Thrilled to share this: I’m launching a new media outlet, Bolts, very soon.
We'll cover the nuts and bolts of power & political change, from the local up — those overlooked elections & decisions that greatly shape policy. Follow us already @BoltsMag!
We'd LOVE your support: ↓
Bolts is focusing on two areas where local governments are so crucial: criminal justice & voting rights.
I’m ecstatic that the amazing @michaelsbarajas has joined @BoltsMag as managing editor! Also: My “What’s on the Ballot” is moving over.
What can you do right now? 3 things.
First: Please follow us on here to stay up to date & help us grow: @BoltsMag.
Second: You can subscribe to our mailing list to not miss anything. (It’s free.) mailchi.mp/37f347f08fa8/b…
Third: If you’re able, your donations will go a long way to really help make this project all it could be & give local politics the spotlight they deserve.
And for writers and editors: We’d love to hear from you and talk to you in the coming weeks. We will be looking to fill new positions shortly after we go public. More soon!
In short: If you’ve enjoyed my work or Michael’s work in the past, I really believe (and hope) that you’ll love this.
And if you’ve used What’s on the Ballot, there’s a lot more coming your way.
It feels like a dream. I can’t wait to share it & for you to use it!
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Don’t lose sight of the country-defining presidential election today in Chile between the Pinochet-nostalgic José Antonio Kast & left organizer Gabriel Boric.
Huge blow to Dems in Wisconsin, somewhat expected given the GOP-majority court is among the most polarized in the country.
The ruling's effect is that the HEAVILY gerrymandered maps the GOP drew for 2010s will carry into the 2020s, no matter the veto power Dems gained in 2018.
Wisconsin's 2019 Supreme Court race, held far (far) from the national spotlight in the spring of 2019 and which the GOP-aligned candidate carried by 5921 votes (out of 1.2 million) will loom very large when it comes to deciding national power thru this coming decade.
Note these developments should not be not surprises. We know (and should know better) that these local & state elections matter & will have momentous consequences when they're happening.
A Chinese tennis professional accused a state official of sexual assault a few weeks ago. The accusation was wildly and promptly censored. Since then, she disappeared. Now this “email” release:
It's hard to make the words "I've just been resting at home and everything is fine" feel more chilling than this.
The woman’s tennis association directly suggests the statement attributed to the disappeared player is fake: “I have repeatedly tried to reach her, to no avail.”
There was a premature avalanche of stories about New York State as tho results were final two weeks ago. This was frustrating because we went thru this in 2020, when early results were very incomplete and changed a lot when mail ballots were counted.
Rochester is only about a third of Monroe, pop-wise.
Judicial elections at present a disaster. Thousands of judges up and down the ballot, typically appointed in very shady conditions & seeking election in obscure races. YET there’ve been pockets of successful activism where ppl have targeted these offices for change. Quick thread.
What is key first of all is grasping why these offices matter — that’s why this activism in New Orleans last year to spotlight their role in the housing crisis and what they could do differently was so fascinating. theappeal.org/politicalrepor…
A few months later, New Orleans activists mobilized to “flip the bench” by putting public defenders committed to reforms on it: theappeal.org/politicalrepor…
for some people there's no depth of ignorance that's too embarassing to display (or to perform)
it's usually best to ignore. but given that the 1980s & the AIDS crisis aren't that well known overall, it feels important to pause on the thousands of lives lost and people harmed for years & years in a national context that oscillated from indifference to isolation to hate.