Shirley has made a habit of visiting cities and countries that are settings for right-wing, anti-immigrant conspiracies, such as Aurora, Colorado, amid the manufactured crisis around the Tren de Aragua gang.

“In a world where everything seems to be getting worse, Costco mostly stays the same—and that’s what keeps us going back,” Jake Lundberg writes in The Atlantic Daily about the profound competence of Costco:

LOL: Trump’s Truth Social put out a notification for Mamdani’s inaugural. The Trump-Mamdani bromance continues.

Remember when John Reid, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Virginia, had a gay Nazi porn Tumblr?

so x dot com’s ai generated CSAM and they admitted it may violate US law and … i haven’t seen in anyone in power say much at all or call to stop using the platform

Ah, my annual headache from sobbing through the Grey Havens scene

What if you showed up at your hotel and they didn't have the room you reserved? Or there was a shower or toilet you couldn't use. This is common for people who use wheelchairs. Even 35 years after federal law said hotels must be accessible. My NPR story. www.npr.org/2025/12/24/n...

Something important to take into account (and I learned this reading Joe's work): The disability rights movement was bipartisan by design. The OG activists were incredibly strategic about building alliances within each party. That can't really exist in a hyper-partisan environment now.

I was unexpectedly touched by my encounter with Gene Simmons and his $12K roadies for the day. Probably the best thing I wrote this year. 5/x

R.I.P. disability rights leader Bob Kafka. The ADAPT leader was known for leading protests. But was also a savvy policy wonk who could work with government officials--of any party--to win programs. www.npr.org/2006/09/15/6...

In the final hours before the subsidies for the Affordable Care Act are about to expire.

Brings new context to this.

eric adams just went on tv and when he was asked what he’s going to do tomorrow he said “travel to some countries”

The lesson from John Lindsay's tenure as NYC mayor is not that progressive governance is futile but that it is fragile, writes @dlondonwortel.bsky.social. Policies enacted without broad working-class coalitions will not survive. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Smith was asked over and over again whether there was any political influence in his investigation, in his decisions and pressure from Garland/Biden/WH to charge Trump. He repeatedly rejected the notion.

[NEW] Psychosis affects 3% of Americans. For those living with it, holistic care can offer stability across daily life. But finding such support often feels like navigating a maze. We examines how the U.S. continues to fail people living with psychosis.

Cheddarizard

This just made @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social's vein pop

ICE Barbie and ICE Baldy caught on camera dancing—very badly—to the Vanilla Ice classic ‘Ice Ice Baby’ trib.al/SbsgzbX

Exclusive: As signs of aging emerge, President Trump is responding with defiance. He tells WSJ he has eschewed some advice from his doctors and relies on his "good genetics."

President Trump tells the Wall Street Journal that the large dose of aspirin he chooses to take daily has caused him to bruise easily. www.wsj.com/us-news/as-signs-...

On January 1, 1804, revolutionaries established the independent country of Haiti, the first nation to permanently ban slavery. As we begin a year engulfed by the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, it’s worth reading the Haitian Declaration of Independence in full. 🇭🇹

Ok folks. Now blocking this site. I need to finish this epilogue for the book by tomorrow and I want to get it done the right way. Please send good vibes. This has been kicking my ass but I want to do it well.

Tough editor wants clean copy.

Everyone has a list of so-called "red flags" when they're dating. And for some, especially younger Americans, different political views is a relationship deal breaker.

The scope of Trump's campaign to drive trans Americans from public life is vast. On the last day of 2025, Evan Urquhart attempts to capture all of what we lost. www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

EXCLUSIVE: @laurenweberhp.bsky.social & I have spent the last year collecting school+county-level vaccination data from across the US and found that only about 28% of counties now have herd immunity for kindergartners from measles—that leaves about 5.2mn kids unprotected. Gift link: wapo.st/49zDc43

BREAKING: The House Judiciary Committee has released Jack Smith's 255-page deposition transcript: judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

V good column so I don't say this to dunk, but: I'm not surprised by this. How else would we explain, frankly, the otherwise quite random 2017 to 2019 to 2024 to present SNP to Labour and back again pattern?

What’s one piece of legislation few people know that you could talk about for hours about how it is good or how it is absolutely awful?

Good morning: the expanded tax credits for the ACA expire tonight and Republicans in Congress have yet to pass anything to fix that or create a stopgap.

Loaf Check on Bam Bam. Couldn’t check his tail so 9/10 but still a good loaf.

Ok, folks. Gotta hunker down. Blocking this. Please yell at me not to screw around as I finish this book. So close with finishing the introduction. But so far away.

Horrible news all around. And poor Caroline Kennedy lost her brother, her mother, her father and now her daughter.

How cooked am I if a not insignificant part of me misses all the congresscritters?

@dicknixon.bsky.social thoughts on this Venezuela business?

For all the dishy details about Greene's interactions with Trump in Draper's profile, I feel like this is the real meat of the piece and a sign of where the GOP is going: Trump disappointed MTG and MAGA by prioritizing big tech donors over populists. (GIFT LINK) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/m...

Poland’s top military commander warns the country is in a “pre-war” phase, saying Russia is already preparing for possible aggression by trying to destabilize Poland, undermine trust in state institutions, and create conditions for future attacks.

In 2025, AI became pervasive in American life and the economy, with ChatGPT surging in adoption much faster than any other major technology in memory. @nytopinion.nytimes.com

our data story visualizing the rabbit hole people can fall into with chatGPT is on the cover of today’s @washingtonpost.com @kevinschaul.bsky.social

Ok folks. You know the deal. Going to block this site and go back into my writing hole. Be good. Gotta finish this introduction.

When Marjorie Taylor Greene urged Trump to invite some of Epstein’s victims to the Oval Office, she says, he angrily informed her that they had done nothing to merit the honor. It would be their last conversation. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/m...

Sarah McBride put out a fundraising post on her Instagram specifically denouncing Republicans for trying to ban gender-affirming health care for trans people. It's probably one of the most forceful statements I've read from her.

If Europe were not itself in the throes of anti-immigrant sentiment, it would see the United States cutting off Indian immigrants as an economic opportunity and aggressively recruit Indian immigrants to its universities. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/o...

wrote about the "hemp ban" that Congress snuck into the government-reopening bill, the impact it's already having on angry farmers and brewers and small-biz owners across the country, the misconceptions around the plant, and the lobbies that agitated for this crackdown: slate.com/business/202...

If you go to the suburbs of Houston and Sugarland, you will see thriving Indian communities that belong in a sitcom. But what happens when Republicans turn against not only illegal immigration but nonwhite LEGAL immigration? good @polgreen.bsky.social piece. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/o...

Yeah, Elise Stefanik and Poillievre are top shelf in this case. Pierre was going to be Prime Minister until Trump bollixed it.

The Safdie Brothers should do the Eric Adams biopic

Who was the biggest political loser this year? Jack Ciattarelli, Pierre Poilievre, Peter Dutton, Sir Keir Starmer or someone else?