Matt Cable
@curiousstranger.bsky.social
YIMBY in Denver. FKA w0zz
Reposted by Matt Cable
Companies churn out best/worst lists knowing credulous news outlets will publish them for clicks. The President may have just relied on one to cut off a clean drinking water project in Colorado.
January 2, 2026 at 3:47 AM
Companies churn out best/worst lists knowing credulous news outlets will publish them for clicks. The President may have just relied on one to cut off a clean drinking water project in Colorado.
Reposted by Matt Cable
Tinpot Dome
DHS reportedly fast-tracked a contract worth almost $1 billion to a company led by a donor to a pro-Trump nonprofit group where one of the officials overseeing the deal previously worked.
That raises serious ethics concerns.
That raises serious ethics concerns.
DHS fast-tracked $1 billion contract to pro-Trump donor’s company
A DHS official leading the process previously worked at the America First Policy Institute, a pro-Trump nonprofit where the contractor’s CEO was a donor.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 2, 2026 at 12:19 AM
Tinpot Dome
Reposted by Matt Cable
“In 2029 we will freeze and seize all assets for Trump, his family, his organizations, his closest colleagues and they will have to prove any individual asset is legitimate to reclaim it.”
January 1, 2026 at 8:40 PM
“In 2029 we will freeze and seize all assets for Trump, his family, his organizations, his closest colleagues and they will have to prove any individual asset is legitimate to reclaim it.”
Reposted by Matt Cable
GOP Rep Lauren Boebert has been criticized (including by me) for not focusing enough on legislating. What would have been Boebert's third prime sponsored bill to become law passed Congress unanimously... then Trump vetoed it.
NEW: President Trump's first veto of his second term kills a unanimous bill to fund a major drinking water project in Colorado. Trump had threatened punishment for Colorado for imprisoning his ally Tina Peters. www.9news.com/article/news...
Trump vetoes bill to fund Arkansas Valley conduit in Colorado
President Trump vetoed a bill to fund a pipeline project to bring clean drinking water to communities on the Eastern Plains between Pueblo and Lamar.
www.9news.com
December 31, 2025 at 2:37 AM
GOP Rep Lauren Boebert has been criticized (including by me) for not focusing enough on legislating. What would have been Boebert's third prime sponsored bill to become law passed Congress unanimously... then Trump vetoed it.
Sheeeeeit
Isiah Whitlock Jr., a character actor best known for his scene-stealing role as a smooth-talking, corrupt politician in the widely acclaimed HBO show “The Wire,” died on Tuesday. He was 71.
Isiah Whitlock Jr., Scene-Stealing Character Actor in ‘The Wire,’ Dies at 71
In one of his most enduring roles, he played a corrupt state senator known for his ability to fashion an expletive into an outstretched catchphrase.
nyti.ms
December 31, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Sheeeeeit
Kavanaugh Flip-Flop
Brett Kavanaugh Is Trying to Walk Back “Kavanaugh Stops.” Too Late.
It appears the justice has some regrets.
slate.com
December 30, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Kavanaugh Flip-Flop
Reposted by Matt Cable
If you give this administration a presumption of honesty, you are acting like a credulous sucker.
bsky.app/profile/eric...
bsky.app/profile/eric...
A few months ago, ICE agents shot a TikToker. The govt then charged him, alleging he tried to ram agents
Well guess what?
Body-cam footage -- which the gov't delayed disclosing -- shows that's BS.
The agent shot by mistake.
And a judge just dismissed charges.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Well guess what?
Body-cam footage -- which the gov't delayed disclosing -- shows that's BS.
The agent shot by mistake.
And a judge just dismissed charges.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
December 29, 2025 at 4:12 AM
If you give this administration a presumption of honesty, you are acting like a credulous sucker.
bsky.app/profile/eric...
bsky.app/profile/eric...
“Between the Avs’ high-octane scoring and stingy goaltending, it makes for a plus-61 goal differential. And that’s something Colorado is just running away with relative to the rest of the league.”
www.nytimes.com/athletic/691...
www.nytimes.com/athletic/691...
December 29, 2025 at 1:51 PM
“Between the Avs’ high-octane scoring and stingy goaltending, it makes for a plus-61 goal differential. And that’s something Colorado is just running away with relative to the rest of the league.”
www.nytimes.com/athletic/691...
www.nytimes.com/athletic/691...
Kavanaugh Graft
This was literally one of the concerns raised during the immunity case, and the majority hand waved it away.
New reporting says Don Jr. directly facilitated the pardon of a crypto whale who had promoted the Trump's family crypto. Jr. brought the pardon lawyer to the White House, and introduced him directly to his Dad. Pardon occurred right after. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/pardon-the...
December 28, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Kavanaugh Graft
Reposted by Matt Cable
All of the money that changed hands in the Teapot Dome scandal totaled less than $10 million after adjusting for inflation, and it was considered so corrupt we still teach it in high school government classes a century later.
Corruption so pungent, it wafts right off the page:
Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”
Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”
Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Inside the New Fast Track to a Presidential Pardon
Even some of the president’s closest advisers have been surprised by a number of the recent series of pardons.
www.wsj.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:24 PM
All of the money that changed hands in the Teapot Dome scandal totaled less than $10 million after adjusting for inflation, and it was considered so corrupt we still teach it in high school government classes a century later.
"It is a value to which religious and non-religious people alike can appeal if they want to discuss what is or is not righteous. It requires no gods, but it allows for them all. As long as they give a damn about all of us."
December 28, 2025 at 3:09 AM
"It is a value to which religious and non-religious people alike can appeal if they want to discuss what is or is not righteous. It requires no gods, but it allows for them all. As long as they give a damn about all of us."
Reposted by Matt Cable
"Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders...is demonic." This is a 20-year-old whose thinking and writing is so unclear that she has (presumably accidentally) claimed that there is only one gender.
Higher education is in a death spiral in red states.
Higher education is in a death spiral in red states.
Oklahoma instructor removed from teaching for failing a Bible-based gender essay | CNN
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that pr...
www.cnn.com
December 24, 2025 at 8:20 PM
"Society pushing the lie that there are multiple genders...is demonic." This is a 20-year-old whose thinking and writing is so unclear that she has (presumably accidentally) claimed that there is only one gender.
Higher education is in a death spiral in red states.
Higher education is in a death spiral in red states.
Reposted by Matt Cable
DOGE was premised on one of the deepest lies of American politics: that the federal government doesn't work well & is wasteful.
Since the federal government at least was actually quite well run at the level of ordinary bureaucracy & has intense rules for constraining waste, it could never succeed
Since the federal government at least was actually quite well run at the level of ordinary bureaucracy & has intense rules for constraining waste, it could never succeed
“In DOGE’s published list of canceled contracts and grants, the 13 largest were all incorrect.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/23/u...
How Did DOGE Disrupt So Much While Saving So Little?
www.nytimes.com
December 24, 2025 at 12:24 AM
DOGE was premised on one of the deepest lies of American politics: that the federal government doesn't work well & is wasteful.
Since the federal government at least was actually quite well run at the level of ordinary bureaucracy & has intense rules for constraining waste, it could never succeed
Since the federal government at least was actually quite well run at the level of ordinary bureaucracy & has intense rules for constraining waste, it could never succeed
Celebrating Charlie Kirk's "free speech" legacy by criminalizing disinformation research.
The US State Department is now going to be deporting people and/or revoking visas over Benz, Taibbi, and Shellenberger’s “censorship industrial complex” hoax.
Let that sink in. This is what the Twitter Files pretext was actually about. Water boys for authoritarians.
www.state.gov/releases/off...
Let that sink in. This is what the Twitter Files pretext was actually about. Water boys for authoritarians.
www.state.gov/releases/off...
Announcement of Actions to Combat the Global Censorship-Industrial Complex - United States Department of State
The State Department is taking decisive action against five individuals who have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to censor, demonetize, and suppress American viewpoints they oppose....
www.state.gov
December 24, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Celebrating Charlie Kirk's "free speech" legacy by criminalizing disinformation research.
Reposted by Matt Cable
"What’s the difference between her “redrawing the lines” of acceptable speech and other people doing it? What makes one “censorious” and “gatekeeping” and the other not? Well, because she gets to decide"
The “free speech” and “cancel culture” panics have led to overt state censorship because that was always their purpose. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
December 23, 2025 at 7:17 PM
"What’s the difference between her “redrawing the lines” of acceptable speech and other people doing it? What makes one “censorious” and “gatekeeping” and the other not? Well, because she gets to decide"
It’s nice of him to just reveal what NIMBYism is about.
Trump: If we build more housing, the price of homes will go down, and homeowners will lose their wealth.
December 23, 2025 at 2:07 PM
It’s nice of him to just reveal what NIMBYism is about.
Reposted by Matt Cable
getting to work 4 microseconds late and blaming it on the NIST Boulder atomic clock outage
December 21, 2025 at 11:31 PM
getting to work 4 microseconds late and blaming it on the NIST Boulder atomic clock outage
Climate change shuts down time.
“In short, the atomic ensemble time scale at our Boulder campus has failed due to a prolonged utility power outage. One impact is that the Boulder Internet Time Services no longer have an accurate time reference.”
groups.google.com/a/list.nist....
groups.google.com/a/list.nist....
Primary time scale failure at NIST Boulder campus; significant impact on NTP services
groups.google.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Climate change shuts down time.
Reposted by Matt Cable
Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.
Surviving CECOT (full documentary) | Deported to a Maximum-Security Prison | FRONTLINE + ProPublica
YouTube video by FRONTLINE PBS | Official
m.youtube.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.
"Government silence is a statement, not a VETO," Alfonsi wrote in the email. "If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a 'kill switch'' for any reporting they find inconvenient."
CBS News chief Bari Weiss pulls '60 Minutes' story, sparking outcry
CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss pulled a 60 Minutes segment on allegations of abuses at an El Salvador detention center where the Trump administration sent hundreds of Venezuelan migrants.
www.npr.org
December 22, 2025 at 12:28 PM
"Government silence is a statement, not a VETO," Alfonsi wrote in the email. "If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a 'kill switch'' for any reporting they find inconvenient."
Trump Take Beam (and Knob Creek and Bookers and Basil Hayden, etc)
Major Kentucky bourbon maker Jim Beam shuttering distillery for 2026
The move comes as Kentucky’s $9 billion bourbon industry is dealing with a glut of supply and slipping sales.
www.kentucky.com
December 21, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Trump Take Beam (and Knob Creek and Bookers and Basil Hayden, etc)
Reposted by Matt Cable
I think bigotry has become a kind of loyalty ritual among young republicans, it’s how you show you’re one of them www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Racial Slurs and Nazi Symbols: Inside the Complaint That Shut Down The Harvard Salient | News | The Harvard Crimson
Screenshots and message logs obtained by The Crimson appear to show Salient leaders casually using racial slurs, defending extremist rhetoric, and dismissing internal concerns — conversations that lat...
www.thecrimson.com
December 21, 2025 at 12:44 PM
I think bigotry has become a kind of loyalty ritual among young republicans, it’s how you show you’re one of them www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
Reposted by Matt Cable
the main reward you are likely to get for total loyalty to trump is the destruction of your career and your reputation www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/n...
Elise Stefanik Drops Out of N.Y. Governor’s Race and Will Leave Congress
www.nytimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:19 PM
the main reward you are likely to get for total loyalty to trump is the destruction of your career and your reputation www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/n...
Reposted by Matt Cable
Oh is this what jd vance meant by “demographics?” bsky.app/profile/joel...
From a focus group of Gen Z Republicans. (www.city-journal.org/article/manh...)
Tell me again about how Zohran Mamdani is the big threat to Jewish thriving in the US today.
Tell me again about how Zohran Mamdani is the big threat to Jewish thriving in the US today.
December 19, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Oh is this what jd vance meant by “demographics?” bsky.app/profile/joel...