US House Equality

If you are wondering what words the all-male Congress found so "blasphemous" that they felt compelled to literally scrape them off the monument, they were: ''Woman, first denied a soul, then called mindless, now arisen, declared herself an entity to be reckoned.''

Meet Minnesota Bathrobe Lady Sam Stroozas of MPR News | Minnesota Public Radio Earlier this week, an unexpected and fast-moving incident unfolded in St. Paul, Minnesota involving both federal and local law enforcement. As crowds gathered and questions mounted, one of our MPR New...

hello minnesota and beyond! thank you for your kind messages. it is very weird to be the news when you cover the news. i love this beautiful state and journalism, and i am hopeful for better days. but we will be forever changed bc of the last two months.

Local abc news going hard on Epstein.

I find the responses here pretty compelling! Point taken, fuck these things

In South Texas, the GOP immigration hard line is now political kryptonite Texas Republicans bet on continuing to win over Latino voters. Then Trump began his aggressive deportation campaign.

A lot of districts along the border voted for a Republican for the first time in a century in 2024 because of the border. Many ICE and CBP officers are Hispanic. But Republicans in South Texas now fear Trump's crackdown on immigrants could cost them the election. www.politico.com/news/2026/02...

OOOOOOOO....!

I WANT THIS SCIENCE

@wyden.senate.gov @merkley.senate.gov, spread the word gents. Don't let the whiney little shits cave.

“But if there’s one thing I’ve found about racists in my years on this planet, it’s that they deny being racist despite saying A LOT of racist things. They seem to think the words that fall out of their mouths make sense, and it’s the fault of others if they take them the wrong way.”

Juliana Stratton Understands the Assignment IL Senate candidate knows you don’t find common ground with Trump

me on the IL Senate D primary; Juliana Stratton is the candidate who seems to get that there is no compromising with fascism. www.everythingishorrible.net/p/juliana-st...

The Break Is Over. Companies Are Jacking Up Prices Again. Higher tariffs, labor and health-insurance costs have pushed many businesses to raise prices for consumers.

I'm sorry, there was a break from increasing prices? Where was I when this happened?
Feel like this is just a warning that companies are about to engage in another round of layoffs.
www.wsj.com/business/pri...

This Wednesday 2/18, a conversation I got to be a part of, with someone I’ve admired for a long time will be out on YouTube.

I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that it even happened.

I have all of you to thank for putting me in spaces like this.

I can’t wait for you to see who it is.

💐

Find My Polling Place

North Carolina & Illinois voters: early voting is happening RIGHT NOW.

This is your moment to make your voice heard. Find your polling place, make your plan, and cast your ballot early: https://www.commoncause.org/resources/find-my-polling-place/

Remember the Epstein Binder Photo Op? MAGA Influencers Hope You Don’t. Fifteen influencers waved “Epstein Files” binders at the White House. When scrutiny widened to Trump, the outrage narrowed just as quickly.

Remember the Epstein Binder Photo Op? MAGA Influencers Hope You Don’t.

With Latest Rollback, the U.S. Essentially Has No Clean-Car Rules

After a year of spectacular deregulation, “the United States will essentially have no laws on the books that enforce how efficient America’s passenger cars and trucks should be.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/c...

US Government Deploys Elon Musk's Grok as Nutrition Bot, Where It Immediately Gives Advice for Rectal Use of Vegetables The US government deployed xAI's Grok to give dietary advice -- and it's giving some eyebrow-raising advice.

US Government Deploys Elon Musk’s Grok as Nutrition Bot, Where It Immediately Gives Advice for Rectal Use of Vegetables

ok, that's enough 2026 for today

futurism.com/artificial-i...

Their "more efficient" process than having writers write:

• AI identifies possible stories
• Reporters do further reporting and produce notes
• Another person uses AI to generate a story from the notes, then rewrites/"tweaks"
• Another person fact-checks/edits
• Reporter reviews

Alien observing earth:

The Past and Present of Immigration Detention: Your Questions Answered - Bolts A historian of migrant detention responds to questions from Bolts readers on the vast network of local lockups that jail immigrants, and how it's evolving.

Right before Trump’s return to the WH, Bolts ran this fascinating Q&A with a historian of immigration detention.

It feels so relevant right now, amid the semantic discourse of what to call the ICE centers, to understand how all this has evolved.

Highly recommend:

boltsmag.org/the-past-and...

After years of waiting, she wanted to start gender-affirming care. Politics interfered. Medicaid patients can’t use their insurance at Planned Parenthood, unless their state covers it. This is a major setback for trans health care.

Because of Trump's "big beautiful bill," many patients on Medicaid are unable to use their coverage at Planned Parenthood. This has greatly limited affirming and affordable options for trans patients, worsening existing gaps in health care access. 19thnews.org/2026/02/medi...

Opinion | Libertarians warned about executive power. Only a few actually warned about Trump. Anthony L. Fisher: A recent New York Times op-ed showed the blind spot many libertarians still have for President Donald Trump.

"The problem is that, even now that Trump has proven us skeptics right on every one of those counts, too many libertarians continue to position themselves safely in a “pox on both your houses” perch." via @anthonylfisher.bsky.social www.ms.now/opinion/libe...

The SAVE Act and the Election Power Grab The revived bill is a serious threat to voting rights.

The SAVE Act would be the most restrictive voting legislation ever passed by Congress. bit.ly/4qrNeJO

The electoral college laughs and laughs until you find the Democrat from a coast who won reelection.

No charges filed against retired teachers' pension fund leaders after ethics complaint • Ohio Capital Journal The chair of the Ohio retired teachers' pension fund board, a former member and a lobbyist will not face criminal charges related to alleged ethics violations after the state referred the case to the…

The chair of the Ohio retired teachers’ pension fund board, a former member and a lobbyist will not face criminal charges related to alleged ethics violations after the state referred the case to the Columbus City Attorney’s Office. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/02/16/n...

Dem primary fundraising in Nebraska’s 2nd District tightens as GOP race narrows • Nebraska Examiner The Nebraska Democratic Party primary's crowded field nitpicked each other's campaign cash tallies for signs of weakness and momentum.

NE-02 FUNDRAISING: The Democratic U.S. House primary in Nebraska's Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District is getting more competitive in fundraising, but its shape remains largely the same, while the GOP primary has lost a key competitor.

From Juan Salinas II:

This isn’t Donald Trump’s America.
This isn’t any president’s America.

It’s ours, and we the people will fight for it.

Creating the Enemy Within A running TPM project tracking the Trump administration's state campaign to treat dissent as terrorism.

Check out our new "Creating The Enemy Within" series at TPM. talkingpointsmemo.com/creating-the...

The plot to enslave America:

Minnesota farms face labor shortage as workers fear federal immigration action Agriculture leaders say some farms might not survive the season since migrant workers might avoid the state.

Minnesota farms face labor shortage as workers fear federal immigration action. Agriculture leaders say some farms might not survive the season since migrant workers might avoid the state. www.startribune.com/minnesota-fa...

You get the layup of all layup opportunities and that's the answer?