Amid the 250th, I'm excited to announce my new book: "America in 25 Revolutions: The 250-year quest of an imperfect country to be a more perfect union." Writing it reminded me that we have always been an imperfect country—but change is possible: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/a-project-...

A project of hope and optimism for our 250th

"America 250" can't just be a tacky birthday party. It has to be a moment when we assess where our country has come — and where it still has to go.

doomsdayscenario.co

Does anyone feel like doing a good deed today? Our shelter kittens need baby food! www.amazon.com/Gerber-Puree... Please order and ship to: PAWS 517 SE 3rd St. Pendleton, OR 97801 #cats #kittens #adoptdontshop

Gordon Wood died yesterday at 92 after being struck by a car in East Providence. He was my Phd advisor and I recall some experiences with him. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/gordo...

Gordon Wood Dies at 92

I just heard the news that Gordon Wood, a towering figure in...

talkingpointsmemo.com

60 Minutes' Sharyn Alfonsi pens a goodbye note slamming Bari Weiss' actions against her "as a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting." Read the rest:

My bold futurecast is that the kids in elementary school today are going to fucking love physical books. Pages and pages of just the actual book. No ads. No AI tailoring the story to them. Just book.

"Just today, we learned that there's a $1.776 billion dollar slush fund set up by the government to pay off criminals!"

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3mo ago

JD Vance: "Fighting fraud in DC is a little bit like fishing in a barrel with a nuclear weapon. Every day my staff brings me new reports of the ways you're being defrauded. You should not be able to steal from all of you and give it to fraudsters."

The vast majority of Americans are birthright citizens. Unless you naturalized or were born abroad to an American parent, you are a citizen because of the 14th Amendment. There is nothing constitutionally distinct about Americans born here to non-Americans. We are all literally equal citizens.

One of the great problem with journalism prizes is that they are mostly awarded based on the year a piece is published and not once their true power has been recognized. But if ever there were a case for a special award...it should go to Julie.

Julie K. Brown@jkbjournalist.bsky.social · 6mo ago

Never in a million years did I ever fathom when I resurrected the Epstein story in 2018 that it would lead to first arrest of a British Royal in four centuries. Not since King Charles I was arrested in 1647. open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...

BREAKING: The Epstein survivors are releasing this ad on this Super Bowl Sunday to send the message that they will not “move on” from the largest sex trafficking scandal in the world. #standwithsurvivors

Crazy to see the UK responding to the Epstein files with actual consequences—there apparently shame and the rule of law still have some weight

The National@scotnational.bsky.social · 6mo ago

BREAKING: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has been formally reported to the police over allegations he was involved in the trafficking of a woman to the UK for sex in 2010

81 years ago today, Auschwitz was liberated. More than ever, we must remember. Remembrance is a responsibility. On Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember the victims, honour the survivors, and reflect on what happens when good people do nothing. #HMD26

In conversation back in 1994, the late Russian environmentalist Alexi Yablokov explained the problem of rebuilding democracy this way: "If you have a tank of live fish, it is fairly easy to make fish soup. Once you have fish soup, however, it is very difficult to make a tank of life fish again."

„CSU—US’s largest public uni system—went all-in with a $17mill partnership with OpenAI. . .CSU unveiled its grand technological gesture just as it proposed slashing $375mill from its budget. While admin cut ribbons on AI, they were cutting faculty positions, academic programs, student services.“

AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself

Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.

currentaffairs.org

The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste

violet allen@blipstress.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.

Part 2. One for all and all for one. Every member of the White House press corps should stand never again stay silent when Trump calls one of their colleagues Piggy or tells another that she is insubordinate for asking a question.

This seems a significantly worse "tell" of derangement -Sen Kelly has flown nearly 40 *combat missions* as a pilot. -He's done 375+ carrier landings (Jeesh!) -He's been in space as astronaut. -He's flown 50+ different kinds of aircraft And Hegseth and Trump are picking fight about valor with him?

Adam Schwarz@adamjschwarz.bsky.social · 8mo ago

The Department of Defense announces it's considering "court-martial proceedings or administrative measures" against Democratic Senator Mark Kelly.

Great piece on Trump's 'Quiet, piggy' moment. This phrase could be the new shorthand way to explain how abusers silence their victims. Keep quiet or be punished cruelly. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/19/h...

Heidi Stevens: After Trump’s ‘Quiet, piggy’ moment, we’re done asking why survivors don’t come forward, right?

If we’re going to become a nation that truly protects children and women, we have to stop giving a pass to sexual abusers, writes Heidi Stevens.

chicagotribune.com

Ladies & Gentlemen, without further ado, let us present to you the 550 year old Arbour Oak in Wollaton Park, Nottingham

Shivelight and shadowtackle Fast changing shafts of sunlight piercing or filtering through foliage and the canopy of a wood The words were created by the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins in 1888

Barred Owl with an autumn backdrop. #birds #owls #barredowl #wildlife #photography #nature #fallcolours 🪶

Heretic Coffee in Portland, Oregon has announced that starting Nov 1st they will provide breakfast to those in the community who will be facing hunger due to SNAP benefits not being sent out in November. "we know it’s not much, but we’ll do our best to keep you fed" - Heretic Coffee #Pinks

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"

Nice bit of news. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Volunteers in Cumbria to plant miles of new hedgerow this winter

The Countryside Charity is aiming to plant and restore 27 miles (43km) of hedgerow.

bbc.co.uk

📽️ WATCH: Epidemiologist Erin McCanlies spent much of the past 20 years studying how parents’ exposure to toxic chemicals affects the chances that they will have an autistic child. RFK Jr. cut her entire division — yet promises to identify the causes of autism by September: https://propub.li/4nhXQua

Good morning. Lottie walked. Time for a brew.

Rest in power

CNN@cnn.com · 11mo ago

Joseph McNeil, one of four North Carolina college students whose occupation of a racially segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter 65 years ago helped spark nonviolent civil rights sit-in protests across the South, died, his university said. He was 83. https://cnn.it/3JOhsqT

Here's an owlet showing off his flexibility last week.🪶

Man of the people

Mike Masnick@masnick.com · 12mo ago

What good is being VP if you can't abuse your power to have the Army Corps of Engineers making your kayaking trip more ideal by changing the waterflow of a lake? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...