Something I appreciate about unions is they come right out and say it. NYC’s hotel workers’ union says the 2021 special permit requirement for new hotels (really, a ban) was to halt competition among hotels from driving down the price of a night’s stay in NYC hotelworkers.org/article/a-re...

Happy Mother’s Day

L.A. imposed a so-called mansion tax on real estate transactions > $5 million. Surprise! It covers, and has helped to depress, multifamily residential -- i.e., apartment construction -- along with commercial and industrial. Revenues are less than half expected. [@uclalewiscenter.bsky.social]

My sweet little Lupita crossed the rainbow bridge today. I couldn’t have asked for a better companion through the last 19 years. She will be dearly missed.

Getting older grants one with the power of ignoring people’s social hints that they want to get off the phone with you.

Today is a reminder that we should try to live our lives with fairness and respect for our fellow man.

"From the beginning to the very last minute of its term, not only did the Biden administration do precious little to build guardrails against executive power, it actively thwarted congressional efforts to do so." Among examples: National Guard abuse, FISA Section 702, and emergency powers reform.

From Ritual to Science: The Medical Transformation of Circumcision in America www.cirp.org/library/hist...

In unsurprising news fox2now.com/news/missour...

Blizzard in the Gnome Garden

The leak dragnet in the first Trump administration included nondisclosure orders, which meant most targeted members of Congress and staff "were never told their phone records had been seized." Journalists' phone records were seized as well.

We have a childcare crisis so bad that we are planning on giving Rams money to the issue, only to discover the building inspector(s?) had a systemic way of shutting down daycares who didn’t make “donations” to their pet causes.

Y’all have to read @blytheb.bsky.social’s latest on the SLPS scandal www.stltoday.com/news/local/e...

Cancer Ghosting is common www.npr.org/2024/12/18/n...

Per news reports, applicants seeking to work for RFK Jr.'s HHS are being asked to answer questions that are weirdly personal, intrusive on privacy, and incidentally unlawful under ADA's ban on pre-job-offer medical queries. [@thejonhyman.bsky.social] www.ohioemployerlawblog.com/2024/12/rfk-...

Jesse Singal: Bluesky Has a Death Threat Problem www.thefp.com/p/jesse-sing...

A NY mom lost custody of her toddler & newborn for 5 months after testing positive for fentanyl the hospital had given her in her epidural. In Oklahoma, a newborn was placed in foster care for 11 days after the mom tested positive for meth. The culprit? a heartburn drug the hospital had given her.

Merry Friday the 13th!

The fish rots from the head down

NEW: During her 14-month tenure, former St. Louis Public Schools superintendent Keisha Scarlett racked up more than $140,000 of credit card charges on travel, florists, Bath & Body Works, DoorDash, UberEats and other expenses, records obtained by STLPR show. www.stlpr.org/education/20...

North Carolina appeals court, applying state's unique "fruits of their labor" constitutional guarantee, allow food truck operators to sue over city ordinance that makes it almost impossible for them to operate; evidence indicates law was shaped by restaurant owners who didn't want competition.

Festive cats

Prattville, Alabama authorities removed a Pride float from the town parade when float sponsors cited possible threats and asked for more security. Federal judge R. Austin Huffaker, Jr.: no, that'd be a heckler's veto and the float stays.

Y’all gonna make me pull this golden oldie out.

The opening credits in Ernest Saves Christmas seem like they were added by people who didn’t watch the movie, with a budget of a Mountain Dew and 2 Cheeseburgers.

Unraveling the significance of the "The Mangione family of Baltimore County:” multi-million-dollar real estate developers, country clubs, radio stations, star athletes... via @justinfenton.bsky.social + @brennasmith.bsky.social of @thebaltimorebanner.com www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/cr...

A little snow day #DiscGolf yesterday. We had the course to ourselves

Basketball players posing as Colombia national team, uniforms and all, enter tournament in Russia, suspicions are kindled when they play really poorly [Lowering the Bar] www.loweringthebar.net/2024/11/stil...

Addams Family Values is a Thanksgiving Movie. Just FYI

Today is World Pancreatic Cancer Day. This beast of a disease is currently affecting my family. Detecting PC early can lead to longer survival and further research can hopefully lead to more effective treatments. t.co/FtDjUJ8nSK

The Onion is buying the corpse of Infowars. So the content likely won’t change much 🤪

Happy Halloween!

I really hate that I’ve had to learn so much about various cancers and their treatments over the last 2 years

And I thought the Cicadas were bad. I guess it can always be worse www.cbsnews.com/news/joro-sp...

Tomas Pueyo: Why Nuclear Is The Best Energy

First Amendment problems ahead: "Virginia’s revenge-porn law may soon be expanded to punish people for posting embarrassing, revealing images of public figures, such as politicians, if Virginia’s legislature approves HB 926." libertyunyielding.com/2024/01/11/v...

The irony of how long this product lasted on the market.: Fruit Stripe Gum to be discontinued www.ksdk.com/article/news...

Yet another nap for Lupita

Claudine Gay is not the real story. Academics & journalists debasing their profession when they redefine plagiarism to suit their politics is www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Synagogues and community centers firebombed, Jewish schools shot up: why has Montreal experienced the worst anti-Semitic violence in North America since Oct. 7?

My family could use your thoughts and prayers. Bracing myself for some potentially devistating news

I’m not ready to post here yet. Please stand by.

The life of a fact-checker today is that of laboriously assembling evidence for why the insects who swarmed at a Baltimore music festival were probably gnats looking for a date, not genetically altered mosquitos sent by Bill Gates on a fiendish mission.