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Last Notes

2025-11-05 02:09:18 UTC

All three Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices win their retention elections despite a massive campaign by a Republican billionaire to mislead voters into voting out three Democratic judges. Had the justices lost their elections, Pennsylvania would have had only four members on the court until 2027, with a 2-2 tie of Democrats and Republicans. The three justices have protected reproductive rights and fair judicial maps.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/pennsylvania-supreme-court-vote-election-race-retains-justices-rcna238914

2025-09-26 19:59:11 UTC

The couch tariffs will put new furniture out of reach for some people and force others to buy less expensive furnture, but there are also options like ReStore or Buy Nothing.
If you need a new-to-market prescription medication and the manufacturer doesn't have a stateside presence, the Trump admin says you can just pay double, be sicker, or die. Too bad for you.
Insurance companies will drop medications when they cost double.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/26/us-to-impose-100percent-tariff-on-branded-patented-drugs-unless-firms-build-plants-locally-trump-says.html

2025-09-21 17:32:03 UTC

The northeast and west coast public health coalitions grow as blue(ish) states take public health into their own hands in the face of a hostile federal government.
Delaware and Maryland are the two latest states, joining Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island in the Northeast Public Health Collaborative. Hawaii joined California, Oregon, and Washington in the West Coast Health Alliance earlier in September.
https://www.wypr.org/wypr-news/2025-09-19/maryland-joins-public-health-coalition-to-bolster-public-health-standards

2025-08-14 19:31:28 UTC

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People need to remember that litigation can only be effective when the judges are fair, so they can't even blame Democrats for not doing that well enough.
Circuit and appellate judges may be fair. They may not be fair. Depends who you draw. Remember Aileen Cannon?
SCOTUS is 1/3 Trump appointees. 1/3 Bush 41/Bush 43 appointees. Don't expect fairness there.
Elections have consequences.

2025-08-06 17:24:36 UTC

Trump's policies make trans people unsafe everywhere, now at Brown University. This will have the effect of making trans students not reside on campus, because trans students won't feel safe in a dorm for their assigned gender at birth and they'll fear being caught in the dorm where they belong. Any student not gender-conforming enough gets harassed for possibly being trans.
It also It's surely what the administration wants, to keep trans people out of public life.
https://www.advocate.com/news/transgender-students-unsafe-brown-university

2025-07-28 20:58:56 UTC

"Supervisors can attempt to recruit their employees to their religion" but it's obviously only Christianity, since the memo also cites "anti-Christian weaponization of government." Imagine how well it's going to go over when a Satanist recruits in their federal office building, or even a Muslim.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-allow-federal-workers-promote-religion-workplaces-2025-07-28/

2025-07-17 19:59:09 UTC

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Time to donate to your local public radio or TV station if you can afford it. That doesn't make this any less terrible.

2025-07-15 18:09:34 UTC

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Should we stop paying for Trump’s health care because he eats fast food? Yeah, let’s not go down this slippery slope.
We have a societal problem with unhealthy food, workaholic culture, jobs that demand too many hours or constantly being on call, and poorly-designed infrastructure that discourages walking. Not an individual problem with food choices.

2025-06-10 21:32:30 UTC

Another reminder that protest is guaranteed by the Constitution. The Army's spokesman recognizes the right to peacefully protest.
The parade on June 14th is supposed to be for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US Army. It happens to fall on Trump's birthday, but this is not North Korea where the leader's birthday is a national holiday and he gets to decide who to punish.
The flagship No Kings Protest will be in Philadelphia this time.
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/trump-warns-protesters-military-parade-met-heavy-force/story?id=122692921

2025-06-04 00:59:07 UTC

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It's hard to believe Pete Hegseth can tie his own shoes if he's this threatened by the names of ships.
He can change names of naval ships, but he can never erase the legacies of Harvey Milk, Thurgood Marshall, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Harriet Tubman, Dolores Huerta, Lucy Stone, Cesar Chavez, and Medgar Evers.

2025-05-30 12:01:38 UTC

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After the Democratic president fixes things by 2032 or more likely 2036, people will say things are better now and it’s safe to elect some Republican who will be “better for the economy,” forgetting that the last one cratered it.

2025-05-08 00:06:44 UTC

A little malicious compliance in Salt Lake City. Here's one way to sidestep a law that forbids Pride and Juneteenth flags.
https://www.ksl.com/article/51308163/salt-lake-city-adopts-3-new-flags-to-bypass-new-state-flag-law

2025-05-05 17:29:59 UTC

Trump voters are struggling to say that they have regrets even as the administration directly hurts them, but these from Emmitsburg, Maryland and other towns nearby are getting closer. Local pub employees may not have jobs this summer because firefighters aren't coming to town for training at the National Fire Academy now.
It's hurting all of us, not just the town where the academy is. How many fires would less destructive or deadly with better-trained firefighters?
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/05/nx-s1-5351764/trump-cuts-national-fire-academy-maryland-emmitsburg-fema-federal-spending

2025-04-17 22:19:39 UTC

Interesting that House Homeland Security Chair Rep. Mark Green is so concerned about not spending taxpayer money on a CODEL to investigate abuse of prisoners rendered to El Salvador, but not about the American tax money being spent to imprison them there in the first place.
https://www.axios.com/2025/04/17/house-republicans-democrats-el-salvador-trips

2025-04-17 22:07:47 UTC

A 6th grader participating in the National Civics Bee argued against banning books with LGBTQ characters or offensive language in secondary school libraries.
State Sen. Dave Argall, a contest judge, thought it appropriate to ask the 12-year-old if kindergartners should have access to porn. The student had to ask him what he was talking about. (She asked without guile, but maybe we should all ask Republicans what they're talking about when they ask stupid questions.)
https://www.republicanherald.com/2025/04/17/civics-bee-question-stirs-controversy/

2025-04-15 16:06:32 UTC

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I don't see how this is funny. For all the disagreements I have with Bernie, for as unable as I think he would have been to get anything accomplished, an ineffective Democratic Socialist is the opposite of rendering innocent people to El Salvador based on their fan hats or tattoos. The federal government wouldn't be dismantled. You'd probably have a stupid opposition House speaker refusing to raise the debt ceiling or trying to impeach over nothing but not much else.

2025-04-15 16:00:34 UTC

ICE is literally snatching any young Latino man from the street whether he's the one they're looking for or not.
There's a photo of men in CECOT in the article and the only difference I can see from the photos at Dachau is that the prisoners aren't emaciated. They're packed in at least eight to a bed. This is not how to treat human beings and I want a new round of Nuremberg-type trials when this admin is over.
https://www.newsweek.com/merwil-gutierrez-ice-wrong-teen-el-salvador-2059783

2025-04-14 17:57:17 UTC

Trump and Salvadoran President Bukele each claim they are unable to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the USA and now the Trump admin says it wasn't a mistake to deport him and it would just send him right back.
Senator Van Hollen is sick of Trump defying a federal judge and says he will go to El Salvador himself to check on his constituent and discuss his release.
This is real leadership. If you're a Marylander, here's a worthwhile call to your senator.
https://www.baltimoresun.com/2025/04/14/kilmar-abrego-garcia-chris-van-hollen/?share=ehcmaic2csw4tlwhealh

2025-03-20 19:49:26 UTC

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I actually care about future generations even though I don't have kids. Contrary to what JD Vance and his ilk believe about childless cat ladies, I think my nieces and nephews and even their friends I'm not related to at all deserve to grow up with all I had and more. But I tell people that I want knowledgeable doctors and plumbers and because people need less convincing of that than that every child deserves a real education, not warehousing and third-grade literacy.

2025-03-13 17:25:54 UTC

I'm sure it will shock everyone that the Trump admin DOJ's lawyers weren't competent to argue its new position in federal court. The judge had to call a recess so that the attorneys could go read the policy they were defending. Shocker #2: Hegseth "egregiously misquoted" the studies they were relying on to argue their position. The studies actually say that trans troops are more ready and more deployable than a comparison population not excluded from service.
https://newrepublic.com/post/192657/judge-military-trans-ban-trial-lawyers-incompetence

2025-02-28 20:33:04 UTC

I don't think I've ever been so embarrassed and ashamed for my country as I was a few minutes ago while watching the USA's head of state tell Ukraine's to be more grateful.
It's an almost unbelievable projection for Trump to say that Zelenskyy is the one "gambling with World War III."
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c625ex282zzt

2025-02-22 15:29:04 UTC

This is affecting any trans people who need passports. One close to me can't get a passport at all right now – it's "on hold," thank you, Marco Rubio. A genuine thank you to Hunter Schafer, who has a platform, for speaking out on what this administration is doing to vulnerable people. It's not safe to have a document that doesn't match your gender and gender presentation if you want to travel to some countries. Maybe the United States right now.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hunter-schafer-passport-gender-trump/

2025-02-04 18:23:33 UTC

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There's a whole lot of "I only thought the leopards would eat other people's faces" energy in the country at the moment and we're only two weeks into this. I don't get how people paid no attention from 2017 to January 2021. There was an attempted coup and now there's surprised at this? Unless they weren't in the USA for those four years or are younger than about 14, there's really no excuse.

2025-02-02 18:42:35 UTC

This trade war is so dumb that the Wall Street Journal editorial board and I are on the same side. You can read the whole op-ed if you have non-paywalled access. If not, The Hill has provided this free synopsis. Everyone who doesn't want to destroy the country or isn't the brainwashed follower of the authoritarians who do, no matter where you are on the political spectrum, agrees that this trade war is a terrible idea.
https://thehill.com/business/5121142-wall-street-journal-slams-trumps-tariff-plans-the-dumbest-trade-war-in-history/

2024-12-09 16:26:44 UTC

It sure sounds like Trump wants to bring back his own version of the Expatriation Act. When Trump says "a wonderful young woman who’s with a criminal," he means a American citizen married to an immigrant, and it's just too bad that she and the children will have to be deported too.
(Read the second link if you don't know the history of American women losing their citizenship by marrying non-citizen men.)
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-vows-to-deport-us-citizens-in-new-immigration-policy/
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/03/17/520517665/that-time-american-women-lost-their-citizenship-because-they-married-foreigners

2024-11-26 22:57:52 UTC

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Or true.

2024-11-23 01:40:04 UTC

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Jews aren't interested in having the Christian bible taught in school. Leave us out of this.

2024-11-21 20:27:57 UTC

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The leaks are pretty bad. Pages of Venmo payments to underage young women were leaked yesterday. If he thinks he's going to keep everything secret by withdrawing, he's even dumber than he appears. While there are lots of bad nominees for us to pay attention to, a former congressman paying minors for sex is always of note.
https://cdn.masto.host/progressivecafesocial/media_attachments/files/113/522/817/528/733/303/original/8af5689607dde48b.png

2024-11-21 18:14:16 UTC

The first sex pest withdraws his nomination. Who will be the next to not be confirmed?
No one will ever have to say the words "attorney general" and "Matt Gaetz" in the same sentence. He can go back to the Florida swamp he crawled out of now.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/matt-gaetz-withdraws-bid-attorney-general-sexual-misconduct-allegation-rcna181206

2024-11-14 21:39:58 UTC

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Marco Rubio must be laughing his ass off at how he looks like a great statesman compared to sex pest Gaetz, Fox News Hegspeth, antivax bear hunter Kennedy, dog & goat murderer Noem, and Russian asset Gabbard.

2024-11-12 22:23:10 UTC

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Ways to complete a sentence starting with "No good choices"
...for your health care under the 2025 Concepts of a Plan
...among the judges the Federalist Society will allow Trump to appoint
...among the things working and middle class people will be able to afford once the Trump tariffs go into effect

2024-11-11 00:46:55 UTC

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Maybe we can water the crops with Brawndo.

2024-11-09 19:13:44 UTC

Michael Tomasky asks two questions: would Trump have gotten any traction in 2015 without Fox News? (his conclusion: no)
And what if someone had moved here this summer from a country where they had no prior exposure to our politics and were only exposed to Fox. What would they believe about Harris and Trump?
That's his explanation for the rightward shift of the country.
He implores rich liberals to take action. He doesn't say what. I assume buy media too?
https://newrepublic.com/post/188197/trump-media-information-landscape-fox

2024-11-08 04:39:15 UTC

I keep hearing from the media that every demographic group voted more Republican than in previous elections. Not quite all. According to the National Election Pool (which sampled too few Jewish voters in 2020 for comparison but has 2016 and earlier exit polling data), Jewish people gave a greater percentage of votes to Harris than for any president since Bill Clinton.
Jewish voters broke 79% for Harris. NBC News's larger poll also says 78%, while Fox News says 67%.
https://forward.com/fast-forward/671878/exit-poll-77-of-jewish-voters-back-harris-over-trump/

2024-10-30 13:27:36 UTC

I hope The Atlantic still gives a free article view or two a month. Anyone in a swing state considering a protest vote because Harris isn’t sufficiently pro-Palestinian needs to consider this:
You can protest Harris all you want. March on Washington or in the streets of your city. Draw her attention and public attention.
Trump wants to jail protesters. He’s talked about turning the military in protesters and shooting them.
Which America do you want to protest in?
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/10/revenge-voting-over-gaza-is-a-mistake/680446/

2024-10-30 11:20:34 UTC

This is how a newspaper editor makes an endorsement for president. It’s not surprising that El Nuevo Día endorsed VP Harris after Trump’s warm-up comedian Puerto Rico, but this is such a thoughtful analysis of why Trump does not deserve votes and why Harris is the right choice. While the LA Times, Washington Post, and USA Today shrug, El Nuevo Día knocks it out of the park.
https://www.elnuevodia.com/english/editorial/puerto-ricans-should-vote-for-kamala-harris/

2024-10-25 20:01:02 UTC

Billionaire owners of newspapers now make editorial decisions and staff can’t endorse Kamala Harris for president even though that’s what they had planned to do. First Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, now Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. Remember when the WaPo would give a disclaimer that Bezos owned the paper but that it was editorially independent? No more. It’s the final nail in the coffin of the once-great WaPo.
https://cdn.masto.host/progressivecafesocial/media_attachments/files/113/369/819/655/589/267/original/68058e8f0308527c.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/progressivecafesocial/media_attachments/files/113/369/819/743/344/331/original/eea9b541dc42bee9.jpeg

2024-10-18 21:48:30 UTC

Pennsylvania is considered to be one of the most important states, if not the most important, this election due to the vagaries of the Electoral College. Do you live in PA or are you campaigning there? Promote The Vote PA helps disabled voters with obstacles to voting. The org is signing up volunteer drivers to deliver and return ballots to election offices and drop boxes. It's legal to help a disabled voter and return their ballot. Find out more and sign up if you can.
https://www.promotethevote.us/vote-navigators

2024-10-15 23:21:12 UTC

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The one that gets me is naturalized citizens who support Trump, saying they did it the legal way. Do they think his brownshirts are going to make sure they are a citizen who is a registered Republican and did everything perfectly legally, or are they going to lump them in with other people from whatever country is disfavored at the current moment? We're going to be at war with Eurasia or Eastasia alternately depending on whose leaders flatter – or are willing to bribe – Trump.

2024-10-10 21:05:55 UTC

Republican attorneys general and industry groups are suing the Biden admin over a rule requiring nursing homes to have adequate staff, including a registered nurse at all times.
If you can’t run your business without safely staffing it, you can’t run a business.
You know what’s one way the United States addresses the shortage of skilled workers like nurses? Immigration. Haitian immigrants aren’t eating our dogs and cats. They’re taking care of our aging parents.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/republican-ags-sue-biden-administration-over-nursing-home-staffing-rule-2024-10-10/
https://cdn.masto.host/progressivecafesocial/media_attachments/files/113/285/157/586/026/908/original/91b76f511807234f.png

2024-09-25 03:48:06 UTC

What is Mike Johnson going to decide wasn't a "fair" or "safe" election?
If you're also concerned about what shenanigans Johnson might be involved with on January 6, 2025, the best way to make sure he has a minimal role is to elect a Democratic majority and have Hakeem Jeffries become Speaker on January 3rd.
https://www.axios.com/2024/09/24/johnson-spikes-top-democrats-anxiety-about-a-jan-6-redux

2024-09-25 02:35:48 UTC

Threatening to jail people for criticizing judges is full-on fascism. Trump wants to be able to keep appointing Kaczmareks and Kavanaughs with not a peep from the American populace.
In addition to needing President Harris, we need to give her a Democratic Senate. Otherwise, Mitch McConnell's successor will leave many vacancies for the next Republican president.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-supreme-court-jail-rally-b2618050.html

2024-09-24 18:40:37 UTC

Wait until Bernie Moreno finds out how much power women of all ages have.
Women over 50 care about whether younger women can have safe and legal abortions even though we are very unlikely to need abortion care ourselves.
Also, mocking "suburban women" is a not a great strategy right now. Ohio has gone pretty red, but in the swing states it's a swing demographic that other candidates really need. Moreno is really bad at this.
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/republican-candidate-caught-telling-women-over-50-that-abortion-rights-is-not-an-issue-for-you-219994693622

2024-09-21 17:14:48 UTC

Florida is forcing doctors into a Kobayashi Maru: provide an abortion that someone isn't enough of an emergency and go to prison, don't provide emergency care and get threatened with malpractice (lose your license, get sued).
Doctors don't stay in states where they can't safely practice. Who will want to live in Florida or even vacation in the state if you can't get care if you need it?
Is ruining Florida's economy as well as killing its residents DeSantis's plan?
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/republicans-threaten-doctors-emergency-care-abortion-1235108278/

2024-09-11 01:24:41 UTC

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Linsey Davis said exactly what you did, but I'm pretty sure this is what she meant:
https://cdn.masto.host/progressivecafesocial/media_attachments/files/113/116/296/491/850/905/original/626831f78c6d9100.png

2024-08-23 22:28:33 UTC

While there is a long list of people who were on stage the fast four nights whom I'm thrilled are working for Americans in Congress and in our states and municipalities, VP Harris's acceptance speech last night showed that she is the right person to represent us on the world stage right now.
https://www.vox.com/politics/368462/kamala-harris-israel-palestine-gaza-dnc-speech

2024-08-22 16:31:29 UTC

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The Biden-Harris admin asked Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff to play a major role in the admin's strategy to combat antisemitism. The Trump admin had no such strategy for Ivanka Trump to be part of (of course).
Here's a long list from May 2024 of what the Biden-Harris administration has done to combat antisemitism, which includes some things about religious discrimination in general.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/05/07/biden-harris-administration-ramps-up-actions-to-counter-antisemitism-on-college-campuses-and-protect-jewish-communities/

2024-08-22 03:09:32 UTC

Gov. Wes Moore! Pete Buttigieg! John Legend & Sheila E.! I got invited to a local event tomorrow and I turned it down because although I don't know how anything can top tonight, there's no way I'm missing whatever is happening at the convention tomorrow night even if I could probably make it home in time to see VP Harris accept the nomination!

2024-08-22 02:49:34 UTC

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I was thinking right about the time Gov. Shapiro finished that I've never felt so good about this country as I do tonight. Then Oprah busted out with "If the place belongs to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out too." And there's still Tim Walz to come tonight and a whole night of the convention to go!

2024-08-21 17:32:57 UTC

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I think it’s my favorite part of the convention. The speeches are great but just seeing the diversity of our party and who each delegation chooses to represent the state or territory is fun. I had a guest over last night who is a much more casual convention watcher than I am and was amused by my excitement.

2024-08-20 18:40:44 UTC

If there was any doubt that RFK Jr. is no Democrat despite trying to get a post in the Harris admin (as well as one with Trump!), it’s gone now. His running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said in an interview that the pair is considering dropping out of the race and throwing their support to Trump because they’re afraid of being a spoiler and ending up with Harris in the White House. Guess someone understands binary choice!
The rest of the Kennedy family is for #HarrisWalz2024
https://www.axios.com/2024/08/20/rfk-jr-nicole-shanahan-2024

2024-08-19 22:05:44 UTC

If you’re looking for me for the next four evenings, I’ll be camped out on my sofa with my cat. I might make some little appetizers Thursday night. I always get excited for the DNC convention but this is next level.
https://cdn.masto.host/progressivecafesocial/media_attachments/files/112/990/945/842/968/824/original/7c87ac8f67783ae2.mp4

2024-08-05 11:27:20 UTC

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is investigating Elon Musk's PAC. Not content to influence elections by boosting content or blocking accounts on his terrible site, Musk is also using X to collect data from voters in swing states. His pro-Trump America PAC runs ads that say "Register to Vote" but then don't actually register voters.
It's always a good idea to check your own registration in advance of every election to make sure you are properly registered.
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/04/elon-musk-pac-investigated-michigan.html