Stephen C. Rea
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stevierea.bsky.social
Stephen C. Rea
@stevierea.bsky.social
10K followers 1.7K following 13K posts
Senior Researcher, Critical Internet Studies Institute (@criticalinternet.bsky.social, criticalinternet.org). He/him/his. Views my own; shares, likes, etc. =\= endorsements.
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stevierea.bsky.social
YES 🙌 REFUSAL!!! “The only way to defeat suppression, oppression, and censorship—and where there is institutionalized power, there is censorship—is to refuse it.”

Omg I just got chills; this is from Ursula LeGuin’s essay about We (1973-77)
“He is worth keeping in mind, because in America when we talk about censorship we tend to whine. Radicals whine at the Establishment; the White House whines at the Press-you're not fair, you're biased, you suppress the truth—you just wait, l'm gonna get you yet. The only way to defeat suppression, oppression, and censorship-and where there is institutionalized power, there is censorship- is to refuse it. Not to reply to it in kind—if you try to silence me I'll try to silence you—but to refuse both its means and its ends. To bypass it entirely. To be larger than it is. That is precisely what Zamyatin was. He was larger in spirit than his enemies, and he consciously refused to let their smallness infect him and decrease his stature. He would not play the dirty little games. He would not admit Stalin into his soul.”
November 16, 2025 at 4:45 AM
stevierea.bsky.social
A beautiful small brown dog with a graying muzzle and big, cute eyes, wearing a red knit hat and sitting on a bed
November 16, 2025 at 2:40 AM
stevierea.bsky.social
#Caturday
November 15, 2025 at 5:30 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
Yellow spray painted graffiti on a black dumpster set on the street: “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage of the lamb.” I’m not religious and certainly don’t know my scripture well, but I *think* there’s a word missing from this verse?
November 14, 2025 at 4:31 AM
stevierea.bsky.social
“What do you think I'm afraid of that word? But have you ever tried taking its shell off and looking inside? I'll show you. Remember? The blue hill, the cross, the crowd? People on top, spattered in blood, nailing a body to the cross. People below, spattered in tears, watching. Don't you think that the role of those at the top is the most difficult and most important? If it weren't for them, would this exalted tragedy have ever been staged? They were booed by the ignorant crowd: but for this, the author of the tragedy God ought to have rewarded them all the more generously. And the merciful Christian God himself, who slowly roasted all who disobeyed Him in the flames of Hell isn't He an executioner, too? And what was greater: the number of Christians who burned, or the number of people that Christians burned when their turn came? And yet-remember this: nevertheless, for centuries, the Christian God was glorified as the God of Love. Absurd? No, just the opposite: it is a patent for inext?-cable human reason written in blood. Even when man was hairy and savage, he understood: true algebraic love of humanity is inexorably inhuman, and the inexorable proof of its truth is its cruelty. Just as burning is the inexorable proof of fire. Show me a fire that doesn't burn! Go ahead prove me wrong, argue with me!"
November 13, 2025 at 4:14 AM
stevierea.bsky.social
Recession indicator?
Graffiti on a light pole in black ink on top of many stickers, some new, some worn: “DO PORN”
November 12, 2025 at 10:56 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
National averages for E85, mid grade, premium, and diesel are all higher now than they were a year ago
AAA’s national average gas price tracker for November 12, 2025: = Fuel Prices Today's AAA National Average $3.075 - Price as of 11/12/25 NATIONAL AVERAGE GAS PRICES ® Regular Mid-Grade Premium Diesel E85 Current Avg. $3.075 $3.583 $3.942 $3.757 $2.504 Yesterday Avg. $3.072 $3.575 $3.937 $3.748 $2.508 Week Ago Avg. $3.079 $3.587 $3.946 $3.705 $2.508 Month Ago Avg. $3.083 $3.579 $3.938 $3.665 $2.474 Year Ago Avg. $3.078 $3.548 $3.904 $3.547 $2.482
November 12, 2025 at 4:37 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
[Wow]
“It was unbearable looking at them when in one hour, with these very hands, I was going to banish them from the cozy digits of the Table of Hours, tear them away from the maternal breast of the One State forever. They reminded me of the tragic figures in the "Three Freedmen," a story every schoolchild knows. In this story, as an experiment, three numbers are released from work for a month and told to do whatever they want and go wherever they please.® These unlucky numbers loitered by their workplaces, looking inside with hungry eyes. They spent hours stuck in the city squares, performing the motions their bodies actually required at that time of day: sawing and planing the air, banging invisible hammers, clanging on invisible metal rods. And finally, on the tenth day, they couldn't take it anymore: they joined hands and walked into the water to the beat of the March, going in deeper and deeper until the water put them out of their misery.”
November 12, 2025 at 4:21 AM
stevierea.bsky.social
It was never about affordability for these specific folks (bougie MAGA influencers), it was always about punishment and retribution. This is the J6er constituency in a nutshell
MAGA Twitter personality “Gunther Eagleman” (a pseudonym for former police officer David Freeman) tweets: “Dear President Trump, I would gladly give up my $2000 check for an Adam Schiff arrest. Deal?”
November 11, 2025 at 7:25 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
Anecdotally, gas prices are noticeably down where I live (higher than $2.50 on average for E85, but consistently below $3). But dang, the national average is only 1 cent lower than at this time last year
AAA’s daily national average gas price tracker for November 11, 2025: Fuel Prices Today's AAA National Average $3.072 - Price as of 11/11/25 NATIONAL AVERAGE GAS PRICES ® Regular Mid-Grade Premium Diesel E85 Current Avg. $3.072 $3.575 $3.937 $3.748 $2.508 Yesterday Avg. $3.071 $3.560 $3.924 $3.739 $2.511 Week Ago Avg. $3.053 $3.562 $3.921 $3.694 $2.472 Month Ago Avg. $3.090 $3.590 $3.947 $3.669 $2.486 Year Ago Avg. $3.083 $3.551 $3.907 $3.548 $2.475
November 11, 2025 at 4:48 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
Goats!
Three goats (brown and gray) in a pen, one standing on top of a rock
November 9, 2025 at 6:14 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
A mural at a Dia de los Muertos event: a brown face in the middle, with a jaguar-like face opening up around it, and a Mesoamerican painted/crested face opening around it. There is a lone candle at the bottom Seven women dancers on a stage at a Dia de los Muertos event. Behind them marigolds are hanging on strings. The women have their faces painted like skulls, and each is wearing a brightly-colored outfit: some in long, billowing dresses, one like a cowgirl, one with a cactus on her head, and one in an indigenous Mesoamerican headdress with a snake (possibly Kululcan) wrapped around her waist and wrist
November 9, 2025 at 3:34 AM
stevierea.bsky.social
Wow, it is hard for me to imagine being depraved enough to believe this, let alone post it 🤬

Context: this was a reply to a QAnoner’s post calling out RFK Jr. for opposing GLP-1 treatment in the past and then seemingly supporting it this week at an Oval Office event
Post: “We were not meant to be fat slobs and eat three meals a day. Complete hogwash. We were meant to be in a fasting state, one meal a day at most. Let's dispense with the modern lies concerning nutrition. Fast to heal! It's Biblical.” Below is a photo of a white man and woman and their five children, apparently taken in New Mexico in 1940. It is a popular share on right-wing social media. The caption reads, “IF THESE PEOPLE IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION COULD HAVE 5 KIDS AND FEED THEM YOU CAN DO IT NOW TOO”
November 8, 2025 at 5:34 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
#Caturday
A small brown cat with some black stripes is sniffing around an iPhone that is propped against a pile of books on a coffee table (the book on top is titled “Beautiful Macabre: Rare & Peculiar Posters 1862-1973”). You wouldn’t know it from the photo, but the iPhone was playing Zohran Mamdani’s victory speech, and the cat was very excited
November 8, 2025 at 4:38 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
We’re still not at late-Soviet levels of gerontocracy, but the Senate is pushing it. Wonder what the average would look like if we include the executive branch and SCOTUS in the calculation…
A fact box from my middle school Russian history textbook: “FACT: In 1982, the average age of the members of the Politburo, the ruling group in the Soviet Union, was sixty-nine.” (Nice) A bullet point from Congress.gov about the 119th U.S. Congress: “• The average age of Members of the House at the beginning of the 119th Congress was 57.9 years; of Senators, 63.9 years.”
November 8, 2025 at 2:35 AM
stevierea.bsky.social
I’m genuinely curious: when I click on the empty search bar on Wikipedia, why do I get this drop down menu? Is it something about my ISP/cookies/browser history, etc.? Just a cool, quirky thing to suggest possible searches? Or a weird glitch?

(This is the same on desktop for me rn, btw)
A screenshot of the Wikipedia search bar showing no search terms entered, but a drop down menu that includes: “List of Singapore LRT stations Light Rail Transit (Singapore) Automated guideway transit systems in ... Bukit Panjang MRT/LRT station Mass Rapid Transit and light rail station”
November 8, 2025 at 2:04 AM
stevierea.bsky.social
No! Bad, Google, bad!
A reverse image search using the Google mobile app: the image is a bright green and yellow etching of King Charles on (I think?) a New Zealand dollar. Below is Google’s identification: “Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th President of the United States, is featured on the fifty-dollar bill. The modern design of the $50 bill has a portrait of Grant on the front and the U.S. Capitol on the back. The bill also features a color-shifting numeral 50 that changes from copper to green when tilted.”
November 7, 2025 at 2:51 AM
stevierea.bsky.social
My favorite Musk anecdote, from @niedermeyer.online’s book, that kinda demonstrates this point, too:
“Only from behind the curtain was it clear that the car was in fact a long way from completion. Just like the Road-ster, the prototype was essentially a conversion: according to Vance, Tesla had bought a Mercedes CLS, converted it to electric drive using a modified Roadster drivetrain, and added new body panels (some of which were held on with magnets). At the reveal event, Paine's cameras disclosed that Tesla had set up a massive external cooling system that pumped ice water through the battery while workers scrambled to prep the car for its debut. During a test ride in the prototype that evening, the product specialist had to admit that the car's large central screen had frozen up and needed to be rebooted. Once again, Tesla had done just enough to create the perception that the car was real and was relying on Musk's bluster and showmanship to deliver the cash needed to turn that perception into reality.”
November 6, 2025 at 10:16 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
How tf does someone type this with a straight face??? Really shifting the goalposts about what counts as “overt bigotry” when the President routinely talks about “vermin poisoning the blood.” Or would that be “covert bigotry”?
The first paragraph in the New York Times piece linked in this thread/quote-skeet: “For much of President Trump's second term, the political heirs of his "America First" agenda have tried to form an intellectual framework for their movement that embraces nationalism while keeping overt bigotry out of the coalition.”
November 6, 2025 at 3:46 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
Album cover for LL Cool J’s “Walking With a Panther” (1989): in the foreground, a black panther wearing a thick gold chain, sitting on a brick street. In the background, LL Cool J is squatting, wearing green shoes and pants, a multi-colored leather jacket, and his (at the time) signature bucket-style hat. Next to LL is a black briefcase with handcuffs attached to it; one of the cuffs is unlocked
November 6, 2025 at 4:35 AM
stevierea.bsky.social
🤭 Hey, at least he acknowledged his mistake; that’s progress!
A QAnon influencer’s Telegram post, admitting he has reading comprehension issues: “Apparently I was wrong earlier... I double checked with official sources and Grok and even read the laws before posting... the language I read led me to believe what I believed. "Votes for the same candidate on each party line are added to produce the final vote tally for that candidate." Was straight from ballotpedia. I misread it. If a candidate gets 60,000 votes on the Democratic line and 15,000 on the Working Families line, their total is reported as 75,000 votes. Picking both does not allow for this and in fact invalidates your vote. I'm truly sorry. Deleted my posts. And will try to do better.”
November 5, 2025 at 4:59 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
Well, this is the least surprising development
A Twitter/Grok summary of current events: “Tucker Carlson Apologizes for Hating Christian Zionists Amid Gaza Church Strikes Tucker Carlson issued a public apology on Monday for stating he hated Christian Zionists more than any other group, linking his outburst to anger over Israeli airstrikes on Gaza churches like the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius and Holy Family Catholic Church, which killed civilians and reduced the area's Christian population. The original comments, made in an interview with Nick Fuentes, prompted backlash from conservatives including Sen. Ted Cruz and exposed tensions in Republican support for Israel. Carlson clarified his frustration targets the ideology enabling such actions, while praising many Christian Zionists as kind people. This story is a summary of posts on X and may evolve over time. Grok can make mistakes, verify its outputs.”
November 4, 2025 at 8:07 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
Jfc cooked cooked cooked. There are influencers spreading this as “evidence” a voter can vote for Mamdani (or Sliwa) twice on the same ballot and have both count
A Twitter thread between Grok and an anonymous user (in a QAnon influencer’s replies): Grok: “Yes, precisely-one voter marking Mamdani on both the Democratic and Working Families lines contributes two separate votes to Mamdani's total, as each party line tallies independently before aggregating. This fusion system encourages broad endorsements but can amplify advantages for multi-line candidates over single-line ones like Cuomo. It's a deliberate NY rule, not fraud, though it sparks fairness debates.” User: “so why wouldn't every mamdani voter fill in both circles? why hasn't that been amplified?” Grok: “Not every Mamdani supporter may know the fusion system allows dual-line voting, or they might hesitate if they don't fully align with both the Democratic and Working Families parties' platforms. Ballot complexity and time constraints at polling stations also deter some from marking every possible line. While it's amplified in local election coverage and analyses (e.g., past NYC mayoral races), national media prioritizes bigger stories, muting broader outrage-yet turnout data shows multi-line boosts aren't always maximized due to uneven awareness.”
November 4, 2025 at 6:07 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
Call the whaaaa-mbulance!
A QAnon influencer’s Telegram post: “MTG says there's a lot of Paid social media influencers who attacked her for going on The View when she announced... "I think that's very weak and pathetic." I'm honestly shocked... I honestly liked the idea of her going on this show to BLAST these evil witches, but she's not. These disgusting woman in The View LIE every single day about Donald Trump and she's not calling them out at all. It's very strange how nice she's being.”
November 4, 2025 at 5:19 PM
stevierea.bsky.social
“I want to believe” written in black ink on a beige wall
November 3, 2025 at 5:54 PM