chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Hey @abdulelsayed.bsky.social, do you think Mike Rogers has even swam in Grand Traverse Bay, or cares about keeping it blue? I don't. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 02/10/2026The Times fails to call this what it is: illegal or, if you are risk adverse, "likely illegal." If there is real question about this, the paper should explain.nytimes.comNational Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by CongressThe move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants. 010
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Why are so many bad things happening in government after we elected and empowered an administration that is hostile to government and experience bureaucrats? It's like putting Maoists on your corporate board and then watching profitability evaporate.nytimes.comEmbarrassing Breach at F.B.I. Fuels Fears of Harm to Its EmployeesIn an internal memo, the F.B.I. said it believed the hackers may have stolen sensitive information on all of its employees. 010
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Liptak's framing bothers me. It's horserace coverage of the Court. Yes, sometimes the Court (but not all of the Court) reject's Trump's arguments...because they are obviously illegal or unconstitutional. The piece doesn't even mention this.nytimes.comSupreme Court Stands Up to Trump on Mail Voting and a Few Key IssuesThe justices take their time and pick their spots, but they have rejected presidential initiatives on tariffs, citizenship, the National Guard — and now the coming election. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Because they are making a movie based on it, I reread the Dog Stars. There is genuinely beautiful writing in it --especially in the first half, which I think is the strongest part of the book. 100
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 11/09/2026What is the aftermath? A largely unchecked expansion of executive branch wartime, emergency, and surveillance powers; multiple middle east wars; an erosion of civil liberties and extrajudicial detentions, torture, and killings; 100
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 08/09/2026I vastly preferred when the federal government and its policies were implemented and administered by bureaucrats with expertise who weren't political actors. I think it's obvious that regardless of the flaws of the traditional approach, it was vastly better than this. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026We, the majority in the Court, cannot possibly address the merits of whether the executive branch can spend federal money without Congressional appropriation, 100
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 25/08/2026John Roberts: you don't have standing to sue to block an executive order that hasn't gone into effect yet.....unless you are a power plant operator and it's the Biden administration trying to regulate carbon admissons. 011
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 19/08/2026Rage bait I took. Has Stephens ever called for accountability for the current regime? The fact that he detests Trump doesnt change the disqualifying fact he thinks wokeism's alleged illiberalism is equivalent to what is happening now.nytimes.comOpinion | Yes, Woke 1.0 Was Crazy. Now Where’s the Accountability?The damage was real and long-lasting. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 08/08/2026Classic Douthat. At a high enough level of abstraction, it's really hard to tell which side is worse. Really, Ross? There is passing acknowledgement that Trump's regime has been "corrupt, bullying, and destabilizing,"nytimes.comOpinion | Who Is My Enemy? I’m No Longer Sure.Where does the side of the angels really lie? 100
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 04/08/2026At the stage of GOP "governance" when promising to limit your corrupt plans is a sign of merit. 010
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 31/07/2026An obvious and entirely predictable consequence of the SC's terrible Slaughter decision is turning the federal government into a vehicle for pay to play (or pay to not be regulated) governance. open.substack.com/pub/danieldr...open.substack.comThe Corruption Is the PointAn awful lot of folks are okay with bribing Donald Trump, his family, and his administration. What will the reckoning look like -- or will it happen at all? 120
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Rich texts can support many adaptations, and the very best understand and use some or more elements of a text and expand on them to speak to contemporary audiences. 110
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 21/07/2026This is almost certainly illegal, yet the Times' headlines or short write-up doesn't mention this. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/07...nytimes.comTrump Administration Live Updates: White House Withholds Medicaid Funds for California and Minnesota 010
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 11/07/2026Straight of Mackinac. THE bridge off in the distance. Thank goodness there is a decaying oil pipeline under all of this. 010
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 08/07/2026So many things are terrible. One thing that is not is a paddle and refreshing open water swim in Lake Michigan near Charlevoix on a hot day. Sublime. Use dive fins and snorkel and mask for maximum effect. 010
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 28/06/2026Hunter Biden has a few regrets. He says had he known how things would have turned out, he would have done things differently.nytimes.comTrump Cut a Billion-Dollar Mining Deal. His Sons Stand to Profit. 010
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 26/06/2026This is excellent and one of the clearest nonacademic explanation/applications of Baudrillard I have seen. It's also a reminder that authenticity cannot be simulated at scale. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mniO...youtube.comThe Dystopian Reality of Online AdvertisingYouTube video by Venus Theory 010
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 21/06/2026I am not optimistic about the upcoming Odyssey movie, especially after I heard Matt Damon was going to play the lead role. Big budget, movie star films have one overriding goal: to make money by appealing to as many as possible.newyorker.comWhy the Odyssey Keeps Defeating FilmmakersFull of violence, desire, monsters, and magic, Homer’s epic has tempted directors for decades. Can Christopher Nolan’s new adaptation survive the voyage? 100
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 20/06/2026I know people on this site love to criticize Klein --and for the record his infamous take on Charlie Kirk was naive and professionally self-serving--but he also platforms interesting thinkers and ideas, and that has value for me. Here is his conversation with author Gary Shteyngart.open.spotify.comI Keep Telling People We’re Living in This Dystopian NovelThe Ezra Klein Show · Episode 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 09/06/2026Really like the framing of this piece: this is what distrust of institutional expertise looks like. www.propublica.org/article/mark...propublica.orgHe Profits Off Raw Milk That’s Making People Sick. The Government Isn’t Stopping Him.With Raw Farm, the largest raw-milk dairy in the country, Mark McAfee has capitalized on a once-fringe product that’s been thrust into the mainstream in recent years and backed by Health Secretary Rob... 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 01/06/2026I have had my fair share of criticisms of the Times, but sometimes the paper publishes incredibly informative pieces supplemented with top shelf explanatory graphics. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...nytimes.comOpinion | America Needs to Build More HousingBasic economic principles point to the solution for the housing affordability crisis. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 30/05/2026I paid my weather tax all year and now it's high season in northern Michigan. 110
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 13/05/2026It's so maddening to watch politicians actively attack experts who can make things better. govintegrity.substack.com/p/the-123-to...govintegrity.substack.comThe $123-to-One Investment House Republicans Want to CutThe Government Accountability Office's work is vital in the fight against fraud, waste and abuse 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 06/05/2026I fear that if or when Dems regain power, they will be complacent and not meet the enormous challenge of repairing democracy, rebuilding state capacity, regulating corporate power, and checking the pernicious influence of enormous wealth. 100
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 05/05/2026How we can save the constitutional republic with a king --by Ross Douthat 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 27/04/2026My approach to conspiracy theories --even the ones that confirm my biases --is to wait for actual evidence to emerge. I don't think motivation or incentive to do something is sufficient evidence that something occurred (e.g., Trump WOULD cheat in an election, therefore it is likely he did.) 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 25/04/2026Douthat fails to even mention that Elon essentially paid to implement DOGE with no oversight and that the cuts made under it were most likely illegal! One of his criticisms is that the cuts achieved so little. Laws be damned.nytimes.comOpinion | The Political Malpractice of Elon Musk 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 24/04/2026Spending billions to make prices higher!nytimes.comIran War Live Updates: U.S. Blockade Will Last ‘As Long as It Takes,’ Hegseth Says 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 20/04/2026It really is remarkable how much the GOP is forfeiting their ability to credibly complain about a range of issues in the future: the debt, executive overreach, pay to play and self-dealing corruption, picking winners and losers in the economy. The blind hope is no one will remember any of this. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 12/04/2026What if the God-king isn't good at, you know, running things? 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 07/04/2026Boy that Unitary Executive theory is looking a bit iffy. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 06/04/2026You know what would crush it in ratings? New reality TV show in which Secretary of DOD and some underlings brave the Strait of Hormuz in a Boston whaler. I would watch it. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 03/04/2026The reason no one talks about the debt or annual deficits anymore is that they no longer exist! He fixed it on Day One! 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 30/03/2026A lot of folks in this country need to admit that at least implicitly they think the ends can justify the means, and so unilateral, unchecked power over federal spending, law enforcement, the regulatory state, and the war power is basically okay as long as the goals are something they support. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 29/03/2026What undergirds almost all of these terrible takes (which are nicely dismantled in the podcast) is a willful amnesia over the Iraq war and blindness to the administration's counterproductive incompetence. open.spotify.com/episode/0Nck...open.spotify.comThe Worst Iran Takes 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Best overview of how both sides can lose the war. This is truly excellent. acoup.blog/2026/03/25/m...acoup.blogMiscellanea: The War in IranThis post is a set of my observations on the current war in Iran and my thoughts on the broader strategic implications. I am not, of course, an expert on the region nor do I have access to any spec… 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 25/03/2026"Why this emergency exposes the inherent weaknesses of liberalism and requires a King" --by Ross Douthat 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 24/03/2026And what's wrong with letting one guy do whatever he wants without checks and balances. Is there REALLY a downside here? 001
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 22/03/2026Air travel: it is about to get even better. Thank the King for all of our victories!!!nytimes.comICE to Augment Security at Airports Amid Partial Shutdown, Border Czar Says 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 10/03/2026They are so transparently awful, corrupt, cruel, and inept on so many fronts that the conservative movement and all who supported it or framed in the most optimistic and credulous ways should be discredited for decades. "You supported this and so we don't need to listen to you ever again." 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 06/03/2026From Reuters: "Secretary Hegseth comes to the podium, strips down to a muscle shirt, revealing biceps with tattoos of the American flag. He flexes and shouts "who's up for some war crimes?!!" 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 04/03/2026Not sure enough people understand what imminent means. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 04/03/2026When the administration finally comes to Congress hat in hand asking for supplemental appropriations for the war (which according to Forbes has already cost an estimated $1 billion), the answer from Dems should be unequivocally NO; the gulf nations and Israel should pay for it. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 02/03/2026Amazing how quickly the concerns over deficit and debt evaporate once the GOP occupies the executive branch. We've known this for a while, but it still is remarkable. Pro tip for Dems: emphasize that this war costs $$$ and in return Americans get nothing except a more unstable world. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 26/02/2026Why can't we have better press? Up until the last paragraph, this simply reports the controversy --the statements, the court decisions-- without determining whether there actually is Medicaid fraud and if so, how much. Last paragraph finally states that eliminating fraud won't balance the budget.nytimes.comTrump Administration Withholds $259 Million in Medicaid Funds From Minnesota 162
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 26/02/2026My latest song, which I started during the shutdown. No AI, no prerecorded samples. I wrote all the parts and played the drums and the simple keys. soundcloud.com/user-5803264...soundcloud.comShutdown FeverThis started as a James Brown -like bass line and developed from there. No AI or prerecorded samples. I wrote all the parts and played the drums and the very basic keys. Mixed and mastered it myself. 000
chicaattack.bsky.social @chicaattack.bsky.social · 22/02/2026Cananda's men's hockey on the verge of being investigated for mortgage fraud. 000
