karentvchick

Making TV magic/Vols Fan/True Crime Buff

[karentvchick @karentvchick]

I was with .@LeahRemini until I saw that letter she wrote to David Miscavidge that was written in Comic Sans.

[Anish Moonka @anishmoonka]

Long summer drives used to leave your windshield plastered with dead bugs. Now it comes back nearly clean. A scientist in Denmark counted the splats on the same roads for 20 years. On one of them, 97 out of every 100 bugs were gone.

His name is Anders Møller. On a second road, the drop was 80 percent. He checked the splats against bug nets and sticky traps to be sure the glass was not lying. It was not.

The same thing keeps turning up wherever people look. Near Düsseldorf, a club of amateur bug collectors had been setting the same insect traps in German nature reserves since 1989. Scientists later weighed 27 years of their catch. The flying insects had dropped by more than three quarters, and even more in high summer. This was inside protected land, the one place bugs are supposed to be safe.

The newest count comes from Britain. A project called Bugs Matter asks drivers to tally the splats on their license plate after a trip. Across more than 25,000 trips, the splats are down 59 percent since 2021. That is about a fifth fewer bugs every year, and the latest reading came after a warm summer that should have helped them.

Then there are the birds. As the bugs left Møller's windshield, the birds that eat them left too. Barn swallows, house martins and sand martins all dropped off at the same time. In the lean years, parent swallows flew home with less in their beaks for the chicks. And it reaches your own table: about one in every three bites of your food, the UN's food agency says, comes from a plant an insect had to pollinate.

Several things are piling up at once, part of why it is so hard to fix: bigger farms, fewer wild hedges and meadows, a hotter climate, and bug sprays. One family of those sprays took over farming in the 1990s, right when the cartoon begins. They are roughly 7,000 times more deadly to insects than DDT, the poison banned decades ago for harming wildlife.

It is not this grim everywhere. A big 2020 study pooled 166 long-running counts worldwide and found land insects falling more slowly, closer to 9 percent a decade. Insects in rivers and lakes were actually climbing back as the water got cleaner. But over farm country, where most of us do our driving, the windshield has been telling the truth.

The cartoon says humanity has not noticed. The people who would notice first have been counting for decades, on the same kind of glass you wipe down every summer. The clean windshield is the proof.

[PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 @patriottakes]

This is a 6-minute Republican video outlining Ken Paxton’s corruption.

This now “unlisted” YouTube video was repeatedly sent out by the NRSC. It’s devastating.

[Jessica Huseman @JessicaHuseman]

My favorite weird Ken Paxton story: H-E-B donated a Christmas cake for his office to share. Paxton allegedly claimed it was for his birthday, then walked out carrying the cake box.

He stole cake from his own staff.

https://t.co/0Vos7GG6fZ

[Muthukrishnan Dhandapani @dmuthuk]

During his campaign for first term, Donald Trump was asked how he showed $916 million net operating losses in 1995 and setting it off for next 18 years without paying any federal taxes.

Not knowing what to answer, Trump said:

​"I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett took a massive deduction."

We've to learn from Buffett as to how to deal with facts and data without being emotional or vindictive.

The very next day Buffett shared his income tax returns and said:

​"I have paid federal income tax every year since 1944, when I was 13. Though, being a slow starter, I owed only $7 in tax that year. I have copies of all 72 of my returns and none uses a carryforward."

He further noted that while he made $2.85 billion in charitable contributions in 2015, tax laws properly limited his deductions, meaning more than $2.85 billion of his donations were not taken as deductions and never would be.

He asked Trump to share his tax returns in public. Not knowing what to do, Trump said he is under IRS audit and cannot publicly share his returns.

For which Buffett responsded:

"I have been audited by the IRS multiple times and am currently being audited. I have no problem in releasing my tax information while under audit. Neither would Mr. Trump -at least he would have no legal problem."

Buffett then invited Trump to any place, any time before the election so they could both bring their tax returns, sit down, and let the public ask them questions.

Trump never accepted the invitation.

From then on Trump never once even uttered the name Warren Buffett.

Looks like Trump no longer even eat buffets.

[Team Talarico @TeamTalaricoHQ]

This is Nate Paul.

He was under FBI investigation for fraud. His real estate empire was collapsing after 18 properties filed for bankruptcy in a single year.

He wrote Ken Paxton a $25,000 check.

Then Paxton directed his AG’s office to hand Paul confidential investigative files.

They blocked foreclosure sales on his properties.

And they sided with Paul against the charity he was accused of defrauding.

Nate Paul even employed Paxton's mistress at Paxton’s recommendation.

Paxton's own senior staff reported his corruption to the FBI. They were fired.

This is what Ken Paxton does when he’s in a position of power — and it’s why he should be nowhere near the U.S. Senate.

[David Frum @davidfrum]

I'd bet a lot that this Trump administration "no flights to New York or Los Angeles" rule won't apply to private jets.

[LanaQuest aka RosaSparks @LqLana]

Hey MAGA Texans.

Let me introduce you to Adam Hoffman. He raped his son’s best friend from the age of six years old to nine years old. For three years this man raped a little boy.

Paxton made sure his buddy only got a 60 day sentence. Oh wait it gets better, he didn't even serve the full sixty days.

Wait wait, it's gets even better. He doesn't have to register as a sex offender and his record has been wiped clean.

MAGA maniacs want women to go to prison for miscarriages but are cool with pedophiles going free.

Ken Paxton is a disgusting criminal, that's why Trump endorsed him.

Make sure you have a plan to vote. @jamestalarico is what Texas needs. Not more of the Epstein Class.
#DemsUnited

[Governor Newsom Press Office @GovPressOffice]

BREAKING: California will impose a 100% tax on payments distributed from Trump’s Jan. 6th “slush fund.”

[FactPost @factpostnews]

As attorney general, Ken Paxton sued schools that didn't display the Ten Commandments inside their classrooms.

Some of the Commandments include:

—"Thou shalt not commit adultery" (Paxton allegedly had multiple extramarital affairs)
—"Thou shalt not steal" (Paxton was indicted for felony securities fraud and impeached for misusing public resources)
—"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" (Paxton was impeached for making false statements in official records)

[Dylan Byers @DylanByers]

NEW: Sharyn Alfonsi goes scorched earth on Bari Weiss:

"Over the weekend, my contract with CBS News expired, drawing to a close nearly twenty years with the network, including more than a decade at 60 Minutes.

Following an intense editorial dispute over our CECOT story, repeated attempts by my representation to establish a path forward were met with absolute silence from network executives. The message could not be clearer: my time at 60 Minutes is apparently over.

In the coming days, network leadership may attempt to hide behind corporate euphemisms like "modernization" and “restructuring” to explain away my departure. Don't be misled. This was not a routine corporate transition; it was a deliberate choice to penalize a journalist for refusing to sanitize factually accurate reporting, and it sends a chilling message to the entire newsroom.

Fearless, independent reporting has always been the defining standard at 60 Minutes. Today, CBS management is abandoning that mission, choosing access journalism over accountability and protecting power rather than scrutinizing it.

The wall between editorial independence and corporate interest at CBS is being methodically torn down. Journalists willing to challenge authority are being pushed aside in favor of those who will not. If this continues, the result will be a broadcast that looks like 60 Minutes but lacks the courage and character to produce journalism that matters.

To my colleagues, who became family - working beside you has been the privilege of a lifetime. You are second to none. I’ve learned exactly what it costs to hold the line right now. Hold it anyway. Viewers and the people who trust us with their stories deserve nothing less."

Backstory:

- January: https://t.co/l518elnE4b

- April: https://t.co/8pWTTjOIbk

- May: https://t.co/LfKHnm18nF

[Team Talarico @TeamTalaricoHQ]

This is Ken Paxton's mugshot.

He was indicted on 3 felony counts for investment fraud.

He was reported to the FBI by his own staff for bribery.

He was impeached by his own party for corruption.

Now he’s the Republican nominee for US Senate in Texas.

Together we will stop him.

[Team Talarico @TeamTalaricoHQ]

Q: What do you make of Ken Paxton calling you a vegan?

@JamesTalarico: I’m an eighth generation Texan. I’ve been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment. If all they have on me is lying about me being a vegan, I feel pretty good about our chances this November.

So many of my family members, friends, and neighbors who voted for Donald Trump in 2024 voted for him because they thought he was going to lower costs, end the forever wars, release the Epstein Files, and drain the swamp — but just one year later, they’ve seen how he’s done the exact opposite.

What I’m trying to do is speak directly to those Texans who feel like the system doesn’t work for them and it only works for billionaires and puppet politicians like Ken Paxton and John Cornyn. And I think if we can bring those Texans together across all these divisions in our politics, if we can see past the distractions and the culture war tactics — I think we can do something extraordinary.

[James Talarico @jamestalarico]

Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in America. 

He embodies the broken system we’re running against.

It’s time to come together: The People vs. Ken Paxton

[Kayla @KaylaDavis2000]

Adam Hoffman raped his son’s best friend for 3 years

First-degree felony. Life without parole.

Ken Paxton’s office gutted it to 60 days. He walked free after 30.

No sex offender registration. His record scrubbed clean.
Texas protects predators with power!

[Qasim Rashid, Esq. @QasimRashid]

BREAKING: Adam Hoffman has been released from jail for "good behavior."

Hoffman is the 49-year-old Waco, TX attorney who faced life without parole for repeatedly raping a young boy, until Texas AG Ken Paxton offered him 1 day in jail and no need to register as a sex offender. A judge increased his sentence to a whopping 60 days. He got out in 30 days.

This is MAGA's vision for the USA. Full story: https://t.co/cU1WnZKAfr

[Headquarters @HQNewsNow]

Erin Brockovich's latest project is a website to report and track data center construction across the country:

"The race to build AI infrastructures is unfolding town by town across America... This map captures the real-world footprint of that race — revealing patterns of growth, conflict and uncertainty."

[Gabe Sanchez @iamgabesanchez]

Spencer Pratt's "grassroots campaign" for LA mayor is being bankrolled from outside LA.

I analyzed public Ethics Commission data. Here's what it shows:
- 80% of his donors aren't from the city of LA
- 50% of all money raised ($1.6M of $3.2M) came from out-of-state: Texas (683), Florida (567), Arizona (340)
- 3,882 retired donors - the demographic fingerprint of the national MAGA/Fox News small-dollar machine

His policies read like a Heritage Foundation wishlist, the Angelenos in his ads are AI-generated, and his support online are from paid clippers.

This is a national MAGA operation running on local ballot lines.

[Selina Wang @selinawangtv]

I was in the middle of taping on my iPhone for a social video from the White House North Lawn when we heard the shots. It sounded like dozens of gunshots. We were told to sprint to the press briefing room where we are holding now.

[Mitch Jackson, Esq. @mitchjackson]

Fun fact for the $10 billion lawsuit crowd.

The IRS leak that exposed Donald Trump’s tax returns happened between August 2019 and November 2020.

405,427 other taxpayer returns were also leaked.

Trump was president. His own pick, Charles Rettig, ran the IRS. The contractor who did it, Charles Littlejohn, worked on a Trump-era IRS contract and is now serving five years in federal prison.

On January 29, 2026, Trump sued the IRS and Treasury for $10 billion over a breach that happened on his watch, under his commissioner, by a contractor his administration paid.

He is suing the federal government he ran, for failing to stop a leak that occurred while he was running it.

The taxpayer foots the bill either way.

[Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren]

Trump gets:

- $100M arch
- $1B ballroom fund
- A gold coin with his face on it
- A $1.8B slush fund for his MAGA buddies

Meanwhile, he's left Americans with higher grocery bills, higher health care costs, and higher gas prices.