really good pod today with Eliot. his framework for our information hellscape works to erode and/or simulate democracy is worth your time!

This Thankgsgiving, I am grateful to have a fantastic new job, at a reader-supported publication that takes the defense of democracy seriously. You can check it out for free, or subcribe for $7/mo. (cheap!) contrarian.substack.com

Dem Senators and MoCs shouldn’t be voting for DoD authorization spending legislation as long as Hegseth remains in charge of DoD. This should be basic and a position that Dem Leadership should be whipping while loudly speaking out against war crimes/extra judicial killings funded by our tax dollars.

Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization

Textbook war crime/extrajudicial killing "Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions." Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social

Hegseth is a mass murderer. h/t @5gw.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

There's a danger within our military that not enough people are talking about: Flight crashes are killing our troops at record rates. I'm pushing for answers to get to the bottom of this.

If the U.S. was at war, Pete Hegseth's order would be a war crime, a military lawyer said. Instead, it might just be murder. wapo.st/49KbUJ1

Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.

The journalist who got this scoop and reported it is a former U.S. Army infantry soldier and Iraq War vet

this is just gutter racism

Place National Guard in harm’s way for no good reason. Two members are tragically and unnecessarily shot. The reckless regime’s response: We’re sending 500 more National Guard troops! What a disgrace.

This fossil may look like chocolate, but you wouldn't wanna trilobite it. You'd break your teeth.

Let the Firings Begin open.substack.com/pub/meidasto...

Yes. And then also fired a ton of senior agents with a ton of counterterrorism experience, including the Acting Director.

‼️‼️ Newly released emails show the FBI spent almost $1 million in overtime analyzing the Epstein files as part of an effort dubbed the “Special Redaction Project."

Anyway, thanks to my friend M for introducing me to this passage from Mere Christianity. I will be citing it in the future.

... fully corseted and free-born Englishman, culturally to be accorded either the informal courtesy and respect of civil social intercourse or the rights of entitlement and citizenship. [...] The capacity to live with difference is, in my view, the coming question of the twenty-first century."

can't believe this ancient mesopotamia shoe wearing ass said people need to dress up at the airport

Joining MSNOW at 3 to discuss this, among other things

This was supposed to be a “upbeat news heading into the holiday” but the shooting of our soldiers today caused it to take a turn. I thank @nicollewallace.bsky.social for allowing me to express my thanks to all our soldiers and families.

Hegseth is a dude-bro sporting some questionable tattoos, a creation of television who’s acting as if he won "The Apprentice: The Nuclear-Weapons Season." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

I am a little tired of being yelled at for this but apparently not tired about: heroin addiction is not RFK’s problem. He’s a sociopath. Most addicts aren’t. Honestly, walk into an NA meeting, grab the first person with a few years to be head of HHS and they’d probably do a better job than Bobby.

People will die, and are currently dying, because RFK was granted one of the most powerful megaphones in the country. Two people who could have thrown barriers in front of his climb decided not to; there's a sex scandal here but it is not the biggest scandal.

Taking stock of the Roberts court at 20—and the shadowy forces that built it

I have spent much of the last decade writing articles about corporations and private equity using access to justice as a pretext to enter the legal market (especially high-margin sectors). 2025 seems like the tipping point. www.ft.com/content/4746...

Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷

You’ll be visited by 3 spirits The three spirits

Homes filled with holiday visitors should bring joy not tragedy. Secure your firearms now: www.prnewswire.com/news-release...

'An ordinary president, Kelly told us on Tuesday afternoon, would have responded to the video by affirming that troops should of course follow lawful orders. “But not this guy,” he added. “We basically said, ‘Follow the law.’ And he said, ‘Kill them.’”' www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

We’re going to look with a fresh pair of eyes at city government — and what powers we have to deliver for New Yorkers. And that’s one of many reasons I’m excited to have Lina as one of our transition’s Co-chairs.

With my next SCOTUS argument only two weeks away, I will be writing a bit less often. My next piece will be Friday. Subscribe to Democracy Docket to support the team's invaluable work. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0

The best proof the GOP is a cult.

This is narcissism masquerading as philosophy — the technophile elite are not recognizing a new soul in AI, they're falling in love with their creation, staring at their own reflection in a digital pool. It is the ultimate in solipsism and has its roots in a pathological fear and denial of death.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office said it would cost $244.64 to review the emails between Abbott and Musk, which @kutnews.bsky.social and The Texas Newsroom paid. After the check was cashed, Abbott’s and Musk’s lawyers sought to keep the records secret.

I really wish we'd stop calling them climate "skeptics" or "vaccine skeptics", if you jump off a cliff we don't call you a "gravity skeptic"

As Twitter's new geolocation tool started to reveal accounts’ information, the effect was like watching the Scooby Doo kids pull one disguise after another from the villain of the week. Hilarious and alarming though it all was, it's just the latest indication of one of the site’s oldest problems.

So I’ve made it official folks: I’ve filed the paperwork to run for Governor of Alabama. It’s time to remind this state of who we are and what we can accomplish together. #DougForAlabama

This is a crazy story: ICE/CBP took a Coast Guard Rescue helicopter from this shall town in Oregon. The major industry is harvesting Dungeness Crab which is dangerous, the Coast Guard is needed for rescues. www.opb.org/article/2025...

Senator ( Captain) Mark Kelly has spent his entire life serving our country. He earned the Superior Service Medal,Combat Star, Gold Naval Aviator Wings, - he flew 5000 combat hours, he holds the record for most time in outer space.

I just remembered the first time I heard of Pete Hegseth www.bbc.com/news/world-u...

• MedSky • What helped stop a pandemic might now prevent permanent disability from snakebites: researchers test mRNA injections that, in lab and mouse studies, protect muscle from venom when given before exposure.

It is very hard to overstate the evil of the fossil fuel industry. When people finally do figure it out, it may be too late to undo the damage.

Unfortunately, I can confirm that this is true. I have known Carl for 2 decades and he is smart, dedicated, and quite apolitical, focused on science and getting stuff done on important problems. Huge unnecessary loss of leadership and expertise.

U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

They lied about it. All of it. A thug cop shot an unarmed woman five times without justification, boasted about it to his colleagues, and then this administration tried cover it all up by arresting her and charging her with felonies.

Absolutely not the point of the story but what the fuck are they trying to pass off as pizza in Kansas? www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...

Congrats to Dick Cheney on being reincarnated.

See? Just like Brett said. A temporary inconvenience and then all's well!