Our techlords & their funders want AI? They can do that *only if* it doesn't require hoovering a dwindling water supply to cool data centers AND they don't release huge amounts of greenhouse-contributing carbon to power them They can't do those things? Then NO data centers FIND ANOTHER WAY

Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad

NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen. Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.

First-world concerns: I have identified something worse than leaf blowers - people who use leaf blowers *when it's windy*

It's just so fcking infuriating, sad, & tragic that *everything* normal people who've been paying attention *screamed* would happen if that person were elected again, is happening Thinking about *all the things we could be doing instead*, not only *as a country* - but also as a *species* godammit

"Rather than consider issues in light of actual facts...people with this mindset prioritize being independent from outside influence...the easier a statement is to disprove, the more of a power move it is to say it, as it symbolizes how far you’re willing to go" theconversation.com/winning-with...

All MAGA does (& all that Republicans did before MAGA) is constantly re-fight battles that have already been won. Abortion rights. Due Process. Social Security benefits. They spend all this time - and, by extension, all of *our* time - doing this, going in circles instead of *making life better*

These AI techbros have created that monster, so sure of themselves that there’ll be some killer application, not yet found Meanwhile, they’re building massive energy- and water-hogging data centers all across the land, making our climate worse and stealing our potable water And for what? GREED

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

Thanks a lot, Republican voters. You put a felon, pedophile, AND Russian asset in the fcking White House But instead of owning up to your mistake, you'll burn it all down We were supposed to be well on our way to bases on the Moon, flying cars, and abundant, sustainable energy - but no.

It’d be pretty cool if the new leadership of the Paramount/CBS merger, now that it’s complete, came out and said: “You know what? We’re going to keep Colbert - we’re gonna pay him more and extend his contract indefinitely, & we’re going to air the Harris 60 Minutes interview every Sunday evening”

It seems, decades ago, around the time of the Powell memo, US oligarchs looked at what China and Russia were doing: funneling money to the rich instead of the common good, and said to themselves, "We want some of that - but we have laws and regulations in place to remove," and they're *almost* there

This. Not unregulated capitalism, but *under-regulated* capitalism. @djrothkopf.bsky.social “Am I saying that democracy in America has fallen victim to something as base as greed? Yes. Yes, I am. In fact, I will go further and say that American capitalism destroyed American democracy.”

AGAN, Dems - listen to this person: talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/fight...

Maybe I missed it, but I haven’t seen one press or media article clearly stating that the reason the MAGA regime is destroying civic institutions and stopping government services is for one thing: *to fund tax cuts for the rich*

Sometimes (a lot, lately TBH) - I think Josh Marshall should be hired to help direct or at least help the Democrats' upcoming campaigns Meanwhile, I'm *still* waiting for Ken Martin's @kenmartin.bsky.social "shadow government", which is what Ben Wikler planned talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/into-...

So, I started HBO’s “The Watchmen” again Not only because it’s awesome - and was the first I’d heard of the Tulsa massacre But because it’s timely, *again*, given the MAGA regime we’re all currently saddled with There’s *so much* in that show that really spotlights the regime’s motivations

i guess we're never going to see Jack Smith's second volume report on the classified documents case pretty cool that the incoming Administration, led by the primary defendant of the classified docs case, can simply tell his crony AG to stop all legal proceedings so much, so fast- and people forget

Well, this is interesting - it seems the so-called capitulation of several big-name law firms is merely a wink-wink, nudge-nudge it's all about *the appearance* of capitulation to show the mouth-breathers these powerful entities are afraid of Orange Julius talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/whats...

MAGA has created its perpetual get-out-of-jail-free card: DEI -plane crash? DEI -egg prices high? DEI -taxes too high? DEI And as needed for various fckups & as distractions: -caught using Signal? DEI -causing a recession? DEI -attacking the judiciary? DEI Aided by a captured press, can’t lose

I fucking love that Jim Carrey hates Donald Trump as much as we do. 🤣

It’s not so much Elmo’s given access to & free reign with government systems, stopping payments & firing anyone It’s that Republicans voted *explicitly against* any attempts to reel in what is *total usurpation* of their *own powers* Resulting in a scary fast *overthrow of our very system of govt*

So, the richest person, who gave $290M to the President's election, is given access to all civil service systems he's cancelling contracts & payments, firing tens of thousands, & shuttering services Republicans refuse to stop this takeover of their role, but they do stop town halls This is a coup

I’d bet *a lot* of Republican voters really liked, maybe even *loved* the show “Band of Brothers” As they go through their lives blissfully unaware (or worse - they know, but don’t care) That they are voting and supporting *the opposite of what that show’s good guys were fighting*

Where is the "shadow government" we need right now? One person (or experts), to push back on what's happening, to communicate the stakes, to inform on the practical consequences, to educate on *what* our institutions do and *why* they exist? People *need* this, NOW. The press isn't going to do it.

The end result of the MAGA agenda is they want to make the USA like Iran or Russia: generally good people ruled by a clique of super-rich men who've amassed complete power over everything, who brook no dissent, and who have a military and civilian police apparatus filled with believers as enforcers

So, the President of the United States can just “send a guy” and his computer-savvy friends into any government building, and *they’re allowed* to just root around, access *and change* the funding for anything, *and also* see the personal info on tens of millions and they … just get to do it

Another sobering thought is that firing all these FBI and CIA agents, and the accompanying loss of intelligence and awareness of what our adversaries are doing, could make the US an easier target for … invasion

Josh Marshall @ TPM on what Democrats *should* be doing. We're not seeing much of it now except for AOC and a few others - but this is *exactly* what we need from our electeds right now talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/democ...

It’s difficult, being aware of history, to have to watch countless countrymen embrace what has heretofore been something that collectively, we all agreed was bad: authoritarianism Because of mis- and dis-information precisely targeted to pique existing prejudices It’s like WW2 never happened

FBI Uncovers Al-Qaeda Plot To Just Sit Back And Enjoy Collapse Of United States theonion.com/fbi-unc...

Nothing new or revelatory here, but I think one goal of the entities pushing AI is to provide yet another avenue with which to feed “desired” information, or to otherwise guard against people exploring different sources to assess the veracity of claims “I heard it from the Fox AI” or the “MAGA AI”

I remember how shocked I was when the authorities discovered *thousands* of classified and top secret documents at his FL party house shocked that he was convicted of *34 felonies* in the hush money case shocked that he was found *liable for sexual assault* and now, he *gets away with all of it*

Like a frog in a slowly boiling pot, it feels like we’re bouncing from manufactured outrage to manufactured outrage created from the bowels of right-wing oligarchs *explicitly* designed to ensure that we never collectively recognize their slow & deliberate takeover of our representative democracy

Yet another example of why we need to rethink our expectations for the press in this country I don’t know what the answer is But I *do* know our framers didn’t envision the press as in thrall to super-rich a$$holes who intervene to kill pieces that could jeopardize their bottom line or access

his power plays are designed to create reactions that add to his drama but most of what he says is BS: yes we fight, but we should *also* point & laugh: "he can't even do that" "he doesn't even want to do that" "look at him trying to do that" one thing a narcissist can't stomach is being laughed at

They will try to do all the things They will fail at most of them And when they’re run outta town, they’ll blame “the deep state” & they’ll blame “(insert coast here) liberals” And their carefully cultivated & indoctrinated caucus of mouth-breathers will, of course, believe it all & around we go

Lesson 1: Do not obey in advance. Thread of lessons from my book #OnTyranny. Written in 2016.

it seems every election, the right identifies something that is a primary distraction that all too often results in a win decades ago, it was the "welfare queen with a Cadillac" then, it was "gay marriage" most recently, it was "trans" what will the next shiny object be & how do we combat it?

Still firmly in the “what the fck just happened; amazed, saddened, and frankly, scared” stage Yet knowing that I *will* emerge from it to the “accept it, pull up your sleeves, no way these motherfvckers are changing our way of life for their hate and fear” stage

It’s going to be very difficult to have to see that person’s orange mug and hear that horrible voice coming out of his shitty maw for the next X years I really thought we’d be done with this absolute horror of a human being

One thing I noticed locally is *everyone* who had Harris/Walz signs in their yards removed them *almost immediately* after the results came in; I'd wager, no small number did this due to *fear* both in 2016 and this year, it seems many Trumpers still have their signs up (b/c they're just d!cks)

This, to me, is the root of it They're not just greedy, misogynistic sociopaths who should be nowhere near power - they're *violent*, greedy, misogynistic sociopaths who should be nowhere near power He's stoking it, and until society sees fit to stop him - he & his ilk are going to keep doing it

I shudder to think of the amount of dis- & misinformation from the right we’re about to endure Between now & the election Including the new & creative ways it will appear And I’m equally afraid Of the levels of gaslighting the MSM & press will engage in To downplay or misrepresent *all of it*

Ahh, waking up to yet another day where the press and media refuse to cover the ridiculous and newsworthy things that Republicans do while they simultaneously nitpick and poke holes in the popular ideas and substantive policies that Democrats proffer

If we make it through this period of wannabe fascism I think there will be many a thesis & dissertation on the sheer volume of collective anxiety, stress, & depression from the horrid orange man, Rs denigrating expertise & science in a pandemic, climate, etc While press yawned & both sidesed

I don’t know who wrote this, but it’s absolutely perfect

So, I've been on Bluesky for about a week now. And this isn't anything revelatory or otherwise new But it's just that I'm so pleased to find a bird-like site where the vast majority of posts are from real humans, with real thoughts & ideas & feelings And not a cesspool of targeted hate & rancor 😁