is this an idiosyncratic case, or is there some pattern or policy of denying passport renewals to American expats?

"Selfishness beats altruism within groups. Altruistic groups beat selfish groups. Everything else is commentary." ~David Sloan Wilson and E.O. Wilson via this very wide-ranging essay from @kltblom.bsky.social

by @fromarsetoelbow.bsky.social fromarsetoelbow.blogspot.com/2025/04/taki...

feeling liberated in the golden age.

“in recent weeks something more sinister has taken form, with investors not only doubting where growth will come from in the United States, but doubting the actual rule of law underpinning the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency and US govt debt as the safest financial asset in the world.”

#FreeSpeech

trafficked, perhaps?

“Think about it. To get a majority of Jews to disapprove of how you are ‘fighting antisemitism’ is a remarkable thing.”

@martinsandbu.ft.com @steveroth.bsky.social @himself.bsky.social @abenewman.bsky.social (if my endless thread this morning wasn't tiresome enough, here is the same surrounded by some additional commentary.)

[new draft post] Balance as a norm https://drafts.interfluidity.com/2025/04/24/balance-as-a-norm/index.html

cc @steveroth.bsky.social

does no one offer a Trump Duck?

“The atrophy of Congress has left a gaping wound at the heart of our Constitutional order. The net effect has been the breakdown of our system of checks and balances and a combination of institutional gridlock and institutional unpredictability.” @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com

“all that will really have happened is a confirmation that you can’t trust anything this administration says, including its threats.” @pkrugman.bsky.social paulkrugman.substack.com/p/cronyism-c...

you wonder if it isn’t a way of proving your bona fides to the worst people in the world.

contemptuous. contemptible.

"Standing alone, Trump’s executive orders represent a serious threat to the First Amendment. But the orders are backed by agency enforcement powers that drastically expand the danger." www.thefire.org/news/blogs/r... ht @light@noc.social

There are good reasons to consider industrial policy that some might deride as “protectionist”. There are no good reasons for Trump’s combination of chaotic tariffs and smothering government, which can’t possibly deliver good industrial policy. cf @jwmason.bsky.social jwmason.org/slackwire/at...

🧵

“Donald Trump could not care less about ‘promoting freedom and combatting tyranny.’ In fact, he’s more interested in the opposite: promoting tyranny and combatting freedom.” @digby56.bsky.social digbysblog.net/2025/04/23/s... // from a depressing piece on the state of the state department