Jim Vandewalker
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jimvan.bsky.social
Jim Vandewalker
@jimvan.bsky.social
Green Swamp dweller, Fear Nothing. "I ain't young like you, I'm old and give out." --Slingblade
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
Rich people are complaining about their taxes going up and like, can't you just make more money? I swear, rich people these days just don't want to work anymore. They're so lazy and entitled. Like pull yourself up by your gold plated bootstraps, rich people, don't you always say that's so easy?
November 9, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
Republicans yesterday 😂
November 6, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
I'm not old-fashioned about much but I do think it's a shame rock and roll is no longer blamed for all the ills of the world.
November 3, 2025 at 4:12 AM
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Nature abhors a vacuum, but it loves a dumpling
October 29, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
I don't think there's a single group of people anywhere on earth who has not, at one stage of their societal development, looked at a piece of food and thought "You know what this needs? An edible wrapper"
October 29, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
And the universality of the dumpling creates a realm where no one can say, here is the apotheosis of the dumpling. There are a hundred sublime versions.
October 29, 2025 at 2:28 AM
*Doctor* Eric J. Harvey!
"Osteoracism is not a real condition." – Eric J. Harvey
My favorite is always "there's not a racist bone in my body!"
Like, I don't care about your bones. I care about your words and actions!

Osteoracism is not a real condition.
October 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
When Massachusetts passed a "millionaires tax" in 2023, conservatives claimed the rich would flee.

But two years later, they haven't — and MA has collected $5.7B for infrastructure and public education.

A reminder that positive change can still happen at the state level.
October 24, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
"In the two years since the state started charging a 4% surtax on incomes over $1 million, the effort has created a $5.7 billion windfall, with the surplus being used to fund bridge repairs, bolster literacy programs and address the transportation system’s budget deficit."

Taxing the rich works!
Millionaire Tax That Inspired Mamdani Fuels $5.7 Billion Haul in Massachusetts
A millionaire levy in Massachusetts that New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holds up as a model for taxing the rich has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing...
www.bloomberg.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
In a major break from the past, the Supreme Court is frequently using its emergency docket to rule on challenges to government actions — almost always in favor of the Trump administration and without explanation. bit.ly/4nXIr2p
Supreme Court Shadow Docket Tracker — Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
The Court is ruling on challenges to government actions on its emergency docket, often without explaining its decisions or providing guidance to lower courts.
www.brennancenter.org
October 22, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
Do your parents walk too slowly through palaces, monuments, and other places frequented by tourists? Do they stop to read every plaque while you’re trying to hustle them into the next room so you can see some cool stuff? You may be entitled to compensation.
October 21, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
This week on the blog: Peasants! We are at last putting together and wrapping up our discussion of life for pre-industrial peasants - a category which includes a majority of all humans who have ever lived.

How we can model how they lived, worked, loved and died.

acoup.blog/2025/10/17/c...
Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part V: Life In Cycles
This is the fifth and final part of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd, IVe) looking at the structures of life for pre-modern peasant farmers and showing how historical modeling can …
acoup.blog
October 20, 2025 at 11:43 PM
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My first day working at AWS is going great. For some reason they had a lot of computers plugged in that nobody was using, so I’ve started an initiative to lower our carbon footprint
October 20, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
[Exit King.]
October 18, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
Jeffrey Epstein was a hyper-parasite, a billionaire whose quarry was other billionaires.
Money, Women and Taxes: Jeffrey Epstein’s Fiery Friendship with a Wall Street Titan
www.nytimes.com
October 18, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
I now cry every time I watch this or hear it.

Also, remember, this is now under the Tom Holland rule and must be reposted every time you see it.
October 14, 2025 at 3:06 PM
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October 11, 2025 at 11:45 AM
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I have seen Him in the refugees arriving on our shores
And I’ve seen His Pontius Pilates on the House and Senate floors.
Let us build Him up an altar before ICE’s prison doors.
Wow. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord
October 12, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
the Brennan Center has a nice overview on the abuse that is NSPM-7

www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
October 10, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
New @brennancenter.org roundup of what we're following in money in politics, from AI super PACs to Web ad spend... the first major SCOTUS campaign finance case in a decade, the FEC down to 2/6 commissioners, pardons, corruption--and some good news, too. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Money in Politics Roundup — October 2025
Our new recurring feature covers key stories from the world of campaign finance and influence buying, from the AI industry to super PAC support for a lame-duck president.
www.brennancenter.org
October 9, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
Why most polls overstate support for political violence
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/most-polls...
Why most polls overstate support for political violence
Misperceptions about the popularity of violence increase public support for it — but you can help change that.
www.gelliottmorris.com
October 7, 2025 at 12:22 PM
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Stay weird, Portland. I love that about y'all. Show those mean ICE pricks how ridiculous they are.
October 4, 2025 at 1:20 AM
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a piece exploring this concept www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
If the Urgent Trump-Hegseth Address to the Military Had Been an Email
THIS IS NOT SPAM.
www.theatlantic.com
September 30, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Jim Vandewalker
The cruel stupidity continues…
npr.org NPR @npr.org · Sep 16
RFK Jr.'s hand-picked panel of vaccine advisors is expected to vote to delay the hepatitis B shot for newborns. Doctors warn that could fuel a return of a disease virtually eradicated in U.S. kids.
Kennedy's vaccine panel expected to recommend delaying hepatitis B shot in children
RFK Jr.'s hand-picked panel of vaccine advisors is expected to vote to delay the hepatitis B shot for newborns. Doctors warn that could fuel a return of a disease virtually eradicated in U.S. kids.
n.pr
September 16, 2025 at 2:41 PM