In the wake of studies about how wealth dampens compassion, heightens rule-bending and blurs emotional accuracy, Ms. Scott is a refreshing exception that almost restores optimism for humanity. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/b...

What are some of these baseball awards even for if they aren’t judged on objective criteria?

interesting idea -- states set up escrow systems for collecting taxes instead of giving it to the White House Clown www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... With the courts shut down, Trump wouldn't be able to do anything

Do people realize that Trump and Miller are creating so many valid civil causes of action that taxpayers will be paying billions of dollars—if not tens of billions—to their innocent victims and their families over the next 25 years? America will be digging itself out of a hole for decades to come.

In highly unequal economies, people compare themselves to those at the top, notice the gap and then report how they think things are “bad” economically. Disney park visits are a perfect illustration of the “Decline of America’s Middle Class.” www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/o...

Arizona does not vet new voucher schools. Not even if the school or the online school “provider” has already failed, or was founded yesterday, or is operating out of a strip mall, or offers just a half hour of instruction per morning. (Published Dec. 2024)

If trump did nothing “concerning” while spending time with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein - as Ghislaine Maxwell says - then there shouldn’t be a problem releasing the Epstein files in their entirety (with survivors’ names and PII redacted.)

Happy Live Aid anniversary day. Sad to hear its founder say it couldn’t happen today. 40 Years After Live Aid, It’s Still Personal for Bob Geldof www.nytimes.com/2025/07/13/a...

From today’s Daily Stoic ⬇️

“We have one of the top six stadiums in baseball … so let’s scrap it and move to someplace in town we can’t yet name after a few years and get taxpayers to pitch in.” www.kansascity.com/news/local/a...

We're in uncharted territory with this SCOTUS. They're making decisions--without regard to precedent, without regard to norms, without regard to justice, without regard to the impact on the rule of law in the U.S., without regard to consequences, and very often with a complete lack of transparency.

But will this have “sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads”? @stephaniemiller.bsky.social @radioguychris.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/u...

In the era that some politicians and their flock want to take us “back” “again,” housing was just over twice an average annual income. Now it’s more than 10 times that. Fixing this should be a top priority to reduce homelessness. From @hartmannreport.com open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Republicans have insisted for years that any increase in America’s so-called debt limit be paired with spending reductions. Now the party is poised to discard that philosophy and press ahead with legislation that combines nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts with a $5 trillion increase to the debt limit.

The parade today by contrast moves west to east, outside to in. It starts at the Pentagon not Arlington National Cemetary. It follows the symbolic route of troops entering to quell or occupy the city, not leaving with love and thanks. 8/

“A regime that has to deploy force at the first sign of dissent is a regime that does not actually believe it can wield power short of coercion and open threats of violence.” www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/o...

Hearing @johnfugelsang.bsky.social describe JD Vance as someone who “cosplays as Appalachian Batman” was easily the funniest thing I’ve heard this week. And given today’s middle school Twitter fight, that’s saying something.

8. That’s impacting some 24 million Americans, most of them, Charles reminds me, residing in red districts. The following is a long interview, but vital to anyone with a stake. www.editorialboard.com/if-youre-on-...

My theory is that some of the most dangerous people in America are smart, introverted techies who never understood why anyone majored in the liberal arts in college, graduated college and began reading and misunderstanding texts liberal arts majors were taught to read properly, and became fascists.

7/ This is why I keep talking about Atlas. Because what we’re seeing isn’t chaos. It’s strategy. They’re building an interconnected web of authoritarians who will do what corporations can’t do at the ballot box: Exploit nations from the inside. bsky.app/profile/digi...

1/ I started researching how right-wing billionaires fund chaos, think tanks, propaganda, disinfo ops. Then I asked: Who’s funding truth, justice & democracy on our side? Turns out, we have a network too but just not for lying. Let’s meet them. 🧵 #DemsUnited #DemVoice1 #ResistanceUnited #ProudBlue

I wonder how RFK Jr. would feel if people starting saying that vitamin D supplements are the cause of autism*. As you can see, the prevalence of vitamin D supplement use has skyrocketed. *There is zero evidence that vitamin D supplements cause autism, which is the same evidence as for vaccines.

House budget bill would lead bottom income quintile to lose ~4% of their income on average ($800), but top percentile would see their incomes rise 4% (nearly $70,000). If tariffs remain in place, the overall impact on families would be even more regressive. budgetlab.yale.edu/research/dis...

The extra-extreme members of the House Budget Committee voted "present" tonight so that the Medicaid-cuts-to-fund-tax-giveaways-for-the-rich bill could pass out of committee 17-16. Tomorrow, flood Capitol Hill switchboards to voice your opposition to this monstrosity. 202-224-3121.

“The American people should make their disgust known: There is no room for this kind of flagrant disregard of the Constitution.” www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/o...

You could say, “this is just three people.” But they are among foremost experts on failing democracies. This is about as stern a warning as any of us could expect. (Gift article) www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/o...

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com Three Yale professors who have written extensively on authoritarianism are leaving the U.S. “We’re like people on the Titanic saying our ship can’t sink,” Marci Shore said. “And what you know as a historian is that there is no such thing as a ship that can’t sink.”

Talk about “deep state”!

Arizona has so far indicted more than 100 individuals involved in the Medicaid fraud scheme and recouped $125 million — just 5% of the funds the state estimates it paid to bad actors. By @jasminedemers.bsky.social, with @azcir.org

Happy outdoor grilling season. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/10/w...

"Trump won over 90% of news deserts across the country. These are communities that don’t have a local source of news...that’s where Trump is really succeeding." On the pod, a rural Dem organizer is illuminating on how Trump's rural support thrives in info vacuums: newrepublic.com/article/1949...

Donald Trump: Our Neo-Marxist President open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

Posting this for no other reason than to have a date-stamped reference for when I have to give some future generation that speech about “back when we were free.”

NAFTA didn’t just shift where things were made—it rewired how we think about value. It sparked the era of price wars. Manufacturers racing to the bottom, and consumers rewarding it. This race has no finish line. Just a slow grind downward in quality and stability. 7.

Who voted for getting rid of more bees? “Compounding the troubles for the bee industry are recent federal cuts proposed by the Elon Musk-led DOGE to the Department of Agriculture, where researchers were studying ways to protect the nation’s honeybees.” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/12/b...

“It’s hard to find anything distinctively Christian about Trump’s first 100 days. In fact, there’s been far more cruelty than Christianity on view over his first three months back in office. But white evangelicals still stand with him.” www.nytimes.com/2025/05/01/o...

RIP Jill Sobule, a bright light dwarfed too soon. youtu.be/dX47ObjShLA?...

Two former Wells Fargo executives were fined $8.5M by the Biden administration for covering up the bank's infamous fake account scandal. Trump just slashed those fines to a paltry $150,000 after Wells Fargo gave $1M to his inauguration. See how this works?

Congress, and also the courts, were designed to expand but haven’t in my lifetime. For them to return to a mission of service, they need to. And @normornstein.bsky.social has ideas to make it work. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

@bobcesca.bsky.social The song at the end of the Wednesday interview show is outstanding.

Not sure robotaxis are “it,” but the principle is sound: Don’t just defend the old status quo — invent the future. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/o...

Every minute of *complete inaction* to take ANY steps towards complying with the Supreme Court and lower court (and now 4th Circuit order) -- inaction that has now been exposed by the fact that a U.S. Senator had access to Abrego Garcia -- is obstruction of justice. That's a crime too 3/

“In China, one of many nicknames for President Trump is Chuan Jianguo. It literally translates as “Trump the Nation Builder.” The joke is that Trump is a patriotic son of China who is diligently advancing Chinese interests by causing chaos in the United States.” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/o...

The voters demanded higher credit card late fees!

@feralheather.bsky.social I was sent a Thread Reader version of your excellent post on the former bird site about your Bulgarian classmate, but then saw you no longer have an account there. Hoping all is well and that you’d consider reposting that thread here.

“If Trump doesn’t stop his rogue behavior, he’s going to destroy all the things that made America strong, respected and prosperous. “I have never been more afraid for America’s future in my life.” www.nytimes.com/2025/04/15/o...

From www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

@rockymntnmike.bsky.social Just heard “Neo-Convoy” on @bobcesca.bsky.social and about fell out of my chair. Some of your best work!

America has no allies in this trade war. Not the EU. Not Japan. Not Canada, not Mexico, not Australia. Not even Russia. OK, maybe El Salvador. MAGA wanted America alone. It got its wish.