@vikkim11.bsky.social
Global citizen, humanitarian, poet, writer, photographer, lover of science, philosophy, intelligent religious teaching of all faiths and a devotee of literature
"It’s as if we launched a war against nature, and that has turned place after place into something that resembles a war zone," writes @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social. "The climate movement is a peace movement, a movement to end this war and its casualties."
We launched a war on nature. Now we are in a climate warzone | Rebecca Solnit
Summer is not what it once was. We have been robbed of one of life’s great joys
theguardian.com
Trump vowed to 'bring free speech back.' Judges in 75 cases ruled that he has stifled it - www.reuters.com/legal/govern... #TrumpEffect #fascism
Trump vowed to 'bring free speech back.' Judges in 75 cases ruled that he has stifled it
U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly campaigned for his second term as a champion of free expression, vowing in his January 2025 inaugural address to stop what he described as years of "government c...
reuters.com
www.yahoo.com/news/politic... “”Today's epilogue diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy..””
US judge grants DOJ request to dismiss January 6 cases against Oath Keepers
By Andrew Goudsward WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday granted the U.S.
yahoo.com
A suspicious substance has been repeatedly poured around trees at a popular beach in Lake Tahoe. “The deliberate destruction of these trees is deeply troubling,” Sheriff Darin Balaam said.
Someone is poisoning trees at a popular Lake Tahoe beach, sheriff says
A suspicious substance has been repeatedly poured around trees at a popular beach in Lake Tahoe. “The deliberate destruction of these trees is deeply troubling,” Sheriff Darin Balaam said.
bit.ly
"A body that has historically held the hemisphere’s most authoritarian governments to account will now scrutinize the United States," write Thomas Becker and Antonio Romanucci. "It may be our last chance to stop the backsliding that threatens our democracy."
We are US civil rights lawyers. Trump’s policies have driven us to seek justice internationally | Thomas Becker and Antonio Romanucci
On Tuesday, a human rights commission will hold an extraordinary hearing over the administration’s alleged attacks on protesters, journalists and others
theguardian.com
Man Arrested on Suspicion of Arson in Spokane Wildfire Aaron Farinacci, 37, was arrested after a witness reported seeing him kneeling near the ignition site, officials said. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/u...
Man Arrested on Suspicion of Arson in Spokane Wildfire
Aaron Farinacci, 37, was arrested after a witness reported seeing him kneeling near the ignition site, officials said. Winds were forecast to increase Friday and Saturday, bringing a return to extreme...
nytimes.com
DOJ is now 0-20 in cases to obtain state voter files. Here is the list: Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Illinois Kentucky Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island Virginia West Virginia Wisconsin
Schiff: "The president is entitled to his own views about me or anybody else. He is not entitled, however, to use the DOJ to go after his political opponents. The day we say that's ok and the day we confirm an AG who says that's ok is the day the rule of law becomes merely an unenforceable idea."
Military veteran and D.C. resident Anna King has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the Idaho National Guard, saying three guard members assaulted her while detaining her in front of her home. n.pr/4wyjw9S
A veteran was detained by the National Guard in her front yard. Now she's suing
Military veteran and D.C. resident Anna King has filed a $3 million lawsuit against the Idaho National Guard, saying three guard members assaulted her while detaining her in front of her home.
n.pr
In Christopher Nolan’s “Odyssey,” viewers see inside the Trojan horse, but they “do not see inside the characters or their world,” Emily Wilson argues.
A Trojan Horse Is Supposed to Have Humans Inside It
Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey is full of contradictions about deceit and violence.
bit.ly
Beijing is competing with the U.S. for tech supremacy. Who wins will have huge political implications. Evan Osnos reports. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/_Wu0pi
The Future, Made in China
Beijing is competing with the U.S. for tech supremacy. Who wins will have huge political implications.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
Among the lessons the lawyer Roy Cohn taught Donald Trump were that the facts could always be drowned out by strident counterclaims, and that the pyrotechnics of publicity were more important than the law. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/uiBQMr
It will depress you! Sorry about that but it’s kind of my jam. I selected well-written books, some of them are even wryly funny at times — if you come from a culture with macabre humor. Still, the issue is big, complex, and scary. All the more reason for us to face it together.
John Robinson@jrobin.bsky.social · 2d agoA reading list that I know will depress me, but one that also seems vital to understand (and fight this version of) the future. From the brilliant @tressiemcphd.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/o...
Well…yes. You CAN rein in the president. Try…reading the Constitution and CHECKING the executive. My God.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterdayCornyn: "There's nothing we could do to rein in the president"
Scoop: Trump has ordered workers to redo weeks of work on his planned White House helipad new WaPo photos show how past work was removed over weekend Trump is contemplating changes to White House lawn's slope, raising bigger Qs about project and cost
Trump orders changes to new helipad after weeks of around-the-clock work
Contractors have removed the granite seal that had begun to take shape in recent days, after the president complained about the slope of the White House Lawn.
washingtonpost.com
weather.com/2026/08/01/s... Who decided this is a good idea? Some crazy billionaire.😳
A chunk of a SpaceX rocket is on a collision course with the moon
The rocket's upper stage will unintentionally slam into the moon on Wednesday, making a new crater on the lunar surface.
weather.com
www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/c... “The documents suggest that the administration was “lying or spreading misinformation about these fantastic public lands” when it justified cutting the protected areas” #BearsEars #NationalMonuments #TrumpEffect
Documents Undercut Trump’s Claims About Bears Ears National Monument
President Trump said recreation in Bears Ears National Monument was virtually impossible. Documents reviewed by The New York Times show officials knew otherwise.
nytimes.com
‘I Deeply Believe Dogs Have Superpowers and Secrets’ Prompted by a fierce attachment to his own pet, Paul Yoon wrote a harrowing yet hopeful novel, set during wartime, told from a canine perspective. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/02/b... 📚🐕
Paul Yoon’s Fierce Attachment to His Dog Inspired a New Novel
Prompted by a fierce attachment to his own pet, Paul Yoon wrote a harrowing yet hopeful novel, set during wartime, told from a canine perspective.
nytimes.com
Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” isn’t just a homecoming story. It asks what victory does to the victor — and what happens when those who break the rules abroad carry that lesson home. My latest for @us.theguardian.com.
Nolan’s Odyssey shows what happens when a leader’s violations are rewarded | Jamil Smith
The Greeks learn at Troy that breaking the rules works, then carry the lesson home. Nolan’s film shows how an exception becomes a habit of power
theguardian.com
“…Russia, China, and Iran seek most of all is simply to sow as much doubt as possible about American democracy. In that, they have an ally in the White House.” And Trump has interfered in the Venezuelan, Iraqi and now Brazilian elections.
The New Yorker@newyorker.com · 2d agoIn Donald Trump’s second term, he is rejecting the law that he, in 2019, signed to shore up confidence in American democracy. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...
For a decade now, the illusion that Republican senators in whole or in part would rise up against the outrages of the Trump presidencies has animated political reporting even as the Senate GOP conference has chronically failed to rise to the occasion.
Faux Deal Ends Faux Fight Over Blanche Nomination
Wet Noodle Award: Cornyn and Tillis Trump is Lucy. GOP senators are...
talkingpointsmemo.com
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/... The immigrants aboard Flight 164 were pursuing lives in the U.S. when ICE detained them. In Venezuela, they were held in a building that collapsed hours later.💔 #TrumpEffect
Deported by the U.S., detained in Venezuela — then lost in the earthquakes
The immigrants aboard Flight 164 were pursuing lives in the U.S. when ICE detained them. In Venezuela, they were held in a building that collapsed hours later.
washingtonpost.com
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 80, said Sunday he was "in great shape" as he launched his candidacy for October elections, with pressure from US President Donald Trump's administration looming over the campaign. u.afp.com/SH4L
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202... I hope we intend on sending him a bill for all this. America belongs to us it’s not part of his gaudy costume.🤬
Let Them Eat Gold
Taxpayers are now financing President Trump’s love of anything gilded.
theatlantic.com
Appalling cruelty — and all to fund more tax cuts for the rich.
"A president without a moral compass and advisers whose true north is the extreme right, helming a government with unparalleled legal, technological and financial resources, can implement...political repression that Joe McCarthy...could not have dreamt of," writes @judith-levine.bsky.social.
McCarthyism has returned to the United States – and this time it’s even more dangerous | Judith Levine
Trump’s campaign of repression echoes the red scare. But now the government has bigger ambitions and more powerful tools
theguardian.com
