Andros Starborn
@andros-starborn.bsky.social
A mythical creature visting this world. Non-binary (he/they), pagan, polyamorous, weird. Fascists, Nazis, and MAGAts fuck off (but I repeat myself).
Reposted by Andros Starborn
It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Bond. My name is
Hugh Nockers
Wisconsin, State Census, 1905
Wisconsin, State Census, 1905
December 12, 2025 at 5:29 PM
It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Bond. My name is
Reposted by Andros Starborn
A point I find myself raising repeatedly: people focus on tech policy within a silo (privacy, speech, safety, copyright, competition, etc.), without understanding the actual impact on the system, where you push on just one of those levers and don't realize it's disastrous for the other ones.
A vital point here, first driven home to me by Cory Doctorow in the context of copyright policy, is that many forms of tech regulation that strike lots of folks as appealing and commonsensical would in practice require a fairly massive surveillance apparatus to meaningfully enforce.
“In fact, it would not have occurred to any liberal before the 1950s that one could settle these issues by rejecting the desirability of human flourishing; and that without some conception of the good, even the public good, one could decide what policy is ‘best’ (and how to rank its kinds).”
December 12, 2025 at 10:21 PM
A point I find myself raising repeatedly: people focus on tech policy within a silo (privacy, speech, safety, copyright, competition, etc.), without understanding the actual impact on the system, where you push on just one of those levers and don't realize it's disastrous for the other ones.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
Oh. Cool. Just as the President is using every power he can to suppress dissent and stifle speech, @whitehouse.senate.gov and the @judiciarydems.senate.gov are trying to hand Trump a new tool to suppress speech online.
What a joke.
What a joke.
Sen. WHITEHOUSE: We finally are moving to file a bipartisan Section 230 repeal bill. Waiting any longer serves no useful purpose.
December 12, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Oh. Cool. Just as the President is using every power he can to suppress dissent and stifle speech, @whitehouse.senate.gov and the @judiciarydems.senate.gov are trying to hand Trump a new tool to suppress speech online.
What a joke.
What a joke.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
This. This was the formative event of my generation & our entire politics in 🇺🇸. The structural break after which we were no longer a full democracy, when 5 Wizards In Robes decided they were a super-legislature & counting all the actual votes didn’t matter. The rest has been 25 years of commentary.
25 years ago today, SCOTUS elected George W Bush president of the United States by blocking completion of a voting canvass in Florida. A subsequent canvass by the Associated Press showed that Bush's rival, Al Gore, had won the race in Florida—and thus the contest for the presidency—by 700 votes.
December 12, 2025 at 7:50 AM
This. This was the formative event of my generation & our entire politics in 🇺🇸. The structural break after which we were no longer a full democracy, when 5 Wizards In Robes decided they were a super-legislature & counting all the actual votes didn’t matter. The rest has been 25 years of commentary.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
115 democrats just voted to establish the first federal statutory definition of sex, which could now be used to
• charge fraud for using documents that misrepresent “sex”
• reverse all federal records gender markers
• sue a future gov’t for attempting to rescind trump’s anti-trans exec orders
• charge fraud for using documents that misrepresent “sex”
• reverse all federal records gender markers
• sue a future gov’t for attempting to rescind trump’s anti-trans exec orders
As Trump drags us into an Iraq-style war in Venezuela, 312 members of the House — including 115 Democrats — just voted to authorize over $900 billion in military spending.
December 11, 2025 at 1:38 AM
115 democrats just voted to establish the first federal statutory definition of sex, which could now be used to
• charge fraud for using documents that misrepresent “sex”
• reverse all federal records gender markers
• sue a future gov’t for attempting to rescind trump’s anti-trans exec orders
• charge fraud for using documents that misrepresent “sex”
• reverse all federal records gender markers
• sue a future gov’t for attempting to rescind trump’s anti-trans exec orders
Reposted by Andros Starborn
#E2EE must be explicitly protected, and client-side scanning must be excluded entirely. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
After Years of Controversy, the EU’s Chat Control Nears Its Final
After a years-long battle, the European Commission’s “Chat Control” plan, which would mandate mass scanning and other encryption-breaking measures, at last codifies agreement on a position within the
www.eff.org
December 11, 2025 at 6:34 AM
#E2EE must be explicitly protected, and client-side scanning must be excluded entirely. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
They out and out murder people and they get a huge budget. Way to go, @ross.house.gov .
The House just voted for a bloated $900B Pentagon budget despite the fact that the Pentagon can't even pass an audit and despite the fact that Trump is getting ready for a war on Venezuela and despite the fact that so many people are about to lose health care.
Here are the 115 Dem YES votes.
Here are the 115 Dem YES votes.
December 11, 2025 at 12:30 PM
They out and out murder people and they get a huge budget. Way to go, @ross.house.gov .
Reposted by Andros Starborn
Importantly, this wouldn't have passed without Dem support. There was enough of a split within Republican ranks that if Dems had voted against the bill it would've been doa. Giving Trump a blank check to warmonger *and* passing an anti-trans measure was a choice.
115 Democrats just voted to codify the first federal trans segregation law.
December 11, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Importantly, this wouldn't have passed without Dem support. There was enough of a split within Republican ranks that if Dems had voted against the bill it would've been doa. Giving Trump a blank check to warmonger *and* passing an anti-trans measure was a choice.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
The appropriate typeface for this regime is either Fraktur for its historical associations or Comic Sans for its level of professionalism.
December 10, 2025 at 10:46 PM
The appropriate typeface for this regime is either Fraktur for its historical associations or Comic Sans for its level of professionalism.
This, among other reasons, is why I never trusted Elizabeth Warren.
Just heard disappointing news that @warren.senate.gov will co-sponsor the Kids Online Safety Act again despite overwhelming opposition from LGBTQ, human rights, abortion rights, and racial justice groups.
This is a horrific betrayal of her constituents, particularly trans youth and their families.
This is a horrific betrayal of her constituents, particularly trans youth and their families.
Why Are Some Democrats Backing MAGA's Anti-LGBTQ+ Censorship?
From late-night host cancellations to removing LGBTQ+ history from government sites, politicians in both parties are contributing to the overwriting of the internet — a place where lots of queer and t...
www.teenvogue.com
December 10, 2025 at 6:54 PM
This, among other reasons, is why I never trusted Elizabeth Warren.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
There's a post over on Twitter that I've been laughing to myself about. Some right-wing guy is celebrating that a school took down "All-Gender" bathroom signs and replaced them with "Single Occupancy Restroom" signs. And like... it's the same thing, man. You're celebrating a pointless relabeling.
December 9, 2025 at 7:58 PM
There's a post over on Twitter that I've been laughing to myself about. Some right-wing guy is celebrating that a school took down "All-Gender" bathroom signs and replaced them with "Single Occupancy Restroom" signs. And like... it's the same thing, man. You're celebrating a pointless relabeling.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
I don't know why I haven't made this before now.
July 26, 2025 at 4:51 AM
I don't know why I haven't made this before now.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
This is what banning under-16s from social media looks like for EVERYONE
December 9, 2025 at 3:26 AM
This is what banning under-16s from social media looks like for EVERYONE
Reposted by Andros Starborn
After MTG lied about me for weeks, she said that she felt bad for my unborn child because he'd have me as a mother. Her rhetoric led to threats against my family.
No one, even her, should receive threats like those, but I'd like to see her own up to the role she played in creating them for others.
No one, even her, should receive threats like those, but I'd like to see her own up to the role she played in creating them for others.
Marjorie Taylor Greene: "I sent those deaths threats directly to him in a text message & informed him of what his name calling & words were doing - it was a direct assassination threat on my son. And he was extremely - I won't repeat what he said - but it was extremely unkind. No sympathy. No care"
December 9, 2025 at 9:40 PM
After MTG lied about me for weeks, she said that she felt bad for my unborn child because he'd have me as a mother. Her rhetoric led to threats against my family.
No one, even her, should receive threats like those, but I'd like to see her own up to the role she played in creating them for others.
No one, even her, should receive threats like those, but I'd like to see her own up to the role she played in creating them for others.
Good on them and the ACLU of NC for pointing out that free expression is not optional.
Today’s story is an update on last week’s Rutherfordton events where officials denied a permit for a small Pagan-led vigil, citing undocumented restrictions and a coercive “Christian parade” alternative,
wildhunt.org/2025/12/a-yu...
#pagan #witchcraft #lgbtqia #civilrights #firstamendment
wildhunt.org/2025/12/a-yu...
#pagan #witchcraft #lgbtqia #civilrights #firstamendment
A Yuletide Act of Civil Disobedience in the American South - News, Paganism, Religion, The Wild Hunt, U.S., Witchcraft
Witchcraft & Pagan News - Today's story is an update on last week's Rutherfordton events where officials denied a permit for a small Pagan-led vigil, citing undocumented restrictions and a coercive “C...
wildhunt.org
December 9, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Good on them and the ACLU of NC for pointing out that free expression is not optional.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
this is a good excuse to post my all time favorite Star Trek meme
December 7, 2025 at 6:15 PM
this is a good excuse to post my all time favorite Star Trek meme
Reposted by Andros Starborn
"Needy Amin" still ranks among the banger nicknames for Trump.
December 8, 2025 at 4:15 AM
"Needy Amin" still ranks among the banger nicknames for Trump.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
This meme makes me laugh for hours.
December 8, 2025 at 9:55 AM
This meme makes me laugh for hours.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
Before Tom Cotton defended an indefensible murder
He suggested that peaceful protesters should be thrown off the Golden Gate Bridge
And before that, he advocated for Trump to use troops against protesters-implying they should be shot
The MAGA bloodlust will not be sated
He suggested that peaceful protesters should be thrown off the Golden Gate Bridge
And before that, he advocated for Trump to use troops against protesters-implying they should be shot
The MAGA bloodlust will not be sated
Anyone else want to put Tom Cotton on top of a capsized boat in international waters miles away from Venezuela and see how helpless he is?
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
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 7:43 PM
Before Tom Cotton defended an indefensible murder
He suggested that peaceful protesters should be thrown off the Golden Gate Bridge
And before that, he advocated for Trump to use troops against protesters-implying they should be shot
The MAGA bloodlust will not be sated
He suggested that peaceful protesters should be thrown off the Golden Gate Bridge
And before that, he advocated for Trump to use troops against protesters-implying they should be shot
The MAGA bloodlust will not be sated
Reposted by Andros Starborn
North Carolina raising the cost of products sold in state prisons by five cents is a significant increase to incarcerated workers who typically earn between forty cents and $1.25 per day.
North Carolina Prison Officials Raise Prices for Those Who Can Least Afford It
An increased markup on canteen goods adds to the financial burden on incarcerated people and their families, highlighting how prison systems squeeze them for revenue.
boltsmag.org
December 7, 2025 at 6:29 PM
North Carolina raising the cost of products sold in state prisons by five cents is a significant increase to incarcerated workers who typically earn between forty cents and $1.25 per day.
Webrings are making a comeback! Join the trend!
Make a website! Then don’t forget to build a links page so you can add all of your friends’ websites! We used to build web rings! That’s how you found people! WE COULD JUST DO IT AGAIN. www.thornthewitch.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Webrings are making a comeback! Join the trend!
Reposted by Andros Starborn
Reposted by Andros Starborn
Let’s check in live with Bill Cassidy:
December 5, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Let’s check in live with Bill Cassidy:
Reposted by Andros Starborn
I had a professor in college who got yelled at for giving an entire class a failing grade. You can’t fail them all! He said, “I didn’t fail them, they failed.” I feel like when it comes to like, cabinet appt or judges they want to seem fair, we can’t say no to everybody they put up! Yes, you can.
I know Democrats aspire to be a big tent party but I don't think Trump-appointed judges belong in the tent
11 Senate Democrats just voted to advance the nomination of a Federal Society judge who used to defend banks and payday lenders:
Durbin
Gallego
Hassan
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Reed
Rosen
Whitehouse
Durbin
Gallego
Hassan
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Reed
Rosen
Whitehouse
December 4, 2025 at 7:07 PM
I had a professor in college who got yelled at for giving an entire class a failing grade. You can’t fail them all! He said, “I didn’t fail them, they failed.” I feel like when it comes to like, cabinet appt or judges they want to seem fair, we can’t say no to everybody they put up! Yes, you can.
Reposted by Andros Starborn
If the Supreme Court makes you mad keep in mind that within the last week Democratic senators have been voting for GOP judges to get on the federal bench
December 5, 2025 at 5:30 AM
If the Supreme Court makes you mad keep in mind that within the last week Democratic senators have been voting for GOP judges to get on the federal bench