Sean Thomas

I wonder if the United States can learn anything from the last time a major industrialized country decided to isolate itself from the rest of the world?

Almost a decade after the Brexit vote, GDP in the UK is around 6-8% lower relative to peer countries. (Source: www.nber.org/papers/w34459)

The Miracle Mile Shopping Center in Chicago, once considered our Nation’s BEST, now has a more than 28% vacancy factor, and is ready to call it quits unless something is done about the murder and crime, which is prevalent throughout the City. CALL IN THE TROOPS, FAST, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE! “Just the News”

Call in the troops to solve the commercial real estate crisis in our swanky downtown cores

You can’t make this shit up, folks

NEW: President Trump's pardon of his alleged 2020 co-conspirators was less about shielding them from past crimes, his adversaries say, than about signaling to others that he has their back if he needs them again in 2026 or 2028.

w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/11...

Cybersecurity breach at Congressional Budget Office remains a live threat Library of Congress employees were informed to take caution when emailing the office of the congressional scorekeeper.

Politico is reporting that the breach at the Congressional Budget Office is "ongoing."

“Do NOT click on any links in emails from CBO. Do NOT share sensitive information with CBO colleagues over email, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom at this time,” the email to CBO staff reads.

Shutdown Deal Would Let Senators Sue Over Jack Smith Searches Senators whose phone records were sought by Special Counsel Jack Smith would gain authority to sue for millions in damages under a provision buried in the Senate-advanced deal to reopen the government...

Buried inside the deal to reopen government is a provision that would give Senators private right of action to sue for millions in damages over their phone records being analyzed by Jack Smith's team.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Ex-Giants manager Bruce Bochy finalizing deal to return to San Francisco as special assistant Bochy, who won three of his four World Series titles managing the Giants, will be back in San Francisco, where he managed for 13 seasons.

Future HOF manager Bruce Bochy tells me he's content with taking the uniform off and rejoining the Giants in an advisory role. It took just 90 minutes at a Nashville restaurant with Tony Vitello to convince Bochy that Buster Posey made a smart hire to manage. www.nytimes.com/athletic/678...

Lucy, football. 😡

The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.

The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.

People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.

And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.

Senate Democrats are about to sell us out.

Remember that when they text you for money.

1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️

Trump getting booed at the Commanders game

Sounds like the squishes in the senate caucus are ready to pull the plug with no ACA changes. This is real. If you want to register your opinion you shld call yr senator in the next hour. They not only want to reopen w/nothing. They want cover from their colleagues who still want to hold out.

Astonishing how hard this administration is working to keep people hungry.
It's clear they are trying maximize public suffering, in hopes of getting people to blame Dems for that suffering. But it's transparently the White House working overtime to keep the suffering going!
bsky.app/profile/cram...

BREAKING: Mark Wolf, appointed to the federal bench by Ronald Reagan, writes that he is resigning as a judge to have the freedom to speak out against the president's assault on the rule of law.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

“I Don’t Feel Safe”: Black Memphis Residents Report Harassment by Trump’s Police Task Force A pastor was pulled over for looking lost. A 72-year-old was marched out in his bathrobe due to mistaken identity. Memphis’ mayor welcomed the federal law enforcement surge, but some residents say the...

Phillip Lewis, a 72-year-old cancer patient, said he was woken up and marched outside his home in his robe and underwear before federal officers even checked his ID.

He was not, it turned out, the man they were looking for.

By @wendicthomas.bsky.social & @kathsburgess.bsky.social

‘You Are All Terrorists’: Four Months in a Salvadoran Prison

“We interviewed 40 of the men who were imprisoned: They described being beaten, sexually assaulted by guards and driven to the brink of suicide.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...

A fake Bluesky suspension DM. "Bluesky @blueskyguard3453.bsky.social We regret to inform you that your Bluesky account has been temporarily suspended due to security-related restrictions. To prevent the permanent termination of your account, it is imperative that you complete the verification process within the next 24 hours by using the following link: (REDACTED) If the link does not open directly, please copy and paste it into your browser's address bar. ▲ Important: Failure to complete the required verification within the specified time frame will result in the irreversible and permanent ban of your account. We appreciate your immediate attention and cooperation in this matter. Sincerely, Bluesky Support Team 10:49 PM"

Head's up there is a Bluesky ban scam going around. This account just joined 40 mins ago and send me this DM.

DO NOT CLICK THE LINK.

Bluesky would NEVER send a DM like this and make you scared. This would come through email and would have a more professional email than this.

Stay safe!

sherman, for the love of god!

Elections in democracies determine who administers the government; they do not alter whom the government is for. Under any administration, Republican or Democratic, the United States government exists to serve the people of the United States, regardless of their partisan affiliation. Besides, Americans are not as easily divided as Trump might think. Millions of Republican voters live in New York, just as millions of Democrats live in Texas. He cannot tell whom he is punishing by glancing at an electoral map. But even if he could, Trump’s acts of extortion have no place in a democracy. They belong in a protection racket: If you support Trump, you are protected; if you do not, you are vulnerable. If you donate enough cash to Trump, you may receive favorable treatment, including immunity from the law. If you oppose Trump, you may be prosecuted.

This is not how a representative government works. It is how the Mafia works.

Went back to the history of the Sicilian Mafia to illustrate something obvious but worth stating explicitly: The Trump administration behaves like an organized crime syndicate running a protection racket, not a representative government www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

One of the key things the Supreme Court is supposed to do on an emergency motion is to balance the hardships to each sides.

Here it is not even close--people starving v. the government not tapping a reserve they are supposed to tap anyway in the event of an emergency

I do slightly think that what is happening in Chicago could be the beginnings of a non-violent civil disobedience movement that goes way beyond just like, No Kings protests, and could grow quite a lot

JUST IN: A federal judge has barred the Trump administration from using furloughed employees’ email accounts to broadcast partisan messages about the shutdown.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

YIKES: NSO floats Pegasus spyware used in hypothetical "time of domestic crisis" in 🇺🇸America.

I believe they won't stop lobbying until they get Pegasus into USA.

To hack Americans. 1/

as a thought exercise for everyone reading ross douthat's latest missive in the NYT, i want you to think about sending an email to your entire company with the subject line "Did Women Ruin the Workplace?", then think about the over/under on the number of minutes/hours you would still be employed

If Trump and Orban were interested in understanding war, they’d know sustained offense is harder than defense, and that rewarding Russia’s aggression likely won’t bring peace, it’d encourage more aggression.

But they’re interested in seeing Putin succeed and validating their own culture war views.

Supreme Court considers Kim Davis petition to overturn same-sex marriage ruling The Supreme Court on Friday will consider the appeal of former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who has asked the justices to overturn same-sex marriage rights.

BREAKING 🚨 🚨 🚨

Supreme Court considers Kim Davis petition to overturn same-sex marriage ruling

The justices will vote during a private conference on whether to hear the case.

abcnews.go.com/Politics/sup...

FBI Informant Who Lied About Bidens Quietly Released From Jail Sparking Trump Pardon Fears Alexander Smirnov was quietly furloughed from prison months ago.

SCOOP: Alexander Smirnov, the FBI informant convicted of lying about a fake bribery scheme involving the Bidens has been quietly released from prison just months into a six-year sentence—raising concern he could be pardoned by Trump any moment.

jacquelinesweet.substack.com/p/fbi-inform...

photos of Trump sleeping through yesterday's Oval Office event via Andrew Harnik of Getty

Criminal organization attempting to conceal evidence bsky.app/profile/brad...

The AP tracked down details of some of the people killed in President Trump's military strikes on drug smugglers he describes as narco-terrorists.

They were, with one exception, not high-level criminals. One was a fisherman. One was a bus driver; another a taxi driver.

apnews.com/article/trum...