A Newly Discovered Recording Lets You Hear Delta Blues Legend Robert Johnson in Stunning Clarity Great swathes of rock music since the nineteen-sixties would never have existed, we're sometimes told, were it not for the recordings of Robert Johnson. Certainly the likes of Keith Richards, Eric Cla...

Holy SHIT someone found the test pressing of Robert Johnson's Cross Road Blues and it is clear as a PIN www.openculture.com/2026/04/reco...

And just like that, we can add another new word to our Trumpian lexicon:
vanced (adj.) - when someone is hanging on by a thread and Vance’s physical presence pounds the last nail into their coffin. ⚰️

So much of it’s about knowing where to look for. I remember in Austin in 2022 there was a candidate whose concern was “propaganda in schools” — clearly hoping Travis County’s hippieish Democratic base didn’t look into what “propaganda” she meant. It was LGBTQ+ inclusion. (She lost big)

My name is [NAME] and I'm calling from [PLACE]. I'm calling because I am deeply alarmed by President Trump's threats to destroy Iranian civilian infrastructure and his statement that a whole civilization will die tonight. Legal experts and human rights organizations have made clear that deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure is a war crime under international law. This war has been launched and escalated without a formal declaration or authorization from Congress, in direct violation of the Constitution. Congress — not the president — holds the power to declare war. That authority is not optional, and it can't be delegated away by silence. Waging war without congressional authorization is an impeachable offense. The Constitution's framers were explicit: the power to take the country to war belongs to Congress precisely to prevent a single executive from dragging the nation into conflict unchecked. What is happening right now — a president unilaterally conducting an ongoing air war, threatening mass civilian casualties, and openly defying the War Powers Act — meets that bar. I am asking [NAME] to support articles of impeachment. This is not a partisan request. It is a constitutional one. At the minimum, I'm asking Representative/Senator [NAME] to use every tool available to check this administration — including voting against war funding, invoking the War Powers Act, and publicly speaking out against threats of collective punishment of Iranian civilians. Silence is complicity. As my elected representative, you have a constitutional duty to act as a check on executive power — not to stand aside while it is abused. Your consituents will be watching how [NAME] responds to this moment. Thank you.

Record showing my three calls to Ben Ray Luján, Martin Heinrich, and Gabe Vasquez

I just got off my third phone call to DC; here's the script I wrote. Don't just post through it; take some action.

Timeline cleanse, featuring the majestic sea flap-flaps (aka mobula rays).

They're a migratory animal, moving from one part of the ocean to another in large groups called "fevers".

They migrate to follow upwellings that enrich for zooplankton food items & to visit their breeding grounds.

(📷:OCR)

No War With Iran (UPDATED 4/7) ⭑ 5 Calls Updates April 7, 2026: Trump has openly threatened to obliterate “a whole civilization” if Iran does not agree to a deal. Given these repeated, …

5calls.org/issue/stop-i...

Gerrymandering: How Your Elections Are Rigged YouTube video by CGP Grey

For those who are new to the correct definition of gerrymandering or otherwise want to learn how it works, as always I recommend youtu.be/Mky11UJb9AY?...

My home state Michigan is instructive: GOP controlled the state legislature 1984-2022 & spent most that time gerrymandering House and state leg districts to favor their party.
MI still voted for the Dem in 7 out of the 9 pres elections between those dates, and has had 2 Dem senators since 2000

Getting these words right is not just pedantry, because you need to understand each example of electoral fuckery as they all have separate solutions. Gerrymandering can be fixed by states appointing independent commissions to draw congressional districts. The EC requires a constitutional amendment.

Also, speaking as a former Maryland resident, both parties do gerrymandering to some degree (Republicans just do a lot more of it and in ways that are linked to broader inequalities), and parties in other countries do versions of it too

The Electoral College favors Republicans but it is not gerrymandering because state boundaries were not deliberately drawn for that purpose.

Gerrymandering is the practice of drawing legislative districts to favor one party unfairly. It is not a catch-all term for “any cheating.”
If you’re talking about it in the context of a presidential election or a statewide election (Senate, governor) you’re almost certainly using it wrong.

When you want to like an otherwise good political tweet, but you don’t know how to explain “that’s not what gerrymandering means, and here’s why it’s important to get this right” and if they’ll be receptive. But it is important that supporters of electoral reform understand the current system!

ad astra, artemis ii 🌒

#illustration

Happy Easter, Gabumon died for your sins.

Wishing you all a (relatively) "Happy" Easter.

🐰 🥚 🧺 😩

Artemis and the Artemis II mission! I can’t stop thinking about the Artemis plushie watching over the launch of the Orion hahaha #art #sailormoon #artemisII

Where is this? 🤘🏻

Scrappy the marbled black and white cat for #Caturday
Scrappy was a black cat, whose coat started getting white at the age of 7, due to vitiligo, which is a genetic mutation causing skin or fur to lose its natural pigment.

Good thread that pretty much sums up my feelings on last night, too

But I also get why people like it. I like what Firefly *could* have been. Interested to read what you do there and to see if this new series puts a new spin on it, particularly on the things that haven't aged so well in the past almost 25 (geez!) years

I'll have to read those! I've long had trouble with Firefly both due to the fact that yeah, it seems like it's just doing a lesser version of what anime was doing the decade before, but also the sexual politics, the Lost Cause stuff, the use of Chinese culture with no Chinese major characters...

“Where‘s Wallace?!” Getting his fuckin flowers that’s where 😭♥️

Anime fans win!

Ballet and opera tickets aren’t as expensive as people think. You can often get opera or ballet tickets cheaper than Broadway depending on where you sit. The Metropolitan Opera and ABT are both nonprofits so they offer discount tickets and have outreach programs.

an elderly woman is sitting on a couch and talking to cersei , i want her to know it was me . ALT: an elderly woman is sitting on a couch and talking to cersei , i want her to know it was me .

Every opera fan rn

a guitar braided into Coogler's hair

A treble clef braided into Coogler's hair

Viewers noticed Ryan Coogler appears to have a guitar and treble clef braided in his hair at the #Oscars

Misty Copeland comes out of retirement to put Timothée Chalamet in his place during a live ‘Sinners’ performance at the #Oscars.

A big takeaway this year has to be that Sinners and One Battle After Another were big, artist driven, swings bankrolled by WB whose future is ultimately unclear. I like living in a world where people like PTA and Ryan Coogler get to make the films they want to make with those resources.