Mark C. Walton
@chileboy.bsky.social
Progressive, Lover of People, Music, Science & Tech, Tequila New and improved! (Or not.) 🇺🇸 🇱🇧 Me 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇺🇳 🏳️🌈 🏳️⚧️ 🌎 Us
🚨 Pro-voting demonstrators protested AG Todd Blanche’s appearance near Hinds County Courthouse, where some Mississippi voters must go to cure affidavit ballots. He has no authority over Mississippi elections. He is making it harder for voters to access to the Courthouse to cure their ballots.
AG Todd Blanche accused of obstructing ballot curing with Mississippi meeting
Pro-voting demonstrators protested U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche’s appearance Monday near where crucial voting processes are playing out in Mississippi’s closely watched midterm election.
democracydocket.com
My read on the Schumer / Van Hollen situation is that Schumer would be wise to let Van Hollen have the job if he wants it: Schumer is likely to take a lot of the blame for anything that goes wrong and get little of the credit for anything that goes right.
Do you happen to remember the SNAP and Medicaid cuts happening in January? Republicans were so slick, they set up cuts to happen after the midterms. Democrats must have a plan to reverse that. This is definitely something to call your reps about on Day 1. #Pinks ✨ The work continues.
Vouchers are a scam and are a perfect example of bad policy and bad politics. www.propublica.org/article/texa...
Texas’ School Voucher Program Could Be “Unrecognizable, If Not Extinct,” Says Democratic Lawmaker
Democrats won back the Texas House for the first time in 24 years. Gov. Greg Abbott’s bullishness on vouchers turned off some Republican voters in rural communities that have historically been strongh...
propublica.org
Microsoft has reportedly filed a patent for an AI system to modify livestream audio and video content in real time. More: patentlyze.com/patent/micro...
Appreciate the search for a technical fix, but I think this is a sociopolitical problem which requires collective action.
batman or halo@milesklee.bsky.social · 24h agoMajor books have been canceled or withdrawn from submission due to allegations of AI use. Readers are targeting anything they don't like as "slop." A host of new tools claim to protect writers by tracking their process to prove human authorship. But will the publishing industry embrace them?
Congratulations to Harrison on the Booker Prize! I have not read the book yet but based on the title I am sure it's fantastic. Unrelatedly, my first book, "The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking)", is still available and makes an excellent holiday gift! bookshop.org/a/104234/978...
The End of Everything: (Astrophysically Speaking)
A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK * AN NPR SCIENCE FRIDAY BOOK CLUB SELECTION * NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST, THE ECONOMIST, NEW SCIENTIST, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, and THE GUARDIAN Fro...
bookshop.org
The Booker Prizes@thebookerprizes.com · 22h ago‘It’s a book that turns you upside down, raises a wry smile – and leaves you with a twinge of optimism’ We're delighted to announce The End of Everything by M. John Harrison as the winner of the Booker Prize 2026. Find out more: thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-l...
I will not speak for Punjabi Sikhs, but having married into a large Punjabi Sikh family and attending gurdwara for more than a decade now, I will just observe that I have never heard an auntie or uncle brag about Harmeet Dhillon.
Seth Cotlar@sethcotlar.bsky.social · yesterdayHarmeet Dhillon, having left her position as Head Leopard in charge of the Department of Equitable Face Eating, has suddenly discovered how terrible face eating is when it’s hers on the menu.
Fuck you, #SCOTUS Stay in your lane. Just because Trump constantly asks you to validate his overreach doesn't mean you need to do it. Let the lower courts do their thing. Jfc.
Supreme Court Allows Construction of Trump’s Border Wall in Big Bend (Gift Article)
The administration had asked the court to permit construction of a border wall in southwestern Texas, including areas within a national park.
nytimes.com
About Hakeem Jeffries, let’s clear something up. Ro Khanna, AOC, Robert Garcia, Pramila Jayapal, Greg Casar, Brad Lander, Sam Liccardo, Jim Himes, Luke Bronin, Katherine Clark, Pete Aguilar, Ted Lieu, Joe Neguse, & other members of the Dem caucus have expressed support for Jeffries as Speaker. 🧵
With the election over, I'm going to ask for your help with a mini-subscriber drive for Democracy Docket this weekend. If you haven't already please sign up. If you have tell everyone to subscribe to Democracy Docket and share its content. demdock.com/4w6emld
The real argument here isn’t that you should be in stocks, it’s that you should be doing rampant insider trading based on policy decisions that you have direct control over. Which is not exactly universalizable.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2d agoDOUTHAT: Your net worth went up by $3 billion TRUMP: So did everyone’s DOUTHAT: My net worth did not go up by $3 billion TRUMP: You should’ve owned stock. I have a lot of money. Far more than I ever thought I’d have
Some personal news: An update on my decision regarding returning to The Washington Post. karenattiah.substack.com/p/my-decisio...
My Decision on Returning to The Washington Post
I was wrongfully fired from the Washington Post and won my job back. Then I faced an excruciating choice.
karenattiah.substack.com
She'd made herself into a theoretical astrophysicist, a leading expert on gravitational waves, top adviser to NASA, and a chaired professor at Vanderbilt. She helped begin a graduate program for astronomers and raised millions to recruit American scientists, only to watch the pipeline be dismantled.
Mr. Dan Zak@mrdanzak.com · 2d agoThe Trump admin bullied one of our top astrophysicists into moving to the Netherlands. Even just the day after the 2024 election, her Black students were sent anonymous texts to report to “the nearest plantation.” Then Trump threatened to halve NASA’s science budget. www.nytimes.com/2026/11/07/s...
"Representative Greg Casar of Texas, the chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said he expected to support Mr. Jeffries and had worked well with him in the past. But he remained concerned that Democrats, once they take power, would be seen as complacent."
Hakeem Jeffries, in Line to Become House Speaker, Promises Bold Agenda (Gift Article)
The man in line to be the first Black speaker is a reserved moderate seen by activists on the left as too timid to take on President Trump. He says he’s “strongly positioned” to get things done.
nytimes.com
Red state North Dakota narrowly rejected free school meals for all K-12 students, 50.6% to 49.4%. Imagine being so evil that you would willingly vote against feeding children, pro-life my ass.
There's a debate going on here today about how responsible New York is for Trump. Here's my contribution--an essay from one year into his first term about Trump and us and our city. I stumbled on it tonight. It kind of shocked me; it's the angriest thing I've ever written. nymag.com/intelligence...
New York Still Doesn’t Like Trump, But We Made Him
We didn’t vote for him. But we know that, on some level, he is ours.
nymag.com
I'd have gone with "nightmarish psychopath", but ok
Trump Elevates Stephen Miller, a Fiery Hard-Liner, to Chief of Staff
nytimes.com
Counterpoint: Once it becomes obvious to voters that progressive policies are actually intended to help them rather than corrupt billionaires, the electorate will lurch further left.
Washington Post Opinions@postopinions.bsky.social · 5d ago"If Democrats lurch far left on policy, the voters who gave them an enormous victory on Tuesday will probably be strongly tempted to switch back to the GOP or stay home in future elections." Read more from the Editorial Board: https://wapo.st/4z0x1j8
Even if they read it, do you think they care? I'm thinking not.
Rep. Mike Levin@levin.house.gov · 4d agoBe honest with me: Do we think this administration has ever read the Hatch Act? I'm thinking not. Just days before Election Day, the IRS and Social Security Administration sent out mass emails praising Donald Trump and his administration. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
🤯 stat: "Out of all 17 states with the tightest 2024 presidential margins, the only one where the GOP is on track to control election administration is North Carolina—and that’s only because the GOP in late 2024 seized control from the Dem governor." boltsmag.org/election-adm...
“The Jig Is Up”: Voters Resoundingly Reject Republicans Who Wanted to Run Elections - Bolts
Democrats flipped secretary of state offices in Georgia, Indiana, and Ohio, defeated election deniers, and will run election administration in the vast majority of battleground states.
boltsmag.org
