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L.D. Kirshenbaum

@kbaum88.bsky.social
335 followers 54 following 101 posts

Writer and realistic pacifist concerned with cultural legacy.

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Reposted by L.D. Kirshenbaum
Dean Baker @deanbaker13.bsky.social · 16h
The anti-tax gang does the full crazy on vacant property taxes and CA's wealth tax cepr.net/publications...
cepr.net
Crazy Lies from the Anti-Tax Gang
Claims that vacant property and wealth taxes threaten privacy or trigger stock market panic ignore the facts behind these proposals.
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Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
I love how for weeks major media was claiming it would "only" be $100 million. It was always going to be an exponent of that, and he is certainly not going to stop at $275 million. Continued corrupt Republican control of Washington is worth tens of billions to this monster. And maybe *hundreds*.
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The Independent @the-independent.com · 12/10/2026
Ex-Fox News producer says network is afraid to cover the Kimberly Guilfoyle scandal
trib.al
Ex-Fox News producer says network is afraid to cover the Kimberly Guilfoyle scandal
‘It’s a conscious choice to ignore a major story that has been reported worldwide by every major news outlet,’ former Fox News executive said
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Uh oh, did someone’s website and personal account experience a big drop in activity after Ukraine hit a Russian data center?
Elon Musk: “Zelensky has gone too far”

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2109033017184338141
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SFist @sfist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
SF Mayor Daniel Lurie was slammed by SF supervisors after he skipped a four-hour City Hall hearing on public drug use on Thursday, but then appeared in a segment on CNN discussing improving street safety in the city. buff.ly/Ta7EuXo
buff.ly
Mayor Lurie Slammed By Supes Missing City Hall Hearing on Drug Use, Street Conditions
SF Mayor Daniel Lurie received harsh comments from Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman and Supervisor Jackie Fielder after he skipped a four-hour City Hall hearing on public drug use on…
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 11/10/2026
LOL Ukraine hit a Russian data center and Russian bot activity immediately dropped to practically zero. Elon is mad hahahahahaha
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 11/10/2026
Correction: they've hit THREE data centers :D
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JJ in DC @jjindc.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
🧊✈️ SEATTLE: A girl in chains boards an ICE-chartered GlobalX airplane (tail: N630VA) at Boeing Field, to be transported south to Arizona 👀
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 10/10/2026
Pope Leo XIV declared capital punishment ''inadmissible” as he marked the World Day Against the Death Penalty and his native United States announced plans to livestream an execution by firing squad.
bit.ly
Pope Leo declares death penalty 'inadmissible' as his native US plans to livestream execution
Pope Leo XIV has declared capital punishment "inadmissible.” He has penned a social media post for the World Day Against the Death Penalty, as his native United States announced plans to livestream an execution by firing squad.
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Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 11/10/2026
Just read it. Bessent wrote Warren a letter
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON, D.C.
October 9, 2026
The Honorable Elizabeth Warren
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Warren:
Thave received your October 7 letter, which adds to the mounting body of evidence of your complete paucity of knowledge about financial markets. Rather than take my suggestion of studying introductory economics, you have continued your letter-writing crusade and participation in tabloid fodder about the Treasury Department.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to treat your concerns as sincere. As the federal funds rate climbed from near zero to its highest level in 22 years, with inflation hitting a 40-year high, you were a cheerleader for the Biden Administration's reckless spending. You blamed the economic consequences on the Federal Reserve, rather than your own irresponsible fiscal policies. Your view of the economy depends on who occupies the White House, but your woeful understanding of the issues is consistent.
The "interventions" you describe as "unprecedented" have been underway since May 2024. The buyback program has been well received by market participants in bolstering Treasury liquidity, which reduces market volatility, increases the convenience yield of Treasury securities and ensures the best value for the taxpayer. The continued enhancements optimize Treasury market liquidity in primary and secondary markets. The U.S. Treasury market's liquidity and performance versus global peers is evidence.
While you voted for a $5 trillion tax hike on everyday Americans, the Working Families Tax Cuts continue to deliver for families and workers across the country. The average refund this filing season was over $3,400, an increase of 11 percent over the previous year. More than 30 million workers claimed No Tax on Overtime, more than 7 million claimed No Tax on Tips, and more than 37 million seniors claimed their enhanced deduction. More than 34 million families claimed the permanently enhanced Child Tax Credit, and …These results are made possible by the employees of the Department of the Treasury, who are working around the clock for the American people. Unsurprisingly, you have responded by criticizing their dedication and aptitude for the job in a recent interview.' Despite your malign characterization, the Domestic Finance team you alluded to in your interview is fully staffed relative to historical levels. It is ironic that you have voted against every presidential appointee for a position at Treasury, no matter how impressive the qualifications for the role. Given your newfound interest in Department personnel, I challenge you to reverse course and thoughtfully engage with future nominees and support their confirmation.
Finally, my offer of a Foreign Exchange for Dummies tutorial still stands and if you receive a passing grade on the Yale metric, not the Harvard curve, I would be happy to also include a Fixed Income for Dummies.
Sincerely,
Aver Bout
Happy Indigenous Peoples'
Say in advance to you and your family.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Ivan Turgenev's "Execution of Troppmann" is a short essay, published in 1870, that gives a first-hand account of the writer attending a public execution in Paris. Turgenev's details how the drunk, unruly crowd turned a somber moment into a carnival. A deeply moving essay; I encourage you to read it.
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
republicans used to complain about the violence in gangster rap and now they want to livestream an execution
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Ruth Ben-Ghiat @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
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Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjolique Lett granted the BBC's motion for alternative service in Trump's $10 billion defamation lawsuit, allowing the network to deliver the subpoenas by certified mail to their home and business addresses and by email to Trump's lawyers. www.rawstory.com/trump-family...
rawstory.com
Judge crushes Trump bid to protect Don Jr. and Ivanka Trump from his own lawsuit
A judge cleared the BBC to serve subpoenas on Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner after Secret Service protection thwarted in-person delivery.On Friday, Politico senior legal affairs repo...
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
This thing has made me go do a lot of reading tonight, and the Wikipedia page about the last public execution in the United States is well-written. It was Rainey Bethea, a Black man hanged in front of a crowd of 20,000 in 1936, a spectacle which embarrassed Kentucky enough that they ended hangings.
Hanna placed the noose around Bethea's neck, adjusted it, and then signaled to Hash to pull the trigger. Instead, Hash, who was drunk, did nothing. Hanna shouted at Hash, "Do it!" A deputy then leaned onto the trigger, which sprang the trap door. citation needed! Bethea fell 8 feet (2.4 m), and his neck was instantly broken.
Afterward, two doctors confirmed he was dead.
His body was taken to Andrew & Wheatley
Funeral Home. Icitation needed! He wanted his body to be sent to his sister in South Carolina so that she could arrange for him to be interred next to his father, but against these wishes, he was buried in a pauper's grave at Owensboro Cemetery (also known as City Cemetery and
"Potter's Field") in Owensboro. 14]It was estimated that a crowd of about 20,000 people gathered to watch the execution.!9! One man, 36-year-old Leonard A. Peters, was killed in a car accident while driving to Owensboro to witness the hanging. Three others, including his wife, were injured. 15. Afterwards, Hanna complained that Hash should not have been allowed to perform the execution in his drunken
condition. Hanna further said it was the worst display he experienced in the 70 hangings he had supervised. citation needed]
The spot where the scaffold stood
(approximately 37.775248° -87.116462°) is now part of a drop-off/pick-up lane in front of the Owensboro Convention Center. citation needed]へ
End of public executions in
Kentucky
As the Kentucky General Assembly had been meeting in its biennial sessions at the time, the media circus surrounding the Bethea execution embarrassed members of the Kentucky
legislature. In spite of the humiliation, they could not amend laws regarding executions until the next session in 1938. However, the trial judges in two separate Kentucky rape cases ordered that the hangings of John "Pete" Montjoy and Harold Van Venison be conducted privately. Montjoy, age 23, was privately hanged in Covington on December 17, 1937.On January 17, 1938, William R. Attkisson of the Kentucky State Senate's 38th District (representing Louisville), introduced Senate Bill 69, repealing the requirement in Section 1137 that executions for convicted rapists be conducted by hanging in the county seat where they raped their victims. The bill was promoted in the Kentucky House of Representatives by Representative Charles W. Anderson Jr., one of the attorneys who assisted Bethea in his post-conviction relief motions.
After both houses approved the bill, Governor Chandler signed it into law on March 12, 1938; it became effective on May 30 of that year.
Chandler later expressed regret at having approved the repeal, claiming, "Our streets are no longer safe." The last person ever legally hanged in Kentucky was Harold Van Venison, a
33-year-old African-American singer, who was privately executed in Covington on June 3, 1938.
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Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
"[D]efense companies backed by the president's sons, including Anduril, have now raked in more than $6 billion dollars in active or promised government contracts since those investments were made ... ." But, but Hunter Biden did a painting ...
abcnews.com
Trump sons' investments have won billions in Pentagon contracts since his election
The contract for a new plant in Baltimore is the latest linked to the brothers.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Before he was appointed, Kash Patel was flagged by FBI counterintelligence agents as being deeply enmeshed in influence operations run by the Russians and Chinese. After he took over, Patel began systematically eliminating all Russian and Chinese counterintelligence capacity. What to make of that?
npr.org
As Trump focuses the FBI on immigration, counterintelligence is falling behind
The cuts come as a consequence of President Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel's focus on violent crime and immigration, leaving other priorities understaffed.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 08/10/2026
The government doesn’t track how often immigration agents detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve tallied more than 500 Americans held against their will in warrantless arrests and detentions during President Trump’s second term.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 07/10/2026
Sen. Thom Tillis says he expects there will be pressure on Mike Johnson to not seat the new Congress if Democrats win
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 05/10/2026
“THIS IS THE TEXTBOOK DEFINITION ON LOANSHARKING,” wrote one consumer about a tribal loan company. A federal database used to publicly display such complaints, and they’ve helped inform several ProPublica stories. Now the narratives aren’t public.
propublica.org
The Federal Agency That’s Supposed to Protect Consumers Just Made Another Business-Friendly Move
Debt collection. Credit reporting. Payday loans. Consumer complaints to a federal database used to help reveal issues and bring accountability. Then the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stopped pu...
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Why is 🇺🇸 media not reporting on this 128 day Albanian protest of Kushner and Ivanka’s insane corruption?
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 06/10/2026
Trump: "With the war, it's just artificial. It's a little bit high. It's a small price to pay ... let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay."
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Eric R Fairhurst 📚 🦋 🎷🎨 @efairhurst.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Yes…exactly
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The term “remigration” is associated with the extreme right and only came into widespread usage in 2023-4. Even Germany’s AfD avoided using the term in 2024 for fear of scaring away voters. Today the US government is celebrating the “victories” it’s racked up in the “ethnic cleansing” column.
Department of Homelan... • Follow •.• X
5h • 0
Net negative migration for the first time in HALF a CENTURY.
Americans are amassing victories NEVER seen before thanks to President Trump.
We will continue to grow our efforts to fulfill the mandate given to this administration.
REMIGRATION REPORT
94%)
3.3+
MILLION REMOVALS
INCLUDING DEPORTATIONS AND VOLUNTARY REMOVALS
ASYLUM DENIAL AT 94%
250,000
VISAS REVOKED
REVOKED
TRAVEL BANNED
FROM 39 COUNTRIES
2,600+
287(G)
AGREEMENTS
NATURALIZATIONS
DOWN
75%
1.3K
519
212
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JJ in DC @jjindc.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
🧊✈️ These are all ICE flights 👀
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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Don’t get complacent. They’re still going to try to cheat. Check your registration. Vote early if at all possible.
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Peggy Stuart @peggystuart.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The Postal Service is slowing delivery. Will your mail ballot be affected? www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
democracydocket.com
The Postal Service is slowing delivery. Will your mail ballot be affected?
Democracy Docket mapped the affected zip codes.
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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The same Brendan Carr who wanted to investigate NBC because Kamala was on SNL? The same Brendan Carr who wanted to dismantle independent fact checking and accused them of being a “censorship cartel?” Periodic reminder that the corruption is a feature, not a bug.
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Joe Walsh @walshfreedom.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
58 deaths. Outrageous. Should never happen in America.
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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 29/09/2026
Buried lede: among those speaking out against this is Gregory Baylor, senior counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, a major conservative Christian legal group: “The government shouldn’t punish people who pursue socially valuable callings just because in its judgment they don’t earn enough money.”
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L.D. Kirshenbaum @kbaum88.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
politico.com
‘Pink Slime’ Is Infecting AI Chatbots Ahead of the Midterms
Partisan websites disguised as independent, local news outlets are shaping chatbots’ responses about key races.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 27/09/2026
Advocates say the delays mean people are left waiting in prisonlike detention facilities that are riddled with allegations about spoiled food, beatings and medical neglect. “People are left hungry,” said the wife of a detainee in Mississippi.
propublica.org
These Judges Take Months to Decide If Immigrants Have Been Unlawfully Detained
Judges in some parts of the country have taken months to adjudicate immigrants’ claims of unlawful imprisonment, our analysis of 70,000 habeas petition cases found. Some detainees are asking to be dep...
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 27/09/2026
ProPublica obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, even nothing. From the archives:
propublica.org
The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, ev...
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L.D. Kirshenbaum @kbaum88.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
San Franciscans have had their voices squelched.
missionlocal.org
At Richmond District town hall on Safeway housing project, neighbors see an assault on democracy
Some 60 people attended to listen and air their thoughts about a proposed eight-story Safeway redevelopment project in the Outer Richmond.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
We’re at the “shipping container courts” stage of ICE’s mass expansion of the enforcement system.
Each detention unit would sit on asphalt or concrete behind an office's existing security fence, with a counter for processing people and a separate holding area fitted with a toilet and sink for detainees according to the draft work statement.
The agency also wants a 300-square-foot unit for interviewing people in custody and a 60-square-foot "Virtual Immigration Court Unit" for hearings run by the Executive Office for Immigration Review, the Justice Department agency that operates the immigration courts.
Both must also be designed for their purpose before delivery.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Every single one of these people view their government appointments as an opportunity to promote themselves and make money grifting while we pay them to do it.
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Rep. Jason Crow @crow.house.gov · 25/09/2026
President Trump continues to roll out the red carpet for autocrats. First Putin, now Xi. Shamefully wining & dining our adversaries as he kicks our allies to the curb.
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Scott MacFarlane @macfarlanenews.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Jack Smith gets what he’s been seeking.. a public hearing to answer questions about his criminal case against Trump. Tuesday. At the US Senate
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 26/09/2026
Trump, for over a decade: "I wouldn't give him a state dinner." This week: A full state dinner at the White House for China's Xi Jinping, complete with the arrival ceremony, a gift, and billionaires everywhere.
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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is an absolute disaster from a national security perspective. Obviously, a lot on F-35s is classified, but a weapons-bay door and a canopy with radar-absorbing material are some of the most sensitive. Hard to describe how bad this is.
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Geddy Flea @geddyflea.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
One would presume the Air Force had means to ship sensitive equipment themselves. Hegseth probably has a reasonable explanation. Put him on under oath in Congress to answer for himself.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 22/09/2026
Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign. The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers. Then Trump gutted the unit in charge. THREAD 🧵
Martin Kao, CEO of defense contractor Navatek, poses next to Sen. Susan Collins for a photo. Collins is holding a model of a boat in her hands. Behind them is a large sign with the Navatek logo.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
👇🏽 #AbolishICE
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 20/09/2026
Oregon has given developers an unprecedented $1.4 billion, and the cost of developing each low-income apartment has nearly doubled since 2021. But the details of that spending are kept secret. Lawmakers say they want to change that.
propublica.org
Oregon Lawmakers Seek to Open Up Affordable Housing Records Following ProPublica’s Reporting
Leaders of the state’s House and Senate housing committees said they want to eliminate a law that exempts the detailed financials of subsidized housing projects from public disclosure requirements.
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Mission Local @missionlocal.org · 19/09/2026
Mayor Daniel Lurie's office apologized for appointing zero public school students to San Francisco's youth commission. His all-private-school picks were an "oversight," he said, that he would learn from. missionlocal.org/2026/09/san-...
missionlocal.org
Mayor Lurie's office apologizes for appointing only private school kids to Youth Commission
The mayor's office said it would do better in the future, and called the appointments an "oversight."
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 18/09/2026
www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
Trump Made 29,000 Securities Trades, More Than All of Congress
Donald Trump made nearly 29,000 securities trades in 17 months — more than every member of Congress combined. The stock-purchasing ban he’s pushing would leave him exempt
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 18/09/2026
Donald Trump and every member of Congress should be working for the American people — NOT their stock portfolio.
TRUMP HAS MADE MORE TRADES THAN ALL OF CONGRESS COMBINED. TRUMP: 28,700. HOUSE: 19,400. SENATE: 2,900
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L.D. Kirshenbaum @kbaum88.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Here in San Francisco, we are agog at his charm offensive as he simultaneously dumps millions of dollars into our local elections, ensuring billionaires remain free of taxes.
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SFist @sfist.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Jane Kim, a progressive who’s pushing a state-run disaster insurance program, is leading in the race for California Insurance Commissioner, while crypto billionaire Chris Larsen has put $1 million into a PAC supporting her opponent. sfist.com/2026/09/14/f...
sfist.com
Former SF Supervisor Jane Kim In Lead For State Insurance Commissioner as Race Heats Up
Jane Kim, a progressive who’s pushing a state-run disaster insurance program, is leading in the race for California Insurance Commissioner, while billionaire crypto Chris Larsen has put $1 million…
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Let me tell you a story about how top-end menswear retail transformed over the last hundred years. 🧵
Fiorinamarietta on Threads writes: "The death of department stores as an EXPERIENCE needs to be studied. You used to be able to buy a dress, have lunch, get your hair done, smell every perfume in existence and leave carrying beautifully wrapped boxes. Shopping used to be an event."
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