Marsha Pierce

Honestly, in Illinois I’ve generally had decent representation (moved here in 2019 so only talking about the current timeline) and for my specific location, but I still look at this and am impressed. 💯🌟

a man sitting at a desk with a university of oxford diploma behind him Alt: "You win, I'll retire"

Imagining you staring at the screen when you saw this

SCOOP: IL-9 congressional candidate and current state senator Mike Simmons had police called on him in Buena Park while canvassing for votes. No arrest was made. Here’s the video of the interaction @senmikesimmons.bsky.social recorded and shared with me.

I’m happy to work with anyone on specific priorities. Massie was a darling of the John Birch Society and TEA party for years (my family are members). Many of them who went full MAGA now attack him with as much or more vitriol than they did me for not embracing their beliefs.

In high school and early college (as a CNA and MA), I cared for a number of people who had mobility issues post-polio infection. My great uncle had long term disability from it. Most of them died young from complications associated with contracting polio prior to the vaccine.

I cannot tell you how bad a resurgence in polio would be. Astonishingly bad. Polio is... Well it's worse than you think. (1)

ICE whistleblower comes forward to testify before Congress Ryan Schwank, a former ICE academy instructor, is expected to testify that ICE “is lying to Congress and the American people” about its training program.

Breaking MS NOW:

An ICE whistleblower is expected to testify at a congressional forum today that the agency is "lying to Congress and the American people" about its training of new recruits.

Ryan Schwank was an ICE academy instructor for new recruits before he resigned earlier this month.

The president, who drones on about protecting women’s sports, publicly mocked the women’s gold-medal hockey team. A reminder this was never about protecting women’s sports and it was always about transphobia and misogyny.

Trump administration making our children sicker and poorer 🧪🩺

Opinion | The Human Cost of Trump’s War on Science

Deep, well sourced, moving, and enraging story from the NYT

[Gift Link]

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/o...

I can't get over this number: in 2007, there were 360,000 newspaper jobs. Now, there are 80,000. "My local paper sucked!" Sure. What sucks even more? The void. "I get all my news from the Guardian!" No, the Guardian doesn't report on your town council, your school board, local cops.

"To put that number in perspective, there are currently about 14,500 active satellites in low Earth orbit. Approving the request would increase that figure by nearly 70 times."

COVID-19 vaccination status during pregnancy and preeclampsia risk: the pandemic-era cohort of the INTERCOVID consortium COVID-19 vaccination with a booster reduces the odds of PE by 30% approaching 60% reduction among women with pre-existing morbidities.

Remember when RFK Jr. unilaterally decided that COVID19 vaccines should no longer be recommended during pregnancy?

Well, COVID19 increases the risk of preeclampsia.

And it turns out that getting boosted, either before or during pregnancy, significantly reduces the risk of preeclampsia.

Trump aides struggle with how to spend $500 billion more on military Some senior officials resisted the decision to approve the major military spending increase, people familiar with the matter say.

Reading this story—about how the Pentagon has been given so much extra money it's struggling to spend it all—while thinking about the formerly homeless tenants I've spoken with in recent weeks whose housing vouchers are being discontinued for "lack of funds."

This is right, but Trump will get away with this for at least another year, while SCOTUS stops the lower courts from enforcing the law, delays a decision, and then gets around to enforcing the law....

Grand jury returns 76-count indictment against Batavia chiropractor accused of secretly filming patients A Kane County grand jury has returned a 76-count indictment against a Batavia chiropractor who has been accused of secretly recording videos of child and adult patients while they were undressed or…

A Kane County grand jury has returned a 76-count indictment against a Batavia chiropractor who has been accused of secretly recording videos of child and adult patients while they were undressed or unclothed, the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office said on Friday.

Wild pigs, giant goldfish and bugs that won't die: Invaders 'absolutely everywhere' in Canada How can we manage the species that are devastating Canada's natural ecosystems and shouldn't even be here?

Wild pigs and other invasives got featured in the National Post.

"If you’re still talking about eradicating wild pigs, then you fundamentally misunderstand the situation". --Ryan Brook

nationalpost.com/feature/wild...

Judge Goodwin: "An anonymous government is no government at all. It cannot be held accountable. A masked agent freely uses force without justifying his actions, and the public cannot name him to challenge his conduct. A regime of secret policing has no place in our society."

This. Today's ruling is primarily a multidimensional failure of the judicial branch, not really its robustness in the face of authoritarianism. This should never have been a SCOTUS case in the first place, & it shouldn't have taken over a year to get here.

Illinois Governor Pritzker, following today's SCOTUS ruling, sends President Trump an invoice for $8,679,261,600 for refunds of the "illegal tariffs" the residents of his state were charged.

Following today’s SCOTUS’ ruling against Trump’s tariffs, Illinois Gov. Pritzker sent an invoice to the White House asking for a reimbursement for his constituents.

“I Have Lost Everything”: The Toll of Cities’ Homeless Sweeps Cities often take belongings — including important documents and irreplaceable mementos — when they conduct sweeps of homeless encampments. ProPublica gave notecards to people across the country so th...

We asked people who lived in homeless encampments that were cleared out in city “sweeps” to write about what object was the hardest for them to lose.

“They took my baby pictures and my moms obituaries,” a man in California wrote.

(Published Dec. 2024)

"free/cheap/non-toxic youth sports" feels like one of those skeleton keys that would have knock-on effects accidentally fix 100 unrelated things about America

or, you know, even if it didn't, at least a bunch of kids would be able to have fun playing sports

This should be a bigger story.

More than 15,000 American farms shut down in 2025.

Prince Andrew's Arrest Across the pond in Britain, justice and accountability is a serious matter

Never in a million years did I ever fathom when I resurrected the Epstein story in 2018 that it would lead to first arrest of a British Royal in four centuries. Not since King Charles I was arrested in 1647.
open.substack.com/pub/jkbjourn...

The American ethos, that our diversity is our strength, was from the nation's beginning embodied in our motto "E Pluribus Unum" ("Out of Many, One"), & the *active* U.S. government promotion of racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity goes back over a century. The Trumpist white supremacy ethos is...

The UK arrested Prince Andrew. Hakeem Jeffries is telling Democrats not to boo Trump at the State of the Union.

She never lived to see this moment, but it’s worth remembering that none of this would have happened without Virginia Giuffre.

She had the courage to speak out against power and privilege when it was just her word against Andrew’s.

Thanks to her, justice & accountability may finally have its day.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the brother of the UK’s King Charles, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. It comes after further details of his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein emerged, the BBC said.

Get the latest: bloom.bg/4rqF1ah

Wallace Shawn is the best 🌟