Bits and Bobs

@pastisprologue.bsky.social

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Lifelong lover of history. Writer. ... RTs aren't endorsements.

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Bits and Bobs

Reply to

Hunter Walker

I live in Lincoln, Nebraska. I would recommend checking out our parks—I especially like the Sunken Garden and walk there most mornings with our pups

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Bits and Bobs

Unity

"Democrats cynically decided they wanted votes from illegals more than they want to protect our children." — Ted Cruz with one of the grossest, most dishonest attacks I've heard in a long time

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Bits and Bobs

Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui is convicted over $1Bn scam by a NYC court. Wengui is linked to Epoch Times, the right-wing pro-Trump Chinese started news outlet, as well as an associate of Trump's ex-WH strategist Stephen Bannon. Wengui is a criminal and supporter of Trump www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/u...

The Undoing of Guo Wengui, Billionaire Accused of Fraud on 2 Continents (Published 2023)www.nytimes.com He cultivated powerful allies and built an empire in China. Then, fleeing charges, he turned his charms on America. Now the law has caught up with him.

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Bits and Bobs

Arizona’s school voucher experiment has led to a budget meltdown. The state this year faced a $1.4 billion budget shortfall, much of which was a result of the new voucher spending.

School Vouchers Were Supposed to Save Taxpayer Money. Instead They Blew a Massive Hole in Arizona’s Budget.www.propublica.org Arizona, the model for voucher programs across the country, has spent so much money paying private schoolers’ tuition that it’s now facing hundreds of millions in budget cuts to critical state program...

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Bits and Bobs

Jerome Powell can become a legend here and lower interest rates every time Trump threatens him. This would be like the macroeconomic version of Trump getting fined every time he defames E Jean Carroll.

Donald Trump warns US Fed chair not to cut rates before the election https://www.ft.com/content/11bc931f-5c5e-4e3c-9ceb-9bdca25430ad

Donald Trump warns US Fed chair not to cut rates before the electionwww.ft.com Ex-president says he would let Jay Powell finish term at central bank if he was ‘doing the right thing’

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Bits and Bobs

TikTok Pushed Young German Voters Toward Far-Right Party www.wired.com/story/tiktok... by @davidgilbert.bsky.social

TikTok Pushed Young German Voters Toward Far-Right Partywww.wired.com Young Germans searching TikTok for parties and candidates were disproportionately served content related to the the far-right Alternative for Germany, says a new report shared exclusively with WIRED.

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Bits and Bobs

I talked to @taylorlorenz.bsky.social about far right figures using the assassination attempt to undermine DEI policies: “This is all part of a direct effort to kind of undermine and eliminate those [DEI] policies in the federal government should Trump get elected.”

Right-wing influencers use Trump assassination attempt to attack DEIwww.washingtonpost.com Attacking diversity and inclusion efforts has become a popular way for conservatives to generate outrage online.

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Bits and Bobs

JD Vance used to tell the white working class to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Now he's fighting a very different fight. From me and Tom Schaller at TNR:

How J.D. Vance Abandoned His Tough Love for the White Working Classnewrepublic.com He used to tell them they had no one to blame but themselves but he's found more politically palatable targets.

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Bits and Bobs

It's not divorced men Vance loathes. It's divorced women. www.salon.com/2024/07/16/s...

J.D. Vance decried folks who "shift spouses like they change their underwear" — but he loves Trumpwww.salon.com Donald's running mate denounced divorce for "even violent" marriages, but is mum on his boss's wives and mistresses

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Bits and Bobs

“And I was talking about, you know, what is the first truly Islamist country that will get a nuclear weapon, and we were like, maybe it’s Iran, you know, maybe Pakistan already kind of counts, and then we sort of finally decided maybe it’s actually the UK, since Labour just took over.” - JD Vance

Labour reacts to JD Vance’s view UK could be ‘first Islamist country’ with nuclear weaponswww.theguardian.com Angela Rayner said she didn’t recognise ‘that characterisation’ Trump’s running mate made in comments

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Bits and Bobs

Since Ben Carson just said it, too, a gift link: "They" didn't shoot Donald Trump. wapo.st/3WoSnXe

Analysis | ‘They’ didn’t shoot Donald Trumpwapo.st Despite the lack of any clear motive, the actions of Thomas Crooks have been attributed to the Democratic Party at large.

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Bits and Bobs

The "unity convention" is now airing a terrible rap song with the refrain "FJB."

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Bits and Bobs

Gene Hamilton, a top aide to former Trump Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, was the drafter of the family separation memo and is among the dozens of former Trump officials behind the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025: zacharymueller.substack.com/p/project-20...

Don Jr. tried to bs a reporter about his dad’s family separation policy and had an on-camera meltdown when corrected that, no, it wasn’t an Obama policy. 1,400 kids are still separated, and the architects behind this policy want back in the White House in 2025 👇🏽 americasvoice.org/blog/watch-d...

WATCH: Donald Trump Jr. Deflects on Trump Administration’s Cruel and Traumatizing Family Separation Policy - America's Voiceamericasvoice.org The Trump administration’s inhumane and traumatic family separation policy was and remains indefensible – and it’s front and center again as convicted felon Donald Trump pursues his mass deportation a...

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Bits and Bobs

"Sen. J.D. Vance, ..., told a group of influential young conservatives in a closed-door speech in 2021 that they should stand up for “nonconventional people” who speak truth, such as Infowars founder Alex Jones." -- www.propublica.org/article/jd-v...

In Private Speech, J.D. Vance Said the “Devil Is Real” and Praised Alex Jones as a Truth-Tellerwww.propublica.org Vance gave the speech to the secretive Teneo Network. The GOP vice presidential nominee has been a member of the Leonard Leo-backed group, which seeks to cultivate conservative influence in business a...

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Bits and Bobs

RNC platform writer Ed Martin confirms on a radio show that invoking the 14th Amendment is a proxy for nationwide ban: “There’s not as many words describing it, but there’s protection under the Constitution, that life is protected" via @motherjones.bsky.social

RNC official: Nothing in our platform says we won't ban abortion nationwidewww.motherjones.com “Don’t let anybody tell you there’s not protections for pro-life,” top Republican Ed Martin said on his radio show last week.

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Bits and Bobs

A moment of silence for a hero. apnews.com/article/buxt...

Tuskegee syphilis study whistleblower Peter Buxtun has died at age 86apnews.com The whistleblower who exposed the Tuskegee syphilis study that left hundreds of Black men untreated has died at age 86.

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Bits and Bobs

This really is quite remarkable. Even Palin seems to have gotten the cold shoulder!

The pre-Trump GOP has been memory-holed

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Bits and Bobs

Beryl, after the May storm that hit Houston, has a lot of people wondering whether they’ll stay in Houston. But it’s the wealthiest residents who can make that choice. Gift article. www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/u...

‘This Storm Has Broken People’: After Beryl, Some Consider Leavingwww.nytimes.com Devastating, back-to-back power outages have led some in Houston to consider whether they want to stay in the city they love.

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Bits and Bobs

Biden and Trump offer worlds-apart contrasts on issues in 2024's rare contest between two presidents

Biden and Trump offer worlds-apart contrasts on issues in 2024's rare contest between two presidentsapnews.com It hasn’t happened in almost anyone’s lifetime: two presidents squaring off in one election. Joe Biden and his predecessor, Donald Trump, have track records in office that voters will judge alongside their promises.

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Bits and Bobs

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley said former President Donald Trump has her “strong endorsement” while addressing delegates at the RNC Tuesday.

Trump back for RNC Night 2 with Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and more set to speakwww.npr.org The RNC focuses its second convention day on the theme "Make America Safe Once Again," just days after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally.

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Bits and Bobs

An exiled Chinese businessman who once had close ties to former White House adviser Stephen K. Bannon was convicted of defrauding his online followers of more than $1 billion, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Executive with ties to Bannon convicted in billion-dollar fraud schemewww.washingtonpost.com Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire, was convicted Tuesday on nine counts, including wire fraud and money laundering.

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Bits and Bobs

We need the higher ed media to better describe what's at stake here. These are not "reforms," they're an authoritarian takeover. They're not "bold" or "sweeping," they're undemocratic and fascist. These aren't normal policy recommendations, they're a dismantling of higher education!

How Project 2025 could radically reshape higher edwww.insidehighered.com The sweeping conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration would dismantle the Education Department, privatize student loans and end all ongoing Title IX investigations. Critics say it’s a ...

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Bits and Bobs

Reply to

Holly Brewer

You inspired the post!

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Bits and Bobs

So do I have it right that Vance basically opposes immigration and thinks women should be stay-at-home moms and his wife is a Yale educated rock star lawyer who is the daughter of immigrants?

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Bits and Bobs

Biden's bravest policy move, where he paid a big political cost, was ending U.S. involvement in a major war that Trump and Obama didn't end.

It is possible that some of the things Republicans will say tonight are not strictly true. But the one that always gets to me is the claim that four years ago the US was at peace.

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Bits and Bobs

We are standing on the precipice of a truly existential crisis. How we got here—again—is just wild 😭 🎁 link: www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/c...

What Trump 2.0 Could Mean for the Environmentwww.nytimes.com If Donald Trump returns to the White House, he would likely face fewer legal and bureaucratic obstacles to dramatically remake the E.P.A.

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Bits and Bobs

I rip on the New York Times but they do cover the economic tsunami that’s gonna hit if Trump wins. Trying to goose manufacturing while deporting millions & limiting immigration while also depreciating the $ out of being reserve currency ought to tame inflation lol cry www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/u...

Trump-Vance Administration Could Herald New Era for Dollarwww.nytimes.com Both candidates on the Republican ticket have argued that the U.S. currency should be weaker to support American exports.

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Bits and Bobs

“They don’t want to hear my question, which is, ‘Are you cloistered? Have you heard what the polling is, that we no longer have three swing states, we have seven or 10?’” said Representative Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat who has called for Mr. Biden to step aside. [🎁 link]

Biden Circle Shrinks as Democrats Fear Election Wipeoutwww.nytimes.com President Biden, increasingly isolated during the biggest political crisis of his presidency, is in a historic standoff with his party.

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Bits and Bobs

Vance defends trump’s conduct after the 2020 election & has adopted trump’s enemies as his own. He appeals to the Rust Belt voters who are at the heart of trump’s campaign. He opposed the bill that provided Ukraine's military aid & like trump he is transactional. www.nytimes.com/2024/07/16/o...

Opinion | What Trump Sees in J.D. Vance, His New Apprenticewww.nytimes.com The former president was probably thinking of 2028 and beyond — and where he wants the G.O.P. to go.

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Bits and Bobs

Reply to

Torr Leonard 🧵

How Ford brought historic train station back to life with focus on mobility tech - “I wanted the future of transportation to be created right here in Detroit, where it was invented in the first place,” Ford’s executive chair said. www.emergingtechbrew.com/stories/2024...

How Ford brought historic train station back to life with focus on mobility techwww.emergingtechbrew.com “I wanted the future of transportation to be created right here in Detroit, where it was invented in the first place,” Ford’s executive chair said.