Texas land is a favorite subject of mine. Texas was the only state to join the union with all of its public lands: 175 million acres. Vast majority was granted away in the 19th century to, e.g., compensate veterans and build infrastructure. What could have been if we retained our public lands?

This is great news. This change would have joined the continuous stream of legal embarrassments of this administration: it would have likely violated Section 223(d) of the Social Security Act, which requires the consideration of age.

Non-zero probability that Texas' gerrymander for the midterms doesn't work because it was racially motivated, while the California gerrymander holds because it was expressly politically motivated. If this is how it plays out, it will be one of the most incredible unforced errors by the GOP.

I want to see the Don Draper pitch for this pamphlet. “Websites are the future. So is Star Trek. Also, we’re going to put a giant SSA logo on the moon.”

The leader of the LFI caucus in the French National Assembly says that Zohran's election is a lesson in mass politics and transformative political programs, giving hope to the US and the entire world in the battle against the far right.

There's a cruel catch-22 in social security disability law. 1. Disabled and unemployed? Apply for benefits so you can get Medicare/Medicaid. 2. Judges heavily rely on medical records in determining "disability." Hard to produce medical records when you can't afford health care to begin with!

The contrast with SNAP is deafening. The White House is stretching well beyond what anyone could claim is legal in order to pay the troops — while simultaneously stretching beyond what’s legal to NOT pay SNAP benefits.

Like always @kathleenromig.bsky.social gives important perspective, this time on the current admin's upcoming changes to social security disability. The White House preaches manufacturing jobs, but they want it to be harder for those workers to get benefits after 50.

So the director is taking significant authority away from their ALJs? Not an agency I’m intimately familiar with, but this seems like another instance of this admin’s tendency to consolidate its power. Will have to see what the patent community says! www.law360.com/articles/240...

One big difference between Mamdani and Cuomo and Sliwa is that one of these people is running seriously, and full time, and always out talking to people. Cuomo’s insane sense of entitlement means he doesn’t think he should have to, and Sliwa always runs for the same reason Trump did for years.

"Where do you work?"

"It is going to be disastrous if this continues" Nobel Prize physics laureate John Clarke says Trump cuts will 'cripple' US scientific research u.afp.com/SmAy

“Totalitarianism in power invariably replaces all first-rate talents, regardless of their sympathies, with those crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is still the best guarantee of their loyalty” -Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951)

Do you think unbending Clippy until he was a long piece of metal would be painful for him. Or do you think it would cause him to feel a great sense of relief

“The United Nations has historically resettled more refugees in Houston than any other U.S. city. If we were a country, we’d rank fourth in the world for refugees resettlement. That’s because we’re good at it.”

“Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible.” – Carl Jung

Support for Medicaid work requirements spikes at 65—right when Medicare kicks in. At 65, people stop needing Medicaid and suddenly start supporting cuts to it.

I enjoy thinking about the stories of people who take pay cuts to work for the government because they believe in an agency's mission. It's nice to think we can still believe in something bigger than ourselves. We too often lose sight of the immense potential of what a civil workforce can be.

adam curtis releases his documentaries at the right moments

I close my eyes and whisper to myself, “Please give me the patience of a CSPAN host fielding call-ins.”

Pope Leo being an American is overshadowing his mathematics education. There exists a large cardinal!

Beautiful tribute to former Acting Social Commissioner Michelle King: “Michelle King did not just administer benefits; she protected the foundation of Social Security itself. And for that, every American—whether they realize it or not—owes her a debt of gratitude.” msmagazine.com/2025/05/05/p...

Beautiful tribute from former Social Security Commissioner @martinomalley.bsky.social on the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City domestic terrorist attack. 168 people were murdered on April 19, 1995, including SSA employees serving the public. We will always remember.

“the overjoyed lotto winner said he ‘just can't wait to get off the streets.’” And the store manager drove the guy over 2 hours to turn it at the California Lottery! people.com/homeless-man...

It should be a major scandal that the Social Security Administration made it harder for parents to register their babies in Maine to punish the President's enemies www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/u...

Just as we warned, breakdowns at Social Security are happening already—reported in a brand new must-read from the Post. (gift link) wapo.st/4hM5MAn

Obsessed with the Big David Byrne Suit on the CBP witness from the House committee hearing on drones. And you may ask yourself, how did these drones get here?

Grateful for simple website with limited content. Rest of the internet is absolutely cursed. My wife will kill me if I watch another orangutan documentary