Paula Schaap
@redsonja.bsky.social
Writer and editor. Also lawyer. Also, I play poker. And yes, that is my actual dog in the avatar. Her name is Muppet, the name she came with; we couldn't figure out a better one. Opinions my own; usual disclaimers.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
"We estimate the cumulative cost of deploying the National Guard to all five cities through November 15 is approximately $473,265,435.”
ips-dc.org/fact-sheet-t...
ips-dc.org/fact-sheet-t...
FACT SHEET: What Do Trump's National Guard Deployments Cost? - Institute for Policy Studies
FACT SHEET: What Do Trump's National Guard Deployments Cost?
ips-dc.org
November 13, 2025 at 11:45 PM
"We estimate the cumulative cost of deploying the National Guard to all five cities through November 15 is approximately $473,265,435.”
ips-dc.org/fact-sheet-t...
ips-dc.org/fact-sheet-t...
Reposted by Paula Schaap
ALWAYS BE CANVASSING (as you are able!)
Something about our campaign? We know knocking on doors and having actual conversations is how we'll win. If you're in Clarksville, we need YOU! Join our #TeamAftyn squad today!
SIGN UP: aftynforcongress.com...
Something about our campaign? We know knocking on doors and having actual conversations is how we'll win. If you're in Clarksville, we need YOU! Join our #TeamAftyn squad today!
SIGN UP: aftynforcongress.com...
November 13, 2025 at 6:01 PM
ALWAYS BE CANVASSING (as you are able!)
Something about our campaign? We know knocking on doors and having actual conversations is how we'll win. If you're in Clarksville, we need YOU! Join our #TeamAftyn squad today!
SIGN UP: aftynforcongress.com...
Something about our campaign? We know knocking on doors and having actual conversations is how we'll win. If you're in Clarksville, we need YOU! Join our #TeamAftyn squad today!
SIGN UP: aftynforcongress.com...
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Great column by @michellegoldberg.bsky.social on what drives Palantir CEO Alex Karp--the Peter Thiel buddy and former college lefty who's rummaging around your Social Security records and other personal data for Trump.
November 13, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Great column by @michellegoldberg.bsky.social on what drives Palantir CEO Alex Karp--the Peter Thiel buddy and former college lefty who's rummaging around your Social Security records and other personal data for Trump.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Donald Trump’s sex crimes raise new questions about Zohran Mamdani’s approach to law enforcement.
November 13, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Donald Trump’s sex crimes raise new questions about Zohran Mamdani’s approach to law enforcement.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
NEW: In emails sent in 2016 and 2018, former, Jeffrey Epstein lawyer and ousted Baylor U president Ken Starr sent "hugs" & "love" to Epstein. In one Starr defended the 2008 "sweetheart deal" NPA Epstein got.
"Jeffrey Epstein has paid his debt to society," Starr wrote.
www.chron.com/culture/arti...
"Jeffrey Epstein has paid his debt to society," Starr wrote.
www.chron.com/culture/arti...
'Hugs' and holiday wishes: Inside former Baylor president's emails to Epstein
Ken Starr helped Epstein get the 2008 "sweetheart deal" that allowed him to avoid prosecution.
www.chron.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:56 PM
NEW: In emails sent in 2016 and 2018, former, Jeffrey Epstein lawyer and ousted Baylor U president Ken Starr sent "hugs" & "love" to Epstein. In one Starr defended the 2008 "sweetheart deal" NPA Epstein got.
"Jeffrey Epstein has paid his debt to society," Starr wrote.
www.chron.com/culture/arti...
"Jeffrey Epstein has paid his debt to society," Starr wrote.
www.chron.com/culture/arti...
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Nope. Their alternative is nothing at all. Always has been.
November 13, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Nope. Their alternative is nothing at all. Always has been.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
“But her emails” was just another confession disguised as an accusation, it’s so incredibly obvious now.
November 13, 2025 at 10:39 AM
“But her emails” was just another confession disguised as an accusation, it’s so incredibly obvious now.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Turns out turning over your country's largest religion with a man engaged in a massive cover-up of his ties to the largest child rape ring of the century isn't great for church attendance.
Drop in U.S. Religiosity Among Largest in World
The 17-percentage-point drop in U.S. religiosity over the past decade is among the largest declines measured in the Gallup World Poll.
news.gallup.com
November 13, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Turns out turning over your country's largest religion with a man engaged in a massive cover-up of his ties to the largest child rape ring of the century isn't great for church attendance.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
folsom prison blues is like a hundred years old, are you dumb as fucking rocks?
The account owner of @sarahkendzior.bsky.social was suspended for 72 hours for expressing a desire to shoot the author of an article. The post, made 11/10, stated: "I want to shoot the author of this article just to watch him die." 1/2
November 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
folsom prison blues is like a hundred years old, are you dumb as fucking rocks?
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Fuck these cruel republican mafia goons! My best friend died of cancer because he didn’t have health insurance due to a preexisting condition when he got cancer. When Obamacare kicked in 1/1/2014, insurance had to accept him, but by then his cancer had progressed from Stage 1B to 4B, inoperable!
November 12, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Fuck these cruel republican mafia goons! My best friend died of cancer because he didn’t have health insurance due to a preexisting condition when he got cancer. When Obamacare kicked in 1/1/2014, insurance had to accept him, but by then his cancer had progressed from Stage 1B to 4B, inoperable!
Reposted by Paula Schaap
BREAKING: Rep. Adelita Grijalva signs the Epstein discharge petition, serving as the 218th vote to force the bill to the floor for a full vote of the House.
November 12, 2025 at 9:25 PM
BREAKING: Rep. Adelita Grijalva signs the Epstein discharge petition, serving as the 218th vote to force the bill to the floor for a full vote of the House.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Yeah. He’s all over these emails.
This story by @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social about Landon Thomas, former NYT reporter now appearing in the latest email tranche, soliciting a $30k contribution from Jeffrey Epstein?
Yes, you can read it here
www.npr.org/2019/08/22/7...
Yes, you can read it here
www.npr.org/2019/08/22/7...
November 12, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Yeah. He’s all over these emails.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Hey, all:
At The Nevada Independent, we are in the middle of our end-of-the-year fundraising drive. We are in good shape, but nonprofit journalism is not easy. If you believe in what we do and can spare $5-$10-$25 a month, please donate:
nevadaindependent.fundjournalism.org?campaignid=7...
At The Nevada Independent, we are in the middle of our end-of-the-year fundraising drive. We are in good shape, but nonprofit journalism is not easy. If you believe in what we do and can spare $5-$10-$25 a month, please donate:
nevadaindependent.fundjournalism.org?campaignid=7...
Join | Nevada Independent
Help support professional journalism in Nevada!
nevadaindependent.fundjournalism.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Hey, all:
At The Nevada Independent, we are in the middle of our end-of-the-year fundraising drive. We are in good shape, but nonprofit journalism is not easy. If you believe in what we do and can spare $5-$10-$25 a month, please donate:
nevadaindependent.fundjournalism.org?campaignid=7...
At The Nevada Independent, we are in the middle of our end-of-the-year fundraising drive. We are in good shape, but nonprofit journalism is not easy. If you believe in what we do and can spare $5-$10-$25 a month, please donate:
nevadaindependent.fundjournalism.org?campaignid=7...
Reposted by Paula Schaap
This sounds reasonable but is 100% wrong. Whether you or agree or disagree with a study is completely immaterial. What matters is whether the study was conducted properly and generates valid results. And it's impolitic to say but it's true: you have to have some level of expertise to judge that.
JD Vance: "Science as practiced in its best form is that if you disagree with it, then you ought to criticize it and you ought to argue against it."
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
This sounds reasonable but is 100% wrong. Whether you or agree or disagree with a study is completely immaterial. What matters is whether the study was conducted properly and generates valid results. And it's impolitic to say but it's true: you have to have some level of expertise to judge that.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
of all the atrocities these emails likely allude to, it's still amazing that 'elites' write awful things *in emails*. so above the law, so convinced of their rectitude, so conditioned to impunity.
November 12, 2025 at 5:03 PM
of all the atrocities these emails likely allude to, it's still amazing that 'elites' write awful things *in emails*. so above the law, so convinced of their rectitude, so conditioned to impunity.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
When the lawyers take to the streets, history suggests, change is possible. Join us on Saturday in front of the Supreme Court.
Lawyers March for Democracy Kickoff
Lawyers March for Democracy As the Supreme Court wraps up its November oral arguments, join fellow attorneys, law students, and legal advocates for a powerful rally outside the Supreme Court to decla...
actionnetwork.org
November 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
When the lawyers take to the streets, history suggests, change is possible. Join us on Saturday in front of the Supreme Court.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
happy epstein thermonuclear launch day to all who celebrate
November 12, 2025 at 6:01 PM
happy epstein thermonuclear launch day to all who celebrate
Just here to say: read it.
It’s about veterans but not really Veterans Day.
It’s about soldiers but only sorta.
in-the-pines.ghost.io/fathers-sons...
It’s about soldiers but only sorta.
in-the-pines.ghost.io/fathers-sons...
Fathers, Sons, Soldiers, and Poetry
We both hid a part of ourselves behind a soldier’s body armor and camo paint and when that didn’t work we retreated behind the smile of a beer drinking buddy.
in-the-pines.ghost.io
November 11, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Just here to say: read it.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Reposted by Paula Schaap
November 11, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Few things have made more more mad over recent months than the attention given to this while the Supreme Court is actually taking step after step to make life more difficult for trans and nonbinary people.
Like, this actually happened last week — in an unsigned order.
Like, this actually happened last week — in an unsigned order.
SCOTUS lets Trump administration implement anti-trans, anti-nonbinary passport policy
The Democratic appointees, led by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissented. The ruling, which applies during litigation, effectively reverses two lower court rulings.
www.lawdork.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Few things have made more more mad over recent months than the attention given to this while the Supreme Court is actually taking step after step to make life more difficult for trans and nonbinary people.
Like, this actually happened last week — in an unsigned order.
Like, this actually happened last week — in an unsigned order.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
This was not a surprise to anyone who followed me and other actual reporters who know Supreme Court procedure.
The only places it succeeded were to generate donations for Liberty Counsel and to prompt clicks through ragebait headlines from your favorite resistance grifters.
Sorry, it's true.
The only places it succeeded were to generate donations for Liberty Counsel and to prompt clicks through ragebait headlines from your favorite resistance grifters.
Sorry, it's true.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court DENIES former county clerk Kim Davis's request for the justices to take up her longshot bid to overturn 2015's Obergefell v. Hodges marriage equality decision. No justice even writes about the request.
November 10, 2025 at 7:24 PM
This was not a surprise to anyone who followed me and other actual reporters who know Supreme Court procedure.
The only places it succeeded were to generate donations for Liberty Counsel and to prompt clicks through ragebait headlines from your favorite resistance grifters.
Sorry, it's true.
The only places it succeeded were to generate donations for Liberty Counsel and to prompt clicks through ragebait headlines from your favorite resistance grifters.
Sorry, it's true.
Reposted by Paula Schaap
“My work is not done — despite my best efforts, there are still children alive and well in the state of Texas.”
Fuck everything today, but especially this man.
Greg Abbott announces reelection campaign for record fourth term as Texas governor
Gov. Greg Abbott formally announced his fourth gubernatorial run in Houston on Sunday. The incumbent Republican, who currently has around $87 million in his campaign war chest, will face two opponents...
www.kut.org
November 10, 2025 at 8:23 PM
“My work is not done — despite my best efforts, there are still children alive and well in the state of Texas.”
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Reposted by Paula Schaap
Yes, and we all need to put in time, not just money. We can't buy the right kind of candidates, we are going to have to be them or build them with our own hands.
Right, the answer isn't to abandon the party to these weasels.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
The answer is to flood the party with people who will take it over and transform it.
Hey, a lot of people are talking about changing affiliation from Democratic to Independent.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
Let me tell you why you shouldn’t do that in Colorado.
One of the main ways to get a primary challenge candidate on a ballot is to caucus for your party. You need to be registered as a Dem to caucus.
November 10, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Yes, and we all need to put in time, not just money. We can't buy the right kind of candidates, we are going to have to be them or build them with our own hands.