The buried lede here is that this action drastically reduces the risk the public will be subsidizing the cost of rebuilding expensive homes in Malibu and Orinda and discourages future construction in high hazard fire zones. Good news for most of us www.sfchronicle.com/california/a...

I am old enough to remember when Trump campaigned on getting the federal government out of education.

case in point: Waymo, Uber, lyft et al are “tech companies” but originally using self driving tech was seen as a way to cut out paying for labor entirely insane Uber has burned thru so much cash because it doesn’t even own or maintain the vast majority of its “fleet”, it’s rideshare “partners” do

It does kind of kill me how millennials were criticized for spending ones of dollars on avocado toast was some luxurious affront to humble decency, but rent-a-servants aren't as outrage inducing to the mainstream.

once you understand social media influencers as the modern equivalents of the petite bourgeois small proprietors of industrial capitalism, a lot falls into place canonical @maxread.info maxread.substack.com/p/the-tiktok...

This is why the Democrats' current obsession with tax cuts is so dangerous. They're paving the way for more extreme proposals like ending progressive taxation altogether. Again, we don't need "Republican lite." We need a party that affirms that paying for the things government does is good.

Kind of feel like we especially don’t need fancy law explainers at the moment. “Can the president just take money when he wants?” A third grader could answer this. A Yale law prof is likelier to write the wrong answer so their 2L can work for Alito

Socialism but anti-social isn't really socialism, it's just crank anti-liberalism

there's a name for "anti-tax leftism", sadly that name is "Right-Wing MMT"

Taxpayers pay the price for thuggish, constitutionally illiterate cops

The podcast bros said they were supporting Trump for two reasons: He wouldn’t start any wars, and he’d release the Epstein files. Massie lost tonight for two reasons: (a) forcing the release of the Epstein files, and (b) trying to restrain Trump’s war in Iran.

He's right but that's only because he games the tax code so his *income* is actually low enough to claim credits intended for working families. www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-c...

'the middle class really resented the working class doing well because it costs them cheap servants' is very obviously true of the Biden years, it's been confused because the most vocal members of the middle class online somehow wrapped this in leftist language

“The U.S. and Israel bombed Ahmadinejad to free Ahmadinejad but the plan failed after Ahmadinejad did not enjoy being bombed as much as he thought he would. Meanwhile, the Kentucky 6th district has deposed its representative due to his opposition to pedophilia.” Sure. Fine. Whatever. I give up.

If you were around for the Carter administration, you probably have some idea, but I for one can’t imagine the state of American politics if we enter a period of intense stagflation.

A **majority** of those arrested for the Jan 6 attack were white small business owners with past histories of bankruptcy, liens, and tax problems. An attempted coup carried out by realtors, auto dealers, and former cops.

GIFT LINK NYT 5/11/24: www.nytimes.com/2024/05/11/u...

The illusion of humanity is part of AI's selling point.

I don't mind paying a fee, but the gas tax should also be 42 cents now just to keep up with inflation.

We keep creating and recreating an internet that destroys all incentives for producing original information mattdpearce.substack.com/p/you-couldn...

whoops

Californians—Reminder that you can delete your personal data from hundreds of data brokers with ONE request. privacy.ca.gov/drop #Privacy #California #CalPrivacy #DROP

From the reporter who scooped the news that Treasury's GC was quitting, IRS wrote a 25-page memo about why Trump's IRS lawsuit was dogshit. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/a...

Straight out of the fascist playbook of re-writing history. They're going to use the fact that January 6 insurrectionists were pardoned as "proof" that they didn't actually attack anyone and were wrongfully targeted.

As if the $1.8 billion slush fund weren't already the most corrupt "settlement" in history, Trump takes it even farther. The IRS is now barred from *ever* seeking claims against Trump or his family. www.politico.com/news/2026/05...

Helpful thread 🧵

AI makes it harder for humans to trust one another, which makes it harder for humans to work together towards shared ends, which is the greatest gift billionaires could ever give to aspiring authoritarians.

My bad acid trip is CA's unqualified amateur governor and LA's unqualified amateur mayor spend eight hours each working day debating each other on podcasts and making AI slop videos, while everyone else waits in an endless line for building permits.

Want a blaring RED SIREN? Trump's hand picked general counsel at the Treasury Dept has resigned rather than be anywhere near Trump's $1.7b theft of tax dollars to pay allies. He knows this is corrupt as hell and is trying to preserve his career by getting far away. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/b...

Here's the thing. I have a feeling that men who get caught using AI will not face the same social/professional consequences as women/ minority writers who get caught doing the same. See: The plagiarism scandals from the past, and the men who still have journalism/commentary jobs despite it.

Maybe Trump is immune. But Todd Blanche and every other DOJ employee who worked on this corrupt self dealing is not. Congressional Dems need to make them acutely aware of that.

If far-left voters will defect and allow fascism to win - fascism! - because they're so offended at creating a broad coalition, then they're not really your base, they're just accelerationists who think the revolution will usher in a utopia where school buses run on unicorn pee

It really is amazing that his oatmeal brain has settled on "you think $5/gallon is bad? It could be way worse!" as a good response to ppls complaints going into the midterms.

Ring the bell because for the first time ever: Jim Cramer is stunned silent. Just like the rest of us, he’s seeing the President commit insider trading right in front of our very eyes.

I will just add to this that, during the Biden presidency, I made a point of regularly calling out the good things the administration was doing -- which were continuous &, in aggregate, enormously consequential -- and ... none of that went viral. Very, very little engagement or amplification.

jsyk Trump is doing the settlement fund today using the same maneuver he deployed to kill offshore wind projects on both coasts. this isn’t new via @emilypont.bsky.social for @heatmap.news

The way the Judgment Fund is being used for the Trump “settlement” creates a profound loophole in the Appropriations Clause, allowing an administration to fund any program it wants without an appropriation. Sort of thing the Court needs to stop.

Because sexual predators and groomers are Great Again in America

"we will simply bring costs down without reducing employment or wages" is the "no take, only throw" of left-of-center politics and it's becoming a real problem

But "Hang Mike Pence" was free speech.

Federal gas tax is 18.4¢/gallon. Average new non-electric/hybrid car is 25.6 mpg. Average driver drives 13,476 miles a year. That means they spend $97 in federal gas tax/year. Congressional leaders want EV owners to pay 50% more a year to the federal government to drive less polluting vehicles.

Damn. The EV surcharge is 2x gas cars. Not surprised

seems like jared polis thought this would make him look like an enlightened and humane centrist instead of a dumbass

They are raising taxes on electric vehicles but not on gasoline vehicles. It’s bad policy during an energy crisis but also during any other time too.

“The task that generative A.I. has been most successful at is lowering our expectations, both of the things we read and of ourselves when we write anything for others to read.” — Ted Chiang

The reason they had to threaten people's jobs over posting Charlie Kirk quotes verbatim is because most Americans, including many Trump voters, would recoil in horror if they ever got an uncensored view of what TPUSA is promoting.

Agrivoltaics may sound like something out of a cosmic sci-fi movie. But agriculture and solar panels on the same land makes a heck of a lot of sense. It’s a new crop for farmers, providing financial stability and helping meet rising energy demand. www.forbes.com/sites/curren...

“Love” is what you are promised in return if you submit and obey. I can’t think of a more accurate depiction of the MAGA social vision.

There's a really strong kind of seething undercurrent in what Mark Zuckerberg and especially Elon Musk say, where they expected - feel they are *owed* - massive social deference as heroic inventor figures and are just boiling that instead everyone dislikes them for making things feel worse.