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Van Badham

@vanbadham.bsky.social

23K followers 1.2K following 3K posts

Guardian columnist, co-hosts The Week on Wednesday podcast, makes theatre, yaps a lot. Contact me: https://linktr.ee/vanbadham You should totally buy my book, QANON & ON: A Short and Shocking History of Internet Conspiracy Cults. It’s bonkers.

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Van Badham @vanbadham.bsky.social · 9d

My latest in the @australia.theguardian.com isn’t just about how we must regulate tech - it’s about how WE CAN.

#auspol

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

In a world where techlords rule us by whim, Australia’s stance against deepfakes is reason to celebrate | Van Badham

Could courage be contagious? Let’s hope so, because in the absence of powerful regulation, the normalisation of awful blooms

www.theguardian.com

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Van Badham @vanbadham.bsky.social · 3m

MAGA insist US gun deaths are due to abandonment of Christian values - but, inconveniently, Australia is ALREADY a Christian-minority country (only 46%, across all Christian denominations, compared to 62% in the US) and we have significantly less gun deaths than the USA.

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Andrew Lawrence @ndrew.bsky.social · 7h

one thing we can never allow to happen again is making someone president who is rich enough to fund endless frivolous lawsuits

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Just Jack @just-jack-1.bsky.social · 10h

Apparently, they don’t hand out a Nobel Peace Prize to those who negotiated a ceasefire they had sabotaged a year ago just to get elected.

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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 14m

Nearly all the staff in the Office of Special Education have been fired as part of Trump’s sweeping layoffs.

These are the people responsible for protecting the civil rights of students with disabilities and ensuring they receive an equal education.

More needless cruelty on display.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 9h

It’s amazing how all the reporting is just memory-holing this part

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 5h

a real water is wet scenario here

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 5h

POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

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Duncan Jones @manmademoon.bsky.social · 17m

Gotta say, Argentina has to be feeling pretty smug about now… just took the US soy sales to China for themselves, and then doubled it up taking 20 billion dollars “feel sorry for me” money from American tax payers! Minted out!

bennythesnitch.bsky.social @bennythesnitch.bsky.social · 1h

CHINA IS LAUGHING AT HIM
Argentina’s soy exports to China soar amid US bailout, fuelling tensions in Trump camp
China’s soybean buyers turn to Argentina after tax drop, leaving US farmers sidelined and Washington unhappy
www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

Argentina’s soy exports to China soar, angering US

China’s soybean buyers turn to Argentina after tax drop, leaving US farmers sidelined and Washington unhappy.

www.scmp.com

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Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 28m

I go back and forth on if this would blow back on us, but I wouldn’t be SAD to see America’s Concerned Parents launch moral panic jihad against ChatGPT’s decision to permit their teenager to spend 12 hours a day making genAI Sonic-taur fetish porn.

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1h

good news everyone!

chatGPT is now able to “mitigate the serious health issues,” according to trustworthy source Sam Altman, which means humanity can be trusted with the Revenge Porn Madness Spigot

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 5h

Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year

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Van Badham @vanbadham.bsky.social · 20m

The @washingtonpost.com is fading because it is no longer the Washington Post: it is a billionaire’s pamphlet. The paper was its reputation for integrity; Bezos thought we were all stupid enough to pay money to look at the title instead. I do not regret unsubscribing.

www.forbes.com/sites/andyme...

The Washington Post Is Running Out Of Readers Willing To Pay

Once a titan of American journalism, The Washington Post now struggles to reach even 100,000 print subscribers most days.

www.forbes.com

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 8h

wow. bezos has destroyed this paper.

karl rove knausgård @uhactually.bsky.social · 1d

Lmao WaPo has fewer than 100K circulation now. It turns out “alienate your liberal subscriber base” is not a good strategy when the Republicans also hate you. www.forbes.com/sites/andyme...

The Washington Post Is Running Out Of Readers Willing To Pay

Once a titan of American journalism, The Washington Post now struggles to reach even 100,000 print subscribers most days.

www.forbes.com

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 32m

As I've noted, central to Stephen Miller's propaganda is the claim that the Chicago complex targeted by ICE was "filled" with Tren de Aragua "terrorists."

Now @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social reports that the number of TdA members netted in that raid is down to *one.*

newrepublic.com/article/2016...

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George Conway 🇺🇸🚫👑🐸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 9h

The vice president of the United States is a clownish dipshit, Exhibit 64,532

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Krassensteins @krassenstein.bsky.social · 4h

Holy Crap!. This is amazing! Newsom certainly has a great social media game.

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DCCC @electdemocrats.bsky.social · 2h

Mike Johnson refuses to bring his members back because they want the government shut down.

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The Hill @thehill.com · 1h

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) threatened legal action if Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) delays swearing in Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (Ariz.).

thehill.com

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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 4h

Pardon me if I delay celebrating this vile cretin losing until those poor Sandy Hook families he victimized for cheap publicity see all of the cash. I don't trust him for a second.
abcnews.go.com/Politics/sup...

Supreme Court rejects Alex Jones' appeal of $1.4 billion Sandy Hook judgment

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Alex Jones, who has been ordered to pay $1.4 billion in damages to the families of victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting.

abcnews.go.com

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 8h

ICYMI: “And now, a response from the leader of the frog resistance...” 🐸 🎵 #Colbert

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Buttadeus @thewanderingjew.bsky.social · 58m

it is incredible to say "hey we fixed the mental health issues so get ready for PORNOGRAPHY" like at least put those in different tweets.

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💙 True Blue Believer 💙 @truebluebeliever.bsky.social · 7h

We must NEVER give up; we must NEVER back down.

#NoKings #NoNazis #NoFascism #NoICE #NoMAGA

💙 #RESIST #SpeakUP #ShowUP #RiseUP #UNITE 💙

NO KINGS DAY 2.0 - 10.18.2025 IS SET FOR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 18TH, AND ORGANIZERS EXPECT IT TO BE THE LARGEST PROTEST IN AMERICAN HISTORY. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE A PLN TO COME OUT AND JOIN US! 💙💙💙💙💙💙

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 41m

Good. Even if this doesn’t work, it’s time to go on offense.

www.newsweek.com/jb-pritzker-...

JB Pritzker looking at prosecuting ICE agents in Chicago

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has suggested that state prosecutors might examine the conduct of ICE agents.

www.newsweek.com

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Van Badham @vanbadham.bsky.social · 36m

Young Republican chats have leaked and SURPRISE! They are gross racist and anti-Semitic weirdoes who fantasies about gas chambers and raping people. One is already a state senator - you’ll never guess who the rest work for…

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Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1h

Matt Burgess (WIRED) @mattburgess1.bsky.social · 5h

Oh good, ChatGPT is getting "erotica for verified adults" later this year

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.

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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 9h

1. In 2022, Jeff Bezos promised to give away the majority of his wealth during his lifetime.

It is not going well.

Since making the pledge, his net worth has almost doubled to $240 billion.

Meanwhile, he has given less than $5 billion to charity.

Jeff Bezos Can’t Give Away His Money

Maybe he should ask his ex-wife.

oligarchwatch.substack.com

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 11h

one of my takeaways from this great piece is that weiss just doesn’t…sound like an intelligent person? or at least, not someone who has thought even a little bit about how and why they think the things that they do. www.youtube.com/watch?v=gieT...

Bari Weiss: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

www.youtube.com

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 23h

It’s a start. Keep making phone calls to keep partisan politics out of airport safety PSAs.

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