Sasha Pursley PhD @sashapursley.bluesky.social

Autocracy in America There are authoritarian tactics already at work in the United States. To root them out, you have to know where to look.

Last summer, @peterpomerantsev.bsky.social and I produced a short podcast series, Autocracy in America. We talked about the changed that preceded an assault on democracy in other countries, and we found them here. Perhaps useful background for the current moment.
www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/aut...

White Parents Rallied to Chase a Black Educator Out of Town. Then, They Followed Her to the Next One. Cecelia Lewis was asked to apply for a Georgia school district’s first-ever administrator job devoted to diversity, equity and inclusion. A group of parents — coached by local and national anti-CRT…

An anti-CRT movement targeted an accomplished educator — driving her out of two Georgia school districts. The mission began inside a golf community clubhouse on a Sunday afternoon, where parents were coached on how to land a Fox News appearance.

Published June 2022
By @nicolefcarr.bsky.social

Never before in the history of the world!

Cecile Richards, Former Planned Parenthood President, Dies at 67 Ms. Richards oversaw the United States’ largest provider of reproductive health care and sex education from 2006 to 2018.

R.I.P. Cecile Richards, a lifelong advocate of reproductive freedom, and daughter of Ann.

www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/u...

Cabin fever commencing.

Where’s my pay raise?

Lost in Transit: Russian Dissenters’ Perilous Path to America Persecuted and unable to change anything, we were unwelcome in Russia. Then Mexican and U.S. policies brought more trouble.

“As a migrant waiting in northern Mexico for a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) appointment, I knew my husband might leave for groceries one day and never come back.”

Autocracy Inc

Private School Demographics — ProPublica Look up the demographics of private schools across the country and see how they compare to the public schools nearby.

Oh happy day!! @propublica.org just launched a new tool that lets you look up the demographics of private schools across the country and see how they compare to the public schools nearby.

Not a stalker? Bad idea.

Letter from Meta Civil Rights Advisory Group Members on Grave Concerns with Content Policy Changes [ PDF version] Dear Mr. Zuckerberg, As a group of external experts whom Meta has convened for years to advise on how its policies impact marginalized communities, we write to express our grave concern surrounding Meta’s recently announced content moderation policy changes. Meta’s changes will permit more dangerous and abusive content on its services and […]

Today, @cendemtech.bsky.social + partner orgs sent an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg expressing grave concerns about changes to Meta’s content moderation policies which threaten marginalized groups and undermine free expression. Here’s what you need to know: cdt.org/insights/let...

My Story & Why I Switched From Republican to Democrat It wasn't just because of Trump.

I did something different tonight and wrote about myself for the first and probably only time. This is my story in a nutshell, including why I switched parties (it wasn’t just Trump) & how I went from criminal defense attorney to this. open.substack.com/pub/meidasto...

Please make the snow stop!

He came to the US at six and was deported by Trump. Now, he’s stuck in Sierra Leone. Samuel Anthony was sent back to a country he never knew. Under Trump, many more could face the same fate.

Samuel Anthony came to the US at 6 years old and was deported by Trump to a country he never knew. With Trump's imminent return, many more could face the same fate.

“Here, I don’t feel a sense of peace. I feel chaos. I see myself broken."

Isn’t that New Jersey?

Share it!

Happy Birthday!

Pitt and Jolie, desperate to stay in the news, remarry.

Kristi Noem shoots border dogs.

So you could say I had some good news today…….

Says the man who bathes in milk.

And the ghost of Khaddafi wails, “Not fair! I needed those when I was alive!”

Word.

A la San Francisco

Don’t let the turkeys get you down.

Assad Returns To Ophthalmology At Moscow LensCrafters MOSCOW—Just days after rebels seized Damascus, deposed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reportedly returned to practicing ophthalmology at a Moscow LensCrafters, sources confirmed Tuesday. “Which one ...

Assad Returns To Ophthalmology At Moscow LensCrafters

The Wellness Women Are on the March Behind MAHA, RFK Jr.’s alternative-health movement, is a legion of Instagram influencers with millions of followers.

On the commercial-political-emotional success of the alternative, evidence-free wellness movement:
"You can look like us, feel like us, their chorus goes, if you follow our rules and purchase our powders"
from @elainegodfrey.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Word!

🇸🇾🇷🇺 Signs of evacuation at the Russian Khmeimim airbase in Syria:

✈️ 3 Il-76, 1 An-124

Opinion | The Warning No shockwave. No mushroom cloud. But a space nuke would change life on Earth forever.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...