We are witnessing progress in real time. Democrats are finally standing up to AIPAC and demanding an end to US complicity in genocide.
Carol is on a list somewhere 😏
@pierrette1789.bsky.social
Carol Monahan: 30yr tabletop game-industry veteran. "I worked in the WotC basement!" Singer of old music: find Conspiratio’s “Wassail!” on Bandcamp. VP of Crab Fragment & Cheapass Games: https://crabfragmentlabs.com she/her
I have just discovered that it is possible to fix the bad automatic closed captioning on YouTube videos! 🎉 So, for anybody learning the Dora Williams monologue from the Spoon River Anthology (I'd guess that's where the views come from) - I have put in the exact text. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWCz...
Spoon River Anthology Dora Williams
YouTube video by Robespierrette
youtube.com
Trump brags about making people go hungry: "We've lifted nearly 100,000 Nevadans off food stamps. And they don't want to be on food stamps."
NEW: DHS is using a lawsuit *against* DHS over alleged First Amendment violations to try to get access to protesters’ Signal group chats—a move the protesters’ attorneys say is, itself, a First Amendment violation. @regret.bsky.social w/ the scoop: www.wired.com/story/dhs-wa...
DHS Wants Protesters’ Signal Group Chats
A lawsuit accuses Homeland Security of violating protesters’ free-speech rights—but the agency is using it to try to get access to the plaintiffs’ encrypted communications.
wired.com
During the deepest Pandemic madness, I got $1800 per booster pack for some not-quite-first edition Pokémon. 😳 I am not complaining (nor is my retirement account), but that was ridiculous.
merritt@merrittk.com · 4h agoeverything is speculation now. everyone who threw out or gave away their pokemon cards or video games from 30 years ago has been driven mad by the thought that they could have made upwards of several hundred dollars off them
I think Democratic Socialists are winning primaries for the same reason Trump won in 2024. Namely, neither party has dealt with the massive problem of runaway wealth inequality. And the DS's are running on it. With Trump, I think fed-up voters just said, "Fuck it, let's burn this house down."
Why did Trump really win? It's simple, actually.
When the economy thrives while half of America struggles, something has got to give.
motherjones.com
NEW: Republicans tried to get Missourians to effectively kill direct democracy and ballot initiatives. Last night, Missourians literally laughed in their face — rejecting the measure by a massive 80% to 20%. Here’s what to know:
Missourians Reject Measure That Threatened to Kill Citizen-Led Ballot Initiatives - Bolts
Missourians on Tuesday overwhelmingly voted against a measure to restrict direct democracy, while state officials are trying to block even more citizen-led reforms from the November ballot.
boltsmag.org
Only real heads will get this, but: The documents helpfully released today by John Solomon appear to indicate that the FBI never continued its counterintelligence investigation against Trump once Mueller was appointed www.whitehouse.gov/releases/202...
Yikes
Manisha Krishnan@manishakrishnan.bsky.social · 6h agoNew: TikTok tells @ejdickson.bsky.social the Perez Hilton livestream, which appeared to show him covered in blood and wielding a knife, was flagged soon after it started but a "moderator error" prevented it from being taken down: www.wired.com/story/tiktok...
I don't own Google stock because I worked with them too much (even though they never gave me money! Not even for research...) but it seems like a Hassabis thing must be news #giftArticle https://wapo.st/4xsGb7L
This has got to stop! No corporation should be allowed to do this. Crocs Has a Trick for Dodging Taxes: a Tiny Office in Malta www.nytimes.com/2026/08/05/b...
How Malta Became a Tax Haven for Crocs and Other U.S. Companies (Gift Article)
The Mediterranean archipelago is a hot destination for U.S. companies seeking to shield profits from income taxes.
nytimes.com
Just to make the point abundantly clear, Chris Wallace is now a paid advisor to an investment firm that has a large stake in Paramount and a vested interest in getting the Warner Bros. merger over the line. www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/bus...
Chris Wallace: States Are Playing Politics With the Law to Block Paramount’s Warner Bros. Deal
"I don’t believe government should use its powers to determine who owns a news platform or to control how that outlet reports the news," writes the former Fox and CNN anchor, who is now a paid advisor...
hollywoodreporter.com
DURBIN: You wrote an article in which you claimed 'Black inmates are most like to become sexual aggressors.' Why should people of color believe you've changed? CRONAN: I co-authored the article. I haven't re-read it in a long time. DURBIN: Do you believe it? CRONAN: I'm not in a position to opine
Kevin is not exaggerating, VDARE was not white nationalist in the sense of "well if you get right down to it the modern GOP has always been white nationalist" VDARE was white nationalist in the sense of "yeah those Nazis sure are white nationalist"
Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 8h agoGonna go out on a limb here and say racist cranks who write for extremist white nationalist websites like VDARE should not, in fact, be confirmed to top roles in the Department of Justice.
This summer, the Capitol Hill Block Party happens in August
This summer, the Capitol Hill Block Party happens in August
No, you did not miss it. This summer, the Capitol Hill Block Party happens in August. The 28th annual edition of the E Pike music festival as we know it takes place this weekend, transforming its blocks into a fenced-off … Continue reading →
dlvr.it
Meta has made it repeatedly clear that one of their growth strategies is sexualizing kids. Mark Zuckerberg and his leadership team deserve to face personal liability for this, and the company deserves sanctions up to and including corporate dissolution
WIRED@wired.com · 9h agoOver the last nine months, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has run dozens of paid ads that include explicit AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and images of minors alongside sexually suggestive statements, according to details of the ads shared with WIRED.
I'd love to hear why my book White Flight -- which won prizes from the Southern Historical Association and the American Political Science Association -- was deemed not good enough for students at Texas A&M.
King Algamemnon@adamrothman.bsky.social · 24h agoOnly a matter of time before Texas forces @kevinmkruse.bsky.social to drink hemlock. www.aclutx.org/press-releas...
Your little oopsie "mistakes" had me worrying for a year of my life about my partner going to jail for up to a decade based on lies likely fed to you by the top of the federal government. Show everyone what you're covering up in these emails and texts. There's a reason you don't want them released.
Boutros acknowledges 'mistakes' in 'Broadview 6' case but says sanctions, special counsel aren't needed
Chicago's top federal prosecutor noted in a court filing that his office has already dropped charges in the case, implemented “robust root-cause changes” and started the process of reviewing over 1,00...
chicago.suntimes.com
This is just rank Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism, based on the bigoted idea that there is something inherently scary about a president with the last name "El-Sayed." It is incumbent on all of us to call it out.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 11h agoJD Vance: "We don't want the next administration, whoever -- god forbid you're gonna have President El-Sayed in three years ... "
Companies out there fleecing insecure folks who desperately want to look like an AI average of pretty people. 😒 “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are some one else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” - an actual, legit Oscar Wilde quote 😏
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 8h ago‘So destructive’: women are paying for face scans that tell them what cosmetic procedures to get
I checked in on the stock market today, and it looks like a great time to sell more tech & energy stocks. 😏 I have been happy to lock in some gains. 😊 Remember, “sell high”, so you have funds with which to “buy low”. If you only have funds, check their holdings, and rebalance accordingly! 👀
Sad that she’s using Substack, but this piece from Darcy Burner is worth the read: open.substack.com/pub/burnery/...
Teacups and Wood Chippers
Our hardest political questions arrive pre-loaded with two wrong answers. It's worth looking beyond false dichotomies to figure out real solutions.
open.substack.com
🧵🧵🧵 A scandal that hardly anyone knows happened is Trump giving traitor Michael Flynn $1.25 million in your tax money. Flynn, Trump’s 1st national security adviser, pleaded guilty twice to lying to the FBI but was pardoned by Trump. He sued, alleging "weaponization," and DOJ paid him in March. 1/4🧵
Justice Dept. Settles Flynn’s Wrongful Prosecution Suit for $1.25 Million (Gift Article)
The agreement was an extraordinary example of how the Trump administration has offered legal relief to those aligned with the president.
nytimes.com
Hunting people for sport is a well-known horror trope. I think humans are equipped to understand it - as depraved immorality. 😒
Anne Applebaum@anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 10h agoThe experience of being chased by a murderous kamikaze drone, a flying machine that behaves as if it were alive, is not one that humans are equipped to understand: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Exclusive: Senate inquiry suggests Trump administration softened kratom and tobacco policies in quid pro quo. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is at the center of a new investigation launched by Sen. Ron Wyden. www.statnews.com/2026/08/05/s...
Senate inquiry suggests Trump administration softened kratom and tobacco policies in quid pro quo
The Senate investigation includes RFK Jr. as well as the heads of Reynolds American and kratom company Botanic Tonics, asking for written responses and documentation by Aug. 31.
statnews.com
as noted yesterday, Trump has now come around to treating an Iranian toll system covering the Strait of Hormuz as a given. Hard to overstate the level of strategic failure. US started the war purely as a war of choice and ends up dramatically empowering Iran and given the Iranian govt big wins.
Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 10h agoReuters: Iran wants fees of 5%-7% of the price of cargo from ships using the strait; Oman wants 3%. "Making fees voluntary, at least nominally, could be a way out of the impasse, although an implied threat of Iranian attacks could mean shippers would be unlikely to risk transit without paying."
CHAFETZ PLANS TO LOSE WEIGHT ON ALL-FRENCH-FRY-AND-GIN DIET
FinTwitter@fintwitter.bsky.social · 13h agoSPACEX PLANS MOON FACTORIES POWERED BY HUMANOID ROBOTS