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Doug

@dougmasson.bsky.social
574 followers 176 following 2K posts

Husband. Father. Hoosier. Citizen. Lawyer. Due process is where you go to see if what is said is so.

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Reposted by Doug
In Otter News @in-otter-news.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Here is a picture of a baby otter and you should probably look at it.
A close-up photo of Steve, a newborn otter, curled up and sleeping in a pair of cupped human hands.  
There is no text baked into the image.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 22/09/2026
Glamour Of Lamborghini Negated By Indiana Plates
Glamour Of Lamborghini Negated By Indiana Plates
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Just a little reminder, since history gets fuzzier faster than it used to, the conflict with Iran was an unforced error by this administration. No need for it. There is no real upside for the average American if we "win" as compared to the status quo ante. And we are experiencing a notable downside.
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Ej Dickson @ejdickson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
There is a corner of the internet I had never heard of before I started reporting this story. It’s called the “burnerverse”: a network of anon burner accounts ostensibly discussing college sports. But they have another goal: destroying young girls’ lives.🧵: www.wired.com/story/burner...
wired.com
A College Girl Was Exploited on Camera. A Network of Anonymous Men Got to Work
Maddie Kowalski is one of countless young women who’ve had their lives destroyed by the burnerverse, a loosely connected online community of sports fans. Now she’s fighting back.
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pixelatedboat aka “mr bluesky” @pixelatedboat.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Washington post correction:
Thursday, December 3, 2009
A Nov. 26 article in the District edition of Local Living incorrectly said a Public Enemy song declared 9/11 a joke. The song refers to 911, the emergency phone number.
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Sickos Committee @sickoscommittee.org · 08/09/2026
Jeff Sagarin has some opinions.
Teams that appear to be tied to two decimal places in a given column are different when carried to more decimal places in the computer's internal
PREDICTOR is also known as PURE_POINTS, BALLANTINE, RHEINGOLD, WHITE OWL and is a very good PREDICTOR of future games.
GOLDEN_MEAN also utilizes the actual SCORES of the games in a different wa and thus should be a good match for the PURE POINTS in terms of predictive
The RECENT, is score-based and weights RECENT play more heavily than earli more pronounced the longer a season goes if a given team happens to have
The overall RATING is a synthesis of the three different SCORE-BASED meth and RECENT and thus should be a good predictor in its own right.
These ratings reflect a score of Western Michigan defeating Michigan 12-7.
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I think this is why I've soured on political journalism from local to international: "There’s no method of any kind to discourse gatekeeping, just rote glomming on to controversies as they arise, even when they’re ginned up in bad faith."
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Uncle Duke @uncleduke1969.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
they’ll figure it out if they get hungry enough
Supermarket aisle sign with items listed top to bottom: Can Fish, Microwave, Soup.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
WSJ, with an ice-cold graphic: @wsj.com
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Justin Ling @justinling.ca · 27/08/2026
Today's @xkcd.com
It's a stickman holding a hammer, lifting up his leg, and saying:

"Listen up, leg. I've been sending you rich, oxygenated blood for years, while you send me worthless used-up blood with no oxygen. Time to teach you a lesson about not ripping me off!"

It is captioned: tariffs
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I don't see too many West Lafayette voters on this site, but I'll go ahead and drop a link to my blog post urging them to vote "yes" on the upcoming school referendum question.
masson.us
West Lafayette Schools: 2026 Referendum - A Citizen's Guide to Indiana
Because of changes in state law, West Lafayette needs to adopt a new referendum in 2026 to keep funding steady.
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James Longhurst @jameslonghurst.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
campus IT: beware of links to non-university sites, and unexpected emails from non-campus domains EVERY ADMIN OFFICE ON CAMPUS: sends survey links to webpages you've never heard of RESERVATIONS OFFICE: sends emails without subject line or body text, only a pdf, from never-seen company domain
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Not that this goes to the deeper issues people are discussing. But the Thanksgiving Holiday has basically nothing to do with the Pilgrims or anything to do with settlers or later white Americans interactions with American Indians. The holiday didn't start with the Pilgrims. The modern day ...
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Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
The paperback of Invisible Rulers is out today! To celebrate I dropped audio of the Twitter Space where Mike Benz first groomed Matt Taibbi into believing there'd been "mass censorship" of "hundreds of millions of tweets"—something he'd then testify before Congress. open.substack.com/pub/agentsof...
open.substack.com
When Matt Taibbi Met Mike Benz
How independent media turned an obscure political operative into a "whistleblower"—and his claims into government action.
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Sarah Taber @sarahtaber.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
A very serious Rural Politico once told me "Dems have to go to farmer meetings! We gotta be where the people are!" I was in fact in a farmer meeting at that very moment! So I live-texted him the meeting. They were complaining that they want indentured workers that they don't have to pay or feed.
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
Because of the Indiana General Assembly's tax shenanigans, a record number of Indiana schools are having to float school referendums. If you're a Hoosier in one of these districts, vote "yes."
Chart showing dramatic spike in the number of Indiana school operating referendums for 2026 as compared to 2011 - 2025.
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mtsw @mtsw.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
But I get a little frustrated when people are like "see, this proves all the other Dems could be Just Doing Stuff" and that's not the case. For many, many other offices Doing Fucking Anything requires navigating both a ton of veto points held by special interests and farcically constrained budgets
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Brian Barrett @brbarrett.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
Ebay’s harassment spree against a perfectly nice couple in Massachusetts is one of the craziest stories I’ve ever covered. Six years later, the victims have finally gotten their due. from @laurengoode.bsky.social
wired.com
Ebay Has to Pay $55.7 Million in Settlement for Its Unhinged Harassment Campaign
For months on end, eBay employees and contractors made life hell for a couple that had criticized the company. Six years later, the company is finally paying up.
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Reminds me of the taxes versus public wages discourse. "Actually, $300k/year isn't really 'rich' if you think about it" - when it's time to talk about raising taxes. Meanwhile, teachers making $60k are an unsupportable extravagance.
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Randall Munroe @xkcd.com · 16/07/2026
Time Change xkcd.com/3272/
3-panel comic. (1) PERSON 1 behind podium on stage: We all hate springing forward. But we love falling back. (2) [Audience pictured listening] PERSON 1: Therefore, we are abolishing the *spring* time change *only*. We’ll gain an hour every year, but never lose one. (3) PERSON OFF-PANEL: Won’t that cause the clocks to spiral out of sync with the sun? PERSON 1 holding up a fist: *Then we will meet the chaos clear-eyed and well-rested!*
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The Onion @theonion.com · 15/07/2026
Matt Damon Defends Dunkin’ Product Placement In Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ theonion.com/matt-damon-defends-dun…
Matt Damon Defends Dunkin’ Product Placement In Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’
Actor Portrays Hero’s Return To Ithaca With Box Of Dozen Assorted Donuts
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Atlas Shvitzed @therafischwartz.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Unfortunately, a stunned Paris is how they all got into this whole mess to begin with
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Uncle Duke @uncleduke1969.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
"Linda, we both know that it's not my birthday. Yesterday wasn't my birthday either, or the day before. Have you considered maybe reading a book? Taking an online cooking class? Also, it might not kill you to vacuum."
A sad-looking cat in a birthday had sits in front of a stack of sealed cat food packets and a can topped with a lit candle.
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Good column by @profhicks.bsky.social. Indiana government needs to focus on encouraging educational attainment. Additionally, the elimination of the 30% business personal property tax depreciation floor was a mistake. #Indiana
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Indiana Capital Chronicle @indianacapitalchronicle.com · 24/06/2026
Caitlin Clark's argument with her coach went viral. How did Indy sports reporters handle the story?
indianacapitalchronicle.com
Caitlin Clark's argument with her coach went viral. How did Indy sports reporters handle the story? • Indiana Capital Chronicle
To anyone who’s familiar with WNBA coverage, it’s no surprise that a recent video of a mid-game disagreement between Caitlin Clark and her coach went viral.
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
Apparently a verse made up by a fictional character in a short story, but I like it all the same: "Pray not for aid to One who made a set of never-changing Laws. But in your need remember well, He gave you speed, or guile -- or claws."
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
After reading the article, I'm not sure the headline matches the content. My first reaction to the headline was that declarations about how "this era of wealth is different," are a pretty reliable indicator that a financial bubble is about to burst.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 13/06/2026
Commentary: I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake
theonion.com
I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake
Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where the...
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Hoosier Huddle @hoosierhuddle.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Top 10 Indiana Football Fan Traditions #iufb #Hoosiers hoosierhuddle.com/2026/06/10/t...
hoosierhuddle.com
Top 10 Indiana Football Fan Traditions - Hoosier Huddle
As an avid fan of The Masters, I’m no stranger to traditions unlike any other. Well, today I’ve got a list of some of the top traditions in Indiana Football
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
The idea that race and partisanship would be too entangled to identify voting restrictions as racist would have seemed absurd to the authors of the 15th Amendment, given that it was itself adopted at a time of racist partisan disenfranchisement www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
The Fifteenth Amendment, in other words, was never not partisan. If it had not been intended to prevent politically motivated racist disenfranchisement, it would have done nothing at all. The entire purpose was to ensure that neither party—not Democrats in the 19th century nor Republicans in the 21st—could ignore Black voters. Attacking or defending Black rights is not inherently partisan, except when the parties themselves make it so, and the point of inalienable rights is that politicians should not be able to take the shortcut of disenfranchising voters to whom they do not care to appeal.
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
From a Madrid trip journal entry: "Next to us was a family from Colorado Springs where a Fox News Dad was holding forth confidently and incorrectly in monologues about a variety of subjects: education, renewable energy, inflation, etc. while his family dutifully listened."
Harper trying not to laugh too loud as the Fox News Dad monologue gets longer and longer.
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
This essay includes the sentence "to be very clear, I do not mean 'dirtbag' in a fully pejorative sense." Which puts me in mind of the writing of @flotisserie.bsky.social, so I am tagging her.
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Indiana Capital Chronicle @indianacapitalchronicle.com · 12/05/2026
Robert Garton, who served as Senate president pro tempore with five Hoosier governors, held that post for longer than anyone else in state history. indianacapitalchronicle.com/2026/05/11/r...
indianacapitalchronicle.com
Robert Garton, leader of Indiana Senate for 26 years, dies at age 92 • Indiana Capital Chronicle
Former Indiana Senate President Pro Tem Robert Garton, who died last week at age 92, is remembered by former legislative colleagues as a principled leader during his 26 years heading up the Senate.
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Cai @annenotation.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
I think something that Will Stancil hasn't quite internalized about people's experience in the current economy but doesn't disprove his point is the sheer number of 'get rich quick' schemes that fell apart that people are not admitting to having participated in. They were nuts in 20-21.
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WFIU/WTIU News @wfiuwtiunews.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Monroe County resident Lee Lawmaster posted "86" to the Facebook pages of Indiana officials. Then, an investigator from the Attorney General's office told him to "tone down the rhetoric" or face indictment. @weiss-a-woni.bsky.social Read more: www.ipm.org/news/2026-05...
Ken Falk, legal director for the ACLU of Indiana. He has curly gray hair, glasses, a black suit jacket, white shirt and black tie. He is speaking into a microphone while sitting in a courtroom. The headline below his photo reads "Monroe County man sues over alleged intimidation by AG inspector"
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
The Lt. Governor attacked the performance of some public school band kids as being "demonic." Such rhetoric is dangerous and should not be countenanced.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 01/05/2026
Racehorse Receives Carrot Every Time He Wins $2 Million For Owner
Racehorse Receives Carrot Every Time He Wins $2 Million For Owner
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I've only glanced at the report, but there is some fascinating stats already. Boys and girls are fairly comparable academically in 11th grade, but boys "fail to launch" senior year and into college. More women are going into "male coded" careers but fewer men doing the reverse.
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
"Is the Pope Catholic? We asked J.D. Vance, and the answer might surprise you." Has this one been done yet? @nytpitchbot.bsky.social
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Both of the Republican election division leaders are resigning after the primary is over. Brad King has been there forever (and, prior to that had worked at the Legislative Services Agency where I got my start.) He basically just said that he's 68 years old and it's time.
indianacapitalchronicle.com
GOP election division leaders resign • Indiana Capital Chronicle
The top two Republicans in the Indiana Election Division have tendered their resignations, effective May 6.
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
In our legal system, a plea of Not Guilty does not necessarily mean that the Defendant did not commit the offense or that he was not involved in a crime. 
Rather, it is a popular plea, often employed by Defendants who are, indeed, guilty, but ar reluctant to go to prison. 
In any event, it imposes upon the State the burden of proving the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.
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Mary Beth Schneider @marybschneider.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
😂
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Mark McIntyre @markjmcintyre.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
I don't remember seeing an image of Earth before that captures the (thin, fragile, tiny layer of) atmosphere so clearly. I mean, look at that.
Zooming in on the photo of Earth taken by astronauts on Artemis II on their way to the Moon, you can clearly see the Aurora Borealis and thin layer of atmosphere wrapping around the planet.Zooming in on the photo of Earth taken by astronauts on Artemis II, you can clearly see the thin layer of atmosphere wrapping around the entire planet.
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Doug @dougmasson.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
I should never know what happened on Truth Social. Stop spreading that shit.
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RM @dorsalstream.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
The horse op-ed is an instant classic. I can't tell you how much joy this piece gives me. It should be taught in every introductory writing class in no small part because the horse arguments are so compelling. "I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children."
I Work Very Hard, And I Would Like To Try Cake

By A Horse

Hello. I am a horse. I work very hard at my job of being a horse. When humans say move the heavy thing, I move the heavy thing. When humans sit on top of me and pull on my head, I carry them where they want to go. The main food the humans give me is hay and oats. But I am thinking it would be nice to have a different food.

I am thinking I would like to try cake.

Yes, yes. Cake. I know all about it. When humans eat cake, it is in glad times. It is the food for a celebration, such as when a woman becomes 47. I have seen cake on the Fourth of July. When humans have a cake, they stand around it and clap hands and smile and say happy birthday at each other. Sometimes there are beautiful markings on a cake, such as balloons or a pink shape.

Sometimes the top of a cake is on fire and a boy must blow on the fire with mouth wind. This is the scariest cake. I do not want this kind. But I will eat any other cake. Any cake that is not the fire cake that tries to kill the boy.

Please understand: I do not get money for doing work. I do not get to go inside the house. All I am either doing my horse job or standing in my pen or eating food off the floor. I always do these things. But I have never once gotten cake and I would like it very much.

I have noticed that human children get to eat cake. But I am bigger than the children. I am more helpful to the farm. Children do not move the heavy things like me or let anyone ride on them. And yet they get cake. Maybe the humans will realize this. Maybe they will say, "You  know who deserves cake? That horse. That horse whose back we are always on."

Every day I dream about what it will be like if I get to eat cake. Here is what will happen. First, I will walk to the cake and putt my nose at it like hrrfff to make and stomping my hooves to make sure it is not a snake. Then I will trot in a circle to show that I am a horse and I am large. After that, I will nuzzle the cake to …
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Indiana Capital Chronicle @indianacapitalchronicle.com · 03/04/2026
Judge kicks dispute over same-last-name candidate back to Indiana Election Commission indianacapitalchronicle.com/briefs/judge...
indianacapitalchronicle.com
Judge kicks dispute over same-last name candidate back to Indiana Election Commission • Indiana Capital Chronicle
A judge is sending back to the Indiana Election Commission a dispute over whether one of two women with the last name Wilson can remain on the Republican primary ballot for a state Senate seat.
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Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
A Brief History of People Have Lost Their Sense of Humour 🧵
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Popehat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Just so you understand, this is as if you prepared for argument in front of a panel that included Cookie Monster, and Cookie Monster asked you a question about cookies, and you had not thought about cookies in advance.
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In Otter News @in-otter-news.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Here is a picture of a baby otter for no good reason.
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