Still evolving Boomer, cat mom & grandma, addicted to reading, gardening, chocolate, coffee. Retired editor, school counselor.
damn I did not know that! The rescue where we got Lola and Willie sometimes has sphynx and the woman who runs the rescue (and has adopted some herself—she says people call them “skinfants” bc they’re so cuddly and needy) says they are a nightmare and that breeding them should be illegal
Awful: The local press in Maine is crediting Susan Collins for getting Trump to agree to ICE bodycams nationwide. It's cynical BS: She voted for $70 billion in ICE money and against requiring bodycams. But this kind of thing is why she could still win. New from me: newrepublic.com/article/2138...
See the full list of names:
Every Member of Congress Who Funded ICE (So You Can Vote Them Out)These 206 names are on the ballot. You can fire them.substack.com
This is VERY bad. Congressional investigation immediately. They’re trying to use Palantir to figure out who you voted for. 0% chance this ends well. Stop it ASAP.
Exclusive: FBI gets voter's IP address in new fraud probe tacticThe move offers a glimpse into how authorities are now digging into voter rolls and registration practices.www.axios.com
An excellent article about possible strategies of playing “democracy reinforcing hardball” should the US ever get a pro-democracy administration
Henry FarrellI remember seeing someone (very reasonably) complaining here a few days ago that there seems to be next to no visible thinking on left and center about how to join the dots on administration and democracy. This is the beginnings of an answer to that complaint donmoynihan.substack.com/p/rebuilding...
Actually quite angry reading this. I know it’s a bit passé to talk about “why don’t politicians crack down on people not using headphones on the bus” but I think we do need to reckon with platforms that incentivise people to completely disregard the norms of civil society and get away with it.
TikToker faces police probe over secret filming using Meta 'smart glasses'The "content maker" published videos of encounters with young women and a female Sikh shop worker where he talked of a plot to "breed out the white race".www.bbc.co.uk
Sometimes two heads are better than one, but not usually when they share a body. www.iflscience.com/meet-simon-a...
"So: too early for the states to sue, and too late for the government to wait. Not ripe enough to be a real case, but so urgent it can't survive an ordinary appeal."
A Procedural Skirmish That Could Lay the Groundwork for a Stolen ElectionThe Trump administration's mail-in voting gambit asks the Supreme Court to have it both ways. Plus, Friday's Lighter Fare.harrylitman.substack.com
If only there was a century of hard data on whether or not massive media consolidation like this creates jobs alas
Update: Google just sent me a statement saying it is “rolling back” this AI feature that let anyone make completely bullshit satellite images. Comes after our demos of the tool and those from OSINT researchers. One of the worst AI tools I’ve ever seen bsky.app/profile/jose...
Joseph CoxNew from 404 Media: Google Earth has introduced an AI feature that lets anyone fabricate completely bullshit satellite images. In our own tests, we added a “bomb blast and crater” to an area of Los Angeles. This is a misinformation time bomb, will 100% be abused www.404media.co/google-earth...
More info: "The problem: publishers and movie companies may not be able to register copyright and come away with a clear title chain if there are certain AI elements in the mix. That’s because AI-aided copy is an amalgamation of many other copyrighted works." deadline.com/2026/07/ai-q...
AI Questions Spoil Book & Movie Heat On 'Call Me, I'll Hide The Body' NovelThat screeching sound you heard from international publishers and film rights buyers was an abrupt application of the brakes after a fevered pursuit of the unpublished debut novel.deadline.comNew from 404 Media: Google Earth has introduced an AI feature that lets anyone fabricate completely bullshit satellite images. In our own tests, we added a “bomb blast and crater” to an area of Los Angeles. This is a misinformation time bomb, will 100% be abused www.404media.co/google-earth...
“…Rulli is an Italian surname and Emmer a German one. I am a historian…that the exact same kind of nativist nonsense was spewed by earlier generations of Americans who had last names like Emmer and Rulli…German-Americans were actually the first group of immigrants who sparked a serious panic…”
Kevin M. KruseIn recent weeks, congressmen like Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) and Rep. Michael Rulli (R-OH) have leveled racist attacks against immigrant communities in their districts. As I note in CAMPAIGN TRAILS, a century ago those same racist attacks were being made against people named Emmer and Rulli.
I wrote about how immigration arrests are at all-time highs, even as ICE is trying to assume a lower public profile. How are they doing this? Look to your local police.
ICE’s Secret Weapon Is in Your CommunityWhile attempting to maintain a relatively lower profile, ICE is managing to arrest record numbers of people. Here’s how it’s doing that.newrepublic.com
"It is as if someone advised the mass deportation crowd that if that’s what they really want, it’s better achieved without witnesses."
Melissa Gira GrantI wrote about how immigration arrests are at all-time highs, even as ICE is trying to assume a lower public profile. How are they doing this? Look to your local police.
This was incredible watch in person. She did NOT move. Everybody else was bobbling. We were screaming for her.
Big Bad Booty Daddy
In Florida, pollution enforcement remains below historic averages amid widespread water quality issues.
Most Florida Waterways Fail Water Quality Standards as Enforcement Lags - Inside Climate NewsAmid record staffing cuts, a new report finds state regulators are taking fewer enforcement actions against polluters.insideclimatenews.org