Rani Bagai
@ranibagai.bsky.social
Just another half Indian woman married to a Jewish lawyer | Granddaughter of Indian immigrants | family archivist | retired engineer | I enjoy collecting historians, fellow resisters and pottery
That last sentence is just deadly, and so true. “And our greatest strength is something that can’t be found on any balance sheet - TRUST.”
Mark Carney@mark-carney.bsky.social · 2d agoThe world is looking at Canada differently — and we should look at ourselves differently, too.
Picture a monkey's hand stuck in a cookie jar, & wanting the cookie inside so bad it'll starve before dropping it. “There’s this incredible array of benefits we’re on the verge of getting. The threats people like this trot out every time they have this conversation is implausible...they’re nuts.”
A researcher quit Anthropic. His warning is reigniting fears about the AI race
The announcement spurred a remark from another researcher at the company, responsible for ensuring its AI models adhere to human values, who warned that the technology was a risk to humanity.
seattletimes.com
Give up the principle of equality & you’ve given up the whole game --admitted people are unequal, and some people are better than others. You’ve granted approval to the idea of rulers and servants. At that point, all you can do is hope no one in power decides you belong in one of the lesser groups.
HCR HQ@hcrhq.bsky.social · 2w agoAugust 29, 2026 On Thursday, Tolouse Olorunnipa reported on the attempts of Republican lawmakers to restrict the ability of naturalized and dual citizens to run for office. In several states, Republican lawmakers have introduced measures to cut those Americans out of candidacy for elected positions…
One of the most illuminating essays I’ve ever read, comparing the power and influence of the East India Company to today’s tech corporations. It had been the most powerful corporation in history, in terms of its military, economic and political influence --until today. What a fascinating read.
Opinion | What It Took to Dismantle the Most Powerful Company in the World (Gift Article)
A playbook to curb the growing power of Big Tech.
nytimes.com
Excellent thread! "But I think the sooner we understand that this is not a 'growing pain' but rather an eternal struggle against a part of human nature that was adaptive millennia ago but is now a pure poison to society, the sooner we can get to the work of building fascism-resistant societies."
"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux@bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 3w agoI want to expand on this in a short thread. Fascism sucks. It is also not going away: it is an effectively permanent part of modern representative politics because it is an effectively permanent part of human nature. We have to be prepared to push back against it, basically forever.
JFC. *Not knowing* that your privacy is being violated is the *very definition* of your privacy being violated.
Abdul El-Sayed@abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 4w agoDoes it ever feel like you're in a cage being watched? Well, you are. By Flock cameras, thanks to Mike Rogers.
An Eisenhower stamp without adhesive and a rolled up vinyl tape measure.
Helen Kennedy@helenkennedy.com · last mo.For a junk drawer to legally qualify as a real junk drawer, what is the ONE absolute mandatory item it must include? A cocktail swizzle stick from a place you don't remember.
***Take action against NARA closure*** The federal government recently announced that it will be closing the National Archives and Records Administration branches in San Bruno, CA and Chicago, IL and move all their historical records to a site with no research. Write a letter! Thread - 1/2
My father Ram Bagai at 5 in San Francisco with a friend, observing July 4, 1919. He was a baby when he came from India with my grandparents. He got 3 college degrees & raised a family in Los Angeles. It wasn't until 1946 that he and other Indians in US were legally allowed to apply for citizenship.
So this happened! Desis & those who know will get it. The Consulate of India in Seattle held an Indian Mango event & I got a box. Haven’t had one in decades & the difference in aroma, texture & taste is stunning. ❤️ They’re pricy but SO worth it. They’re around only a few more weeks. #IndianMangoes
Imagine trusting science to bring astronauts to the moon and back but not trusting science to develop safe vaccines.
Gift article. "The [Bhagat Singh Thind] ruling led the government to strip citizenship retroactively from Mr. Thind, his lawyer and more than 50 other naturalized citizens of Indian heritage." One of those 50 was my grandfather, Vaishno Das Bagai. This time it could happen to birthright citizens.
In the Birthright Citizenship Hearing, a Story of Asians Fighting for Rights
nytimes.com
On behalf of my grandfather Vaishno Das Bagai, whose story you included on pg 10, I deeply thank you.
Sue McMahon@suemcmahon.bsky.social · 7mo agoI am beyond proud to be a part of the team that drafted this amicus for the Korematsu Ctr & other nonprofits/race & law ctrs in the birthright citizenship case. In it, we tell the stories of the concrete harms when the government has stripped citizenship in the past and the retroactive risks now.
The American eagle, bad enough. But when I learned the other is a Canada Goose I'm just sick.
Mark Hamill@markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 7mo agoJust when you thought the #EpsteinAdministration couldn't degrade our country any further:
Total love & respect for The Pitt latest episode with the rape kit exam. The one part I couldn’t help giggling was knowing what nurse Dana would say before she said it: “now scoot down….more….a little more”
The FA part continues its binge, the only rule is “never leave money on the table.” The FO part is silently building. It’s going to be quite a reckoning. 😳
Judd Legum@juddlegum.bsky.social · 7mo ago1. On Kalshi, over $100 MILLION was wagered on what song Bad Bunny would perform first during the Super Bowl On CNBC, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour was presented with a hypothetical: Would it be OK for Bad Bunny's dancers, who knew what song would be played first, to bet? His answer might surprise you
Amazing pics of the Seattle crowds lining downtown for the Seahawks parade. Maybe close to a million? The 12s could do the funniest thing afterward --turn this into a “FUCK ICE” protest #Seahawks #seattle #superbowlXL #fuckice
You can watch all the videos you want on how to fold a fitted sheet. You still get a lumpy wrinkled mess on the inside, but deceptively smooth on the outside.
It’s genuinely bizarre that people who refuse to show their face or identify themselves are demanding identification from people who are fully visible.
I really hate these customer surveys about better meeting my needs, but the VERY FIRST question is “how likely are you to recommend us to others?” What they really want to know is “hey how much referral business are we likely to get out of you?” and not what they’d have to change to make that happen
"It's simple economics. Today it's oil, right? In ten or fifteen years, food. Plutonium. Maybe even sooner. Now, what do you think the people are gonna want us to do then? Ask them? ... They won't want us to ask 'em. They'll just want us to get it for 'em!" Cliff Robertson - 3 Days of the Condor
We’re in a moment now where it would be worth people taking three hours to watch Gandhi, particularly the scene of the salt march. There is value to making the brutality of your opponent so plain as day that no one can argue with it. The clarity of that brought down an empire
This is what every Blue State governor should be doing —targeting their attackers in the same voice. Be as offensive as all hell, make the same kind of bs threats, and when they get outraged just smirk & say they should take you seriously but not literally.
