from statehouses to Capitol Hill warn his full-throated embrace of the tech industry’s artificial intelligence boom risks undermining Americans’ economic security and exposing their children to new harms."
The surprising issue driving a wedge between Trump and his MAGA base
President Donald Trump’s attempt to block states from regulating AI sparked pushback from Republicans concerned the tech will displace workers and harm children.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
I used to handle interlibrary loans for a public library. ILL is a magnificent expression of the idea that readers deserve books, and books deserve readers. It’s libraries everywhere pooling their resources for the benefit of everyone.

Killing IMLS could have killed ILL.

This is great news. 📚
November 22, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
Amidst so much that is lamentable, I’d like to share this wonderful film I learned about last night, via Anthology Film Archives 🥰
OMG! In 1970 Hiler + Dorsky "collaborated on... an industrial film commissioned by NJ’s Sussex County Area Reference Library, whose local branch Dorsky and Hiler frequented first as patrons, then eventually as projectionists and programmers for the library’s 16mm screenings" - ft Tony Conrad :)
Library (1970) by Nathaniel Dorsky & Jerome Hiler
YouTube video by For All People
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
She has it exactly backwards. The domestic deployments to date are a much weaker case for being so manifestly illegal as to justify refusal; that's a high bar. The boat strikes are outright unambiguous murder, everyone in that chain down to the one pulling the trigger has had a clear duty to refuse.
Sen. Slotkin said today—to my surprise—that she's unaware of any illegal orders *so far*.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/wee...
November 24, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
We spent a year investigating billionaires for @washingtonpost.com.

We found: the wealthiest 100 Americans gave $1.1 billion to influence the 2024 elections — 140x more than they did in 2000. And almost all of that giving boosted Republicans.

washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
November 21, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
“It’s frankly embarrassing that executives would make baseless claims about a fact-checker.”

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Famous writers at New Yorker are up in arms after fact-checker’s firing
The media company dismissed four employees, including a fact-checker at the 100-year-old magazine, for “extreme misconduct.” Many of its famous writers are outraged.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
Hanging out by the exit to the NYSE in ominous dark robes with a bunch of guys with good baritone voices going "Koyaanisqatsi"
"Koyaaaaanisqatsiiii"
over and over
November 21, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
I've seen this story making the rounds in my Signal chats, and I don't think it would be if they @TheGuardian had a used a more accurate headline. Vetting is important for sensitive group chats!
November 21, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
Man, everything is so bleak, anyone got a fun fact or little bit of trivia they want to share
November 21, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
I recently learned about Manhattan geometry (also called taxicab geometry) and I can’t stop thinking about it, in particular the idea that pi is exactly four en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab...
Taxicab geometry - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
i love writing about crypto crime because these dudes do this constantly
November 20, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
Hey I just want to remind everyone that even if vaccines did cause autism (they don’t), they also cause ALIVE CHILDREN, and if you don’t think an alive autistic child is something to celebrate, please fuck off into the sun forever
The U.S. government is now inarguably spreading medical disinformation that is going to kill babies preferentially.

Period.

This is an INTOLERABLE. UNPRECEDENTED. DANGEROUS. ATTACK. ON ALL OF US.
November 20, 2025 at 4:57 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
"The stories Lizza and Nuzzi tell give you the extremely wrong idea of what it means to be a journalist. We, despite what every Hollywood property from 'House of Cards' to 'The West Wing' would have you believe, do not date our sources... We’re not rich, guys." www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/1...
Column | The dueling narratives of Olivia Nuzzi and Ryan Lizza
Olivia Nuzzi’s relationship with RFK Jr. is detailed in her book, American Canto. Ex-fiance Ryan Lizza now alleges she also had an affair with Mark Sanford.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 19, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
NEW: How will Trump's climate rollbacks play out in the future?

Our analysis using modeled emissions and a peer reviewed metric shows the people most likely to die from the resulting additional GHGs will be in poor countries least prepared to cope with the heat

www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Trump’s Anti-Green Agenda Could Lead to 1.3 Million More Climate Deaths. The Poorest Countries Will Be Impacted Most.
Most of the people expected to suffer these temperature-related deaths live in poor countries in Africa and South Asia that are least prepared to cope with the increasing heat from climate change.
www.propublica.org
November 19, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
very exciting
Meta’s Victory Opens the Way for Silicon Valley to Go Deal Shopping
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
For me it's the way the press pool just quietly went along with it because he's the president

The entire point of this country is that we don't have to let some guy do whatever he wants just because of his title. We don't have to respect him or go along with him just because he holds an office
I don't know why the "Piggy" thing is bothering me so much. It's one more unforgivable thing in a list of 20,000 unforgivable things, but I've been mad about it for like 12 straight hours.
November 19, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
You know about Trump and Zelesnkyy’s call, but have you heard about the call between Trump and the Saudi Crown Prince?

Watch my statement below. Mr. President, release the transcript.
November 19, 2025 at 2:51 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
Happy birthday to the Soviet linguist Yuri Knorozov who casually deciphered the Mayan script in 1952 and got pissed when editors removed his cat as co-author on papers or cropped her out of his author headshot (the only picture of himself he even liked)
November 19, 2025 at 2:55 AM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
A reminder that seven years ago almost to the day, the CIA determined that Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the killing of @washingtonpost.com journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination
Audio recordings, intercepted phone calls and other intelligence link Mohammed bin Salman to killing that Saudis say was conducted by rogue elements.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
Trump just called Mohammed bin Salman a "very good friend" and added, "we've always been on the same side of every issue."

This is the first time MBS has been on U.S. soil since Saudi agents murdered and dismembered Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump praised MBS's record on human rights.
November 18, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
After a bird flu outbreak tore through Midwestern barns, killing hens and spiking egg prices, the USDA didn’t investigate whether the virus was airborne. @propublica.org did. www.propublica.org/article/bird...
What the U.S. Government Is Dismissing That Could Seed a Bird Flu Pandemic
Egg producers suspect bird flu is traveling through the air. After a disastrous Midwestern outbreak early this year, we tested that theory and found that where the wind blew, the virus followed. Vacci...
www.propublica.org
November 18, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Dan Phiffer
“Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) became the 218th lawmaker to sign the discharge petition on Monday. Lawler said in a statement that ‘restoring collective bargaining rights strengthens our federal workforce and helps deliver more effective, accountable service to the American people.’”
House majority forces vote on bill to restore collective bargaining for most federal employees
A Republican lawmaker was the 218th signature on a discharge petition, forcing a House floor vote on a bill to restore collective bargaining rights.
federalnewsnetwork.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:25 PM