So many amazing small presses out there putting out interesting stuff you'll never find anywhere else. Four of my favorites are: @malarkeybooks.bsky.social @shotgunhoney.com @cowboyjamboree.bsky.social Cornerstone Press They've all put out great stuff this year, with more about to be released

Oof. Read this.

Federal agents pulling a woman out of Rayito Del Sol, a daycare by Lane Tech high school

this morning, ICE went into a Spanish language immersion daycare and took a teacher from the building in front of screaming and crying kids and parents at dropoff and the daycare had to shut down for the day (near Lane Tech, where they were yesterday). Really hoping today's "theme" is not "daycare."

I needed this one. All the feels.

I will do anything for public libraries because they represent the very best of our society: decency, curiosity, care for our neighbors, empathy. They're a rare place where there is no pressure to buy things or to be anyone other than yourself.

It's publication day for Read This When Things Fall Apart! So grateful to our contributors and to @akpress.org for making this book a reality. This is a strange time to be promoting a book, but I believe it's a text that has the potential to help us right now. Please get yourself a copy. ❤️

You read that right! miCRo submissions are OPEN! Send us your best work of 500 words or fewer.

I guess hell needed a shortstop.

more precisely, it's time for journos to journo.

Exhibit A as to why stable, equitable federal funding is necessary. Faith-based and private organizations and people cannot meet the need without it. Nor should they have to. Period.

The New York Times likes to say Trump "has stretched the limits of his powers” and “tests the boundaries of the presidency.” But this is not a test or a stretching exercise. He’s a lawless politician building a dictatorship. Say it. 🧵 1/3

Yet another variety of cop has arrived—NIPAS/assorted suburban Illinois cops from various departments recruited for riot control. Dogs barking. ISP just gave another warning, ordering protesters to disperse or potentially face chemical weapons or "pain compliance techniques."

Quiet yesterday because Halloween. IL State Police tried to hand out candy to protesters. No takers. All bets are off today. They are in it. Governor Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov, stop trying to straddle the fence.

This is an unprecedented historical moment that demands an unprecedented public response. I’m incredibly thankful for the solidarity shown by elected officials, public figures, constituents, and others over the past few days.

He has already chosen, what the fuck are we doing here www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

On the nose doesn't convey how on the nose this is.

Corporate Media, stop blaming the victim. Your slip is showing.

Working the literal backbone job for public schools and she's on SNAP: “Now we got to take this cash that we were going to put into the savings to buy food to make sure that these babies eat,” said McClendon, 49, who works as a substitute teacher assistant for Chicago Public Schools."

Here's a thought, start with the source of the problem: unaffordable housing. Oh yeah, that's a non-starter politically. These encampments will quickly progress from single, vulnerable adults to children and the elderly without providing meaningful support services or a way out. By design.

GOV. WALZ: “This is not both sides. This is owned by Republicans. Dems are willing to come back and protect what passed, not let an authoritarian president do whatever he wants… people will be lined up to get food and we’re talking about a damn ballroom? DON’T LOSE THE PLOT.”

If you have it please donate cash to the food banks. $10 in their hands will feed more people than the $10 worth of canned goods you can buy for retail prices. Also check on your elders. Many of them will not admit they rely on these programs so grocery gift cards or a surprise bag of staples

Once more for the people in the back row: It's here.

"Assault on an officer" for touching the car door. Got that? Cops have always been able to arrest any one of us, mess with us, just because. Growing push back on ICE raids is an existential threat to municipal, state, fed police.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has issued a warning about license plate tampering and has launched a reporting hotline to address the issue.

Real banana republic vibes, here

Will it work? I don’t know. But it is certainly better than preemptively conceding ground to the Right’s claims that they deserve disproportionate power as representatives of “the people.” It is time for (small-d) democrats to assert their right to define what “real America” is going forward.

Oh, Kevin... "Meanwhile, DuPage County Republicans were largely paying the No Kings protests no mind, party Chairman Kevin Coyne, of Naperville, said. “It’s a yawn. ... It seems to us that they just protest to protest — to insult communities and insult the police. It has no effect. It’s just noise.”

Cops led us into the street as the new “protest zone” and then beat us repeatedly. Got hit in the face with a baton. Leaving to pick up my friends who were arrested. Stay safe out there.

Cook County Sheriff’s van departs with arrested protesters. At least nine people arrested, including a medic and one of the musicians.

wonderful. such a tonic. no notes.

Stop scrolling & read this powerful @susanbarryschulz.com poem. Especially if you’re a dog person.

Ugh, yes. We must register the danger here and not merely think, well, yeah.

Paraphrasing John Boehner when, after he left the house, he was asked about the always promised, but never materializing GOP healthcare plans: (Laughed hard) Plan!? Republicans don't have a healthcare plan!!

Come check out this podcast ep on Horror Joy!! Had a lot of fun with this one :)

And she was a family caregiver. Truly great.

Trans people may only be like 1% of the population, but the percentage of people who love and support them is bigger. LGBTQ+ rights depend on solidarity and not throwing each other under the bus for acceptance from ppl who want us dead.

Yes. That's why, throughout history, creatives always "get it in the neck."

Trump's team "are not trying to restore order; they’re trying to trigger the very unrest that would justify further crackdowns.... [creating] the illusion of disorder so they can tighten control and stay in power indefinitely." -- Barbara Walter ("How Civil Wars Start") via @tombedsall.bsky.social

It shouldn't be surprising anymore, but it still is: "Real estate investors bought one-third of all single-family residential properties sold in the second quarter of 2025. That is an increase from 27% in the first quarter, and the highest percentage in the last five years."

Democracy depends on its citizens, especially those with a broader public platform, drawing a line – especially when its enemies have broad support. It is an obligation we must accept. Who are we to draw the line? We are citizens who demand to live in a democratic Republic.

I’m told ICE attacked us—despite us being off the street, courtesy of the state police—to create a spectacle because Kristi Noem was present today. Here’s some footage of her and her team on the roof of Broadview. Everything is content creation to these fascists.

"Most food banks rely on a combination of federal or state dollars, private giving and partnerships with businesses that donate leftover food." I was a food pantry staffer for 5 years. It is categorically false that charities, individuals can cover the loss when gov't aid is cut. Trump=cruelty.

People of Illinois, we need your help. Get your cell phones out – record what you see. Put it on social media. Peacefully ask for badge numbers and identification. Speak up for your neighbors. We need to let the world know this is happening – and that we won’t stand for it.

Trump opens with a threat to the generals: "I've never walked into a room so silent … Have a good time. And if you want to applaud, you applaud ... If you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course, there goes your rank, there goes your future. but you just feel nice and loose."

In any other country, if federal agents fired upon journalists when unprovoked — what would we call it? If federal agents marched down streets demanding papers — what would we say? Authoritarianism — let’s not pretend it’s something else when it happens in our American cities.

ICE attempted and failed to disappear a food delivery guy. It needed to be scored.

This is well done with a big dollop of "women do not count for sh*t to us so shut up and make me a sandwich" sort of way.

Holy crap, ICE.