Julie

illinois gov. JB pritzker responds to ken paxton's threat to arrest TX democrats who fled the state: "they're here in illinois. we're going to do everything we can to protect every single one of them."

As he ducks the Zohran question, worth remembering Senator Booker has gotten $900,000 from AIPAC. (He also voted for Kushner’s pardoned father’s ambassadorship)

The Invention of “Sesame Street” Renata Adler’s 1972 review of the program that revolutionized children’s television.

“Sesame Street” and its sequel, “The Electric Company,” were, “with lapses, the most intelligent and important programs in television,” Renata Adler wrote, in 1972.

A massive regressive national sales tax imposed upon every American by a president with no constitutional authority to impose a national sales tax. The reason why the founders gave this power to Congress is because this would never pass any Congress- even this one.

They’re going to kill disabled folks with this

@ourshallowstate.bsky.social: you have persuaded Grok

Just because something confirms your priors doesn’t make it true.

If you put the DOGE guys on a desert island where the only way out was to say the magic words “I’m not sure what the answer is, let me consult someone who has worked on this problem for a long time” they would all starve to death

JUST IN: Abbott says he may treat fleeing lawmakers as having “forfeited” their offices and move to replace them. He also suggests they could be subject to felony charges if they accept payments to cover impending fines gov.texas.gov/uploads/file...

NOTABLY the Paxton opinion that Abbott cites doesn’t actually say lawmakers who break quorum are removable — in fact it says this is a fact-specific question only resolvable by a court.

The opinion also does not say it’s unconstitutional to break quorum.
www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/defaul...

Oh

I’m sorry but I really have to stand up for myself and independent media here. Everyone is crediting Ken Delanian for the Maxwell sex offender waiver story, but I was hours ahead of him. Hours. Independent media is important.

I so appreciate this essay. The language of chronic illness is problematic at best and often impossible. I’ve written about this from the perspective of someone with metastatic cancer. Even in remission, as I am now, there is no good language to express the sustained weirdness of my body.

Texas House Dems just put out a press release confirming they've left the state in sufficient numbers to deny the GOP a quorum to pass its new gerrymander. A press conference is scheduled for 7:15 PM (presumably CT). mailchi.mp/texashousede...

The answer to gerrymandering is House expansion. The answer to gerrymandering is House expansion. The answer to gerrymandering is House expansion. The answer to gerrymandering is House expansion. The answer to gerrymandering is House expansion. The answer to gerrymandering is House expansion. The an

There has never been a better time to draft language for an amendment to the Constitution for the complete public funding of campaigns, with the campaign premised on the promise that no one will ever be asked to donate another penny to a politician ever again

This is actually hilarious 😆

A few weeks ago we might have speculated that this is probably the work of Project 2025, Stephen Miller, and Mango Mussolini. After the GOP Congress lined up behind the recision bill though, it’s now clear that this is indeed what our government did, and what MAGA voted for.

Rage Against The Regime in Orlando ✊

Remember: Almost all of us are the descendants of immigrants who fled persecution, or were brought to America under duress, or sought better lives for themselves and their descendants.

Politicians who stoke fear and hatred over immigration want you to forget this.

Do not.

Why I changed my mind on the genocide charge against Israel For the past 21 months of horrific violence and heartbreaking suffering in the Gaza Strip, I’ve been wrestling with the contentious…

A tipping point is happening.

From the Chair of Israel Studies at UCLA:

The fact that ai art and writing programs are built on stolen work really seems to be fading from the discussion even amongst artists and writers, which is a bit shit.

It's just constant brutality lately. Nothing but respect to Jessica for reporting and writing on these bleak topics, and to everyone fighting for the rights of immigrants and refugees.

A picture of Wonder Woman smiling brightly, waiving with a quote from Wonder Woman #25, 2006 by Gail Simone. "Don't kill if you can wound, don't wound if you can subdue, don't subdue if you can pacify, and don't raise your hand at all until you've extended first."

My favorite Wonder Woman quote from Wonder Woman #25 by @gailsimone.bsky.social.
"Don't kill if you can wound, don't wound if you can subdue, don't subdue if you can pacify, and don't raise your hand at all until you've extended first."
Such a perfect ethos for my favorite superhero.

This interview is so clear & quietly devastating. Public media as we understand it is over.

This is not about the end of NPR & PBS. They might be able to find ways to continue to make programs. Instead of content, this is about the capacity to broadcast at all - antennae, transmitters, licenses. 🧵

To Live Inside a Lie Firing the top labor statistics official for doing the normal monthly jobs report is only the last attempt to force everyone else to abandon reality too

"This is considered impolite to point out in many mainstream venues, but to be a Republican in good standing today, you have to believe, or at least go along with, an insane amount of lies."

Firing the BLS Director for reporting monthly jobs data institutionalizes that lying, imposing it on others.

1/Kevin Hassett had long ago discredited himself as a scholar by parroting claims about the economy he knew to be false. Even so, parroting the lie about rigged statistics, is a new low. The academy should ostracize him the same way a fabricator of research should be ostracized.

Rep. Thompson, Other Dems Sue Trump Over Access to ICE Centers U.S. House Rep. Bennie Thompson is among 12 Democrats suing the Trump administration to ensure oversight access at ICE detention centers.

“ICE is holding men, women, and children in overcrowded rooms without beds, showers, or medical care—sometimes for days on end," Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, which filed the lawsuit with Democracy Forward.

"We will impeach and remove the president for his many crimes" seems like a good midterm election pitch to me idk