Sumita Pahwa

@sumitapahwa.bsky.social

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Social scientist, religion and politics, Bombayite, Californian, ex-Cairene. Mango maven. Teaches at Scripps College. Nobody's fluffy bunny.

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Sumita Pahwa

hey everybody remember to share #GoodNews too

🚨 BREAKING: The Tory party is set to suffer total annihilation, according to a final mega poll. Full story: trib.al/BeoNk1z

UK election: Tories set to suffer total annihilation, final mega polls predicttrib.al Keir Starmer’s Labour will romp to victory, according to pollster YouGov.

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Sumita Pahwa

I think it was Lenin who said, “there are decades where nothing happens, and then there are weeks where holy shit what the fuck”

People who have had the newest Covid variants, what were your most prominent early symptoms? I've read: headache. Others?

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Sumita Pahwa

Coup talk. Just out in the open. And not addressed as such by the opposing party or the sitting president.

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be" www.mediamatters.org/project-2025...

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court immunity decision: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution"www.mediamatters.org

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Sumita Pahwa

This should have been the priority of the 2021 Trifecta. They did not take the threat seriously and now here we all are again

really cannot emphasize enough how plainly all this proves that the first priority of the next Democratic administration needs to be democracy reform --filibuster --electoral college --court reform --dc and pr statehood --new voting rights act --gerrymandering

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Sumita Pahwa

claiming hypocrisy in cases like this is missing the point. they have completely consistent beliefs: they and their friends should be able to do whatever they want without consequence, and everyone else should be subservient to them.

The hypocrisy, it burns.

Justice John Roberts Saying The President Is 'Bound By The Law' During Confirmation Hearing Resurfaces After Immunity Rulingbit.ly John Roberts previously said presidents are "bound by the law" during his confirmation hearing.

It is the tenth anniversary of my arrival in California. In this period, have been converted to Birks for daily wear, have learned to drive, become a native plant enthusiast, and have developed strong feelings about different kinds of tacos and regional variations in dumplings.

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Sumita Pahwa

Living under authoritarian regimes is both relatively boring and normal AND incredibly corrosive to the human soul. These things can absolutely co-exist. This is why everyone needs to resist authoritarians, even people who privately assume they’ll be just fine.

The damage this causes across generations (even if the regime is short lived!) is so hard to grasp if you haven’t lived with it. It touches every aspect of life. It makes trust impossible, and without some level of trust and a belief in the possibility of justice, *nothing in society works.*

While I get and agree with the importance of voting this fall, could someone who knows US politics better explain to me what Biden will be able to do if reelected that he cannot simply do now?

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Sumita Pahwa

Democracy dies in journalists committed to bothsidesism when one of those sides seeks to be a dictator and was just given the green light by SCOTUS to be a dictator.

“What makes you so confident you should be president?” is an actual question a reporter shouted at the incumbent who just warned about a reckless court decision that imperils democracy

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Sumita Pahwa

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Sumita Pahwa

“Nothing we can do except vote and hope for the best” declares man just handed unlimited power.

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Sumita Pahwa

Americanists and lawyers ask, what does the Constitution say? Comparativists ask, who controls the High Court, the militia, and the clerics?

6-3 for total immunity is devastating. This isn’t a ruling for 45, this is permission for 47.

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Sumita Pahwa

"Expand the court" has gone from radical solution to the most exceptionally moderate option on the table.

Do these school officials not read? Did they not read Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun?

In a functional world there would be consequences for a public school district blowing $6 million on building an AI friend for students. www.nytimes.com/2024/07/01/u...

A.I. ‘Friend’ for Public School Students Falls Flatwww.nytimes.com Los Angeles schools hired a start-up to build an A.I. chatbot for parents and students. A few months later, the company collapsed.

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Sumita Pahwa

Reply to

Taniel

NEWS: Melenchon, left leader of LFI, just said his priority will be to block far-right in runoff. He says his party will drop out from runoff if RN is 1st & LFI is 3rd. So: all left parties will have this approach—drop out to block far-right. Macronists haven't followed this.

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Sumita Pahwa

Hypothesis: elites driving convo know, but won’t say, that vote for Biden is a vote for his cabinet & staff—his aging issues only make that, say, 25% more true than for anyone else. So wager is rooted in idea that voters won’t, & *can’t*, grok how US governance works. See @gregsargent.bsky.social

I agree that no one is disputing the fact that Biden is old and diminished compared to his younger self. But it doesn't seem damning to me that the main conversation is about what you gain and lose by switching to Harris (or contested convention), just as we talk about voting for Biden vs. Trump.

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Sumita Pahwa

Every morning I check the news and it's like -SCOTUS Eliminates Three More Basic Rights, Only Six Remain -President Mispronounces a Word, Will Now Lose Election to Senile Hitler -New AI Company Uses Artist Blood to Let Billionaires and Racists Live Forever, Gets $45 Billion Valuation

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Sumita Pahwa

Idk if I'm stating the obvious, but justices never write/speak like this. She's telling the world this is a five-alarm fire and the coup is on.

As Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her dissent last Friday, “The majority disdains restraint, and grasps for power” — and the justices are “making a laughing-stock” of long-standing judicial principles. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

The Supreme Court Is a Joke. It’s Not Funnywww.rollingstone.com The justices accidentally, repeatedly referenced laughing gas in a disastrous ruling before declaring that judges know better than agency regulators.

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Sumita Pahwa

Voters turn out in record numbers in France’s high-stakes snap election https://www.ft.com/content/645a559e-17ce-435d-920a-905b2c709fe8

Voters turn out in record numbers in France’s high-stakes snap electionwww.ft.com More than a quarter of votes already cast by noon, the highest turnout in more than four decades

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Sumita Pahwa

Good piece 👇🏽

If you are looking for a proposal on a Gaza Reconstruction Council authored by someone who has been working towards Palestinian sovereignty for decades, Omar Shaban wrote this one, published this week at the International Policy Journal internationalpolicy.org/publications...

A Proposal for a Gaza Reconstruction Council - CIPinternationalpolicy.org A comprehensive plan for administration of the territory in the near-term aftermath of the war is necessary to ensure sufficient stability to rebuild the territory and prevent a relapse of fighting.

Looking for a video of highlights/last five overs of the cricket final from last night, and after half an hour, all I can find is my desi dudes offering their commentary over still shots.

Clearly there are not enough non-Americans on this thing if there's zero discussion of the cricket on my timeline... That was a closely matched final. Much more evenly distributed talent, and more discipline on the India team, than when I was growing up. And we never had someone like Bumrah before

America....f*** yeah.

I live in an area at extremely high risk of wildfire. Noticed the seasonally-typical fireworks stores when out and about today. Adaptation to climate change? We can't even get people, all of whom have been effected by fire, to put up with the inconvenience of forgoing July 4th bottle rockets.

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Sumita Pahwa

Very Serious Pundits will need to find something new to hyperventilate and squeal about. 538 polled voters before and after the debate and found little change. “Our poll also found that the debate didn’t change many voters’ minds about either candidate” projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-trump-...

Who Won The First Biden-Trump Presidential Debate?projects.fivethirtyeight.com We’re partnering with Ipsos to poll voters before and after the candidates take the stage.

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Sumita Pahwa

Since 2021 California electric bills have risen 38%. Because of public outrage after PG&E raised utility bills 13% in January then a fixed $4 raise in April, the utility company now says they are "temporarily" lowering our bills by 10%. www.abc10.com/article/news...

PG&E says it's temporarily decreasing rates by 9% starting in Julywww.abc10.com PG&E is temporarily reducing electric rates by 9% starting July 1.

Squeeze a lemon on it, people.

Grim and true.

1) Estimates --> 500k in Gaza currently at risk of starvation, another 2.15 million face acute food insecurity. For all its faults. (and they are many, I do not support its policy on Gaza), the Biden admin is the only reason any aid is getting in, & the only restraint on Israel's actions in Gaza.

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Sumita Pahwa

I can't believe we, as a species, invented bread and cheese - two things that require multiple, complicated steps as well as microbe husbandry - and this is the best political system we've got

Those of you watching the debate are made of stronger stuff than I am.