Carlson
@catcarlson.bsky.social
I should talk more often.
(He/him)
(He/him)
Reposted by Carlson
ICE and MAGA really did bet the farm on all of Minneapolis’s white people going “oh yes, please take away our disgusting, evil non-white-foreigner neighbors, oh thank you so much.”
it’s beautiful that they’ve been proven incredibly wrong about that - may the rest of the country do the same.
it’s beautiful that they’ve been proven incredibly wrong about that - may the rest of the country do the same.
January 18, 2026 at 2:39 AM
ICE and MAGA really did bet the farm on all of Minneapolis’s white people going “oh yes, please take away our disgusting, evil non-white-foreigner neighbors, oh thank you so much.”
it’s beautiful that they’ve been proven incredibly wrong about that - may the rest of the country do the same.
it’s beautiful that they’ve been proven incredibly wrong about that - may the rest of the country do the same.
Reposted by Carlson
"I think if a critical mass of us decided to take the fight to the enemy, many more would quickly join. And I think we would find the forces arrayed against us much weaker than we initially supposed." www.liberalcurrents.com/we-need-to-g...
We Need to Get Off the Defensive About Immigration
Free movement is a fantastic thing, and we should say it.
www.liberalcurrents.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:51 PM
"I think if a critical mass of us decided to take the fight to the enemy, many more would quickly join. And I think we would find the forces arrayed against us much weaker than we initially supposed." www.liberalcurrents.com/we-need-to-g...
Reposted by Carlson
Pretty much every non-hype defense of LLM products begins with "first you must already understand your work extremely well, have ironclad ethics, and also verify all of its outputs in their entirety" and these are simply not realistic conditions for a product to *require* before it can be useful.
January 18, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Pretty much every non-hype defense of LLM products begins with "first you must already understand your work extremely well, have ironclad ethics, and also verify all of its outputs in their entirety" and these are simply not realistic conditions for a product to *require* before it can be useful.
Reposted by Carlson
Every bitcoin investor knows it's a scam, they just think they'll be on the other side of the rug pull.
Don't feel bad for a single one of them.
Don't feel bad for a single one of them.
January 13, 2026 at 7:29 PM
Every bitcoin investor knows it's a scam, they just think they'll be on the other side of the rug pull.
Don't feel bad for a single one of them.
Don't feel bad for a single one of them.
Reposted by Carlson
likewise, most of the autocratic countries have an opposition that does genuinely believe in democracy (how effective or committed they are is a different story) and we should be supporting them wherever we can
January 17, 2026 at 8:08 PM
likewise, most of the autocratic countries have an opposition that does genuinely believe in democracy (how effective or committed they are is a different story) and we should be supporting them wherever we can
Reposted by Carlson
Every country (yes, including yours) has dipshit right wing authoritarians in it who only value liberal democracy as a means for acquiring power and allowing them to exist when defeated and treating them as a fifth column is absolutely necessary
January 17, 2026 at 8:08 PM
Every country (yes, including yours) has dipshit right wing authoritarians in it who only value liberal democracy as a means for acquiring power and allowing them to exist when defeated and treating them as a fifth column is absolutely necessary
Reposted by Carlson
I see a lot of well meaning people (not OP) who like to talk about countries (usually the ones they're from or have an affinity with) as being steadfast bastions in the new cold war and I cannot stress enough that you have failed the assignment if you think this
i think, however, this is a crystal clear example that the next cold war is actually democracy vs autocracy and the battle lines run right through every single advanced democracy. there aren't really any safe harbors.
January 17, 2026 at 8:08 PM
I see a lot of well meaning people (not OP) who like to talk about countries (usually the ones they're from or have an affinity with) as being steadfast bastions in the new cold war and I cannot stress enough that you have failed the assignment if you think this
Reposted by Carlson
The resistance that comes from people coming together to take care of their community, to help strangers who are under attack, is way more powerful than lighting buildings on fire or throwing rocks, and you have to train yourself to recognize it because it’s harder to see. Witness it.
January 17, 2026 at 3:07 PM
The resistance that comes from people coming together to take care of their community, to help strangers who are under attack, is way more powerful than lighting buildings on fire or throwing rocks, and you have to train yourself to recognize it because it’s harder to see. Witness it.
Reposted by Carlson
To quote MLK on Vietnam - "I am disappointed with America. And there can be no great disappointment where there is not great love."
January 16, 2026 at 10:02 PM
To quote MLK on Vietnam - "I am disappointed with America. And there can be no great disappointment where there is not great love."
Reposted by Carlson
"this is not who we are" is 90% of the time a normative statement of aspiration, it's not an empirical claim of "these events have never taken place in this country before". one of the most obnoxious genres of "actually..." is reacting like it's the latter when it's clearly the former.
January 16, 2026 at 9:58 PM
"this is not who we are" is 90% of the time a normative statement of aspiration, it's not an empirical claim of "these events have never taken place in this country before". one of the most obnoxious genres of "actually..." is reacting like it's the latter when it's clearly the former.
Reposted by Carlson
This is the Bigfoot read I didn't know I needed from @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
Double Take - Orion Magazine
Are people crying Bigfoot when it’s really a bear?
orionmagazine.org
January 16, 2026 at 10:10 PM
This is the Bigfoot read I didn't know I needed from @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
Reposted by Carlson
Fundamentally this administration's problem is that it doesn't know how to deal with ordinary people who have real moral convictions, in part because they don't believe those people exist. They're strongest when they can just bully feckless elites.
For that matter, I'm having a hard time coming up with a good end game for them *in* Minneapolis. They're not going to be able to stop the demonstrations, but any sort of withdrawal while the demonstrations are ongoing looks like defeat, no matter how they spin it.
January 16, 2026 at 12:18 AM
Fundamentally this administration's problem is that it doesn't know how to deal with ordinary people who have real moral convictions, in part because they don't believe those people exist. They're strongest when they can just bully feckless elites.
Reposted by Carlson
I've increasingly come to view cynicism as the seedbed of totalitarianism, both because it can paralyze the opposition and because it implicitly validates the might-makes-right ethic of the authoritarian.
i have been reading Tom Ricks’ “Fighting the Good War” which is a military analysis of the civil rights movement, and one thing that comes abundantly across is that movement leaders and ordinary people made it a practice to refuse to fall into despair and cynicism.
January 16, 2026 at 5:17 PM
I've increasingly come to view cynicism as the seedbed of totalitarianism, both because it can paralyze the opposition and because it implicitly validates the might-makes-right ethic of the authoritarian.
Reposted by Carlson
I’m seeing posts from people (outside of MN) about how US citizens should carry their passports.
And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”
Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”
Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
January 16, 2026 at 12:17 AM
I’m seeing posts from people (outside of MN) about how US citizens should carry their passports.
And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”
Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
And let me say that *inside* MN, we are calmly responding to requests with: “No, I don’t have to show you any documentation.”
Because that’s how you protect everyone, regardless of immigration status.
Reposted by Carlson
The hero created by two Jewish immigrants, uh hun.
July 8, 2025 at 9:51 PM
The hero created by two Jewish immigrants, uh hun.
Reposted by Carlson
Some of the same thing is happening here wherein the biggest predictor of whether you're pro-Trump or not is whether you have any kind of principles that can be, on some level, justified on the basis of something other than raw barbaric hierarchy.
January 16, 2026 at 1:04 AM
Some of the same thing is happening here wherein the biggest predictor of whether you're pro-Trump or not is whether you have any kind of principles that can be, on some level, justified on the basis of something other than raw barbaric hierarchy.
Reposted by Carlson
Agreed. I'm Grant-level tired of it.
![Excerpt from published book text on the Civil War in America. The whole reads:
capturing two northern generals. Panic spread all the way to Grant's headquarters, where a distraught brigadier galloped up on a lathered horse to tell the Union commander that all was lost—that Lee was repeating Jackson's tactics of a year earlier in these same woods. But Grant did not share the belief in Lee's superhuman qualities that seemed to paralyze so many eastern officers. [HIGHLIGHTED PORTION FOLLOWS] "I am heartily tired of hearing what Lee is going to do," Grant told the brigadier. "Some of you always seem to think he is suddenly going to turn a double somersault, and land on our rear and on both our flanks at the same time. Go back to your command, and try to think what we are going to do ourselves, instead of what Lee is going to do." [HIGHLIGHTING ENDS]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:awgxoysewqudpafjy3ydoqsp/bafkreiebwsqf2x6axm5aldczhui33svyjhg5kjhlw45rz64stbingk6c3q@jpeg)
January 15, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Agreed. I'm Grant-level tired of it.
Reposted by Carlson
That's what Fascism relies on, and that's what makes Dooming so dangerous. Fascist governments are always more tenuous than they appear. They *rely* on their citizens thinking that they possess overwhelming, unstoppable force to enact their will.
January 15, 2026 at 4:47 PM
That's what Fascism relies on, and that's what makes Dooming so dangerous. Fascist governments are always more tenuous than they appear. They *rely* on their citizens thinking that they possess overwhelming, unstoppable force to enact their will.
Reposted by Carlson
ICE can't even deal with irate middle-aged midwesterners. how does he occupy hundreds, if not thousands, of polling cites and precincts? trump v. illinois clarified that he has no legal authority to unilaterally commandeer national guards, how does he move forward from there?
January 15, 2026 at 4:32 PM
ICE can't even deal with irate middle-aged midwesterners. how does he occupy hundreds, if not thousands, of polling cites and precincts? trump v. illinois clarified that he has no legal authority to unilaterally commandeer national guards, how does he move forward from there?
Reposted by Carlson
people confuse the true idea that electoral victories alone are not enough to end fascism with the false idea that electoralism is fundamentally doomed and useless.
A hammer is not enough to build a house by itself, but it's still a tool you will need to use
A hammer is not enough to build a house by itself, but it's still a tool you will need to use
i don't even know why i'm raising this here because i know i'm going to get a hundred replies of "Trump has god powers that will let him do whatever he wants and thus we have no choice but to bend to his will," but for those of you capable of complex thought, these are questions to ask yourself.
January 15, 2026 at 4:49 PM
people confuse the true idea that electoral victories alone are not enough to end fascism with the false idea that electoralism is fundamentally doomed and useless.
A hammer is not enough to build a house by itself, but it's still a tool you will need to use
A hammer is not enough to build a house by itself, but it's still a tool you will need to use
Reposted by Carlson
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
January 15, 2026 at 1:47 PM
wikipedia turns 25 today! the last unenshittified major website! backbone of online info! triumph of humanity! powered by urge of unpaid randos to correct each other! somehow mostly reliable! "good thing wikipedia works in practice, because it sure doesn't work in theory" - old wiki adage
Reposted by Carlson
Folks, Trump has brought the full force of ICE to bear on a mid-sized city and he can't even stop the demonstrations there. He's not going to be able to cancel the midterm elections by fiat or station his goons outside more than a handful of polling places.
January 14, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Folks, Trump has brought the full force of ICE to bear on a mid-sized city and he can't even stop the demonstrations there. He's not going to be able to cancel the midterm elections by fiat or station his goons outside more than a handful of polling places.
Reposted by Carlson
NEW: A ton of trash ends up in Buffalo Bayou, Houston's urban waterway. I spent a morning last week with the people who clean trash out of the bayou with a sucking boat. A long the way, I learned about the never ending battle to clean up pollution. 📸/📝 by me: www.chron.com/culture/arti...
A whole lot of trash fills Buffalo Bayou. Here's who cleans it all up.
A whole lot of Houstonians' trash ends up in Buffalo Bayou. Meet the heroes who vacuum it up.
www.chron.com
January 14, 2026 at 7:36 PM
NEW: A ton of trash ends up in Buffalo Bayou, Houston's urban waterway. I spent a morning last week with the people who clean trash out of the bayou with a sucking boat. A long the way, I learned about the never ending battle to clean up pollution. 📸/📝 by me: www.chron.com/culture/arti...
Reposted by Carlson
I'm gonna say this with all the kindness in my heart: you aren't going to survive if you don't let your life have room for other things.
This is not a short term fight where we can just go 24/7 and then it will be over. We've got YEARS ahead of us. Take a break. Hydrate. Go bake something. Breathe.
This is not a short term fight where we can just go 24/7 and then it will be over. We've got YEARS ahead of us. Take a break. Hydrate. Go bake something. Breathe.
January 14, 2026 at 5:46 PM
I'm gonna say this with all the kindness in my heart: you aren't going to survive if you don't let your life have room for other things.
This is not a short term fight where we can just go 24/7 and then it will be over. We've got YEARS ahead of us. Take a break. Hydrate. Go bake something. Breathe.
This is not a short term fight where we can just go 24/7 and then it will be over. We've got YEARS ahead of us. Take a break. Hydrate. Go bake something. Breathe.
Reposted by Carlson
Lamster | What is the future of downtown Dallas? How the city addresses challenges like businesses leaving and the future of City Hall will determine its character both physically and figuratively for a generation or more.
My advice: Avoid rash decisions and learn from history.
My advice: Avoid rash decisions and learn from history.
Lamster: How to fix downtown Dallas
What is the future of downtown Dallas? Even for a place that is persistently described as “at a crossroads” and “in crisis,” the present moment seems fraught...
www.dallasnews.com
January 14, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Lamster | What is the future of downtown Dallas? How the city addresses challenges like businesses leaving and the future of City Hall will determine its character both physically and figuratively for a generation or more.
My advice: Avoid rash decisions and learn from history.
My advice: Avoid rash decisions and learn from history.