Kris Litman-Koon

The world’s first trillionaire initiated a move that has left more than half a million people dead, most of whom are children.

White House fires entire commission that reviews designs for federal buildings The White House has fired all six members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the independent federal agency that reviews design plans for monuments, memorials, coins and federal buildings.

The White House has fired all six members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, the independent federal agency that reviews design plans for monuments, memorials, coins and federal buildings. n.pr/4ntG3PR

A text exchange between two people. Person 1... I'm watching a recent Spin Doctors concert on Nugs .net. It brings back memories of seeing them in Morgantown the summer after graduating high school. I think I saw it with you, Justin, and maybe a few others from camp. Does that ring a bell? (I looked it up, and the concert took place July 23, 1999.) Person 2... Dude! It does a ring a bell. I remember the lead singer had lost his voice and so was holding up cue cards during Little Miss. I think it was Spin Doctors and Blessed Union of Souls. Does that sound right? Person 1... That's right! I had forgotten about the cards until you mentioned it. When I confirmed the Morgantown date, I learn that the '99 tour was cut short due to Chris Barron's voice issues. I'm certain that was my first real concert experience of being in the crowd. (A few concerts preceded this one, but they were mediocre experiences.) Now I go to concerts all the time. The band released an album earlier this year that I enjoyed. If they come to my area, I'll definitely relive the summer of '99 and make the trek.

@thechrisbarron.bsky.social I had this text exchange the other day with a childhood camp friend. I thought you'd enjoy reading it.

Was it Blessid Union of Souls who joined you that day?
Will Spin Doctors consider coming to Charleston, SC sometime? I think you'd love playing The Refinery.

Will the Commander in Chief be required to perform a PT test twice a year, or is that just for the secretary and the top brass on down?

Slightly diminish a band: Tiptoed by Turtles

Truly imagine if Mamdani had used the word “Shylock.”

It would have quite literally destroyed his career and every org and leader calling him out would be making this into a month long news cycle.

Trump? Hardly a peep.

When you accept antisemitism from the president, you aren’t fighting it.

A photo of Karen Diamond, a lovely elderly woman with short white hair, kind eyes & a brilliant smile. She is wearing dangling earrings, a multicolored silk scarf & a reddish top. 📸 courtesy of Boulder University Women's Club.

Karen Diamond was an 82-year-old woman from Boulder Colorado. She was a wife, a mother, a grandmother. She was not part of the Israeli government & was not holding any hostages. But she was still set on fire & murdered by a domestic terrorist.

May her memory be a blessing & may she rest in peace.

I'm not very familiar with the Surrounded series. Am I correct in thinking this particular circle of people are also conservative in their views, and all the red flags being raised means they think their guy has gone off the tracks and is no longer debating in good faith?

Rep. Laurel Libby, R-Auburn, recently used my second-place finish in the 1,600-meter run, and that of my teammate in the 800-meter run, to malign Soren Stark-Chessa, the trans-identified athlete who finished first. One of the reasons I chose to run cross-country and track is the community: Teammates cheering each other on, athletes from different schools coming together, and the fact that personal improvement is valued as much as, if not more than, the place we finish. Last Friday, I ran the fastest 1,600-meter race I have ever run in middle school or high school track and earned varsity status by my school’s standards. I am extremely proud of the effort I put into the race and the time that I achieved. The fact that someone else finished in front of me didn’t diminish the happiness I felt after finishing that race. I don’t feel like first place was taken from me. Instead, I feel like a happy day was turned ugly by a bully who is using children to make political points. We are all just kids trying to make our way through high school. Participating in sports is the highlight of high school for some kids. No one was harmed by Soren’s participation in the girls’ track meet, but we are all harmed by the hateful rhetoric of bullies, like Rep. Libby, who want to take sports away from some kids just because of who they are. Anelise Feldman Freshman, Yarmouth High School Yarmouth

this is a letter to the editor from a high school track runner who came in second to a trans girl in a race. her state house rep in maine started talking about it. so she wrote this: www.pressherald.com/2025/05/14/r...

I just really need everybody to understand that everything that’s happening in and to the global economy now (and all the businesses and people in it) is the entirely predictable result of the intentional decisions of one guy who doesn’t understand how the global economy works.

I thought today how I used to waste perfectly good hours listening to Car Talk, which led to the realization that the country has gone to shit since the Magliozzi brothers retired

we could have had Kamala
we could have had Kamala
we could have had Kamala
we could have had Kamala
we could have had Kamala
we could have had Kamala

Just figured out where these fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us. So we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is.

james surowiecki has discovered where the completely fabricated trump tariff rate has come from for each country

"...for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us."

"Democracy is not a spectator sport.

It is a difficult, hard, full-contact, participatory endeavor."

-- Senator Cory Booker

I was scared while reading that, because it reveals how incompetent they are to coordinate an attack through such an app, let alone include a journalist.

When literature gladly hands you a response.

An image of Lady Catherine de Bourgh of Pride & Prejudice (1990s version) saying "If I had ever learnt, I should have been a great proficient."

I've heard that before

Only billionaires would want this. The people who voted to "clean the swamp" were bamboozled.

Erasure, Memory, and Resistance: What the Dominican Republic Taught Me I’m still reflecting on my trip to the Dominican Republic with American Jewish World Service. There’s so much to say and even more I’m still processing. But right now, this is what’s on my mind.

Reflecting on my time in the Dominican Republic with @ajws-humanrights.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/rabbisan...

Thank you for sharing this. It is a beautiful reflection: remember and reclaim.

YouTube video by J Street J Street U Vice President Meirav Solomon's Testimony in the Senate Judiciary Hearing on Antisemitism

🔥 Meirav Solomon KILLS IT, placing responsibility for antisemitism exactly where it belongs:

"it is not student protesters, but the bloody legacy of Pittsburgh and Poway, Charlottesville and the Capitol riots... Trump has highlighted and platformed neo-Nazis and white supremacists."

The "cull the herd" mentality found in a lot of these folks (or their permissiveness of it occurring) was on display during the pandemic.

That mentality isn't far removed from eugenics, past and present.

Beautiful, deep, jewel tones, many many hands, reaching up to hold a globe, trees, and a bright sun are in the background. The text reads “ECOFAITH SUMMIT OF THE UPPER MIDWEST EARTH'S CRIES, EARTH'S CALL Becoming Midwives of Hope for the Healing of Creation APRIL 5, 2025 DULUTH”

LRC is very excited to partner with the EcoFaith Summit to join this movement to care for God's creation with concrete action and birthing hope for the world in a time of climate crisis. April 5, 2025, in Duluth MN and Online.
www.ecofaithnetwork.org/ecofaith-sum... fmi #CreationCare

The Zoom etiquette was established long ago that people don't need to say bye or wave at the end. I love that groups from my congregation (and certainly many others) who still use Zoom are like, "F*** that. We love each other, and we're going to wave and say goodbye like there's no tomorrow." 👋

It's never good when the richest person in the world and the worst person in the world are the same person.

A document excerpt from Case 1:25-cv-00352-CJN, Document 36-2, Filed 02/17/25, Page 4 of 13. The text details the personal struggles of an individual managing an extraordinary workload while dealing with family responsibilities. The individual's wife, who is 31 weeks pregnant after years of infertility treatments costing $50,000, has been hospitalized multiple times due to a life-threatening condition and stress-related complications. The embassy medical unit recommended urgent medical evacuation due to the high risk of hemorrhage, but the State Department denied the request twice, citing lack of USAID funding for medical evacuations. The staff expressed their distress over the decision, suggesting the individual consider paying for evacuation to a third country for better care.

A document excerpt from Case 1:25-cv-00352-CJN, Document 36-2, Filed 02/17/25, Page 5 of 13. The text continues the story, revealing that there was a verbal directive from State Department Washington leadership to cease all USAID medical evacuations and related services from approximately February 1st to February 7th. The individual frantically sought help, and on February 7th, a US senator intervened to authorize a medical evacuation. However, before the evacuation could occur, the wife began hemorrhaging on February 8th and was hospitalized. As of February 17th, she remains hospitalized and on bedrest until her due date in April. The stress and delay in medical evacuation have contributed to her deteriorating condition, and the individual expresses fear for her and the baby's health due to the rushed shutdown of the agency. The individual laments the situation to their daughter, emphasizing the impact of government decisions on their personal lives.

Read this and try not to fume. Especially as you think of 47 wasting taxpayer money at the Super Bowl, Daytona and while playing golf half his presidency.

For some in attendance, they hadn't had lefse in decades. But as soon as they tasted it again, they said memories rushed back of eating this as kids with their parents and grandparents.

For some context, we are in South Carolina, where most (all?) Lutheran congregations are predominantly German in heritage. Yet some individuals (myself included) are not. So some Norwegians wanted to make an event that brought others in to celebrate this bit of our cultural background.

5 adults and 2 kids in a church kitchen preparing lefse. There are a few rolling pins in hand, and one lefse ball rolled onto a floured, canvas-covered board.

We had a two-part #lefse party at my church this weekend. Some of us have Norwegian heritage, some of us don't, but we all had a great time together, and all of us walked away with new knowledge. We're definitely doing it again.

My daughter's teacher had this solution: give non-celebrating kids a gragger and their own table in the corner. (A warning against excessive noise was also given.)