"We are retaining some features for premium users. Want rule of law? That’s premium. The right to run your company without government interference? That’s a paid feature now. An explanation from the Supreme Court as to why it just ruled against you? Maybe!"

My 4th grader is being taught cursive for the first time this year… in *history* class. 💀

The reporting from @51st.news (@maustermuhle.bsky.social et. al) is some of the strongest, deepest coverage about the federal takeover of DC... if you're not subscribed, you're missing out:

This week in the D.C. takeover: Bowser plays nice

Also: The National Guard goes on trash duty, and Sandwich Guy gets a win.

51st.news

Now through this weekend, I'll donate $1 to @51st.news for each: - person who reposts this post - new follower @51st.news ws gets - new follower @maustermuhle.bsky.social gets - new follower @christurdisani.bsky.social gets - new follower I get And tag/DM me your donation = I'll match it 1:1.

The 51st@51st.news · 12mo ago

Three days remain to hit the goal in our campaign to hire @maustermuhle.bsky.social full-time. We know there's a ways to go, but with less than half left to raise...we could reach it easy peasy if each person who donated asked one friend to give too. givebutter.com/SsQ8CG

🟢🟡🔴 The DC Chamber of Commerce cites several council members' "consistently progressive voting records" as justification for giving them "red" ratings in their annual Performance Scorecard. Simply saying that "progressive"="bad for business" is... a choice.

Rich local political reporting like this is why it's important to help @51st.news hire @maustermuhle.bsky.social full time. Donate here: 51st.news/add-staff

D.C. Council approves ranked-choice voting, rejects rollback of tipped wage law (for now)

There was plenty of action on two of D.C.'s ballot initiatives.

51st.news

Ah, I miss Champaign. What a great feature in the NYT:

Chinese Students Flocked to Central Illinois. Their Food Followed.

nytimes.com

Glad that the Hiraya space on H St isn't staying dark: "...he plans to transform Hiraya’s downstairs cafe into a dual destination for wagyu smash burgers, loaded fries, and chopped cheese (Double Up) and bubble teas (Auntea Boba). Look for breakfast burritos and coffee drinks in the morning."

Ambitious Filipino Venture Exits H Street

Chef Paolo Dungca’s short-lived tasting room Kayu will reopen in Dupont as he looks for a new space for his all-day cafe Hiraya

dc.eater.com

“CarPlay Ultra… feels more like applying an iOS-styled WinAmp skin to the speedometer.” Maybe my opinion will change if/when I see it IRL, but right, I totally share this first impression of the “new” CarPlay.

This is an excellent explainer of why "just lower the rent" isn't always possible for filling vacancies in commercial real estate: postsuburban.substack.com/p/why-do-com...

Why do commercial spaces sit vacant?

Understanding “extend and pretend”

postsuburban.substack.com

Mentioned in passing in this article about Alero opening at The 202 in NoMa is that they're also, allegedly, taking over Kitchen Cray space on H Street. (Deep link for DCPL card holders: www-bizjournals-com.dclibrary.idm.oclc.org/washington/n...) @popville.bsky.social

"But Instagram [has] effectively become three different Twitters: Instagram Stories for the people you know, the grid for people you used to know (and their weddings and babies), and Reels for probing the profoundly upsetting psychic void at the heart of our country." @garbageday.email is the best.

What is Instagram now?

Read to the end for a good chart

garbageday.email

My kiddo has been regularly asking to watch cat videos on Instagram lately. I think Instagram has noticed. …Not mad at it.

Indigo has added a 15% service charge… but it replaces all expectation of tip (“additional tipping is not expected or encouraged”). If you’re going to do a service fee, this is the way to do it! @popville.bsky.social

Ah, a scolding! Thank goodness, that'll do it. (And if not, maybe the judge can issue a stern glare or a wag of the finger!)

DC advertisers, never change.

What has the world come to when f'ing Rand Paul is the voice of reason?!?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last yr.

Rand Paul: "The whole [tariffs] debate is so fundamentally backwards & upside down. It's based on a fallacy & the fallacy is this: that somehow in a trade, someone must lose. That somehow when you trade with someone, someone is taking advantage of you... I have a trade deficit with my grocery store"

what booker is doing right now is an example of what i mean when i say things like “we need more ambition right now.” there is room in american politics right now for people with ambition to take big stands and reap the rewards. he’s doing it!

Good lord.

Trump Reimagines the Kennedy Center: Elvis, ‘Cats’ and Babe Ruth (Gift Article)

A recording of President Trump’s private remarks at a Kennedy Center board meeting shows that he mused about bestowing honors on dead celebrities and people from outside the arts.

nytimes.com

Loved this episode of @switchedonpop.bsky.social digging deep into the references and influences of the new Lady Gaga album:

Lady Gaga's Monster Return — Switched On Pop

A tour through Lady Gaga's inspiration, imitation, and self references on Mayhem’s Museum of Brutality

switchedonpop.com

I know the world’s expensive, and airports are even more so, but $8 for a single Auntie Anne’s pretzel is objectively nuts. 🥨

Oh, I'm so excited for this. LOVED Season 1.

Rian Johnson@rianjohnson.bsky.social · last yr.

PEOPLE OF BLUESKY! Ahhhhhh, it smells good here. Behold a trailer for season 2 of Poker Face! It’s gonna be a good one. May 8th on the almighty Peacock!

Enraging. Infuriating. If Senate Dems don't block this—and I doubt they will—this is going to fuck over the 700,000 of us who live in the nation's capital for no reason at all. It doesn't even save any federal dollars!

Martin Austermuhle@maustermuhle.bsky.social · last yr.

NEW in @51st.news: House Republicans just voted to defund D.C. police and schools. As part of a spending bill to avert a federal government shutdown, they could force D.C. to slash $1.1 billion out of its budget, and no one understands really why. 51st.news/house-republ...

Ah, this this this! Search in Settings is probably the most obnoxiously frustrating piece of iOS, mainly because it could easily be made so much better.

Searching for settings in all the wrong places

Search and ye shall not find To say that it has been controversial every time Apple rejiggers Settings on any of their platforms is putting it mildly. It is evident that whatever iOS does with Sett…

sixcolors.com

18F was doing exactly the type of work that DOGE claims to want – yet we were eliminated shortly after midnight. Read our letter to the American people: 18f.org

Please consider becoming a member of @51st.news to help them build a sustainable local newsroom for DC that doesn't suck:

Bezos and the bad opinions brigade

Plus, ticket relief for low-income drivers, why restaurant workers unionize, and more.

51st.news

The pettiness and cruelty of these decisions is appalling.

Can someone explain to me how the former Union Station leaseholder—who lost their lease to their lender through foreclosure—has any standing to stop the eminent domain settlement between the lender and Amtrak? Is this just throwing spaghetti at the wall or is there something to this?

Former Union Station leaseholder wants to stop $505M payout - Washington Business Journal

Amtrak has agreed to pay $505 million for its Union Station takeover. Not so fast, Ashkenazy says.

bizjournals.com

"You know what? At least he is doing something. It may kill a lot of people. It may leave others without homes or jobs. But I respect a man of action, regardless of what that action is and whether or not it’s going to make things better or worse."

Voting for the Mayor Who Promised to Blow Up the City Doesn’t Mean I Approve of the Mayor Blowing Up the City

It’s so easy to label people these days. From the way folks have been talking, you’d think everyone falls into two buckets: those who voted against...

mcsweeneys.net