I’m old enough to remember Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.
Governor Tim Walz@governorwalz.mn.gov · 2h agoDonald Trump dodged the draft but is happy to post photos of himself in uniform while he sends our kids to die in his war.
Mark Simpson-Vos
@simpsonvos.bsky.social
I care about ideas doing work in the world Professional humanist and book editing person Seeking to enter by the narrow gate. Religion | History | Indigeneity | Music | Sport MN born NC by choice Always #GDTBATH | #DurhamNC #BullCity
Governor Tim Walz@governorwalz.mn.gov · 2h ago
A Church of Christ pastor in KS writing to FDR, 1935: "you have awakened the slumbering conscience to the need of social government...critics call it state socialism...But I believe James, the great socialist writer of the New Testament, calls it 'pure & undefiled religion before God & the father.'"
I’ve been screening our documentary with organizing communities in the South. So far, the organizers mention data centers first at every single event. From racial justice orgs to old school activists who don’t usually think about tech policy. This has legs.
#ncpol #nc11 www.cnn.com/2026/08/04/p...
GOP leaders privately push embattled Rep. Chuck Edwards to abandon reelection bid | CNN Politics
House Republican leaders are privately working to convince Rep. Chuck Edwards to abandon his reelection bid for a competitive North Carolina seat after an ethics report dropped against the congressman...
cnn.com
It’s not Friday but you should follow @jackjenkins.me if you aren’t already.
Jack Jenkins@jackjenkins.me · yesterdayFun fact: I just published the full story on this topic mere minutes ago. By my count, at least 12 pastors, seminarians & former clergy have launched campaigns for federal office this year, and 5 are already nominees. In response, the GOP is attacking their faith. religionnews.com/2026/08/04/p...
Leaving the theological and denominational questions aside, as a native Midwesterner with family roots in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, just gonna say the political strategy of calling Lutherans “not real Christians” seems poorly conceived.
Teddy Wilson@reportbywilson.bsky.social · yesterdayHighly recommend listening to @jackjenkins.me in conversation with Dr. Amanda Henderson:
The North Carolina legislature is considering an elections bill with several problematic provisions. One changes rules for challenging ballots, allowing votes cast during early voting to be challenged up to 3 days after Election Day.
When this kind of thing happens we should say it was Tillis’d. TACO could also be Tillis Always Chickens Out. Cannot exaggerate how glad I am this man will not be my senator in a couple months.
Josh Marshall@joshtpm.bsky.social · 2d agoFaux Deal Ends Faux Fight Over Blanche Nomination talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...
Still can’t over the fact that the president of the United States just told an entire state to pound sand after getting cyberattacked by a foreign adversary because they didn’t vote for him and it was treated like a Tuesday lol
So exhausted already by the meme that the "tells" of gen AI writing are when something is structurally aping the way a decent professional writer writes, rather than when it's meaningless word salad. (You will take my em dashes, sets of three, and lack of typos from my cold, dead hands.)
Julia Serano@juliaserano.bsky.social · 3d agonothing shouts "I don't read much" more than when you equate em-dashes with AI. as Kat says here: 1) AI uses em-dashes BECAUSE AUTHORS USE THEM & AI IS TRAINED ON OUR WRITINGS! 2) "AI checkers" are complete bunk (just another AI bullshit machine), 3) this is not a "list of three" haha
This thread - documenting the rapid growth of a new fire into Spokane, WA today - is terrifying. We’re used to wildfires in the Northwest but what’s happening right now in eastern Washington is not normal.
Spokane Rising@spokanerising.com · 4d agoHoly crap. Level 3 (GO NOW!) zone now includes urban Spokane, south of Francis to Wellesley. Level 2 (GET SET!) zone now extends east of Division. Not to be alarmist, but at this rate, it’s not inconceivable that the Old Trails Fire merges with the Fairview Fire.
I am stunned to hear of the passing of the fierce, brilliant and principled scholar activist Johanna Fernandez. Johanna's scholarship will endure. She was a gem and the world is worse for her no longer being here. Rest in power, comrade.
Tragic. Fernandez’s book on the Young Lords is terrific and she was a brilliant historian and committed activist.
jentrification@jentrification.com · 4d ago"Dr. Johanna Fernández, the Dominican American historian, prison abolitionist, and movement scholar, died on July 30, 2026, after a years-long struggle with non-small cell lung cancer. She was 55."
I know no one cares what I think but my wife (Classics major) and I saw the Odyssey last night and we both think it was decidedly mid. We are both Nolan fans and think this is some of his weakest work. Elements and scenes good at times but the overall experience just meh.
Take a careful look at this map. As these places begin to hit their adaptation physical limits, 100s of millions of people are going to be on the move. We are utterly unprepared.
"A former tantric sex coach who has become the world's 1st elected anarcho-capitalist president announced in the @financialtimes.com he would be transforming Argentina, the planet's eighth largest country, into a tax haven for 'non-human corporations' fully owned by AI entities" ✏️ @thenerve.news
Peter Thiel, precogs and ‘non-human corporations’ – welcome to the wild world of AI Argentina
President Milei’s plans to turn my country into an anarchic tech paradise makes him just the latest character in the nation’s long history of chancers and dictators, writes Uki Goñi
thenerve.news
The great historian Robert A. Gross, author of the prize-winning, The Minutemen and Their World, has written a historically-informed, nuanced rejoinder to J.D. Vance’s use of U.S. history as a tool of blood-and-soil nationalism. theamericanscholar.org/gratitude-is...
Gratitude Isn’t Everything - The American Scholar
The revolutionary Patriots owed much to their forefathers, but their fight for universal rights embraced a wider mission
theamericanscholar.org
As I was just saying. Add the Department of Health and Human Services to the list. This is why I keep saying: we must continue to bear witness and tell the truth.
Bill Kristol@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 4d agoThe Interior Department is lying. DOJ is lying. DOD is lying. It goes without saying DHS is lying. And whatever setbacks they suffer (which are good!), they will keep on lying. The Trump administration won't change. It can't be fixed. The task is to weaken it, and limit the damage it can do.
This has been reported elsewhere but what stands out to me in this story is the pattern: lie about a proven federal program and its purpose and work to kill it by a thousand cuts. Congress needs to act to protect the specific regulations that has made Head Start such a success.
Trump Administration Plans to Upend Head Start by Deregulating It
The White House tried but failed to block funding for preschool for poor children. Instead, it will seek to strip away standards on health, literacy — and brushing teeth.
nytimes.com
If you’re interested in going deeper on John Henry in US history and legend, Scott Nelson’s book on the subject is excellent
Steel Drivin' Man: John Henry, the Untold Story of an American Legend
The ballad "John Henry" is the most recorded folk song in American history and John Henry--the mighty railroad man who could blast through rock faster than a steam drill--is a towering figure in our c...
bookshop.org
Natalie Weiner@natalieweiner.bsky.social · last wk.everybody's talking about the odyssey, but america has a meaty epic poem with countless interpretations all its own: john henry www.dontrocktheinbox.com/on-john-henr...
Took me a few days to catch up to this but it’s a good read. I’ve long been fascinated by John Henry’s place in American history and myth. I can imagine humans many generations hence debating which is “the” version to sing.
Natalie Weiner@natalieweiner.bsky.social · last wk.everybody's talking about the odyssey, but america has a meaty epic poem with countless interpretations all its own: john henry www.dontrocktheinbox.com/on-john-henr...
Historian @jonearle.bsky.social has a new book coming out next week on the election of 1860. I can't wait to read it. No spoilers please! 🗃 www.abrahamlincoln1860.com
He Has The People | Dive into Abraham Lincoln's 1860 Election by Jonathan Earle
Discover He Has The People, a compelling exploration of Abraham Lincoln's 1860 election. Perfect for history fans, students, and political enthusiasts.
abrahamlincoln1860.com
These assholes are purporting to terminate her DACA status because they are claiming that her illegal deportation by the US government counts as her traveling outside the US and thus violated the conditions of her DACA status.
Valerie Gonzalez@valontheborder.bsky.social · 6d agoNew: An RGV mother deported to Mexico despite having DACA filed a lawsuit against the federal government after it notified her it would be terminating her DACA status because of “unauthorized travel” stemming from her deportation. apnews.com/article/daca...
“Brian Doerksen gave evangelicalism its soundtrack but not its current theology” - Yours Truly on how the “Jesus is my boyfriend” sounds of Doerksen & the Vineyard gave way to the rock ‘em sock ‘em militarism of top-selling worship music today: religionnews.com/2026/07/30/b...
Brian Doerksen gave evangelicalism its soundtrack but not its current theology
(RNS) — Today's evangelical worship culture often reflects a very different vision of God than the one Doerksen’s songs proclaimed.
religionnews.com
Ameaka Fatima Nkempu, a Johns Hopkins University researcher in public health, was detained by ICE while boarding a domestic flight. She says she is Cameroonian in a Medium article that she authored. As of Thursday morning, the ICE Online Detainee Locator did not list where she was being held.
Baltimore Banner@thebaltimorebanner.com · 6d agoICE detains Hopkins public health researcher as agency expands airport arrests