Yes, Lord of the Rings is about how you must trust the “hard men.” Just as Narnia is about an evil lion. And the New Testament tells a tale of a wimp who wouldn’t fight back. Next week on “fascists read classics,” we’ll meet tech visionary George Orwell…

Note: This is me — I asked this question. You’ll hear me say “yes you have” here — because Johnson was already *directly asked* about one of these instances (when the Presbyterian minister was shot in the head with a pepper ball) in one of earlier shutdown press conferences.

Y'all, as a kid who grew up food-insecure, plz don't do this. There is nothing more demoralizing as a little kid than being reminded of your family's poverty. We looked forward to Halloween bc it was the 1 chance to be like every other kid and get access to treats the food banks never gave out.

The pettiness

The distillation of this is that your government is lying to you and plans to keep doing so.

Some discussion recently on the use of NDAs in the military My thoughts in the @thebulwark.com www.thebulwark.com/p/why-milita...

I know other media outlets around the country are running with "diseased monkeys with COVID, herpes and hepatitis are loose in Mississippi!" And yes, it makes great clickbait. Those posts have thousands of RTs. But it's just not accurate. Our factual report by @nickjudin.bsky.social:

Person, woman, man, Epstein, files, now.

I wrote the first version of this draft almost exactly a year ago, but I wasn’t ready. I am now. thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/27/t...

“Republicans are feeling volcanic heat from below, as supporters face dramatically increasing health insurance premiums, especially in states without expanded Medicaid coverage. Food stamps benefit plenty of Republicans, too.” great piece from @editorialboard.bsky.social

Once again, @mcsweeneys.net does not miss. ------------------------------------------------ "In 2004, you saw some college guy using me and thought, 'What a lazy cheater.' Now you’d think, 'At least he’s not asking Gemini.' In a few years, you’ll say, 'Wow, look, a human being who can read.'"

Until SNAP is funded, here’s an ongoing list of Bay Area restaurants where SNAP recipients can receive free food. Just bring your EBT card!

Food bank director: “for every meal that a food bank provides, the SNAP program provides nine. There’s no way we can meet that gap.”

Yellow ran so cyan could walk

ZOMG, @jeetheer.bsky.social coming off the top rope! :) www.thenation.com/article/poli...

This is amazing. And it’s truly the stuff of nightmares.

“…a furloughed Labor Department employee in Texas said she had been going from room to room inside her home in a San Antonio suburb to see what she could sell to help make ends meet.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/26/u... This is the facade of the Labor Department headquarters in D.C.:

This is quite a video. Locals screaming “get out of here you fucking Nazis” at armed ICE agents who hop in their car and quickly drive away. ICE is doing real harm, but it is also far far FAR weaker—and more deeply hated—than Stephen Miller wishes, and its weakness is really showing.

"For Comcast and its chairman Brian Roberts, it marks a moment of corporate humiliation, being publicly shamed on his own air for deference to Trump, the same vengeful president who has repeatedly targeted Roberts by name," @passantino.bsky.social writes. www.status.news/p/funding-tr...

Such a great way to explain the impact of losing SNAP benefits

There’s $5 billion sitting in SNAP reserves right now. The money’s there. The Administration just decided feeding families matters less than bailing out Argentina.

Our military is being paid by an anonymous donor. Our WH East Wing was demolished for a ballroom - paid for by donors. These aren’t acts of benevolence or patriotism. This is the oligarchy assuming control, insidiously becoming part of how we function. Every American should reject it.

That's no ballroom

Several preservation groups have expressed concern in recent weeks about the project, which is the first major change to the exterior of the White House in 83 years. https://to.pbs.org/47lo0W2

Seems like an important detail

Fantastic thread from the incredible mind of @riotgrlerin.bsky.social The perfect palate cleanser for your Friday evening 🦀

Just insane stuff here WTAF: “if someone strays into a pepper ball” and “Don’t protest”.

Another disturbing example of how Trump silences dissent: "the chief content officer for our parent company... stated in a meeting that we should not run articles that could draw the attention of the Trump White House and have them try to shut us down." www.politico.com/news/magazin...

Since the Bluesky team is bigoted against Link, he is unable to conduct Mutual Fund Friday, and so in his absence we must do it for him. SNAP benefits disappearing means a LOT of people mightily struggling. So can we try?? :) If you need help, drop your links below. Everyone else share & donate.

Not simply fascism. Monarchism.

Here are the companies destroying the east wing of the White House

in a just world this dapper man will not only crack the louvre heist case but also reveal he was the true mastermind behind the louvre heist

I love everything about this and need this as a movie.

Q: Can the president tear down anything he wants without oversight? Could he demolish this building or the Jefferson Memorial? LEAVITT: Only for vertical construction will a submission be required. Q: So it sounds like the answer is yes

New satellite images show the scale of demolition that has occurred on the East Wing of the White House in less than a month.

Also, in May, the SEC dropped a lawsuit against Binance, days after the crypto exchange began listing a stablecoin created by World Liberty Financial, one of President Donald Trump’s blockchain ventures.

WTAF?! “A demonstrator in religious garb was shot directly in the face with some sort of chemical agent. Agents also used explosive devices and pepper spray to disperse demonstrators.” www.mercurynews.com/2025/10/23/f...

It is shocking that Trump is quickly tearing down a portion of the White House. But isn’t the bigger story that this action is of a piece with his autocratic presumption that he can unilaterally destroy public goods without any public consultation or explanation? www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/u...

This is very good

“The metaphor of Trump crushing a portion of the White House as he aims bulldozers at democracy itself is almost too obvious to note. But it’s not just a symbolic parallel: both are rooted in the same indifference to what these American institutions mean to Americans and to America.“

This is what it used to look like inside the lobby area.

The same people who lost their minds over renovations to Cracker Barrel are totally fine with the White House getting bulldozed

Genuine Democratic outrage at real scandals never gets the press saturation of performative Republican outrage at fake scandals.

This little item by Luke Broadwater on the abrupt, wholly unannounced destruction of a major component of the White House complex is a microcosm of the dysfunctional relationship the press has with this mendacious administration. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

We got you covered: www.youtube.com/shorts/-hnAt...

I have blocked the discourse in my timeline That you should probably have saved for X Forgive me the vibes were so rancid

I don’t understand why anyone’s debating this — a Nazi tattoo is a non starter, full stop. This is a race for a U.S. Senate seat. The bar for candidates to clear doesn’t have to be insanely high, but it should at least be off the ground

Wonder if people are emailing them at [email protected]. Who knows