I've been saying for months - and obviously others have too - that there's no way Trump gives up either chamber of Congress.

Maybe the White House Correspondents Dinner will invite Kash to discuss.

Chicago firm Loevy & Loevy on the case, fyi.

Exclusive: Trump administration blocking appointments to key panel overseeing voting machines, officials say One official described the blocks as “f****** crazy.”

EXCLUSIVE: In the Trump administration’s latest bid to assert control over elections, federal officials are keeping qualified experts off a key federal committee that helps create standards for voting equipment used in U.S. elections.

Startups Brag They Spend More Money on AI Than Human Employees A new class of AI startups say they are taking money that would normally be used to hire people and are spending it on AI compute instead.

"Tokenmaxxing."

I wonder how this will affect Trump's chances of a third term.

Philanthropy Perceived as Reputation Laundering The philanthropy sector appears to be losing its position on the moral high ground.

"[T]here is a public perception that 'large-scale philanthropy is less about altruism and more about reputation laundering, buying visibility and asserting privilege.'”

Click here to show your support to Don Washington's story *What We Have Here Is A Cancer Problem Good People, I have contracted Stage 4 Colon Cancer. It's not curable and 96% of the time this is a return to sender malady. I have 2-3 years on the clock for c

For Chicago folks who know Don Washington, some sad news:

Tiffany Henyard admits to living in Georgia while holding office in Illinois WGN Investigates confronted Henyard in April 2025 and asked why she missed every public meeting since losing the election, even though she was still being paid.

She's also now a Republican.

UCLA student government condemned Hillel event featuring former hostage Omer Shem Tov Shem Tov was kidnapped by Hamas from the Nova Music Festival on Oct. 7 and held captive in Gaza for 505 days

"UCLA’s student government condemned a recent campus event featuring former Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov, labeling the speaker selection as 'selective platforming of narratives that obscure the broader reality of ongoing state violence.'”

Dan Eggen, who shaped politics coverage at The Post, dies at 60 He helped guide Pulitzer Prize-winning projects, including coverage of Russian election interference in 2016 and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

For my Minnesota Daily peeps who may not be on our group FB page, sad news:

Quietly absent since 2023, Jewish Heritage Night at the NY Mets stirs up new controversy - Jewish Telegraphic Agency False claims that the Mets said it is "too risky" to have a special Jewish night are spreading.

Sounds like the last one was fun - Mr. Met doing the hora. Apparently they did away with a lot of heritage nights in 2024. Some parts of the Internet thought this was the first year the Mets wouldn't have a Jewish Heritage Night, prompting this article.

News from Neil today about his new studio album, finished and ready to go but no release date. Five new songs and several old ones never previously released going back as far as 1963. Full article on Music page of Times Contrarian. His other new live album As Time Explodes due out May 1.
#NeilYoung

Excessive partisanship in districting leads to results that reasonably seem unjust. But the fact that such gerrymandering is "incompatible with democratic principles," Arizona State Legislature, 576 U.S., at ___, 135 S.Ct., at 2586, does not mean that the solution lies with the federal judiciary. We conclude that partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal 2507*2507 courts. Federal judges have no license to reallocate political power between the two major political parties, with no plausible grant of authority in the Constitution, and no legal standards to limit and direct their decisions. "[J]udicial action must be governed by standard, by rule," and must be "principled, rational, and based upon reasoned distinctions" found in the Constitution or laws. Vieth, 541 U.S. at 278, 279, 124 S.Ct. 1769 (plurality opinion). Judicial review of partisan gerrymandering does not meet those basic requirements.

5/ On the other hand, this is what the Supreme Court wrought when it held in Rucho v. Common Cause that partisan gerrymandering claims are nonjusticiable. Essentially: "to the victors go the spoils."

Well, okay, then. Dems won in Virginia & these are the spoils.

scholar.google.com/scholar_case...

Trump fought to keep the ballroom fundraising contract secret. Here’s what’s in it. The agreement governing hundreds of millions in private donations was kept secret until a watchdog group sued and a judge ordered it disclosed.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Anonymous donors include Amazon, Lockeed-Martin, Palantir & Google - who have $billions in fed contracts. Conflict of interest much?

It’s kind of astonishing how many news outlets have published versions of a “Tucker Carlson apologized for telling people to support Trump” story by writers who very clearly did not listen to the podcast.

Drunk Friend YouTube video by Freakwater - Topic

If I was picking out, say, 10 songs to represent the Bloodshot catalog, I'd probably start with this one.

But is it really off the record, @frontofficesports.bsky.social ?

People have no idea what's really happening in our country right now and has been happening since January, and by people I include most journalists.

If you have a terrible doctor, psychologist or psychiatrist (or anything, really), don't stick with them out of inertia. I did in one case for too long and a single appointment with somebody who knew what they were doing changed everything.

I deleted a post, I didn't want Gutfeld in my stream.

Census Bureau jobs, most tech in Maryland but some are in Chicago (field reps, maybe one supervisor job) www.usajobs.gov/search/resul...

Politicians have been promising to cut the red tape for as long there has been red tape. How much red tape could be left? And what does Big Red Tape have to say about the matter?

Also, speeding up housing and major developments sounds good, but also sounds like a way to shaft communities even more.

“Their appearances on Fox Business, however, continued for a few more weeks — until diGenova used one to utter a widely condemned antisemitic screed, at which point the couple stopped appearing there as well.” @mattgertz.bsky.social

ELIZABETH WARREN: Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?

KEVIN WARSH: Uhm, we try to keep politics if I'm confirmed out of the Federal Reserve

WARREN: I'm just asking a factual question

WARSH: I believe this body certified the election

WARREN: That's not the question I'm asking

Musk leaves Memphis high and dry xAI is draining millions of gallons from the Memphis drinking water supply. Musk's promised fix has been delayed indefinitely.

"We've been scammed."

Internal emails show how fringe groups fueled Sheriff Chad Bianco’s ballot seizure

calmatters.org/investigatio...

Good god.

New York Times shares its strategy of reach, free content in subscription growth The New York Times has a specific strategy for where free content fits in its audience funnel.

"CEO Meredith Kopit Levien described The New York Times’ 'four Ds' or, in other words, strategic obsessions: daily habit, direct relationships, destination, and deliberate drive-bys."

More generally: Trump’s economic policy makes more sense once you recognize it’s just an elaborate bribe-solicitation mechanism.

Websites break California privacy law at ‘industrial scale,’ survey finds – The Markup Tech companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft are ignoring data controls mandated under California law, researchers say.

"Tech companies like Google, Facebook and Microsoft are ignoring data controls mandated under California law, researchers say."