Canary in the Coal Mine
@vaelis.bsky.social
930 followers 190 following 3.4K posts
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 🙂
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vaelis.bsky.social
This is an excellent compilation of resources for folks looking to take action. Thank you Laura for putting it together.
tutusntinyhats.bsky.social
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.
vaelis.bsky.social
People remember they disavowed the Nazis and klan without remembering they had to keep doing it because they kept being caught hanging around with them.
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jamellebouie.net
the extent to which media elites treat liberal americans as if they do not count in the body politic is a real problem
perrybaconjr.bsky.social
I read the piece. You shouldn't. He dismisses the "No Kings" protests as liberals in blue cities. He invokes Rosa Parks, as if rural white people in the 60s loved everything that the movement then was doing. "We need a movement but not this one" is a core centrist tact these days.
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jamellebouie.net
very funny that JD Vance has so little to do with his time that he goes on podcasts to defend 30-year-old men for saying how much they love Hitler
atrupar.com
JD Vance dismisses Young Republicans who in a group chat said "I love Hitler" and joked about slavery and rape as "a bunch of kids" who "told stupid jokes" and adds that "most of the stupid things I did when I was a teenager and young adult, they're not on the internet."
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ndrew.bsky.social
the president using the office to punish americans that didnt vote for him should really be one of the biggest scandals in americas history
donmoyn.bsky.social
Trump is upfront in saying he will use the shutdown to punish Democrats, and here are the receipts. About $27.2 billion cut from Dem districts compared to about $0.7 billion in GOP districts.
We all complain about the media, but need this type of in-depth journalism.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Trump Halts Billions in Grants for Democratic Districts During Shutdown (Gift Article)
The Trump administration has frozen or canceled nearly $28 billion primarily located in Democratic-led districts, according to an analysis by The New York Times.
www.nytimes.com
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jbenmenachem.com
shame and stigma are extremely powerful forces in american society, the issue is just that we stigmatize all the wrong stuff, like having a job that actually improves society (like teaching elementary school or working in sanitation)
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
some colleagues have suggested to me that shame is irrelevant because the people on the "other side" don't know or care what "we" (on whatever "this side") think of them. I have...not gotten that impression
albertburneko.bsky.social
"disliking me is persecution" describes so incredibly many people's entire outlook these days defector.com/free-press-r...
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matthewstiegler.bsky.social
Every time you see Mike Davis do Mike Davis things, think about Gorsuch reportedly helping land Davis a job at DOJ, then choosing him as a clerk when he was on the 10th Circuit, then choosing him as a clerk when he was on the Supreme Court.
tomjoscelyn.bsky.social
Hakeem Jeffries posted pictures of two Rep. Members posing with “Young Republicans” who were part of a racist text thread (as reported by Politico).

In response, Mike Davis (well-connected in Trump World & on the Hill) called Jeffries a “house slave” for George Soros - proving Jeffries’ point.
Mike Davis racist smear
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unburntwitch.com
It’s almost like GamerGate was openly a push to transform young republicans into the openly hitler loving groypers and Steve Bannon specifically did all that shit to me to make it happen
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mcopelov.bsky.social
Once again, I ask - without trying to being overly alarmist - what anyone has seen since January to make them believe the 2026/28 elections will be free, fair, & democratic by any meaningful definitions of the words.

bsky.app/profile/mcop...
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utopia-defer.red
Another good way to think of this moment is that the American secret police are increasingly comfortable black bagging American citizens on camera and in broad daylight with no basis of detention. The mere act of criticism, no matter how petty and silly, is its own justification for brutality.
roadsteamer.bsky.social
🚨 *Breaking News* Robby Roadsteamer has been detained by ICE Portland after singing Rod Stewart with the Portland Frog! We need your help!

Please support Robby's campaign and lawyer fees at robbyroadsteamer.com link on bio 💙🦒🦒🦒
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veryimportant.lawyer
Black 17-year-olds are adults, white female 15-year-olds are adults and white male 30-year-olds are children. The republican mind has no problems with age as a complicated social construct
thebulwark.com
Vance on public outrage over the "I love Hitler" group chat: "Grow up! Focus on the real issues. Don't focus on what kids say in group chats... The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys — they tell edgy, offensive jokes. That's what kids do."
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jentaub.bsky.social
They are not children. These men are adults. If you care about children release the Epstein files.
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ronfilipkowski.bsky.social
We got $20 billion for Argentina though.
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ardenthistorian.bsky.social
1.) One of those „kids“ is a state senator in Vermont. (They’re not kids)
2.) kids are bigots is a weird stance
3.) going full boys will be boys about the „I love Hitler“ chat is quite a choice
4.) What else to expect from a guy who still follows Bronze Age Pervert on X? (Rhetorical question)
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drandrewthaler.bsky.social
Not for nothing, but every time three 18 year olds at Harvard start a petition, the entire Right Wing commentariate goes absolutely feral.
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billcorbett.bsky.social
Any white dude under 50 years old is a young boy.

Any Black kid over 6 years old is a dangerous thug.

Caucasianity!
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donmoyn.bsky.social
Old enough to remember when kids being anti-semitic was the basis for a federal government assault on higher education
vaelis.bsky.social
Ah yes the good ’ol boys will be boys defense, applied to 40 year old Nazis.
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volts.wtf
Very straightforwardly detained by secret police for speech. I honestly don't know what establishment figures are telling themselves any more to avoid cognitive dissonance over this shit.
originalsp.in
ICE arrested comedian Robby Roadsteamer for singing a parody of Rod Stewart’s “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy” in a Jeffrey Epstein the Giraffe costume outside their facility.

He sings “If you hate brown people / and you are a Nazi” and ICE thugs grab him and drag him into detention. No violence—just speech.
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joshsternberg.com
We live in a racist country and have racists who sit on the Supreme Court, making racist decisions that impact 350 million people for decades.

First they abolish the New Deal; then they abolish the Great Society - just so White men can stay in power.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...
NYT homepage of 5 stories about how SCOTUS "appears skeptical of key provisions of Voting Rights Act"; a graphic showing without section 2 of the VRA, democracy loses to Republicans in the South.
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warren.senate.gov
Apparently $20B of our taxpayer money wasn't enough to bail out Argentina.

Now Trump wants U.S. banks to divert ANOTHER $20B away from lending to American businesses, farmers, and families to prop up Milei's corrupt presidency and failing economy.

So much for America First.
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kashana.blacksky.app
The dominant business plan these days seems to be let’s turn everyone into slaves, who famously never revolt
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self.agency
everyone on that stage went along with pardons for jan 6 participants
atrupar.com
Mike Johnson: "They berated a Capitol police officer, screamed at him. He was merely standing his post. It shows, again, their disdain for law enforcement, the Democrats, screaming, assaulting officers."