"If you own a car and you need to insure the car, then Albany did something for you this year. But if you own a body and you need to insure a human body, then you're really out of luck." hellgatenyc.com/hochul-healt...

I strongly encourage Kyle Kuzma to focus on entrepreneurship—his ideas are simply so exciting, I think he should take a look at opting out of his contract and departing from the Milwaukee Bucks. We can't—shouldn't—restrict his innovation.

TODAY: Arwa Mahdawi on several difficult lessons imparted by an old, cranky dog. “My wife started wailing. I started wailing. Rascal, meanwhile, sat in his bed shaking and looking sad about the way the morning was unfolding.” flaminghydra.com/issue-574/?a...

"Street safety advocates have been criticizing city officials for failing to fully grasp the dangers of e-motos and illegal stand-up scooters for years, including in 2023 when a horrific crash on the Manhattan Bridge revealed the dangers of allowing high-speed..." - cc @nyc-dot.bsky.social

For @flaminghydra.com, I wrote about my regrettable familiarity with the horny clown discourse and about the joys of encountering other people’s subcultures. flaminghydra.com/r/65bf05d2?m...

"Environmental advocates have disputed Hochul's estimates of the cost of complying with the law." A February 2026 report "Cap and Invest" underscored that such programs have successfully generated billions in revenue in California and Washington, delivering energy rebates to millions of residents.

"The point of my piece is, this is why the U.S. should actually use our leverage... We should end taxpayer financing of weapons for Israel altogether, but we should also condition additional support for offensive weapons ... prohibited so long as the illegal occupation continues." - Chris Van Hollen

TODAY: @kimkelly.bsky.social with the first installment of her voyage to Romania. "I thought it would be nice to take home a souvenir, and since the root word for our old family name, lupu, means 'wolf,' a snarling wolf’s head seemed apropos." flaminghydra.com/r/c3429467?m...

On ancestry, tattoo shops, and finding my way home:

ALSO TODAY: @annaleen.bsky.social on encountering new versions of our relationships to work and the self in “Pluribus.” Like ChatGPT, Gemini, and other chatbots, the Others are relentlessly cheerful, full of decontextualized facts, and focused on efficiency.” flaminghydra.com/the-politics...

Meet the party insiders buying ads for AIPAC in its push for aid to Israel without human rights conditions—and AIPAC's new pop-up super PACs, which hide confirmation of funding from voters until the race is over.

TODAY: @annamerlan.bsky.social on encounters with horny clowns and visiting other people’s subcultures. “This is neither my culture nor my costume, but I understand what I’m looking at.” flaminghydra.com/r/65bf05d2?m...

NEW: Here are the consultants and political firms profiting from AIPAC’s massive spending in congressional elections. readsludge.com/2026/05/26/t...

In Seattle, organizers are warning of a growing crisis as more and more trans refugees seek to escape red states. Mutual aid networks of "broke trans people helping broke trans people" are being overwhelmed, and one organizer @evanurquhart.bsky.social spoke with is facing eviction herself.

Stand Strong Brown at graduation - with alum and parent of a graduating senior Jen Corn

TODAY: a new thriller from Nathan Munn. “At dusk, Claire drove the SUV she had rented under a false name down an unlit dirt road, big snowflakes coming out of the gloom to whip away from the windshield.” flaminghydra.com/r/2e1d0207?m...

"The campaign finance landscape, and the lack of any real limits, has opened up this opportunity for industries," notably Big Tech, looking to influence government policy, @danw329.bsky.social told @sludge.bsky.social in @thenation.com. Often, at the expense of ordinary people. #[bit.ly/4fzyEOC

You might be wondering why the DNC is so maladroit, commissioning a flawed 2024 autopsy and then burying it. Reformers have proposed DNC fixes for the past decade to open up transparency and reduce outside influence. Their proposals have been blocked by DNC chairs like Tom Perez and Jaime Harrison.

My alma mater Brown University's leadership was so craven, they cut a deal with the Trump admin without informing students, faculty, or concerned alumni, and without a court challenge. I spoke with people at @brown.edu who view the agreement as a betrayal.

Crypto and AI super PACs have amassed more than $322 million in the 2026 cycle, ready to knock out lawmakers who don't support their deregulatory agendas. New from us at @thenation.com

Brown University was one of the first to cave to the Trump admin's pressure campaign last year, agreeing to send anonymous classroom reports to the government, among other things. The alumni group Stand Strong Brown says our alma mater gave in without a fight and compromised its values.

On Brown University's capitulation to the White House: when the walk doesn't quite match the talk. Absorbing, deeply reported post from alum and Hydra @davidrussellmoore.bsky.social flaminghydra.com/issue-569

My alma mater Brown U caved to the Trump admin's illegal funding threats last year, signing an agreement—without a legal challenge—that has students "terrified," faculty call "a blatant violation of academic freedom," alumni call "reprehensible," and civil rights groups call "profoundly disturbing."

Brown University cut a deal with the Trump administration in July, adopting a slate of anti-DEI policies—and agreeing to send student data to the government—in exchange for funding. I talked to students, faculty, and alumni who argue it was a capitulation and expressed fear. At @flaminghydra.com

Musk's quarter-billion-plus in campaign spending for Trump keeps paying off. Under his guy, NASA is developing nuclear space reactors sought by SpaceX; NASA chief Jared Isaacman is a business partner. Mar-a-Lago got a piece too.

New investigation: Musk-recruited NASA chief Jared Isaacman is fast-tracking a space nuclear program that lines up perfectly with what SpaceX needs for Mars.

TODAY: @lukeoneil47.bsky.social in conversation with Aaron Perrino of the great indie band The Sheila Divine. “I’ve never given in. Even though I should! I just continue to blow up my life every few years. Trying to stay true to being an artist.” flaminghydra.com/r/0c56bc16?m...

Musk, SpaceX, and startups are set on launching nuclear reactors into space. What are the odds: Musk's pick for NASA administrator, Jared Isaacman, rolled out a plan in March, titled NSTM-3, that will spend billions to develop them.

My God, Victor Wembanyama:

Republicans won't pass legislation restricting Trump and the Supreme Court is enshrining GOP partisan gerrymanders. Democrats had the seats in 2009 to pass a public campaign financing option for Congress, ban gerrymandering, and set national election standards. They did not send bills to the Senate

Kalshi lobbies federally to argue it's not gambling, and seeks to stay under the light-touch CFTC instead of state gambling regulators. Its trade association has hired Invariant, the bipartisan lobbying firm founded by DCCC / DSCC bundler Heather Podesta, per Politico Influence.

TODAY: @ezeger16.bsky.social reads the liner notes. “In another era, the scribes commissioned to write these texts were free to say almost anything they wished, to rhapsodize or historicize or produce a full-blown polemic on the politics of an album.” flaminghydra.com/r/437f7ceb?m...

Trump is getting a $1.8 billion fund to pay political allies. House Dems could have passed the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act anytime from 2019–2022, and sent it to the Senate. It would strengthen executive branch ethics enforcement. The progressive bill has never been given a hearing.

Looking ahead to some conversation topics at 25th college reunion next weekend

TODAY: @todseelie.bsky.social on the most underground party in the world. “Why would you need a piano in the catacombs, you might ask?” flaminghydra.com/r/b76c192a?m...

Really atrocious: "Spanberger seemed on board with the bills, lawmakers said, and had attended a @seiu.org rally in Richmond in February in support of them."

A very personal review of Stoner for @flaminghydra.com flaminghydra.com/issue-565/

Dems could have enacted a bill to ban presidents, VPs, executive branch officials, agency staff, and members of Congress from owning stocks, securities, crypto, or betting. House Dems could have sent the Anti-Corruption Act to the Senate and passed it via a carve-out. It has never gotten a hearing.

"A newly filed disclosure shows the President bought stock in defense contractors, crypto firms, and AI companies whose fortunes are directly tied to decisions made by his administration. " @donnydonny.bsky.social for @sludge.bsky.social

"Is it OK for the president to be buying and selling stocks in companies he's working in his official capacity to boost? Is it OK he stands to profit from that?" MS NOW viewers heard that Trump bought hundreds of stocks in individual companies like Boeing, some with CEOs on his China trip.

TODAY: @lindseyadler.bsky.social on “Stoner.” “The life depicted here is one part resilience, another part resignation.” flaminghydra.com/r/bcbcc04b?m...

Meet Chris Rabb: The AOC and Ro Khanna-backed congressional candidate who is determined to check and balance Donald Trump’s imperialism — and to reset budget priorities so that human needs are prioritized over bloated spending on the military-industrial complex.

The Senate Banking Committee advanced the crypto industry's top legislative priority, the Clarity Act, setting it up for a full Senate vote. Last summer, I interviewed Amanda Fischer @amandalfischer.bsky.social about her House testimony ⬇️ on the "regulatory gaps" created by the House version...

Trump's just-out disclosure shows he sold tens of millions worth of ETF securities—and bought stocks in companies boosted by his administration's policies like Oracle, Nvidia, Coinbase, Palantir, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, etc.

Trump has pivoted from bonds to buying individual stocks in hundreds of American companies, according to a new financial disclosure reviewed by Sludge. readsludge.com/2026/05/14/t...

Democrats could have banned partisan gerrymandering in 2009. The GOP would not have had a ~16-seat House advantage since 2013. House Dems could have reintroduced Lofgren's Redistricting Reform Act and sent it to the Senate, and 60 Democratic senators could have passed it. They did not vote on it.

TODAY: @brianhioe.bsky.social on the chilling history of the island of Kinmen. "Our hostel owner pointed to a nearby bomb shelter that had been turned into a memorial after the people there were killed—their remains were kept in the place where they died." flaminghydra.com/r/8ecc731c?m...

In the #NY10 primary, Dan Goldman, @danielsgoldman.dg4ny.co , is appealing to super PACs with a "redbox" message seeking to hit challenger Brad Lander. Latest, as Goldman trails in the polls, ahead of NY early voting starting in a month, via Hell Gate:

If you think it's unethical that the Trump family is making billions in crypto... House Dems could have passed the Anti-Corruption Act, which would have banned executive branch and federal agency officials from owning crypto, securities, betting apps, etc. They did not even send it to the Senate.

Today at @lukeoneil47.bsky.social's Hell World: An excerpt from my book, If I Am Coming to Your Town, Something Terrible Has Happened. Great to share this excerpt with Luke, who I've written for for the better part of two decades now. I hope you'll read. www.welcometohellworld.com/if-i-am-comi...