55 years ago today, the Oregon State Highway Division had a whale of a problem on its hands. How it solved it is the stuff of legends. In other words: Happy Exploding Whale Day!

Amid much….discussion, let’s call it that….on social media about how Trump is in a corner now, he won’t get away from it this time, etc. — We should remember he has already gotten away with it. Over a decade on national television, another decade in Presidential politics including 3 elections….

The clock is ticking on the shrinking Colorado River as Western states miss a key deadline "There’s no agreement yet, but time marches on, and conditions on the river continue to be problematic — more problematic over time as those reservoirs decline.” www.latimes.com/environment/...

More drips from the Epstein faucet, via @sahilkapur.bsky.social. The entire Republican Party has chosen to enlist in an effort to obscure the President’s long relationship with a convicted child sex trafficker. The mere statement shocks the conscience, and the details are worse.

“The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, said last month that the strikes violate international law and amount to “extrajudicial killing.” The UK agrees with that assessment.” The intelligence sharing pause began about a month ago. Via @natashabertrand.bsky.social

Not for nothing, but Jamaica and Haiti were run over by a Category 5 hurricane scarcely a week ago. The resources of a carrier group could be quite useful in relief and recovery operations. Just mentioning this in case the Navy wanted an actual mission for these ships.

“The UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, said last month that the strikes violate international law and amount to “extrajudicial killing.” The UK agrees with that assessment.” The intelligence sharing pause began about a month ago. Via @natashabertrand.bsky.social

I have nothing especially original to say about Senate Democrats’ surrender on funding the government yesterday. Yes, it was a terrible look; why noodle around with a government shutdown at all if they were going to settle for a deal they could have gotten in September? 🧵

Thread. Who says Republicans in Congress don’t get anything for being Trump’s servants? 8 Senators will be able to sue the government — represented by Trump toady Pam Bondi — for damages because their phone records came up in an investigation of the January 6 conspiracy. Via @rparloff.bsky.social

Thread. Who says Republicans in Congress don’t get anything for being Trump’s servants? 8 Senators will be able to sue the government — represented by Trump toady Pam Bondi — for damages because their phone records came up in an investigation of the January 6 conspiracy. Via @rparloff.bsky.social

I have nothing especially original to say about Senate Democrats’ surrender on funding the government yesterday. Yes, it was a terrible look; why noodle around with a government shutdown at all if they were going to settle for a deal they could have gotten in September? 🧵

State of play on a forming agreement to end the government shutdown until 1/30, by @washingtonpost.com reporters. It would include three appropriations bills (Agriculture, Leg. Branch, Military Construction — the first of which would fund SNAP through September 2026). [gift link] wapo.st/3WNtaVV

Excellent reporting that we need to know, depressing and maddening as it is. Gifted 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/b...

The Paris Climate Agreement after 10 years: Much progress in reducing the growth of emissions and setting technically feasible goals, reports @climatechangenews.com. But progress is slowing, and urgency among world governments is dissipating. www.climatechangenews.com/2025/11/07/h...

It is not a useful observation or anything but it is still pretty wild that COP30 is starting in Brazil and the richest country in the world, second-largest emitter, and largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases just... isn't there.

Last night, the Trump Administration sent a letter suggesting Wisconsin should return our FoodShare payments. My response ⬇️

Weekend listen: Sobering account of Ukraine’s difficult position in the battle for Pokrovsk. Ukraine has exposed its undermanned army to painful losses before by clinging to cities exposed to encirclement. With @kyivindependent.com journalist Francis Farrell. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

American murder missions off South America’s coast are in line with Trump’s preference for shooting at targets that don’t shoot back. They are also, says @theintercept.com, “…a farce since America’s adversaries do not even know they are considered at war with the U.S.”. Via @nickturse.bsky.social

Trump's tariffs are hurting us in two ways: First, the obvious: Higher costs → either lower profits or higher prices. Second, more subtle (perhaps bigger): We’ve signaled we’re an unreliable partner, so allies are reorganizing supply chains to avoid us. That's hard to unwind.

The Paris Climate Agreement after 10 years: Much progress in reducing the growth of emissions and setting technically feasible goals, reports @climatechangenews.com. But progress is slowing, and urgency among world governments is dissipating. www.climatechangenews.com/2025/11/07/h...

Weekend listen: Sobering account of Ukraine’s difficult position in the battle for Pokrovsk. Ukraine has exposed its undermanned army to painful losses before by clinging to cities exposed to encirclement. With @kyivindependent.com journalist Francis Farrell. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Thread. One of the very first things the new administration did last January was set Elon Musk loose on a mission to destroy the US Agency for International Development and its foreign aid programs. Musk succeeded, then left. @agawande.bsky.social has made a film documenting what came next.

The videos surfacing online from Sudan are horrifying, and I say this as a journalist who has sadly become an expert on violent videos and images uploaded to the internet over the last decade. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/w...

DC federal judge blocks Trump administration from using furloughed employee email accounts to send partisan messages about government shutdown Judge says administration “commandeered” email accounts of federal civil servants storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

It’s Friday, November 7. Speaker Johnson, with support from nearly all House Republicans, has kept the Jeffrey Epstein Recess going since September 19, per @sahilkapur.bsky.social. I don’t know what’s in the files Republicans are trying to keep hidden about Trump & Epstein. It must be really bad.

This thread by @ketanjoshi.co is actually a long one, but worth your time if you wonder what data centers means for the power grid. Nothing good, in brief. And it’s a lot easier to see how data center projects raise money today than it is to understand how they will make money tomorrow.

Thread. One of the very first things the new administration did last January was set Elon Musk loose on a mission to destroy the US Agency for International Development and its foreign aid programs. Musk succeeded, then left. @agawande.bsky.social has made a film documenting what came next.

ICE FLIGHT MONITOR: SEPTEMBER 2025 REPORT The ICE Flight Monitor responds to this lawlessness and lack of information by using publicly available aviation data to monitor and document flights conducted by ICE. humanrightsfirst.org/library/ice-...

Thread. @joshtpm.bsky.social and his colleagues at @talkingpointsmemo.com may not have known how strong the currents they started swimming against in the political journalism world were 25 years ago. But they’re still pushing forward, pound for pound one of the strongest news sources out there.

Thread. More trouble in the courts for Trump, this time over weightier matters than a hurled sandwich. Judge McConnell in Rhode Island is not impressed by the administration’s plan to make partial SNAP payments someday out of the nutrition program’s contingency fund. Via @kyledcheney.bsky.social

Federal judge Sara Ellis reacts to police riots in Broadview, IL with a restraining order. Law enforcement has sought to initiate violence against protesters before. Trump’s DHS agencies — sometimes with local collaborators — have used this tactic on a national scale. Via @jonseidel.bsky.social

So the sandwich trial is Dunnso. In future, prosecutors may want to ask themselves if bringing an indictment will is likely to make them laughingstocks around the world — before starting the trial.

People fleeing al-Fashir in Sudan are in a 'disturbing' condition, aid group says reut.rs/49CB0ZZ

This really hasn’t gotten enough attention this week. @wired.com #ICE www.wired.com/story/fbi-wa...

Per @joshtpm.bsky.social’s commentary here, there is probably some truth to Trump’s self-interested claim that Republicans lost because he was not on the ballot. His is a cult of personality, not party — there are plenty of voters (not in NYC) who will turn out for him, and only him. 1/2

Did the Biden Justice Department respond effectively to the lawlessness of Trump’s attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election? Did Merrick Garland count too much on being a virtuous contrast to Trump? And what is left of Justice now? Strongly recommend this @talkingfeds.bsky.social

Dick Cheney was one of the most consequential American public servants of the last half century. Among many other things, his long career in the Executive Branch suggests how a President’s personal ability and character can influence the course and quality of his administration.

…And there we are (via @chadbourn.bsky.social). I have nothing deep to say about this campaign or what it means. Just the obvious: 1. Mamdani is a New Yorker who likes New Yorkers; 2. He’s an exceptionally talented campaigner; 3. He’s got himself a challenging job. I wish him success.

Well good for Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill, both big winners tonight.

Writing at @justsecurity.org, legal analyst @bcfinucane.bsky.social attempts to analyze Trump administration reasoning as to why lethal air strikes in international waters on boats, claimed on no evidence to be crewed by both drug traffickers and terrorists, are legal. This reasoning is not public

Did the Biden Justice Department respond effectively to the lawlessness of Trump’s attempt to stay in power after losing the 2020 election? Did Merrick Garland count too much on being a virtuous contrast to Trump? And what is left of Justice now? Strongly recommend this @talkingfeds.bsky.social

Thread. It’s remarkable how thoroughly Department of Homeland Security personnel have adopted a tactic Trump has used throughout his adult life: claim persecution as justification for abusing people. Or, in this case, shooting them. By @donmoyn.bsky.social

Writing at @justsecurity.org, legal analyst @bcfinucane.bsky.social attempts to analyze Trump administration reasoning as to why lethal air strikes in international waters on boats, claimed on no evidence to be crewed by both drug traffickers and terrorists, are legal. This reasoning is not public

2/2 The most prominent claim on this subject, the President’s, is that the Presidential election of 2020 was decided by vote fraud. This, too, is a lie. And this lie, finally, is grounded in claims that vote fraud is common in US elections, which have been made in bad faith throughout this century.

Key point from Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling on voting registration, via @talkingpointsmemo.com. Let’s remember the origins of this legal action: the claim that non-citizens vote in federal elections, which is a lie. This evolved from the claim that US elections are rife with fraud, also a lie.1/2

The rules have changed: "US accused of threatening EU diplomats during bid to kill green shipping rules. Negotiators at shipping talks in London were told both they and their countries could be punished unless they voted with the U.S." www.politico.eu/article/us-a...

Key point from Judge Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling on voting registration, via @talkingpointsmemo.com. Let’s remember the origins of this legal action: the claim that non-citizens vote in federal elections, which is a lie. This evolved from the claim that US elections are rife with fraud, also a lie.1/2

This by @phillipspobrien.bsky.social is straight to the point where US interaction with China last week is concerned. At best, Trump mitigated some damage he caused himself in the trade area. China can still make, and has made, errors of its own. But it has a strategy and we don’t.