There's been some confusion, and this is important, so let me say there's no paywall, there's no patreon account required, anyone you send this to just has to click the link to open the page and read the post

1. Did you know that Girl Scouts has, for a long time, accepted trans girls and nonbinary scouts? Trans kids are under attack. Every year, I make a thread of trans and nonbinary girl scouts you can get your cookies from. Lets get our cookies from them this year in solidarity!

New York! Governor Hochul vetoed your right to read legislation! 1. Contact Hochul & let her know why this was a terrible decision. 2. Contact your state reps asking them to overturn the veto or reintroduce the bill. 3. We ain't done with this!

It's that time of year again [the time when Chief Justice John Roberts publishes an annual report about the federal judiciary and then I publish an article about all the stuff he deliberately left out of the report, and what he hoped to achieve in doing so] ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/john-...

Just a reminder that George Conway is not fundraising right now to run against a MAGA republican. He is fundraising to run against progressive Democrats.

🚨 MINNEAPOLIS: ICE at Powderhorn/Central area, Lake St. east of 35W, grabbing people from bus stops, gas stations. Confirmed by MIRAC.

NPR’s Jan. 6 archive brings together reporting, video, documents and testimony to show what really happened during the Capitol riot. Explore the timeline, cases and evidence behind the attack.

"...according to Roberts, there is nothing for the public to worry about...Roberts’s continued assurances are belied by the actual conduct of his Court." Outstanding piece by @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social. ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/john-...

DO NOT TOUCH WILDLIFE. DO NOT FEED WILDLIFE AND HABITUATE IT TO HANGING OUT AROUND HUMANS. DO NOT HANDLE WOUNDED WILDLIFE, CALL A PROFESSIONAL. EXTREMELY DO NOT BREASTFEED BATS.

They're doing this so they can call any government program that isn't ICE or the military "rife with fraud" and thus illegitimate. They are trying to manufacture consent to say any entitlement — from Medicare to social security — must be canceled because of extreme edge cases. Don't fall for it.

I feel like the Daughters of the American Revolution should book all the canceled Kennedy Center performances at Constitution Hall - sort of the reverse of what happened to Marian Anderson.

#HHS unveiled a new childhood vaccination schedule today. The pared-down schedule was developed in secret, not using the normal public science-based process. With the change, the US recommends fewer vaccines than Germany, Israel, Spain, China, & many other countries. www.statnews.com/2026/01/05/c...

It’s official: RFK Jr has officially reduced recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11, removing universal vaccine recommendations for RSV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, dengue and two types of bacterial meningitis. This reckless contravention of science is going to kill people.

After reviewing nearly 200 applications from prospective grad students and postdocs over the past few months for a couple different 🧪⚒️ postings, here are some tips, at least as they apply to North American positions. I hope they help future applicants. Share with your networks. 🧵

In celebration of Dragon Dowsers launching this summer, you can download our award-nominated solo journaling RPG for FREE! "Rescue and rear dragons in this sci-fantasy card game inspired by Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind." Here's the @itch.io link: itch.io/s/178178/dow...

Josh Marshall on the mistaken assumption that there is “a” reason why we attacked Venezuela. I have an odd perspective on this, since I spent ages fixating on the analogous question about Iraq. It started when I noticed that none of the books about how we went to war in Iraq mentioned a DECISION.

I've posted to @ssrn.bsky.social a revised version of "The Supreme Court's (Self-Defeating Supremacy"—my holistic assessment of #SCOTUS's behavior on Trump-related emergency applications during the October 2024 Term, which is forthcoming in the Supreme Court Review: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

This video, viewed millions of times on TikTok, Facebook and X, claims to show Venezuelans taking to the street to thank the US for detaining Maduro. But the video is a combination of four AI-generated clips and was first posted on TikTok by a user who frequently shares AI videos. It's not real.

No. No. No. Punitive processes make narrowly targeted programs *less* efficient and *more* costly. Because more scrutiny requires more bureaucracy. Punitive processes also make it *less* likely that people will get aid for which they qualify. Because of the roadblocks and stigma scrutiny creates.

This is right, and I’d add: It’s because Republicans in Congress AND Republicans on the Supreme Court have put partisan interests first. 1/

Oh hey, Indigo has Mercutio among its "most anticipated books of 2026", so it is 30% off until Jan. 11. ($18.89 CAD for the paperback, which comes out in August). I'd love this novel to find its readers, and pre-orders help, so Canadians, please check it out if you can www.indigo.ca/en-ca/mercut...

A reminder to any canadian (or any) #watercolor artists. Beam Paints is an Indigenous owned company with beautiful plastic-free hues. Their sparkly metallics are to die for www.beampaints.com

This week's Sunday snippet comes from A Honeymoon of Grave Consequence, which is available in ebook & paperback now: books2read.com/honeymoonGrave If you haven't yet read the 1st cozy-spooky romantasy novella in this series, you can grab that, too: books2read.com/undeadInconvenience #romancelandia

if you leak to me i certainly won’t pull this shit

This is such an important distinction. Being involved and making a scene does NOT mean you (vous) will win, and you need to be clear-eyed about that ... And learn to let the spite of "well at least I told them to their face they're an asshole" sustain you until the day you can win.

Our elected officials need to hear from us. Urge them to do everything in their power to stand up to the regime and prevent war with Venezuela. Call your senators: indivisible.org/resource/cal... Call your representative: indivisible.org/resource/cal... Or email your Members of Congress. 👇

Just spoke with the owner, Dante, & learned there is a fundraising page. If you are not in a position to give, please consider sharing this widely. Let's blow through that preliminary # -- immediate access to cash gives options the fire would seem at first to destroy. giveahand.com/fundraiser/n...

Their messaging is so fucking incoherent. Maduro was an illegitimate leader who lost in 2024, which is why we're replacing him with his VP instead of the person who won in 2024. We did this to stop fentanyl, which is why he's indicted for cocaine. We're also occupying Venezuela via Zoom call.

This right here: “Not introducing articles of impeachment is a message that Trump hasn't committed impeachable offenses.”

So fmr Honduran President Hernandez voluntarily surrendered, and was duly extradited, tried and convicted for drug trafficking, and Trump pardoned him 6w ago. And this morning, Trump illegally attacks Venezuela and abducts its president and his wife purportedly to try them for drug trafficking.

My husband, who contracted pneumonia from this year's ugly type of flu just before Christmas, tested negative at home for the flu but positive in an ER several days later. His lungs are slowly recovering.

The wealthiest ten Americans get to stop paying into Social Security within the first five minutes of 2026. Their corporate tax cuts will continue. Their bail outs, backroom deals and preferential treatment will continue. Tax the rich. Abolish the billionaire class.

Heads up: I didn’t see this until now, but @aptshadow.bsky.social‘s The Doors of Eden is on US ebook sale for $3. I got some for random giveaway. I just started this book, and I’m kinda hooked.

The 2025 Darth Vader Parenthood Award for Outstandingly Horrible Fictional Parents It’s almost the end of the year, so we are proud to present to you, live from the Multiversal Nexus Ballroom, the 44th Annual Darth Vader Parenthood Award for Outstandingly Horrible Fictional Parents. Let’s have a…

Relistened to this @michaelhobbes.bsky.social gem: “Which scenario makes more sense: 100s of thousands of public health workers around the world recommended a bunch of steps that they know are ineffective, or is it more likely that two people without the relevant expertise are mis-reading a report?”

In June I finished a poem about being suicidal and the tiniest things one can use as a carrot to keep themselves going, and here at the close of the year I am finally (mostly) ready to share it

This sounds like an excellent event for folks who are new to the age verifiable debate and not yet convinced that these laws are as harmful as they really are!

I got to hear Krista and friends do this last night. It seems like a good choice to see the old year out. youtu.be/k6vdhoY2XZA

The big Barnes & Noble pre-order sale is live! 25% off all pre-orders, including my own upcoming THE DRAGON HAS SOME COMPLAINTS! A grumpy dragon pretends to be tame so he can eat for free at the local dragon riding academy. Need a monster in your life? www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-dragon...

Authors! Readers! The grand Barnes & Noble pre-order sale is now upon us. Use the code PREORDER25 to save 25% off basically every pre-ordered book for next year. Authors: please reply to this post with your upcoming book title, a link, and at least one cool thing in your book!

The Year in Cartoons - 2025 👉 danielboris.blogspot.com

The big row within MAGA circles is whether they hate Jews more than brown people, or brown people more than Jews. That's *it*. The sum total of their disagreement. There's no reason to side with *either* subgroup of explicitly fascist genocidal conspiracist monsters.

Here's a tragedy of DOGE that most people will never know about, even though it has big consequences: no one is left to coordinate the transition to memory safe systems code. 🧵

I was thinking about what gifts people used to give to readers (besides gift editions of famous poets' work and illustrated histories of wars and such), and while I was thinking about it, somebody brought a book to the counter.... (1/10)

I have no idea if anyone will find this useful, but there’s software used by a plurality of state legislatures to stream and archive their hearings. There’s no function to save those videos in many cases which makes them inaccessible to some, If you need it because you’re doing policy or whatever:

HHS is trying to force Seattle Children's into doing a Sophie's choice of abandoning trans youth or see kids with cancer or other serious illness have their coverage and care disrupted. That's what this is about. Hopefully, the courts put a quick stop to this like the subpoenas.

there are a bunch of accounts pushing this scam btw

A warning from the lawyer representing the unjustly fired Oklahoma TA! Beware of GFM scams: her client is NOT crowdfunding at this time.

Put more eloquently.