Stocks rise on news that most of the ill effects of the war will fall on poor people.

Hegseth Borrows Violent Prayer from ‘Pulp Fiction’ to Bless Iran War at April Pentagon Worship Service For the second month in a row, Pete Hegseth, who likes to call himself “secretary of war,” read a violent prayer — that echoes a scene in the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction — during a worship ser...

what’s funny about this is that tarantino wrote this “ezekiel 25:17“ for the film. it isn‘t actually in the bible. publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/hegseth-bo...

I think a lot of podcasters in this vein should be interpreted as “reactionary” in the most literal sense that they are extremely vacuous and form their politics by following trends of resentment against whatever they see on social media

Many other examples (eg, the Philippines pictured).

In Sweden, speeding cameras don't just catch speeders, they also enter drivers going the proper speed into a lottery to win cash prizes funded by the traffic tickets. We should do the same with timely tax filers.

Swalwell and Gonzales expose an ugly truth: Washington is built to protect creeps The tight margins in Congress, raw power plays and a lack of political will constantly forces female victms to remain silent and women members of Congress to force their leaders to do the right thing,...

A little righteous anger from me about everything disgusting about Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales:
-Democratic leadership wouldn't have done a damn thing if women hadn't spoken up
-GOP leadership only kicked out Tony because Democrats kicked out Swalwell
1/
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

A standing room only crowd in a conference room in Berkeley City Hall eagerly awaits the chance to argue again about a set of bike lanes on a single street that have been being argued about for ~8 years.

For anyone who thinks we should entirely reject the emissions benefits of electric cars or the potential safety benefits of (certain) autonomous vehicles in favor of waiting for bikes/transit to take over, this is what a midday committee meeting about bike lanes in ultra-liberal Berkeley looks like:

and yet, outside of your generous imagination, they didn't

Labor Dept. Investigates Texts Among Secretary’s Family and Staff

“Ms. Chavez-DeRemer’s husband exchanged text messages with young female staff members, as did her father.”

Come on, now.

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/15/u...

sorry, I have an annoying habit of responding to arguments as written, not the more nuanced version of the argument one could reasonably wish had been written instead

The great thing about the Bluesky anti-liberal left is that it makes room both for "the kulaks had it coming" Communists and "we must protect our yeoman smallholders" socialists, and sometimes these are literally the same guy.

New: Feds allege SantaCon con

I think progressives were right to be skeptical of the gig work labor model, so I’m happy to see it automated away as quickly as possible.

Tax Day is a reminder of America’s unequal tax system. But we can fix it | Zohran Mamdani, Gabriel Zucman and Joseph Stiglitz There is no justification for a regressive system in which the super-rich contribute less than the rest of us

"There is no justification for a regressive system in which the super-rich contribute less than the rest of us," write @josephestiglitz.bsky.social, @gabrielzucman.bsky.social, and @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social.

Pinochet was literally voted out of office in a referendum he supported, bc he didn't imagine he could lose. Apparently Pinochet wasn't an authoritarian!

it takes a village to create good content

I think a lot of people who haven't read "The High Cost of Free Parking" cover to cover, which I fear is many of you, don't realize what a strange and wonderful book it is. The ideal of a book: the pure distillation of an interesting mind. RIP Shoup.

i don't have any opinions on architecture one way or another, but i had to cringe a little when i was on a date with an architect who said her favorite kind of building was a craftsman bungalow...

"Economists will never ever say the economy is doing badly" is news that will come as quite a shock to most economists

Virginia joins a national effort to ensure only popular vote winners become president With Virginia on board, the National Popular Vote Compact is now enacted in states worth 222 electoral votes. Here's what that means.

Big news: Gov. Spanberger signs bill making Virginia 18th state + DC to join National Popular Vote Interstate Compact

States in compact now total 222 electoral votes, 48 shy of 270 needed for popular vote plan to go into effect

www.npr.org/2026/04/14/n...

great post bobak

How the Gann Limit Threatens Ongoing Investments for Californians Spending cap. Constitutional spending limit. Gann Limit. Known by many names, state leaders and Californians are taking a hard look at the constraints imposed by the 1979 measure this year, and asking...

Tired:
CA Governor candidates promising to enact Medicare for All

Wired:
CA Governor candidates campaigning to repeal the Gann limit (1979)...which is a major CA constitutional barrier to enacting Medicare for All

TL:DR - MY KINGDOM FOR GANN LIMIT REFORM!
calbudgetcenter.org/resources/qa...

same

Pam Bondi didn’t show up for her hearing today, despite our subpoena. We’re going to begin contempt proceedings. It’s time to hold these people accountable to the laws we passed in Congress.

when do they age out of running social justice NGOs?

we had a chance to end cash bail in California, but white boomer hippies joined up with Republicans to say "no, keep it"

I'll stay mad about this until we can finally truly abolish cash bail

Field Create a mono-synth, drum machine, or MIDI sequencer with the Field! It works as a great development tool, or handy small-form synth to take with you on the go. Comes with Daisy installed and 9V power...

I can do you one better - mine made me a synth that I run on this thing electro-smith.com/products/field

I always think about this when I remember how the ACLU of Southern California opposed ending cash bail because of fearmongering about "algorithms" (note: cash bail is also an algorithm, and a bad one)