@clairepaulson.bsky.social
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“I don't wanna go far for stuff"
My eloquent and powerful rebrand of the 15 minute city.
My eloquent and powerful rebrand of the 15 minute city.
December 17, 2025 at 5:38 PM
“I don't wanna go far for stuff"
My eloquent and powerful rebrand of the 15 minute city.
My eloquent and powerful rebrand of the 15 minute city.
Reposted
Radical right parties in Europe have not moderated. Their positions and rhetoric have entered the mainstream. They have become normalized and legitimized. Unless we understand this, we have little chance of countering their success.
In many parts of Europe populist-right parties have moderated as they have grown, shedding unpopular policies and personnel. If anything, the AfD in Germany is growing more radical econ.st/3KSptMm
Illustration: Javier Palma
Illustration: Javier Palma
December 16, 2025 at 8:07 AM
Radical right parties in Europe have not moderated. Their positions and rhetoric have entered the mainstream. They have become normalized and legitimized. Unless we understand this, we have little chance of countering their success.
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This report should have panicked everyone on the left into concerted, coordinated effort to address the information asymmetry. But as far as I can tell it just came & went & Dems are still in "buy TV ads about affordability" mode.
The right dominates the online media ecosystem, seeping into sports, comedy, and other supposedly nonpolitical spaces
As Americans increasingly get their news from online shows and streamers, the influence of this media ecosystem becomes more prominent — and Media Matters has found that the most popular of this conte...
www.mediamatters.org
December 9, 2025 at 6:02 AM
This report should have panicked everyone on the left into concerted, coordinated effort to address the information asymmetry. But as far as I can tell it just came & went & Dems are still in "buy TV ads about affordability" mode.
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They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:40 PM
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
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The real task isn’t “teaching people to spot misinformation.” It’s rebuilding conditions where verification, deliberation and accountability are possible. Critical thinking only works when the world around it gives those skills a place to take root.
December 7, 2025 at 2:18 PM
The real task isn’t “teaching people to spot misinformation.” It’s rebuilding conditions where verification, deliberation and accountability are possible. Critical thinking only works when the world around it gives those skills a place to take root.
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Most discussions about “misinformation” treat the problem as if people simply don’t have good enough critical-thinking skills. It sounds intuitive, but it’s not entirely accurate. The problem isn’t just individual ignorance, it’s the structure of the information environment people are placed into.
Finland has emerged as a global leader in countering “fake news”. Here's how they've done it
Teaching when to trust
As fake news accelerates, we need to teach our children how to think critically. Finnish schools are leading the charge
newhumanist.org.uk
December 7, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Most discussions about “misinformation” treat the problem as if people simply don’t have good enough critical-thinking skills. It sounds intuitive, but it’s not entirely accurate. The problem isn’t just individual ignorance, it’s the structure of the information environment people are placed into.
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I had an enlightening conversation with a very smart lawyer friend recently about court reform, and he made a persuasive case for simple court expansion because it's the only plan that gets you the requisite change that's also completely, unquestionably constitutional.
I'm going to keep saying this in my effort to speak it into reality: Supreme Court should have at least 100 Justices with rotating panels (and maybe an en banc option). No single Justice should have so much power and they shouldn't be names everyone knows.
A court with a normal-ish conservative majority would have been tolerable. I'm not eager for court packing, impeaching justices, and other such options. But this court sticking around post-Trump is untenable. They've already torched their own legitimacy, the only question is what do we do about it.
December 6, 2025 at 12:42 AM
I had an enlightening conversation with a very smart lawyer friend recently about court reform, and he made a persuasive case for simple court expansion because it's the only plan that gets you the requisite change that's also completely, unquestionably constitutional.
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A massive problem today is the uneven distribution of shame. Some of us are running dedicated on-site shame servers 24/7 while others have no access to shame at all, even though they desperately need it. What we need to do is put shame in the cloud
December 6, 2025 at 2:54 AM
A massive problem today is the uneven distribution of shame. Some of us are running dedicated on-site shame servers 24/7 while others have no access to shame at all, even though they desperately need it. What we need to do is put shame in the cloud
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The refusal to consider DC Statehood is largely a reluctance to give DC two Senators, which itself is a tacit admission that the United States Senate is an anti-democratic institution.
Statehood for D.C. is an ethical obligation at this point, required to protect the rights of our residents to govern ourselves against such out-of-state troops being sent to patrol our city.
NEW: Republican-led states, in a new filing at the D.C. Circuit, say D.C. residents are irrelevant, D.C. belongs to everyone else. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
The filing is led by the South Carolina and West Virginia attorneys general. Both states sent troops to DC.
The filing is led by the South Carolina and West Virginia attorneys general. Both states sent troops to DC.
December 3, 2025 at 4:42 AM
The refusal to consider DC Statehood is largely a reluctance to give DC two Senators, which itself is a tacit admission that the United States Senate is an anti-democratic institution.
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I’ll put it this way: I have significantly more optimism that we can beat this particular set of fascists than I do that Dems will do what is necessary not to hand the country right back over to the next batch four year later
No value, no villain, no vision. Sounds like the tagline for the earnings call of a collapsing appliance retailer
November 30, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I’ll put it this way: I have significantly more optimism that we can beat this particular set of fascists than I do that Dems will do what is necessary not to hand the country right back over to the next batch four year later
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You know what’s ripe for a comeback is the Wolves of Willoughby Chase series by Joan Aiken. Smart & non-condescending YA, fantastical without being fantasy, dark and Dickensian as hell, extremely lefty and anticapitalist, a full dozen sequels, amazing Edward Gorey covers.
November 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
You know what’s ripe for a comeback is the Wolves of Willoughby Chase series by Joan Aiken. Smart & non-condescending YA, fantastical without being fantasy, dark and Dickensian as hell, extremely lefty and anticapitalist, a full dozen sequels, amazing Edward Gorey covers.
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It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
I don't understand how anyone can watch how blatantly Grok is manipulated to answer the way ownership desires it to and then act like the other LLM chatbots couldn't possibly be similarly but less obviously compromised to produce responses in whatever way corporate interests and priorities dictate.
November 23, 2025 at 11:16 PM
It’s blowing my mind that schools, universities, public services would run headlong into this. We spent 15 years documenting black boxes. This is a black box in a black hole!
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A lot of education discourse is at root an inability to decide whether the purpose of our education system is to 1) teach material and measure learning 2) reward students who work hard 3) separate the smart kids (destined for smart guy jobs) from the dumb kids (destined to serve the smart guys)
November 15, 2025 at 5:52 PM
A lot of education discourse is at root an inability to decide whether the purpose of our education system is to 1) teach material and measure learning 2) reward students who work hard 3) separate the smart kids (destined for smart guy jobs) from the dumb kids (destined to serve the smart guys)
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i’ve said this before and i remain convinced it’s true, the 2028 platform that would deliver obama 08 results is “i am gonna
bring the hammer down on the corrupt self-dealing politicians and their rich friends and there are no sacred cows id give a pass”
bring the hammer down on the corrupt self-dealing politicians and their rich friends and there are no sacred cows id give a pass”
November 13, 2025 at 2:07 PM
i’ve said this before and i remain convinced it’s true, the 2028 platform that would deliver obama 08 results is “i am gonna
bring the hammer down on the corrupt self-dealing politicians and their rich friends and there are no sacred cows id give a pass”
bring the hammer down on the corrupt self-dealing politicians and their rich friends and there are no sacred cows id give a pass”
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Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
Early Career Rescue Fellowship
www.uni-konstanz.de
November 11, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
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Abolish the Senate. I am absolutely dead serious.
Shaheen: "We've heard from a number of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle that they're willing to come to the table, they're willing to work with us once the govt is open to get this done. We've heard the same thing from the White House. So now we'll see if they're really gonna work w/us"
November 10, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Abolish the Senate. I am absolutely dead serious.
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Part of me thinks “yeah, primary every last one of these fuckers!!!”
And the other part of me thinks “eh, fuck it. We’re gonna need wholesale constitutional reform anyway. Just abolish the damn Senate.”
And the other part of me thinks “eh, fuck it. We’re gonna need wholesale constitutional reform anyway. Just abolish the damn Senate.”
November 10, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Part of me thinks “yeah, primary every last one of these fuckers!!!”
And the other part of me thinks “eh, fuck it. We’re gonna need wholesale constitutional reform anyway. Just abolish the damn Senate.”
And the other part of me thinks “eh, fuck it. We’re gonna need wholesale constitutional reform anyway. Just abolish the damn Senate.”
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Sending love to everyone whose health care has been jeopardized by the Democratic cave-in. These Democratic elites will not be part of the solution. We must proceed with that understanding.
November 10, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Sending love to everyone whose health care has been jeopardized by the Democratic cave-in. These Democratic elites will not be part of the solution. We must proceed with that understanding.
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They’re wearing masks so they can’t be prosecuted later. As long as they think they can’t be prosecuted, their crimes will intensify. They will torture, starve and kill, as they have already, on greater and greater scale.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
I’ve come to believe that we need to gather considerable forces and a campaign to demand the removal of face masks by ICE, Border Patrol, FBI and police.
It is a practice in conflict with the principles of transparency & accountability that are central to the concept of democracy.
It is a practice in conflict with the principles of transparency & accountability that are central to the concept of democracy.
Video on social media shows an immigration agent pulling a gun in Little Village and holding it to the side — which is not an appropriate or safe way to hold a gun. (Among other issues.)
November 9, 2025 at 2:36 PM
They’re wearing masks so they can’t be prosecuted later. As long as they think they can’t be prosecuted, their crimes will intensify. They will torture, starve and kill, as they have already, on greater and greater scale.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
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And now, if you read the devastating piece about what Venezuelan deportees endured at the El Salvador torture prison, read what incarcerated U.S. citizens endure in Alabama prisons.
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
‘How is this possible?’: a new film looks inside the appalling abuses of the Alabama prison system
In the year’s most shocking documentary, The Alabama Solution, prisoners share astonishing footage in a plea for help
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:38 PM
And now, if you read the devastating piece about what Venezuelan deportees endured at the El Salvador torture prison, read what incarcerated U.S. citizens endure in Alabama prisons.
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
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A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
November 7, 2025 at 3:08 AM
A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
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One thing that strikes me is just how fake all of our problems related to government are
The filibuster isn't in the Constitution, and every single Framer would be apoplectic that it exists.
The government shutdown was invented in 1980
The 9-justices limit was invented to stop the New Deal
The filibuster isn't in the Constitution, and every single Framer would be apoplectic that it exists.
The government shutdown was invented in 1980
The 9-justices limit was invented to stop the New Deal
November 8, 2025 at 3:33 AM
One thing that strikes me is just how fake all of our problems related to government are
The filibuster isn't in the Constitution, and every single Framer would be apoplectic that it exists.
The government shutdown was invented in 1980
The 9-justices limit was invented to stop the New Deal
The filibuster isn't in the Constitution, and every single Framer would be apoplectic that it exists.
The government shutdown was invented in 1980
The 9-justices limit was invented to stop the New Deal
Reposted
For years, but especially for the past year, Democrats have been in thrall to the idea that they need to chase an imagined median voter, and adopt that voter’s positions. Mamdani’s victory shows another way: hold principles, and persuade people to share them.
I wrote about Zohran’s victory. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Mamdani’s victory is a rebuke to the failed strategies of the Democratic party | Moira Donegan
The Democratic party appears listless and unprincipled, unwilling to fight because they do not believe in anything. Zohran Mamdani is the opposite of this
www.theguardian.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:13 AM
For years, but especially for the past year, Democrats have been in thrall to the idea that they need to chase an imagined median voter, and adopt that voter’s positions. Mamdani’s victory shows another way: hold principles, and persuade people to share them.
Reposted
In Chicago, a woman was driving to get coffee when a DHS vehicle fleeing an angry crowd crashed into her car. Armed agents jumped out of the vehicle, yanked her door open, pulled her by the legs out of her car at gunpoint, held her incommunicado for hours, then released her with no charges.
November 3, 2025 at 6:34 PM
In Chicago, a woman was driving to get coffee when a DHS vehicle fleeing an angry crowd crashed into her car. Armed agents jumped out of the vehicle, yanked her door open, pulled her by the legs out of her car at gunpoint, held her incommunicado for hours, then released her with no charges.