jules
seriouslyaskew.bsky.social
jules
@seriouslyaskew.bsky.social
flotsam & jetsam. art, writing, culturosity, democracy. working on my first novel. still.
Reposted by jules
This part
May 10, 2025 at 6:29 PM
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Vance's Easter visit to Rome clogged its streets with a 40-vehicle entourage. He also demanded the Coliseum be closed so he and his family could tour it alone. Tourists who properly booked slots in advance got screwed.

He's apparently the first to make that demand. Then he didn't bother to show up.
JD Vance and his forty 4x4s visit the Vatican during trip to Rome
The US vice-president, a self-styled ‘baby Catholic’ who was baptised in 2019, and his family met senior officials from the Catholic Church
www.thetimes.com
April 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
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When human rights advocates in El Salvador say Trump likes their prison system because it’s a “judicial black hole,” this is what they mean.

The Trump admin has partnered with Bukele to create a new Guantanamo even more removed from American rule of law.

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
April 4, 2025 at 11:08 PM
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This is so fucked up. ICE agents in Massachusetts smashed the window of a car to grab a Guatemalan guy who was with his wife. They were waiting for their lawyer to arrive because he has a pending asylum case.

Story via @wcvb5.bsky.social: www.wcvb.com/article/ice-...
April 15, 2025 at 11:08 PM
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This picture may haunt me to the end of my days.

It is an ICE agent taking an axe to the car window of an immigrant in New Bedford, MA. Not far from where I sit now. An immigrant with no criminal record was abducted by this smiling man.

An axe taken to a car window and to our democracy. 1/
#MomSky
April 15, 2025 at 11:47 PM
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SCOOP: YouTube removes 'gender identity' from hate speech policy. "YouTube quietly removing ‘gender identity and expression’ from its list of protected groups is a major radical shift away from best practices in the field of trust and safety."
YouTube removes 'gender identity' from hate speech policy
TariffTokers, Gen Z’s ‘it couple’, Easter potatoes, anti-MAGA hats, Zuck's D.C. mansion, Amazon's TikTok bid, Silicon Valley's cupid, and the fastest growing political channels on YouTube
www.usermag.co
April 3, 2025 at 4:23 PM
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The question of if a country could fuck itself harder than the UK did with Brexit has today been answered.
April 2, 2025 at 9:03 PM
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I was a faculty member in Texas 20 years ago. I was pleasantly surprised by the general support and sense of pride policymakers had for higher ed institutions. Many, of course, were alum. That is gone now. They have been persuaded that great public institutions are the enemy.
Texas legislators considering a bill that would put all public university course curricula and faculty hiring in the hands of ruling party political appointees and politicians, effectively ending academic freedom.
Texas bill would increase oversight of universities’ hiring, curriculum and compliance
Senate Bill 37 would create a state office to investigate complaints against universities and require governing boards to ensure courses don’t endorse certain ideologies.
www.texastribune.org
March 17, 2025 at 12:45 AM
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The Trump regime will arrest you in the middle of the night because you spoke your mind.

And federal agents in plain clothes who refuse to identify themselves will be the ones to do it.

If you think I'm being hyperbolic, watch this clip.
NEW: Family of Mahmoud Khalil just released footage of his arrest

“Stop resisting”
“He’s not resisting”

Agents seen continuing to ignore Mahmoud’s wife as she asks basic questions
March 14, 2025 at 9:57 PM
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Ahem
March 6, 2025 at 9:28 PM
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There is a reason we have kept all this personal data about YOU compartmentalized, and run by extremely boring and fastidious bureaucrats who seek neither fame nor fortune. Because you are not going to enjoy the alternative.
Guys, they are not trying to hide their intentions here.
February 18, 2025 at 1:56 AM
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They straight up lied to the court.
February 15, 2025 at 3:12 AM
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Trump
Is
Senile
And
Insane
The Trump administration has suggested to Ukraine that the U.S. be granted 50% ownership of the country’s rare earth minerals, and signaled an openness to deploying American troops there to guard them if there’s a deal with Russia to end the war, four U.S. officials say.
Trump officials pitch Zelenskyy on U.S. owning 50% of Ukraine's rare earth minerals
The Trump administration indicated U.S. troops could be deployed to provide security in connection with the minerals if there's a peace deal with Russia, sources told NBC News.
www.nbcnews.com
February 15, 2025 at 4:12 AM
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I'm hearing now that *every* technologist CFPB hired to investigate Big Tech was fired this evening. That's somewhere between 70-100 people.

wired.com/story/dozens-of-cfpb-workers-terminated-in-after-hours-firing-blitz/
Dozens of CFPB Workers Fired in After-Hours Blitz
Some affected employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were notified with an email that addressed them as [EmployeeFirstName][EmployeeLastName], [Job Title], [Division].
wired.com
February 14, 2025 at 12:51 AM
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Among other places. "As of May, Accenture billed Facebook for roughly 1,900 full-time moderators in Manila; 1,300 in Mumbai, India; 850 in Lisbon; 780 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 300 in Warsaw; 300 in Mountain View, Calif.; 225 in Dublin; and 135 in Austin, Texas" www.nytimes.com/2021/08/31/t...
The Silent Partner Cleaning Up Facebook for $500 Million a Year (Published 2021)
The social network has constructed a vast infrastructure to keep toxic material off its platform. At the center of it is Accenture, the blue-chip consulting firm.
www.nytimes.com
January 8, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Speaking from the older end of Gen X, I have quite successfully trained my algorithm to show me mostly cute animal videos, women’s sports, and houses for sale in Europe.
You should make them a new account and prime it to radicalize them to normalcy instead of away

Like if they don't like the democrats prime it with content critiquing them from like a progressive left wing view
December 27, 2024 at 7:51 AM
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'REPUBLICANS CUT CHILD CANCER RESEARCH FROM FUNDING BILL AFTER MUSK’S MEDDLING'

If there's just one headline to share far-and-wide today, it's this one.

Make sure everybody knows.
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Republicans Cut Child Cancer Research From Funding Bill After Musk's Meddling
Republicans removed funding for child cancer research from a new version of a bill to fund the government after Elon Musk torpedoed the previous deal.
www.rollingstone.com
December 19, 2024 at 10:54 PM
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Day 14 of my Texas Hates Mothers and Children Advent Calendar: Texas had more pregnancies caused by rape than any other state that banned abortion after Dobbs—26,000 in only 18 months. No rape or incest exception to ban. www.statesman.com/story/news/s...
Texans have had 26,000 rape-related pregnancies since Roe v. Wade was overturned, study finds
An estimated 26,000 Texans have had a rape-related pregnancy since Roe v Wade was overturned, more than in any other state with a total abortion ban.
www.statesman.com
December 14, 2024 at 8:10 PM
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Republicans did this to the working class while becoming the party of the working class.

This is the legacy of the Reagan Revolution 👇
December 9, 2024 at 12:22 AM
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Writers: yes, you are still a "real" writer if you
- have never published anything
- have no readers
- didn't write anything this month
- didn't write anything this year
- can't articulate words anymore
- can only float and mournfully wail
- were murdered ten years ago on this very spot
December 2, 2024 at 7:59 PM
Nobody beats Girma #USWNT
November 30, 2024 at 7:40 PM
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I will never forgive Bloomberg news for normalizing Trump and giving him a HUGE platform by interviewing him on October 15.

Can you please RT and follow us so we can overtake them them on Bluesky?

This will be a huge victory for new media. 💙🙏
November 24, 2024 at 4:45 AM
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I will never understand how a billionaire, the richest man on Earth, spent millions to buy an election for ANOTHER billionaire, and told us that his policies would cause all of us non-billionaires “temporary hardship...”

...and the public didn't tell BOTH OF THEM to fuck off.
November 18, 2024 at 6:15 AM
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You didn't miss it. This was reported for the first time in my newsletter this morning.

popular.info/p/13-things-...
November 18, 2024 at 4:10 PM