Very clear and good piece. Glad it’s in the world

Everyone will filter thru their own perspective ofc but my personal experience of this is an inexhaustible supply of liberal certainty that people to their left bear responsibility for driving folks to the right

Yes and there will be a sorta secret VIP level above that and then a “if you have to ask then lol sorry” tier at the top

flipping through a proof of yet another book from a somewhat well known liberal voice diagnosing “where the left went wrong” and i’m struck, again, by the fact that a large part (if not most) of the liberal commentariat simply does not believe that the political right has agency.

the two positions i hold simultaneously based on my mood

optimist: things can't continue in politics like this

doomer: things can't continue in politics like this

21. Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive. All cultures are now equal. Criticism and value judgments are forbidden. Yet this new dogma glosses over the fact that certain cultures and indeed subcultures . . . have produced wonders. Others have proven middling, and worse, regressive and harmful. 22. We must resist the shallow temptation of a vacant and hollow pluralism. We, in America and more broadly the West, have for the past half century resisted defining national cultures in the name of inclusivity. But inclusion into what?

Cultural chauvinism isn't the opposite of moral relativism - and it presages some really dark stuff.

Sam Harris calls Mamdani an ‘Islamist’ | Eiynah Mohammed-Smith Get more from Eiynah Mohammed-Smith on Patreon

New Post for Patrons: Sam Harris calls Mamdani an ‘Islamist’

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Palantir is also claiming in this same statement that Germany went too far in constructing its postwar identity around guilt for the Holocaust, which is the exact narrative that the German far-right is running on and winning in elections.

Rümeysa Öztürk, Tufts University grad arrested by ICE agents last year, returns to Turkey - The Boston Globe The government and Öztürk’s legal team have jointly moved to dismiss her immigration proceedings.

“That Rümeysa felt she had to return to Turkey to escape the shadow of state violence says everything you need to know about the state of free speech and academic freedom in this country,” said Ramya Krishnan, an attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/04/17/m...

Trump was considering pardoning the people who plotted to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer? Crazy. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Try to remember this every time you see one of those viral “Joe Rogan has turned against Trump” clips from his show

This is right. Also: geese is great imo

*saw. Anyway, iykyk (multiple layers of iykyk actually)

When I say the byline lol

What’s interesting about steam valves is they sound good but they can also serve to strengthen status quo regimes without producing meaningful reform. Authoritarians use them for that purpose (when they do use them)

Suddenly I’m wondering whether bears do shit in the woods

Yes, RFK has long maintained that doctors who treated COVID patients killed them

Pro tip to reporters/editors: If you take the standard deduction, you aren’t allowed to itemize any deductions for charitable contributions

For a Boise family of medical providers, Idaho criminal trans bathroom ban was the last straw This year, Idaho Legislature approved trans bathroom ban, forcing teachers to out trans kids to parents, and re-banning LGBTQ+ pride flag displays by government

The Devitts have seen the Idaho Legislature and the governor approve a wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills in recent years. Michael and Dr. Angie Devitt, both medical professionals, watched their trans daughter, Eve, testify against a bill years ago that outlawed gender-affirming care for minors. But this year’s criminal transgender bathroom ban — described by advocates as the most extreme in the nation for extending to private businesses — was the couple’s last straw. So early this month, Michael Devitt notified patients that his practice, Focus Physical Therapy, would shut down at the end of August as his family prepared to move out of Idaho. “Obviously, this law is a disaster for families like ours,” he wrote in a letter. “We can no longer take a road trip across our beloved state, or even enjoy a family night out at a restaurant, or a movie, without running the risk of Eve being charged and sent to a prison merely for using the facilities.”

A family of doctors in Idaho with a teenage trans daughter describes their decision to close their practice and leave the state after the governor signed a law last month threatening her with a felony charge and five years in prison if she uses any women's restroom

The fact that Mamdani just seems like a cheerful normal guy who's policies are things like "we're going to tax second homes to fund pothole repairs" or whatever and yet this generates panicked responses like "This is basically Stalin's great purge turned up to eleven" is... telling. It tells things.

"Judge Millwood wrote in her ruling that she believed that Mr. Ross’s younger son ... had used his position as a government employee to have Ms. Ross-Mahé arrested."

The backstory here is a battle over the spouse's estate.

The use of state repression for venal purposes also features in Fallada.

Scientist who alleged COVID cover-up circulated a faked NIH email, agency says Ariel Fernández A scientist charged with research misconduct used a fake email communication with an NIH researcher’s address to support his claims of governmental retaliation, Retraction Watch has…

Well will you look at that

I know someone who works at the intersection of federal funding and advanced medical research, and this is absolutely correct. We will never be able to quantify the amount of suffering and death inflicted by these people, but it will be with us for a long time.

This is right, plus if you actually hear Rogan’s “criticism” in full context it’s virtually always couched in terms of overall support (or otherwise forgotten / discarded the next minute)

Frightening how accurate this is

These would be deplorable, inhumane conditions for any prison. The majority of these people have never been accused of a crime, much less convicted of one. Most, at worst, entered the country illegally seeking a better life. Some, not even that.

At least Ahab had a clear and well defined goal

Opinion | The Civil War That Never Ended

Finally caught up to this really good @jamellebouie.net Q&A with @ztameez.bsky.social, author of a superb biography of Charles Sumner