Laurie Hertzel

@lhertzel.bsky.social

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Book reader, book critic, author "News to Me: Adventures of an Accidental Jouranlist." I review for StarTribune, Washington Post, LATimes and elsewhere. Hit me up for questions about hiking in Ireland, caring for a crazy dog, or anything about books.

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Hear hear

Maybe it’s because my son took APUSH last year, but I can’t stop thinking of how hard politicians and lawmakers fought against trusts and for regulations 100 years ago. And these fuckers — they will take us back a century. All to make more money they can’t even spend in a lifetime.

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Laurie Hertzel

Such a good reminder: VOTE to hang onto your rights & your voice

BREAKING NEWS: Voters turned out in numbers not seen in decades to stop the far-right National Rally from taking power in the French National Assembly. Polls predicted a first-place finish for National Rally, which instead came in third in initial results as polling stations closed.

Projections in France's election show voters rejecting the far rightwww.npr.org Voters turned out in numbers not seen in decades to stop the far-right National Rally from taking power in the French National Assembly. Polls predicted a first-place finish for National Rally, which ...

Thousands in the streets of Paris celebrating and cheering “no pasaran” or "They will not pass” as the far right falls out n France’s election. Just absolutely amazing scenes tonight across France as they fight the fascists back. Now it’s our time to be brave and come together to for a united front.

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Trump said “I know nothing about Project 2025. I have no idea who is behind it.” But Project 2025 is run by Trump's closest aides, raising concerns about cognitive fitness for a candidate who seems unable to recall those around him. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/troubling-...

Troubling Signs of Cognitive Decline as Trump Struggles to Recognize Closest Aidesdonmoynihan.substack.com "I know nothing about Project 2025" statement triggers new concerns about his fitness to serve

All you people calling for Biden to step aside--READ THIS. please. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre... @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social

Why is the pundit class so desparate to push Biden out of the race? | Rebecca Solnitwww.theguardian.com Yes, Biden had a bad debate – but so did Trump. The media is once again repeating the mistakes of 2016

The Dems need to act like Repubs for once and PULL TOGETHER. Biden is fine. He is not withdrawing from the race--I'm guessing he realizes this country won't elect a Black woman, and he won't abandon Kamala Harris. Support him. Support democracy. Quit your stupid infighting. The future depends on it.

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Google’s emissions are up 48% in 5 years. Microsoft’s are up 30% since 2020. Those soaring figures are being driven by mass investments in data centers to power AI tools. Generative AI is a climate disaster and data center expansion must be stopped.

Generative AI is a climate disasterdisconnect.blog Tech companies are abandoning emissions pledges to chase AI market share

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Biden is too old. But he has surrounded himself with competent people and has had a conventional first term. Trump is authoritarian but inept. He has surrounded himself with people he hopes will make him more effective at authoritarianism. Neither is ideal. But these are not similar problems.

We had to take out our lovely magnolia shrub this morning because it was diseased with scale and was dying. It was a nice glossy green barricade between our porch and the rest of the world and we will miss it. It certainly put up a fight.

I was going to do some work but Poshmark just sent me an email saying they found 492 items i might be interested in, so ....

Why do glasses cost $1000?

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I don't know who needs to know this, but Pro Publica has an online thing that will format a letter to your US health insurance company to demand the records behind a claim denial. (which the insurance is then legally required to provide in most cases) projects.propublica.org/claimfile/

Find Out Why Health Insurance Denied Your Claimprojects.propublica.org You likely have the right to access records that explain why your insurer denied your claim or prior authorization request. Use ProPublica’s free tool to generate a letter requesting your claim file f...

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Jfc. "Floyd County Public Schools suspended a community reading of Katherine Applegate's 2017 novel following complaints that the novel depicts a monoecious red oak—a tree with both male and female reproductive parts"

Not the Onion. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

In Virginia, Censors Attempt to Axe 'Wishtree'www.publishersweekly.com The Floyd County Public Schools have suspended a One Division, One Book community reading of Katherine Applegate’s 'Wishtree' following complaints that the novel depicts a monoecious red oak, a tree w...

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I hate to keep asking, but as most of you know, the healthcare system in the US is completely broken. My miracle girl nearly died this summer but against all the odds is back at home with me. Unfortunately, so are the medical bills. gofund.me/8309166a

Support for Therese Szymanski, organisiert von Stacia Seamangofund.me Hi, I'm Stacia Seaman, and I'm asking you to help my partner of 17 years, There… Stacia Seaman braucht deine Unterstützung für Support for Therese Szymanski

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#libraries 📚📜

Why was this Alabama library director fired? I got an answer from the library board director. And then another, and another ... You just have to read it. www.al.com/news/2024/03...

Whitmire: Why was an Alabama library director fired? Read between the lines.www.al.com Autauga-Prattville Library Board chairman gives conflicting answers to what should be a straight-forward question.

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I think about Dr. Christine Blasey Ford all the time. Her testimony saved my life. I’ll always be grateful for her efforts to save this country from itself. And no effort is wasted.

I had the great pleasure of reviewing Kao Kalia Yang's new memoir, WHERE RIVERS PART, for the San Francisco Chronicle. It's the stunning story of her mother's life, from war in Laos to a refugee camp in Thailand to the hard life of an immigrant in Minnesota. datebook.sfchronicle.com/books/review...

Review: A Hmong American’s intimate memoir of war and displacementdatebook.sfchronicle.com Grounded in love and sorrow, Kao Kalia Yang’s third memoir, ‘Where Rivers Part,’ is her best, telling the story of her Hmong mother, who fled Laos.

According to my Merlin app, the tiny squeak in my desk chair sounds just like the call of a ring-necked pheasant.

Oh the stress of training in a new dog sitter for our people- and dog-reactive goofball.

Is there anyone better working in journalism today than Calvin Trillin? I think not! Here's my review for the Los Angeles Times of his latest collection, 'The Lede,' 42 pieces about journalism. www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

Calvin Trillin paints a portrait of a disappearing world of journalism ... without a whiff of sentimentalitywww.latimes.com Calvin Trillin's new collection of stories, 'The Lede: Dispatches From a Life in the Press,' reminds us not just of his brilliant plying of the trade but also of what the trade once was.

My latest review, this one of David Finkel's book of immersion journalism, "An American Dreamer," following a former soldier through the Trump years. Online at strib.gift/be9tnc7jr

'American Dreamer' looks at complexities of identity, allegiancestrib.gift NONFICTION: David Finkel's book is a keenly observed depiction of a divided country.

Pleased to review Margot Livesey's new novel, The Road from Belhaven, for the Washington Post. A sort-of companion to her earlier novel (both are based on the life of her mother), Eva Moves the Furniture. wapo.st/480ORF5

Review | Beloved Scottish writer Margot Livesey returns with a gem of a novelwapo.st “The Road From Belhaven,” set in Victorian Scotland, tells of orphaned Lizzie who is blessed — and cursed — with second sight.

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“Trump’s campaign guided filing of Michigan’s false electors certificate, emails show” electionlawblog.org?p=140636

"Trump's campaign guided filing of Michigan's false electors certificate, emails show" #ELBelectionlawblog.org Craig Mauger for the Detroit News: Then-President Donald Trump’s campaign directly orchestrated the filing of a certificate, signed by 16 Michigan Republicans, that falsely claimed he won the state�...

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I’M GOING BACK TO MINNESOTA WHERE SADNESS MAKES SENSE By Danez Smith www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/161060...

Ah. so much like my old book room at the strib!!

I love the holidays when all is quiet in the ILT office.

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A jury ruled that Trump committed violent sexual assault. A judge ruled he committed financial fraud. Now another judge has found (what we all saw for ourselves) that he engaged in an insurrection. How is it possible that he's still a candidate for president?

"Drink a lot, eat too much, spend some times with the ones you love .... and spare a thought for the ones in need." (Teddy Thompson)

Beautiful piece by novelist Siobhan MacGowan about the death of her brother, Shane. @irishtimes.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/culture/musi...

Siobhan MacGowan: My mind is full still with the magical mayhem of my brother Shane’s lifewww.irishtimes.com Even as very young children growing up in Tunbridge Wells, we were sure of our roots. Identity is not a postcode, and Shane understood this more than most

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If there is one piece of mine I would like you to read it is this. My interview with Mohammed Halalo, an IT contractor for the European Commission whose mother, siblings, nieces, and nephews were killed in their home in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza: www.irishtimes.com/world/middle...

Death of a Gazan family: ‘Everyone in this video has been killed’www.irishtimes.com Thirty members of Mohammed Halalo’s family lie beneath the ruins of his childhood home in Gaza that neighbours say took a direct hit during an Israeli bombardment

Ah, a good day at the computer. I have 750 words written of a 540 word book review. Tomorrow, I edit.