"South Dakota women are imprisoned at a rate of 338 per 100,000. That’s a higher rate than Montana or Idaho...All three states have higher rates than El Salvador, the country with the highest incarceration rate. The nationwide incarceration rate for women in the U.S. is 112 per 100,000."

A bit of good news! "In a little over two months, South Dakota Public Broadcasting raised $1.6 million to help keep its staff after losing federal funding. In July, SDPB announced it lost 100% of its federal funds, which amounts to around $2.3 million annually and around 22% of its entire budget."

“‘Motherf***ing wind farms. Loud, ugly, harmful to nature,' he says, then pauses and shakes his head. ​'Who says that? These giants are standing tall against fossil fuels, rising up from the ocean like a middle finger to CO2.’"

"On trumpet, Ernestine ‘Tiny' Davis was 'the female Louis Armstrong.' When she played in DC, Armstrong himself offered her five times her meager Sweethearts salary to join his band. She refused. ‘Well,' Davis recalled, 'I just loved them gals too much.’"

"The promoters of Christian nationalism seek a dangerous convergence of government and religion. Christian religion, of course. "We have seen what happens in other countries where religion and government become one. We should never want that here."

New at Fight the Fire: An unprecedented look at Trump’s unprecedented level of claims about unprecedented stuff. Trust us, you’ve never seen anything like it, at least since the last time you never saw anything like it.

Late summer in South Dakota.

Perhaps we should also paint tunnels on the wall so unsuspecting immigrants run right into it (aka Roadrunner vs. Coyote?) My god, this truly is the stupidest timeline.

“'There are a couple of takeaways here,' Binion writes. 'One: People still go to Subway. Did not know that. Two: The government's disproportionate response to this offense epitomizes why Trump's plan appears to be, at least for now, more political theater than a real solutions-oriented approach.'”

This was a Sioux Falls, South Dakota, resident’s response to Operation Prairie Thunder, the governor’s new initiative to assist ICE (aka terrorize black and brown people). Very well said.

“'Arrests will occur at night, in an effort to avoid news cameras,' Jesse Rabinowitz, communications director at National Homelessness Law Center, said via email."

"Since Kesti started working as a street outreach worker for the organization Downtown Duluth nearly three years ago, he has logged nearly 29,000 of these one-on-one contacts with people in the city who don’t have a home."

"Thanks for enthralling us with what might be. Thanks for warning us against turning ourselves over to, or into, machines. From Fahrenheit 451: 'Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.'”

Have you adopted a public media station yet?

What a devastating day for local journalism in South Dakota. The Brookings paper was founded in 1882. The Huron paper was founded in 1886.

“'This is what happens when you put the wrong people in charge,' said state House Minority Leader Erin Healy, D-Sioux Falls, who voted against the bill. 'We talk a lot about freedom and privacy in this state, so it’s a shame that this legislation led to this type of breach.’"

The price of 1 lb of ground beef is now higher than the federal minimum hourly wage…

H/t Intersectional Memes and Feminist Dreams on Facebook.

Message from Taneeza Islam, SDVFP CEO:

🤣

"Former Gov. Kristi Noem had proposed an evisceration of SDPB’s state-level funding before her departure to join President Donald Trump’s cabinet as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. State lawmakers rejected those efforts."

Loved the latest from @robwhart.bsky.social. It’s a thrill to find a book that draws you in and lets you fall in love with the characters. But, using “Come On Eileen” (Dexys Midnight Runners) as a means of torture? Come on! That one is my “Kids, we’re not leaving the car until it's over” song. 💙📚

Found some bird's nest fungi in one of my flower beds. I haven't been very eloquent or loud in expressing my outrage lately, so I wanted to offer a palate cleanser to those who are doing a much better job. Thank you.

Today I found out that my 16-year-old considers Wuthering Heights one of her favorite books because “I love when no one is normal in a story" and that she discovered it thanks to the Kate Bush song. For some reason, this makes me so very happy. I’ve really needed a moment like this. 💙📚#booksky

I have been feeling this so keenly lately. Good reminder to not give up and become complacent.

Thank you, Andrea Gibson, for sharing your humanity, your talents, your softness, your outrage. You will be missed.

Minnesota Gov. #TimWalz tells a crowd of about 1,000 at a Democratic fundraiser in South Dakota that the state's former governor, #KristiNoem, is "the antithesis of the South Dakota I know." buff.ly/t427vxD

Via A.J. Investigates on Facebook: "Now here’s a picture MN can celebrate. State Senator John Hoffman discharged from ICU today after being shot numerous times during assassination attempt. His family tells me he’s moving to a rehab facility and still has a long road ahead."

H/t Dan Satterfield on Facebook

On this Independence Day, my heart breaks for what America has become. Yet I cling to the knowledge that there are so many of us not ready to give up and to fight against this regime. Yesterday was one of the toughest days so far. Yet, it is all of you that continue to give me hope.

"Apparently, we can all rest easier now that Isidro Pérez, a 75-year-old Cuban immigrant who came to the United States when he was 16, is no longer wandering freely in the United States. In fact, he’s dead."

Cleo is part of the dog Honor Guard at the Capitol today to watch over Gilbert as he lies in state with Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman and Mark Hortman. 12 golden retrievers will rotate in to make sure two dogs are always standing guard. Public access starts at noon.

Every day, the news seems to get worse, yet every day, I also hear of the new, creative ways that America is protesting. It gives me hope and reminds me who possesses the true soul of our country.

💯

"Let us look to our forebears: the men, women, and children, who saw political violence for what it was – cowardly – and continued to move through the world acting as though what they did mattered. Because it did. And it does."

A truly moving & brave statement from Sophie and Colin Hortman, children of Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark: "The best way to honor our parents' memory is to do something, whether big or small, to make our community just a little better for someone else." 💔😔

More than 400 people showed up for the No Kings rally in Yankton, SD (population of just under 16,000).

"Minnesota state senator John Hoffman in Champlin and Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman in Brooklyn Park were reportedly shot in their homes by a gunman impersonating a police officer."

There was probably quite a bit of tense pillow talk between Noem and Lewandowski last night.

As I report here for @motherjones.com, a local lawmaker in LA says ICE showed up to a confidential domestic violence shelter. That’s just one of the many impacts they’ve had on shelters & survivors this past week ⬇️

"It's really hard to fathom that the guy making my pizza for 25 years is a gangster and a terrorist, and the person who shows up in an unmarked car wearing a mask and body armor comes to take him away is somehow the good guy," Connor Simon. Honesddale, Pennsylvania