Brian Lyman
@brianlyman.bsky.social
Editor, Alabama Reflector. Podcaster, Becoming Lincoln. 2024 Pulitzer finalist. Past: MGM Advertiser; Press-Register; The Anniston Star; Norwich Bulletin; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Politics, history, science, horrific puns.
Pinned
Brian Lyman
@brianlyman.bsky.social
· Nov 12
Alabama Reflector: Covering the pain and promise of our home • Alabama Reflector
Laws are made in the State House. Alabama is made outside it. Alabama Reflector will cover these dynamics that shape our home.
alabamareflector.com
Here’s our mission statement at @alreflector.bsky.social. From my first column on launch day in February 2023.
I wrote a column about this last year, but if you genuinely care about the corrections part of corrections, gouging inmates' families on phone calls is one of the stupidest things you can do.
If you want to punish and kill hope, it's one of the best.
alabamareflector.com/2024/10/21/k...
If you want to punish and kill hope, it's one of the best.
alabamareflector.com/2024/10/21/k...
Via @amandavhernan.bsky.social and @stateline.org: Some research suggests that incarcerated people who maintain consistent contact with loved ones are significantly more likely to succeed upon release and are less likely to reoffend.
FCC allows prisons, jails to charge more for phone and video calls | Alabama Reflector
The Federal Communications Commission voted to roll back limits on how much companies can charge incarcerated people and their families for phone and video calls. The 2-1 vote in late October reverses...
alabamareflector.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:40 PM
I wrote a column about this last year, but if you genuinely care about the corrections part of corrections, gouging inmates' families on phone calls is one of the stupidest things you can do.
If you want to punish and kill hope, it's one of the best.
alabamareflector.com/2024/10/21/k...
If you want to punish and kill hope, it's one of the best.
alabamareflector.com/2024/10/21/k...
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via @amandavhernan.bsky.social and @stateline.org: Some research suggests that incarcerated people who maintain consistent contact with loved ones are significantly more likely to succeed upon release and are less likely to reoffend.
FCC allows prisons, jails to charge more for phone and video calls | Alabama Reflector
The Federal Communications Commission voted to roll back limits on how much companies can charge incarcerated people and their families for phone and video calls. The 2-1 vote in late October reverses...
alabamareflector.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Via @amandavhernan.bsky.social and @stateline.org: Some research suggests that incarcerated people who maintain consistent contact with loved ones are significantly more likely to succeed upon release and are less likely to reoffend.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Andrea Tinker: The Alabama Public Charter School Commission (APCSC) received a nearly $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Executive Director Logan Searcy said Monday. https://ow.ly/7mAH50Xq7AF
November 12, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Via Andrea Tinker: The Alabama Public Charter School Commission (APCSC) received a nearly $30 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Executive Director Logan Searcy said Monday. https://ow.ly/7mAH50Xq7AF
That journalists and outlets should own & correct their mistakes should be obvious; that mistakes exist on a spectrum should also be obvious, and the idea that every mistake must be corrected by public flagellation and wails to the skies for mercy only encourages bad faith actors.
I am amazed by the bandwidth the BBC - Trump fued is taking up on the BBC. Someone plainly needs to state that the President of the United States and his role in stirring up an insurrection on January 6th is defamation proof. Not every incident of journalistic malpractice is equally consequential.
November 12, 2025 at 2:47 PM
That journalists and outlets should own & correct their mistakes should be obvious; that mistakes exist on a spectrum should also be obvious, and the idea that every mistake must be corrected by public flagellation and wails to the skies for mercy only encourages bad faith actors.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social: The leader of the Alabama Senate has pre-filed a bill that would allow special primary elections for changed districts amid ongoing litigation over Montgomery-area Senate seats.
Alabama Senate bill would set special primaries for changed legislative, congressional districts | Alabama Reflector
SB 23 would apply a special primary election to legislative and congressional districts if they are changed by the Legislature or a judge.
alabamareflector.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Via @annabjournalist.bsky.social: The leader of the Alabama Senate has pre-filed a bill that would allow special primary elections for changed districts amid ongoing litigation over Montgomery-area Senate seats.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Good morning. The end game of the 43-day, record-setting shutdown arrives later today as the US House acts on the Senate-passed bill reopening the government. Our @statesnewsroom.com DC team will be at the Capitol and covering as the House returns for roll call votes for the 1st time since Sept. 19.
November 12, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Good morning. The end game of the 43-day, record-setting shutdown arrives later today as the US House acts on the Senate-passed bill reopening the government. Our @statesnewsroom.com DC team will be at the Capitol and covering as the House returns for roll call votes for the 1st time since Sept. 19.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jacob Fischler: The shutdown could end before the stay expires. The U.S. Senate passed a bill Monday to reopen the government, and the House is expected to pass it Wednesday. President Donald Trump has said he supports the measure and will likely sign it before the end of the day Thursday.
US Supreme Court maintains temporary freeze on full SNAP benefits for November | Alabama Reflector
The government shutdown, which led to the Trump administration suspending SNAP benefits, could end before the stay expires.
alabamareflector.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:36 PM
Via Jacob Fischler: The shutdown could end before the stay expires. The U.S. Senate passed a bill Monday to reopen the government, and the House is expected to pass it Wednesday. President Donald Trump has said he supports the measure and will likely sign it before the end of the day Thursday.
So this is Anglo-Norman
To all the doubters, AI is so close to being perfect
Look my iphone helpfully transcribed a voice message left by my French mechanic
Look my iphone helpfully transcribed a voice message left by my French mechanic
November 12, 2025 at 12:30 PM
So this is Anglo-Norman
Must be a protest song for all the Cracker Barrel bots.
I've been seeing this headline floating around. To be clear:
1) This is "No. 1" on a miniscule chart, The "Country Digital Song Sales" chart, as in people actually paying money to download country songs which is a tiny amount of people
2) The actual consumers are almost certainly fake
1) This is "No. 1" on a miniscule chart, The "Country Digital Song Sales" chart, as in people actually paying money to download country songs which is a tiny amount of people
2) The actual consumers are almost certainly fake
November 11, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Must be a protest song for all the Cracker Barrel bots.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
A summary of the bill says the new language would prevent “the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based or hemp-derived products, including Delta-8, from being sold online, in gas stations, and corner stores, while preserving non-intoxicating CBD and industrial hemp products.”
Hemp growers, retailers targeted in section of government shutdown legislation | Alabama Reflector
The new language would prevent “the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based or hemp-derived products, including Delta-8, from being sold online, in gas stations, and corner stores, while preservin...
alabamareflector.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:34 PM
A summary of the bill says the new language would prevent “the unregulated sale of intoxicating hemp-based or hemp-derived products, including Delta-8, from being sold online, in gas stations, and corner stores, while preserving non-intoxicating CBD and industrial hemp products.”
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Nada Hassanein and Stateline: In their competition for rural health care dollars from a new federal fund, states are seeking money to bolster emergency services, address chronic diseases, and recruit and train more doctors and nurses. https://ow.ly/k9X850Xq1tj
November 11, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Via Nada Hassanein and Stateline: In their competition for rural health care dollars from a new federal fund, states are seeking money to bolster emergency services, address chronic diseases, and recruit and train more doctors and nurses. https://ow.ly/k9X850Xq1tj
Reposted by Brian Lyman
also why proposals to let employed people pick their own insurance on the market (funded e.g. through pre-tax employer matched accounts) have also gone nowhere. maximizes the disruption involved in changing jobs.
November 11, 2025 at 5:04 PM
also why proposals to let employed people pick their own insurance on the market (funded e.g. through pre-tax employer matched accounts) have also gone nowhere. maximizes the disruption involved in changing jobs.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Sim left Alabama to protect his family. He has since written a book “And the Dragons Do Come: Raising a Transgender Kid in Rural America.” Give it a read.
thenewpress.org/books/and-th...
thenewpress.org/books/and-th...
November 11, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Sim left Alabama to protect his family. He has since written a book “And the Dragons Do Come: Raising a Transgender Kid in Rural America.” Give it a read.
thenewpress.org/books/and-th...
thenewpress.org/books/and-th...
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Ralph Chapoco: U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, expressed skepticism Monday of a proposal to renew Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies one year. https://ow.ly/PATk50XpKzM
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Via Ralph Chapoco: U.S. Sen. Katie Britt, R-Alabama, expressed skepticism Monday of a proposal to renew Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies one year. https://ow.ly/PATk50XpKzM
Conversely, one-party rule can make politicians seem far more talented than they are. Lot of replacement-level folks in gerrymandered districts.
The thing about Mamdani is that he’s a talented politician but not otherworldly or one in a billion, he’s just a competent guy with popular ideas who ran against an entitled piece of shit and to me it’s a lot more optimistic to imagine 1000 campaigns like his than to view him as a unique phenomenon
November 11, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Conversely, one-party rule can make politicians seem far more talented than they are. Lot of replacement-level folks in gerrymandered districts.
The Alabama Legislature has seen costs soar for this one prison — eating up money intended to build two correctional facilities — and shrugged. If you’re wondering how serious they are about fiscal conservatism.
Via Andrea Tinker: A $1 billion prison under construction in Elmore County will open about five months later than planned, and the state is looking to borrow money for an Escambia County prison, an Alabama senator said Monday. https://ow.ly/X7bX50XpKJe
November 11, 2025 at 1:10 PM
The Alabama Legislature has seen costs soar for this one prison — eating up money intended to build two correctional facilities — and shrugged. If you’re wondering how serious they are about fiscal conservatism.
Single-payer insurance would take a large expense off the ledgers of most businesses, so you have to assume our awful health insurance system endures because businesses will pay that price to ensure control over their workforces.
What the actual fuck???
“Cassidy has been exhorting his colleagues to back a new idea to put money into employer-sponsored accounts that would allow individuals to set aside pre-tax dollars for medical expenses.”
HALF OF ACA ENROLLEES ARE SELF-EMPLOYED.
“Cassidy has been exhorting his colleagues to back a new idea to put money into employer-sponsored accounts that would allow individuals to set aside pre-tax dollars for medical expenses.”
HALF OF ACA ENROLLEES ARE SELF-EMPLOYED.
Democrats want to extend Obamacare credits. Republicans have other ideas. (Politico)
Main Link | memeorandum Permalink
Main Link | memeorandum Permalink
November 11, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Single-payer insurance would take a large expense off the ledgers of most businesses, so you have to assume our awful health insurance system endures because businesses will pay that price to ensure control over their workforces.
Can you imagine a world where the BBC could swing an election in Florida?
November 11, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Can you imagine a world where the BBC could swing an election in Florida?
I’m trying to play Christmas Time Is Here on piano, and so far I’ve figured out that Vince Guaraldi must have had huge hands.
Vince Guaraldi Trio - Christmas Time Is Here (Vocal)
YouTube video by VinceGuaraldiVEVO
youtu.be
November 11, 2025 at 2:06 AM
I’m trying to play Christmas Time Is Here on piano, and so far I’ve figured out that Vince Guaraldi must have had huge hands.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via @fischler.bsky.social: The Trump administration's position was a reversal from the first Trump administration’s 2019 guidance and a shutdown plan the department published Sept. 30, then deleted, and has sparked several court challenges.
Shutdown battle ebbs, but Trump won’t give up trying to withhold full SNAP benefits | Alabama Reflector
The Trump administration's position is a reversal from 2019 guidance and a shutdown plan the department published Sept. 30, then deleted.
alabamareflector.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Via @fischler.bsky.social: The Trump administration's position was a reversal from the first Trump administration’s 2019 guidance and a shutdown plan the department published Sept. 30, then deleted, and has sparked several court challenges.
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jennifer Shutt: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Monday it plans to remove warnings from hormone replacement therapy drugs that can be used to address symptoms of menopause, saying the statements are no longer needed. https://ow.ly/hCwJ50XpEvM
November 10, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Via Jennifer Shutt: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Monday it plans to remove warnings from hormone replacement therapy drugs that can be used to address symptoms of menopause, saying the statements are no longer needed. https://ow.ly/hCwJ50XpEvM
Reposted by Brian Lyman
Via Jennifer Shutt: President Donald Trump said shortly before the votes were locked in that he plans to follow the agreements included in the revised measure, including the reinstatement of thousands of federal workers who received layoff notices during the shutdown.
US Senate on verge of passing bill to end record-breaking shutdown, House up next | Alabama Reflector
Senators are expected to vote before midnight after they wrap up a series of floor speeches as well as amendment and procedural votes.
alabamareflector.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Via Jennifer Shutt: President Donald Trump said shortly before the votes were locked in that he plans to follow the agreements included in the revised measure, including the reinstatement of thousands of federal workers who received layoff notices during the shutdown.