♥️ this part ♥️ “We must recover the sense of the majesty of the creation and the ability to be worshipful in its presence. For it is only on the condition of humility and reverence before the world that our species will be able to remain in it.” ~Wendell Berry

Matthew Dowd@matthewjdowd.bsky.social · 22h ago

RIP one of my favs poet/farmer Wendell Berry, sadly died this past week on 8/31. “We have lived by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. ... We have been wrong. We must change our lives, so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption...

Even by Doctorow's standards, this is quite a thread.

By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C)@doctorow.pluralistic.net · 3d ago

Amazon's own balance sheet presents the most compelling evidence that we are stuck in the Enshittocene, the era in which everything is turning into a pile of shit, because the worst ideas of the worst people now make the most money. 1/

Yet another outrageous narrow-minded Greg Abbott proposal to weaken our public schools—banning foreign teachers. As Marble Falls exemplifies in this short video interview, these teachers fill vital roles. The real threat to Texas public school students is not foreign; it’s Greg Abbott.

How 3400 people make the wealthiest 1% look bad.

tanya tussing@tanyatussing.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 4mo ago

Oh my, all that 0.1% wealth is in the hands of the 0.00001%

Instead of not buying beef, a better option for US ranchers and feed lot operators is to buy beef from sources closer to US ranchers/feed lot operators. For example…

Ron Filipkowski@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 3d ago

Me crossing beef off my shopping list …

This is a nice picture. Really makes the case that what we are seeing with investment is not crowding out by AI. It is a collapse in investment for other reasons, that is being partially offset by datacenter construction.

Dom White@domw.bsky.social · 5d ago

Is this crowding out?

A Trump official diverted firefighting resources to a fire on his private ranch. He got 9 aircraft for the 7-acre fire while the 90,000 acre Grasshopper fire in Oregon got about the same. These guys kneecapped wildfire prevention and now they’re diverting what few resources remain for personal gain.

Trump official faces inquiry over claims he diverted wildfire resources to his own property

Exclusive: Michael Boren, a senior official overseeing the US Forest Service, is accused by Democratic senators of ‘inappropriate interference’

theguardian.com

[1/2] Amidst so much double talk and secrecy while bulldozers operate in Big Bend, it’s a sign that our public outcry may be working. CBP Comm. Rodney Scott announced a pause on construction while he talks with locals and law enforcement. www.texastribune.org/2026/08/17/t...

Trump administration pausing Big Bend construction

It was not immediately clear how long CBP plans to implement the pause. The Trump administration had announced plans to build an access road and vehicle barriers in the park.

texastribune.org

Good explainer

Dean Baker@deanbaker13.bsky.social · 5d ago

Privatizing Social Security is about adding enormous waste and inefficiency to give trillions of dollars to the financial industry deanbaker22.substack.com/p/the-rich-a...

This is what he’s focused on? Not ending his disastrous Iran War, stopping the stupid trade wars he’s started, or much of anything to end the cost-of-living emergency on his watch?

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 2w ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Trump signs order directing interior secretary to rename Lake Ontario to 'Lake America' as Canada trade war persists.

My new book #WhatHappenedToLiberalDemocracy is out on August 11. Here is a brief message about my motivation for writing this book and its central thesis. Pre-order links are available here: shapingwork.mit.edu/what-happene.... I hope you will join me in the discussion.

Very excited to share what we built at @economicsecurityproject.org: the Affordability Dashboard. There's a bunch of scattered data I'm always pulling, stuff useful for politicos, reporters, and activists on affordability, so we put it in one place. /1 economicsecurityproject.org/resource/aff...

Affordability Dashboard

Childcare. Healthcare. Groceries. Gas. Every essential costs more since the pandemic.

economicsecurityproject.org

😳 "the Washington Post reported that the renovations Trump is making to the White House campus will cost at least $927 million, with that money coming primarily from taxpayers." substack.com/home/post/p-...

August 12, 2026

In Minnesota yesterday, close Trump ally Mike Lindell, the former chief executive officer of MyPillow, lost the Republican primary for governor to Republican state house speaker Lisa Demuth.

substack.com

The American Economic Liberties Project @econliberties.bsky.social released this week a report advocating for the banning of prior authorization. Whether you want to "right size" or outright ban prior auth, this is an important read highlighting its harms. www.economicliberties.us/press-releas...

New Economic Liberties Report Calls for Federal and State Bans on Prior Authorization - New Economic Liberties Report Calls for Federal and State Bans on Prior Authorization

The American Economic Liberties Project today released a report calling for federal and state bans on prior authorization, the process that lets private health insurers, rather than treating physician...

economicliberties.us

Have you or a loved one had care unfairly denied or delayed because of prior authorization? We want to hear your story: earful.us/c/prior-auth

Prior Authorization Earful

Prior authorization was supposed to be a narrow cost-control tool to ensure medical treatment is appropriate, but today Big Medicine insurers use it to delay and deny even medically necessary care.

earful.us

“So let’s be clear: El-Sayed’s #healthcare platform is perfectly reasonable on the merits of cost, fairness and health efficacy. And with #privateinsurers never more hated, while millions of #Americans are losing their #healthinsurance, 2026 may be its time.”

Don Curren 🇨🇦🇺🇦@dbcurren.bsky.social · 4w ago

“What do #privateinsurers offer to compensate for these costs? One must go through intellectual contortions to avoid the conclusion that they are, in fact, parasites.” #UShealthcare open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Big story: “wage growth has fallen far behind….” 1982 projection: ”real wages… would grow 1.8% annually for the indefinite future. And this wage growth was assumed to be for the workforce as a whole; there was no anticipation that there would be substantial changes in the wage distribution.”

Dean Baker@deanbaker13.bsky.social · 4w ago

Social Security faces a problem of income distribution, not demographics. cepr.net/publications... Don't let the media lie to you.

We are looking for an operator to help run NYC Groceries, which will offer a core basket of goods at 30 percent below market prices. @mayor.nyc.gov’s administration has shown since January that government can and should make life better in tangible ways.

I watched @therickwilson.bsky.social on YouTube interview @benwikler.bsky.social about his new book: thisistheplan.com and his new role with thisiswisconsin.com . Excellent convo. Ben is an amazingly talented warrior for US liberal democracy.

This Is the Plan: How to End America's Meltdown and Save Democracy

A practical field guide for ending America's meltdown and saving democracy.

thisistheplan.com

What’s everyone #reading this weekend? #books #BookSky

Also: it’s not going to work! No voter is asking for a hearing about Anthony Fauci and COVID-19 in 2026 when the war in Iran is increasing gas prices by 50%. Republicans have been pushing for this because it gets retweets from rabid MAGA users on social media. This is made-for-X governing.

I just walked @defendpublichealth.bsky.social members through the dangers of CMS’s proposed rule on Medicaid paperwork reqs, which goes even farther than Congress’s draconian not-so-beautiful bill, esp wrt medical frailty. Submit your comment by Friday, 7/31. www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

Medicaid Program; Community Engagement Requirement for Certain Individuals

This interim final rule with comment period (IFC) interprets and implements the community engagement requirement in Medicaid under section 1902(xx) of the Social Security Act. States are required to i...

federalregister.gov

@stephenknott.bsky.social it was nice to find you on bsky, Stephen.

I just learned that Merlin Tuttle is the guy that people in austin excited about bats. www.merlintuttle.org

Home - Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation

Inspiring bat conservation worldwide. WELCOME TO MERLIN TUTTLE’S BAT CONSERVATION Winning friends, not battles. Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation (MTBC) was founded by Dr. Merlin Tuttle. He has studied...

merlintuttle.org

While grocery prices are rising, 1.5 million kids have lost food assistance benefits since Republicans passed their budget law. Hungry kids are more likely to get lower test scores & repeat grades. New from us & @tcfdotorg.bsky.social: That's just the start of parents' budgeting woes.

😳 $1.65 trillion in off balance sheet debt? Yikes! Next Great Fin Crisis? "Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, & Oracle are carrying more debt off their balance sheets than on them. The companies have roughly $1.65 trillion in offbalance sheet obligations compared with the roughly $1.35 trillion".

😳

Brad Lander@bradlander.bsky.social · last mo.

This story is both shocking and not the least bit surprising: an OpenAI model that was being tested for its abilities hacked the infrastructure surrounding the test, worked over the weekend while no one was looking, and cyber-attacked a real company, well before OpenAI noticed. (1/3)

Hardworking North Carolinians should not have to keep worrying about how expensive this month’s electric bill will be or whether they can afford to feed their families.

Massachusetts has an opportunity to lead by preventing surveillance pricing in grocery stores: the practice of using personal data to charge different customers different prices for the same item. I'm glad to be leading on this bill and to share this important article.

Hal Singer@halsinger.bsky.social · last mo.

A bill in Massachusetts, H.99, would ban grocers from using biometric data collected on their premises to personalize prices. In my latest with Gavin Sicard, we make the economic case in support of a such a ban. The only winners from personalized pricing are the companies engaged in the practice.