Not that useful in scenarios besides reading: if you curl your hands in front of your eye and leave a very tiny opening you can create a pinhole that’ll make a tiny bit of your view in focus

Photo from Minute Physics demonstrating what you need to do for that:

https://youtu.be/OydqR_7_DjI

I think you mean super relevant actually. As we all know that is precisely what happened here, even with the seal costume and all. Any information to the contrary are total lies /s

Do note that a lot of early reporting on Trump’s “deals” in the past have often been grossly misleading. Often counting existing agreements as new one or leaving critical details out

For instance, I recall a lot of people were questioning a deal with Mexico earlier as bending the knee that turned out to largely be just be puff agreements that they had already made before Trump

There’s a decent chance that this is continuing that pattern. Though I can’t say for certain of course

Indeed, factory farming is quite dominant globally. From one group’s estimate:

We estimate that over 90% of farmed animals globally are living in factory farms at present. This includes an estimated 74% of farmed land animals (vertebrates only) and virtually all farmed fish.[1] However, there is substantial uncertainty in these figures given the land animal estimates’ heavy reliance on information from Worldwatch Institute with unclear methodology[2] and limited data on fish farming.

https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/global-animal-farming-estimates

If the filibuster is removed, it is also possible to get through with 50+VP as tie breaker or 51. The filibuster being removed is not as unlikely as you may think since Republicans right now are getting closer and closer towards defacto removing the filibuster. There currently are narrow ways around the filibuster (reconsideration is one big one) that are supposed to have a bunch of limitations, but they are testing the waters in ignoring violations of those limitations. The senate parliamentarian is the one who makes rulings about if something violates their clauses, but their opinion can be ignored by a strict majority via the “nuclear option”

A month ago, Republicans used the nuclear option to ignore the senate parliamentarian ruling that the Congressional Review Act would not allow them to skip the filibuster to remove California’s EPA waivers (see here).

As I write this Republicans are currently trying to play another different a different trick about some of the stuff in the Big Beautiful Bill. Dems have been challenging a bunch of provisions and getting the parliamentarian to most of the time rule they are in violation of the Byrd rule. But they are also trying to challenge the whole bill as violating the Byrd rule’s limit that a bill passed via reconsecration cannot increase the deficit over a ten-year period. Republicans are playing an accounting trick to claim it doesn’t. They know the parliamentarian is unlikely to agree with them, so they are currently trying to prevent dems from even being able to ask the parliamentarian about it

https://archive.is/O4NaY

Unclear, but in any case I think this was more of a sign they were spooked by the pushback. People showed up to protest right away, and planned to stay at the protests until he was freed

Remember that we the people have power

As an update to this, they now have fully released her following a judge ordering her immediate release! Here she is speaking to supporters

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/bail-hearing-tufts-student-rumeysa-ozturk-detained-in-louisiana/3708999/

Maybe, maybe not. Don’t assume it’s a given that they will ignore it. This is not a defense of this administration. This is a reminder against always having the hopelessness that this administration wants us all to have. They want us to assume all fights are hopeless so we don’t fight them

While they have very notably been ignoring the order on Abrego Garcia, they have followed some of the court order in other related cases like this

For instance, a week ago ICE released Columbia pro-Palestine activist Mohsen Mahdawi from detention after a judge ordered immediate release. Here’s a photo of him leaving

For the moment in the current AI boom, but not expected to in the long run. Just make the progress less fast. Still not ideal, of course, but don’t get into the mindset that we can’t make any progress at all when we still can and are doing so

From the article

Ember’s report shows that clean generation growth is set to outpace faster-rising demand in the coming years, marking the start of a permanent decline in fossil fuel generation. The current expected growth in clean generation would be sufficient to meet a demand increase of 4.1% per year to 2030, which is above expectations for demand growth.

It is worth noting that you can already beat meat on price with things like beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc. Plant-based meats specifically are just more expensive because they’re building the economies of scale and putting some of their research costs into the price. Plant-based meats are also already cheaper than animal meats in some parts of the world

But yes, once that becomes much prevalent, sales will likely increase substantially

As a related note: this is also encouraging that a number of coffee chains are now dropping their non-dairy milk up charges after pressure from activists. Once they got Starbucks to do so, it’s spread to tons of chains. Even the worst plant milks are way better across all environmental metrics compared to dairy (yes even water weighted by scarcity), so it’s going to be good for the environment

It becoming financially convenient was a result of decades of intentional policy. It’s now snowballing once it got there

It would have taken far longer to get here without government involvement if applications like space travel were the only reasons for earlier research and manufacturing

Other estimates put it at ~5.2 million. The 3 million estimates appear to be excluding the west coast

That’s around 1.6% of the US population which is pretty large for a protest. This isn’t the first nationwide protest nor will it be the last. Next date planned for 50501 is April 19th

https://bsky.app/profile/altnps.bsky.social/post/3lm5nnz5ook2q

This wasn’t the first nationwide protest of his second term nor will it be the last. This was the 4th nationwide 50501 protest. Plus other movement like Tesla Takedown had large nationwide protests prior too. It’s just that now it’s gotten large enough that the media can no longer ignore it. It took time to get here. Each protest keeps getting larger than the last

Millions of people have just been put in touch with the various local groups organizing these protests. Usually at these protests they’ll be people going around giving info, sigining people up for mailing lists, etc. That’s a good part of how each protest gets bigger

Besides just protests, that will enable much more action and more rapid action in the future. For instance Indivisible does tons of work on directed pressure of congress and local leaders. 50501 organized smaller boycotts in the past when the crowds were smaller. Now they can organize boycotts more with more effect

Let’s make it drop further. There are Tesla Takedown protests in Europe too! It’s growing both within the US and outside of it

https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/teslatakedown

There are groups working to do that. We don’t have to talk about this as a hypothetical can get involved today

For instance, groups like Indivisible are pushing for Schumer to be pushed out. Groups like Run for Something are supporting progressives under 40 to run for all positions in state and local elections (generals and primaries)

https://www.teslatakedown.com/

Make the share prices fall further

We can still fight back on the state level. States and local levels will lead the way for progress here

California got a state law to enforce net neutrality in 2018. This is a good part of what limited the damage of Trump overturning it the first time

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Internet_Consumer_Protection_and_Net_Neutrality_Act_of_2018

Watch for any movement / build up of troops. He could still be bluffing here, but this is more than what he’s done for other places as far as I’m aware. His actions and orders from here out will be much more telling than any of his words will be

Indeed, there’s a reason the Federal Worker Unions are saying to vote against the CR despite the likely shutdown that would entail

Plus it would teach senate Republicans that they can do basically whatever they want as long as they threaten a shutdown. You have to stand up strong to bullies it’s the only thing they understand