Tootfinder

Peggy Flanagan,
the progressive lieutenant governor of Minnesota,
clinched the victory in the state’s Democratic primary for US Senate,
beating out moderate US representative Angie Craig.
The AP called the race, with Flanagan leading with nearly 59% of the vote.

Minnesota progressive wins Senate primary over anti-ICE sentiments, as Wisconsin governor’s race remains close – live
Peggy Flanagan sweeps Minnesota Senate primary; in Wisconsin, moderate David Crowley and Democratic socialist Francesca Hong face tight race to be Democratic nominee for governor

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."
I stepped on my #MTB and suddenly found myself in the #mountains. I was thinking whether to go back down to …

Lisa Demuth, the Republican speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives,
secured the Republican nomination for governor,
-- edging out pillow salesman Mike Lindell, who had received Trump’s endorsement in the race.
Demuth became speaker last year in an evenly divided House, becoming the first Black person in the role.

Minnesota progressive wins Senate primary over anti-ICE sentiments, as Wisconsin governor’s race remains close – live
Peggy Flanagan sweeps Minnesota Senate primary; in Wisconsin, moderate David Crowley and Democratic socialist Francesca Hong face tight race to be Democratic nominee for governor

Just finished "What Elephants Know" by Eric Dinerstein. Leaves me with very mixed feelings: it's a novel in many ways about Nepal, and I don't doubt that the author's experience living there gives him a not-insignificant window into the culture, plus there are multiple people mentioned in the acknowledgements as judging faithfulness to Nepali culture. I myself have no direct connection to the country, nor enough knowledge to see any clear inaccuracies in the writing, nor ways in which it directly disrespects the culture.
That said, my instincts say this is a portrayal of the culture and country that probably elides much about the downsides of foreign influence and the monarchy (something I naturally distrust as an anarchist). At minimum, the internal contradiction is clear between the police as an inept and dangerous institution when encountered directly, but as a clean and unproblematic way to resolve problems with criminals when the Maroons subplot needs wrapping up. This is typical of neoliberals who have begun to acknowledge the most obvious problems with police but who refuse to admit the necessity of police abolition. Furthermore, there's a strong thread of white saviorism thrown in, and a big piece of meritocracy to go along with it. This story presents only highly particular fictionalized solutions to the real structural problems facing the elephants and other animals it describes, and the solutions it imagines require reliance on institutions which are in the real world fundamentally untrustworthy.
I enjoyed learning about the ecology of the Nepali borderlands, and about the cultures surrounding elephants there, plus some of the diversity of religions and cultures that interact in the area, and the story was satisfyingly written in terms of the main character's trials and responses to them, if I disregard the issues mentioned above.
If anyone has recommendations for novels in English (including via translation) by actual Nepali authors, I'd love to hear them, as I'll be looking for that perspective to balance this one.
#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon

As the world swelters in ever more dangerous heat,
⭐️why are oil companies being allowed to turn up the gas instead of paying for the consequences of their greed?
That ought to be the question on everyone’s minds amid baking heat domes over much of the northern hemisphere,
temperature records being smashed day after day,
children dying in locked cars,
hospitals filling with heatstroke victims
and emergency services tackling wildfires.
There is no dou…

Fuel on the fire: why oil companies are profiting as the world gets dangerously hot
The scientific consensus is that burning fossil fuels drives the climate crisis, yet the world’s biggest oil companies are planning to increase production

Graham Platner ends U.S. Senate campaign in Maine
Graham Platner,
the populist political newcomer who Democrats had hoped could flip a critical U.S. Senate seat in Maine,
ended his campaign Wednesday night
after a woman he previously dated publicly accused him of sexual assault.

“We believe for the movement to continue, it can’t be me
and for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,”
Platner said Wednesday night.

The development, a…

Graham Platner ends U.S. Senate campaign in Maine
The Democratic nominee left the race following an allegation of sexual assault. Maine Democrats have until July 27 to choose a replacement candidate to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R).

Jack Williamson’s 1947 novelette
"With Folded Hands" tells of a new type of robot following a Prime Directive:
“to serve and obey and guard men from harm”.
Since the robots work for free, soon no one has a job.
It gets worse. The robots take the “guard men from harm” directive too literally.
They ensure a person can’t do anything remotely dangerous.
Before long, humans can do nothing except sit… with folded hands.
We should not fear this sc…

These are all the times sci-fi writers predicted the future
Sci-fi writers have often pre-empted technological developments but we don't always heed their warnings in real time.

Trump’s well-documented ability to destroy everything he touches has come for what should have been the easiest of tasks:
making the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence fun.
If there is one thing the world’s oldest democracy is good at, it’s throwing Independence Day parties,
hosting outdoor concerts, and filling out state fairs with charmingly schlocky entertainment and ice cream stands.
Producing the Great American State Fair in Was…

Trump wrecked America's 250th in DC, but other blue cities will save it
Christina Aguilera, Chris Stapleton and Jelly Roll — real stars — headline July Fourth parties in liberal towns

Black voters in South Carolina and other southern states are turning out
in defiance of what many see as Donald Trump’s efforts to suppress their political power,
fueling Democratic hopes of clinching upset wins in the region in this fall’s midterm elections.

A surge in Black voter engagement is energizing close Senate races in North Carolina and Georgia,
where Democrats go into the summer with leads in many polls.
Some Democrats see a chance of long-shot vict…

Why resisting Trump has galvanized Black Democrats as the midterms approach
High primary turnout among Black voters in the South has given some in the party hope for upset wins in the region.

Negativity surrounding the government has seeped into public perception of the core components of America’s story,
such as its history, notions of American foreign influence and impact, or the way the country’s democracy works.
Pride in American democracy has declined 14 percentage points since 2017, when it was measured at 42 percent, to 28 percent.
The survey also found that a majority of Americans are disillusioned with the American dream:
They are not confident in …

Americans’ Pride Drops to New Low as 250th Anniversary Approaches
The American public aren’t feeling particularly proud of their country, according to a new poll.