Laura Adrian

3 years out, we can look for somebody that maybe is less bad? I am delighted that Newsom is doing something good this weekend! But that doesn't mean I like him better than Pritzer or Walz. (Or Warren, or AOC, and I don't think the field is closed yet.)

The bare minimum for holding a conversation is wanting to hold a conversation. This guy would probably think I'm failing to have a conversation w him because I'd only read Cellini once, or I hadn't read Machiavelli. Not that he's annoying me and I'm ignoring him.

The NYT is still coasting on their old reputation as liberal, with people who think of themselves as liberal but don't pay much attention to politics. Of whom there are lots.

I'm not sure how to fit this into @dreamweasel.bsky.social 's thread about the usefulness of Newsom's trolling. I mean, it's obvious to me how it could matter to change hearts and minds on the ground. What if that agent had hesitated and wondered, "are we the baddies?"

Some of the replies can't seem to tell the difference between contemplating somebody's death and contemplating their retirement. Which is a level of cluelessness that's really shocking

We need everything. Mock them online, sue them, press for enforcement of TROs, march in the streets, lobby local government, help the families of the disappeared. Don't stop doing one thing because it's not as good as another There are lots of us. Do everything at once.

It's not about the election more than 3 years from now.

It's about the National Guard unit who gets conflicting orders: Trump saying to do something and a court order saying not to. And they think, "Should we break a court order for the sake of this clown?"

AOC called him a rapist last month. Mainstream media took her as seriously as they usually don't.
My senators hold town hall meetings + press conferences to say Trump hands the country to Putin, is financially corrupt, violates the constitution...
Newsom's trolling runs in parallel to all that.

Newsom isn't just trolling, not like you or I or crowds yelling insults at ICE. Americans expect presidents and governors to have a veneer of diplomatic working relationship even if one thinks the other should be removed from office and tried for felonies. It's shocking to throw that out the window

I've been reading Saul Alinsky, and I'm convinced that ridicule can be an effective part of organizing. (If it's good ridicule, and this really is!) I say "part."

Oh, right! Thank you for reminding me about the tariffs. The declaration is not only about a tyrant overruling judges and governors, and obstructing the naturalization of foreigners, but also:

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world.
For imposing taxes on us without our consent.

Your mom

(More seriously, they are talking to the press, to people in academia, and to politicians who are so committed to "business as usual" they would confirm Roger Tanney.)

One of the few good things about living in such isolation is that I have largely avoided the smell of Febreze. That stuff is FOUL.

Clearing Trump's name is a disaster, obviously.
But what difference does it make to the country if she implicates Bill Clinton? Prosecute a rich old guy who used to do an important job? Sure! Go for it!

(Can we make him resign and have Al Gore be president?)

Hamilton wrote the other fifty-one!

Even more plausible: she had a bet with her friends about how gullible David Brooks was. (“I went all wide-eyed and “what’s that?” when he said “panini.” I was going to try for “pepperoni” next.”)

I used to really admire the panda ambassador program. No sexual improprieties or violent crimes. But now I see they’re no better than other diplomats or politicians.

200 years ago? When chattel slavery was legal in many states? (And most of the Underground Railroad worked in secret.)
A politician who openly advocated this kind of racism would have been pretty mainstream until Reconstruction. And within the Overton Window until much later

Fare-free buses (with fares for subways) mean that everyone who rides a bus and transfers to subway still pays. Lots of monthly passes will still be sold, but neighborhood trips (mostly by poorer residents) get easier. Also: less time waiting at each stop + less spending on fare enforcement

A question for SFF fandom: Could we have stopped Gamergate if we knew ahead of time what its long-term effects would be? It gathered a lot of strength while people didn’t think it was very important.

I’m petrified about today’s science news. Genetically modifying crabs to have cheetah genes? This could go sideways fast.

There’s an application fee! They would be *delighted* if another million students paid the application fee just to get rejected.

All the federal investigators are working for ICE now. They can’t find Jeffrey Epstein

He was speaking at a fundraiser for an abolitionist group. So it’s not like anybody was surprised at the general direction of his speech.

What to the slave is the Fourth of July? • Minnesota Reformer Frederick Douglass wrote this reflection on the meaning of the Declaration of Independence to the enslaved.

Happy Fourth of July.
Or, if not happy, at least not despair.
Douglas was speaking at a fundraiser to fight the Fugitive Slave Act
minnesotareformer.com/2025/07/04/w...

Want a way to have a small voice? Head to Etsy, find whatever vile and repugnant alligator Alcatraz merch you can and report it. Choose the item, scroll all the way to the bottom, and report it. Tell ETSY that you will not accept its presence. Absolutely stomach turning.

Prediction is tough. Especially about the future.

It took years for Ethics In Games Journalism to reach this astonishing point in transforming history

Not to put too fine a point on it, I can think of one fairly easily

Yes!