Brian Lyman
@brianlyman.bsky.social
Editor, Alabama Reflector. Podcaster, Becoming Lincoln. 2024 Pulitzer finalist. Past: MGM Advertiser; Press-Register; The Anniston Star; Norwich Bulletin; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Politics, history, science, horrific puns.
Pinned
Brian Lyman
@brianlyman.bsky.social
· Nov 12
Alabama Reflector: Covering the pain and promise of our home • Alabama Reflector
Laws are made in the State House. Alabama is made outside it. Alabama Reflector will cover these dynamics that shape our home.
alabamareflector.com
Here’s our mission statement at @alreflector.bsky.social. From my first column on launch day in February 2023.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via @andreadotweb.bsky.social: Chambers County Republican Party Chairwoman Kristi Nelson won the House District 38 special election Tuesday night, defeating Democratic nominee Hazel Floyd.
Kristin Nelson wins House District 38 special election in Chambers, Lee counties | Alabama Reflector
Nelson beat Democratic nominee Hazel Floyd in the House District 38 election Tuesday night. Both candidates qualified for midterm elections.
alabamareflector.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:48 AM
Via @andreadotweb.bsky.social: Chambers County Republican Party Chairwoman Kristi Nelson won the House District 38 special election Tuesday night, defeating Democratic nominee Hazel Floyd.
JFK is such a jarring film. It’s brilliantly made and acted, and you nearly forget that you’re watching Jim Garrison ruin a man’s life on the thinnest of pretexts.
JFK is a nonsense film and i love every second of it. it is the closest thing cinema has ever gotten to immersing you in the mind of a conspiracy theorist bsky.app/profile/nata...
I was weirdly obsessed with TLJ as a 13 yo because of JFK, a very odd movie where everyone acts their ass off
February 4, 2026 at 4:07 AM
JFK is such a jarring film. It’s brilliantly made and acted, and you nearly forget that you’re watching Jim Garrison ruin a man’s life on the thinnest of pretexts.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jacob Fischler: President Donald Trump restated a call Tuesday for federal control over election administration across the country, undermining the structure outlined in the Constitution that empowers states to run elections.
Trump doubles down on calling for the feds to take over state elections | Alabama Reflector
The issue renews concerns over Trump’s expansion of presidential power, which critics of his second presidency have labeled authoritarian.
alabamareflector.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:46 AM
Via Jacob Fischler: President Donald Trump restated a call Tuesday for federal control over election administration across the country, undermining the structure outlined in the Constitution that empowers states to run elections.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Ariana Figueroa: Dozens of U.S. House Democrats rallied on a chilly Tuesday morning outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in the nation’s capital, demanding the resignation, firing or impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. https://ow.ly/6AX250Y8tTI
February 4, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Via Ariana Figueroa: Dozens of U.S. House Democrats rallied on a chilly Tuesday morning outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement headquarters in the nation’s capital, demanding the resignation, firing or impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. https://ow.ly/6AX250Y8tTI
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Anna Barrett: An Alabama Senate committee Tuesday approved a bill that would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for those convicted of sexual assault of a child under the age of 12.
Bill extending death penalty to child sexual assault passes Alabama Senate committee | Alabama Reflector
An Alabama Senate committee approved a bill that would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for those convicted of sexual assault of a child under the age of 12.
alabamareflector.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:16 PM
Via Anna Barrett: An Alabama Senate committee Tuesday approved a bill that would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for those convicted of sexual assault of a child under the age of 12.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jennifer Shutt: The U.S. House cleared a government funding package Tuesday, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump. In the Alabama delegation, U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, was the single no vote.
US House sends funding bill to Trump, setting up immigration enforcement debate | Alabama Reflector
The 217-214 vote followed a tumultuous couple of weeks on Capitol Hill after the package stalled in the Senate.
alabamareflector.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Via Jennifer Shutt: The U.S. House cleared a government funding package Tuesday, sending the legislation to President Donald Trump. In the Alabama delegation, U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, was the single no vote.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Anna Barrett: Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, was taken to a hospital Tuesday afternoon after becoming ill prior to committee meeting where he was scheduled to present a bill. https://alabamareflector.com/briefs/rep-matt-simpson-taken-to-hospital/
Rep. Matt Simpson taken to hospital | Alabama Reflector
Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, was taken to a hospital Tuesday afternoon with an unspecified illness, according to House Rules Committee Chair Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn.
alabamareflector.com
February 3, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Via Anna Barrett: Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, was taken to a hospital Tuesday afternoon after becoming ill prior to committee meeting where he was scheduled to present a bill. https://alabamareflector.com/briefs/rep-matt-simpson-taken-to-hospital/
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Stateline: States that have passed laws requiring some kind of school cell phone restrictions are considering daylong bans, even for high schoolers. The idea has gotten some pushback from students, teachers and parents who say strict bell-to-ban bans aren’t necessary. https://ow.ly/paXt50Y877g
February 3, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Via Stateline: States that have passed laws requiring some kind of school cell phone restrictions are considering daylong bans, even for high schoolers. The idea has gotten some pushback from students, teachers and parents who say strict bell-to-ban bans aren’t necessary. https://ow.ly/paXt50Y877g
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Commentary by Allison Berkowitz and Molly Cole: While supporters argue that HB 152 merely offers administrative flexibility, we believe it is unnecessary and risks weakening not just one program, but the broader social work ecosystem across our state. https://ow.ly/8jNG50Y7VtF
February 3, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Commentary by Allison Berkowitz and Molly Cole: While supporters argue that HB 152 merely offers administrative flexibility, we believe it is unnecessary and risks weakening not just one program, but the broader social work ecosystem across our state. https://ow.ly/8jNG50Y7VtF
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Exactly. There's also the issue of consent. Just for one example, anyone who thinks actors would be all "sure, fine!" to someone else creating even part of their performance hasn't hung around actors very much.
February 3, 2026 at 2:04 PM
Exactly. There's also the issue of consent. Just for one example, anyone who thinks actors would be all "sure, fine!" to someone else creating even part of their performance hasn't hung around actors very much.
You’re not getting the restored vision of an artist; it’s simply someone’s guesstimate of what the original Magnificent Ambersons looked like, without the thousands of choices by actors, directors, designers and cinematographers that shaped it. It’s still going to be incomplete.
Deepfaking Orson Welles’s Mangled Masterpiece — The New Yorker
Will an A.I. restoration of “The Magnificent Ambersons” right a historic wrong or desecrate a classic?
apple.news
February 3, 2026 at 1:47 PM
You’re not getting the restored vision of an artist; it’s simply someone’s guesstimate of what the original Magnificent Ambersons looked like, without the thousands of choices by actors, directors, designers and cinematographers that shaped it. It’s still going to be incomplete.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Andrea Tinker: Members of the Alabama Legislature heard budget proposals from various education agencies Monday. https://ow.ly/xr2850Y7XuW
February 3, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Via Andrea Tinker: Members of the Alabama Legislature heard budget proposals from various education agencies Monday. https://ow.ly/xr2850Y7XuW
Just remembering how careful the civil rights movement was with everything, right down to the signs people carried to the demonstrations. They had zero room for error in a society where many people called them communists, regardless of the facts.
i guess i would like to hear the theory on which setting fire to a random dumpster advances the cause of stopping ice
February 3, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Just remembering how careful the civil rights movement was with everything, right down to the signs people carried to the demonstrations. They had zero room for error in a society where many people called them communists, regardless of the facts.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Ariana Figueroa: A federal judge late Monday blocked the termination of temporary protections for roughly 350,000 Haitians from taking effect, a move that prevents the Trump administration from acting to deport them as litigation continues.
Temporary legal status allowed for now for 350,000 Haitians as judge blasts Kristi Noem | Alabama Reflector
District of Columbia federal Judge Ana C. Reyes found that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem does not have “unbounded discretion” to terminate Temporary Protected Status for Haiti and rejected the Trump administration’s arguments that ending the status is in the public interest.
alabamareflector.com
February 3, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Via Ariana Figueroa: A federal judge late Monday blocked the termination of temporary protections for roughly 350,000 Haitians from taking effect, a move that prevents the Trump administration from acting to deport them as litigation continues.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Andrea Tinker: Voters in Chambers and Lee counties go to the polls Tuesday to choose Democratic nominee Hazel Floyd or Republican nominee Kristin Nelson as their new state representative. Here's a guide to the race. https://ow.ly/ZCAl50Y7QrQ
February 3, 2026 at 12:05 PM
Via Andrea Tinker: Voters in Chambers and Lee counties go to the polls Tuesday to choose Democratic nominee Hazel Floyd or Republican nominee Kristin Nelson as their new state representative. Here's a guide to the race. https://ow.ly/ZCAl50Y7QrQ
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jennifer Shutt: A federal judge on Monday closed the lawsuit Planned Parenthood filed last summer after Republicans’ “big, beautiful” law blocked Medicaid patients from visiting its clinics for any health care appointments for one year. https://ow.ly/qyF950Y7RYY
February 3, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Via Jennifer Shutt: A federal judge on Monday closed the lawsuit Planned Parenthood filed last summer after Republicans’ “big, beautiful” law blocked Medicaid patients from visiting its clinics for any health care appointments for one year. https://ow.ly/qyF950Y7RYY
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Ariana Figueroa: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday that body cameras would be given to federal immigration agents across the country, but did not specifically say agents would be required to wear the cameras.
Noem: Body cameras to be deployed to immigration agents, starting in Minneapolis | Alabama Reflector
Noem did not specifically say agents would be required to wear the cameras.President Donald Trump said he was supportive of the move, according to White House pool reports.
alabamareflector.com
February 2, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Via Ariana Figueroa: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday that body cameras would be given to federal immigration agents across the country, but did not specifically say agents would be required to wear the cameras.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa: The U.S. House is expected to vote as soon as Tuesday on the government funding package that will end the ongoing partial government shutdown once it becomes law.
Trump urges US House to avert ‘another long, pointless and destructive’ shutdown | Alabama Reflector
A partial shutdown of the government began early Saturday morning because the House had not yet acted on a Senate-passed budget measure.
alabamareflector.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Via Jennifer Shutt and Ariana Figueroa: The U.S. House is expected to vote as soon as Tuesday on the government funding package that will end the ongoing partial government shutdown once it becomes law.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Ralph Chapoco: Both Tommy Tuberville, running for governor, and John Wahl, running for lieutenant governor, faced allegations that they did not meet the seven-year residency requirement for their respective offices.
Alabama GOP dismisses residency challenges against Tommy Tuberville, John Wahl | Alabama Reflector
The decision allows both candidates to continue campaigning for office even as some allege they have not met the residency requirement.
alabamareflector.com
February 2, 2026 at 8:19 PM
Via Ralph Chapoco: Both Tommy Tuberville, running for governor, and John Wahl, running for lieutenant governor, faced allegations that they did not meet the seven-year residency requirement for their respective offices.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville faces questions over whether he can meet constitutional requirements to run for Alabama governor. Editor Brian Lyman writes that it's a serious problem that Alabamians can rightly doubt state courts' abilities and willingness to find the answers. https://ow.ly/CMhw50Y6hgG
February 2, 2026 at 3:01 PM
U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville faces questions over whether he can meet constitutional requirements to run for Alabama governor. Editor Brian Lyman writes that it's a serious problem that Alabamians can rightly doubt state courts' abilities and willingness to find the answers. https://ow.ly/CMhw50Y6hgG
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via @timhenderson.bsky.social & Stateline: States that once led in childhood vaccination are losing ground as exemptions and unfounded skepticism take hold, encouraged by the Trump administration’s stance under U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. https://ow.ly/H8eK50Y7Fjg
February 2, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Via @timhenderson.bsky.social & Stateline: States that once led in childhood vaccination are losing ground as exemptions and unfounded skepticism take hold, encouraged by the Trump administration’s stance under U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. https://ow.ly/H8eK50Y7Fjg
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Journalists @anitawadhwani.bsky.social and John Partipilo spent Saturday with volunteers from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition as they delivered hot meals and supplies to immigrants in housing without power - many of whom have been afraid to venture out.
Freezing cold and afraid to leave: Nashville immigrants hunker down in frigid homes • Tennessee Lookout
The Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition has delivered 5,000 hot meals to immigrants following a winter storm.
tennesseelookout.com
February 2, 2026 at 5:55 PM
Journalists @anitawadhwani.bsky.social and John Partipilo spent Saturday with volunteers from the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition as they delivered hot meals and supplies to immigrants in housing without power - many of whom have been afraid to venture out.
My column this week. U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville faces questions about whether he meets Alabama's constitutional requirements to run for governor. And it's a major problem that he feels comfortable evading the issue, and that state institutions are likely to let him keep doing so.
What Tommy Tuberville’s residency issues say about Alabama | Alabama Reflector
Alabamians can't trust our state institutions to determine whether the leading candidate for governor is following the law. That's a problem.
alabamareflector.com
February 2, 2026 at 3:10 PM
My column this week. U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville faces questions about whether he meets Alabama's constitutional requirements to run for governor. And it's a major problem that he feels comfortable evading the issue, and that state institutions are likely to let him keep doing so.
This is Bernarr MacFadden erasure
How Weight Lifting Took Over America
www.nytimes.com
February 2, 2026 at 1:26 PM
This is Bernarr MacFadden erasure
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Ralph Chapoco: A new report found that domestic and international migration into Alabama helped the state grow despite continuing net natural population loss, and that the Trump administration's anti-immigration policies may be slowing that growth down. https://ow.ly/sMre50Y6EIr
February 2, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Via Ralph Chapoco: A new report found that domestic and international migration into Alabama helped the state grow despite continuing net natural population loss, and that the Trump administration's anti-immigration policies may be slowing that growth down. https://ow.ly/sMre50Y6EIr