22 April 2025
good morning.
BOO
data from the progressive database Catalist shows 937,000 2020 Biden voters from four battleground states did not show up for Harris. analysis suggests it’s because voters feel the Democrats are weak and so focused on building platforms around issues like Gaza, Ukraine, immigrants, trans people instead of the realities of voters’ day to day lives that they feel left behind. here’s to add to the BOO: they say it’s a democrat the likes of AOC who would draw these voters back to the party.
apart from the ‘battleground state’ part, I fall into this category. I agree with a lot of what this article outlines. I did not vote because somewhere between November 2020 and 2024, the haze of wokeism and the promise of a leader who played by the rules to make our country more accepting suddenly felt infantile. in the comedown I have matured: I’ve turned less idealistic and more practical. the pragmatism taught over and over again in political economics courses has that effect. so does getting shut down in classroom debate for exploring points of argument that deviate from the party line expected from a young person at a progressive institution. in the last four years, I’ve become starkly aware of the naïvety that drove me to vote Biden in the first place, and came to hate it. I certainly don’t feel seen by MAGA, but when I look at the last four years and feel deceived by a president who proved just as power hungry as Trump. I feel frustrated by Harris, who ran an unfocused campaign that she was underprepared for on account of Biden. most of all, though, I am dumbfounded by the entire Democratic party who have failed to make an effort since Biden’s narrow 2020 victory to put a plan into place for their future. who wants to bet on a losing dog ?
another day, another aviation scare. an engine fire on a Delta flight departing to Atlanta from Orlando caused the emergency evacuation of nearly 300 passengers. the plane hadn’t yet taken off at this point. I know it’s safe so safe so safe but I cannot help the fact that I now just half expect to tumble out of the sky when I board a plane.
Melania and the Easter Bunny stood at President Trump’s side as he ordered US flags flown at half mast in honor of the Pope’s passing. nothing is real.
YESS
in a lawsuit filed yesterday against the Trump administration, Harvard accuses the government of seeking to “gain control of academic decision making” at the university through a series of sweeping attacks.
JP Morgan expects 9% of the US population will be taking GLP-1s by 2030. it’s unfortunate because the drugs permit results without concrete lifestyle adjustments, but it’s also excellent for people who have been unable to see change otherwise.
if you want to wipe yourself from the internet, you can ! Nicole Nguyen explains how in the WSJ. this task is on my to do list.. just after I post this report to my website and then make a post to my public Instagram.
MONEY
Trump’s continued barrage against Fed chairman Powell (he called him “a major loser”) led to tumbling stock markets, with the S&P 500 down 2.36% at close yesterday. it seems quite clear that the president is laying the groundwork to be able to blame incoming tariff pain Americans will feel financially on ‘laggy’ monetary policy.
MIAM
Jess Eng wrote about century eggs in an article which at first inspired me to make my own. upon reassessment, I realized it seemed really challenging and resolved to return to Pâtes Vivantes in Châtelet for their cold century egg served in a little ramekin that had a shallow puddle of chili oil.
LIT
excerpts from Joan Didion’s notes about sessions with her psychiatrist have been posthumously published in a book called Notes to John today. I am still teetering on whether or not this is unethical, though in her review for the NYTimes, Alexandra Jacobs says it is definitively not. nonetheless, I am intrigued to see this more candidly vulnerable side of this whip-smart author who, I sometimes forget, is so familiar with loss and grief.
Medicine River, an examination of the sending of tens of thousands of Native American youths to boarding school through memoir and report-style writing by Mary Annette Pember has been published today.
have a good day ⋆☕︎ ˖
