Brian Halaas

something to keep in mind is that everything the right is currently doing to trans people is just what they have wanted for decades to do to gay people; they just can’t get away with doing the latter right now

It’s time for Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to step down | Mehdi Hasan This fascist moment, this age of Trump, demands outspoken, unrelenting and fearless opposition. We all deserve better

"It is past time for both Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer to step down and step aside. This fascist moment, this age of Trump, demands outspoken, unrelenting and fearless opposition... we all deserve better."

I make the case, in my latest for The Guardian, for new leadership:

Abuse like Epstein's proceeds w/ the premise that the victims are voiceless or can be shamed, intimidated, threatened, or discredited so iif they do try to speak up. Today they spoke up and were heard on national media. May their power continue, may accountability come for all the perpetrators.

A strong behavioral health workforce requires breaking down financial barriers that prevent talented and passionate people from pursuing these roles.

The @cuny.edu Social Work Fellows program will help confront the workforce shortage and advance a solution that can be scaled up.

Zohran at a podium on a sidewalk. Behind him are Assemblymember Emily Gallagher, Councilmember Lincoln Restler and State Senator Kristen Gonzalez. Members of the Greenpoint community hold signs with the names of people who were killed on McGuinness Blvd.

Assemblymember Emily Gallagher speaks at the podium, on the front of which is a sign that says “Make McGuinness Safe.”

Councilmember Lincoln Restler speaks at the podium.

This morning we gathered on McGuinness Blvd.

After a beloved Greenpoint teacher was killed in a crash, the local community thought they had won a transformative redesign of this dangerous road — then the work was halted by City Hall corruption.

As Mayor, I’ll finish the job.

If you value the work our nonprofit newsroom does, chip in!

Support our newsroom staff by becoming a member: donorbox.org/nycdonate?

Peggy is a healthcare worker and @1199seiu.org member at a dialysis center in Brooklyn.

She knows what Trump’s cuts to Medicaid will mean for her patients — and why we need a Mayor who will fight for New Yorkers, not conspire with a President who kicks them off their insurance.

TODAY: We're joining dozens of allies in both NYC (Foley Square) & Albany (West Capitol Park) to demand that state leadership protect our communities from the Federal Budget Scam. We need a special session NOW.

Join us at 11am!

The criminals are taking over cities to “prevent crime.”

The neo-Nazis are crushing the universities to “fight antisemitism.”

The misogynists are eliminating trans rights to “protect women.”

The free speech billionaires are taking over media to “end cancel culture.”

I think they’re lying!

Why I Joined the DSA From Albany insider to card-carrying socialist, former Cuomo aide, whistleblower reflects on her political journey

Former NY State Deputy Secretary for Economic Development and Housing @lindseyboylan.bsky.social writes about her decision to join @socialists.nyc: indypendent.org/2025/08/why-...

Zohran didn't win by relying on standard turnout patterns. We had to fundamentally transform the Democratic electorate.

I was part of a group of NYC-DSA members that applied lessons from our previous campaigns to design the “universe” of voters to talk to. Here's how we won 🧵

“We, the signatories listed below, come together with a simple, urgent message: the war in Gaza must end now. The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths. The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity. We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food. It is horrifying that over 800 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid. The Israeli Government’s denial of essential humanitarian assistance to the civilian population is unacceptable. Israel must comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law. The hostages cruelly held captive by Hamas since 7 October 2023 continue to suffer terribly. We condemn their continued detention and call for their immediate and unconditional release. A negotiated ceasefire offers the best hope of bringing them home and ending the agony of their families. We call on the Israeli government to immediately lift restrictions on the flow of aid and to urgently enable the UN and humanitarian NGOs to do their life saving work safely and effectively. We call on all parties to protect civilians and uphold the obligations of international humanitarian law. Proposals to remove the Palestinian population into a “humanitarian city” are completely unacceptable. Permanent forced displacement is a violation of international humanitarian law. We strongly oppose any steps towards territorial or demographic change in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The E1 settlement plan announced by Israel’s Civil Administration, if implemented, would divide a Palestinian state in two, marking a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution. Meanwhile, settlement building across the West Bank including East Jerusalem has accelerated while settler violence against Palestinians has soared. This must stop. We urge the parti…

25 nations demand end to war on Gaza; slam Israel killing aid seekers

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK

I am incredibly honored to be the DFL endorsed candidate for Minneapolis Mayor. This endorsement is a message that Minneapolis residents are done with broken promises, vetoes, and politics as usual. It’s a mandate to build a city that works for all of us. fatehformayor.com/donate

🏳️‍⚧️🏃‍♂️On the move & chanting alongside our Queens community: Trans lives are valuable!

We’re marching through Jackson Heights today to demand increased access to health care, housing support for trans and queer youth, and a stop to violence and harassment from the police!

#TransLatinxMarch

🏳️‍⚧️ At a time when TGNCIQ+ rights are at risk across the country, trans community members and allies are rallying in Corona Plaza to find joy, to celebrate our resiliency & demand heightened protections for our communities. ✊

The name is Mamdani, you should learn about our endorsement! ✊

Mamdani Wins Backing of Major Health Care Union That Had Endorsed Cuomo

The members of @1199seiu.org are heroes—saving lives, delivering babies, caring for all us in our time of need. I will stand with them as Mayor.

So grateful to earn this endorsement from the largest healthcare union in the country.

Turns out that NPR and PBS' pandering to the right still didn't save their funding. Maybe there's a lesson here for media that think that tilting to the right will spare them from accusations of "liberal bias."

New York real estate agents fear exodus of high-net worth residents after Mamdani win | CNN Business Several real estate professionals said high-end buyers in New York have begun pausing their decision-making, uncertain about the potential impact of Zohran Mamdani’s proposed policies.

I really hope someone polls this question: "People living in luxury apartments on the Upper East Side have threatened to leave New York if Zohran Mamdani is elected mayor. Does that make you more or less likely to vote for him?" www.cnn.com/2025/07/14/b...

Union alliance grows for the Mamdani phenomenon Strong support for State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s Democratic primary is boosting his chances to be elected mayor.

UNION NEWS: Strong support for State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s Democratic primary is boosting his chances to be elected mayor in the November 4 general election.

This was twenty months ago. Israeli forces have killed more than 14,186 kids since.

November 7, 2023 — Kids in Gaza host a press conference, in English, to beg the world for life.

“We come now to shout and invite you to protect us; we want to live, we want peace…we want to live as the other children live.”

At the time, Israel forces had killed over 4,200 kids like these.

If you’re an elected Democrat (rightly) complaining about the GOP kicking 17 million people off of Medicaid, now is a good and credible time to critique the entire broken work-based non-universal US healthcare system. Now is the time to call for universal healthcare, for Medicare for All.

America is beautiful, contradictory, unfinished. I am proud of our country even as we constantly strive to make it better, to protect and deepen our democracy, to fulfill its promise for each and every person who calls it home.

Happy Independence Day. No Kings in America.

We’re in the midst of the consolidation of an American fascist regime.

They’re building concentration camps and setting up a secret police force which has already arrested opposition elected officials.

And yet, big parts of our political and media elite are acting as if nothing has changed.

House members are on the precipice of solidifying deadly policy-and that's not hyperbole. Over 1 million NYers will lose their healthcare & SNAP benefits.

If you live in NY GOP District, use @citizenactionny.bsky.social's tool to CALL YOUR REP NOW & tell them to VOTE NO.

cit.ac/call-congress-no

Democratic Leaders Stand Real Still In Hopes No One Notices Them WASHINGTON—With the elected officials trying their hardest not to move a muscle, reports confirmed Monday that top Democratic leaders in Congress were standing real still in hopes that the American pe...

Evergreen theonion.com/democratic-l...

In other words, voters who chose someone other than Mamdani and Cuomo as their first preference went for Mamdani over Cuomo by almost 2:1.

The story, in 3️⃣ points:

1️⃣ @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social practiced the politics we need most in this moment.

2️⃣ @socialists.nyc made Zohran the indisputable main contender against Cuomo.

3️⃣ @nywfp.bsky.social cohered both candidates and voters around Z.

It's a good day to join DSA, WFP, or both.

Zohran Mamdani received more first-round votes (432,305) than Andrew Cuomo received total votes after ranked choice voting (428,530).

That means more people ranked Zohran first than ranked Cuomo anywhere on their ballot (without ranking Zohran above him).