Why are folks mad at the working mom with kids on Medicaid and SNAP rather than companies like Walmart that refuse to pay her a living wage and provide health insurance?

"You don't know it yet but what you'll miss is the books" From Dorianne Laux's Smoke: bookshop.org/a/862/978188... #poem #books #writing

Strength by Kara Dorris oneartpoetry.com/2025/05/17/s...

Love this sweet poem:

A poem I return to often, by @mayacpopa.bsky.social.

Honored to have a poem in this gorgeous edition of @atlreview.bsky.social alongside a host of poets I admire. 💙

BREAKING: The Supreme Court holds that the Trump administration violated the due process rights of Venezuelan migrants last month in its rushed effort to expel them to El Salvador in the middle of the night (which SCOTUS blocked). Alito and Thomas dissent. www.documentcloud.org/documents/25...

BREAKING: The Trump administration is working on a plan to permanently relocate up to 1 million Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Libya, five people with knowledge of the effort told NBC News.

John Roberts brought this on himself

Parades here, ethnic cleansing there — both headlines on the same day. Very on-brand. @cnbc.com @nbcnews.com

Trump is, once again, lying here. The SCOTUS majority wrote: “The Government may remove the named plaintiffs or putative class members under other lawful authorities.” The due process, however, isn't optional. www.allrisenews.com/p/scotus-aea...

👀 The Trump administration has been arguing that one of the people it deported to Mexico — despite fears of persecution — said verbally he was not afraid to go there. Now, in a late Friday filing, they say that was a mistake. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Judge Xinis has entered a written order following today’s hearing. Orders the government to supplement support for its assertion of the state secrets privilege and grants Abrego Garcia’s request to take three additional 30(b)(6) depositions.

First material support prosecution under Trump’s metaphorically-bogus but legally very, very real designations of gangs and cartels as FTOs.

Prosecuting people for material support was foreseeable bootstrapping from the administration’s bogus designation of cartels and gangs as “foreign terrorist organizations.” www.justice.gov/opa/pr/mexic...

Yeah ok, but did you hear Biden is old?

Trump is attempting to ethnically cleanse Gaza www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

The “fluoride removal” bit is a solution in search of a problem. Fluoride levels in Florida are completely safe, help prevent cavities, and keep kids in school. Where’s the evidence it’s been remotely harmful? There isn’t any. No ethics, no morals, all smoke and mirrors.

Well done, Miss Feldman.

This time, it was ‘just’ deportations, but this spits in the face of how the relationship between the IC and the administration works. POTUS and his Cabinet are the “customers” - they (should) rely on accurate, unbiased intelligence products to make decisions.

This is the most important story of the day. A Tulsi aide ordered a senior analyst to redo an assessment of the relationship between Venezuela’s government and a gang after intelligence findings undercut the WH justification for deporting migrants. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/u...

When I was in Memphis last weekend, this came up several times. Memphians are really angry about this stupid data center that is also toxic.

This was inevitable. Grotesque.

Breaking News: Russia and Ukraine agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners each in the largest swap since the war began, though a cease-fire remains elusive.

The Trade War Isn’t Over open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

The key to so many of these dudes' reactionary politics is that they can never stop believing that the sorting mechanisms of meritocracy put them on top because they deserved it

Same! I just finished it today and loved it. I haven’t written poetry in years but you inspired me to go back and edit a poem I wrote in college 30 years ago! 😀

I loved Maggie Smith’s generous, intimate new book on writing, Dear Writer. This quote really spoke to me. @maggiesmithpoet.bsky.social

From Kevin Young's Book of Hours: bookshop.org/a/862/9780375711886 #poetry #books #writing

Poem for Mother's Day. From Matthew Gellman's book, Beforelight: bit.ly/beforelightLB #poetry #books #writing

Another for Mother's Day. From Jasmine Mans's Black Girl, Call Home: bit.ly/jmcallhome #poem #books #writing

Pedants: actually, AI doesn't use that much water compared to farming Wise people: literally a single drop of water spent on the Plagiarism Machine That Lies is one drop too many

“AI … is offered to us as the latest buoy to cling to. But until AI firms like Google and OpenAI are willing to negotiate the terms of engagement with journalists—and all other creators and workers—it’s our duty to reject AI outright.” — @bcmerchant.bsky.social

From Sharon Olds's book, The Wellspring: bookshop.org/a/862/978067... #poem #books #writing

From Andrea Gibson's book, Lord of the Butterflies: bit.ly/agbutterflies #poem #books #writing

> @newyorker.com

For those keeping score at home — Trump’s AG, FBI Director, and chief of staff have all been on Qatar’s payroll. #SwampForceOne ✈️

As historians know but I just want to articulate: Chinese people fighting for their rights IN COURT laid the groundwork for immigrant rights fights in federal courts today. Chinese immigrants brought suits, despite the odds. They didn’t always win. But Wong Kim Ark did. And it’s a big one.

A good morning to read about birthright citizenship from the perspective of the great-grandson of Wong Kim Ark, the plaintiff whose case in 1898 affirmed that birthright citizenship is guaranteed to the children of undocumented migrants born in the U.S. wapo.st/3F9Djae

Important thread:

Just got word that Secretary Noem is asking for an addition to her budget - a new private Gulfstream 5 jet for her personal national photo op tour. She's already got a private plane but wants a tricked out new one. All while she supports kicking 13 million people off Medicaid.

Shoving 5000 enlisted into random office buildings for days at a time, in the middle of a DC summer, all to have a parade in honor of a weird wannabe dictator

Don’t use the passive voice, kids. It makes it hard to identify the actors responsible for the actions that caused the outcomes.

The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States, not an individual. That’s why it is now a public monument and not sitting in Grover Cleveland’s presidential library (not sure if he even has one)

New from me: The House GOP moved ahead with its plans to slash SNAP spending in the sneakiest way possible. By shifting costs to states but delaying it until after the midterms, they’re hoping to get credit for cutting spending with none of the backlash

This kid is 15, and so has a moral clarity and uprightness that no adult elected official would or could ever have. There aren't really and never have been two sides of this issue, but if it has to be argued as a binary thing I don't see how anything less than this could seem like the side to be on.

this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this: www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...