Our @us.theguardian.com investigation of widespread overcharging by Dollar General and Family Dollar has caught the attention of 30 members of Congress, who have written to the CEOs requesting documents and demanding answers. @jocelynzuck.bsky.social @michaelwhudson.bsky.social @budzinski.house.gov

Here's a jaw-dropping story from @barryyeoman.com and @jocelynzuck.bsky.social on how dollar-stores are quietly overcharging customers who can ill-afford it. Not on just occasional items, either: www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Thanks to The Sunday Long Read for including our investigation of the dollar-store industry in today's newsletter. @thesundaylongread.bsky.social has long been my go-to nonfiction curation source, so I feel honored by the mention. @theguardian.com @jocelynzuck.bsky.social @michaelwhudson.bsky.social

Had the pleasure of working with investigative pro @barryyeoman.com on this story about chain dollar stores and the way they rip off their customers for @theguardian1.bsky.social. Hope you'll check it out.

Read the full story, a collaboration with The Nation, at thefern.org/2025/09/ghan... @thenation.com @jocelynzuck.bsky.social

The environmental impact has been particularly profound. “Forests have been felled, earth torn up, and the once pristine countryside contaminated by heavy metals.”

In Ghana, the word for illegal gold mining is galamsey. And its spread there has matched the global runup in gold prices in recent years. “The result of this bonanza has been a fast-moving disaster, one that’s fueled multiple converging crises,” says reporter Jocelyn Zuckerman.

If you want to see the opposite of “obeying in advance,” here it is. Remarkable bravery by Reverend Budde.

I love this so much! At the inauguration, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wore a distinctive collar adorned with cowrie shells, which are believed to offer protection from evil in African traditions. This choice mirrors the late Justice Ginsburg’s practice of using collars to convey a message.

“Trump’s announcement came just 10 days after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared 2024 Earth’s hottest year on record, one marked by life-threatening heat waves, wildfires, and flooding around the world.” grist.org/politics/tru...

'This process includes the replacement of all first-rate talents, regardless of their political loyalties, with crackpots and fools whose lack of intelligence and creativity is the best guarantee of their loyalty.' (The Origins of Totalitarianism, renewed version, A Harvest Book New York, 1976, 339)

Toch even in deze tijden Arendt herlezen: 'What totalitarian rulers seek is not only the eradication of political opposition but the complete transformation of the political sphere into a realm of total domination, achieved by eliminating all intellectual initiative. [...]'