Brooke Darrah Shuman

Some of the best films and tv from the past decade have been about identity, race, gender and consent (ie woke): random acts of flyness, get out, watchmen, I may destroy you, Nate, transparent

@thebrianlehrershow.bsky.social please bring back the weekly ask the mayor show if Zohran wins!

Trump Just Quietly Teed Up $20 Billion In Starlink Contracts A new legislative carveout could redirect billions in funding for rural broadband construction to Elon Musk’s satellite company.

A new legislative carveout could redirect billions in funding for rural broadband construction to Elon Musk’s satellite company. www.levernews.com/trump-just-q...

From reckoning to backlash, Black women reflect on the stakes of the moment Five years after the killing of George Floyd prompted millions of people to protest, promises have been broken and work undone.

In 2020, George's Floyd's killing by police sparked a reckoning in America — in many cases, with Black women at the center. For my latest Amendment column, I asked some of them: What did that moment ask of you — and what, if anything, did it give back? 19thnews.org/2025/05/blac...

It's really not. When Dems bother fighting back with arguments, they easily win this issue every time. When they stick their head in the sand and ignore it, they lose.

From WWII through 1980, as Americans fairly shared the wealth, the federal tax rate on incomes over half a million or so was never less than 70%.Then in the 80s it was cut in half, where it remains—37%.

Since 1980 U.S. debt increased 10X. In no small part due to reckless GOP anti-tax extremism.

A new podcast asks: Are 'radical' climate activists really that radical? "Sabotage" tells the story of the real people behind Just Stop Oil's controversial stunts.

An excellent article -and podcast- questioning whether climate activists are really so radical. It makes you wonder: has any society in history been as willingly docile as ours?

White House officials wanted to put federal workers ‘in trauma.’ It’s working. Federal workers describe struggling with panic attacks, depression, suicidal thoughts. “Why doesn’t anyone care?”

An IT worker for the nat'l parks drove to a bridge & called a friend to talk him down.

A Medicaid researcher killed herself after repeating "I’m not enough" to her family.

A Social Security worker, whose data was under siege by DOGE, died at her cubicle. www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...

Why would I read abundance when I could get more wisdom from a Dr Bronners bottle

“We know further that if all those who squander to-day the fruits of others’ toil were forced to employ their leisure in useful work, our wealth would increase in proportion to the number of producers, and more.”

“We know, indeed, that the producers, although they constitute hardly one-third of the inhabitants of civilized countries, even now produce such quantities of goods that a certain degree of comfort could be brought to every hearth.”

“Why, even to the best paid workman, this uncertainty for the morrow, in the midst of all the wealth inherited from the past, and in spite of the powerful means of production, which could ensure comfort to all, in return for a few hours of daily toil?”

“In our civilized societies we are rich. Why then are the many poor? Why this painful drudgery for the masses?”

Why would I read Abundance when I could read Peter Kropotkin’s 1892 Conquest of Bread

“Drop Dead City” Spotlights a Lost Era of Liberal Government This documentary examines the economic changes and managerial missteps that brought the city to the brink of bankruptcy in 1975 and the political creativity and enduring cost of the rescue.

Everyone go see Drop Dead City www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...

YouTube video by yaggy9 AFSCME

This is unironically what New York City was like before the fiscal crisis and I’m sad I wasn’t there

m.youtube.com/watch?v=_3mw...

Musk Is Building a Company Town in South Texas. What Does He Want? “They could fund infrastructure that is beneficial to the company, but on the public dime.”

@bhighsmith.bsky.social and Quinn slobodian write about this billionaire and corporate retreat substack.perfectunion.us/p/musk-is-bu...

This model creates a tax and amenities haven, it’s a retreat from local democratic governance after SpaceX secured millions in tax incentives to come to the region.

Locals from the rest of Cameron county, one of the poorest in the nation, will commute to work in landscaping, construction and service industry jobs. And importantly, they’ll be contractors, not employees. /

It’s tempting to call this a company town but what Musk is building, and has built at many of his corporate campuses is a planned community for white collar space x workers, with the attendant amenities for a work force making high six figures. /

Congress Funded Head Start. The Trump Administration Is Holding Up the Money. Delays in funding and new procedures to justify budgets have led to temporary closures and massive uncertainty for programs, workers, and families who rely on child care.

We have other great stuff today! This from @brycecovert.bsky.social gives a sense of the anxiety that Head Start programs and families feel when appropriated federal funding is delayed. The programs operate on such thin margins (by design) that a few days' delay could mean having to close

Just learned today that 92% of US import consumption is dolls for beautiful little girls. Higher than I would have expected!

Why 35 House Democrats Joined Republicans Against a Major Climate Policy

I’m frustrated by the outsized attention the Blue Dog coalition dems get, some of whom barely won their districts. They say they’re voting according to what their base wants (often rural, wcw or wc Latinos) but they’re actually pandering by taking the positions of right wing media. For example:

Brooklyn bus stop ads being replaced with guerilla public service announcements.

That’s a Norman Rockwell painting.

There’s gonnna be a riot

Q: "How do you respond to Governor Newsom?"

Sen. Van Hollen: "I think Americans are tired of elected officials or politicians who are all finger to the wind...Anybody who can't stand up for the Constitution and the right of due process doesn't deserve to lead."

Trump Is Spending Billions on Border Security. Some Residents Living There Lack Basic Resources. The president has reportedly urged Congress to pass $175 billion for border security. But residents of Del Rio, Texas, and Douglas, Arizona, say their basic needs — like safe drinking water and…

NEW: Trump has reportedly urged Congress to authorize $175 billion for border security, more than 10x what was spent in his first term.

Meanwhile, border residents in Texas and Arizona say their basic needs — like safe drinking water and hospital access — aren’t being met.

W/ @texastribune.org

NIOSH Cuts A Matter Of Life Or Death For Workers, Scientist Says - West Virginia Public Broadcasting Two weeks ago, almost all the workers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety (NIOSH) and Health offices in Morgantown woke up to notifications that they were out of a job.  The cuts are par...

NIOSH is now effectively shut down, an organization that monitors hazardous chemicals on construction sites and conducts free black lung screenings for miners
wvpublic.org/niosh-cuts-a...

YouTube video by More Perfect Union We Went To The Town Elon Musk Took Hostage

We reported about it back in January. m.youtube.com/watch?v=5cZE...