Sparkling Whorl

A Mayoral Race Drowning in Cash: Why NYC Must Limit Campaign Spending I got my start in politics working on a grassroots campaign in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Our small team went up against the city’s well-known…

It was insane receiving so many flyers for the Democratic primary election and seeing who’d paid for them. Antonio breaks it down: medium.com/@lynnantlast...

Desk scribblings May 8, 2025

Also, no mention has been made of their office centers in India. I don't believe employing Indians in India is wrong, but if the administration is all about jobs for Americans, this is hypocritical.

Rep. Jeffries, what's the news on the We the People Amendment to overturn Citizens United? Seems like that should have bipartisan support. Get money out of politics, then politicians might stop supporting privatizing social security (and Medicare, and our national parks...). Let's think big!

Still reeling from this. In Vermont of all places. A philosophy student. After he'd been here 10 years. Shouldn't not caring or doing anything about tens of 1000s of people, including women, children, and babies, being killed be more troubling?

The most horrific thing about these incidents is the number of people involved in carrying them out. This is not one person - this is dozens - hundreds, even - cooperating to ruin people's lives. Rigid ideology is overriding basic human decency, again and again. This is not and will never be okay.

At least the kids are taking action: www.military.com/daily-news/2...

Bureaucrats are the only people I trust to "fix" bureaucracy. It's really hard for outsiders and newbies to grasp the interdependencies.

Funny, didn't see you on 5th Ave last Saturday

To me, our public lands are a large part of what makes this country great. This is in line with Musk and Trump vilifying the California Coastal Commission, though. It's all so sad.

Pedro, I respectfully disagree. Facilitating the mass murder of civilians is unethical - in fact, it's downright evil. A person who says he is taking, and encourages others to take, the moral high ground has a duty to behave with integrity. Sen. Booker receives large donations through AIPAC.

You know what's incredibly unkind, and weighing heavily on my heart? That even after Sen. Sanders reminded you all what the weapons my countrymates and I paid to develop and manufacture are doing across the ocean, you refused not to sell them to someone who will use them to kill and destroy.

We need everyone's help. DOGE has accessed a federal workers payroll system. This is a massive privacy violation, and it's dangerous! Imagine if people who wanted to harm you had your SSN and bank account information! There are hundreds of thousands of people in that very same situation - right now.

This is sick. They intended to incapacitate one person and took out a building? And that's excellent? 🤮 Does human life mean nothing anymore?

Could 1000s of different healthcare & medical insurance providers using different records-keeping & billing systems be part of the problem? 🤔

Thanks for taking representation seriously. How can a person represent someone they refuse to meet? 🤔

You cannot force them to tell the truth or take responsibility. When was the last time you saw a public official accused of wrong-doing confess and repent? When was the last time you admitted having made a mistake?

The law only matters in so far as people follow it and it's enforced. Lots of laws being broken, who can we trust to enforce them?

Good. Please emphasize public safety. We can't afford to "move fast and break things" when there are literally lives at stake. I am scared of disease outbreaks, contamination of our food and drinking water, dam failures, improper disposal and containment of hazardous waste, etc.

Yes. And now we have a new crisis: public safety. If anyone can be arrested, civil servants carrying out essential public functions can be fired, the Executive Branch can disobey the law, & Congress ignores the real suffering of many of their constituents - we're not just poor, we're also unsafe.

Maybe you should've asked a few more federal employees what they wanted. Less funding = less work and less jobs. Hello.

Thank you for doing everything you could

Thank you

"Now pay me the little you have left to 'fix' it for you"

Thank you!

We had. The freest speech in the world. America was great. Far from perfect, but pretty great. No longer. Thanks to propaganda that increased our anxiety, greed, and ignorance, and technology that isolated us from our neighbors

Just curious, did Bezos buy the WP just so he could take a major paper in the DC area out of commission when good reporting is most needed?

We're still being attacked. Do you understand that Elon, Vance, & co. are trying to hasten the end of democracy and its institutions along with it? Stakes are high. Please find the sanest (not richest) leaders in tech & ask them to explain to you what DOGE is really doing and how to help stop it.

Gary Snyder, Turtle Island, Mother Earth: Her Whales, page 49