David Hurwitz
@davidwonderland.bsky.social
Working to bring about a technological solution to the bad debate problem. Traditional formats for fundamental reasons don't meet the common sense requirements for a great debate. Demagogues often win. The Big Lie lives.
A police decree made on this day in 1941 made it compulsory for all Jews over the age of six in Germany and the occupied territories to wear a yellow Star of David. Our collection contains a multitude of examples of these yellow stars, including from Germany, France and the Netherlands.
If you want something a little more low-key than salmon-hunting bears, I highly recommend the Puffin Loafing Ledge live feed from coastal Maine Right now, many puffins are, as promised, loafing on a ledge www.youtube.com/watch?v=daFe...
Maybe you're cheered by the perseverance of leaping salmon hurling themselves upstream, or perhaps you marvel at the patience of the bears that park themselves in the water to hunt the fish Either way, this live feed from Brooks Falls in Alaska's Katmai National Park will greatly improve your day
LIVE Brooks Falls - Katmai National Park, Alaska 2026 | explore.org
YouTube video by Explore Live Nature Cams
youtube.com
Murdering two American citizens was not a mistake, per Homan
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2mo agoHoman: "All the mistakes they say happened in Minnesota -- the mistakes them claim in Minnesota, a lot of them I don't think were mistakes."
Franklin's smackdown of Deane in a 1782 letter was brutal. "You are now considered as having abandoned the Cause of your Country, and as having with Arnold espoused that of its Enemies." @lizcovart.bsky.social founders.archives.gov/?q=%20Author...
...and did not say "fearing God and posthumous punishment is necessary to make a citizen in a practical sense willing to obey law." Did you not read Paine's "Age of Reason"? Paine did write of "the adulterous connection of church and state."!!! www.google.com/books/editio...
The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine
google.com
@adapalmer.bsky.social I was thoroughly enjoying your conversation about Machiavelli on the Dwarkesh podcast until Thomas Paine came up at 1:37:05. Shocking academic malpractice! Paine did not say "religion is vital to citizenship," did not say "religious education must be mandatory in schools,"...
Back by popular demand bsky.app/profile/adam...
King Algamemnon@adamrothman.bsky.social · 2y agoSince the president has signed an EO making English the official language of the United States, here is the first non-English copy of the Declaration of Independence, printed in German just days after July 4, 1776. We have always been multilingual. cdm16274.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/coll...
"The question is not, can they reason? Nor, can they talk? But can they suffer? Why should the law refuse its protection to any sensitive being? The time will come when humanity will extend its mantle over everything which breathes..." --Jeremy Bentham, Principles of Morals and Legislation"
Blanche was the one arguing that Trump could not be prosecuted (in court filings in Trump v US IN November 2023) on the grounds that “chief executives” before the revolution (kings) had prerogatives like immunity under the common law and that those continued for chief executives (presidents) after —
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4mo agoTrump: "We have a man who is doing a great job. I knew it! Because he kept me out of jail for years. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. He kept me out of jail."
This panel at the Giordano Bruno statue shows what happened in 1600 in Rome to the man who hypothesized that the sun is our local star and that there are an infinite number of stars in the universe.
I was on @msnowreports.bsky.social (Chris Jansing) this afternoon talking about "Rededicate 250" — the White House-promoted, govt-funded Christian nationalist event happening on the National Mall this Sunday. www.ms.now/chris-jansin...
White House to host 9-hour prayer festival on the National Mall this Sunday
The Trump administration is planning to host an all-day prayer festival on the National Mall this weekend. The event is raising questions about the separation of church and state. Visiting scholar at ...
ms.now
Of note: For the first time since 2024, Republicans are more likely to see Russia as an *enemy* of the US than as a *competitor*. www.pewresearch.org/global/2026/...
Trump's approval rating has declined among those who voted for him: 95% in January 2025 83% in January 2026 78% in April 2026 www.pewresearch.org/politics/202...
Far more Americans *disapprove very strongly* of Trump's job performance than *approve very strongly* of it (51% vs. 23%). Find much more here about Trump's job approval rating among Americans overall and among many demographic subgroups: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Detailed tables: Trump job approval, April 2026
docs.google.com
Trump's job approval rating has declined 14 percentage points among US Latinos since early last year. And it's declined nearly twice as much (-27 points) among the Latinos who voted for him in 2024. www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
Abraham Lincoln on the 19th-century anti-immigrant "Know Nothing" Party, which saw immigrants as seeking to impose Catholicism and thus destroy America's society and culture. (Letter to Joshua F. Speed, 1855)
![am not a Know—Nothing. That is certain. How could I be? How can any one who abhors the oppression of negroes, be in favor or degrading classes of white people? Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that “all men are created equal.” We now practically read it “all men are created equal, except negroes” When the Know—Nothings get control, it will read “all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics.” When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy [sic].
Mary will probably pass a day to two in Louisville in October. My kindest regards to Mrs. Speed. On the leading subject of this letter, I have more of her sympathy that I have of yours. And yet let me say I am
Your friend forever
A. Lincoln](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:egd33s7iuqsmwlwab6mbtrqi/bafkreie4yrhbcyn73depcdo4j536zkndtymvx2dne5ibklwzft6cwr22jm)
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 4mo agonot subtle
I (almost) (?) think they actually believe that.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 5mo agoRFK Jr: "A Democratic senator claimed it's mathematically impossible to have a drug drop by 600%. I said, 'Well, if the drug was $100 and it raises to $600, that would be a 600% rise. If it drops from $600 to $100, that's a 600% savings.'" Trump: "Right"
On any average day, 165,000 people die globally. That’s 60 million a year. What do they die from? 🔧📊 We built a new interactive tool that lets you answer this question, with data for every country. Globally, 75% of deaths are from non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Heart disease alone is 1 in 3.
Gift link: wapo.st/4svZYjA
Opinion | Hungary is a laboratory for illiberal nationalism. The results are in.
A 16-year experiment has yielded none of Viktor Orban’s stated goals.
wapo.st
Washington Post Opinions@postopinions.bsky.social · 5mo agoA 16-year experiment has yielded none of Viktor Orban’s stated goals, writes @johanknorberg.bsky.social, a senior fellow at the @cato.org. https://wapo.st/4c03oos
The president needed a reminder of what the Constitution says — we gave it to him.
Our immigrant loved ones were front of mind as we argued for babies born in the U.S. and everyone who loves them.
Bragging that the Trump administration is funneling millions of dollars to Christian ministries, Lance Wallnau says Christians must vote in the midterms because "the devil plans on impeaching Trump and stopping the move of funding." www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwat...
Right Wing Watch @rightwingwatch.bsky.social · 5mo agoMAGA cultist Christian nationalist Lance Wallnau declares that Trump is basically "a prophet in office": "This guy is an actual Old Testament prophet king." www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwat...
Also, characterizing an increase in the non-white population as "suicide" is a pure white supremacist trope, but you knew that.
As with "law enforcement shouldn't wear masks" and a dozen other questions, MAGA keeps trying to act like stuff that's been the universally accepted norm for centuries is some radical new left-wing proposal. Presumably on the assumption their base has no idea how anything works.
![Mary S. McElroy, United States District Judge.
The United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) possesses immense
prosecutorial authority and discretion. As citizens, we trust that federal prosecutors,
when wielding this awesome power against a state, a company, or certainly against
vulnerable children, will play fair and be honest with its counterparts and the
judiciary.
DOJ has proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case. It has
misrepresented and withheld information to both this Court and the United States
District Court for the Northern District of Texas (the “Texas court”). It did so in an
obvious effort to shield it’s recent investigative tactics—previously rejected by every
other court to review them—from this Court’s review, in favor of a distant forum that
DOJ deems friendly to its political positions.1 Its representatives have, under oath,
1 The presiding judge in the Texas court has branded “the Department of Justice, the
world's largest law firm” a “frequent forum shopper.” Opening Remarks from Judge
Reed O'Connor [2024 TX Chapters Conference], The Federalist Society (Oct. 22,
2024), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMTt9pxWBhA [https://perma.cc/GR7AH6N8]. It is clear that the DOJ has done so here.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:epjwh24cetnwmqx4kxmpjvyk/bafkreihntzcuueripot5ezl3t7yn2pgzvpmechrjekkjvvqe5z7ymhzb7q)
