Christian Paulsen

McCORMICK: Unless somebody has information to the contrary, we are as careful about this as anything we do.

Oh, so not careful at all, got it.

Even if you don't think that Nordic Pagan is a "legitimate" belief/religion, there is Sikhism and many other religions.

I mean, I know he just wants WASPs, but really...

"I'm so rich that politicians have to take my calls, but Mamdani just ghosts me!"

If officers of the law can act lawlessly and refuse to show credentials, how is the average person supposed to tell who is an actual officer versus someone posing as an officer.

Do yourself a favor and read this excellent and hilarious summary of the trial of "Sandwich Guy"

Yup. It turns out massively destabilizing trade in and out of the country is bad for people importing to build factories in order to export stuff.

Also, they’ve pretty much killed CHIPS and Science, the largest domestic manufacturing bill in recent history.

If the speaker of the house (or anyone in the succession) is ineligible to be president (for whatever reason), they are skipped and the next individual in the succession "moves up".

This has mainly applied to naturalized citizens in the cabinet, but applies in that "one weird trick" case, too.

I’d say “trump turning his platform into a gambling platform is bad” but given his track record with casinos, it may just be funny.

Your ability to eat should not depend on your productivity

Your ability to get healthcare should not depend on your productivity

Your ability to get housing should not depend on your productivity

Saying “be more productive!” To those who are struggling devalues human life.

It aids fascism.

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

"HI kid! If you want to be Hitler 1936, remember Hitler 1945 is coming."

Further, while many Americans focus on national politics, often the "something" to be done is at a state or even local level.
Are you upset at book bans? Show up to school board meetings.
Don't like gerrymandering? Go to your state capital.
Protests are important, but they cannot be the only action.

What is the lesson for #NoKings? The protests alone are not likely to achieve anything.

They do raise awareness and do show politicians where people stand, but without actionable policy proposals, it's simply a shout for "Do something!", but we also need to articulate what that "something" is.

How Movements Win On the importance of a strong inside strategy.

This essay discusses how movements can achieve their goals, not simply through mass awareness, but requiring the "boring" work of showing up to policy discussions with solid, reasonable proposals for change.

Why Movements Fail Horizontalism and its discontents

This essay looks at why many liberal/leftists movements of the 2010s failed to achieve lasting change. The general reason being a lack of a clear goal, which sometimes led to right-wing groups coopting the movement or the existing institutions simply outlasting the movement.

@sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com wrote a pair of essays last year that are quite relevant to the #NoKings protests.

The first discusses why many movements in the 2010s failed to achieve any lasting change. The second discuss how movements can succeed.

Links to the essays in the thread

I put a lot of blame for the public discussion of inflation on media outlets, because this was visible during the campaign and pretty much all serious economists agreed that Trump’s proposals would spur inflation, but it was presented as a “political difference” rather than Trump being illiterate.

It's so nice to not have the "AI" BS on every search.

If you can't get off Chrome, at least do yourself this favor. It's easy and fast to do.

Yeah; one of the problems with the concepts of "bubbles" in public discussion is that it doesn't explain how they happen. A party over promises (whether that's mortgage brokers or AI C-suites) on a short time frame that allows them to profit before it becomes clear that they can't deliver. Then pop.

Things to consider:

Document the violence & violations--on camera, w/photos, saving images--any way you can. Speaking as a historian- it will matter

Point out violations--w/images & text--even if you think it won't matter. It will. It needs to be called out & exposed

You are a witness.
Expose it.

Some times I feel like the adultiest adult, and other times I wonder how I'm already in my later 30s. I definitely went through my 20s feeling not very adult much of the time, though.

I also realized recently is that part of adulthood is not worrying about "feeling like" or "being" an adult.

I feel like Smaug and this post is the black arrow.

An excellent article from @chrisgeidner.bsky.social about a powerful ruling by U.S. District Judge William Young.

This quote from Judge Young's ruling struck me in particular, that even if there is no legal consequence for illegal actions, we should not shy from calling them what they are.

Hegseth doesn't understand pacifism. He thinks it an unwillingness to fight, a form of cowardice.

YouTube video by Hank Green This Autism Stat Makes No Sense

If you've ever had to argue with someone about Austism stats; the always insightful @hankgreen.bsky.social has some facts you can use.

And may we all live in less frustrating times.

Letter from the Portland War Front (humor about something deadly serious) My dearest wife, It is week two of the Siege of Portland, and still these barbarians will not yield to our troops. We have severed the cords of their latte machines but they are making cowboy coffee ...

My dearest wife,

It is week two of the Siege of Portland, and still these barbarians will not yield to our troops. We have severed the cords of their latte machines but they are making cowboy coffee in their camps, where loud ukulele songs of resistance even now drift in on the breeze.

I could support generative AI in some uses if it didn't drive ever increasing energy and water usage and it wasn't trained on stolen data.

Given those are unlikely to be resolved...

There's also the hype issue, but presumably that will burst like crypto/NFT hype did before too long

It should be needless to say, but it is perhaps at this moment worth saying, that transgender individuals have the same right as anyone else to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Charlie Kirk: Joe Biden should be "put in prison and/or given the death penalty for crimes against America"

I hadn’t seen this. Kirk, the moderate free speech guy who did politics the right way per some liberals (!), called for Biden to be executed.

Meanwhile Joe Biden put out a very strong statement condemning Kirk’s killing.

Both sides!

No really, I am s h o c k e d

Charlie Kirk v @charliekirk11 Hillary For Prison 11:04 PM • Dec 21, 2015

Jason Campbell & @JasonSCampbell Charlie Kirk: "If Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, or John Adams saw drag queen story hour, they would mobilize the Minutemen" CHARLIE KIRK SHOW 0:54 291K views 10:51 AM • 8/10/21 • Twitter Web App 完

Charlie Kirk @ c@charliekirk11 • 16h Residents of Springfield, OH are reporting that Haitians are eating their family pets, another gift of the Biden-Harris mass immigration replacement plan. Liberals will soon be lecturing Americans on why they need to be sensitive to Haitian culture and accept this as the new Show more Springfield Ohio Cri... BIDEN FLOODS OHIO TOWN WITH 20,000 HAITIAN MIGRANTS: TEN TO A BEDROOM Warning to all about our beloved pets & those around us!! My neighbor informed me that her daughters friend had lost her cat. She checked pages, kennels, asked around, etc. One day she came home from work, as soon as she stepped out of her car, looked towards a neighbors house, where Haitians live, & saw her cat hanging from a branch, like you'd do a deer for butchering, & they were carving it up to eat. I've been told they are doing this to dogs, they have been doing it at snyder park with the ducks & geese, as I was told that last bit by on A. Moreno/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, Pile Rangers & police. Please keep a close eve on these animala @ 2к 179.6K O 22K ill 2.4M 贝 Elon Musk & @elonmusk Follow Apparently, people's pet cats are being eaten

Here's Trump turnout chair, Charlie Kirk, condemning the women who "undermine their husbands" by voting for Harris: "It's just so nauseating where this wife ... who comes in with her sweet husband who probably works his tail off to make sure that she can go and, you know, have a nice life, provides for the family. And then she lies to him, saying, 'Oh yeah I'm going to vote for Trump' and then she votes for Kamala Harris as her little secret in the voting booth." GO -OTE NOW The Megyn Kelly Show SiriusXM

I’m choosing to remember Charlie Kirk’s contribution to American civic life in his own words.