College of Constructive Hell-Raising

06/02/2026

Whether you agree with former Mayor Laura Miller’s political Rx or not, it’s been our experience that her description of how Dallas City Hall works is very on-point. Just dropped on Monday, about the same time as the Mavs announcement that they’re going to Valley View.

Reporter. Councilmember. Mayor. Laura Miller has fought Dallas city hall from every seat at the table. The future of downtown hinges on one bold structural change.

06/01/2026

"A self-trained community educator and activist, Yin wants to be the Allen wrench, that little L-shaped hex key in almost every IKEA box, to connect people with their local government. Yin has done that by creating two podcasts — Only in San Jose and Only in Santa Clara County — that seek to demystify topics including how to speak at City Council meetings, understanding county budgets and the role of public commissions. “I’m building a library of civic knowledge,” Yin told San José Spotlight. “The goal is to transform the way we practice democracy in local government."

Ellina Yin compares citizen participation in local government to putting together a piece of IKEA furniture using one of those frustrating assembly manuals that have no words. A self-trained community educator and activist, Yin wants to be the Allen wrench, that little L-shaped hex key in almost eve...

05/30/2026

The same thing has happened to all those corporate promises made after George Floyd was murdered. How movements measure progress should never be dependent on ephemeral, mercenary entities who are specifically created to generate wealth for shareholders.

Public support for the LGBTQ+ community by corporations has become politically risky, public relations expert says.

05/30/2026

Art AND politics…..fun 2 minute video

Claude Cahun’s gender-bending self portraits were ahead of their time—and nearly erased from art history

05/30/2026

“This was the first conspiracy prosecution in Eastern Washington history under 18 U.S.C. Section 372—a Civil War-era law dusted off to punish members of the Spokane community who stood up for two young men who were unlawfully detained by ICE,” former acting U.S. Attorney Richard Barker told The Spokesman-Review in a statement. “I hope that moving forward DOJ will focus on the crimes that matter most to keep our families safe and to build trust with the communities that most need and deserve law enforcement protection.”

Three protesters were convicted of federal conspiracy charges.

05/29/2026

"Surreptitious and, at times, underhanded, the ADL’s spy campaign against the John Birch Society was a triumph for liberal democracy, not to mention decency and civility, because it exposed the Birchers’ delusions and bigotries to public scrutiny. Sometimes, worthy ends justify unsavory means."

The John Birch Society, the Anti-Defamation League, and the American tradition of infiltrating and exposing radical organizations.

05/28/2026

Heads-up Arlington Residents. From Liveable Arlington:

The Arlington city council will hold public hearings and votes to expand French energy giant, Total Energies’ Stoner and Landing sites, and to permit 170 townhomes next to Total’s Day drill site.

On the agenda are:
A drillzone permit and 4 new gas wells at Total’s Stoner site at 500 East I-20

A drillzone permit and 5 new wells at Total’s Landing site at 4801 Center Street

A new 170-unit town home development at 1120 Debbie Lane.

Many of these townhomes are within 600 feet of Total’s Day drill site where well permits were approved last month after the drillzone was “altered.” Next, some old producing gas wells were removed from the site maps to approve the townhomes that may not have met reverse setback rules of 300 feet otherwise.
The City Council will hold the first vote on both permits, and the final vote on the townhomes on June 9.

Please join us to oppose these drill site expansions and the new townhomes, whose residents will be exposed to the hazards of drilling. All locations are in Council District 3, but the pollution and health impacts will affect all of Arlington.

You will have 3 opportunities to speak.

LINK: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JpVYLVOG3dA4y3kz2S4RjEPtyoc9mmwJ1OVlkQh89jM/edit?tab=t.0 =h.18e6tvgbjzrd

05/28/2026

A lot of goings on about the nation’s 250th birthday. You could do worse than remind yourself what it took to get here with this 1986 book that includes contributions by direct action guru Gene Sharp. Ken Burns recent series is also good at identifying the spectrum of tactics employed by the Independence movement.

Resistance, Politics, and the American Struggle for Independence, 1765–1775 is a book that examines the role of nonviolent struggle in the period before the American Revolution. Edited by Walter H. Conser, Jr., Ronald M. McCarthy, David J. Toscano and Gene Sharp, the book was published in the Unit...

05/27/2026

She’d be 119 today. She wrote "Silent Spring” while getting diagnosed and “treated” for cancer….

"The chemical industry hit back hard, and had its supporters among the public: “Miss Carson is obviously a Communist,” wrote one reader to The New Yorker, “She is opposed to American business. We can live without birds but not without business. As long as we have the H bombs, everything is all right.”

“Hunger, hunger, are you listening, To the words from Rachel’s pen? Words which taken at face value, Place lives of birds ‘bove those of men..” • W.E. McCauleyThe first half of the twentieth century was a madman’s gallery of horrors opened by Romantic nihilists and mournfully shuttered b...

05/27/2026

“We’re hearkening back to another era,” Gay said. “But love is not soft. Love is strategic. It is infrastructure. It’s what allows movements to survive after the cameras leave.”

"In 2026, Civil Rights Leaders Reveal: America's Promises After George Floyd Were Never Meant to Last. Find out why."