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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 5h

Friendly reminder that MTG accused Ilhan Omar of *treason* and tried to get her censured by the House of Representatives. That wasn't "political disagreement." It was full-on racist scapegoating.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 7h

Yes, this is incredibly frustrating. Who *isn't* a "critic" of open hate-speech? (hint: people who use hate speech)

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 7h

Of course they blame the leakers, just like I'm a racist when I point out how bigoty Bigot McFascist is. This corruption is astounding. It doesn't feel like it because McFascist does it all the time, but let's remember that this is NOT garden-variety behavior among not-terrible people.

alternet.org

Trump's $333 million ballroom donor list leaks with explosive revelation

President Donald Trump's secret White House ballroom donor list has leaked, revealing that some of the $333 million comes from companies with lucrative government business interests and a $2.5 million...

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 9h

I'm so, so tired of this. Key point in this piece is that there's zero evidence GOP anti-trans attacks work, which means Dems "defending" against them by duplicating them are wrong (both ethically and factually). Just stop.

paulwaldman.substack.com

This is what “weak and wrong” looks like

A virus of moral cowardice is spreading among Democrats, and it’s not even smart politics.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 10h

I didn't wake up with this in my head, but now that it's here, it'll hang out for a long while.

youtube.com

The Jazz Butcher Conspiracy - Rebecca Wants Her Bike Back

YouTube video by redoalfo

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Quentin Dupieux directing a reboot of the Muppet Movie

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Granted I haven't been paying super careful attention to the news, but this is the first time I've heard a Dem colleague *anything* about the raid of her home. Sick racist scapegoating bullshit.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Read the whole thing. Jen S-F's liftouts in the thread are a lot of it, but there's more worth seeing. Lots more I want to say about this in relation to the de-chartering and our future, but I'll sit on that for now. This story matters on its own terms.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Trillionaire using US taxpayer money to support Russia in a war against a US ally. Don't forget who this guy is or how his network got this level of control over a war.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Here's the question I want every single reporter to ask JD Vance when he does this--on camera, in real time, and keep asking it. "Why do you think calling somebody gay is an insult?" Make him say it: "Because I'm a hateful bigot." Not that we don't already know this, but make him say it anyway.

crooksandliars.com

VP Vance Smears Talarico With Homophobic Lies

These people are sick creeps.

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Reposted by Seth Kahn (he/him)

Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I do think about the PATHETIC mostly white people who have cried for 10 years about "free speech" and "cancellation" who are either currently SILENT or avidly applauding what the vigilantes and the GOVERNMENT have and are doing to Ilhan Omar.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

No. Reveling in death is another form of eugenics. You think you deserve to decide who's worthy of living and dying. No, you don't.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Yes. Amplifying the critique of "quiet" here. Even if Musk weren't a vile POS, it would be a problem that he's buying elections, and the fact that he IS is a vile POS makes it a much bigger problem.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

The opening sequence from the original Matlock TV series which shows the golden dome of the Georgia capitol building as a courthouse.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Yes. If you're not reading The Handbasket, you're missing out.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

"Mommy and Daddy both said I don't have to go school today! Or course they said it! Because I said they did!"

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Time to renew my call for a reality TV show called "Survivor: Who Cares Island" in which we drop 16 of the worst people on a deserted island and just leave. The end. Nobody cares what happens to them, but at least they can't hurt more people and we never have to see them again.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

October 12, 2026

Billionaire Elon Musk has already funneled at least $366 million into the midterms to try to make sure voters elect Republicans.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Oh, 100%. Which is exactly why they won't check. Scapegoating only works when you don't admit you might be part of the problem.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Haitians. Somalis. Why does he keep doing this? Because it works for his intended audience. As long as they can scapegoat Black people who have done nothing to them in order to deflect attention from the fact that their own decisions have harmed them terribly, they're OK. [See also: trans people]

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

OK, now do Bernie Moreno, Juan Ciscomani, Carlos Gimenez, Young Kim, and Victoria Spartz. I'm sure there are no paperwork errors or anything among their naturalization processes. Obvs. <I snark. I don't really want any of this to happen.>

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

And it's especially bitter coming from a draft dodger who has no idea what it's actually like to commit the kind of violence he lusts for, and a goon who begged for combat duty but never actually got it, so it seems like he's trying to make up for it by directing lots of murder now.

paulwaldman.substack.com

The Public Doesn’t Want Hegseth’s Snuff Film, and Even Republicans Know It

Like all fascist movements, MAGA is built on violence - but they can tell when they’ve gone too far.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

It's like people who insist they're "boycotting Tesla" because they drive a used one, forgetting (ignoring?) that every time they use a Tesla charger, MUSK OWNS THOSE TOO.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Dear MSNOW: They're not "conspiracy theories." Even conspiracy theories aren't theories. But these aren't that. They're just lies. Why is this so bleeping hard for you?

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Why has the right "turned on" Native Americans, Vox asks? Because indigenous people directly demonstrate the lie that underpins White Christian Nationalism. Next question? Also, ahem, they've always hated Native Americans. Where you been?

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Yep. Just like Pegeen Reichert Powell showed college writing folks about retention research in her 2014 _Retention and Resistance_ (link in comment). It should be amazing that so many otherwise smart people propagate nonsense, but here we are.

curmudgucation.blogspot.com

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I managed to train myself to react by saying "Either they mean it and they try, or they don't, and there's not much I can about that by worrying either way." I haven't had to deal with this in years (like 20), so I don't know if that would still work the same way, but it kept me functional.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Adding: what people don't understand until this has happened to you is that you can't not take it seriously, even when every fiber of your being tells you it's just somebody being an asshole. Because how do you know?

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Reposted by Seth Kahn (he/him)

Annie Abrams @annieabrams.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

if your instinct is that it’s fine for the state to treat kindergarten teachers but not professors as puppets, please think about it for 10 seconds

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

On the upside, at least my sportsball teams might win more often? If all their results were tailored to my preferences? Nah, that's too implausible even for this vision!

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

"Telling the truth is impolite, especially if it's about people I like!"

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Well, yeah, that's what he wants. But he doesn't want to fight in it, and he doesn't want any responsibility for it, so he depends on stochastic terrorism to catalyze it and then deny his culpability. It's a well-worn playbook.

freethoughtblogs.com

Does he lie about everything?

The President is shit-talking Minnesota again. He really hates us. Somali immigrants are a tiny minority here, the ones I’ve met have all been good citizens, and no, I can look out the window…

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Dear David Brooks: No, it's not what we do here, and that's bad. When Nazis are Nazis, calling them Nazis is exactly the right thing to do. People like you have allowed them to fester unabated, and then you act all surprised when they do Nazi things. Jeebus wept.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I didn't use Twitter, so a lot of my sense of Bsky is "Oh, that's why people liked Twitter before it became a Nazi hellscape." Honestly if I designed something new, it would be half Google Plus (remember that one?) for the way it enabled different subnetworks, half Discord (to replace FB groups).

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Most generous answer I have: the same reason I still use FB. I have a carefully built network there of people I depend on as a network, and I don't know how to replace it yet. Or, I know there are options but don't know how to convince other people to use them.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I keep getting snagged on the finding that even when someone told an LLM to assess *retracted research*, the LLM didn't register the importance of the *retracted* part because it can't. Which is REALLY BLEEPING BAD. That's different from someone who cites an article without noticing a retraction.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Of course LLMs are sucking up material from paper mills, retracted papers, other faulty LLMs, and putting all that forward as if it were reliable. Because it doesn't know or care about the difference. It doesn't know or care about anything.

news.err.ee

Effect of research paper mills enough to start affecting LLM query results

Scientific paper mills and AI-generated content are posing a growing threat to research integrity, while retractions reveal only a fraction of the problem, TalTech researcher Anton Sokolov says.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Or, to buy stuff, you can go to the store where they have stuff, and buy it. Or even go to a website that sells stuff, and buy it. I wouldn't give Elon Musk my credit number at gun point.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

@philadelphiaunion.com made that a little more interesting at the end than I expected, but that was a good win against a pretty desperate team.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Yes, and then that couples with humans' ability to believe we've made rational choices when we've actually been totally emotional, so we feel like we're smart, reasonable people for having made utterly irrational decisions. Of course propagandists exploit the daylight out of this.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Watching that Spurs game was NOT the "relaxing beginning to Fall Break weekend" that I might have hoped for. When you're as rough around the edges as they are, a game you could really easily have won and really easily have lost happening at the same time isn't as weird as it should be.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I'm not even sure framers understand that they're doing it, at least the ones who aren't professional comms/PR/strategy folks. And that makes it even more insidious.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Aside from the obvious treason, this is Sexual Predator 101: she could have stopped the attack just by consenting. What a very awful person he is.

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Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Exactly. Which is why those of us who write about this stuff need to keep priming people on it even when it feels repetitive. Just having written it down somewhere doesn't magically do the work of getting it into people's heads, and just having seen it once doesn't make people better at doing it.

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