Crystal D. Howell, Ph.D.

Preach, Sister Crockett!

As Trump Administration Plans to Burn Contraceptives, Europeans Are Alarmed

Republicans would rather light our money on fire than give women control over their own reproductive choices.

Why you might not know that 2024 was America's safest year since the 1960s An overwhelming majority of Americans, 64 percent, believe that crime increased across the country in 2024, according to a Gallup survey conducted late last year.

1. This week, the FBI released its comprehensive crime report for 2024, which revealed that both VIOLENT CRIME and PROPERTY CRIME reached their LOWEST LEVELS SINCE THE 1960s

This a massive story. But you might not have heard about it, even if you follow the news closely.

Here's why.

We needed people throwing rotten tomatoes along with the circus music, but B+ for very solid work.

Washington Post: “Is fascism bad? The answer may surprise you”

Teen Vogue: “Here are three fun tips you can use this summer to disable an armored personnel carrier”

I cannot accept this invitation, for I do not believe that the mean- ing of the Constitution was forever "fixed" at the Philadelphia Con- vention. Nor do I find the wisdom, foresight, and sense of justice exhibited by the framers particularly profound. To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start, requiring sev- eral amendments, a civil war, and momentous social transformation to attain the system of constitutional government, and its respect for the individual freedoms and human rights, that we hold as funda- mental today. When contemporary Americans cite "The Constitu- tion," they invoke a concept that is vastly different from what the framers barely began to construct two centuries ago

At an event commemorating the 200th birthday of the United States, a sitting Supreme Court Justice was invited to celebrate "the memory of the Founders and the document they drafted in Philadelphia."

Justice Thurgood Marshall declined

Illustration of a woman standing in a lit doorway, casting a long shadow down a dark hallway. Text on the image reads: 'Restricting access to safe abortion drives women and girls to unsafe procedures.'

Access to safe abortion protects the health of women and girls.

As with all other health services, women and girls should be able to access safe and respectful abortion care, when they need it, without fear of harm, punishment or recrimination.

#HealthForAll

When I die, please do not write an AI obituary of me *or* code an AI replica, however well-intentioned, but feel free to build a shockingly realistic rotini sculpture & then eat it at my shiva

I am reminded, once again, that the real reason that the GRE has all of those logic puzzles on it is to prepare us to try to schedule meetings with people who have conflicting schedules.

A crowd of concertgoers with an outdoor stage in the distance, near sunset.

Thanks for the tickets, @wnrnradio.bsky.social! Wonderful night on the Island for Modest Mouse and the Flaming Lips!

It is fried green tomato season, and therefore time for fried tomato and pimento cheese BLTs.

Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism and Mass Surveillance Ring founder Jamie Siminoff is back at the helm of the surveillance doorbell company, and with him is the surveillance-first-privacy-last approach that made Ring one of the most maligned tech devices....

Amazon Ring Cashes in on Techno-Authoritarianism and Mass Surveillance.

Police can now request a live stream of your Amazon Ring webcams. www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

James Baldwin, 1955. Photo by Carl Van Vechten Charles Larson Papers, 19.7 Harry Ransom Center University of Texas at Austin

“One of the reasons, for example, I think that our youth is so badly educated & it is inconceivably badly educated—is because education demands a certain daring, a certain independence of mind.” -James Baldwin, born #OnThisDay 1924

https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/research/guides/JamesBaldwin

#Booksky 📚

Vast supplies of U.S. aid remain stranded, despite State Department promises More than 60,000 metric tons of food have languished in warehouses in the United States and around the world — with expiration dates nearing on some items.

Will millions of children die because of Republicans’ decision to shutter USAID? Yes. But did they save any money? No.

Trying to keep your brain young? A big new study finds these lifestyle changes help A study of more than 2,100 people ages 60 to 79 found that an intensive two-year program of mental and physical activities, along with a heart-healthy diet, improved memory and thinking.

A study of more than 2,100 people ages 60 to 79 found that an intensive two-year program of mental and physical activities, along with a heart-healthy diet, improved memory and thinking.

This Is What Censorship Looks Like in a National Park: The First Park Sign That Came Down I’ve made my career as a park ranger, employed to care for treasured sites, it’s resources, and history in a bipartisan and engaging way. I…

“The question this sign posed is ‘what do the stories we tell say about who we are? …and who we can become?’ As a co-creator of this sign reflected, ‘…that question was so dangerous it got censored? They’re policing the questions we can ask as we study and explore the nation’s history together.’”

“Answer questions? No thanks, this interview is over.”

This is the cutthroat sort of tactic I want to see from every Democrat. The Republicans have no shame or morals, and Ds in power who aren’t willing to respond as if our lives depend on it need to pack up and go home. We can’t repair jack until we regain control.

No other way to slice it: this is incredibly fucked up.

if i were a pro-trump financial type i might view the destruction of reliable government data with the kind of anger and apprehension that might lead me to reevaluate my politics, but then if i’m a financial guy throwing my weight behind strongman rule, i’m already too stupid to breathe

Only willing to consider applicants open to juking the stats.

(Said as someone born and raised in WV coal country who loves and weeps for it still.)

And now they’re your friends’ parents dying because the form of black lung caused by silica dust, a byproduct of contemporary coal mining, is more severe and happens much more quickly than the coal dust generated by earlier mining techniques.

U.S. added just 73,000 jobs in July and numbers for prior months were revised much lower Nonfarm payrolls were expected to increase by 100,000 in July, according to the Dow Jones consensus estimate.

Today's jobs report shows a major decline in job growth since the Trump administration's tariffs took effect in April.

The data tells a clear story: the Trump administration's reckless trade wars are hurting American workers and businesses alike. www.cnbc.com/2025/08/01/j...

THIS DUDE.

“The president cut your health care so he could build himself a golden ballroom” is a pretty easy message to sell

Amazon review of Pride and Prejudice, left by carlton p morgan on 30 July 2010: "Just a bunch of people going to each other's houses"

Happy 15th anniversary of the peak achievement of literary criticism, to all who celebrate

John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would strengthen voting rights by expanding and strengthening the government's ability to respond to voting…

🚨BREAKING: The John Lewis Voting Rights Act (killed by Sinema & Manchin in 2021) was reintroduced yesterday by Sen. Warnock (HR114)! Almost no media coverage. Let’s change that.

Call your reps. Make noise. Pass the damn bill.🗳️

More: www.hrc.org/resources/vo...

The Return of Lynchburg's Blackwater Creek | Podcast Episode on RSS.com “A Creek Reborn: What Lynchburg Lost and Gained by Removing College Lake Dam”This week, host Dutchie Jessee welcomes Lynchburg reporter Emma Malinak to the show to talk about her in-depth reporting on...

🌊 Lynchburg drained a lake to restore a buried creek.
On The Cardinal: News of Virginia, Dutchie Jessee and reporter Emma Malinak unpack what the College Lake Dam removal means for the city, its past and Blackwater Creek’s future.
🎧 Listen now: rss.com/podcasts/the...

YouTube video by Cardinal News VA The Return of Blackwater Creek

Prefer to watch? 🎥
This powerful story about Lynchburg’s transformation after the College Lake Dam removal is also on YouTube. See the visuals, hear the voices, and experience it all.
📺 Watch here: youtu.be/S7VOyy16WBY?...