It’s reported that the Islamic Republic regime has murdered ~12,000 Iranian civilians.
From enabling direct-to-cell connectivity, to restoring funding for Persian-language media, there are actions the US could take now to support Iranian people in their fight for freedom.
I'm sure what accounts for her success in snagging a spot on Jeopardy has to do with her early days spent in a bassinet in Nelson Polsby's office! Wishing Rachel all my best!
The New Order subsequently stepped up its defense of economic management. Tutut led the charge with her public support of the Love the Rupiah campaign, targeting mobile capital in doing so. Tutut not only asked the konglomerat to show patriotism by holding rupiah assets but also pledged that the Soeharto family itself would exchange its foreign currency holdings for rupiahs.51 Amid some popular speculation that konglomerat’s business practices and involvement in currency deals showed their lack of patriotism, the regime began to target the konglomerat directly for participation in the Love the Rupiah campaign. These sentiments were particularly acute in the wake of the poor international reaction to the 1998 budget announced on January 5, which led to further rupiah depreciation and saw urban Indonesians beginning to hoard food and other necessary goods. With hoarding came accusations of price gouging from goods traders. Wealthy Indonesians – increasingly viewed by the public as Chinese Indonesians – bore the brunt of popular dissatisfaction in urban areas.52 The regime designed the Love the Rupiah campaign to present a united front of pribumi businessmen, konglomerat, and government figures with a firm plan to end economic troubles.53 For months after the initiation of the Love the Rupiah campaign, Indonesian newspapers printed stories of Indonesians – both rich and poor – spontaneously converting their assets into rupiah.
Indonesia, 1998. FOR EXAMPLE
This happens *ALL THE TIME* in tinpot personalist dictatorships with weak rule of law. And every billionaire finds himself competing to demonstrate “loyalty,” and resentful of their peers who do not. Factions emerge.
Front page of NYT on September 22, 2025, with large top-of-page photo of a Charlie Kirk memorial service, and the lead page-one story on the same topic.
Front page of today's NYT, Oct 19, with no story about the nationwide protests, and a "below the fold" montage of two photos, and a link to a story on page 23.
Those with sharp eyes might detect a subtle difference in NYT play last month of an event in one city, w 100,000+ attendees, versus play this morning of some 2500+ events w many millions of attendees, in all 50 states.
See if you can spot it! /s
Then you can find today's story on p A23
Sign reading BIG LAW LITTLE BALLS, and then listing a bunch of lil ball'd firms: A&O Shearman Cadwalder, Wickersham Kirkland & Ellis Latham & Watkins Milbank Paul, Weiss Simpson Thatcher Skadden, Arpa Willkie Farr Then the sign ends with a Trump quote that should make these firms put their heads in the proverbial bag: "They gave me a lot of money considering they did nothing wrong"
👀 someone calling out big law firm complicity and cowardice
Not happening somewhere else. Here. In America. Right now.
David Rose, the police officer and Afghanistan veteran with a wife and 2 small children, was murdered by a white, right wing extremist man a month ago over antivaccine conspiracies pushed by RFK Jr. and this administration. He did not get recognition from political leaders or even much news coverage
The extent to which ICE is ignoring all civil rights and due process is astounding — and indicative of a culture where they’ve been told they can do literally no wrong. Agency and admin leaders must face sanctions and legal consequences.
@adellewaldman.bsky.social: “For millions of American low-wage workers today, the problem is not overwork—it’s underwork.“ theatln.tc/2HzqtiwI
Just a constant steady stream of harassment
if you're reporting on the UCLA shakedown, you should ask the gov. what the legal basis for the $1 billion demand is. if they point to title VI, ask how a billion dollar demand squares with the limited remedies available by law. if they say the False Claims Act, ask which specific contracts.
New at Can We Still Govern: Trump hates DEI and loves unitary executive theory. @johnadearborn.bsky.social
traces one of rhe first early articulations of the theory in the Reagan-era assault on affirmative action, featuring a couple of current SCOTUS justices. 🧵
open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...
Infographic titled “Judges reject Trump at an accelerating pace” with subtitle “Federal district court rulings against the administration.” The first bar chart, labeled “By month, %”, shows the percentage of federal district court rulings against the Trump administration: • February: 53.8% (7 out of 13) • March: 74.3% (26 out of 35) • April: 76.1% (51 out of 67) • May: 96.3% (26 out of 27) The second bar chart, labeled “By appointing party, %”, shows rulings against the Trump administration by the party of the judge’s appointing president: • Republican-appointed judges: 72.2% (26 out of 36) • Democratic-appointed judges: 80.4% (74 out of 92) Source: Bonica, Adam; Sen, Maya, 2025, “Common-space Measures of Judicial Ideology for Federal Judges (2024 update),” https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/CK3EEL Note: Coding scheme details available at data4democracy.substack.com/p/when-judges-become-targets-judicial
Stunning. May was brutal for Trump in federal court: 96% loss rate ⚖️. Even GOP-appointed judges have ruled against the admin 72% of the time. District courts are doing their job defending the Constitution. Soon the Supreme Court may be the only court unwilling to defend the rule of law.
This is an insane, wildly counterproductive policy change that will do nothing but harm the national interest. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/22/u...
Masked agents of the state are now comfortable arresting citizens, including election officials, who challenge their operations
“She’s not yours to pity. She’s mine to marvel at.”
www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-...
New, from me: I am dorky enough to actually read (ok, skim) budgets, and have never seen anything like Trump’s, which has converted a formal and professional document into a propagandistic screed to justify draconian cuts.
Lets take a look. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/budgets-as...
I’m still baffled at how America took one of the basic principles of the presidency — the occupant shouldn’t be able to benefit financially from the office — and just said, nah, that just doesn’t count for this one guy.
Another example where, while the Constitution has many flaws, this isn't one of them. This results from Congress and SCOTUS deciding to ignore the Constitutional text, which specifically forbids foreign emoluments, and lists bribery as a criterion for impeachment/removal.
Good for Dean Chemerinsky and those who had the courage to join him
This is awful.
Have the DOGE boys gotten around to cancelling
a) a single weapons contract or
b) a single Elon Musk contract?
