One big political divide is between people who believe germs cause disease and people who believe Those People cause disease. It was pretty evident right away during the pandemic

A reminder while Republicans bitch about Dems finishing the redistricting fight they started: they have full control of gov’t— they can pass a law banning gerrymandering any time they want. They won’t. Republicans aren’t mad gerrymandering exists; they’re mad that they’re not the only ones using it.

/2 Actually my favorite Michael Jackson story is about defense lawyer Mark Geragos, who was summoned to Neverland Ranch to discuss defending Michael regarding unpleasantness, and left in a waiting room for four hours with “It’s a Small World” playing on infinite loop.

Remember, Democrats have repeatedly advanced measures to ban partisan gerrymandering and Republicans have voted against them time after time.

This is the game Republicans wanted to play. OK, then.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is out with a new (very bad) decision, and it's a doozy.

The Fifth Circuit says that Texas can require the Ten Commandments in classrooms. But somehow it gets worse.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The Ultimate Republican Criminals List - Tracking Every GOP Crime Comprehensive and updated list of Republicans who have committed crimes sortable by date, number of felonies, sentences given and how notable the offender is

We're building a list of every prominent Republican credibly accused of a crime since 2000 with almost 1,200 added so far.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth wrote: "We are discarding the mandatory flu vaccine requirement, effective immediately."

James Surowiecki wrote: "We can order you to run 10 miles in boots and scrub toilets, but we can't require you to get a vaccine that will reduce the risk of you getting […]

You thought you heard a roll of thunder, but it was actually thousands of medical historians cracking their knuckles and rolling up their sleeves to revisit centuries of “dirty immigrant” canards.

winnie the pooh getting hammered and waking up the next morning wearing pants

Southern Poverty Law Center indicted on federal fraud charges related to past use of paid informants The Southern Poverty Law Center has been indicted on federal fraud charges related to its past use of paid informants to infiltrate extremist groups.

The apparent theory here--SPLC was defrauding donors by paying right-wing extremist org informants, and also took completely legal steps for obscuring the money trail for very obvious reasons on this totally legal thing to do--is ludicrous even by the notoriously malleable standard for wire fraud.

The Jackson estate can't hide Leaving Neverland from those who've already seen it A suppressive legal battle turned the moving Sundance documentary Leaving Neverland into a ghost haunting the Michael Jackson biopic.

I will never forget the experience of seeing LEAVING NEVERLAND at its Sundance premiere. For @avclub.com I wrote about a devastating, definitive documentary about surviving sexual abuse that cannot be erased.

MACCNO: Surveillance And Culture - ANTIGRAVITY Magazine Surveillance And Culture: Life in the Spotlight Shouldn’t Mean Life Under a Microscope The cultural community and cultural practices are often on the forefront of conversations around public space, by...

Life as a performer comes with certain expectations, but having to deal with constant government surveillance shouldn’t be one of them, writes @musicculture504.bsky.social on a new proposal to surveil the French Quarter with drones. antigravitymagazine.com/column/maccn...

Despite industry assurances about reduced climate impacts, many experts who study greenhouse gas emissions say the liquefied natural gas boom likely will worsen global warming.
https://ow.ly/H3Hv50YN9t0

‘Backstabbing’ GOP Senate leader is facing a full-blown MAGA revolt Right-wing influencers and Trump allies call for South Dakota senator's removal as majority leader following reports he won't advance the SAVE America Act.

Right-wing influencers and Trump allies call for South Dakota senator's removal as majority leader following reports he won't advance the SAVE America Act.

Trump Pardoned a Nursing Home Owner Who Owed Almost $19 Million to a Grieving Family Stories about pardons are often about presidential power. But what about people on the other side of that grace? The Coulson family may never receive millions from a wrongful death lawsuit it won year...

Trump pardons those who can pay him which leaves those who hurt them with literally nothing. I can’t believe MAGA thought a billionaire would be on their side. #DV1 #ProudBlue #Voices4Victory #USDemocracy www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Superpower Suicide The geopolitics of our moment

Americans destroying America “Superpower Suicide” “Many of the American fundamentals are still very sound, but a better future, or any kind of future at all, will depend on a sober reckoning with the present moment”. @timothysnyder.bsky.social #DV1 #ProudBlue

substack.com/@snyder/note...

Google Spanish Flu Ft Riley Kansas to discover how incompetent he is being. Hegseth is not overturning some ultramodern left wing policy but a century of military tradition that has been there for a reason.

Warsh hearing so far has been kind of frustrating. No one has asked the questions that seem most relevant to me:
1) is Trump's criminal investigation into Powell appropriate?
2) what would you do if Trump threatened retribution against you if he didn't like your actions/Fed policy decisions?

Voting rights groups sue DOJ to block national voter surveil-and-purge database  - CREW | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Voting rights groups sued to block the DOJ from creating a national voter database to surveil and purge voters.

BREAKING: We sued the Trump administration, on behalf of
@commoncause.org and four individuals, to block the DOJ from illegally stockpiling millions of Americans’ confidential voter data and creating a national database to surveil and purge voters.

To Fight Heat, NYC Sets 2040 Tree Canopy Deadline, With Riskiest Areas First How the plan will be funded is unclear. The Mamdani administration has not earmarked money for its tree-expansion initiative.

trees as cooling infrastructure! this is a fascinating story from @smaldo.bsky.social:

Opposing white supremacy is a crime in Trump’s America.

This feels a lot like southern states persecuting the NAACP during Jim Crow.

WARREN: That's not my question. Are you refusing to tell us if you have investments in vehicles set up by Jeffrey Epstein?

KEVIN WARSH: Those assets will be sold if I'm confirmed

Man proven to be dishonourable suggests we should trust him.
Quite the ask.

This Is Just To Say

I have turned off
the AI features
that were in
the update

and which
you were probably
hoping
to monetize

Fuck you
they were stupid
so unnecessary
and so annoying

It Was on Your Table Every Morning Growing Up. It’s Dying Before Our Eyes. No One Wants to Face It. The powerhouse of American citrus is suffering a brutal decline. Everyone has a theory about why.

When I covered Trump's tariffs, I discovered that orange crops have cratered in FL.

This explains all the reasons--disease, climate change, overspraying, finance--why.

slate.com/business/202...

Mexico's Sheinbaum demands explanation after U.S. officials die assisting in Chihuahua operation Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says she was unaware of any collaboration between the U.S. and local authorities in Chihuahua after four officials died in an accident over the weekend.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday she would demand explanations after four U.S. and Mexican officials died in an accident over the weekend, adding she was unaware of collaboration between the U.S. and the local government in northern Chihuahua. https://to.pbs.org/3OiMzO1

Two men in fatigues with their hands ziptied being arrested by Capitol Police

Dozens of people in fatigues lined up in the Capitol Rotunda with signage demanding an end to the Iran War

Dozens of US military veterans were arrested at the Capitol today during a protest against the Iran War.

Photos via @frankthorp.bsky.social

Zuck wants your money.

I'm so glad I deleted all things Meta.

OK, this pinned me down as from either New Orleans, Baltimore, Newark, or Kalamazoo.

What is the key difference between Ukraine&Russia?

Russia is a vertical power structure-with a tsar at the top,lackeys beneath,slaves below.In imperial Russia,the individual tends to see themselves as a "subject"rather than a citizen,often displaying a form of learned helplessness toward the state⤵️