Soap Box To Nowhere

theoretical bartender, avante-garde distiller, creator of acquired tastes, plastic foundry engineer, generalist bon-vivant.

[Matthew Cappucci @MatthewCappucci]

PLASTIC-smelling toxic smoke is shrouding the Great Lakes, Upper Midwest and Northeast. Have you noticed it doesn't smell like smoke?

That's because of chemical reactions catalyzed by sunlight.

When you smell campfire smoke, you’re getting the smoke immediately after it’s been produced. This is “aged” smoke that’s festered for a few days.

It contains longer-lived volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that remain even after larger biomass molecules settle out. Instead, benzenes, formaldehydes and acroleins stick around, known for industrial or chemical smells. Formaldehyde in particular has a plastic scent.

As of Friday morning, Chicago, Detroit, Washington D.C. and New York City were the most polluted major cities in the world – exceeding Delhi and Kolkata, India, Jakarta, Indonesia and most major cities in China.

The smoke isn’t just annoying – it’s legitimately dangerous. It’s made up of microscopic particulates known as PM2.5, or itty-bitty particles less than 2.5 micrometers in width. That’s about 30 times thinner than a human hair.

Breathing them in is bad – it increases risk of heart attack, respiratory issues, etc. You may also notice your eyes stinging.

[James Surowiecki @JamesSurowiecki]

Cops can't murder an unarmed person driving a car because of a vague "fear for public safety." This is an admission that ICE executed the guy in Maine. But DHS is fine with admitting it because they know there's no chance ICE agents will face any legal consequences.

[Sam Stein @samstein]

It seems, from all reporting, that ICE today

- shot someone who was not attempting to run them over but, rather, "flee the scene"
- was not the person they were looking for
- who had a 3yr old in the car
- who they dragged out into the street
- all while not wearing body cams

[Christopher Webb @cwebbonline]

Rachel Maddow’s description of Juan Sebastian Guerrero killed by ICE in Maine is something you need to see.

She explains what happened without being graphic, and somehow that makes it even more powerful.

Remember Alex, Pretti, and Renée? There have been no prosecutions. Still no justice.

We know how this goes.

Watch it to the end.

[George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway3d]

“The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.”

Fleeing. The vehicle was driving away.

That’s murder. A legal resident of the United States is now dead.

The threat to public safety is ICE.

It must be eliminated.

[Hend Amry @LibyaLiberty]

Watch this and feel your hate for Lindsey graham surge all over again.

[Crunchwrap Supreme Clientele @TweetsVanZandt]

I didn't talk to Mitch McConnell today. But we did text a bit.

[Ryan Grim @ryangrim]

This is the most sadistic thing I’ve ever heard

[John Ganz @lionel_trolling]

Adlai Stevenson in 1963 https://t.co/c25TwwBcZC

[Claire Valdez @claireforny]

The same corporations polluting our planet are driving up energy costs — while making record profits.

Public renewable energy fixes both. Every Democrat should be running on it.

[Amy Siskind @Amy_Siskind]

WSJ: “Trump’s Brokerage Accounts Made Big Trades Around ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs”

This is literally securities fraud!

[Joe Weisenthal @TheStalwart]

I don’t know about this path. Rather than equity stakes, why not make companies pay ~20% of all pre-tax income to the federal government? And then instead of exercising shareholder influence, politicians and regulators could set rules on corporate conduct across industries.

[Ryan Grim @ryangrim]

First they cancel the IRA, the most aggressive effort to galvanize energy production in a generation, then they use taxpayer money to pay energy companies to cancel active renewable projects, then they subsidize data centers to gobble up public energy.

Then they celebrate this anti-social behavior:

[David Wallace-Wells @dwallacewells]

"You will see the members of the court arguing about something more fundamental than the law. They are arguing about who should be seen, whose story ought to be heard and who deserves to be protected." https://t.co/AtvAC6ifnb

[Gustavo @unionGustavo]

Climate crisis

[welcome to our trash revolution @trash_panda97]

crazy how this case and the prairieland 9 aren’t getting more attention. do people not realize what’s happening? the trump admin is rounding activists up for doing nothing except nonviolently opposing their fascism. if they can do it to these people they can do it to you too.

[Kate Aronoff @KateAronoff]

fellas is it ruggedly masculine to freak out about the idea of your house being 78 degrees

[Amanda Litman @amandalitman]

Any calls directed at what “the Democratic Party must do” about the candidates who are, ahem, winning Democratic primaries are really telling on themselves about who they think should control our political process.

[John Ganz @lionel_trolling]

The stupidity and rancor of the right wing meltdown over keeping the same rules on citizenship we've had for 160 years is surprising even to me

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

Dems should turn this into an ad