I don't think "National Law Enforcement Officer Appreciation Day" is going to hit the same today.

I've read through the Georgia Senate's broad proposal to eliminate income taxes for most Georgia taxpayers - a rate of zero for filers under $50,000 (households under $100,000) by 2032. It's not terrible. Some of it is quite progressive. The devil is in the details - which loopholes get closed.

The FBI has taken over the investigation into the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. The local investigative agency is turning over all of its case material ... which a local prosecutor would presumably need to lay a state murder charge on the killer.

American naval power once provided a baseline level of safety on the seas. Piracy became rare, open naval combat even rarer. Safety made transnational shipping from low-labor-cost nations into world markets viable and helped justify the dollar as world reserve currency. We are blowing that norm up.

Mississippi conservatives, doing their thing. This doesn't stop until conservative Mississippians start taking their "I hate all politicians because they're liars and thieves and can't be trusted" rhetoric seriously.

I hold no brief for Maduro. He's a murdering autocratic dictator who has done deep long term economic damage to his country. But do not fantasize that there is a rightwing, Western-oriented majority waiting in the wings in Venezuela, and the only obstacle to a color revolution is Maduro.

So, a gigantic tree fell from across the street onto my yard while I was away. If we hadn't taken an actual trip somewhere, the can would have been pancaked. The root ball tore the front off of our neighbors house.

As should be obvious, one does not spend $7,142 to recruit people for a job that doesn't require a college education or meaningful experience. The spend is about rewarding loyal media partners with taxpayer funds while stripping those funds from media the regime views as disloyal to itself.

Billionaires do not create jobs. Markets create jobs. Markets create demand, and capital fills that demand if it can. The whole "job creator" noise is marketing propaganda designed to keep the public from taxing billionaire wealth. Monopolists and government contractors are not job creators.

Whatever they're paying the marketing g team at Buc-ees, its not enough.

I wouldn't describe most of the reporting on the Epstein Files right now as "fun." But the man's Rolodex is out. No, just having your number in his files isn't evidence of a crime, or even that he knew you. But a whole lot of famous people are going to have to change their phone number.

The line "Fuck the streets" is emerging in rap discourse today. Young Thug, 21 Savage and other rappers are using the phrase in social media. Others argue that these rappers came from the street and should be loyal to it. Hear me. "Fuck the Streets" is about not getting sued or jailed.

Investors that sold Paramount Skydance (NASDAQ: PSKY) stock short on the day that Bari Weiss took over CBS News are up about 30% today. The S&P 500 is up 1.4% over the same period.

The US just snatched another Venezuelan tanker. It does not appear to have been under a formal sanction. The first seizure is police work. This one is just piracy. But I don't think this is about stealing oil. I think it's about keeping oil above $60 a barrel. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Looking for experts in photo analysis. We think we may have some hanky panky in the Epstein release, and I need a second set of eyes.

🤌

I need a fucking shower. For my soul. Been poring through the files. The investigative notes are rage inducing. The motherfucker checked IDs to make sure they were underage.

I'm on reporting standby for this all day.

Donald Trump is going to declare war against Venezuela. First: the president doesn't declare war. That's Congress' job. Second: There is no military justification for this war. Third: No one here asked for this. Fourth: Trump said nothing about this while campaigning. Fifth: Now we're Russia.

And Young Thug just proposed on stage to Mariah the Scientist.

Young Thug begins.

I'm at the Young Thug concert. King - T.I.'s son - is performing before the main event.

Fuck these people. We should be on this list.

What happens when no.'s of 911 calls for ambulances to ICE's Stewart det'n ctr. in rural Georgia skyrocket? And what are the calls about? theintercept.com/2025/12/12/s... @alexvitale.bsky.social @neonflag.bsky.social @equalityalec.bsky.social @ruwaromman.bsky.social @ossoff.bsky.social

Reminder to self and others: the worst mistakes we make in life often start with punching down. Pick fights with bullies. Pick fights with people who are bigger than you. It forces you to weigh the consequences of conflict against the moral righteousness of the cause. Everyone else just needs help.

Just got Whammed while waiting for my mom to finish at the gastroenterologist. "Last Christmas" on the radio.

Never defend. Always attack. This is how you avoid accountability for failure.

Conservatives said something about free speech once, I heard. When you confront someone on the right with stuff like this, they will respond "well, you weren't complaining when liberals were doing it to us!" That's untrue. But that argument hurts their brain less than defending this on its merits.

If you had to pick one fast food restaurant location to represent working class Atlanta, which one would you pick?

I am writing a story about food and class in Atlanta. I'm looking for the fanciest holiday party you know about in the Metro area, for a piece in the Guardian. Who should I ping?

The DC National Guard won't tell me if a formal operations order had been issued for the deployment to the streets. If it exists, I'm going to find it. When I do, I'm going to remember who was jerking my chain around today.

It is unclear to me what The Guardian has done to merit this treatment. I assure you that, at least in my own effort, I will strive to rectify the oversight of being omitted from this list.

Sharlto Copley in the Witcher is like watching Daniel Day Lewis play Bill the Butcher again. A remarkable performance.

We are not in a war. Killing soldiers on a street corner in D.C. is an act of war only if you are a legitimate combatant. Calling it terrorism is charitable; it is simply murder. It is also what I've been worried about for weeks. Soldiers on the street can't police. All they do is present a target.

This is helping me define what working class and middle class actually mean.

Atlanta airport traffic, right now. Standstill for 15 minutes.

My post on Reddit yesterday was worded poorly. I said "Charlotte's Web Isn't Done Yet." Should have been "CBP says Charlotte's Web Isn't Done Yet." Because CBP was, in retrospect, plainly lying to the public. Again. A point I made in the story published today. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

AAAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia says she is resigning from Congress | AP News share.google/iWVT8GgcynuA...

The Mecklenburg sheriff said CBP quit Charlotte today. CBP neither confirmed nor denied. I asked the sheriff their source. "I just know federal officials. We actually don't have any information. We don't receive any info from CBP. All we got was that they are leaving. Authoritative?" It is not.

This is Charlotte.

LIVE with Decaturish. Talking schools and elections in DeKalb. www.youtube.com/live/rRWtY4w...

I had a chat about the Epstein Files with the podcasters at The Guardian this morning. Kash Patel, Larry Summers and the NYT got some 'splainin to do. Also, Jack Schlossberg, who is gonna get smoked by Micah Lasher like a sausage in the House race to replace Nadler. open.spotify.com/episode/0jYe...

ICYMI: How Atlanta communities are affected by and responding to SNAP cuts – including rescued food, reduced-price markets, food distros: atlpresscollective.com/2025/11/04/w... @neonflag.bsky.social @atlsolfund.bsky.social @atlurbanist.bsky.social

We are at that time of year when journalists write holiday stories: evergreen pieces that could theoretically run whenever an editor wanted. These stories are often ridiculous and glorious. I flex my writer muscles on them. Free shot. Pitch the Guardian a story you wouldn't expect me to swing on.

As we contemplate the end of the shutdown, consider class issues here. Yesterday, I wrote that Democrats had been holding the line on the shutdown because they calculated that damage done to poor people on SNAP was acceptable to support working class people on the exchanges. Trump changed the math.