May-lee Chai (she/her)
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mayleechai.bsky.social
May-lee Chai (she/her)
@mayleechai.bsky.social
Writer. Prof at SFSU. Tomorrow in Shanghai & Other Stories; Useful Phrases for Immigrants; The Girl from Purple Mountain, etc. Board member of NBCC @bookcritics. Web: https://may-leechai.com/
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
Must-read story in the WSJ about Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski.

Full Story: on.wsj.com/4tEsyRO
February 13, 2026 at 3:23 AM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
I’d campaign my ass off for her. I don’t agree with every choice she’s made in every circumstance. But just that she comes from a working class background and has not let four terms in Congress swing her to the middle says a lot about her integrity. She’s also a great communicator.
anybody currently raging about Newsom needs to be stopped better get on board or I might think your outrage is a tad performative
February 13, 2026 at 3:18 AM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
(1/11) If you live in NY, you’ve probably started seeing a new warning: “THIS PRICE WAS SET BY AN ALGORITHM USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA.” This mandatory disclosure went into effect late last year, and it’s the first attempt by a US state to grapple with a new generation of surveillance pricing.
February 11, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
The coldest storms so far this winter are forecast to hit the Bay Area next week, potentially dropping the rain-snow line to 3,000 feet or lower. #CAwx
Onslaught of storms is headed to California — with chance of snow in Bay Area
An onslaught of California storms are predicted to bring heavy rain, breezy winds, big waves and the potential for low-elevation snow.
www.sfchronicle.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:22 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
What a story:

“Lewandowski and Noem, both married, have denied the reports of the affair, but people said they do little to hide their relationship.

“The pair have been using a luxury 737 MAX jet, with a private cabin in back, for their travel around the country”

1/

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
A Pilot Fired Over Kristi Noem’s Missing Blanket and the Constant Chaos Inside DHS
Secretary faces fire for confrontational immigration crackdown and self-promotional style; White House to wind down Minnesota operations.
www.wsj.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:16 AM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
The president is overruling science to eliminate measures that protect us from pollution and environmental damage, mainly to benefit multinational corporations that have thrown money at his campaign, ballroom, and family.

It's simple corruption, and it will cost American lives and livelihoods.
February 12, 2026 at 10:49 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
There needs to be some serious accountability for the colossal harm to life these absolute demons have caused, and will cause. Life in prison is the moderate option.
February 13, 2026 at 12:45 AM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
It's not over. They aren't gone yet. Even after they're gone, it's not over. They are building concentration camps all over the U.S. They will be back. They will be in other cities. It's not over. DO NOT GIVE ICE ANY MORE MONEY. @schumer.senate.gov @democrats.senate.gov
February 12, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
This proves that men didn't have to go to the island to take advantage of those young girls.

So ppl can stop trying to tie those perverts to the island. Epstein had 4 homes that we know of in the continental U.S.

knewz.com/epstein-orde...
Epstein 'ordered girls to be buried' who were 'strangled to death'
An email from an ex-employee of Jeffrey Epstein claimed the convicted child abuser ordered the burial of two girls in the hills near his New Mexico ranch.
knewz.com
February 12, 2026 at 10:29 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
How Trump's withdrawal from Minneapolis is being covered abroad.

In Le Monde, the lead French daily, the homepage article starts with:

"Two people dead, thousands arrested, two cities shaken, and Donald Trump defeated."

www.lemonde.fr/internationa...
February 12, 2026 at 11:09 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
Judge blocks Trump administration move to cut $600 million in HIV funding from states
Judge blocks Trump administration move to cut $600 million in HIV funding from states
A federal judge granted California and other states a temporary restraining order halting the administration's health funding cuts for 14 days while the litigation continues.
www.latimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:03 AM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
a thing that's great is when your employer expects you to write and publish, but when you finally get a bit of time to work on those things, they interrupt you non-stop with pointless and absurd administrative tasks that in no way support or advance your research, teaching, or service.
February 12, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
unconscionable and unsurprising in the heart of trump country. republicans are child abusers.
The 16-year-old who was allegedly waterboarded told DCFS about similar incidents of abuse by Wasatch County GOP Chair David Nephi Johnson involving other, younger relatives.
Wasatch County GOP chair charged with felony child abuse
Wasatch County GOP Chair David Nephi Johnson, accused of waterboarding a 16-year-old relative, has been arrested on charges of felony child abuse.
www.sltrib.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:02 AM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
Federal officials for days claimed a snow shovel and broom attack led an agent to shoot one of the men in the leg.
DOJ moves to drop charges against Venezuelan men arrested after ICE shooting
Federal officials for days claimed a snow shovel and broom attack led an agent to shoot one of the men in the leg.
bit.ly
February 13, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.
Breaking News: The Trump administration repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being, meaning that the EPA can no longer regulate them. nyti.ms/4rSszQu
February 12, 2026 at 8:38 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
BREAKING: The Trump administraiton has committed a mass violation of ICE detainees' constitutional rights in MN, effectively blocking their acess to attorneys in the Whipple building, a judge ruled tonight.

The judge: Trump appointeee Nancy Brasel

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
February 13, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
Calling it "Citizens United" instead of "Corporations Unleashed" makes our cause to stop billionaires from purchasing themselves politicians and thus total say over our lives sound like we oppose "people being in solidarity."
Let's not do same with the Eliminating Voters Act.
February 12, 2026 at 11:09 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
NEW @ms.now: The lawyer representing the woman who was shot 5x by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago in Oct says the agent is the subject of a criminal investigation by the US Attorneys Office. This would be a remarkable shift in a case that started w/ the gov’t trying to prosecute the woman he shot ⬇️
Agent investigated in Chicago woman’s shooting, her lawyer says
The attorney for Marimar Martinez says prosecutors told him the agent who shot her five times is facing a criminal probe.
www.ms.now
February 12, 2026 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
Literally fuck around and find out.
New poll: In 2024, low-engagement voters went for Trump over Harris by 11 percentage points. But now they disapprove of the way he's handling the presidency by 13. They have moved 25 points against Trump — 2x as large as the shift for high-knowledge voters www.gelliottmorris.com/p/trump-lost...
Trump has lost the voters who weren’t paying attention in 2024
The least-engaged Americans have swung 25 points against him since 2024 — about twice the shift among everyone else. Trump has flattened the engagement gap.
www.gelliottmorris.com
February 12, 2026 at 11:30 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
Lana in Gaza is trying to raise funds for food for her family and her father’s medicine , if you can help. chuffed.org/project/1401...
Help Me Rebuild My Life and Education – Gaza is Bleeding, and We’re Just Trying to Survive
Hello,My name is Lana Zaiter, a university student from Gaza Strip, majoring in Elementary Education. I was supposed to graduate this year, but the ongoing war in Gaza has stolen that dream from me — ...
chuffed.org
February 12, 2026 at 11:28 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
TikTok, like so many other companies, has trackers built into websites all over the internet. That's old news

But TikTok just launched major updates to it's "pixel," one of the tools used to harvest data from other parts of the web that have nothing to do with TikTok
/2 www.bbc.com/future/artic...
TikTok is tracking you, even if you don't use the app. Here's how to stop it
TikTok is growing its data harvesting empire, and avoiding the app won’t protect you – but some easy steps can keep you safe.
www.bbc.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
NEW: No TikTok account? They're tracking you anyway

TikTok harvests sensitive and embarrassing information about you even if you don't use the app. Last week I watched websites send TikTok data on cancer diagnoses, fertility treatment, and mental health crises

Here's what you can do about it:
/1
February 11, 2026 at 6:12 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
I'm going to write one long thread over the next couple of days about the people I worked with at the Post. They deserve the extra time and attention. I'll start with someone you likely know well: @roncharles.bsky.social 1/TK
February 12, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
Three things (among dozens) to say about Ron: Everyone knows he's funny. The day after he accepted the Nona Balakian award from the NBCC in 2008, I emailed him, as a stranger, to thank him for such uncharacteristic levity at a literary event. He brings the same joy to his colleagues, all the time.
February 12, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Reposted by May-lee Chai (she/her)
"There are still plenty of places to read about literature, many of them excellent.... But they are produced for an audience that already knows it cares about literature. The books section of a newspaper plays an altogether different role. It does not cater to aficionados; it seeks new recruits."
February 11, 2026 at 7:00 PM