Messier Object 44

@messierobject44.bsky.social

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The Beehive Cluster, that's my painting up there, more as Amy Pollien at Littlefield Gallery Winter Harbor Maine

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Messier Object 44

having sat with it a while, the impression that no one gives a shit that trump got shot at probably gives me more hope than anything else over the past couple weeks plus.

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Messier Object 44

great headline, great piece www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

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Messier Object 44

Reply to

GOLIKEHELLMACHINE

it is remarkable how heavily major media outlets are jamming their thumbs on the scale to make this a more competitive race while trump fucks off to play golf instead of campaigning

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Messier Object 44

i think there are lots of good reasons to want to replace biden on the ticket, but one of the marks against it as a strategy is that, among electeds, it's being pushed by some of the biggest losers in the party. people who are giving "i give up" quotes in fucking july. fuck those people

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Messier Object 44

Lost in the ongoing Trumpapalooza is the excellent news that a malaria vaccination developed at Oxford Univ. over the last 30 years and costing only £3 per shot is being unrolled in malaria-prone countries. If it fulfills its promise, this will make an enormous difference to so many lives.

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Messier Object 44

Well I'm given to understand that today & for a VERY limited time, our nation's political violence party is shocked—shocked!—to learn that we currently live in a world of normalized political violence, and would like very much to know who is to blame. Full Essay: www.the-reframe.com/gambling-in-...

Gambling In Casablancawww.the-reframe.com Being blamed for a world of political violence by the people who force us to live in it, and are now shocked-shocked!—by it. Navigating the daily trauma of living in a bully's paradise.

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Messier Object 44

Just going to note, regarding "political violence" that three and a half years ago, Trump was encouraging a mob of people who wanted to hang his own VP.

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Messier Object 44

Why am I doing this? I’m really just a boring appeals nerd, not a firebrand. But I believe 4 things: 1. Our democracy is in danger. 2. Few institutions still have a real shot to protect us from that danger. 3. City prosecutors are one of them. 4. We have to try. 1/x

Starting today, I’m building and leading a team in Larry Krasner’s Philadelphia DA’s office to target serious election-interference crimes. We’re seeking to hire people for an elite team. If you’re interested, contact me.

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Messier Object 44

lol so i talked to sam altman and arianna huffington about their proposed ai health coach venture (vaporware) and they couldn’t even tell me if it would be an app or not. so i ended up writing about how ai is a faith-based technology www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

AI Has Become a Technology of Faithwww.theatlantic.com Sam Altman and Arianna Huffington told me that they believe generative AI can help millions of suffering people. I’m not so sure.

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Messier Object 44

It would be really fun to go back in time a few years to blue wave emoji people and yell at them to be more loyal to Joe Biden like stalwarts Bernie and AOC

One Weird Trick to keep progressives in your coalition (policy concessions). Billionaires hate it! www.nytimes.com/2024/07/13/o...

Opinion | Bernie Sanders: Joe Biden for Presidentwww.nytimes.com Enough! It’s time for Democrats to stop the bickering and nit-picking.

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Messier Object 44

"The group also intends to use controversial AI software to enable mass challenges to the eligibility of hundreds of thousands of voters in competitive states."

The little-known charity is backed by famous conservative donors, including the families behind Hobby Lobby and Uline. It’s spending millions to make a big political push for this election — but it may be violating the law. www.propublica.org/article/insi...

Inside Ziklag, the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Countrywww.propublica.org The little-known charity is backed by famous conservative donors, including the families behind Hobby Lobby and Uline. It’s spending millions to make a big political push for this election — but it ma...

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Messier Object 44

Dr. Koritha Mitchell has coined a concept called "know your place aggression" and let's just say that this place is rampant with it. muse.jhu.edu/article/715439

Project MUSE - Identifying White Mediocrity and Know-Your-Place Aggression: A Form of Self-Caremuse.jhu.edu

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Messier Object 44

I don't think this is nothing per se, any of this signaling is damaging, but I do think there's something to the idea two of these Congressmen who added themselves to this list tonight are a former VP of Goldman Sachs and a former comms director for a hospital conglomerate.

For those of you keeping score, three more members of Congress and Michael Stipe have asked Joe Biden to withdraw from the campaign tonight

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Messier Object 44

Reply to

Keith

foh, the "Biden old" meme was literally seeded by the Swift Boat guy

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Messier Object 44

BP's influential outlook report predicts global oil demand will peak in 2025, bringing to end rising emissions by the mid-2020s amid a surge in wind and solar power. www.theguardian.com/business/art...

BP predicts global oil demand will peak in 2025, bringing to end rising emissionswww.theguardian.com Report says peak will bring to end to rising emissions as wind and solar capacity surges, but gas forecasts likely to cause concern

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Messier Object 44

CNN reporter Eva McKend spent the day at the Alpha Kappa Alpha convention in Dallas, where VP Kamala Harris spoke, and was hard-pressed to find a single Black voter, even among Harris mega-fans, who thought it was a good idea to push President Biden off the ticket. 🧵: x.com/evamckend/st...

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Messier Object 44

Impeachment, criminal investigation, and court expansion — oh my! Congressional Democrats are pushing back, hard, against the Supreme Court's ethical lapses and extremism.

Congressional Dems push back against the ethical failings, extremism at SCOTUSwww.lawdork.com Impeachment, criminal investigation, and expansion — all front and center this week. Also: What happens if Trump wins and appoints new justices?

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Messier Object 44

Wow by the "what are people talking about/what's getting clicks" standard I'm told was responsible for wall-to-wall "is Biden old" coverage, I assume tomorrow's NYT front page will be filled with Trump's Project 2025 analysis and calls for him the drop out because of it?

y'all i think project 2025 is starting to get legs

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Messier Object 44

FUN FACT: Did you know that The Heritage Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization? FUN FACT: They are not allowed to participate in political campaigns. Directly OR Indirectly. FUN FACT: IRS Form 13909 Exists. Do with this info as you will. www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/...

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Messier Object 44

I have re-read chapter 14 of project 2025 for work and i'm genuinely going to go take a benzo now "Add targeted time limits [on Medicaid] or lifetime caps on [Medicaid] benefits to disincentivize permanent dependence"

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Messier Object 44

knowing that the white house just signed a massive parkinson’s bill in july changes the entire tone of this story so much that this makes it wildly, horrifically offensive

Breaking News: A Parkinson’s expert visited the White House eight times in eight months from last summer through this spring, according to official visitor logs. The administration has said that President Biden has no signs of the disease.

Parkinson’s Expert Visited the White House Eight Times in Eight Monthswww.nytimes.com The White House has said that President Biden has no signs of the disease and that there has been no reason to update the most recent testing, conducted in February.

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Messier Object 44

Among the many evils of "crisis pregnancy centers": they are not medical providers and so do not follow HIPAA or medical privacy ethics. Instead, they gleefully give away (to right-wing orgs) and sell (to data brokers) all information you give them. They should be illegal.

Google “Massachusetts crisis pregnancy” and this link pops up. It’s part of a statewide campaign, including public signage (highway billboards!), urging people to avoid crisis pregnancy/anti-abortion centers. The Commonwealth is not fucking around with this.

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Messier Object 44

This is a great source for information on US elections - particularly for important down ballot races. If you just dropped your NYTimes subscription, consider redirecting your attention (and funds).

For folks who've appreciated my coverage of the French elections... @bolts.bsky.social is quite different—but we cover US politics with such attention to detail. So give us a follow if you've enjoyed this, and care about the US. And our newsletter is free! boltsmag.org/newsletter

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Messier Object 44

NYT says their performance on Threads today was an aberration, & not indicative of deeper problems they've had with social media. Unfortunately, that hasn't satisfied many observers whose concerns are growing louder. The stakes are too high. For the good of the news, the Times should step aside

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Messier Object 44

I once wrote a fact check of a Morgan Spurlock book. He included what he said was a direct quote from the FDA that aspartame causes cancer. I checked the footnote. An FDA newsletter did publish that claim — but *only to specifically refute it*. That’s basically how Barrett quotes Madison here.

These mistakes originalist justices are making aren’t about disputed interpretations of history, with evidence on both sides. They’re pulling quotes out of context to attribute ideas to founding figures that those figures adamantly opposed. (via @andycraig.bsky.social) reason.com/volokh/2024/...

The Supreme Court's Dubious Use of History in Department of State v. Munozreason.com Justice Amy Coney Barrett's majority opinion includes significant errors, and violates some of her own precepts against excessive reliance on questionable history.

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Messier Object 44

The Party of Intentionally Starving Children

The governors of a dozen Republican-led states — AL, AK, FL, GA, IA, MS, OK, SC, SD, TX, UT, WY — opted out of a new federal food assistance program, leaving about 9.5 million students without the aid this summer

Republican-led states are blocking summer food benefits for hungry familieswww.usatoday.com Money for food is especially tight for families in a dozen states where Republican lawmakers declined to accept federal food assistance.

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Messier Object 44

I had a chat with the conservative mom of a friend today. We talked about a bunch of stuff and I learned several interesting things, among them, that religious conservatives are often PRO-CHOICE AND THINK THE SUPREME COURT IS INSANE. Run on Dobbs. Run on justices and court reform. Do it.

Organizers got enough signatures to put a measure protecting abortion on the ballot in Arkansas. In *Arkansas*. They had *no national support*. Ignore the pundits melting down over not being treated as Very Special Boys. Dobbs has fundamentally changed elections. Everything they know is wrong.

Arkansas abortion rights groups collect enough signatures to advance ballot measurewww.nbcnews.com A measure to enshrine abortion rights in the ruby red state’s constitution is now one step closer to making the November ballot — but major obstacles remain.

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Messier Object 44

This is useful! Post it on your parents Facebook feed! I'm serious. This is the kind of shit they'll share!

For the people who don’t have time, here’s your Readers Digest version. You’re welcome.

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Messier Object 44

Can someone tell me where NYT hid Trump's attempts to disown Heritage's fascist project? I mean, holy hell, that's the only reporting on Trump they do anymore?