"This wasn’t crowd control. This was panic control. This was the federal government throwing tear gas at a punchline because they couldn’t arrest a joke."

I’ve interviewed many politicians who are nervous to publicly oppose felony disenfranchisement. Average voters, I’ve found, are much less timid. We can learn something here from Virginia: Lawmakers proposed expanding re-enfranchisement and, whaddya know, the “yes” side is polling *34* points ahead.

I went through this process last year. Got a measles titer test, results said that I had no immunity left, so I got the second shot.

Snow is too icy to build a snowman, so the neighborhood kids got creative.

I always wondered what he could say that would turn his supporters against him and “you can’t have guns” just might do it.

Once again, if you are warning me about fascism in a Substack newsletter, I cannot take you seriously because you are not willing to do the thing you are asking the rest of us to do.

He reminds me of that pathetic Syril Karn from Andor. "I was a good Deputy Inspector! I was very good ... I was overly ambitious, yes, but time was slipping away and the opportunity was real ... Can one ever be too aggressive in preserving order? I didn't deserve what happened."

The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.” That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.

This country did not pay enough -- really, any -- attention to the MOVE bombing in Philadelphia in 1985.

We walked to our favorite local breakfast place after shoveling 10” of snow off the driveway because the owner said he’d be open regardless. Now it’s just him, us, and maybe five other diners. We’re listening to ska covers of 90s songs. Currently playing: the theme from Duck Tails.

This country would evaporate within 48 hours without nurses and I genuinely hope y'all do it.

I really don’t understand the strategy of asking murderers to please stop murdering.

Make sure Tim Kaine hears this.

A fascist death squad murdered a Department of Veterans Affairs ICU nurse this morning and VA Secretary Doug Collins hasn't said a word. Quite the message to veterans and their caregivers.

Today I learned that Virginia has a website where you can track snow plow activity during snow events. plows.vdot.virginia.gov/Public/Map

Is it bad when the weather forecast is for 10 straight hours of freezing precipitation? ‘Cause that seems bad.

"We have a very large legal team" is some Queen Shit right there.

This is a lovely little story to start your weekend right. No really, trust me.

I am old enough to remember after November 2008, Mitch McConnell got his caucus together and said "Dems have all the majorities and the Presidency. We are going to oppose EVERY BILL, EVERY NOMINATION AND DENY HIM EVERY VICTORY POSSIBLE." And they did exactly that. Dems, not so fuckin' much.

Al Gore doing more to push back against this administration than any elected Democrat.

In the 2010s, the Icelandic tv station Channel 2 accidentally added subtitles from a gritty crime drama to an episode of Teletubbies. I have translated some of the highlights

This cannot possibly be real.

As we hit the one year anniversary of DOGE's start (and the subsequent disruption that followed), there still is a lot we don't know about its activities across the government. I have been tracking what I can here dogetrack.info and will continue to update editorial content and data this year too

Um, if you’re in the DC area and haven’t checked the weekend forecast …

I now find myself playing Tetris pretty much every day to stave off any future 2026 flashbacks.

turns out letting a cadre of circus peanuts run rampant on your government for the lulz has uh downstream impacts. news at 11

I believe we can defeat ICE by simply connecting people on the ground to Philadelphia high schoolers via audio link so they can be fed the most soul crushing putdowns the world has ever heard.

Today I learned it’s possible to dissolve gold.

This is the way. I love that Spanberger, who was sold as the middle-of-the-road Democrat, is fucking GOP shit up.

Do you need to see GWAR’s cover of Chappell Roan’s Pink Pony Club? Yes. Yes you do. share.google/dcvGQgDyMZZE...

Every detention could have been an email

Happy Virginia Trifecta Day, part 2

Happy Virginia trifecta day to all who celebrate!

Personally, I plan to celebrate Whiskey Friday without Tony Dokoupil

This is some A+ trolling by my representative

New Virginia legislation would require that the state establish a free tax filing system that considers "the compatibility, security, and integration of such program with the publicly available source code of the IRS Direct File Program as it existed during the 2025 tax filing season."

Happy New Year! I'm excited to share something I've been working on for a while: my new book on modernizing legacy technology systems with #AI. www.amazon.com/dp/B0GFGTK6TG

If you don’t see your rep on there, call them and ask them to co-sponsor this. I just did.

Elected officials: [Trump/Noem] must be impeached Me: Active voice or GTFO

Things I have learned in 2026: 1. Do not fuck with Minneapolis 2. Do not fuck with South Korea

Hormone therapy for menopause has been a game changer, but I’m finding that if I take my progesterone pills in the morning instead of a night, about 30 minutes later I’m so dizzy I feel like I’ve had a three-martini lunch. Wheeeeee!

Today I learned …

The person I know who's actually expert on this is @flowerhorne.com. Here's a thread they wrote on this topic: bsky.app/profile/flow...

now, shit is about to get really really real. Because now Don is fucking with other people's money

we’re in the vet’s office waiting room and they just called for Agamemnon. we all looked at the Great Dane but it turns out Agamemnon is an orange kitten in a backpack that makes him look like an astronaut cheese puff

Tell me again that DOGE no longer exists

You have got to be kidding me

Iranian remake of HEATHERS just dropped

For those of you who don’t know Chuck, he’s the former chief data officer at Social Security who blew the whistle on DOGE putting your data at risk.