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1. For years, @walgreens@twitter.com and other major retailers have been sounding the alarm about an alleged spike in shoplifting, describing it as an existential threat to their business.

The claims generated a MEDIA FRENZY

Now, Walgreens is quietly backtracking

popular.info/p/how-walgreens-m

After nearly 24 years at the same company I accepted another offer and turned in my resignation today.
This had to have been one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. Not that I've ever had to do this but it felt like how I imagine asking for a divorce would feel. Which makes sense considering jobs can sometimes like like dysfunctional relationships. But after that many years at a place it feels a lot like a family and leaving that for the unknown is very scary.
But I feel like this is something I have to do to challenge myself and grow a bit. So I'm excited to get out there and try something new.

And for the record, my wife is very supportive of this and wanted me to make sure I made that clear. That's why I don't actually know how it feels to ask for a divorce. 😍

I’m frankly losing patience with the Manhattan DA. This latest slap on the wrist is yet another example of how that office is failing hard when it comes to holding Trump accountable. If there’s some larger game at work, they had better play it soon. statuskuo.substack.com/p/the-j

The bivalent booster in people age 65+ compared with those who did not receive it, among >622,000 participants
81% reduction of hospitalizations (Figure)
86% reduction of deaths
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf

Rewatched Klimov’s 1985 “Come and See” on @criterionchannl & can report that it remains one of greatest anti-war films ever made. Though set in WWII Belarus (then part of Soviet Union), has added power amid Putin’s total war v Ukraine - both in explaining that particular horror + the power behind his fascism lie. Klimov had to battle Soviet censors and never made another film, but it is indelible even 38 years after seeing it at U Film Society as a Twin Cities Reader movie reviewer.

Saw new the Lake Harriet Bandshell color in situ today. Confession: even tho I’m a boomer, I’m not strongly opinionated about the color as long as they keep the shakes on & change the tattered flags (which will now happen every 5 years, a lot quicker, yay). The color itself - it’s fine, but also meh, not really blue but a bit bluer than battleship gray; parks folks call it bluestone which is gilding the lily a bit, but within acceptable rhetorical tolerances. Still, not the chipper ‘80s blue.

Introverts in the west have lived their whole lives in a world catered to extroverts. And when #COVID hit, rather than respond with safety measures that would incidentally make things a little less social, extroverts decided everyone can just die instead.

@mschlapp@twitter.com The staffer said he was speaking to the news media to make others aware of what he described as predatory behavior by Schlapp.

"If he had made a polite pass at me and left it that," the staffer said, "only me, Matt and God would know about that."

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Greetings. So will the MAGA crazies be able to block critical legislation in the House thanks to McCarthy selling off what's left of his soul to them? Well, yes and no.

Ordinarily, the answer would mostly be yes. The only way to force legislation to a vote without it being passed through by a committee is by a "discharge petition", which requires a majority of House members to sign it. Successful discharge petitions are historically rare in the House, since they are usually very difficult to obtain with a large majority, and embarrassing to leadership.

HOWEVER. Pretty much nothing in politics is like it used to be these days. The GOP has a razor thin majority in the House and McCarthy will be resented by moderate GOP members (there are still some!) for giving away so much to the MAGA crazies.

At least for crucial legislation, the probability of successful discharge petitions, which would only require a handful of moderate Republicans to join with Democrats, is likely going to be far higher than at any time in the country's history. This means that all is not lost even if the MAGA crazies try to block critical appropriations, debt ceiling legislation, etc.

The old rules of what is or is not commonplace in U.S. politics simply no longer apply. It is certain that the GOP clown show we saw this week was merely a trailer for the main attraction. You ain't seen nothing yet when it comes to GOP dysfunction leading up to the 2024 elections.

And yes, stock up on that popcorn! Best, -L

Happy Schadenfriday! I’ve always winced whenever Lauren Boebert came to troll the left. But during the battle for the House speakership, she has trained her weapons on the GOP leadership. The irony of that is quite delicious, as I explain in my piece today.
statuskuo.substack.com/p/the-g

Hey Mastadon! who is good to follow on here for updates/analysis on the covid situation?

Seriously PO'd 1/6 committee investigators say "the report’s emphasis on Trump meant important context was left on the cutting room floor." Including: That the pervasiveness of violent extremism in social media remains "a central component of the Internet" justsecurity.org/84658/insider

Want to turn a dreary Thursday into a cheery Thursyay? Here’s a story I wasn’t expecting to write about how Republicans and Democrats worked together to hold back extremist GOP factions. A powerful blueprint for resolving our national dysfunction.
statuskuo.substack.com/p/a-ver

I don't really care if this site becomes popular or not..... I can't go back to other social media sites.

The lack of algorithms is such a game changer. I'm not constantly pissed!

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