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Matthew

@calmeilles.bsky.social

670 followers 720 following 5K posts

🐧 IT. Old. Gay. Rejoiner. Essex to Newcastle to London. If I can't make Italy would try Scotland next. @[email protected]

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Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · Jan 31

What do you do about fascism?

In my early teens I learned about Hitler and Chamberlain and Churchill in a formal education setting.

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Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 3h

Private companies have not stepped in to help.

They're rushing to profit.

NPR @npr.org · 4h

With the government shutdown, the National Flood Insurance Program is no longer writing new policies. It's causing problems for would-be homeowners, but private companies have stepped in to help. n.pr/4nVsj1r

For private flood insurance companies, the government shutdown is good for business

With the government shutdown, the National Flood Insurance Program is no longer writing new policies. It's causing problems for would-be homeowners, but private companies have stepped in to help.

n.pr

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 6h

But how else would you get from the Sugar Beet Pavilion parking lot to the Mount Olympus Pavilion parking lot except by car? 🤣

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 7h

johnpavlovitz.substack.com/p/our-towns-...

#lgbtqia #christofascism

Our Town's PRIDE Festival Was a Beautiful, Joyful Celebration of Community. Then, The "Christians" Showed Up.

“And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” - Christian hymn

johnpavlovitz.substack.com

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 8h

So who is going to prosecute?

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 12h

Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.

26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
prev | next
(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 8h

Alaska's Senator serving the peepul…

edition.cnn.com/2025/07/01/p...

Carveouts for Alaska and tax breaks for whalers: How Lisa Murkowski got to yes on Trump’s agenda bill | CNN Politics

The fate of President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda was in Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s hands — and she used that leverage to force a series of changes that will deliver more federal dollars to her s...

edition.cnn.com

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 8h

Only fascists would see any need to undermine anti-fascist movements.

TheCatMan @bigbrohem.bsky.social · 23h

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 8h

One can wish. But it's hard to see how you'd go about doing that.

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 8h

The highest paid time of my career my monthly contribution to health, pension and unemployment was barely more than a lowest tier tax-credit assisted, ACA enabled US health insurance policy premium. Oh, and without deductibles or copays.

Universality has astounding benefits of scale.

Reposted by Matthew

Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 2d

This is edifying even if you have been fighting for all these things in the US.

It doesn't have to be this way.

Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 2d

WATCH: Do you have to move away from the United States in order to get a clear picture of the United States? @evanedinger.bsky.social covers the reasons he couldn’t move back to the U.S. from Europe now. Hint: #3 is about walkable cities & car dependency, but all are worth seriously thinking about.

How I View the US After 13 Years Living in Europe

YouTube video by Evan Edinger

youtu.be

5 25 140

Reposted by Matthew

Mickey Kuhns @mickeykuhns.bsky.social · 10h

They’re not even pretending anymore.
Weaponizing the IRS to hunt “left-leaning groups”? That’s not governance — that’s fascism in a necktie. The revenge tour keeps writing its own indictments.

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

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Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 10h

OFFS!

Absurdle 10/∞ qntm.org/files/absurd...

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#games #WordGames

Absurdle

An adversarial version of Wordle

qntm.org

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 20h

Simple tray bake with chicken drumsticks, onion, potato and cabbage.

🧑‍🍳 🍽️ 🍜

#food #cooking #dinner

Lasagne dish with cooked stuff in as per the post. Apart from the bits browned by the cooking it's all a bit pale.

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 1d

That's Quatermass and the Pit, isn't it?

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 1d

What if it's of limited utility and high risk?

It doesn't have to be "godlike" to be risky, the environmental damage done by building the infrastructure could well be an existential threat in this climate crisis.

Reposted by Matthew

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 1d

“People like Maxim — who refuse to become silent accomplices to the Kremlin’s crimes — are saving our country’s honor amid this current darkness. And it will be they who will lead Russia back to normality once the drawn-out nightmare of Putin’s rule is over.”

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | What Putin is crushing in Russia

The arrest of opposition leader Maxim Kruglov is a blow against the last vestiges of Russian democracy.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 1d

Nah, it's only wrong for a Dem administration to ask social media to take down MAGA stuff. 🤣

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 1d

Well, that's… er… something.

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 1d

every young Republican staffer is a Nazi, it's that simple www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 1d

Perhaps we should stop building on flood plains.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

#floods #insurance #ClimateCrisis #Building #environment

Towns may have to be abandoned due to floods with millions more homes in Great Britain at risk

Every constituency projected to be at greater risk, with many areas likely to be uninsurable, Guardian investigation finds

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Matthew

David Osland @davidosland.bsky.social · 2d

On the centenary of Thatcher's birth, there have been predictable calls for a memorial to her memory. But Britain's 2300 food banks serve that purpose already.

64 720 2.4K

Matthew @calmeilles.bsky.social · 2d

Par🇮🇹le n°1379 6/6

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#games #WordGames