@michaelmechanic.bsky.social
Mother Jones editor; author of "Jackpot," an "entertaining and eviscerating" (Jane Mayer) book on America's wealth insanity (readjackpot.com); piano player turned punk rock drummer turned old-time fiddler; dad of Gen Zers; gardener; curmudgeon about town.
Define unflattering.
Netherlands is tinkering with taxing unrealized capital gains, which seem to me the only realistic way to start tackling runaway wealth inequality. Some exemptions for homes and businesses, and stock losses could be used to offset future gains. Curious to see how it turns out.
So much winning you'll be sick of winning.
Wait, there's still an Office of Government Ethics?
Hitting oil facilities has a steep cost for human health and the environment. If you claim to be rooting for ordinary Iranian people who oppose the regime, well, this hurts everybody. The latest from Damien Gayle of @theguardian.com via @climatedesk.org
NYT: Mr. Trump has displayed growing frustration over how the war is disrupting the oil supply, telling Fox News that oil tanker crews should “show some guts” and sail through the Strait of Hormuz.
(Said President Bone Spurs.)
If you wanted to convert Noem's 737 for deportation, “wouldn’t it have been cheaper just to buy a deportation plane in the first place?” Raskin asked. “It’s like buying a Rolls-Royce to turn into a Metro bus.”
Meanwhile, ICE Barbie & (reportedly) Melania have been flying in luxury at YOUR EXPENSE.
Blumenthal after getting briefed on Iran: "We seem to be on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground in Iran to accomplish any of the potential objectives here. There's also the specter of active Russian aid to Iran putting in danger American lives ... China also may be assisting Iran"
Rand Paul: "As far as reasons for the war, there have been many different ones floated, but none have been very convincing... we were told their nuclear weapons were obliterated, and now we're told their nuclear weapons are just moments away from being a bomb. I don't think the arguments are valid."
BREAKING: As many as 150 U.S. troops have been wounded in the war with Iran, according to sources familiar—far higher than the Pentagon’s publicly disclosed figure of just 8 seriously wounded troops. The true toll of this war is already far worse than the public has been told. (Reuters)
Elizabeth Warren: "I am a hard no on a supplemental. This is not a war the American people want us to engage in. This is not a war that makes us safer ... No. No more money. The only thing Congress has the power to do is to stop actions like this through the power of the purse."
Without a clinical trial!
FDA is allowed to do this with rare diseases, I gather, but their priorities sure are telling.
That Steinway grand came out of my taxes and I therefore demand access!
We used financial records included in this trove of data to report on Blanche owning at least $159K in crypto assets when he shut down investigations into crypto companies.
Check it out 👇
I may just have to go play one of his sonatas now.
Him too!!!
MAGA Congressman Andy Ogles posted this days after a violent Islamophobic protest occurred at the home of Zohran Mamdani-NYC’s first Muslim mayor
That same day GOP gubernatorial hopeful Bruce Blakeman marched with a radio host who called Mamdani a “Radical Islam cockroach”
GOP racism is boundless
Look, our kids should know who Elvis is, and Joe Strummer, Leadbelly, NWA, and Kendrick Lamar. It's all about good parenting.
I appreciate a good cat loaf
ah, so it is!
I think, whenever journalists request and print a comment from the Trump administration, they should put an asterisk on it noting that Trump's spokespeople are inherently untrustworthy.
Oil prices wouldn't be all over the news today if more of our economy was powered by local, secure renewable energy.
This isn't an "energy crisis". It's a fossil fuel crisis.
44% of UK electricity came from renewables in 2025. More of that plus an electrified economy => no more oil shocks.
It is in this administration
What on earth is he talking about?
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: A 14-year-old alleged Trump physically and sexually assaulted her in Epstein docs that, for some reason, the administration appears to be withholding.
BREAKING: Kevin Kiley (R-CA) is SWITCHING PARTIES. Effective immediately, he is leaving the Republican party to become an Independent. This complicates Mike Johnson’s slim majority. www.cbsnews.com/news/kevin-k...
"This is chemical warfare," writes @billmckibben.bsky.social
A dark and killing cloud over Tehran
open.substack.com/pub/billmcki...
And they went apeshit over Hunter Biden allegedly trying to profit off his dad's name. How quaint.
"The government wants people to think that everything is improving, that there is nothing to worry about, but this is not true...The need to test the water and soil and food and people’s health in Fukushima is ongoing, and even more dangers, from the delayed effects of radiation, lie ahead.”
I've always thought right along these lines, despite my lack of religious upbringing—about all the so-called Christians who support policies that hurt the poor and rig everything in favor of the rich.