Demental

11 July

I just rewatched The Big Short If 2008 was result of Reagan 80’s, we’re now paying the price for not fixing things The ineptitude ➡️ fraudulent system still exists and is worse But the big 🤯 for me is that system Dems are like the ratings/SEC characters - can’t understand/fix & are part of problem

11 July

11 July

cont’d And the billionaires are actually the idiots living large thinking they’re smart af but only because no one is looking at the fundamentals and the system rewards them This was a painful watch but they did a stellar job pointing out average Americans get hurt when rules don’t matter

18 May

The enemy isn’t MAGAts, it’s the Epstein class, from Harlan Crow to Netanyahu to Zuck. Their weapons are: 1️⃣ Corruption - captured judiciary, captured politicians 2️⃣ Information - FOX, Facebook, YouTube etc. (how MAGAts created) 3️⃣ Institutions that don’t work - that they broke and now control 1/

25 May

2️⃣ Fox: needs same treatment that just happened to PBS/NPR received - targeted deplatforming - use the same FCC rules to limit airways - disallow cable packaging so that everyone who pays for cable doesn’t support Social Meda: Revisit section 230 and massive fines b/c they’re not moderating 4/

25 May

3️⃣ This is fire with fire. We cannot save institutions while we are constrained by the rules - eliminate party primaries, too much power for extremes - gerrymander allowed because previous ruling said no way to calculate districts yet - make a formula!!! 5/

18 May

18 May

1️⃣ Massive anti-corruption bill for all judges/justices, politicians & appointees - close loopholes (like stock trades) - track all spouse/family/associate incomes (like Robert’s wife making $20M) - track lifestyle gifts (meals, vacations, tuition, rent & every private, 1st or biz class flight) 2/

25 May

1️⃣ In addition to expanding SCOTUS, Thomas and Roberts (and maybe Alito) should be impeached for not recusing themselves in specific cases - Thomas, so many with Harlan Crow - Roberts, his wife’s clients - Alito, latest scandal

29 Jan

@schumer.senate.gov @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social I appreciate what you have done and it deserves to be honored But you are not wartime consiglieri. Trudeau stepped down because he loved his country and knew this was not his time. If you love 🇺🇸 step aside and guide Let someone else meet this moment

This post is unavailable.

23 Oct 2025

It’s not just no king, 🇺🇸 is built on the idea that POWER CORRUPTS. That’s why we have the checks & balances And MONEY = POWER That’s why so many seemingly good people change when they become billionaires or stay in politics too long. Very few individuals can resist that level of temptation 🧵

23 Oct 2025

I get the urge to just trust the ones in charge that you like and give them more power to ‘get things done fast’ But the American way is realism - a healthy skepticism. Because they might not be as noble as they seem and they might not stay who they are Power changes people 🧵

23 Oct 2025

And money changes people Almost everyone has seen examples of this in real life. That’s why we build strong institutions to keep money and power in check Every society struggles with greed & corruption & the degradation of empathy as people build walls with guards Because this is a human problem

motherjones.comThe official voice of the US government is cruel, gross, and weird. What is that doing to us?Joking memes about imprisonment, deportation, and death by alligator are designed to radicalize and desensitize.

17 Aug 2025

Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy -Cpt. Gilbert, Nuremberg trials I focus on the erosion of rights and the power over us that grows. I’m an analytical person, I intellectualize But the suffering is more important. The people in ‘Alligator Alcatraz’, helpless w/o their dignity This is evil

We currently have two critical problems 1- fascism 2- corrupt elites 2 got us 1. 2 also gave us major ones like 3- foreign adversaries 4- private equity & big tech/corp 5- Christofascism Public service and journalism as a Fox/CNN talking head or book deals shouldn’t make one rich/elite 1/4

Our judges, politicians, journalists, & public administrators should not get - wealthy - admission into a club that makes you/fam above the rules and gets you access MTG going from $700K to $21M in four years. Donors paying for awesome vacations. Bad sexual behavior covered up 3/4

Power corrupts. Money corrupts. Even the best of us are susceptible & it’s definitely not the best of us making the calls right now We either need legislation, to be passed …by the corrupted Rules enforced …by the corrupted against their own club members Exposure of the corruption to voters 4/4

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… Drain the Swamp Epstein is actually a winning example of this. The base doesn’t care Trump raped kids/women. But they do care that the elites can get away with it and that their fellow elites will protect them. 2/4

8 Aug 2025

We are fighting the wrong fight on tariffs TAXES controlled by congress TARIFFS controlled by president He & cronies are making 🇺🇸 worse so that he can spend on what he wants - often to grab/consolidate power. As usual, media failing to look at the big picture and instead debating merits of tariffs

reddit.comFrom the technology community on Reddit: House Democrats: DOGE is building a ‘master database’ of Americans’ sensitive informationExplore this post and more from the technology community

19 Apr 2025

Palantir is the enemy Thiel & Vance have their eye on the decades beyond the Trump/Musk era of power What’s the point of having laws, like the Privacy Act referenced, if the Executive can just ignore them and take all our information - while not even protecting it?

9 Apr 2025

Tho used interchangeably, I now believe there is a real difference between science and tech Scientists are curious, follow the evidence wherever it leads, must be open-minded & are smart enough to understand data/facts Tech is more exploitative, tied to profit, w/ high sales/bullshit factor 1/3

9 Apr 2025

Tech has benefited by being mistaken for science What could have advanced humanity has been hijacked by broligarchs who sold us a vision that didn’t materialize - bitcoin as a currency, not a commodity - internet to connect, not control/surveil - AI to find cancer, not lie more effectively 2/3

9 Apr 2025

The wrong people control humanity’s advances There will always be discoveries and innovation - humans can’t help themselves. But I would much rather they rest in universities or small businesses than in the power of big tech which just ends up making billionaires more $ 3/3

13 Mar 2025

Ok 🇺🇸 as a business. Let’s look at shareholder value ✅ time saved in life by pooling resources ✅ access to things we own, like parks ✅ administration of our income(taxes)/expenses(incl services) ✅ knowledge/expertise of our employees Doge cut SOME COSTS, but the VALUE of 🇺🇸/ citizen is down 1/2

Chris Kluwe, adjudicated poaster@chriswarcraft.bsky.social

The reason why you don’t run a government like you run a business is because Jersey Mike’s does not have the capacity to drop atomic weaponry on my house if I stop buying sandwiches there

13 Mar 2025

And I bet after gutting the incredible asset of knowledge & expertise of our government workforce, the missing services to public will miraculously be contracted out to buddies ➡️ privatization of government And are doge salaries + golf trips costs less than wages of all employees cut? 2/2

slate.comThe Year’s Most Urgent Best Picture Contender Is the One Almost No One Has SeenI’m Still Here has a warning—and a reason for hope.

2 Mar 2025

Here is where art does its thing. I am reminded that a man who performed two Nazi salutes, supported the AfD, and tweeted Nazi puns to troll & gaslight afterwards… …has an office in the White House Felt that pain & sadness all over again reading this

Sam Adams@samadams.bsky.social

I wrote about why the most important Oscar nominee is the movie about how living under authoritarian rule can feel surprisingly normal.

28 Feb 2025

Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦

28 Feb 2025

Put the nerds back in charge It’s boring but everything works and the trains run on time But no. My fellow Americans keep choosing drama train crash soap opera trash reality tv rape housewives melting icecaps messiah can fix what they themselves broke mess fascism Are you not entertained?

FOLLOW THE DATA Elon & Doge can - See who gets $ - Stop who gets $ - Get info to influence gov contracts But most dangerously, the data they obtain can be used to train AI models Although important, we’re now past the q’s of admin/read/write access These are questions that should be asked: 🧵

Think about data in the context of Chat GPT. There is an uproar over the content that was used without permission to make that model But now that the model is out, look at how valuable it is and what it was trained on doesn’t matter anymore Same for govt data. Now is when it’s valuable 🧵

Elon & the billionaires know the value of this data & are salivating at getting even more rich from it But the most dangerous part is what the AI models might do: control, behavior modeling, surveillance. TikTok algo good example Think of what govt/$/foreign can do with the power from this data

1. List of every person who has accessed the data 2. Affidavit/proof they have not shared any of it with anyone 3. Every location/server any data is on and ever has been on 4. Has any data already been used for AI modeling 5. Produce every file result from any read of any data (log/model) 🧵

finance.senate.govfinance.senate.gov

17 Jan 2025

This is an absolutely brilliant thread. The information is organized to very quickly flip through, it’s summarized well, and it’s presented perfectly for this medium Media take note! @wyden.senate.gov, thank you for this

Senator Ron Wyden@wyden.senate.gov

NEW: My staff just got ahold of this memo from House Budget Committee Republicans. It's lengthy and hard to digest but it tells us exactly how Republicans plan to sell out the American people for another round of tax cuts to the rich. We're breaking down the highlights as we go:

12 Jan 2025

This was brilliant - read to see how SCOTUS views the ALGORITHM compared to the content of social media Not only did this 🧵 succinctly explain TikTok oral args, I have a much better understanding of the issue @stevenmazie.bsky.social, thanks and I actually find this format better than an article

Steven Mazie@stevenmazie.bsky.social

I’ll be live-**eyeing parts of the hearing in this thread. It’s going to be a long one, with two hours allocated for argument plus untold extra time for justice-by-justice questions. Get your dance moves ready.

theguardian.comThe birth of Jesus would probably have been forgotten – if it wasn’t for a plague | Jonathan KennedyWhen a terrifying Ebola-like pandemic struck the Roman empire, Christianity offered solutions that the old ways didn’t, says academic and author Jonathan Kennedy

25 Dec 2024

A heartwarming account of how Christianity became a dominant religion. Contrast this with Christian Nationalists’ views today, opposed to Jesus’s teachings I had always wistfully admired people of faith. Trump’s first term stole my faith in those that have faith www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

cnbc.comSilicon Valley's White House influence grows as Trump taps tech execs for key rolesTrump nominated top tech leaders for key spots in his administration, including executives who've held roles at Andreessen Horowitz and PayPal.

24 Dec 2024

Gov contracts for sale! And I suspect we are also witnessing a hostile takeover of the military industrial complex by the broligarchy. I shed no tears for Lockheed et al. but we really need to follow the money in the coming years www.cnbc.com/2024/12/23/t...

Two recent articles reminded me the world essentially has the same problem as lack of coverage on Biden’s economy: 🇨🇦 implemented a ‘carbon tax’ 🇬🇧 massive housing & clean energy plans Details of the both following but note the lack of 📰, the vilification & hidden wins 🧵 bsky.app/profile/your...

Anonymous@youranoncentral.bsky.social

Canada, UK, Germany are primary targets for the Russia right now. Elon Musk is helping the Kremlin amplify its influence operations and bankrolling the politicians favourable to Putin. This is an attack on democracy and an operation to decrease support and aid for Ukraine.

bloomberg.comHow Canada Figured Out a Carbon Tax and Gave the Money BackAs Canada’s minister of environment and climate change, Cath McKenna marshaled support for a carbon tax in part by calling it “a price on pollution.”

Maybe the most important initiative by a gov in the world if it serves as a blueprint 🇨🇦 Trudeau & @cathmckenna.bsky.social implemented a Price on Pollution that basically fines polluters and gives that money DIRECTLY to citizens 90% and small/med businesses 10% www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Way to go @cathmckenna.bsky.social! I didn’t even understand how incredible this was until I read the article. @charlieangus104.bsky.social, I’m throwing you in because you’re a cool Canadian 🇨🇦 fighting the good fight

Anonymous@youranoncentral.bsky.social

inews.co.ukFinally, we've got a radical agenda from the GovernmentThis is one of the most far-reaching governance projects we've seen in our lifetime

🇬🇧 Starmer has unveiled excellent & ambitious plans to address housing and clean energy. Key for both of these is that they could be “generation defining political events.” bsky.app/profile/iand...

Ian Dunt@iandunt.bsky.social

Last week, the government undertook some of the most wide-reaching policy initiatives we've seen in years. And hardly anyone seems to know a damn thing about it. inews.co.uk/opinion/fina...

Same energy with all these accomplishments. Incredible feats of governance doing amazing work for their citizens and citizens of the world They get: - NO credit - ridiculed by the media - sabotaged in their efforts Who is benefiting from this? The right, the rich and Russia + other authoritarians

Anonymous@youranoncentral.bsky.social

From what I can tell, regular citizens don’t understand this at all. The Right has a slogan Axe the Tax and called her Climate Barbie. It’s not a tax because the $ goes DIRECTLY to the people

21 Dec 2024

I don’t see Bluesky as an echo-chamber, I see it as an idea-chamber. I have experienced so many insights on here that have helped me refine my point of view in a way that feels empowering. Like I’m understanding more. Case and point, this recent one I’m still reeling from bsky.app/profile/deme...

Demental@demental.bsky.social

Addiction: that’s what UPFs and social media (& tobacco) have in common I couldn’t stop thinking about this article… What if we have some mechanism to determine and then measure addiction? Ultraprocessed food and the phone are INTENTIONALLY addictive. A higher-level law to regulate companies… 1/

barrons.comIf Lina Khan Refuses to Step Down from FTC, Trump's Pick for Chair Will Be Put in a Unusual PositionOne by one, President Joe Biden’s agency heads have said they’ll step down in time for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. The major exception so far: Federal Trade Commission Chai...

I can’t see any benefit to her resigning? Why make it any easier? “Until Meador steps in, Khan is able to keep serving as a commissioner—which would leave Ferguson in the unenviable position of presiding over a commission where he’s in the minority.” Lina Khan is 🔥 www.barrons.com/articles/tru...

newrepublic.comBidenomics Was Wildly SuccessfulThe president’s domestic record wasn’t just extraordinary. It might put Democrats back in power in four years.

Way to go Joe! THIS is the type of reporting we need to see! To summarize some of the main points: 🧵 bsky.app/profile/newr...

The New Republic@newrepublic.com

By nearly every metric, Bidenomics was a roaring success. It would be a mistake to ignore or forget the lessons that can be gleaned from the administration’s robust economic policy.

CHIPS and Science Act + Inflation Reduction Act #OdeToJoe 🧵

Thank you to @newrepublic.com for its EXCELLENT reporting! /.

newrepublic.comBidenomics Was Wildly SuccessfulThe president’s domestic record wasn’t just extraordinary. It might put Democrats back in power in four years.

Way to go Joe! THIS is the type of reporting we need to see! To summarize some of the main points: 🧵 bsky.app/profile/newr...

The New Republic@newrepublic.com

By nearly every metric, Bidenomics was a roaring success. It would be a mistake to ignore or forget the lessons that can be gleaned from the administration’s robust economic policy.

American Rescue Plan #OdeToJoe 🧵

Inflation reduction without a recession #OdeToJoe

newrepublic.comBidenomics Was Wildly SuccessfulThe president’s domestic record wasn’t just extraordinary. It might put Democrats back in power in four years.

Way to go Joe! THIS is the type of reporting we need to see! To summarize some of the main points: 🧵 bsky.app/profile/newr...

The New Republic@newrepublic.com

By nearly every metric, Bidenomics was a roaring success. It would be a mistake to ignore or forget the lessons that can be gleaned from the administration’s robust economic policy.

His philosophy was “If you’re helping to bake the pie, you ought to get a fair slice.” - Full employment - Encourage unionization - Crack down on consolidation and corporate power (Lina Khan is 🔥 ) 🧵

theguardian.com‘Trump has been explicit about revenge’: Asif Kapadia on his new film about the threat to democracyThe man behind Amy and Senna has turned his attention to ‘techno-authoritarianism’ in the genre-defying 2073. He talks to our journalist – one of the movie’s unlikely stars – about the events that fed...

15 Dec 2024

“being watched and paranoid” became his normal An artist capturing this ‘feeling’ is so important. The idea that there are right and wrong ways to think and behave. Not only are we watching you, we can speculate on your REAL thoughts from what we see bsky.app/profile/caro...

Carole Cadwalladr@carolecadwalla.bsky.social

This is what the Observer team & I were doing between strikes. Please read it because it couldn’t be more relevant. I interview @asifkapadia.bsky.social about his alarming new film, 2073. It’s a stark warning of where Trump, Musk & Farage are taking us.. www.theguardian.com/film/2024/de...