Cities turn streetlights red to protect nocturnal ecosystems International Dark Sky Week is hailed as a global celebration of the night and a call for less light pollution. www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

Killing of 8 children in Louisiana renews focus on domestic violence involving guns www.pbs.org/newshour/sho...

🗃️ Nota bene #skystorians and THANK YOU to all who make this access to #history possible at @archive.org 🙌

F.B.I. Director Sues The Atlantic Over Article Claiming Excessive Drinking Patel accused the publication of defamation, asking for $250 million in damages. A spokeswoman for The Atlantic called the suit “meritless.” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/u...

Trump Is Coming After Birth Control Access in a Terrifying New Way HHS issued new Title X guidelines effectively subverting its purpose: to give the poorest US women effective contraception. Now it's aimed at getting more women pregnant, whether they want to be or not www.nytimes.com/2026/04/20/o...

“The United States is being murdered, and it’s an inside job. Every department, every branch, every bureau and function of the federal government is being fatally corrupted or altogether dismantled or disabled.”

TRUST TEACHERS. Two words that, if people actually widely believed them, would utterly reform education in this country.

Searing opinion from a federal judge on Long Island, who describes "police state"-like tactics by ICE to arrest peopleand draw up after-the-fact warrants. He says DOJ is damaging its credibility with the courts by trying to shield ICE from scrutiny. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

This is what Israel has done to Bint Jbeil, my hometown in southern Lebanon

US military says it killed three people in latest Caribbean boat strike reut.rs/4cYmAnp

Trump Administration Demand for Ballot Info Rebuffed by Michigan The Department of Justice is seeking ballots and other materials from the 2024 election. Michigan officials call it election interference. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/u...

Rebecca Solnit: Everything is Changing Fast 'one way you can see the new attitude in action is as local campaigns, often successful, to prevent tech corps from building data centers in their area and ICE from buying warehouses to convert to prisons' www.meditationsinanemergency.com/everything-i...

Four decades on, Chernobyl remains too dangerous for humans. But the wildlife has moved back in. https://to.pbs.org/48Ge7DM

Palantir's ImmigrationOS endangers democracy and the rule of law, according to a new law review paper from Fordham Law School’s Chinmayi Sharma and Sam Adler. In this week’s podcast, they break down the risks of AI-powered surveillance in immigration enforcement.

The men who are attempting to contextualize the horrific actions of Justin Fairfax are sending a clear signal that violence against women can be justified by supposed stress.

The attacks on the ambulances have drawn condemnation, including from the United Nations' human rights office, which said it was "shocked" and warned that intentionally targeting medics constituted a war crime. https://to.pbs.org/4dQHW89

The Strokes played Coachella against a backdrop listing all the world leaders that had been assassinated by the CIA, a count of the number of universities bombed in Iran, and footage of the bombing of the last university in Gaza

Trump didn’t create it. Over decades “we” have allowed the Supreme Court to become what it is.

Hamas Officials Say Group Is Ready to Hand Over Some Weapons Two senior Hamas officials in Gaza said the group was prepared to relinquish some automatic rifles and other arms, a concession that falls short of Israeli-U.S. demands. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/w...

tgiFHI | How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire with Mélanie Lamotte www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7rN...

"The company founded and formerly run by Trump Energy Secretary Chris Wright recorded $193 million of income last year but paid no 2025 federal corporate income taxes, according to its regulatory filings, and actually got more than $10 million back from the IRS..." www.eenews.net/articles/oil...

The Hampshire model is irreconcilable with the preferred future of fund managers, EdTech entrepreneurs, neoliberal administrators, & reactionary reformers, in which HigherEd is a giant surveillance & indoctrination network you submit to in order to earn the right to live into adulthood.

WOW: A stunning new report in the WSJ reveals that military advisers intentionally excluded Donald Trump from the command room during the recent high-stakes operation to extract a downed U.S. airman in Iran, because they feared his erratic behavior could jeopardize the mission. 1/

6/6

Best Twitter riposte of the day.

The MAGA way. WaPo documents how Rep Cory Mills (R-FL) used overt political influence, including calls to Pam Bondi and Ed Martin, to avoid being arrested and prosecuted after he physically brutally assaulted a woman in Washington, DC. www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

Huh. Why would they ask for Wayne's ballots rather than the counties where Trump's people committed crimes in 2020? 🤔

...btw I link to evidence that the anti-trans backlash was a highly coordinated and well–funded (especially via right-wing orgs) movement in this essay: www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...

Businesses closed. Churches emptied. Parents afraid to take kids to school. Advocates say what was supposed to be a crime-fighting effort is keeping a community in fear. With @mlk50.com

Have been wondering when candidates would start talking about this. One of the biggest corruption scandals is U.S. history playing out in real time.

1) It is ok to cut the mic on talk-show guests who repeat the same lies over and over, as Stefanik does here 2) And while they’re doing that, you don’t need to plug their book for them

Jeanette Winterson: 'I have been thinking about calling it a day on Substack. Giving Andrew Tate a platform is not a commitment to free speech. It’s basking in your bottom line instead of standing tall against hate speech....directed at women.' open.substack.com/pub/jeanette...

Maine boasts the highest percentage of forest land in the US and understands that sustainable forestry is central to protecting our precious land and water resources and economic prosperity. It’s vital therefore that Sen Collins stop the Trump Admin from ravaging our US Forest Service #MEpolitics

Gen Z Protests Around the World: Success or Epic Fail? Over the past year or so, young people have rallied across continents to oust old-guard governments. What’s happened since? www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/w...

Framingham, #MA Pulp Fiction Pete #VIsibilityBrigade

‘All the President’s Men’ at 50: Times Journalists Look Back New York Times staff members shared why they regard the 1976 film as one of the best movies about their profession. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/i...

Palantir put out the most cartoonishly evil statement possible. They’re so arrogant and self-confident they don’t seem to believe their fascistic plans can be opposed. We must get rid of Palantir altogether. twitter-thread.com/t/2045574398...

Most of us agree that college is a place for students to learn new perspectives. But right now, Greg Abbott is working to limit what universities can teach. That’s why professors across Texas are joining @aaup.org — to defend our students and our world-class universities and colleges.

What’s interesting here is they say “culture” when they mean “people” but they think that this maintains a veneer of deniability about what they’re really saying. In any case it’s true that the “culture” of the tech billionaires is morally and intellectually depraved rot bsky.app/profile/elio...

My latest. I’ve been watching the media coverage of the murders of Dr. Cerina Fairfax and Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer. One way media can fight back against male violence: If you kill your wife, you don’t get to be called a “husband” any more. You’re her killer. open.substack.com/pub/karenatt...

If you think legislation that targets “low enrollment degrees” only impacts the humanities please look at this list. Degrees in chemistry, math, physics, political science, data analytics, psychology and economics are being eliminated. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/04/16/o...

Breaking: HHS’s ban on gender-affirming care is struck down. Rarely have I read a ruling this sharply worded. “This case is one of a long list of examples of how a leader’s wanton disregard for the rule of law causes very real harm to very real people.” www.advocate.com/politics/nat...

"She’s been a court interpreter for over 20 years, the only one licensed in Texas for Hindi, Punjabi, or Urdu. Her language skills are requested nationwide..." "One of her children recently enlisted in the military... www.texasobserver.org/immigration-...

Amanda Ungaro was 16 when she was flown to the US on an Epstein plane. She later became close to the Trumps On Apr. 8, she went on X to threaten legal action vs Melania “and your pedophile husband” On Apr. 9, Melania made that odd public statement about Epstein www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...

"Over the past several months, our community has built a blueprint that other communities can use when federal agencies attempt to move detention infrastructure into their neighborhoods..." blog.hagerstownrapidresponse.com/p/today-in-b...

Authoritarianism is, at its core, performative and aesthetic. US autocrats who, not only do not recognize fictional, satirical characters, but who emulate them, are telling us who they are. They are frauds intending to deceive. Do not let them.

The @nytimes.com reporting reveals more about the dysfunction and poor leadership at the Supreme Court. These revelations underscore the brilliant observations of @mjsdc.bsky.social , @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app , and @nanagyamfi.bsky.social at our 14th Amendment Ctr symposium last week.

A Massachusetts bill would require judges to reduce someone’s sentence or offer pretrial diversion if they find that the person’s actions were directly related to their experiences of abuse. Advocates hope lawmakers can move it forward this year.

Read “Scars,” a new short story by Sigrid Nunez: