New Year wishes 🍎

Awesome point by @jamellebouie.net

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/o... Elizabeth Warren is my hero. A 37-minute interview. "How Republicans harnessed the story Democrats didn’t — and won’t — embrace."

Not sure Americans fully appreciate what a momentous thing it is for Canada to part ways with the United States on something like this. Yet another sign of the United States’ near-total isolation in the community of nations.

“I think this is the first time in the history of the modern first amendment that any president has suggested that it is illegal to criticize him.”

www.sfgate.com/news/article... "The strong quake woke up the Bay Area, with over 21,000 people reporting having felt it on the USGS site within the first hour.... The reports of having felt the earthquake came from people as far south as Salinas, north near Santa Rosa and Stockton to the east."

Just read "Grief… A Comedy" a #memoir by fellow adoptee Alison Larkin. Her story of finding true love at 55 is proof adoptees CAN find that deep connection we've always craved. Read the review at: myadoptedlife.com/grief-a-come... #AdopteeVoices #BookReview #AdopteeHealing #LoveAfter50 #TrueLove 🥚

The US Senate has introduced the bipartisan Protect Adoptees and American Families Act, formerly known as the Adoptee Citizenship Act. Let's get this enacted so that thousands of intercountry adoptees finally secure US citizenship. 🥚 adopteesunited.org/congress-int...

May this Rosh Hashanah, a time that represents the creation of the universe, bring renewed energy to our fight for a different reality for everyone, Jews and Palestinians, on this land.

earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/... A 4.6 magnitude earthquake in Berkeley just rattled the windows and my nerves for a couple of seconds.

Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, who explained the Jewish high holy days on CBS Sunday Morning today, has an autobiography that will be out in October, "Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi's Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging." www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/697350...

🥚 This is the book that tells the story of fascism in Argentina and the Grandmothers who have not given up looking for their stolen grandchildren. I bought this book with the help of birthday money. I've just started; even the glossary is interesting.

America is already complicit in Netanyahu’s campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza, and now Trump wants to send him $6.4B more in offensive weapons. Our priority should be ending the war and returning the hostages  — not funneling MORE taxpayer dollars to Netanyahu to bomb starving Gaza.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNfD... The first Asian American to be ordained as a rabbi, Angela Buchdahl, shares her thoughts on the Jewish New Year

"The official Israeli document denying my entry cited 'public security or public safety or public order considerations', without providing any explanation as to how I, a 67-year-old former ear, nose and throat surgeon from Suffolk, might pose any threat at all."

Israelis hold pictures of killed Gaza babies in protest of the genocide in Gaza Spotted in Tel Aviv, Israel

Peace is more than the absence of war, it is the presence of justice, equity, and dignity. On #InternationalDayOfPeace 9/21, we honor #socialworkers worldwide who engage in the complex, daily work of nonviolence, restorative practice, and systems change.

From Reich's story of his childhood protector being murdered by the Klan to his admiration of Bernie Sanders ⏬

"[Philippines former dictator Rodrigo] Duterte is now in jail in the Hague, waiting for his trial" 🗝️

Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize winner, to Jon Stewart on the authoritarian playbook. "If you don't protect the rights you have, you lose them." Really good and important. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsb1...

🎉 Governor Newsom signs the anti-masking bill

Here's the hour-long version of the California bill-signing to protect immigrant communities. Lots of spirited speeches. Los Angeles (where I was born) is "The most diverse city in the most diverse state... It's what makes California great, it's what makes America great" — Governor Newsom 🌊🌊 ☀️ 🌊🌊

🎉 Governor Newsom signs the anti-masking bill

I am proud to be a Californian.

"There are protests outside Disney HQ in Burbank, folks are canceling Disney+, and the execs are feeling the heat. Because when large groups of people push back, even in small, scrappy ways, it rattles the empire’s cage."

It’s unacceptable that ICE forcibly took Harjit Kaur, a 73-year-old grandmother with no record, from her community.  She does not deserve detention and should be allowed to return to her family. I’ll keep doing everything I can to support Ms. Kaur and her family.

In a new podcast episode, editor-at-large @peterbeinart.bsky.social interviews the philosopher, activist, author, and educator Angela Davis, discussing how Jews shaped Davis’s formative years and exploring why Palestine is central to the global left. Listen here: jewishcurrents.org/what-a-lifet...

Dutch late night TV has its take

Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize winner, to Jon Stewart on the authoritarian playbook. "If you don't protect the rights you have, you lose them." Really good and important. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsb1...

🌎 "Trump told voters that they could indulge their resentments and still walk away richer and more prosperous. But they can’t. To embrace nativism in a global, connected economic world is to sacrifice prosperity for the sake of exclusion..." — Jamelle Bouie www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/o...

So today, we're asking you to take a small but significant action with us: Demand that Nexstar and ABC stand up to Trump’s FCC and their attempts to squash our First Amendment rights.

One of the signatories is Sandy O of Emma's Revolution. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbdK...

@willbunch.bsky.social "The scheme is to control much of the media and intimidate the rest — just like a strongman I think I’m still allowed to compare Trump to, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán — has so successfully done. And it’s working beyond our wildest nightmares." -GIFT LINK- share.inquirer.com/iyMrGe

🌎 "Trump told voters that they could indulge their resentments and still walk away richer and more prosperous. But they can’t. To embrace nativism in a global, connected economic world is to sacrifice prosperity for the sake of exclusion..." — Jamelle Bouie www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/o...

Okay, to put an even sharper point on this: they are not even 9 months in and they are openly censoring *Jimmy fucking Kimmel* because he poked fun at the president for lack of empathy. These are desperate moves. They are desperate because they are weak and people are naming it.

Before he was a Senator, a candidate for President, and our greatest champion in the fight against oligarchy, Bernie Sanders was the four-term Mayor of Burlington, VT. I sat down with Bernie in Astoria to talk about the lessons he learned—and the work ahead.

A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say. This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand. All elected officials need to speak up and push back on this undemocratic act.

First they came for the Colbert and Kimmel And I did not speak out Because I wasn't a comedian. Then they came for me And there was no one left To point out that this shit's not funny anymore.

“If the administration truly wants to fight antisemitism, it should begin by firing the antisemites it has hired.” — Rep. Jaime Raskin

We've seen through it in congressional hearings: bsky.app/profile/bend...

We're seeing through their smokescreen strategy in court: bsky.app/profile/bend...

Hear, hear!

I’m putting this well-written book into the next class I teach. It’s great! I bought the hardback.

She is a HERO

www.berkeleyside.org/2025/09/12/k... "Kaiser Permanente, the largest private health insurer in California, has announced it will make Covid-19 vaccinations available for free to all of its members over 6 months. The provider expects to have the new 2025-2026 vaccine in stock starting on Sept. 15."

When journalism was cool. And risked everything to challenge power.

One of these rich dudes invested in a food company with all proceeds going to kids in need. The other started Sundance Institute, boosting the lives of countless artists. Hey modern rich dudes, don't be a typical greedy AI crypto-prick, be like these two.

One of the problems with this past week is that a lazy set of dim pundits encouraged young people to follow Charlie Kirk's lead, while some of us were already painfully aware of the young people who were already following Charlie Kirk's lead.

forward.com/opinion/7696... "Netanyahu’s pitch for Israel as ‘super-Sparta’ is a dystopian death wish" "The ancient state of Sparta was intensely militarized, culturally barren and reliant on repression. Children were taken from their families at age 7 and molded into soldiers.... +

“Art has always been a form of resistance and healing. If they want to erase symbols of pride and acceptance, then we’ll create even more of them. This isn’t just about paint, it’s about community, visibility, and love.” apnews.com/article/flor...