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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 1h

Always talking up vats to friends and family only to be chased off with a broom.

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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 1h

remember: it saved no net money, social services US citizens are getting cut, and left the US in a weaker place geopolitically. none of the debates about fiscal responsibility, obligation to US citizens first, or 'hard choices' actually apply. they're all bullshit. killed people for nothing at all.

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Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 3h

BREAKING: Republican attorneys general from Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas have filed two sweeping lawsuits targeting dozens of providers who ship abortion pills—and the blue states that protect them.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 3h

WPRI updated the story from the CEO. Yes, because of the primary win, but claiming it's routine when the host city's mayor loses reelection to avoid burdening the transition.

“By tradition, when a host city’s mayoral leadership changes in the year before our annual meeting, the U.S. Conference of Mayors Executive Committee may choose to relocate the meeting,” Cochran said in a statement. “We believe the mayor serving in the year leading up to the meeting should be closely involved in both the bid and the planning that follows.”

Cochran said hosting the event is a “significant commitment” that can be challenging for any new mayor to manage during a transition.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, also a Democrat, was sworn in for his second four-year term in January.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 5h

The GOP attached a voter ID requirement which would've extended to mail ballots.

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Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 7h

Gravestone of Pompey Brenton in God's Little Acre, Newport, RI, 1772 This stone was carved by John Stevens III, who carved many portrait stones in the 1770s, including several for Black Newporters like Pompey Brenton.

a lovely blue-gray slate stone with intricate foliate border and a portrait of a man with curled hair and wings in the tympanum. Inscription: In Memory of Pompey Brenton who died August the 5th AD 1772 ages about 55 Years

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 7h

This is basically the National Design people who think government should look like Apple products. Not that services should work as well as Apple products - which would be hard - but that visually they should be appealing.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 6h

Incredibly fascinating that DSA members are winning primaries and elections while their local chapters refuse to back them.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 8h

I also think the constant nationwide losses mean that people with any ambition (to higher office or to accomplish policy) gravitate towards one of the two parties with a much better likelihood of winning office. So third parties lose both the workhorse apparatchiks and the ambitious strivers.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 8h

FWIW, a large number of state ballot access laws effectively force third parties to put up candidates for President or Governor, which I think reinforces folks with... megalomaniacal aspirations... rather than encouraging bottom-up building (which might threaten the major parties).

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 8h

West Warwick (heavily Democrat) was prevented from separating for decades by the GOP's Blind Boss Brayton. After his died, Warwick held a referendum that had four options in an effort to confuse the separation vote. West Warwick managed to overcome this and was formed from three RI House districts.

West Warwick was incorporated in 1913, which makes it the youngest town in Rhode Island, according to the town's website. That's when the General Assembly separated it from Warwick.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 8h

Samuel Gorton & co. who settled Shawomet got kicked out by Mass' militia at the behest of Benedict Arnold & co. of Pawtuxet. Gorton's extreme Puritanism impressed Richard Rich, who ruled Mass had to let the Gortonites return. This was a dealbreaker for Mass, who abandoned their claims as a result.

Warwick was named after Robert Rich,Earl of Warwick and Governor in Chief for the Colonies, who granted its charter. Because of this, the name of the settlement was changed from Shawomett to Warwick

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 8h

Scituate realized it could double its representation in the General Assembly by splitting in half. Thus Foster. Theo. Foster donated the town's record books and actually lived in town for a while.

Foster was originally a part of Providence. Foster was then separated from Providence as a part of Scituate until 1781, when Foster was incorporated as its own town, according to the Rhode Island Historical Society. It was named for U.S. Sen. Theodore Foster.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 8h

What's the Duke of Cumberland famous for? He's the Butcher of Culloden, the 1746 battle where the Scottish Jacobites were defeated (do not charge cannon with broadswords).

Cumberland was originally a part of Attleboro, Massachusetts, when it was incorporated in 1694, according to the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission. Then, the land was annexed to Rhode Island in 1747 and named after the Duke of Cumberland, Prince William.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 8h

Cranston was going to be named "Lynn" after the Mass town where its early settlers were from. Its incorporation articles have "Lynn" scratched off and "Cranston" written in. While it was maybe after the late Samuel (dead for 30 years), then-Speaker Thomas Cranston donated the town's record books.

Cranston was founded in 1754, named after Samuel Cranston, a former governor of Rhode Island from 1698 to 1727. After experiencing rapid population growth and industrialization, Cranston became a city in 1910.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 8h

Central Falls got kicked out of Lincoln (which had separated from Smithfield at that point) in a referendum. A majority of Central Falls voters wanted to remain part of Lincoln. A far more overwhelming majority of Lincolnites wanted them to leave.

Central Falls was originally a village within the town of Smithfield through the 1700s and most of the 1800s. After a period of rapid growth and development for the village, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed an act in 1895 declaring Central Falls its own city.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 8h

This misses a lot of the drama of town naming. www.providencejournal.com/story/news/h...

Headline in the Providence Journal:

HISTORY
How every RI city and town got its name. Some may surprise you.

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Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is one of the most maddening thigns about this court: Not just the substantive rulings, but how they think about “irreperable harm.” If the Most Special Boy has to wait a month to do a thing he REALLY wants to, that’s irreperable harm. Actual large-scale human suffering? Meh.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 29/09/2026

This race is going to offer a good test of how mercenary the affections of RI Republican voters are.

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Justin Wolfers @justinwolfers.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The bond yield story just keeps getting starker.

Line chart titled "10-Year Treasury Note" showing the yield on the 10-year Treasury note from late 2025 through September 2026. Treasury yields surged dramatically to 5.29 percent on September 29, 2026, the highest level in the period shown. This represents a sharp 130 basis point increase from the October 2025 low of 3.96 percent and a particularly rapid 45 basis point climb over just the final month. After trading mostly between 4.00 and 4.75 percent for nearly a year, yields broke decisively above 5.00 percent in September 2026, signaling a fundamental shift in borrowing costs and market conditions.

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Erin Kissane @kissane.myatproto.social · 29/09/2026

A thing I learned about Meta when I was trying to understand how their statements relate to their actions a few years ago is that *they just tell absolutely indefensible lies* and journalists almost always let them. They believed no one would ever punish them for it in any way that matters.

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Dan Ancona @danancona.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This is a huge shift. The data is so clear even Third Way is on board. Strength and clarity beat “heterodox” mumbling and weakness every time. Hopefully next time we have this debate Dems can skip over the years of running ads that help Rs.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 29/09/2026

This strategy ("can't win here!") didn't end up working for Caprio when he tried it against Robitaille in 2010, I'm not sure why Block thinks it will work for him.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 29/09/2026

Guckian and Block both need the others' voters to win, but the more they make plays for those voters, the more they're forced to spend time attacking each other.

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Hannah Vardit @hannahvardit.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

you will encounter more opportunities in life to change the batteries on a smoke alarm than you will to run into a burning building and no one gives a shit you changed those batteries but it is still very important and why are you waiting on a burning building, know what i’m saying, it’s a metaphor

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freecialis @freecialis.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

American media: time to come up with the dumbest possible discourse about a Billboard hit British media: You are like a little baby. Watch this

Opinion - UK politics

What ‘Choosin’ Texas’ tells us about Burngam’s social care obstacles

Stephen Bush

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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

swearing aside, the strategy of just making the right stand by the things they say to each other seems pretty good. that was the secret sauce behind the "weird" messaging way back when (that they abandoned for whatever reason)

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Lindsey Boylan @lindseyboylan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This man is a monster. He seeks out women survivors because he hates them. And he hates them because he hates himself. He has harassed me and other women survivors many times over the years. It must end. He should never have a job anywhere.

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Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

In 2014, I interviewed a Columbia University student who went from class to class carrying the mattress she was raped on—a protest performance piece to remind college administrators what they put on her shoulders. Twelve years later, we still expect women on college campuses to carry that weight.

jessica.substack.com

Carrying That Weight—Again

I can’t stop thinking about the Cornell rape case

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Jessica Valenti @jessicavalenti.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I can’t stop thinking about the Cornell rape case. It hurts my heart to think about how little has changed. It’s been nearly twenty years since I published Yes Means Yes! how is it possible that we’re still begging for the same scraps of humanity?

jessica.substack.com

Carrying That Weight—Again

I can’t stop thinking about the Cornell rape case

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Darin Self @darinself.com · 28/09/2026

The mayor of Ithaca (my friend and former fellow PhD candidate in Government at Cornell) announces a moratorium on permitting Greek Life activities until Cornell produces new standards of addressing sexual assault.

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Ben Raderstorf @raders.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This poll from Cook is bonkers. A *huge* plurality of voters (43% overall, 61% of Ds) want Dems to focus on changing the political system overall vs. just opposing (21%, 36% of Ds) or working with Trump (35%, 3% of Ds).

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dan solomon @dansolomon.com · 28/09/2026

if texas goes the way it seems increasingly possible it might in november, we gotta talk about the political inbreeding that thirty years of single-party rule results in, and how that leaves that party with candidates who are utterly ill-equipped for a real general election

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 28/09/2026

Okay, this has been fun, but this is what the nuclear block was made for.

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Stephen Wolf @stephenwolf.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Republicans re-gerrymandering Texas and other Southern legislatures in 2027 was already likely after they killed the Voting Rights Act and normalized mid-decade remaps. But Democrats could block it by winning for Texas House or governor, and a quorum break could block it in a 2026 lame duck session

Screenshot of a post on X by Nathaniel Rakich (@baseballot), posted at 12:22 PM on Sep 28, 2026, with 4,292 views. The post reads: "Missed this over the weekend, but a Texas GOP state rep expressed interest in re-redistricting next year."

It quotes a Sep 25 post by Rob Laucius (@RobLauciusTX, verified), replying to @RobLauciusTX, @realmitchlittle, and 7 others. The quoted post reads: "Little says he has heard rumors of redistricting the Texas House and Senate. Leach says @GeneforTexas has expressed interest in doing so if Democrats win, says …" The quoted text is cut off at that point.

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Lena Bilik @lbilik.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The author uses the fact that many parents want to stay home with very young children as an argument against universal childcare. This is a false choice. At Roosevelt, we recommend paid leave AND universal childcare, so parents can stay home for a year w/ their infants. (It's also cost effective.)

rooseveltinstitute.org

Building a Vision for Universal Public Childcare: Principles for a Childcare System That Works for Workers and Families - Roosevelt Institute

In a new analysis, Lena Bilik and coauthors argue that the US needs bold, transformative public investments to create a universal early childhood care and education (ECE) system that can meet the need...

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Whenever you see a pollster or consultant give a take like this, it’s always worth following the money. In this case, Emanuel has paid Anzalone’s firm nearly $300k (maybe more but that’s what I found so far). A consultant class is devouring the Dem Party www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisc...

John Anzalone &
@JohnAnzo
X.com
Underestimate @RahmEmanuel at your own risk.
He knows how to win. He knows how to fight.
And he knows how to message.
And no one will out work him. Regardless of whether he wins the Democratic nomination in 2028 he will make an impact on the race. You can be sure of that. Don't take your eyes off of him. At the minimum, learn from him.
Rahm Emanuel Makes His 2026 Play
Rahm Emanuel Makes His 2026 Play
From nytimes.com
6:47 AM • 9/26/26 • 274K Views

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Christina Wolbrecht @cwolbrecht.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I mean, COME ON.

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Micah @rincewind.run · 28/09/2026

Trump is sort of the bizarre apotheosis of this dynamic, because he needs to simultaneously assert at all times that he is an immortal, all-powerful god emperor and also that he is being sabotaged by the evil deep state which he can never fully defeat

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 28/09/2026

VT moving should be a massive alarm for the GOP. An opponent hasn’t broken 28% against Republican incumbent Phil Scott since 2018.

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

These sound like non-trivial problems.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 28/09/2026

RI conservatives are leaning heavily on AI, which means the islands and East Bay all look unrecognizable every time they generate a map of RI.

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 28/09/2026

Rather than mention the full number of registered voters and their partisan affiliation, it feels like it would be more clarifying to readers to note that this seat was decided by 22 votes with turnout in the high 70s in 2024. www.providencejournal.com/story/news/p...

The three are competing for the votes of the 11,149 potential voters in a largely suburban district that has 2,081 registered Republicans, 2,423 registered Democrats and 6,645 registered Independents aka "unaffiliated voters." Donald Trump won the district in 2016 and four out of five precincts in 2024.

Official results: Updated November 22, 2024 05:31 PM

Representative in General Assembly District 15
Candidate Total votes Pct
REP Christopher G. Paplauskas (REP) 4341 50.0%
DEM Maria A. Bucci (DEM) 4319 49.8%
Write-in 19 0.2%

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Sam G. Howard @samghoward.riliberator.com · 28/09/2026

Mr. President! Your numbers are down with homely people!

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VoteHub @votehub.com · 28/09/2026

NEWS — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear criticizes fellow Democrats who say transgender athletes should be barred from women’s sports. “That is not the party that we are. We start as a party of compassion and empathy.”

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Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

You know when public attention can reverse a prosecutorial decision like this you almost get the sense that the decision to shrug it off in the first place was not based on an assessment of the quality of the evidence so much as an assessment of the seriousness of the crime.

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Mike Konczal @mtkonczal.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Wait I'm sorry are we not putting Bluey on these lists? What other show has used evolution from the sea to the stars as a metaphor for parenting and death told through assembling IKEA furniture, all in eight minutes?

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