I was reminded of Abe Sherman by a post about him

I remember him from his bookstore on Park Avenue. Let’s just say he could be unfriendly to browsers handling his merchandise. I’m not saying this to be critical – that’s just how he was. It was a cool store and reading the articles has taught me a lot about him.

Then I looked for more posts.

The post below has a link to a great article.

Trump’s terrible RIFs to the Department of Education

Trump really meant it when he said he loves the poorly educated.

We are hearing that almost all of the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE) has been let go. This is devastating news for both the employees, who are being treated as nothing more than political pawns, and for K–12 education in this country—both deserve better.

Alt Department of Education (@altdepted.bsky.social) 2025-10-10T21:40:53.524Z

There are reports that the *entire* office of special education at the US Dept of Education has been cut. These hardworking folks ensure kids with disabilities get equal access to a quality education. America’s children deserve better than this.

Sara Partridge, Ph.D. (@sarapartridge.bsky.social) 2025-10-11T16:51:19.554Z

Trump’s terrible RIFs to the CDC’

Does he think his cult doesn’t get cancer, too? It’s not just Democrats who will be affected by this awful decision..

FULL STORY HERE: Emails began flooding CDC inboxes late Friday night announcing dozens of layoffs. HR people brought back from furlough to oversee the RIFs. Disease detectives, entire Washington office, global health, injury prevention, MMWR staff among those hit.www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u…

Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@sherylnyt.bsky.social) 2025-10-11T04:49:12.553Z

NEW: @CDCgov hit hard by massive firings that several staff describe to me as a “bloodbath.” Among those RIFd:—leadership of the center for immunization and respiratory diseases;—leadership of global health center—leadership of the measles outbreak response; 1/4

Lena Sun (@lenasun.bsky.social) 2025-10-11T12:49:36.988Z

More on the CDC tonight: @jeremyfaust.bsky.social , who is impeccably sourced there (physician, Harvard faculty) has details on the divisions hit by the apparently illegal RIFS. insidemedicine.substack.com/p/breaking-n…

Maryn McKenna (@marynmck.bsky.social) 2025-10-11T02:58:49.361Z

This is beyond bad. All of our disease defenses are down now. We are sitting ducks. This is #RussellVought #DonaldTrump #RFKJr. They are endangering American lives with their insane crusade. These men are hazardous to your health and dangerous to the republic. http://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u…

Gregg Gonsalves (@gregggonsalves.bsky.social) 2025-10-11T10:08:37.483Z

Fake right wing photo of Portland

“.. On closer inspection, however, it turned out that the image was not a photograph of a real event in Portland, but instead a fabrication created by combining two photographs of scenes that unfolded in South America nearly a decade apart ..”@theguardian.com http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025…

Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) 2025-10-07T11:47:18.899Z

Good story – and as we reported, misleading videos about the Portland protests were also created and posted by the Trump administration itself http://www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio…

Drew Harwell (@drewharwell.com) 2025-11-12T16:25:01.679Z

More on farmers screwed by Trump’s tariffs and foreign responses

I have no sympathy for any farmer who voted for Trump. They had a similar situation in his first administration. Remember?

The shutdown is delaying Trump’s farm bailout. Farmers say it won’t be enough even when it happens.

Farm bankruptcies are back in the news, so it's time to pull this chart out again.Hey look they kept rising during Trump's first term. Then they went way down under Biden.Now they're up again? So weird. Thanks Farm Bureau for the graphic

Sarah Taber (@sarahtaber.bsky.social) 2025-10-10T17:41:24.210Z

Soybean farmers, coffee importers, tea importers, banana importers — all facing an existential crisis because the president is surrounded by hostile hyper-morons

Brandon Friedman (@brandonfriedman.bsky.social) 2025-10-08T00:38:32.847Z

We have spent a lot of time talking w South Dakota farmers over the past decade.What has happened to the US soybean-growing business is comparable to Great Depression. Black Plague, etc.By "what has happened," I mean "what Trump did to them," with these idiotic tariffs.

James Fallows (@jfallows.bsky.social) 2025-10-02T18:20:44.042Z

Straight up: I’m not onboard with farmers getting another bailout when so many voted for Trump two and three times. But what Trump is doing to them is brutal. I want to believe they’ve learned their lesson this time, but I don’t.Watch all the way through.

Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) 2025-10-02T02:41:58.012Z

“Tariffs were a heart attack for farmers, immigration raids, a stroke. Local teenagers weren’t inspired to come to pick blueberries in 100-degree heat. 70% of workers vanished. 🌱 Fruit rotted in fields; one grower lost $5 million because no one was left to harvest.“

Honey Girl Grows (@honeygirlgrows.bsky.social) 2026-01-31T17:28:16.652Z

Death by piano!

This is an unbelievable way to die. It was at America’s first topless bar, too.

I read this post on the death of the manager of the Condor Club in San Francisco. The article linked to below has a link to another story on the club that mentions the death by piano.

Mark Calcagni, the general manager of the Condor Club in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, was found dead 350 feet from his home in Santa Rosa.

San Francisco Chronicle (@sfchronicle.com) 2025-10-08T06:30:07.956Z

The SFGate article and the video below have more information. From SFGate:

“The Condor Club first opened in 1958 as a music venue but became notorious in 1964 when waitress Carol Doda started dancing topless for patrons, making the Condor Club the first topless bar in America. The club also made the news in 1983 for a bizarre death, in which bouncer Jimmy Ferrozzo was crushed to death while having sex with his girlfriend, dancer Theresa Hill, on top of the club’s mechanical piano. The mechanism was accidentally turned on and rose to the ceiling, asphyxiating Ferrozzo. “