iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Ben Fordham

Phil Klay @philklay.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

“I doubt questions of justice are Mr. Hegseth’s real motivation. His career has long mixed celebrations of violence with disturbingly little concern for whether the people we kill are enemies.” I wrote about Hegseth and the idea of live-streaming an execution. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Pete Hegseth’s Bloodlust Doesn’t Hide His Military Failures

The secretary of defense is banking on a sadistic public.

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Reposted by Ben Fordham

Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

A good summation of David Brooks and "civility" politics generally: no one on the right-wing can ever be described honestly, while everyone who isn't on the right-wing is always portrayed as a radical breaking cherished norms.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 11/10/2026

question for brooks: what if they are, literally, nazis?

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

This is so horrible. It will outlive Trumpism. We’ll be dealing with it for many years, even in a best case scenario.

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"Online Rent-a-Sage" Bret Devereaux @bretdevereaux.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

The courts should block this. If they don't, we should tear it down on the very first day of the next administration. If possible, Trump should be made to watch the demolition. This, the ballroom, whatever he does to the Kennedy Center and all of the rest. Erase it all. Full damnatio memoriae.

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A minor detail is missing from the headline.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Don’t forget about their fake stickers. The damned things are just drawn on!

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

This really is the core of the problem. I doubt many of the people commenting on this thread are Republicans. They’ll have to grasp the problem and fix it themselves. It’s a big ask.

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Reposted by Ben Fordham

Christopher Harris @harrisfootball.com · 01/09/2026

It's a big day. My novel Pound Foolish is out. It's about a serial killer who plays on an NFL team. If you love the NFL (like I do), but feel conflicted because the league does EVERYTHING IT CAN to lie to us, steal from us, and sweep scandal under the rug... ...I think you'll like Pound Foolish!

The cover of Pound Foolish by Christopher Harris

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Reposted by Ben Fordham

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

There's no forgiving this. No living it down. It's a stain on our humanity. When all this is over, the monsters who did this should be pariahs. And the soulless thugs who cheered it on while dehumanizing Haitian immigrants should be reminded of what they did every day of their lives.

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NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Doctors say that measles can kill young children. A guy who snorts cocaine off toilet seats and drives around with dead bear cubs in his car says they'll be fine as long as they eat enough beef tallow. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to trust.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Fuck Donald Trump, worst president we’ve ever had. Deserves to be remembered.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

As if we needed more proof that our president is completely out of his depth. Contrst him with Mark Carney, an actual serious person. We’re living through such a national embarrassment.

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Reposted by Ben Fordham

Joanne Freeman @jbf1755.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Dolly’s final gift. At a time of extreme ugliness and hate, she has inspired an outpouring of love. It’s still out there, folks. Nowadays, that can be easy to forget.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

This is a nice explanation of why the idea that LLMs are conscious is absurd, of why some people might be fooled into thinking they are. www.theatlantic.com/philosophy/2...

theatlantic.com

No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious

Taken to its logical conclusion, this line of thinking is absurd—and damning.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

The Supreme Court can meet in a windowless warehouse in suburban Maryland.

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Reposted by Ben Fordham

James Talarico @jamestalarico.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I wish Ken Paxton would protect puppies the way he protects pedophiles.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

This is really alarming. I would not be surprised to see some of the tactics described here, such as defining “religion” to exclude Islam, tried at the national level. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/17/u...

nytimes.com

Islamophobia’s Rise in Texas: ‘I Won’t Rest Until Every Muslim Is Gone’ (Gift Article)

Muslim communities have been growing for decades, particularly around Dallas. Now, conservatives want to roll up the welcome mat.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

I was in DC two weeks ago. I saw what they were doing to the mall and the area around it to prepare for this misbegotten race. It made me sick and ashamed. It’s ugly and disgraceful. Some of us give a shit about the mall as a public space. It’s like they are rubbing our noses in it.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

It’s disgusting and depressing that Democrats have followed Republicans down this path. Candidates who do this should know that they will be judged for it!

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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

🤦‍♂️ It’s a fucking aircraft carrier, it’s not supposed to be pretty. I don’t understand why the Navy would even entertain this nonsense. He wants the tower/command center to be closer to the front of the ship. It would cost billions and result in years of delays.

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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

This is, bar none, the stupidest fuckung thing I’ve ever heard. And the idea that there’s nobody in the chain of command - civilian or military - with enough courage to say so is a disgrace.

wapo.st

Navy weighs major warship redesign to match Trump’s preferences

The president wants the new fleet of aircraft carriers to more resemble those from World War II. Such a change could cost billions.

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Matthew J Kuiper @matthewjkuiper.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Worth reading. @nickkristof.bsky.social gives voice to brutalized Palestinians in the WB (& Gaza) and strikes a balance between hope for a change Israeli leadership and realism that “even if that happens…, Gazans will still suffer unconscionably, and the West Bank will remain oppressed and unequal.”

nytimes.com

Opinion | Israeli Settlers Are Out of Control (Gift Article)

If Netanyahu is ousted in October’s balloting, don’t expect peace to break out, but the worst violence might be reined in.

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Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

These sailors are being put through this for a war that is unauthorized by Congress and for which funds haven’t been appropriated by Congress, a war that is now utterly pointless and which Trump simply doesn’t have the courage to end. Disgraceful. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

theguardian.com

USS Abraham Lincoln sailors tried to jump overboard amid extended deployment – reports

Aircraft carrier’s crew in ninth month at sea and has spent record 250 days consecutively without making land

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

That’s almost certainly what I’m looking for. DuBois testified before the Senate committee considering the UN Charter in 1945, arguing it needed a stronger statement about racial equality. Ironically, the racist Southern committee chair praised his comments on the Senate floor.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Thanks again. This is s huge help!

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

It isn’t the one Reed was talking about, which argues that the League of Nations is necessary for racial equality, but it’s still a great lead for finding it. No doubt Reed got the citation wrong in his speech.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I should add that Reed says in his speech that it’s from the May issue. I’m assuming that he’s accurate and that he means 1919. I could be wrong.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Research question! In a May 26, 1919 speech, James Reed (D-MO) denounced the League of Nations for including non-white states. He cites a DuBois article in The Crisis to make his point. I want to read this article, from the May 1919 issue, but can’t find it online. Does anyone have it?

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Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

“Trump has rejected disaster aid for Democratic-run states at the highest rate in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.” Right now people in blue states are basically paying federal taxes as if they’re colonized territories of red states. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

Trump has denied most disaster requests from Democratic-led states

A graph showing Presidential approval rates for disaster requests from Democratic-led states and Republican-led states

Source: POLITICO's E&E News analysis of FEMA records

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Reject the DSA in favor of…what, exactly?

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Why does word processing have to be worse now than it was a decade ago?

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

You just know they are going to let these guys go free and return to Florida. 🤮

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Reposted by Ben Fordham

Ken Martin @kenmartin.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Accountability isn't optional in a democracy. The FBI has just issued a license to kill to Trump's goons who can now murder whoever they want with no consequence. Our constitutional right and freedoms under assault by the very people sworn to uphold and protect them.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

The necessary reforms are not plausible. They would need to exclude the MAGA faction from power. The supermajority to do that doesn’t exist. We are who we are.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Good point. Our problem is that we have a single opposition party that opposes international cooperation. Lots of other democracies have similar parties, but they would probably have to govern in coalition. Here the nuts could be fully in charge.

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Ben Fordham @benfordham.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Our erstwhile European allies will not be able to trust us for the foreseeable future. Even a newly inaugurated President Ossoff could be followed by a President Vance in as little as 4 years. We’ve fallen, and we can’t get up.

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Brett "Solidarity 2026" Banditelli @banditelli.org · 08/07/2026

WAIT FOR IT WAIT. FOR. IT! 🪶 🐣

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Billy OceanGate 🇵🇸 @stitzch.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

The rig I'm on has put up first aid guides that were made with AI. Wouldn't bother with CPR there, would be more concerned by the fact is head isn't connected to his body

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Reposted by Ben Fordham

Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

The justices that upheld birthright citizenship in 1898 were racist men in a racist era who still could not avoid the plain text of the Constitution. What changed between is that the GOP now sees multiracial democracy as a threat rather than an ideal or aspiration www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

The Fourteenth Amendment has not changed since 1898. What have changed are the Republican Party and the modern conservative movement. Trump believes that “if you import the Third World, you become the Third World.” His rise to power began with his willingness to be a standard-bearer for a movement that cast the first Black president as an illegitimate invader and demanded to see his birth certificate. Trump’s second-term campaign promised “mass deportation” of those very same “Third World” immigrants, and since taking office, he has established an effectively whites-only refugee policy, specifically for white South Africans, illustrating that his objection is less to immigration itself, or to immigrants from the “Third World,” than to immigrants who are not white.

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The Onion @theonion.com · 30/06/2026

Palantir Acquires Pentagon For $800 Billion theonion.com/palantir-acquires-pent…

Palantir Acquires Pentagon For $800 Billion
Military Now Under Command Of Software Developer

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Reposted by Ben Fordham

Simon Rosenberg @simonwdc.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Every time Trump threatens to attack Iran he is violating the terms of his surrender. Here's the very first graph of the MOU he signed:

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