Democracy Dies in Dorkness
@lizamazel.bsky.social
(Banner and thumbnail are both from Remedios Varos' painting "Paraiso de los Gatos")
Therapist, writer type, armchair activist, kvetch. Raised from early adulthood by Internet wolves. Warning: squees at cats.
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
I also like cute doggos
Therapist, writer type, armchair activist, kvetch. Raised from early adulthood by Internet wolves. Warning: squees at cats.
IMPORTANT UPDATE:
I also like cute doggos
Pinned
a cartoon of a duck with a swirl in the background and the letters netflix on the bottom left
Alt: Daffy Duck losing his entire shit and tearing the room apart in "Duck Amuck"
media.tenor.com
Me, when disagreeing with someone who seems to be able to hear and respond and modify: generally do the same, sometimes end up with a great discussion and even a new follow.
Me, once I have decided someone is an obdurate fuckhead:
Me, once I have decided someone is an obdurate fuckhead:
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
Last week, we published this article on how Illinois still has burdensome hurdles for trans people to change their names: boltsmag.org/illinois-nam...
Reporter @adamrhodes.bsky.social talked about it today with @thegailyshow.org: check it out below!
Reporter @adamrhodes.bsky.social talked about it today with @thegailyshow.org: check it out below!
@byadamrhodes.bsky.social joined us today to share his new investigative reporting for @boltsmag.org. Adam reports on how Illinois Prosecutors can block transgender folks from updating their IDs - despite recent reforms to laws in Illinois. Advocates continue to push for change.
youtu.be/sY-PhUXqBOk
youtu.be/sY-PhUXqBOk
Investigative Report: Why Are Prosecutors Blocking Trans ID Changes?
YouTube video by The Gaily Show
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Last week, we published this article on how Illinois still has burdensome hurdles for trans people to change their names: boltsmag.org/illinois-nam...
Reporter @adamrhodes.bsky.social talked about it today with @thegailyshow.org: check it out below!
Reporter @adamrhodes.bsky.social talked about it today with @thegailyshow.org: check it out below!
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
Five discharge petitions have succeeded since Johnson became speaker.
That’s more than the prior three decades, says Politico: www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
That’s more than the prior three decades, says Politico: www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
November 24, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Five discharge petitions have succeeded since Johnson became speaker.
That’s more than the prior three decades, says Politico: www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
That’s more than the prior three decades, says Politico: www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
Republicans moving for more conservative domination of school boards in Ohio, both state and local
Ohio lawmakers have brought back up a bill to add party labels to candidates in local school board elections with a new amendment that would also eliminate all elected seats on the State Board of Education, making the entire body governor-appointed ohiocapitaljournal.com/2025/11/24/o...
Ohio bill would add political parties to school board races, reduce State Board of Education seats • Ohio Capital Journal
The Ohio legislature brought back up a bill that would add party names to local school board elections, and added an amendment that would eliminate elected seats on the State Board of Education,…
ohiocapitaljournal.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Republicans moving for more conservative domination of school boards in Ohio, both state and local
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
November 25, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
Congressional redistricting is monumentally important. But for Black people in places like Fayette County, TN, it is the County Commn where the stakes are highest.
What SCOTUS does in Louisiana v Calláis may threaten Black representation across the rural South.
boltsmag.org/voting-right...
What SCOTUS does in Louisiana v Calláis may threaten Black representation across the rural South.
boltsmag.org/voting-right...
Black Residents in West Tennessee Just Won Fairer Districts. Now Comes SCOTUS. - Bolts
The Supreme Court may further erode the Voting Rights Act in an upcoming decision. Beyond affecting Congress, that would reverberate across local governments nationwide.
boltsmag.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Congressional redistricting is monumentally important. But for Black people in places like Fayette County, TN, it is the County Commn where the stakes are highest.
What SCOTUS does in Louisiana v Calláis may threaten Black representation across the rural South.
boltsmag.org/voting-right...
What SCOTUS does in Louisiana v Calláis may threaten Black representation across the rural South.
boltsmag.org/voting-right...
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
If you like us, don’t miss an opportunity to support us AND see your gift to Bolts amplified!
boltsmag.org/donate
Via this program by foundations:
—any gift to us is doubled
—if you create a new monthly subscription, it’ll be multiplied twelve fold (the year’s equivalent will be matched).
boltsmag.org/donate
Via this program by foundations:
—any gift to us is doubled
—if you create a new monthly subscription, it’ll be multiplied twelve fold (the year’s equivalent will be matched).
Do you want to boost our journalism? This is the ideal time for you to support Bolts.
The Newsmatch program will match your gift, up to $1,000.
In a nutshell, that means a donation you make will be doubled!
The Newsmatch program will match your gift, up to $1,000.
In a nutshell, that means a donation you make will be doubled!
Support Bolts
We are a nonprofit publication that covers the nuts and bolts of political change, from the local up, and we need reader support to build our journalism.
boltsmag.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:43 AM
If you like us, don’t miss an opportunity to support us AND see your gift to Bolts amplified!
boltsmag.org/donate
Via this program by foundations:
—any gift to us is doubled
—if you create a new monthly subscription, it’ll be multiplied twelve fold (the year’s equivalent will be matched).
boltsmag.org/donate
Via this program by foundations:
—any gift to us is doubled
—if you create a new monthly subscription, it’ll be multiplied twelve fold (the year’s equivalent will be matched).
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
About 700 Somalis are covered by TPS. To end that status and deny these community members the basic protection they’ve been promised is—like so much of what Trump does—just cruel. It throws people and families into chaos, and is a direct attack on our community.
www.twincities.com/2025/11/21/t...
www.twincities.com/2025/11/21/t...
Trump says he’s terminating legal protections for Somali migrants in Minnesota
Minnesota has the nation’s largest Somali community. Many fled the long civil war in their east African country and were drawn to the state’s welcoming social programs.
www.twincities.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:43 PM
About 700 Somalis are covered by TPS. To end that status and deny these community members the basic protection they’ve been promised is—like so much of what Trump does—just cruel. It throws people and families into chaos, and is a direct attack on our community.
www.twincities.com/2025/11/21/t...
www.twincities.com/2025/11/21/t...
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
Ghislaine Maxwell is eating bonbons while the warden fans her.
NEW: President Biden commuted the death sentences of most people on the federal death row before exiting office.
President Trump is now effectively looking to retaliate, and to detain those people in the most brutal conditions in the federal system. Bolts reports:
boltsmag.org/death-row-cl...
President Trump is now effectively looking to retaliate, and to detain those people in the most brutal conditions in the federal system. Bolts reports:
boltsmag.org/death-row-cl...
Death Row Prisoners Granted Clemency by Biden Brace for "Living Hell" Under Trump - Bolts
This story was produced by Bolts and published in partnership with The Nation. Inside the federal supermax tucked away in Colorado’s high desert, prisoners spend 22 to 24 hours a day... Read More
boltsmag.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Ghislaine Maxwell is eating bonbons while the warden fans her.
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
Virginia's Democratic Senate Majority Leader told Bolts that his party will move forward with redistricting in early 2026. “I don’t see many Republican states pumping the brakes, because they all seem to be falling in line behind their dear leader.”
Five Ways Tuesday’s Results Will Affect Voting Rules and Democracy
From felony disenfranchisement and mail voting to mid-decade gerrymanders, Tuesday delivered verdicts on election law across these five states.
boltsmag.org
November 25, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Virginia's Democratic Senate Majority Leader told Bolts that his party will move forward with redistricting in early 2026. “I don’t see many Republican states pumping the brakes, because they all seem to be falling in line behind their dear leader.”
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
What an awful and downright unholy thing to happen. I hate you had to experience this. Our justice/prison system is so friggin horrible. 😢
November 25, 2025 at 2:02 AM
What an awful and downright unholy thing to happen. I hate you had to experience this. Our justice/prison system is so friggin horrible. 😢
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
It was a legal version of hell. There was nothing clean about it.
November 25, 2025 at 12:07 AM
It was a legal version of hell. There was nothing clean about it.
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
Max in county must be as nothing compared to what the administration is about to put these men through for the ego-crime of being granted mercy by a rival, but this administration reminds me a lot of the guy who put me there, and these days I find some of the old shadows creeping back.
November 25, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Max in county must be as nothing compared to what the administration is about to put these men through for the ego-crime of being granted mercy by a rival, but this administration reminds me a lot of the guy who put me there, and these days I find some of the old shadows creeping back.
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
with my face pressed against the wall as hard as I could, because I could almost see a skylight if I strained hard enough, and as the uncounted hours crawled past (I could not see a clock) I watched the quality of light change second by second. I stared and felt my mind straining at the seams.
November 25, 2025 at 12:07 AM
with my face pressed against the wall as hard as I could, because I could almost see a skylight if I strained hard enough, and as the uncounted hours crawled past (I could not see a clock) I watched the quality of light change second by second. I stared and felt my mind straining at the seams.
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
For scale: I spent eleven days in the maximum security wing of a local county lockup before a judge heard my case and moved me to min. I had one hour out of the cell a day. The cell was small. There was a speaker in the ceiling. By the end I was talking to the speaker and spending hours each day
Rejon Taylor was one of 37 people on federal death row whose death sentence was commuted by then-President Biden. This year, he learned the Trump administration was sending him to a supermax prison once called a “clean version of hell.”
Death Row Prisoners Granted Clemency by Biden Brace for “Living Hell” Under Trump
Trump officials are retaliating by imposing the harshest conditions in the entire federal prison system, including near total isolation.
boltsmag.org
November 25, 2025 at 12:07 AM
For scale: I spent eleven days in the maximum security wing of a local county lockup before a judge heard my case and moved me to min. I had one hour out of the cell a day. The cell was small. There was a speaker in the ceiling. By the end I was talking to the speaker and spending hours each day
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
I think it's going to be very interesting to see the pivot when Larry-- this stuff is about pleasing Larry-- kicks it or changes his mind or whatever
"elevate charismatic figures such as Alan Dershowitz"
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November 25, 2025 at 4:31 PM
I think it's going to be very interesting to see the pivot when Larry-- this stuff is about pleasing Larry-- kicks it or changes his mind or whatever
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
a) The social harms of AI are vastly under-appreciated and go far beyond displacement of labor
b) The environmental harms of AI, though not trivial, are nevertheless small potatoes compared to many other industries like farming (and AI demand may even help accelerate electrical grid upgrades)
b) The environmental harms of AI, though not trivial, are nevertheless small potatoes compared to many other industries like farming (and AI demand may even help accelerate electrical grid upgrades)
weird header for an article about the very real dangers of modern industrial agriculture
How Oregon’s Data Center Boom Is Supercharging a Water Crisis
Amazon has come to the state’s eastern farmland, worsening a water pollution problem that’s been linked to cancer and miscarriages.
Rolling Stone reports in collaboration with @thefern.org: www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
Amazon has come to the state’s eastern farmland, worsening a water pollution problem that’s been linked to cancer and miscarriages.
Rolling Stone reports in collaboration with @thefern.org: www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...
November 25, 2025 at 4:36 AM
a) The social harms of AI are vastly under-appreciated and go far beyond displacement of labor
b) The environmental harms of AI, though not trivial, are nevertheless small potatoes compared to many other industries like farming (and AI demand may even help accelerate electrical grid upgrades)
b) The environmental harms of AI, though not trivial, are nevertheless small potatoes compared to many other industries like farming (and AI demand may even help accelerate electrical grid upgrades)
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
I can say that if you’re intimidated by the idea of hosting a party, it’s very much a learned skill that improves with practice. we do it often enough we can autopilot most of it at this point
November 25, 2025 at 6:53 AM
I can say that if you’re intimidated by the idea of hosting a party, it’s very much a learned skill that improves with practice. we do it often enough we can autopilot most of it at this point
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
this is another big reason why my partner and I really try to host parties as often as possible - trying to counter the overall post-Covid social isolation
November 25, 2025 at 6:52 AM
this is another big reason why my partner and I really try to host parties as often as possible - trying to counter the overall post-Covid social isolation
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
A reminder that the median book deal for a debut author in the UK is £7000, paid over 12-18 months. (from 2022 Society of Authors report). Some of your favourite writers are struggling. societyofauthors.org/2022/12/06/a....
A profession struggling to sustain itself - The Society of Authors
ALCS report on author incomes shows 60% drop in median incomes since 2006
societyofauthors.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:34 PM
A reminder that the median book deal for a debut author in the UK is £7000, paid over 12-18 months. (from 2022 Society of Authors report). Some of your favourite writers are struggling. societyofauthors.org/2022/12/06/a....
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
You're told it'll sabotage your career if you're a vocally politically opinionated, queer, woman. But things sabotaging my career are systemic xenophobia, sexism, and horrible job market. Which are a direct consequences of people not being vocally opinionated in the first place.
November 25, 2025 at 2:27 AM
You're told it'll sabotage your career if you're a vocally politically opinionated, queer, woman. But things sabotaging my career are systemic xenophobia, sexism, and horrible job market. Which are a direct consequences of people not being vocally opinionated in the first place.
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
"Vietnam has been hit by 14 typhoons this year. Five was the average a few decades ago. The rain from the past few days did not even come from a cyclone — but to add inundation on top of injury, a 15th major storm has just formed off the country’s south central coast."
Vietnam’s Year of Floods, Mud and Death
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:20 PM
"Vietnam has been hit by 14 typhoons this year. Five was the average a few decades ago. The rain from the past few days did not even come from a cyclone — but to add inundation on top of injury, a 15th major storm has just formed off the country’s south central coast."
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
I immediately remembered Mike Wallace interviewing a Christian during AIDS and asking him whether, if he knew his high school daughter was going to have sex, he would tell he to wear a condom. He said no, cuz the sex was worse than getting AIDS.
May 20, 2025 at 2:40 PM
I immediately remembered Mike Wallace interviewing a Christian during AIDS and asking him whether, if he knew his high school daughter was going to have sex, he would tell he to wear a condom. He said no, cuz the sex was worse than getting AIDS.
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
Debby, who transformed her life by drinking raw goat milk in the 1970s, is here to tell you that you can transform your life in 2015 via plastic surgery, and it's not just "people in New York or Los Angeles" who are doing it, it's regular people just like you! youtu.be/yz7iDdlTja0?...
Lifestyle Lift - Long Form
YouTube video by CompanyKane
youtu.be
May 20, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Debby, who transformed her life by drinking raw goat milk in the 1970s, is here to tell you that you can transform your life in 2015 via plastic surgery, and it's not just "people in New York or Los Angeles" who are doing it, it's regular people just like you! youtu.be/yz7iDdlTja0?...
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
To return to Debby Boone. In 2012 she started doing promotional videos for a budget plastic surgery company called Lifestyle Lift which turned out to be very bad at what they did. Let's hear it for the benefits of that "natural," Godly lifestyle eh? www.asasurgery.com/news/debbie-...
Debbie Boone and The Lifestyle Lift did not light up their lives
Online horror stories and lawsuits surround the surgery chain and its “cheaper” facelift — and prove why you need to check a plastic surgeon’s credentials before having surgery In our previous blog po...
www.asasurgery.com
May 20, 2025 at 2:18 PM
To return to Debby Boone. In 2012 she started doing promotional videos for a budget plastic surgery company called Lifestyle Lift which turned out to be very bad at what they did. Let's hear it for the benefits of that "natural," Godly lifestyle eh? www.asasurgery.com/news/debbie-...
Reposted by Democracy Dies in Dorkness
Linder also thought the US was going to hell in 1954 because some white children expressed a willingness to go to school with Black children. To Linder, this was obviously a sign that such white children were brainwashed or mentally ill. Maybe drinking raw milk would get them thinking straight?
May 20, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Linder also thought the US was going to hell in 1954 because some white children expressed a willingness to go to school with Black children. To Linder, this was obviously a sign that such white children were brainwashed or mentally ill. Maybe drinking raw milk would get them thinking straight?