Sam Pfeifle

This is a great way to while away the weekend. @keithob.bsky.social told us he likes to listen while walking the dog. You do you.

"Hopefully China will send some ships to help us" really is a special thing. A marvel.

Brendan Carr tweet: Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not. And frankly, changing course is in their own business interests since trust in legacy media has now fallen to an all time low of just 9% and are ratings disasters. The American people have subsidized broadcasters to the tune of billions of dollars by providing free access to the nation’s airwaves. It is very important to bring trust back into media, which has earned itself the label of fake news. When a political candidate is able to win a landslide election victory after in the face of hoaxes and distortions, there is something very wrong. It means the public has lost faith and confidence in the media. And we can’t allow that to happen. Time for change! Trump "Truth": Yet again, an intentionally misleading headline by the Fake News Media about the five tanker planes that were supposedly struck down at an Airport in Saudi Arabia, and of no further use. In actuality, the Base was hit a few days ago, but the planes were not “struck” or “destroyed.” Four of the five had virtually no damage, and are already back in service. One had slightly more damage, but will be in the air shortly. None were destroyed, or close to that, as the Fake News said in headlines. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (in particular), and other Lowlife “Papers” and Media actually want us to lose the War. Their terrible reporting is the exact opposite of the actual facts! They are truly sick and demented people that have no idea the damage they cause the United States of America. Fortunately, as proven by our Great and Conclusive Election Win in 2024, the People of our Country understand what is happening far better than the Fake News Media! President DONALD J. TRUMP

FCC to journalists: cover the Iran war the way the president prefers or lose your broadcast license.

This is quite literally illegal in all of the EU. We desperately need a general data protection regulation for the US (and an agency willing to enforce it).

Lol. I can't believe people don't drive themselves Oklahoma City to stage their protests!

Abolish ICE now.

For at least 10 years journos have been working so hard to dissemble and obfuscate under the Honorable Notions of What Journalism Is and now even the people whose water they’ve been carrying are like wtf I’m trying to be racist

This is a fundamental rupture.

Oh!

This is the relevant part.

I'm just talking net cashflow margin, which is ultimately all that matters. If you're depending on donations and investment income to clear $220m on $4.5b in annual revenue, you are in a fairly precarious position. But I'm sure those books are at least a little bit cooked.

Statement of Operations - MaineHealth | Annual Report 2025 MaineHealth and Subsidiaries Consolidated Statement of Operations YEAR ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2024 ($ in thousands) 2024 FUNDS RECEIVED Amounts charged for patient

Margin was 5% in last report: annualreport.mainehealth.org/home/stateme...

But they'd be upside down by $400k if relying only on patient revenue, which is pretty nuts.

Yes, for sure, price controls are part of M4A, but what the hospital gets in return is vast reduction in billing offices and administrative costs (in theory).

If we just put in price controls, without delivering any administrative relief, it's a double-whammy.

I love that Bob gets headline mention in this story, but not the author of the actual book in question.

A whole article on the the affordability crisis not being solvable without any mention of universal healthcare, medicare for all, etc. It's baffling.

If you limit what they can charge, by law, then you limit by law what they can bring in for revenue, which limits by law what they can spend on ... everything.

They start cutting providers, etc., and the system goes into death spiral (it's already in death spiral).

This is simply not serious policymaking: "Bill sponsor Rep. Drew Gattine, D-Westbrook, said the bill is necessary because the only way to bring down health care costs is to restrict the growth in hospital prices."

MaineMed is a non-profit, you can look at their margins, which are very thin.

So I've decided to start answering all of those demands for reviews with "It was fine" every time. I get a small joy out of watching them then delete that review from the record.

"Fine" is unacceptable!

We fire things up with Mainer Carolyn Chute, whom I believe to be the Faulkner of the North.

I like this from Wood:

Just heartbreaking and awful. Basically, the same as all the people in Maine, NH, and VT being unable to return to their homes tonight. Where would you go? What would you do? What would your feelings be about the people responsible for it?

Thank you to readers everywhere; my family & friends; everyone at @atriabooks.bsky.social who believed in me; all the indie booksellers who hosted events; and the people who lived this story & trusted me to tell it. This underdog book has done the impossible. We are a New York Times bestseller. 💙

Truthfully, while it is an inconvenience at times, for sure, we are largely in favor of Google's plan to ruin its service completely and make the internet unusable.

Great work driving people back to books, y'all. It's working really well! No notes!

UPDATE: A tense, day-long standoff outside a South Burlington house ended Wednesday night with federal immigration agents removing three people inside and a series of violent clashes between police and hundreds of activists who tried to impede the apprehension.
www.vermontpublic.org/local-news/2...

Nearly 700,000 people have been driven from their homes as Israeli strikes continue. Three cargo ships report being hit by unknown projectiles in and near the Strait of Hormuz. Qatar, Saudi Arabia Kuwait, U.A.E. and Oman say they have intercepted drones and missiles.

Nearly 700,000 people have been driven from their homes in Lebanon due to Israeli bombing, according to the New York Times.

DHS is still not funded, right? Does that just go on forever?

YES. Always-on elections are poison for political discourse.

They did hit that elementary school because of the AI shit, didn't they? They're just blindly trusting computers to tell them what to blow up with tomahawk missiles and are fine with the error rate. My god is it barbaric and immoral. Beyond any possible pale. It hurts my soul.

Woof.

MAGA vs. Muslims A U.S. Representative tweeted what too much of the movement thinks about Americans of one faith.

I just wrote about the GOP’s acceptance of outright anti-Muslim bigotry and hate. And this morning I hear that blatant Islamophobe Michael Knowles is replacing Ben Shapiro as a speaker at the House GOP retreat today. Cool, cool.

open.substack.com/pub/goodpoli...