Canary in the Coal Mine
@vaelis.bsky.social
GenXer who grew up on PBS in a small town & ended up in Fortune 5s. I have very strong feelings about our failed government, media, tech, fascism .. and video games. Not here for clout, just old and treat this like it’s a BBS 🙂
Pinned
One of my favorite things about Bluesky (or at least my little corner of it) is that people are always sharing resources for taking action.
So here's a pinned thread collecting those resources, some made by me and some made by others.
So here's a pinned thread collecting those resources, some made by me and some made by others.
This is an excellent compilation of resources for folks looking to take action. Thank you Laura for putting it together.
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
conservatives basically want to implement the caricature of affirmative action for conservative students. acceptance without meeting qualifications, good grades and degrees without having to do the work.
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
December 1, 2025 at 1:29 AM
conservatives basically want to implement the caricature of affirmative action for conservative students. acceptance without meeting qualifications, good grades and degrees without having to do the work.
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
When a news outlet puts a reckless, undocumented claim by the Trump regime in the main headline and puts medical experts’ pushback in the smaller type, it’s making a choice. And not a good one.
November 29, 2025 at 10:40 PM
When a news outlet puts a reckless, undocumented claim by the Trump regime in the main headline and puts medical experts’ pushback in the smaller type, it’s making a choice. And not a good one.
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
our media is so obsessed with the five famous assholes who unapologetically fucked up instead of all the people who didn't
what about everyone who doesn't "need" a second chance because they didn't expose themselves or assault anyone or move a former student into their house right after graduation?
what about everyone who doesn't "need" a second chance because they didn't expose themselves or assault anyone or move a former student into their house right after graduation?
November 29, 2025 at 8:12 PM
our media is so obsessed with the five famous assholes who unapologetically fucked up instead of all the people who didn't
what about everyone who doesn't "need" a second chance because they didn't expose themselves or assault anyone or move a former student into their house right after graduation?
what about everyone who doesn't "need" a second chance because they didn't expose themselves or assault anyone or move a former student into their house right after graduation?
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
Thing is, we DID hear about it at his confirmation hearing.
Every single senator who voted to confirm Hegseth knew he held these views about the laws of war.
They voted to confirm him anyway.
Every single senator who voted to confirm Hegseth knew he held these views about the laws of war.
They voted to confirm him anyway.
Everyone should read this terrifying thread about Hegseth’s published views wrt war crimes. It’s pretty fucking radical …. We needed to hear about this in his confirmation hearing.
A chapter in Hegseth’s book is literally titled “More Lethality, Less Lawyers.”
It’s almost as if there were signs!
It’s almost as if there were signs!
November 29, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Thing is, we DID hear about it at his confirmation hearing.
Every single senator who voted to confirm Hegseth knew he held these views about the laws of war.
They voted to confirm him anyway.
Every single senator who voted to confirm Hegseth knew he held these views about the laws of war.
They voted to confirm him anyway.
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This is essentially Vinay Prasad, who has an MD, declaring his intent to use the government to torture children to dead via preventable disease by knowingly withholding the cure.
To call this despicable is an understatement.
To call this despicable is an understatement.
Vinay Prasad of the FDA claims that he has proof that 10 children died from COVID19 vaccines, so the FDA will now target flu shots, look at whether people should receive multiple vaccines at the same time, and make the vaccine approval process significantly more difficult.
FDA to impose strict new vaccine requirements, claiming child covid shot deaths
Vinay Prasad, the nation’s top vaccine regulator, said his team concluded that coronavirus shots were linked to children’s deaths, necessitating a new approach.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 29, 2025 at 4:14 PM
This is essentially Vinay Prasad, who has an MD, declaring his intent to use the government to torture children to dead via preventable disease by knowingly withholding the cure.
To call this despicable is an understatement.
To call this despicable is an understatement.
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Northwestern and Columbia being famous for journalism and bending over for Trump seems a little too on the nose these days
This is the second largest payout from a private university to the Trump admin yet, second only to Columbia’s $200m
November 29, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Northwestern and Columbia being famous for journalism and bending over for Trump seems a little too on the nose these days
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Columbia and Northwestern are the academic homes to the most prestigious journalism schools in the country and they are the two universities that caved to the Trump administration’s extortion demands that are directly connected to the First Amendment. Just gonna sit with that for a while.
November 29, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Columbia and Northwestern are the academic homes to the most prestigious journalism schools in the country and they are the two universities that caved to the Trump administration’s extortion demands that are directly connected to the First Amendment. Just gonna sit with that for a while.
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Surprise! The “peace plan” is really just a plan for Trump, Witkoff, Don Junior and their friends to get rich.
Everything is a grift. (And the Hunter hunters are silent)
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Everything is a grift. (And the Hunter hunters are silent)
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
November 29, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Surprise! The “peace plan” is really just a plan for Trump, Witkoff, Don Junior and their friends to get rich.
Everything is a grift. (And the Hunter hunters are silent)
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Everything is a grift. (And the Hunter hunters are silent)
www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
calmly explaining why we shouldn't bomb random venezuelan boats to people who argued we should torture random iraqis and then won an election by saying they were against a war they advocated for
November 29, 2025 at 4:35 AM
calmly explaining why we shouldn't bomb random venezuelan boats to people who argued we should torture random iraqis and then won an election by saying they were against a war they advocated for
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
Mass pardons are coming. There will be no accountability without treating those as null and void. And that means a future administration taking an official position that Trump is not the legitimate president right now because he is disqualified by the 14th Amendment. The two things are inextricable.
November 28, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Mass pardons are coming. There will be no accountability without treating those as null and void. And that means a future administration taking an official position that Trump is not the legitimate president right now because he is disqualified by the 14th Amendment. The two things are inextricable.
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
Ordering no quarter, as Hegseth effectively did, isn't a newfangled modern war crime. It was understood as a crime as far back as the Revolutionary War. Washington threatened to do reprisals over it. The bad guy in 'The Patriot' is (very loosely) based off a British officer who was notorious for it.
November 28, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Ordering no quarter, as Hegseth effectively did, isn't a newfangled modern war crime. It was understood as a crime as far back as the Revolutionary War. Washington threatened to do reprisals over it. The bad guy in 'The Patriot' is (very loosely) based off a British officer who was notorious for it.
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
“In 2029 we will rebuild the White House and pay for it by seizing assets from Trump, his family, and all of his companies and organizations. We publicize the name of every contractor involved with this project and permanently ban them as corporate entities and individuals from public contracts.”
Trump fighting with his architect about wanting to build a ballroom bigger than the actual White House feels very on brand
wapo.st/4rqrqA2
wapo.st/4rqrqA2
November 28, 2025 at 5:16 PM
“In 2029 we will rebuild the White House and pay for it by seizing assets from Trump, his family, and all of his companies and organizations. We publicize the name of every contractor involved with this project and permanently ban them as corporate entities and individuals from public contracts.”
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
Zero reckoning from any of the elites who credulously parroted the absurd idea that the right wing was in favor of free speech.
Public libraries in Tennessee have begun to shut down as they carry out an order from state officials to remove children’s books containing LGBTQ+ themes or characters.
www.rawstory.com/alternet-pos...
www.rawstory.com/alternet-pos...
Alarm as Tennessee libraries shut down for Republican 'book purge'
Public libraries in Tennessee have begun to shut down as they carry out an order from state officials to remove children’s books containing LGBTQ+ themes or characters.For Popular Information, Rebecca...
www.rawstory.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Zero reckoning from any of the elites who credulously parroted the absurd idea that the right wing was in favor of free speech.
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Keep in mind that white American males shot and killed countless Americans including many children, and no one ever did a thing but protect their right to do it again.
November 28, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Keep in mind that white American males shot and killed countless Americans including many children, and no one ever did a thing but protect their right to do it again.
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
They believe that Trump will use the formal powers of the government and whatever informal powers he may have to extract costs from them if they do not play ball and they equally believe that the anti-Trump coalition will not extract these costs.
So we need to extract those costs.
So we need to extract those costs.
given how unpopular Trump is, it’s insane that civil society/universities/law firms are still asking themselves “how do I stay on Trump’s good side” rather than “how do I avoid facing consequences for complying with Trump’s illegal demands”
New Gallup poll shows Trump's approval hit a new low for his second term:
-36% approve
-60% disapprove
His approval among Republicans went from 91% in January to 84% in November
news.gallup.com/poll/699221/...
-36% approve
-60% disapprove
His approval among Republicans went from 91% in January to 84% in November
news.gallup.com/poll/699221/...
November 28, 2025 at 6:09 PM
They believe that Trump will use the formal powers of the government and whatever informal powers he may have to extract costs from them if they do not play ball and they equally believe that the anti-Trump coalition will not extract these costs.
So we need to extract those costs.
So we need to extract those costs.
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
The aim should be for individual, not institutional, accountability.
Did a university obviously violate the first amendment rights of its faculty to suck up to Trump? Don't seek to fine the university, *seek to jail its president and trustees.*
People make decisions, people bear consequences.
Did a university obviously violate the first amendment rights of its faculty to suck up to Trump? Don't seek to fine the university, *seek to jail its president and trustees.*
People make decisions, people bear consequences.
November 28, 2025 at 6:14 PM
The aim should be for individual, not institutional, accountability.
Did a university obviously violate the first amendment rights of its faculty to suck up to Trump? Don't seek to fine the university, *seek to jail its president and trustees.*
People make decisions, people bear consequences.
Did a university obviously violate the first amendment rights of its faculty to suck up to Trump? Don't seek to fine the university, *seek to jail its president and trustees.*
People make decisions, people bear consequences.
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
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This is so deeply at odds with the vision and history of America. Take pretty much any ethnic or racial group that are part of the American mosaic America today - they have all faced the same accusation. The moment these accusations are turned into policy are some of the most shameful in US history
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 1:58 PM
This is so deeply at odds with the vision and history of America. Take pretty much any ethnic or racial group that are part of the American mosaic America today - they have all faced the same accusation. The moment these accusations are turned into policy are some of the most shameful in US history
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The reality, of course, is that Miller and a significant portion of Trump’s base are the ones who failed to assimilate to America’s post-WWII culture of multi-racial democracy & religious pluralism…and they are now using their power to destroy that once dominant (and still popular) American culture.
Stephen Miller is now arguing that assimilation is fundamentally impossible and that certain cultures are not compatible with Western civilization
November 28, 2025 at 1:23 PM
The reality, of course, is that Miller and a significant portion of Trump’s base are the ones who failed to assimilate to America’s post-WWII culture of multi-racial democracy & religious pluralism…and they are now using their power to destroy that once dominant (and still popular) American culture.
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
The military has a duty to refuse unlawful orders, but Congress has a duty to remove from office a president and secretary who would issue such orders. There is something off about members of Congress talking about the former while refusing to say the latter, the part that's actually their job here.
November 25, 2025 at 6:38 AM
The military has a duty to refuse unlawful orders, but Congress has a duty to remove from office a president and secretary who would issue such orders. There is something off about members of Congress talking about the former while refusing to say the latter, the part that's actually their job here.
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Ask yourself why there wasn’t this level of wall to wall coverage for this shooting wgme.com/news/local/i...
ICE agent who shot woman in Chicago drove Border Patrol vehicle back to Maine
An unnamed ICE agent, who shot and injured a woman in Chicago, is now back in Maine after driving the Border Patrol vehicle he was in 1,100 miles.
wgme.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Ask yourself why there wasn’t this level of wall to wall coverage for this shooting wgme.com/news/local/i...
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
Labor gaining just the tiniest amount of power relative to capital a few years back absolutely broke employers' brains
While work-life balance may give you a sense of happiness and fulfillment, it isn’t always realistic, says Walmart executive vice president and chief people officer Donna Morris.
Walmart exec: ‘I’ve never believed in the term work-life balance’—this is the mantra that made her highly successful instead
Many professionals see work-life balance as a non-negotiable. Walmart CPO Donna Morris says people should practice work-life integration instead. Here's why.
cnb.cx
November 27, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Labor gaining just the tiniest amount of power relative to capital a few years back absolutely broke employers' brains
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
We're gonna need a truth and reconciliation commission and Nuremberg style trials to reckon with all of this evil, and any Dem candidate for office who shies away from a full reckoning in the name of "moving forward as a nation" can get well and truly fucked
I feel much safer today knowing that we deported a Babson College student back to a country where she hasn't lived since childhood.
She wasn't even flying internationally. She was flying to Texas.
She wasn't even flying internationally. She was flying to Texas.
A Babson College student wanted to surprise her family for Thanksgiving. She was deported instead. - The Boston Globe
Any Lucia Lopez Belloza was at Logan to catch a flight to Texas when immigration authorities detained her as she was about to board the plane.
www.bostonglobe.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:29 PM
We're gonna need a truth and reconciliation commission and Nuremberg style trials to reckon with all of this evil, and any Dem candidate for office who shies away from a full reckoning in the name of "moving forward as a nation" can get well and truly fucked
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I keep hearing about how Dems are the party of "identity politics" and yet it's Republicans who always reach to identity for everything.
God forbid we talk about guns. There have been 452 mass shootings this year; this shooting doesn't even make the list because fewer than 4 people were shot.
God forbid we talk about guns. There have been 452 mass shootings this year; this shooting doesn't even make the list because fewer than 4 people were shot.
November 27, 2025 at 5:08 PM
I keep hearing about how Dems are the party of "identity politics" and yet it's Republicans who always reach to identity for everything.
God forbid we talk about guns. There have been 452 mass shootings this year; this shooting doesn't even make the list because fewer than 4 people were shot.
God forbid we talk about guns. There have been 452 mass shootings this year; this shooting doesn't even make the list because fewer than 4 people were shot.
Reposted by Canary in the Coal Mine
This is always the plan with authoritarians wielding militaristic power. They create their own enemies to justify their power grabs.
Netanyahu loved October 7th for this exact reason. His failures led to it, and instead of being held accountable, he got more power than ever.
Netanyahu loved October 7th for this exact reason. His failures led to it, and instead of being held accountable, he got more power than ever.
Place National Guard in harm’s way for no good reason. Two members are tragically and unnecessarily shot. The reckless regime’s response: We’re sending 500 more National Guard troops! What a disgrace.
November 27, 2025 at 5:37 AM
This is always the plan with authoritarians wielding militaristic power. They create their own enemies to justify their power grabs.
Netanyahu loved October 7th for this exact reason. His failures led to it, and instead of being held accountable, he got more power than ever.
Netanyahu loved October 7th for this exact reason. His failures led to it, and instead of being held accountable, he got more power than ever.