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.
Can you imagine a world where the BBC could swing an election in Florida?
November 11, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Can you imagine a world where the BBC could swing an election in Florida?
I’m trying to play Christmas Time Is Here on piano, and so far I’ve figured out that Vince Guaraldi must have had huge hands.
Vince Guaraldi Trio - Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal)
YouTube video by VinceGuaraldiVEVO
youtu.be
November 11, 2025 at 2:06 AM
I’m trying to play Christmas Time Is Here on piano, and so far I’ve figured out that Vince Guaraldi must have had huge hands.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via @fischler.bsky.social: The Trump administration's position was a reversal from the first Trump administration’s 2019 guidance and a shutdown plan the department published Sept. 30, then deleted, and has sparked several court challenges.
Shutdown battle ebbs, but Trump won’t give up trying to withhold full SNAP benefits | Alabama Reflector
The Trump administration's position is a reversal from 2019 guidance and a shutdown plan the department published Sept. 30, then deleted.
alabamareflector.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Via @fischler.bsky.social: The Trump administration's position was a reversal from the first Trump administration’s 2019 guidance and a shutdown plan the department published Sept. 30, then deleted, and has sparked several court challenges.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jennifer Shutt: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Monday it plans to remove warnings from hormone replacement therapy drugs that can be used to address symptoms of menopause, saying the statements are no longer needed. https://ow.ly/hCwJ50XpEvM
November 10, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Via Jennifer Shutt: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Monday it plans to remove warnings from hormone replacement therapy drugs that can be used to address symptoms of menopause, saying the statements are no longer needed. https://ow.ly/hCwJ50XpEvM
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jennifer Shutt: President Donald Trump said shortly before the votes were locked in that he plans to follow the agreements included in the revised measure, including the reinstatement of thousands of federal workers who received layoff notices during the shutdown.
US Senate on verge of passing bill to end record-breaking shutdown, House up next | Alabama Reflector
Senators are expected to vote before midnight after they wrap up a series of floor speeches as well as amendment and procedural votes.
alabamareflector.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Via Jennifer Shutt: President Donald Trump said shortly before the votes were locked in that he plans to follow the agreements included in the revised measure, including the reinstatement of thousands of federal workers who received layoff notices during the shutdown.
Gentlemen, today I will argue that people do not want to obsessively think about health insurance all the time (Shouting, fights in the aisles)
I was at an event yesterday where Rand Paul spoke via video and talked about how great it was to send ACA money "directly to the people" so that they could work collectively to get better deals on health care.
November 10, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Gentlemen, today I will argue that people do not want to obsessively think about health insurance all the time (Shouting, fights in the aisles)
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Ariana Figueroa: President Donald Trump announced on Monday he pardoned his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other people allegedly involved in the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, but the president’s federal pardon does not shield members of the group from state charges.
Here's the list of newly pardoned Trump fake electors, other allies | Alabama Reflector
After losing the 2020 presidential election, Trump goaded his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol and stop Congress from certifying the election results.
ow.ly
November 10, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Via Ariana Figueroa: President Donald Trump announced on Monday he pardoned his former lawyer Rudy Giuliani and other people allegedly involved in the attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, but the president’s federal pardon does not shield members of the group from state charges.
There’s an awful lot of mythology and world-building hanging on a film that was never intended to be more than a modernized version of the Saturday Morning Serials of the 1930s.
Be normal about a Star Wars movie: impossible
The inciting incident for conflict in The Phantom Menace being a trade war is inherently a flaw, according to a writer for the New York Times (a piece of unofficial regime propaganda for the current presidential administration).
November 10, 2025 at 8:03 PM
There’s an awful lot of mythology and world-building hanging on a film that was never intended to be more than a modernized version of the Saturday Morning Serials of the 1930s.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Anna Barrett: Gov. Kay Ivey Monday appointed Will Parker, her longtime legal advisor, to the Alabama Supreme Court.
Gov. Kay Ivey appoints legal advisor Will Parker to Alabama Supreme Court | Alabama Reflector
Gov. Kay Ivey Monday appointed longtime legal advisor Will Parker to the Alabama Supreme Court, filling a vacancy left by Bill Lewis.
alabamareflector.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Via Anna Barrett: Gov. Kay Ivey Monday appointed Will Parker, her longtime legal advisor, to the Alabama Supreme Court.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jonathan Shorman and Stateline: A year out from the 2026 midterm elections, legal fights and procedural maneuvering over ballot measures and referendums are already well underway in states across the country. https://ow.ly/X6of50XppWn
November 10, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Via Jonathan Shorman and Stateline: A year out from the 2026 midterm elections, legal fights and procedural maneuvering over ballot measures and referendums are already well underway in states across the country. https://ow.ly/X6of50XppWn
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Editor Brian Lyman writes that Alabama leaders have been notably passive in helping 726,000 Alabamians avoid hunger, particularly when one remembers how quickly they move to give money to corporations and punish transgender people. https://ow.ly/nxjB50Xo2Qj
November 10, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Editor Brian Lyman writes that Alabama leaders have been notably passive in helping 726,000 Alabamians avoid hunger, particularly when one remembers how quickly they move to give money to corporations and punish transgender people. https://ow.ly/nxjB50Xo2Qj
We saw something similar in the 2022 trial over gender-affirming care in Alabama: The state put on several witnesses they called experts who had never worked with transgender youth or whose testimony was irrelevant or politically-motivated.
The legal case by Arizona Republicans defending the state's abortion laws is built on the testimony of expert witnesses who have never performed an abortion and have long opposed it, report @azmirror.com and @statesnewsroom.com
Arizona GOP defends abortion laws with witnesses who are vocal abortion foes
Arizona abortion law witnesses for GOP never performed procedure as Republicans defend restrictions against Prop 139 challenge
buff.ly
November 10, 2025 at 4:06 PM
We saw something similar in the 2022 trial over gender-affirming care in Alabama: The state put on several witnesses they called experts who had never worked with transgender youth or whose testimony was irrelevant or politically-motivated.
My column this week. When Alabama lawmakers want to give money to corporations or punish transgender people, nothing can stop them.
When 726,000 Alabamians face hunger, the laws they are empowered to write suddenly become impossible barriers.
When 726,000 Alabamians face hunger, the laws they are empowered to write suddenly become impossible barriers.
Hunger doesn't seem to be an emergency for Alabama leaders | Alabama Reflector
When Alabama leaders see an emergency, they act fast. Which makes their passivity as 726,000 Alabamians face hunger more striking.
ow.ly
November 10, 2025 at 3:06 PM
My column this week. When Alabama lawmakers want to give money to corporations or punish transgender people, nothing can stop them.
When 726,000 Alabamians face hunger, the laws they are empowered to write suddenly become impossible barriers.
When 726,000 Alabamians face hunger, the laws they are empowered to write suddenly become impossible barriers.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Anna Barrett: The Joint Legislative Contract Review Committee approved $21.7 million in contracts for the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) on Thursday afternoon. Two of the contracts aim to help ALSDE comply with the 2019 Literacy Act. https://ow.ly/ie0K50Xouuc
November 10, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Via Anna Barrett: The Joint Legislative Contract Review Committee approved $21.7 million in contracts for the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE) on Thursday afternoon. Two of the contracts aim to help ALSDE comply with the 2019 Literacy Act. https://ow.ly/ie0K50Xouuc
Good morning.
Solace - A Mexican Serenade
YouTube video by Joshua Rifkin - Topic
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Good morning.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Stateline: With some early childhood education centers already closing their doors because of the federal government shutdown, local leaders are scrambling to find money to keep Head Start programs available to some of the country’s most vulnerable children. https://ow.ly/rjlT50XoBjT
November 10, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Via Stateline: With some early childhood education centers already closing their doors because of the federal government shutdown, local leaders are scrambling to find money to keep Head Start programs available to some of the country’s most vulnerable children. https://ow.ly/rjlT50XoBjT
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via @ashleymurray.bsky.social: The legislation, backed by Republicans, seven Democrats and one independent, would fund food aid and restore federal jobs lost during the shutdown but does not include extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, which Democrats had fought for.
US Senate advances bill to end record-breaking government shutdown | Alabama Reflector
The bill does not include language addressing skyrocketing premiums for those enrolled in individual health insurance plans in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, a major sticking point for Democrats...
alabamareflector.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Via @ashleymurray.bsky.social: The legislation, backed by Republicans, seven Democrats and one independent, would fund food aid and restore federal jobs lost during the shutdown but does not include extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, which Democrats had fought for.
A fun journalism thing: Walter Lippmann developed the idea of objectivity after World War I in response to the failings of neutrality during the conflict. But he *never clearly defined it.* It’s like Isaac Newton raging against Aristotle’s physics, then calling for a new system of fallingness.
Objectivity, impartiality and balance are all *different things*, and the lazy tendency to treat them as synonyms, and to use partisan balance alone as a proxy for the others, is the root cause of a vast amount of nonsense.
Robbie Gibb once suggested that reporters should reflect if they were getting more retweets from one side than the other - a braindead analysis that ignores that fair and impartial reporting of education might get more Tory retweets than say, criminal justice.
November 10, 2025 at 11:27 AM
A fun journalism thing: Walter Lippmann developed the idea of objectivity after World War I in response to the failings of neutrality during the conflict. But he *never clearly defined it.* It’s like Isaac Newton raging against Aristotle’s physics, then calling for a new system of fallingness.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Ashley Murray: The legislation does not include language addressing skyrocketing premiums for those enrolled in individual health insurance plans in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, a major sticking point for Democrats.
Deal to end shutdown gains traction in US Senate as vote nears | Alabama Reflector
The bill does not include language addressing skyrocketing premiums for those enrolled in individual health insurance plans in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, a major sticking point for Democrats.
alabamareflector.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Via Ashley Murray: The legislation does not include language addressing skyrocketing premiums for those enrolled in individual health insurance plans in the Affordable Care Act Marketplace, a major sticking point for Democrats.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jacob Fischler The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service said states should fund 65% of benefits for users of SNAP, often called food stamps. Those that had authorized full payments in line with earlier administration guidance should “immediately undo” that action, it said.
States told by Trump administration to 'undo' full SNAP benefits paid for November | Alabama Reflector
A Saturday memo from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service said states should fund 65% of benefits for users of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, often called food stamps.
ow.ly
November 9, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Via Jacob Fischler The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service said states should fund 65% of benefits for users of SNAP, often called food stamps. Those that had authorized full payments in line with earlier administration guidance should “immediately undo” that action, it said.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Regular reminder that Axios stories saying Dems are about to cave are likely sourced from GOP staffers trying to make it happen.
Doesn't mean it definitely won't happen. But it's like those NYT stories that Harvard is considering caving (they haven't). The anonymous source was trying to manifest it.
Doesn't mean it definitely won't happen. But it's like those NYT stories that Harvard is considering caving (they haven't). The anonymous source was trying to manifest it.
November 9, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Regular reminder that Axios stories saying Dems are about to cave are likely sourced from GOP staffers trying to make it happen.
Doesn't mean it definitely won't happen. But it's like those NYT stories that Harvard is considering caving (they haven't). The anonymous source was trying to manifest it.
Doesn't mean it definitely won't happen. But it's like those NYT stories that Harvard is considering caving (they haven't). The anonymous source was trying to manifest it.
Immigration is a central if not primary feature of American Catholicism. For its often-awful flaws, it gave people new to these shores a sense of belonging and dignity in a country frequently determined to deny them both. This is antithetical to nearly two centuries of religious practice.
state of the trad catholic discourse on the other site is debating whether undocumented immigrants should be able to receive the Eucharist if you were wondering how that was going
November 9, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Immigration is a central if not primary feature of American Catholicism. For its often-awful flaws, it gave people new to these shores a sense of belonging and dignity in a country frequently determined to deny them both. This is antithetical to nearly two centuries of religious practice.
Big tell that someone is ignorant about government: thinking (or letting people think) foreign aid could be directed into a Keynesian employment program.
The entire project here is so cynical. "We have to end foreign aid until we fix unemployment and bad schools!"
ok are you working to fix those problems?
"No."
ok are you working to fix those problems?
"No."
November 9, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Big tell that someone is ignorant about government: thinking (or letting people think) foreign aid could be directed into a Keynesian employment program.
Conservatives keep creating right-wing versions of media, academia and the arts that operate in ways right-wing propagandists think they operate. Which shows how wildly off-base those assumptions were in the first place.
For people who aren't steeped in this stuff every day, and even people who are, this is really enlightening:
In Trump 2.0, MAGA-aligned influencers and media emerge as the new mainstream reut.rs/3LO6yCi
November 9, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Conservatives keep creating right-wing versions of media, academia and the arts that operate in ways right-wing propagandists think they operate. Which shows how wildly off-base those assumptions were in the first place.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Anna Claire Vollers and Stateline: More than a dozen states have taken steps to keep medical debt from hurting credit scores. But new guidance from the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau repeals a Biden-era rule that allowed states to impose their own bans. https://ow.ly/apz350XoqSS
November 9, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Via Anna Claire Vollers and Stateline: More than a dozen states have taken steps to keep medical debt from hurting credit scores. But new guidance from the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau repeals a Biden-era rule that allowed states to impose their own bans. https://ow.ly/apz350XoqSS