by what looks to be a comfortable margin, Virginia voters have approved the L. Louis Lucas Republican Eradication Act of 2026

The Missouri legislature wouldn't even let Columbia ban plastic bags in grocery stores! "Federalism" is when the state can do whatever it wants and the federal and local government can go pound sand.

Aside from who started it, states like CA and VA putting a counter-gerrymander up to a referendum, where people are told and can make a decision on the context for why it's being done, has vastly more democratic legitimacy than state legislators rushing it through because they got bullied by POTUS.

People forget when it was first proposed Prop 50 was WILDLY UNPOPULAR and by the time of the vote we could have banned the GOP from California and it would have passed.

a cartoon of a girl in a purple dress dancing on a pink surface . Alt: Cartoon of a girl from the Peanuts in a purple dress happy dancing side to side

OUR UNION WAS VOLUNTARILY RECOGNIZED!!! 🎉

Thank you everyone who helped support us! Onwards and upwards to contract!!

@cleanwaterunion.bsky.social ❤️💧✊

Well, well-deserved nomination. I sincerely hope that it wins.

Absolutely over the moon about this.

If you've not read my HUGO NOMINATED book-length essay on Sandman, it remains free to all at www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/the-cud...

Best Related Work Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction by Paul Kincaid (Briardene Books) Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer (University of Chicago Press US, Head of Zeus UK) Last War in Albion: "The Cuddled Little Vice (Sandman)" by Elizabeth Sandifer (Eruditorum Press) Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia Butler by Susana M. Morris (Amistad) “Ragnarök vs the Long Night” by Ashaya and Aziz (History of Westeros Podcast, August 10, 2025) The Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom, maintained by Renay (Google Spreadsheet) 479 ballots cast for 250 nominees. Finalists range 31-70.

Related work (cont)

Last War in Albion: "The Cuddled Little Vice (Sandman)" by Elizabeth Sandifer ( @eruditorumpress.com)

Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler by @susanamorris.bsky.social (Amistad)

18/

“Nepotism” means “my uncle is so fond of me that it’s unfair to other people!”

Obviously this whole screed is bizarre, but: no paternal instincts except for one’s own children? We literally coined the word “avuncular” to describe the characteristically doting behavior of men to their siblings’ children.

impossible to overstate how poisonous this shit is. dudes on the street smiling and waving at your toddler are an indicator of a happy and functional community

LAcon V Announces 2026 Hugo Awards Finalists LAcon V, the 84th World Science Fiction Convention, announced the finalists for the 2026 Hugo Awards, the most prestigious honors for excellence in science fiction and fantasy, on April 21. First p…

Hugos nominations are announced and THE POWER FANTASY is on the list of contenders for Best Graphic Story or Comic, which is just lovely. Thanks to everyone who nominated us, and put us in great company. It's amazing to be part of this.

My actual capstone project was forgettable but the senior paper I actually was proud of was about @ericoscott.bsky.social's Pathfinder game (and reader, I married him 🩷).

When that second melody comes in (almost exactly two minutes in) it really feels like the proper 20th century is being born.

Imagine telling most of the famous historical generals that you had the means to ensure they *didn't* lose much of their fighting force to disease, but simply won't be using it

Nothing makes for a stronger, more lethal warrior than [checks notes] a 103 degree fever, muscle aches, and constant sneezing

The story was fictional, but my roommate really did vanish over the summer. He was on academic probation and didn't tell me; I was home for a summer job and didn't realize what happened until I saw he'd taken money out of our rent account without actually paying the rent.

I had two:

1) The psychic transformation of Heorot between day and night in Beowulf.

2) A short story about my roommate disappearing without a trace the summer before my senior year.

You are the property of a christofascist death cult.

Come hang out at this roundtable featuring Andrew Mark Henry, me, and other folks engaged with public scholarship and religious literacy. Tomorrow!

A colorful shawl with repeated stripes ranging from dusty green to yellow, orange, red and brown. It has various textures and a scalloped edge.

Another 🧶 FO finally blocked: Icelandscape Shawl in Bad Sheep Yarn - Echo, Starlight, Dr. Jekyll, Dancing Flames, Rooibos Tea, Kennicott, Bonbon and Espresso.

The first panel shows a crow with the title "How to live a good life". The second panel shows a crow cawing at itself in the mirror with the subheading "Make friends". The next panel says "Explore" and shows a crow looking into a commercial waste bin. The next says "Try new things" with a crow eating something vile. The next one says "Be curious" and shows the crow grabbing a hissing cat's tail". The final frame says "Get a hobby" and shows the crow looking closely at a book of matches.

How To Live A Good Life #oldknees

The boss maintains power by keeping workers divided. If they can keep us from and working out our problems together, they’ve won the battle before it even starts.

Adapted from our new book, Keep Going: A Guide to Organizing When It's Hard by Ellen David Friedman.

Get your copy: labornotes.org/keepgoing

Left of center party in the US, but also, there’s really not much reason to - under the right conditions, with the right organizing, it could clearly become a social democratic party.

Also, “the Democratic Party” is a hollow shell that can be filled with practically anything. It’s been the slavery party, the agrarian party, the New Deal party, the neoliberal technocratic party. It’s an empty signifier. I doubt we could overthrow and replace “the Democratic Party” as the default

I came to this conclusion in DSA politics a while back. I think the obsession with “breaking from the Democrats” is quixotic at best; something called “the Democratic Party” has existed for basically the entire history of the country. It survived losing the Civil War! But…

Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother of Jove?

Why was I invited to Beast Studios? YouTube video by Folding Ideas

Why was I invited to Beast Studios?
youtu.be/0dwagg5wYY4

You know what? I do, in fact, enjoy it when I hear that WWE has a bad show, and I’m tired of pretending I don’t.

Page 1 of a legal Judgment document from the United States District Court, District of Oregon for Case No. 6:25-cv-02409-MTK, filed on 04/18/26. The plaintiffs are listed as "STATE OF OREGON, et al.," and the defendants are "ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., in his official capacity as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, et al." The document is from United States District Judge Kasubhai. It outlines that final judgment is entered in favor of the Plaintiffs on Counts I, II, III, and IV. Item 3 states the Court holds unlawful, sets aside, and vacates the "Declaration of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services RE: Safety, Effectiveness and Professional Standards of Care for Sex-Rejecting Procedures on Children and Adolescents".

Page 2 of a legal judgment document for Case 6:25-cv-02409-MTK, filed on April 18, 2026. The text outlines a court order declaring that defendants lack the authority to unilaterally establish standards of care that supersede professionally recognized standards for gender-affirming care in the Plaintiff States. It permanently enjoins defendants and their agents, including the HHS-OIG, from enforcing the "Kennedy Declaration" against providers in those states. The document is dated April 18, 2026, and is signed by United States District Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai.

Huge news: the court has entered final judgement in Oregon v Kennedy (HHS trans youth care ban) and has vacated the Kennedy declaration and permanently enjoined its enforcement to target gender clinics.

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