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fdtate.bsky.social
fred
@fdtate.bsky.social
Just a below average Joe interested in news/politics, sports, music and whatnot. Life's too short to spend it arguing with randos on the Internet.
Reposted by fred
They’re clearly plugging this dude into an IV regularly and, if this were Biden, there would be demands for weekly hour long press conferences from his doctors on his health. But that’s not how authoritarianism works so stop asking questions already.
Trump last night had the complexion of a Thanksgiving turkey that was left in the oven too long and bandages were again visible on the back of his right hand

(photos via Getty and by Aaron Schwartz and Paul Morigi)
December 7, 2025 at 9:48 PM
#DavidsMonthOfMusic
You, me or us

Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up

youtu.be/UrfFHzqGBZI?...
Peter Murphy - Cuts You Up HD
YouTube video by Beggars Banquet Records
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 10:58 PM
#2025FavSingles

Wednesday - Elderberry Wine
💿 Bleeds

youtu.be/uE0waEdE2Pw?...
Wednesday - Elderberry Wine (Official Video)
YouTube video by WednesdayVEVO
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 10:52 PM
#SoundtrackThis
Deadbeat

Matt Maeson - Beggar's Song

Ohh, but I'm a beat down, washed up, son of a bitch
I got one more cigarette and all my money is spent
But I'ma be damned if I let it keep me down

youtu.be/9W0XfStjSmw?...
December 7, 2025 at 10:23 PM
#EmojiSounds

🎬

Cigarettes After Sex - Baby Blue Movie

youtu.be/BeAzmDCWUzI?...
Baby Blue Movie - Cigarettes After Sex
YouTube video by Cigarettes After Sex
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 10:09 PM
#JazzSunday

Dara Tucker - Pure Imagination

A jazzy cover of the Willie Wonka song

youtu.be/DA4F5Dt8AgE?...
Pure Imagination
YouTube video by Dara Tucker - Topic
youtu.be
December 7, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Reposted by fred
"In response to Trump's order, attorneys general in 21 states sued the administration.

Now, after a judge's ruling that Trump's actions were unlawful, libraries and museums across the country will have access to money that had been stuck in a months-long limbo..."

www.npr.org/2025/12/04/n...
Libraries and museums get federal funding back after Trump cuts
Earlier this year, the Trump administration gutted the Institute of Museum and Library Services, leading to canceled federal grants. Now, after a court order, those grants are being reinstated.
www.npr.org
December 7, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by fred
"The danger is once you compile all this information, then hackers only have to go to one place instead of going to all 50-plus jurisdictions that run elections... It’s a hacker’s dream to have all of this private, sensitive information collected somewhere..."

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Trump’s DOJ is building a voter purge machine—powered by your private data
The federal agency ordinarily would prevent attacks on voting rights. Now it’s carrying them out.
www.motherjones.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by fred
"As masked agents dragged the woman from her car, wrestled her to the ground and forced handcuffs on her, she yelled, 'I’m a US citizen. Please help me! This is unfair. Why are you doing this to me?'

She was wearing scrubs and appeared to be on her way to work."

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
Woman forcefully detained in Keys was driving ‘illegal’ boyfriend’s car, feds say
The woman in medical scrubs, who was a U.S. citizen, was yanked from her car and wrestled to the ground by federal immigration agents in a Key Largo traffic stop Wednesday before she was released.
www.miamiherald.com
December 7, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reposted by fred
Whoa … this is really strange.

Federal law enforcement managed to confiscate almost two tons of cocaine, and arrest 3 suspects, without blowing the boat out of the water or killing anyone.

🎁 link ⤵️

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/c...
$28 million of cocaine seized off Miami Beach. Three men charged
Coast Guard and CBP seized about 3,715 pounds of cocaine worth $28 million from a 65-foot vessel near Government Cut off Miami Beach; three men were arrested.
www.miamiherald.com
December 7, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Reposted by fred
"The group rallied amid frigid conditions at the Target store on East Lake Street, alleging it allowed agents to stage raids in the parking lot.

'You cannot celebrate our communities on your commercials while letting ICE stalk them in your parking lot'...”

www.startribune.com/twin-cities-...
December 7, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by fred
Hegseth reversed the policy Mark Esper put in place in 2020, which was designed to prevent “discrimination, prejudice, and bias in all ranks.” Hegseth wants to know what they look like when these decisions are made.
December 7, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by fred
"The small figures huddled together at Miami's airport carried backpacks, stuffed animals and suitcases. One wore a silver cross necklace. Families of the travelers – ages 3 to 15 – have been torn apart this year by Trump's deportation campaign..."

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
‘A sad, cruel moment’: 58 Florida children leaving US amid parent deportations
“The only losers are the children.”
www.miamiherald.com
December 7, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by fred
It’s important to remember there are two scandals here:

1. The Administration has likely committed war crimes.

2. But the entire operation - which now includes two dozen attacks - is illegal. In our democracy, the President CANNOT wage war without the consent of the people.
BERMAN: Did you see any evidence of them trying to use a radio in the video you saw?

TOM COTTON: Well I saw lots of evidence of them standing on the boat that had been capsized

BERMAN: That wasn't my question. Did you see any evidence?

COTTON: No, I didn't
December 7, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by fred
October 2024 about the US economy:
December 7, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by fred
Olivia Nuzzi's American Canto is a worstseller.
Amazon hard cover sales rank below 7,000. Ebook below 5,000.
December 7, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Reposted by fred
Not including Border Patrol, ICE has arrested nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records.

This data is compiled by ICE internally and was obtained by
UC Berkeley’s Deportation Data Project via a lawsuit.

ICE is currently holding 65,000 migrants in detention centers around the country.
ICE has arrested nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records, data shows
The figures do not include arrests made by Border Patrol, which has launched aggressive immigration operations in several cities in recent months.
www.nbcnews.com
December 7, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Reposted by fred
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs hints at military combat deployment "in our own neighborhood."

GEN. DAN CAINE: " We haven't had a lot of American combat power in our own neighborhood; I suspect that's probably gonna change. We'll see what we're ordered to do."
December 7, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Reposted by fred
Himes on the difference between Trump's boat strikes and Obama's drone strikes: "The most important distinction is that Congress authorized the war on terror ... the original sin of this whole thing is that there is no congressional authorization."
December 7, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by fred
WELKER: Is there any hard evidence showing this particular boat was headed to the US?

TOM COTTON: That didn't come up in my briefing

WELKER: Are you comfortable having the US target a boat that you're not sure is heading to the US?

COTTON: I'm not just comfortable with it -- I want to continue it
December 7, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by fred
Himes: "As many times as Tom Cotton may say it doesn't matter what they were doing, it matters essentially what they were doing ... these guys were barely alive much less engaging in hostilities"
December 7, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by fred
Ilhan Omar: "It's completely disgusting. These are Americans that he is calling garbage ... it's also really important for us to remember that this kind of hateful rhetoric and this level of dehumanizing can lead to dangerous actions by people who listen to the president."
December 7, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Reposted by fred
The most transparent administration in history is now hiding both the complete Epstein files and the complete video of the Sept. 2 boat strike from the American people, only releasing the parts of each that they want you to see while concealing the rest.
December 7, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by fred
Rep. Ilhan Omar: "When I think about Stephen Miller and his white supremacist rhetoric, it reminds me of the way the Nazis described Jewish people in Germany."
December 7, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reposted by fred
WELKER: Lawmakers say the 2 men appeared to raise their arms potentially to surrender. Why did Admiral Bradley interpret these actions as anything other than them trying to survive?

TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
December 7, 2025 at 3:14 PM