If calling a state secret police agent a murderer for committing murder will lead to more murder by the state secret police, it sure seems like the problem is with the secret police

~<Every single institution> we have is counter-majoritarian: - A hyper-gerrymanded House - A hyper-malapportioned Senate with staggered elections - FPTP SMDs in a continent-wide country with our urban/rural population distribution - The EC Stop it. We need <checks on counter-majoritarianism>

Via IG: moneyballmemes2011. www.instagram.com/p/DSqEY_rgUnx/

[Narrator: they lost 13 seats]

Um what? Pretty sure state AG (Ellison) outranks mayor (Mamdani) but love them both www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11...

Hawaiʻi license plates will now include the ʻokina.

Did this work when Neville Chamberlain tried it?

Fascinating paper. "In eight of the twelve cases under study, inequality was trending downward in the years before the elections that brought to power leaders who moved against democracy."

“if she’d just done X she would have won” no I have plenty of critiques of the campaign but ultimately the entire god damn country just went right by five points at least, everywhere, despite whatever you call Trump’s campaign none of us know how she could have won and that’s the problem

This from Jill Filipovic sums it up for me: "In the coming days there's gonna be a lot of opining about what the Harris campaign did wrong, but this election was not an indictment of Kamala Harris. It was an indictment of America."

Need to keep track of when polls close in different states on Election Day? @thedownballot.bsky.social has a handy map for that!

2004: Red Sox break an historic World Series drought, Republicans win the presidency 2016: Cubs break an historic World Series drought, Republicans win the presidency 2024: Guardians are trying to break an historic World Series drought. Go Yankees. For Kamala.

A horrifying and vital read. End capital punishment. It is cruel and unusual, never humane, racially imposed, and doesn’t even act as the deterrent it’s supposed to be. Also, this article is yet another demonstration of the vital role of local, independent journalism.

We're *elated* to announce our biggest news in the 21 years we've been covering elections: Daily Kos Elections is striking out on its own as an independent site called The Downballot! 🧵 www.dailykos.com/stories/2024...

Made my semi annual $100 donation to house Dems. This time I split it 4 ways between CA-22, NY-22, MI-10, and VA-02!

3>>>>4>5>2>>1 in terms of practicality and time it takes to fix the problem

Buys a bunch of cat food -> spends enough $ I get a free lemon tea -> arrives home puts down tea for a second -> cat knocks over tea and spills it everywhere

Newsletter: Tech's hyper-growth era is ending. Almost every major web platform has seen traffic declines since 2021, and the industry is getting desperate as it realizes there aren't any massive new markets left- and generative AI isn't the next big thing. www.wheresyoured.at/rotcombubble/

Reading about the five main ways of detecting exoplanets for a presentation about planets & Microlensing is by far the craziest one. www.planetary.org/articles/spa...

DOCTOR: The great clown Pagliacci is in town. Go see him, he'll cheer you right up. INSURANCE COMPANY: most we can cover is a 10 minute telehealth call with Ronald McDonald

I usually save my donations for the general, but Kim is such a promising future dem star and Murphy such an uninspiring nepotism machine candidate I had to made an exception for this one. Proud to be one of the many small dollar Kim donors!

Interesting split in the Colorado disqualification case: all three dissenting justices went to law school at the University of Denver, while the four justices in the majority all went to different out of state schools (Harvard, Yale, Penn, & UVA)

According to Wikipedia, Kissinger was Benjamin Button

This past Tuesday saw elections all over the place. With many eyes on VA & KY, you may have missed some critical races for election administration, mayor, DA, sheriff, AG, or election deniers seeking offices, conservatives wanting school boards. A 🧵 of highlights:

With Manchin news, what we know: To hold Senate in 2024, Dems must defend Montana, PLUS Ohio, PLUS Arizona & Wisconsin & Michigan & Pennsylvania, PLUS the White House. Or, if they stumble in just 1 of those, they must replace one by a GOP-held seat, so unseat Scott or Cruz.

Arizona *votes for Biden, elects a Democratic Governor, and votes for Democrats for the US Senate in three consecutive elections* The LA Times: "Arizona is not blue like California, it is not purple like Nevada, it is Red with some purple spots" www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

Things I will be watching next week: -can Democrats flip the Virginia House? If not will the GOP flip the Virginia Senate and get a trifecta? -Can Dem Gov Beshear hang on in KY? -How will Ohio Vote in Abortion & Marijuana referendums -Will the GOP flip a State Supreme Court seat in PA?

CBS brought on a “gulf states” expert to talk about Alabama’s new maps and I spent a minute wondering why they were talking to a Middle East expert until I realized they meant Gulf of Mexico not Persian Gulf

Law Journal: We strongly prefer submissions through Scholastica but will accept email submissions. Me: Is your preference for Scholastica strong enough that you will cover the submission fee they charge? Law Journal: No. Me: *sends submission via email*

It is strange and frustrating that Google Docs spell check is often incapable of guessing what I meant to say when I misspell a word but if I throw that same misspelled word into the Google search bar and it will suggest the correct result 99/100 times.

I guess he anticipates spending the next few years in government provided housing in Georgia

We have the Rudy Mugshot! Trump’s comes tomorrow.

A court in Alabama held a hearing today on Alabama’s proposed remedial map which failed to create a real second black opportunity district. Keep an eye out for a ruling in the coming days!

August is shaping up to be a big month, in addition to all these elections control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court flips to liberals tomorrow, and an Aug 14 hearing will likely determine if Alabama gets fair congressional maps next year!

The two history hills I will always die on are that 1- the use of the term “Byzantine Empire” is stupid, confusing, and not useful. It should just be called the Eastern Roman Empire. 2- 1937 is a much better answer to the question “when did World War 2 start?” than 1939 is.

I expect these are both blatantly non-compliant enough to be rejected by the judges if either passes the legislature.

Good to be back in the US, time to stuff my face with all the food I can’t get in Am Sam during my week here.