Pushing back, turning tides
The “first 100 days” of this administration has been the narrative hook of the week—even for the President, who held a fascist rally in Michigan to mark the...
The ways in which it’s getting bad
Tariffs reach our shores The costs of this adminstration’s tariff policy hit Temu over the weekend, if Reddit (r/TemuThings) offers any indication. Shipping...
Among all the dipshits and liars
Do we give grace to Pete Hegseth that he is too stupid to understand how bad he is at his job leading the largest department in the federal government? We...
Sometimes doing things works
I felt overwhelmed by the news this week. This is normal. It’s normal because the news these days presents a nonstop torrent of stupidity, corruption,...
We all report the news
Do we know for a fact that it was three million people who turned out for last Saturday’s Hands Off Day of Action? 5.2 million? We don’t, because despite the...
Hands (off) across America
For someone who has chosen a vegetarian diet—especially when chosen for ethical reasons—dining out can be an isolating experience, with the majority of...
The stupidest possible scenario
In 2016 John Scalzi articulated “Trump’s Razor”, in which we are advised to “ascertain the stupidest possible scenario that can be reconciled with the...
What if we didn’t suck?
With a provocative question (“What if we didn’t suck?”), progressive online content creator Kat Abughazaleh (“Kat Abu”) announced last week that she is...
America is not an idea
The U.S. has been built atop not merely one but many ideas—simple ideas and complex ones, some good ideas, some bad ones. Yet while America has consistently...
Trans kids are a blessing
March 31 is International Trans Day of Visibility. Trans people have always been here, and always will be. Read about the ACLU’s “Freedom to Be” massive...
Be as courageous as you can
One missed night becomes many, becomes more than one might particularly wish to count. 20 lessons on tyranny Historian and professor Timothy Snyder has left...
No need to call them racists
You also might find yourself weary of dear friends and family members feeling attacked or defensive or hostile at the mere mention of racist language or...
The internet is also good
It has been awful to watch the fires in and around Los Angeles from a distance. I cannot imagine what it has been like to live through (or near) them, even...
All so deeply weird
I’ve hesitated to write about the New Years Day attack in New Orleans, which killed 14 people and injured dozens. Or the Cybertruck explosion at the Trump...
America didn’t vote for this
There’s still math being processed in the wake of November’s election, but the numbers we have access to can be employed to tell very different stories....
Things we know about Memlon Fuchs
This post is inspired by Justin Hendrix’s persistent tracker of Elon Musk’s wealth and power. I will not attempt to keep up with every news development, but...
The Kakistocrats
I was reminded this week of the word “kakistocracy”, a government run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous people. Perhaps because people were...
What might be possible
December traffic (at least in the Bay Area) has gotten worse since I last had to commute by car every day. This week the hour-long drive to my mom’s took...
Verifiable truths
I suppose I’m not surprised that opinions in the mainstream media continue to worry that the growth of Bluesky, and the cultural norms of its early adopters...
An expression of violence
Still Too Much News Beyond the world of TFP’s transition picks, the Syrian government has fallen, and the suspected killer of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare has...