Showing my patriotism today 🇺🇲✌🏼

PBS insisted on removing a 90-second segment from a documentary about Art Spiegelman that was critical of Donald Trump. Daniel Engber reports on a worrying trend in public television:

Now PBS Is Censoring a Film About Free Speech

A worrying pattern has taken hold in public television.

bit.ly

You’ve probably seen headlines about no-fault divorce being under attack, and maybe thought it couldn’t actually happen. But after Roe, this is what’s next. This week’s Okay, But Why is about how no-fault divorce protects women and why it’s the next target in the fight over women’s rights.

Okay, But Why Is No-Fault Divorce At Risk?

You may have seen headlines recently about extremists going after no-fault divorce. “Yeah, okay, I’ve seen those stories,” your friends might say, “but… why would they do that?” The answer, of course, is simple: it’s about controlling women. Critics of no-fault divorce, like JD Vance, claim that it’s bad for couples and especially bad for kids. But the data just doesn’t bear that out. The really important thing to know is that no-fault divorce protects women. There was a 15% decrease in female suicides in states that passed no-fault divorce laws and a 30% decrease in domestic violence. Each one of those statistics is a real story — and you can hear some of them in this week’s episode. A few years ago, an end to no-fault divorce seemed unlikely. But after the end of Roe v Wade, of course this is the next legal right to land on the...

youtu.be

So glad I made an appt to get my NJ real ID way back during the first week of January so I could ✨still✨ be waiting for it to arrive in the mail 4 months later when the new air travel requirements go into effect 🥲

JUST IN: ProPublica’s “Life of the Mother” series, which exposes the fatal consequences of abortion bans, has won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. This is the second consecutive year we’ve been awarded this distinction and our eighth Pulitzer: www.propublica.org/series/life-...

"MSNBC's Tom Costello claimed Friday that an air traffic controller who works at Newark airport said, ‘It is not safe. It is not a safe situation right now for the flying public. Don't fly into Newark. Avoid Newark at all costs.’”

Gridlock, massive flight delays at one of the busiest U.S. airports

Travelers at Newark Airport this week faced hours-long delays and disruptions. Tom Costello reports.

msnbc.com

I don’t think a better headline could have been written about what happened yesterday. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Cory Booker, winding down: "We need a greater love in this country a greater fight in this country a greater determination." And re: Strom Thurmond: "I'm not here because of his speech. I'm here despite his speech. The people are more powerful."

Why are we letting the Trump administration make us debate whether the attack info was classified, or war plans? If an enemy or a journalist had obtained it wrongfully & made it public, is there any doubt in your mind how the Trump government would’ve treated them? Let’s not play their game.

During a heated Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Mark Warner described the actions of the nation's top intelligence officials as "sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior."

'Plain sloppiness': Sen. Mark Warner says on Signal chat fiasco

During a heated Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Tuesday, Sen. Mark Warner described the actions of the nation's top intelligence officials as "sloppy, careless, incompetent behavior.

npr.org

Incompetence and corruption

WIRED@wired.com · last yr.

Our review of public data exposed on Venmo accounts suggests that the Signal group chat was not an isolated mistake, but part of a broader pattern of what national security experts describe as reckless behavior by some of the most powerful people in the US government.

Why is it always 😂😭 and never 😭😂...

In better news, I went to NYC's MoCCA fest this weekend, and got this goose scarf by @ladlegull.bsky.social which has brought me joy on a level I'd call bordering on illegal

I know this first hand. When I was a child, my entire community was branded as spies and sabateurs, justifying our internment inside barbed wire camps for years without due process, trial or charge.

Donald Trump’s allies have pivoted from denying that his policies will hurt consumers to insisting that consumers should welcome the pain, Scott Lincicome writes.

How Republicans Learned to Love High Prices

Donald Trump’s allies have pivoted from denying that his tariffs will hurt consumers to insisting that consumers should welcome the pain.

theatlantic.com

The Democrats should pay close attention to this. This is a far better approach than appeasement. Finding common ground is not synonymous with abandoning your principles.

Powerful Speeches From Trans Dems Flip 29 Republicans, Anti-Trans Bills Die In Montana

Transgender Reps Zooey Zephyr and SJ Howell delivered powerful speeches on the Montana House floor on Thursday. Republicans defected en masse to join them in voting against anti-trans bills.

erininthemorning.com

“We’re asking people to divest from Target because they have turned their back on our community,” Rev. Jamal Bryant, a prominent Atlanta-area megachurch pastor who started the boycott

CNN@cnn.com · last yr.

Target is facing a 40-day consumer boycott starting Wednesday over the company’s shift away from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.

The assumption that people who have no relationship to an experience are unbiased and those who do have a relationship are biased is a stupid prejudice. Often direct experience dispels established assumptions about rape, prison, etc..... Wrote about that a few years ago.

Does experiencing harm make you biased and untrustworthy? Some think so | Rebecca Solnit

Society’s idea of prejudice is itself prejudiced. It’s time to confront that

theguardian.com

Aura Bogado@aurabogado.bsky.social · last yr.

Years ago a white editor* asked if I was biased about immigration stories because I'm an immigrant. I've been asked a version of this question dozens of times since. The driving idea is that people who embody difference introduce bias; it's the framework that maintains white supremacy in newsrooms.

“People will die, but we will never know, because even the programs to count the dead are cut.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/h...

U.S. Terminates Funding for Polio, H.I.V., Malaria and Nutrition Programs Around the World

Here are some of the 5,800 contracts the Trump administration formally canceled this week in a wave of terse emails.

nytimes.com

2. ECONOMIC BLACKOUT. We support the economic boycott occurring this Friday, Feb. 28, of any entity that has dismantled their DEI programs and pandered to this administration. The buck will stop with us!

Welcome to the Golden age of Incompetence, Corruption and Crony Capitalism.

The Atlantic@theatlantic.com · last yr.

Many of Donald Trump’s actions appear senseless to onlookers, writes @jonrauch.bsky.social. They have left many asking, “What exactly is Donald Trump doing?” The answer is simple. It’s corruption:

I think it’s not helpful to repeat claims that the administration is working on eliminating “DEIA” as though it’s some kind of corporate strategy; just say explicitly that they’re trying to eliminate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, and explain how.

PBS has some great shows for this, like All Creatures Great and Small. It's what I watched immediately following the election. I want more stories like that-- everyday characters who are good to each other and support each other through terrifying times

Corey Brickley@coreybrickley.bsky.social · last yr.

v good thread about how we need more morally good underdog good guys over west wing rules lawyers good guys

I'll take the wins where I can!

19thnews@19thnews.org · last yr.

An equal percent of women protagonists dazzled on the silver screen in the top grossing films of 2024, according to two annual studies released on Tuesday. This is the first time in either study’s history that this feat has been achieved. www.instagram.com/p/DF_JaXiPwZK/

Just finished reading The Haunting of Hill House (I find horror weirdly soothing in these frightening times) and I can't stop thinking how similar Eleanor Vance is to No Face from Spirited Away, in their childlike mirroring, fixations and narcissism. #booksky 💙📚

🔴CALLING ALL ARTISTS🔴 Christie's NYC is planning an AI art auction expected to bring in over $600,000 to creators who've used models trained on copyrighted material from non-consenting artists. If you object to this, please sign and share this open letter. openletter.earth/cancel-the-c...

My apologies to anyone who followed me thinking my posts would be all kidlit and design related, but I..um, I've not been okay for a good 2+ months

Ami Berger@amiberger.bsky.social · last yr.

The cognitive dissonance of getting up every morning and making coffee and walking the dog and going to meetings and answering emails and wondering what to make for dinner while there is a real live actual coup d’etat happening is BONKERS

The newest Rep from Maryland came out swinging: Representative Elfreth: "Elon Musk has called said a criminal organization, and yet, he is the one who came in the dark of night in a takeover that is illegal."

In 2016 the NYT ran multiple front page stories page about the grave national security risk of Hillary Clinton's server. Today's front page, and nary a mention of the successful "plutocratic coup" (said by a sitting House member) or "constitutional crisis (said by a sitting Senator) unfolding

19th News [Jan 19] -- New 592-page anthology, “A History of Transgender Medicine in the United States,” took its 40 editors more than a decade to compile. It documents how GAC is not experimental, not new, and not even confined to trans people. Available Feb 1. [HT @denisenorris.bsky.social]

Gender-affirming care isn’t new. An upcoming book sheds light on its history.

More than 40 authors contributed to “A History of Transgender Medicine in the United States,” which took its expert editors more than a decade to compile.

19thnews.org