iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

How is Trump's 'public relations' stunt in Iran workin' out for you at the pump, MAGA? Are you feeling the PR? Remember, always remember, because those of us who saw this coming will never, ever let you forget it: YOU wanted this, and YOU did this. 🫵 😅 😂

020

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

Just discovered this remarkable artist, beautiful work. I could look at this stuff all day. 😍

020

Reposted by David Bates

Dr. Annie Andrews @drannieandrews.com · 14/04/2026

If you cannot tell, you should consult your physician.

782147522908

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

Imagine spending an eternity listening to Donald Trump.

020

Reposted by David Bates

Michael F. DuBois @michaelfdubois.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

I wrote and posted this to Instagram a couple of days ago and it became my most-read poem ever. I’m honored I get to feel big feelings alongside you all. I’m posting it here too and want to use this space more consistently. Hello friends ❤️

29583272289

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Artemis II crew learning that three new episodes of the new season of 'For All Mankind' will be available when they get back.

010

Reposted by David Bates

Kim Wexler's Ponytail 🐝💛🎗 @madisonkittay.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Look at all that DEI sending astronauts around the moon.

270139602936

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

A good friend who graciously gave this one a beta read told me that this is one of my "most honest" pieces I've done on Substack, one where "the wizard behind the curtain" is on full display.

open.substack.com

On Masks, Acting and Artifice

In which I reflect on the question 'How are you?' in a world where no one is 'fine.'

020

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

A good friend who graciously gave this one a beta read told me this is one of my "most honest" pieces I've done on Substack, one where "the wizard behind the curtain" is on full display. #Depression #MentalHealth

open.substack.com

On Masks, Acting and Artifice

In which I reflect on the question 'How are you?' in a world where no one is 'fine.'

010

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

My latest over on Substack, where I write about art and culture in these unsettling and terrifying times. Subscribing is free, I've paywalled nothing, and no password is required. #Art #Culture #Substack

open.substack.com

On Centering, Art and 'Renaissance'

In which I list a few podcast conversations (and a book) I've been thinking about

042

Reposted by David Bates

Crystal Fleming is on sabbatical @alwaystheself.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Astronaut Victor Glover, pilot of the #ArtemisII, and his family. They must be so friggin proud.. www.nasa.gov/learning-res...

Astronaut in space suit surrounded by his beautiful family, including their dog

275139021994

Reposted by David Bates

Randi Mayem Singer @rmayemsinger.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

I'm confused. I thought we needed scientists and experts to go to the moon. Or did we send "do your own research" astronauts launched by "both sides" engineers and physicists at Mission Control?

917417

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

Now Trump's team knows what it felt like to be Biden's team watching the train wreck of the final debate that finally persuaded them it was long past time for Joe to go. 😒

000

Reposted by David Bates

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Just a friendly reminder to check your voter registration regularly. A lot of us have had our voting records sent to The Regime. There is no reason to believe this was a benign action.

27327135

Reposted by David Bates

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

I just did 2.5 hours in an MRI and I’ve had COVID19 vaccines numbering in the double digits, so I think we can confidently conclude that the vaccines don’t, in fact, magnetize a person.

4117691668

Reposted by David Bates

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

I really feel like we are at the dawn of an age in which truth, the simple facts of the matter, will be more valuable than ever and also less accessible than ever.

2074824676

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

Art Candee's feed piling up with pathetic ICE "agents" pulling airport duty is the laugh I needed today. 😂

100

Reposted by David Bates

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

As long as ICE is in U.S. airports, I will not be. COMPLETE AND TOTAL BOYCOTT! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!

2227349

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

"Hegseth increasingly desperate"

020

Reposted by David Bates

Voices for Vaccines @voices4vaccines.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

"She’s hearing from people sick with the virus: 'A number of them clearly said if they had known, they would have vaccinated themselves and their children against measles, but they didn’t realize how bad it was.'" What happens when we downplay disease. www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

nbcnews.com

Measles is 'worse than expected' in Utah, officials say

Measles patients in Utah are developing severe complications, health officials say, including potentially life-threatening anemia and liver inflammation.

58844

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Watched press conference footage of Pete Hegseth a couple days ago and the mind just reels: What a monumentally stupid, astoundingly insecure and immature piece of excrement he is. Makes Rumsfeld and Cheney look like enlightened intellectuals. Every fucking day, I'm like 🤯 🤯 🤯 WTAF?

000

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

I've resumed writing on Substack, here's my latest. Please like, share, subscribe ... it's free and simple, no password bullshit. I ain't selling anything (although paid subscribers obviously are always welcome).

open.substack.com

On Some Films, some Art, and Writer's Block

In which I refer readers to two pieces I published elsewhere while preparing to reboot the 'ol Substack and explaining what's going on with 'Renaissance Watch'

000

Reposted by David Bates

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

The Trump administration can shuffle HHS personnel all they want. Until this administration is over and RFK Jr. is removed from office, the process of rebuilding science and public health in the United States cannot begin.

524659

Reposted by David Bates

Randi Mayem Singer @rmayemsinger.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

I guess "mass deportations" actually meant "mass detention in prison camps." Deportation and imprisonment are not the same thing. But I guess imprisonment has way bigger profits.

27458144

Reposted by David Bates

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

A lot of people, including me, were wondering how an IRB could ever approve this study. The answer is that no IRB did. The person who “signed off” on approval from the only ethics board that reviewed it had resigned three years earlier. His signature was used without his knowledge.

8342472070

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Trump's America. If you're okay with this, I'm not okay with you.

000

Reposted by David Bates

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

If you refuse to vaccinate and your child becomes seriously ill with a vaccine-preventable disease, I can assure you that all of your anti-vax “friends” that you met on social media will be nowhere to be found.

719843

Reposted by David Bates

WIRED @wired.com · 30/01/2026

Since last year, we’ve been reporting on ICE extensively. But every week brings new information, and it’s getting harder to keep track of what’s happening, let alone remember what’s already happened. So here’s a quick thread to help.

121353549

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

This needs to be read as widely as possible, it's likely the next play -- possibly attractive to the fascist perpetrators because it's less optically repugnant than simply shooting American citizens in the street. Heads up, Minnesota, show the country how to fight this shit.

open.substack.com

What to Do When They Arrest Your Governor

Options exist, let's explore them.

000

Reposted by David Bates

Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

"I was only following orders" wasn't an acceptable excuse at the Nuremberg trials & won't work now. #AccountabilityIsComing

1674298967379

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

No, ICE, you don't get to override the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution with a fucking internal memo. #AmericanFascists

020

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Vance doesn't appear to fully grasp that he's going to be handing Baby #4 over to Trump at some point. Grinning as he does it.

030

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Boston to Lisbon ... so ICE is concerned that "illegal aliens" might try to ... leave the country? And wants to stop this from happening? 🤔

020

Reposted by David Bates

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

You may have heard that there’s a measles outbreak in Arizona. You may not have heard that 97% of the cases were unvaccinated, and that measles continues to spread in the state.

25413170

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Rogan is now blasting the "Gestapo." What the fuck did he think was going to happen? Did he think "mass deportations" was going to be friendly, polite and orderly?

000

Reposted by David Bates

derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Marco Rubio, June 2012.

National Review article excerpt. It reads: "On the other hand, when I hear some people accuse immigrants of destroying the American economy and culture and stealing jobs from American citizens, it stirs my anger, too. I can’t stand to hear immigrants described in terms more appropriate to a plague of locusts than human beings. And although I believe they are a small minority, I begin to wonder if some of the people who speak so disparagingly about immigrants would be just as worked up if most of them were coming from Canada."

28499052311

Reposted by David Bates

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Seems like every day there are more and more people looking at ICE and saying “I didn’t vote for this”. You did. You voted for a man who handed out MASS DEPORTATION NOW signs to crowds at his rallies. Did you think that mass deportation was going to be gentle and thoughtful and peaceful?

39684194

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

"POLICE" wear uniforms with no masks, not army fatigues with masks. That's not police, but it sure as fucking hell is a police state.

000

Reposted by David Bates

Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

ICE agents are stalking the streets of Minneapolis demanding that random brown people provide proof of citizenship. We good with that, America? I thought we learned this lesson back in World War II, but I guess not.

621125524198

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

If he steals the next election and lives that long, we could very well still be listening to the President of the United States bitch about 'Sleepy' Joe Biden until 2033.

000

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

The Klan wore masks. ICE wears masks. Same goddamned thing.

000

Reposted by David Bates

Cheryl T. @g8rgrrlcheryl.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

House Speaker Mike Johnson apparently doesn’t understand how our justice system works. He said if Fed Chair Jerome Powell is innocent, “then he can prove that.” No, Mikey, he doesn’t need to prove he’s innocent. His accusers need to prove he’s guilty.

984991612

Reposted by David Bates

Charlotte Clymer @charlotteclymer.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

He didn't shoot her in the head at point blank range because he felt like he was in danger. He shot her in the head at point blank range because he was furious that she wasn't afraid of him. He shot her in the head at point blank range because he felt emasculated.

6634654211749

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 09/01/2026

It wouldn't surprised me to learn that ICE agents are paid in cash, so as to avoid a paper trail. Because when Trump's jig is finally up -- and it WILL end, eventually -- a lot of those fascist motherfuckers are heading to prison. Not "political retribution." For actual, fucking crimes.

000

David Bates @davidbwriter.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

PREACH!!!!!!!! GODDAMNED RIGHT!!!!! 🤬

000