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DGCassidy

@dgcassidy.bsky.social

500 followers 410 following 2.9K posts

Humanist. Agnotology watchdog. 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇮🇪 Agitator for a better tomorrow for *everyone*. #VA01 progressive. #LFC, #PetShopBoys fan. Believer in peer-reviewed data, conclusions, and policies.

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DGCassidy @dgcassidy.bsky.social · Dec 17

Agnotology = word of the last decade.

“Proctor found that ignorance spreads when firstly, many people do not understand a concept or fact and secondly, when special interest groups – like a commercial firm or a political group – then work hard to create confusion about an issue.”

Sound familiar?

Shawn McClure @shawnmcclure.bsky.social · Dec 15

"Agnotology is the study of the deliberate spread of ignorance or doubt to influence opinion. It helps us understand how people use ignorance to hide or divert attention from societal problems, promote ignorance, and stoke xenophobia and populism."
www.bbc.com/future/artic...

The man who studies the spread of ignorance

How do people or companies with vested interests spread ignorance and obfuscate knowledge? Georgina Kenyon finds there is a term which defines this phenomenon.

www.bbc.com

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DGCassidy @dgcassidy.bsky.social · 18h

We all knew this was going on, and now we have the horrible proof.

Anonymous @youranoncentral.bsky.social · 19h

Young Republicans / TPUSA MAGAs proven to be actual genocidal racist-incel-trolls, a very shocking and unforeseen development.

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

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henricodems.bsky.social @henricodems.bsky.social · 1d

How the math works to flip VA-01 in '26

@wittmanwatch.bsky.social @hanovervadems.bsky.social @wjccindivisible.bsky.social @neighbors4change.bsky.social

Cardinal News @cardinalnews.org · 1d

Opinion: Wittman and McGuire got almost the same vote last year, but Democrats are only targeting Wittman in 2026. Here’s why.

Wittman and McGuire got almost the same vote last year, but Democrats are only targeting Wittman in 2026. Here’s why.

" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/cardinalnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/us_capitol.jpg?fit=300%2C180&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/cardinalnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/us_capitol.jpg?fit=537%2C537&ssl=1" /> The 1st Congressional District has more metro areas where Democrats might find votes; the 5th is too rural to help Democratic prospects. The post Wittman and McGuire got almost the same vote last year, but Democrats are only targeting Wittman in 2026. Here’s why. appeared first on Cardinal News.

dlvr.it

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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 1d

* Over 20,000 Palestinians killed since January
* 100s starved to death, including kids
* Congress bypassed to send more & more bombs to Israel
* US citizens murdered in the West Bank

I hope this ceasefire holds & I am glad the hostages are free, but this is Trump’s *actual record* so far.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 1d

Just in case the dramatically low Leni Riefenstahl-style angle was too subtle, they used a word from her most famous movie

Time magazine cover featuring a photo of Trump from a dramatically low angle

HIS
TRIUMPH
by ERIC CORTELLESSA
THE LEADER ISRAEL NEEDED
by EHUD BARAK
HOW GAZA HEALS

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Abigail Spanberger @abigailspanberger.com · 1d

Like so many Virginians, I remember the pure shock when Roe v. Wade fell.

Winsome Earle-Sears cheered it on. And now, she wants to ban abortion in Virginia without exceptions for rape or incest.

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DGCassidy @dgcassidy.bsky.social · 1d

Far right criminal directs criminal acts of barbarism, and his far right criminal friend claims he’s stopped, basking in the glow of his friend’s victims‘ thankfulness while the world waits for the other shoe to drop.

Skepticism is most definitely warranted here.

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Wittman Watch @wittmanwatch.bsky.social · 2d

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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 2d

The only violence I’ve been seeing in Portland is from the so-called Feds!!!

Keep sharing these videos; it’s evidence.

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Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 2d

Did not know this about Old Bay

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DGCassidy @dgcassidy.bsky.social · 2d

Thiel is “sort of” an immature, pseudo-intellectual idiot. JFC. And this is who’s behind so much of the insanity we’re seeing. Makes more sense now, kinda. Christ alive.

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 3d

thiel, man, what the fuck are you talking about

He describes the plot of Watchmen, a 1986 graphic novel involving superheroes grappling with moral questions about humanity against the backdrop of impending nuclear war:

The antihero Ozymandias, the antichrist-type figure, is sort of an early-modern person. He believes this will be a timeless and eternal solution – eternal world peace. Moore is sort of a late-modern. In early modernity, you have ideal solutions, ‘perfect’ solutions to calculus. In late modernity, things are sort of probabilistic. And at some point, he asks Dr Manhattan whether the world government is going to last. And he says that ‘nothing lasts forever.’ So you embrace the antichrist and it still doesn’t work.

Thiel later finds biblical meaning in the manga One Piece, discussing how he believes it represents a future where an antichrist-like one-world government has repressed science. He believes that the hero, Monkey D Luffy, represents a Christlike figure.

In One Piece, you are set in a fantasy world, again sort of an alternate earth, but it’s 800 years into the reign of this one-world state. Which, as the story unfolds, gradually gets darker and darker. You sort of realize, in my interpretation, who runs the world and it’s something like the antichrist. There’s Luffy, a pirate who wears a red straw hat, sort of like Christ’s crown of thorns. And then towards the end of the story, transforms into a figure who resembles Christ in Revelation.

Thiel, along with a researcher and writer at Thiel Capital, explored these ideas at greater length in an essay for the religious journal First Things earlier this month.

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Wittman Watch @wittmanwatch.bsky.social · 4d

You have had six months to pass a budget. You decry a “waste of taxpayer dollars” and disruption of essential services while you supported billionaire tax cuts, the DOGE disaster, and the gutting of support for the poor. You’re either unaware of the damage or unconcerned. We hope we're wrong.

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Wittman Watch @wittmanwatch.bsky.social · 3d

"There you go again." How long has it been since Representative Wittman held an in-person town hall in Williamsburg? Are we not good hosts? September 2025 survey (House Majority PAC), Rob was rated "underwater" by constituents in VA-01. Hmmm...maybe that's why he's afraid to stop by for a chat???

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DGCassidy @dgcassidy.bsky.social · 4d

The worship of flags is almost always a ruse these days. Well done, @barneyronay.bsky.social, for illustrating how the weaponization of sport both contributes to this cynical power grab and can combat it in equal measure - and how more need to speak up like Gary Neville.

Flag alert! Gary Neville may not be Orwell but he is a very English type of patriot | Barney Ronay

An easy target for accusations of luxury hypocrisy, Neville has at least tried to address an issue that has everything to do with aggressively flag-draped and militarised modern sport

www.theguardian.com

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Lincoln’s Kayak 🫘 @lincolnskayak.bsky.social · 4d

How many horcruxes do you think Stephen Miller has made so far?

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 4d

aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage

Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 4d

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.   It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

chicago.suntimes.com

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henricodems.bsky.social @henricodems.bsky.social · 4d

Another patriot pardoned by Trump 🙄

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Salaam Bhatti @salaambhattiva.bsky.social · 4d

Rob Wittman will be doing a tele town hall at the same time as a Williamsburg Candidates Forum.

Way to know your district.

Don’t worry Williamsburg, I’ll be there with you to support our candidates 🥳

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Wittman Watch @wittmanwatch.bsky.social · 4d

So, Rob, your party has had six months to pass a budget and avoid a government shutdown. You seem surprised that Senate Democrats stood up to try and save ACA premium support for tens of millions of Americans Are you aware that some members of Congress put everyday Americans over fealty to Trump?

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DGCassidy @dgcassidy.bsky.social · 4d

LOL. Inventive and accurate - @heathermassey.com does not miss!

Heather Massey @heathermassey.com · 4d

Presenting the 2026 #VA-01 Democratic primary candidates - pop art edition!

(thread is in alphabetical order; information from online candidate sources - visit their sites to learn more!)

DGCassidy @dgcassidy.bsky.social · 4d

Will we get curated questions and disinformation answers? Sign up to find out! wittman.house.gov/forms/form/?...

DGCassidy @dgcassidy.bsky.social · 4d

Greg’s on solid ground here, as he’s had years of passive training so he can lift his right arm straight up and outward, palm facing down, as many times as he likes. He won’t ever tire. Through accident and devotion, his life has built him for this moment.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Greg Abbott tells Pritzker to "stop complaining and do some pushups"

DGCassidy @dgcassidy.bsky.social · 4d

Trump alone has so far added $8.2trn to the national debt, by cutting services and transferring money from normal Americans to billionaires. And now Republicans are going to “fix it”? No! They deliberately break govt so they can “fix it” by cutting services and handing more money to billionaires.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Q: Rescission are something Dems have said is a reason for a lack of trust. What rescissions are you discussing?

JOHNSON: We have more than $37t in debt. We're doing everything we can to get us back to sound fiscal responsibility. What does that include? A rescission package is part of our process

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Salaam Bhatti @salaambhattiva.bsky.social · 5d

First, candidates take money from corporate PACs.
Then, candidates take money from AIPAC.
Next thing you know, a foreign nation is building its military base in America after gifting Trump a plane.

For the sake of our nation, we must end this bribery.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Hegseth: "I'm also proud that today we're signing a letter of acceptance to build a Qatari Emeri air force facility at the Mountain Home Airbase in Idaho."

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bulldogmom.bsky.social @bulldogmom.bsky.social · 5d

Worthless Rob Wittman #VA01 prioritizes fundraisers with his wealthy donors over voting to extend the ACA tax credits. Rob is responsible for making healthcare unaffordable for his constituents. @wittmanwatch.bsky.social @henricodems.bsky.social @hanovervadems.bsky.social @newkentvadems.bsky.social

Congressman Bobby Scott @bobbyscott.house.gov · 6d

Republicans created a health care crisis. If they allow the Affordable Care Act tax credits to expire, it would be the largest single-year price hike in history. Virginians cannot afford this.

Gideon Lukens @gidlukens.bsky.social · 6d

Virginia’s 2026 ACA marketplace window shopping is underway, meaning people are already seeing next year’s premiums spike because of expiring tax credit enhancements. A typical 60-year-old couple making $85,000 in Virginia will face a $18,000 increase in annual premiums. (1/4)

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Maxwell Frost @maxwellfrost.bsky.social · 5d

This is a federal agent pointing a weapon at a person recording them.

ICE has become Trump’s personal military that he is using to terrorize communities and cities that don’t support him. And some say we shouldn’t call him a fascist? Open your eyes.

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DGCassidy @dgcassidy.bsky.social · 5d

The GOP is lost. They cannot be reached, reasoned with, appealed to, or expected to become sane. To imagine anything otherwise is madness. They’ve shown us who they are; *believe them*. They need to be excised from govt until they demonstrably follow *and defend* the Constitution.

Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 5d

Just 'cause it has to be said every now and then.

GOP Senators and Representatives are obviously okay with...everything...that's happening.