NESTERAK: President Trump has granted clemency to numerous individuals who have stolen hundreds of millions in Medicaid funds. Can we expect any of these folks to be shown the same mercy? McDONALD: I'll take a different question

“free”

gift link Bluesky Says Kremlin Is Hacking Its Platform to Spread Propaganda www.nytimes.com/2026/05/21/b...

Mark Cuban: "Thank you for having me, Mr President. I think other than you, I've been the biggest proponent of TrumpRx."

gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/u...

zombie movie in which all the zombies are staring at cellphones — to finish them off, just take away the phones

What could go wrong?

There's a major civil rights protest taking place in Selma, Alabama, right now in response to the SCOTUS decision that weakened the Voting Rights Act and the ongoing attack on Black Americans’ political power (video: defiancedispatch/IG)

"The frenetic AI race is inseparable from the petty, clashing egos of the unfathomably rich, hellbent on dominating one another" - must read from Karen Hao.

seriously confused by this congregation, which will soon enter this huge theater at Cannes to watch “Sheep in the Box,” the latest from Kore-eda

The great Annie Ernaux is here at Cannes for the premiere of the film “A Girl’s Story,” based on her book! What an honor to be in the same room with her.

“For example, if a customer lingered in front of the pasta sauces for 28 seconds, as shown by a tracking device in their shopping basket, the store could cause a coupon to pop up on a larger display screen that would offer a discount for a specific brand.”

There is a statue of author Alex Haley in East Knoxville, TN. Knox County just removed Roots from all school libraries.

She collapsed the day she was found. Four weeks old, riddled with parasites and fading fast. But today, Kipekee turns one. Her name means 'unique' in Swahili. Now she's the Nursery darling, surrounded by adoring nannies jockeying for her attention. Happy first birthday, Kipekee.

Alito's 5 pm deadline arrives and the Supreme Court, over dissents by Alito and Thomas, has now GRANTED the stays pending appeal in the mifepristone case. That means we're back to the previous status quo, and the drug is avaialbe by mail nationwide.

New job posting to join our team for an early career scientist(s) interested in the intersection of wildfire, electricity, insurance and resilience policy. If this sounds like you, please apply! If not, please share with your contacts. careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/electri...

NEW from me and Josh Dawsey- Inside Marty Makary's downfall at the FDA Lots of juicy detail in here Gift link: www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

One week with Bumpy! Like any baby, he sleeps deeply and often – especially snuggled up to his Keeper, with a tummy full of milk. Rescued last weekend after his mother died in a territorial fight, he now has a family with us and a wild future ahead. www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/orphans/bumpy

gift link Hantavirus Response Shows How Trump Cuts Have Compromised U.S. Preparedness www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/h...

Unearthed reports reveal that RFK Jr. fired every full-time CDC cruise ship sanitation inspector ahead of the Hantavirus cruise ship outbreak. www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-cru...

"the crew frequently cleans hand rails and other high-contact surfaces" but are they also opening the windows and filtration-maxxing? www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/w...

👇🧵❤️

very funny that this guy is literally like “tax the rich? that is the n word to me, personally” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/n...

"Trump's vaping agenda": 1. Support flavored vapes, like mango and blueberry. 2. Pressure the FDA commish to approve them. 3. Gain the gratitude of young MAGA voters. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

I’m sure that some people will eagerly watch a dog take a big loose shit, too — so, sure.

The oil industry-linked event for more than 150 judges comes as a number of significant lawsuits seeking to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate damages are making their way through the courts.

While the world’s eyes are on fashion’s biggest night, we’re turning ours to the garment, retail, and warehouse workers who keep the industry running. From true love found on the picket line to a free tailoring school out of a Brooklyn basement — meet the New Yorkers who make it all possible.

This is not an exaggeration. Alex Jones is allegedly bankrupt but has an infinite well of dark money to pay lawyers, sell pills, and harangue judges and the parents of dead kids. This stay must be lifted so we can take over, and I hope journalists look into where he's getting and stowing his money.

WaPo reports Louisiana’s governor will announce on Friday that he is suspending the House primaries where people have already started voting and redraw the map; I’d expect them to go for an all-Republican map and eliminate both majority-Black districts, not just one.

Ok, time to watch a comedy!

This was some time ago (“True Grit” year). At the risk of losing my Very Serious Cinephile card, I greatly enjoyed it.

One year, I was so late to Oscars that I didn’t remove the bags of cat litter that were in the back of my car. Not only was the underside of my car checked, several security people discussed the litter - I had to reassure them it wasn’t fertilizer. And then we went through *more* security checks.

I’m sure you’ve been to the Oscars and premieres, Tom. For the Oscars, the security perimeter is blocks wide!

The security at the Oscars — or even a freaking movie premiere — seems tighter.

The Getty video I just posted shows the same.

Dramatic video from Getty Images from behind the dais. They actually got Vance out before Trump. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/vice-president-jd-vance-is-escorted-out-by-secret-service-news-footage/2273151734?adppopup=true

I would like one day that’s nice and calm and boring, just one!

gift link (NYT says the suspect is in custody) Live Updates: Trump Rushed Out of Dinner Amid Reports of Shots Fired www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04...

Unionized staff at ProPublica have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike after more than two years of bargaining their first contract. Let them know you’ll honor the picket line. nycclc.org/news/take-ac...

How Hollywood Rediscovered Its Anti-Monopoly Roots • As Paramount CEO David Ellison hosts a D.C. dinner honoring Trump, major actors and industry stakeholders publicly oppose the Paramount-Warner deal. This conflict has been a long time coming.

Tomorrow's Premium: OpenAI needs to raise or make $852bn through 2030 to pay for the compute costs associated with Stargate and other data centers. If it fails, Oracle dies, and destroys Larry Ellison's wealth. Here's $10 off annual. edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo...

"Francisco" shares "The hard part about harvesting oranges is we must fill a 70lb bag full of oranges and dump it in a 900 lb bin. It takes at least an hour to fill a bin. On a good day we might fill 6 bins. We earn $24/bin. When we finish for the day, our backs ache." #WeFeedYou

"Waymo has told advocates that expecting it to respect bike lanes is 'too high a bar' because customers expect to be dropped off in them." To be crystal clear, it's illegal for a car to be in a bike lane. It doesn't matter what Waymo's customers expect; the company shouldn't be doing it.

"As is so often the case with commentary about the emergency docket, the Court’s defenders make arguments that sound outwardly reasonable, but that depend entirely on cherry-picking their examples and ignoring the counterexamples." Me on the barrage of commentary attacking the Times' #SCOTUS scoop:

“Cybertrucks are the Entourage of cars” — “The Boys” (yes, I laughed)

Below is a statement from the unionized workers of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

flipping through a proof of yet another book from a somewhat well known liberal voice diagnosing “where the left went wrong” and i’m struck, again, by the fact that a large part (if not most) of the liberal commentariat simply does not believe that the political right has agency.

For fuck's sake, sign up for The Onion, and get a free limited edition IW tote. A share of merch sales will go to the Sandy Hook families, which will be the first time they get any money since they filed this lawsuit eight years ago. Legal fees have been insane. Please sign up and help us out!