James M. Thomas (JT)

Preliminary injunction hearing on Mississippi’s anti-DEI law is scheduled for tomorrow, August 5, at 9:30am

We’re back in federal court tomorrow. Wish us luck!

'Highballed': How disproportionate property taxes are forcing some Americans out of their homes An analysis of real estate data by ABC Owned Television Stations shows that homeowners in majority-nonwhite neighborhoods tend to pay disproportionate property taxes.

"across the country, homeowners in predominantly Black and Brown areas tend to pay higher taxes than those in mostly white neighborhoods for a house worth the same amount on the open market."

The FBI Redacted Trump’s Name in the Epstein Files The bureau’s FOIA team tasked with conducting a final review of the records blacked out the names before higher-ups said last month that releasing the documents ‘would not be appropriate or warranted....

1. Bloomberg journalist Jason Leopold reported this morning that the president’s name has been redacted from more than 100,000 documents the FBI has on child-sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Today’s editorial in the Washington Post argues against minimum wage increases because…it hurts the fast food industry. No, seriously. That’s the argument.

Kids start school tomorrow. Our tradition is to write down our goals for each school year. Here are mine.

English muffins

Meal prepping

70 degrees. Faulker’s August

Every week for what seems like the past several, there is another farewell column from a longtime journalist at the Washington Post.

This week, Dan Balz is retiring after 47 years and Glenn Kessler is taking a voluntary buyout after 28 years, including the last 14 as The Fact Checker.

Buttermilk biscuits

Good mornin’

Frog

This friend has a sweet setup near my back porch

During the month of June, the Trump administration created a paltry 14,000 jobs. In May it was 19,000

Those two months together would've been equal to one awful week during the Biden administration

Tariffs, alarming job numbers and a high-profile firing: A wild week for the economy — NBC News The U.S. economy had generally been considered in good shape. By Friday afternoon, some experts were predicting a recession.

This is an example of the type of reporting that is missing serious, detailed, and fact-based context. It’s not a “wild week,” it’s a week that has ended the credibility of our labor market data about job gains and losses in the economy. Do better. stocks.apple.com/AP7HhGYhpQu6...

The media coverage of the dismissal of the BLS commissioner as another “wild time in Trumpland” shows that the media is more committed to entertainment than news. Any reputable news organization should report what the BLS does, why it is important, and why its work should not be politicized.

Family of Virginia Giuffre re: Ghislaine Maxwell prison transfer

"It's w/ horror & outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker G. Maxwell has received.. Maxwell is a sexual predator who physically assaulted minor children.. she should never be shown any leniency"

Every day is an impeachable offense.

Erika McEntarfer was confirmed in January 2024 as BLS commissioner by a vote of 86-6 by the Senate, including 38 Republican votes in favor. Republicans who voted to confirm her include JD Vance and John Thune.

The FBI Redacted Trump’s Name in the Epstein Files The bureau’s FOIA team tasked with conducting a final review of the records blacked out the names before higher-ups said last month that releasing the documents ‘would not be appropriate or warranted....

NEW FOIA Files SCOOP: The FBI redacted Trump’s name—and the names of other prominent public figures—from the Epstein files under two privacy exemptions before DOJ & FBI concluded “no further disclosure” of the files “would be appropriate or warranted.”
www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Arab States Call for Hamas to Disarm Amid Push for a Palestinian State

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Hamas must end its rule in Gaza,” reads a declaration endorsed by the 22 member nations of the Arab League.

Cover of Traces of History, by Patrick Wolfe

As someone who draws extensively from racial formation theory, I appreciated Wolfe’s comparative approach for ultimately showing how race as a historically contingent phenomenon with a beginning also likely has an end, even if we cannot yet see it.

Even one closer, in batesville or Tupelo, would work for me.

Annual back-to-school Costco run complete. We have so many snacks!

Congrats Ken!

According to the article, the names on these pages represent less than 18 percent of Gaza’s children who have been killed since October 2023. The remaining names would continue across five additional pages.

Today’s Washington Post.
Wednesday, July 30, 2025

The starvation of Gaza is shameful. Crippling sanctions on Israel are needed | Letters Letter: Thirty-one Israeli signatories express their shame, rage and agony over the plight of Palestinians and call for action from the international community

Among the Israeli signatories is Michael Ben-Yair, the former attorney general of Israel and former acting supreme court judge; and Avraham Burg, the former speaker of the Knesset

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...

Pitch submitted. Now we wait.
No whammies no whammies no whammies…

HAPPENING NOW: a group of New York rabbis are being arrested at a protest outside the Israeli consulate calling for bringing food into Gaza, an end to the war, and return of all hostages

@newjewishnarrative.bsky.social

I live in Britain; I grew up in Israel. It’s painful to say, but we need real UK sanctions to save Gaza | Yair Wallach Symbolic gestures and empty statements are no longer enough. In Israel’s globalised economy, here’s what will shift public opinion, says says senior lecturer in Israeli studies Yair Wallach

I live in Britain; I grew up in Israel. It’s painful to say, but we need real UK sanctions to save Gaza | Yair Wallach

BBC News: Do you think you were a witness to war crimes?

American veteran who worked at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution center: Without question I witnessed war crimes.

In a First, Leading Israeli Rights Groups Accuse Israel of Gaza Genocide

All together, the Israeli campaign has amounted to “coordinated action to intentionally destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip,” the organization wrote. “In other words: Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/w...