JamesMathews
@jamesmathews.bsky.social
#ClimateCrisis #Anti-Facist #Ukraine #BlackLivesMatter #LGBQT+ #NativeAmericans #BodilyAutonomy, ex-Twitter, husband/father/grandfather, Air Force brat, NBA addict in Las Vegas via Los Angeles & Portland.
Thread
Being among the first interrogated and ultimately fired by DOGE, I certainly felt we were facing the business end of a right-wing conspiracy theory 🧵
DOGE was not a money-saving effort. It was an effort to chase down and prove right-wing conspiracy theories. They went after USAID to prove conspiracy theories about foreign aid. Then they went after SSA to, again, pursue conspiracy theories about Dems paying "illegals" to vote. 1/2
November 26, 2025 at 3:29 AM
Thread
Reposted by JamesMathews
How to get rid of Citizens United?
We can do away with it without a new Supreme Court. Nor do we need a constitutional amendment.
There’s a far simpler way. Let me explain: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-to-get-rid-of-citizens-united
We can do away with it without a new Supreme Court. Nor do we need a constitutional amendment.
There’s a far simpler way. Let me explain: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-to-get-rid-of-citizens-united
How to Get Rid of "Citizens United"
We can do away with it without a new Supreme Court. Nor do we need a constitutional amendment. There’s a far simpler way
robertreich.substack.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:01 AM
How to get rid of Citizens United?
We can do away with it without a new Supreme Court. Nor do we need a constitutional amendment.
There’s a far simpler way. Let me explain: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-to-get-rid-of-citizens-united
We can do away with it without a new Supreme Court. Nor do we need a constitutional amendment.
There’s a far simpler way. Let me explain: https://robertreich.substack.com/p/how-to-get-rid-of-citizens-united
Reposted by JamesMathews
Elon Musk claims Grok's "epic vulgar roasts" can "make people really laugh at a party" so I took him up on it and used my coworkers as guinea pigs: www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
Elon Musk Said Grok’s Roasts Would Be ‘Epic’ at Parties—So I Tried It on My Coworkers
It went about as well as you’d expect.
www.wired.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Elon Musk claims Grok's "epic vulgar roasts" can "make people really laugh at a party" so I took him up on it and used my coworkers as guinea pigs: www.wired.com/story/elon-m...
Reposted by JamesMathews
NEW: ICE has torn up its $180M cap on a proposed immigrant-tracking program and is now guaranteeing private surveillance firms at least $7.5M each, with potential payouts reaching $281M per vendor. The change signals a shift from “pilot” to full-scale outsourcing of street-level investigative work.
ICE Offers Up to $280 Million to Immigrant-Tracking ‘Bounty Hunter’ Firms
Immigration and Customs Enforcement lifted a $180 million cap on a proposed immigrant-tracking program while guaranteeing multimillion-dollar payouts for private surveillance firms.
www.wired.com
November 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
NEW: ICE has torn up its $180M cap on a proposed immigrant-tracking program and is now guaranteeing private surveillance firms at least $7.5M each, with potential payouts reaching $281M per vendor. The change signals a shift from “pilot” to full-scale outsourcing of street-level investigative work.
Reposted by JamesMathews
the price of populism
"By 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time. We estimate that investment was reduced by between 12% and 18%, employment by 3% to 4% and productivity by 3% to 4%"
Read the Stanford report:
siepr.stanford.edu/publications...
Read the Stanford report:
siepr.stanford.edu/publications...
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 25, 2025 at 7:43 PM
the price of populism
Reposted by JamesMathews
An amazing new Trump controversy, Part II of II:
- Saturday afternoon: Trump says he spoke to Bolsonaro the night before and planned to see him “in the very near future”
- Monday afternoon: The Trump White House isn’t sure whether Trump actually had the conversation he referenced two days earlier
- Saturday afternoon: Trump says he spoke to Bolsonaro the night before and planned to see him “in the very near future”
- Monday afternoon: The Trump White House isn’t sure whether Trump actually had the conversation he referenced two days earlier
White House hedges on Trump’s curious claim about his call with Brazil’s Bolsonaro White House hedges on Trump’s curious claim about his call with Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro
Did the Republican president talk to Bolsonaro as the Brazilian plotted to escape? Trump said yes, but the White House isn’t so sure.
www.ms.now
November 25, 2025 at 6:36 PM
An amazing new Trump controversy, Part II of II:
- Saturday afternoon: Trump says he spoke to Bolsonaro the night before and planned to see him “in the very near future”
- Monday afternoon: The Trump White House isn’t sure whether Trump actually had the conversation he referenced two days earlier
- Saturday afternoon: Trump says he spoke to Bolsonaro the night before and planned to see him “in the very near future”
- Monday afternoon: The Trump White House isn’t sure whether Trump actually had the conversation he referenced two days earlier
Reposted by JamesMathews
when its definitely not a hostage situation
November 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
when its definitely not a hostage situation
Thread and article
I wrote about what Marjorie Taylor Greene gets right (the Trump administration has failed), what she gets wrong (basically everything else) and what her resignation says about the future of the GOP newrepublic.com/article/2036...
Marjorie Taylor Greene Is Playing the Long Game
The resigning Georgia congresswoman understands something that other Republicans don’t.
newrepublic.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Thread and article
Reposted by JamesMathews
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Thread
Senator Kelly’s remarks in the video are “a 100% accurate representation of what the law says."
“No American citizen should have to deal with this type of preposterous investigation.”
- Professor Eugene Fidell, leading military justice expert in Wall Street Journal
www.wsj.com/politics/mar...
“No American citizen should have to deal with this type of preposterous investigation.”
- Professor Eugene Fidell, leading military justice expert in Wall Street Journal
www.wsj.com/politics/mar...
Pentagon Investigates Misconduct Allegations Against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly
The review comes after Kelly, a retired Navy captain, appeared in a video with other lawmakers telling military members not to obey unlawful orders.
www.wsj.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:51 AM
Thread
Reposted by JamesMathews
Epic take-down of Roger Pielke Jr's appallingly shoddy academic "work", which he's used--as an attack dog of the Koch Brothers-funded think tank AEI--to discredit the case for climate action:
In a 2024 paper criticizing the 'billion-dollar-disasters' database, Roger Pielke Jr. published analysis that is best described as a Russian-doll of errors.
Here's my in-depth take down of his appallingly bad work.
economicsfromthetopdown.com/2025/10/26/r...
Here's my in-depth take down of his appallingly bad work.
economicsfromthetopdown.com/2025/10/26/r...
Roger Pielke Jr.’s Appallingly Bad Analysis of Billion Dollar Disasters – Economics from the Top Down
In a recent paper called Scientific integrity and U.S. “Billion Dollar Disasters”, Roger Pielke Jr. published a chart that's so bad I've devoted a whole essay to debunking it.
economicsfromthetopdown.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:41 PM
Epic take-down of Roger Pielke Jr's appallingly shoddy academic "work", which he's used--as an attack dog of the Koch Brothers-funded think tank AEI--to discredit the case for climate action:
Reposted by JamesMathews
X's new country location feature has roiled MAGA, sparking accusations of groyper astroturfing. But is it really that simple?
My latest False Flag newsletter for @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/new-x-twit...
My latest False Flag newsletter for @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/new-x-twit...
New X Games: Legitimate Groyper or Bangledeshi Bot?
The ragebait in your timeline may be coming from abroad.
www.thebulwark.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:26 AM
X's new country location feature has roiled MAGA, sparking accusations of groyper astroturfing. But is it really that simple?
My latest False Flag newsletter for @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/new-x-twit...
My latest False Flag newsletter for @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/new-x-twit...
Thread and post
Thought experiment: What if things got cheaper overnight, but people still felt shitty about the future, and politics in America proceeded all but unchanged? www.offmessage.net/p/taking-aff...
Taking "Affordability" Seriously
...but not literally.
www.offmessage.net
November 24, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Thread and post
Gift article from @cwarzel.bsky.social
I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.
That MAGA Account Might Be a Troll From Pakistan
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Gift article from @cwarzel.bsky.social
Reposted by JamesMathews
PUNCHBOWL: “.. GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 3:37 PM
PUNCHBOWL: “.. GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
Reposted by JamesMathews
When Charlie Kirk died, MAGA leaders promised it would unify the base, while rallying millions of previous skeptics to the fascist cause.
Neither has happened.
Even better, Kirk's death is causing MAGA infighting that is tearing at the seams.
www.salon.com/2025/11/24/c...
Neither has happened.
Even better, Kirk's death is causing MAGA infighting that is tearing at the seams.
www.salon.com/2025/11/24/c...
Charlie Kirk's death is tearing MAGA apart - Salon.com
The killing of the Turning Point USA founder didn’t unify the base — it triggered infighting
www.salon.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:01 PM
When Charlie Kirk died, MAGA leaders promised it would unify the base, while rallying millions of previous skeptics to the fascist cause.
Neither has happened.
Even better, Kirk's death is causing MAGA infighting that is tearing at the seams.
www.salon.com/2025/11/24/c...
Neither has happened.
Even better, Kirk's death is causing MAGA infighting that is tearing at the seams.
www.salon.com/2025/11/24/c...
Gift article from @willbunch.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Gift article from @willbunch.bsky.social
Reposted by JamesMathews
Paul Conrad on the far right painting enemies with a red brush, Ventura County Star, 8/24/1966.
November 24, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Paul Conrad on the far right painting enemies with a red brush, Ventura County Star, 8/24/1966.
Thread
That would be this, antisemitic and white nationalist activist, who was a cohost of The Charlie Kirk show.
November 24, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Thread
Reposted by JamesMathews
JD Vance and Peter Thiel are running a sustained operation out of the White House designed to acquire Greenland, either voluntarily or by force. Thiel has laid out plans for what he intends to do with the island nation in past writings. It doesn't entail the consent of the Greenlanders for anything.
November 23, 2025 at 8:52 PM
JD Vance and Peter Thiel are running a sustained operation out of the White House designed to acquire Greenland, either voluntarily or by force. Thiel has laid out plans for what he intends to do with the island nation in past writings. It doesn't entail the consent of the Greenlanders for anything.
Reposted by JamesMathews
I know people here focus on the mere 4% who use Bluesky, but note that only 1 in 5 use Twitter/X, of which 80%+ use it sparsely…
and yet, journalists and politicians treat is as “public opinion” 🤷♂️
and yet, journalists and politicians treat is as “public opinion” 🤷♂️
UPDATE: Americans who use
YouTube 84%
Facebook 71%
Instagram 50%
TikTok 37%
WhatsApp 32%
Reddit 26%
Snapchat 25%
X (Twitter) 21%
Threads 8%
Bluesky 4%
Truth Social 3%
Full Pew Research Center report: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/11/20/americans-social-media-use-2025/
YouTube 84%
Facebook 71%
Instagram 50%
TikTok 37%
WhatsApp 32%
Reddit 26%
Snapchat 25%
X (Twitter) 21%
Threads 8%
Bluesky 4%
Truth Social 3%
Full Pew Research Center report: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/11/20/americans-social-media-use-2025/
November 23, 2025 at 10:46 PM
I know people here focus on the mere 4% who use Bluesky, but note that only 1 in 5 use Twitter/X, of which 80%+ use it sparsely…
and yet, journalists and politicians treat is as “public opinion” 🤷♂️
and yet, journalists and politicians treat is as “public opinion” 🤷♂️
Reposted by JamesMathews
NEWS: I spent the past 24 hours going through major MAGA accounts on Twitter, and a bombshell development has become clear: most of the right-wing ecosphere is being fed propaganda from foreign actors.
This impacts elections. This impacts discourse. This is major. Subscribe to support my work:
This impacts elections. This impacts discourse. This is major. Subscribe to support my work:
NEWS: Major MAGA Accounts on Twitter Exposed as Foreign Actors
A stunning development over the past 24 hours.
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:38 PM
NEWS: I spent the past 24 hours going through major MAGA accounts on Twitter, and a bombshell development has become clear: most of the right-wing ecosphere is being fed propaganda from foreign actors.
This impacts elections. This impacts discourse. This is major. Subscribe to support my work:
This impacts elections. This impacts discourse. This is major. Subscribe to support my work:
Reposted by JamesMathews
the last 24 hours on X, summed up:
November 23, 2025 at 2:26 PM
the last 24 hours on X, summed up:
Reposted by JamesMathews
Why would Elon turn on a new feature that crushes MAGA propaganda? Holy shit.
X rolled out a new feature overnight showing where accounts are based. This network of “Trump-supporting independent women” that claimed to be “real Americans” are based in Thailand.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
The photos were stolen from European models & posts pushed pro-Trump lines while targeting Islam and LGBTQ people.
November 23, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Why would Elon turn on a new feature that crushes MAGA propaganda? Holy shit.
Reposted by JamesMathews
Rightwing MAGA Christianity has about as much relation to the gospels as MAGA politics does to the Constitution.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
They’re doing to America what they did to Christianity | Bill McKibben
Trump’s wrecking-ball approach to America has a precedent: the evangelical perversion of Jesus’s message of radical love to one of hate and aggression
www.theguardian.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Rightwing MAGA Christianity has about as much relation to the gospels as MAGA politics does to the Constitution.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...