beccagrawl
@beccagrawl.bsky.social
Ward 4. DC tour guide, author, & public historian by day. Musical theatre, movies, & travel by night. https://linktr.ee/beccagrawl
El-Sayed: "Mike, I'm gonna say it right now, I know you're gonna say no because you're a coward: Five debates, alright? ... By the time we're done, you are not gonna have safe quarter from people holding you accountable to what you've done for them here in Michigan. We will send you back to Florida"
Didn’t realize what a big, tough, strong guy I was for leading DC walking tours after 7pm for so many years.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4h agoBlanche credits Pirro with transforming DC "into a place that we can all now walk around in after sunset" 😆
Keeping Guard in DC until end of Trump regime to cost estimated $1.4 billion. "[The DoD] estimate assumes there will be roughly 2,500 National Guard personnel deployed in [DC] through January 2029.... The estimate imagines a drawdown from the current 4,600..." www.commondreams.org/news/nationa...
Warren Decries $1.4 Billion Cost of Trump's National Guard Deployment in DC | Common Dreams
Cost of National Guard deployment in DC under Trump projected to reach $1.4 billion by 2029. Sen. Warren criticizes spending as unnecessary.
commondreams.org
Ken Paxton has spent months calling James Talarico a soyboy vegan and religious extremist. It isn't working: He's getting killed in fundraising, his scandals are mounting, and most polls show the race is either a toss-up or favors Talarico. So now, he's pivoting. The latest:
Ken Paxton Is Acting Like He Thinks He Could Lose
After calling his opponent a vegan freak for months, Paxton is finally pivoting to issues voters care about.
texasmonthly.com
this is not true. there was no conspiracy. it didn't matter whether the streetcars were publicly owned (seattle, detroit) or private (los angeles, atlanta). a thread (because i wrote a whole-ass book on this): 1/?
David Ho@davidho.bsky.social · 3d agoIs everyone aware of the General Motors streetcar conspiracy? In the mid-20th century, auto and oil interests bought up electric streetcar systems across the US and systematically replaced them with bus routes and paved roads, funneling commuters toward private cars.
The DC area finally got a widespread soaking rain. Sunday's storms delivered the wettest day of 2026 at National, triggered localized flooding and put a modest dent in the region's drought. Details on where the heaviest rain fell and our drought status: www.capitalweather.com/dc-records-i...
oh ok, the pending tsunami of horribleness that is this industry actually CAN get worse
Guardian Australia@australia.theguardian.com · 3d agoLuke Bateman tells inquiry gambling companies supplied him with cocaine and alcohol
I said this yesterday but I didn’t want it to come true *this* quickly
Things I and friends have done to calm an angry abusive man from further escalating and killing us or our children: -Smiled -Kept normal schedules in order not to trigger a fight -Appeased with kind acts (cooking, cleaning, favors) -Forced friendly tones and words
The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · 3d agoRep. Max Miller: "My former wife has claimed that during a custody exchange at my home that day, I assaulted her…If I had assaulted her, would she have offered to cook me dinner six days later?"
A gifted actor and VERY nice man (and Bronx neighbor!) who gave me so many good tidbits for the Gandolfini book. RIP deadline.com/2026/08/vinc...
Vincent Pastore Dies: 'The Sopranos' Star Was 80
Vincent Pastore, known for playing mobsters in film and TV, most notably Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on HBO's The Sopranos, has died. He was 80.
deadline.com
Cool. Cool cool cool.
Timothy Noah@timothynoah.bsky.social · 5d agoAround the National Mall is what may be the densest concentration of precious historic, scientific, and artistic objects in the United States. Trump is hosting an Indy 500 race around it that will create potentially damaging vibrations. My latest. newrepublic.com/article/2137...
Anyway back to my ongoing theory that women use AI to get more done and men use AI to get out of doing more.
There is a certain level of obtuseness in (some) "AI" apologists when they flounce up to point out what "AI" is good for in science, etc, while eliding the fact that almost none of that use is driving the current market capitalization, environmental degradation and resource hogging of the field
It's a tough job, but literally no one has to do it
Out: Washington Post TikTok Guy In: Dave Journalism
*extreme Jean Hagen voice* I can sue.
Scott MacFarlane@macfarlanenews.bsky.social · 5d agoFLASH: Justice Dept seeks to dismiss Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool criminal case against former Olympian David Hearn Trump Admin acknowledges: "Damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in June 2026 was the result of flawed installation by the contractor"
I'm always glad to see MPD make an arrest in a homicide case.
Martin Austermuhle@maustermuhle.bsky.social · 5d agoA Maryland woman has been charged with involuntary manslaughter for allegedly hitting and killing 61-year-old D.C. resident Dawn Ciccone as she crossed the street in a marked crosswalk in Foggy Bottom on April 18: mpdc.dc.gov/release/mpd-...
I have a pretty good handle on the DC tourist experience and I can say with confidence that: 1) Nobody cares about these horse statues 2) Nobody cares about a Christopher Columbus fountain 3) Nobody cares about ballrooms
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01)@repstansbury.bsky.social · 5d agoWhile you were over here trying to figure out how you were going to cover the rent and food—this guy was over there using $5.1 million in taxpayer money YOU paid into the system to cover these statues in 23 karat gold. Yeah, he did that.
Ah yes, Florida. A state famously facing so few problems and issues that their electeds can focus on arcane matters of school curriculums in a jurisdiction a thousand miles away whose residents didn’t and couldn’t vote for her.
Martin Austermuhle@maustermuhle.bsky.social · 5d agoNEWS: Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Florida) has a new bill to require the U.S. flag be displayed in all D.C. school classrooms and mandate the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the day, though students could opt out. "We should be teaching kids why America is worth loving," she says.
Efforts like these create the perfect opportunity for Congressional Democrats to demand statehood for DC. Just point to the absurdity of Congress’s time being spent on micromanaging the classrooms in a single, medium sized city.
Martin Austermuhle@maustermuhle.bsky.social · 5d agoNEWS: Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Florida) has a new bill to require the U.S. flag be displayed in all D.C. school classrooms and mandate the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the day, though students could opt out. "We should be teaching kids why America is worth loving," she says.
Alternatively, as a Senator, you could draft & pass legislation guaranteeing health care, education & a basic income to DEMONSTRATE why America is worth loving.
Martin Austermuhle@maustermuhle.bsky.social · 5d agoNEWS: Sen. Ashley Moody (R-Florida) has a new bill to require the U.S. flag be displayed in all D.C. school classrooms and mandate the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the day, though students could opt out. "We should be teaching kids why America is worth loving," she says.
Police in many parts of Europe are very aggressive about enforcement and seeking out distracted drivers, while also having better designed streets. I don’t think we need to pit these things against each other.
The War on Cars@thewaroncars.bsky.social · 5d agoCatching 74 distracted drivers in six hours is good, but what would be better is redesigning the street so drivers are forced to pay attention.
I’ve mostly been enjoying the In Pursuit series for what it is, but hoo boy, do I think this one missed the mark.
In Pursuit USA@inpursuitusa.bsky.social · last wk.Karl Rove writes about William McKinley and the political work of unifying a country that had spent three decades stuck in gridlock. McKinley entered a Gilded Age defined by contested elections, purged congressional seats, and unresolved Civil War divisions.
It is wild to me that it has been nearly 5 years and nothing has gone into the old Tortilla Coast space.
If someone cornered you at a cocktail party and said something like this, you wouldn't just try to get away from them. You'd bounce from the whole event because wtf. But elected Republicans get up every day and say unhinged stuff like this in Congress and I honestly do not know how to unfuck this.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 6d agoRep. John McGuire: "I don't know if you heard about the BLT sandwich -- using human fetus baby parts in the vaccine when they could've used ivermectin"
