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James Aponte

@jamesaponte.bsky.social
261 followers 124 following 119 posts

Filmmaker. Writer/Director of STRANGE SHAPES, DREAM RUNNER, VEJIGANTE, & lots of shorts. Just a simple man trying to make my way in the universe. 🇵🇷

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Reposted by James Aponte
Kelly Barnhill @kellybarnhill.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Do we really need to explain to people that it is really, REALLY important to read to young children? Like, you, personally, need to read to your child - your voice, your face, your hand gestures, your lap, your arms, your closeness. What kind of parent doesn't know this in their bones?
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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
There’s this strange belief that saying the enemy’s name lends them strength, but the implicit underpinning of that idea is that saying their name requires you to adopt subtly apologetic, fearful, hedged criticisms. If you say their name while slugging them in the face, you simply look unafraid.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Sam Altman said people are just gonna have to die in order to implement AI. In the very same week, Anthropic claimed it’s a human rights violation to be mean to the computer. These people need to be held accountable. They think lines of code are a person with rights but living people are debris.
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
this is so much more encouraging from a purple state democrat than giving in to bullshit on trans rights this is the kind of shit people will go to the polls and fight FOR
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Okay fine. I will win the NFC East.
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"Radical" Russ Belville @radicalruss.com · 08/10/2026
Democrats better learn quickly that they must stand for the people, all of the people, not just the people that Independents don't think are icky, all of the people and all of their civil rights. Or, they can become the American Labour party.
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Headline Vibe · by NoMAGA @headlinevibe.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
“Win first” treats a targeted minority’s rights as campaign currency. Once that becomes acceptable, every future concession is easier to sell as necessary strategy.
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Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Come 2028, remember that Gavin Newsom helped Trump's oligarch friends buy CNN. prospect.org/2026/10/08/d...
prospect.org
The Democrats Who Let Trump’s Oligarchs Buy Hollywood - The American Prospect
The Ellisons enlisted a host of Democratic notables to undercut the proposed merger’s opponents.
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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Anthropic banning “abusive or cruel behavior” toward Claude in its new usage policies is proof to me that tech companies are going to moderate violence against AI before they ever moderate violence against women and minorities
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
i voted for all of them, but the response from biden, harris, obama, and the clintons to both terms of trump has been a dumpster fire. theyve sat back, laughed and joked, written books and had a good old time while regular people faced the fire.
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
lafeyette park is where he gassed protesters and stood with a bible. its one of the most accessible areas in dc and where ordinary people should be able to just walk. fuck this piece of fucking shit
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
When some of you say "there's no money for public libraries etc..." I hope you know that there always is and it's just not prioritized.
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Peter Ramsey @pramsey342.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Can’t improve on the headline
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Me when my parents rented DEEP IMPACT from Blockbuster
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 05/10/2026
This is your occasional reminder that generative "AI" in particular could have been developed on public domain materials and/or licensed and compensated works but the major players intentionally, methodically and systemically chose to steal labor from working creative folks instead
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lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 05/10/2026
you'd like to schedule a doctor's appointment? have you logged into MyHealthChart yet? Remember that MyHealthChart used to be Healbe. If you migrated your chart from Healbe Now or Healbe Epic, you are not eligible to make an account. Please make note Healbe Epic is formerly MyHealthChartRX.
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Mina Kimes @minakimes.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The problem isn’t that they’re moving past it—it’s that they’re trying to rehabilitate it. Would be better for everyone if people who don’t want to engage with the facts just talked about the play on the field and left it at that.
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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 02/10/2026
The rush to accuse, without anything approaching due diligence, artists of using "AI," should be treated with contempt. An artist gets their work *ripped off* to train a plagiarism machine, which then shits out inferior versions of that work, so then you accuse the artist of using "AI"? Fuck you.
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Catrina, CEO of Ventress @ohcatrina.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Consent is an immediate and enthusiastic “yes”. Not a no and then a yes after you pester them or guilt trip them. Not a half-hearted okay. Not complying because otherwise there would be an argument. Nothing but a clear yes. That’s it. It’s that simple. YES or nothing.
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ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
The Bible does support the idea that unlevened bread can be transubstantiated into flesh so, you know, I don't really look to the Bible as the definitive source on trans issues.
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
we're going to have to do so much to get our military back to a force that can actually fight instead of justifying pete hegseth's male inadequacy issues
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Hannah Vardit @hannahvardit.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
you will encounter more opportunities in life to change the batteries on a smoke alarm than you will to run into a burning building and no one gives a shit you changed those batteries but it is still very important and why are you waiting on a burning building, know what i’m saying, it’s a metaphor
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Josh Grubbs @joshuagrubbsphd.com · 29/09/2026
I will forever maintain that that left must not let the right claim patriotism as their own and dope things like this are a big part of why
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
When they get back in power, Democrats need to go all-in on higher education. We need a campaign of reinvestment in public universities across the country that makes the Morrill Land-Grant Act look like nothing by comparison *and* a GI Bill of Rights-style program of tuition grants.
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Dr. Johnathan Flowers, Bisexual of the Blade (Alt-text or DIE) @shengokai.blacksky.app · 29/09/2026
They can start by annihilating student loan debt and dumping piles of money into the arts and humanities.
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Todd Vaziri @tvaziri.com · 28/09/2026
"Computers don't think. If we had programmed this to come out a car instead of a monkey, you'd be looking at a hairy Buick." "No Way Out" (1987), with a remarkably prescient summary of how machine learning can work with "restoring" images
a series of images from the movie NO WAY OUT where they do a remarkable job summarizing how machine learning works in "restoring" a photograph
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James Aponte @jamesaponte.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
New blog, short and sweet: jamesaponte.com/nows-never-b...
jamesaponte.com
Now’s Never Been a Better Time to Support Indie Film  - jamesaponte.com
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Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
feeling sad? watch spy x family sick at home? watch spy x family bored? happy? anxious? watch spy x family the panacea of our time
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Einav Rabinovitch-Fox @einavrfox.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
There‘s much to appreciate in Mamdani, but his insistence that culture isn’t a privilege of the rich is one of his strengths.It is reminiscent of how unions and the government treated it in the 1930s -art for the masses - paintings, music, opera, theater - democracy for all.
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ElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I must say that I went with an Nvidia card instead of an AMD when I bought my gaming rig a couple of years ago. If I can ever afford another one (big "if" at this point), I will certainly go with an AMD, BASED SOLELY on the complete odiousness of Jensen Huang. He is for sure one of the bad guys.
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I was just pointing out a couple of days on here that this is the LOWEST HANGING FRUIT of low hanging fruit for Democrats to promise if they take control of Congress. RAISE THE FEDERAL MINIMUM WAGE from $7.25. It has not risen since 2009. It's criminal.
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Dear @duckworth.senate.gov when you became a senator you swore an oath to the constitution. Well impeachment is literally in the constitution. Impeachment is your job. So yes, “get back to work.”
Article II, Section 4:

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
My entire life I've heard centrists scolding leftist candidates with "oh, but how will we pay for all that? isn't your agenda unreasonable? shouldn't we run on a modest proposal for means-tested tax rebates?" Then Mamdani gets elected and makes it all look pretty easy. No wonder they hate him.
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O @omagus.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Like @joshjohnsoncomedy.bsky.social said, Mamdani just pushed the button.
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Todd Vaziri @tvaziri.com · 23/09/2026
seems bad
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Todd Vaziri @tvaziri.com · 22/09/2026
this one from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is one of my very favorite moments in all of cinema and I'm very glad Mike included it
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
everybody just fucking caves www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
Paramount settles lawsuits with 12 US states, clearing way for Warner merger
States including California and New York sued over concerns of ‘extinguishing competition’ with $81bn merger
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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 21/09/2026
funny thing about antitrust law is if you actually bother to enforce it you get markets with more small and mid-sized competitors that can't threaten you (see: Paramount threatening to leave California) as easily but alas, spineless corruption rules the american experiment
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dan sinker @dansinker.com · 21/09/2026
The best way to fight back against the Paramount/Warner Brothers merger is to support independent artists, journalists, writers, filmmakers, musicians and everyone else who has been walking a very hard path to putting things out into the world.
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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Did Bonta get ANYTHING from Ellison? Because the 30-films-a-year deal that is being reported has been promised for months, and the "editorial board" overseeing CBS and CNN means nothing without teeth. To me it sounds like Ellison threatened to move Paramount out of CA, and Bonta and Newsom folded.
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Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Media advocacy group Free Press slams Rob Bonta for caving to Paramount. "But the AGs’ capitulation marks a new low. It’s a sad day for all of us who have been opposing this merger because it will cut jobs and raise prices, all as it consolidates the media even more to enable authoritarians."
“We are disappointed that Attorney General Bonta went back on his promise to enforce the law and protect consumers and workers. Hundreds of thousands of people called on our state AGs to stand up to the Ellisons, who have engaged in a campaign of corruption and extortion to pave the way for this unlawful merger. We can no longer rely on the federal government to enforce the law and protect regular people. That much is clear. But the AGs’ capitulation marks a new low. It’s a sad day for all of us who have been opposing this merger because it will cut jobs and raise prices, all as it consolidates the media even more to enable authoritarians.

“Based on all reports, this weak deal contains nothing but unenforceable, empty Paramount promises. It abandons the thousands of creatives and workers who risked speaking out, and the tens of millions of consumers the attorneys general should be fighting for. 

“Behavioral conditions do not work. They won’t save jobs, preserve choice, or prevent price hikes. As we learned from the failed and widely-panned Facebook Oversight Board, a fake bipartisan oversight committee won’t save CNN. We have all the evidence we need from the Ellisons’ destruction of CBS about what they do to warp journalism at Donald Trump’s request. This latest capitulation comes as the Trump administration barred CNN and other reporters who dare ask hard questions from the White House press pool.

“Consolidating the media in the hands of friendly oligarchs is right out of the authoritarian playbook. Americans across the political spectrum are fed up with corruption and consolidation, and billionaires calling all the shots while everyone else struggles. People won’t forget who stood up for them and who capitulated.

“What’s exceedingly clear is that our laws and our political system are not strong enough to resist the pressure and manipulation of corrupt billionaires.
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Micah @rincewind.run · 21/09/2026
newsom and bonta let paramount threatening to pull out of california torpedo the entire lawsuit and this is going to be an abject disaster for everyone - including california, where they'll gut jobs anyway what a fucking disgrace
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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The worst part of Bonta caving on the Paramount merger is that it's a big flashing signal to every other company that there is no antitrust enforcement in America and you can bully your way into getting whatever you want. It's a monumentally bad decision.
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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 21/09/2026
aside from general antitrust concerns, this was an opportunity for dems to take aim at the right wing propaganda and information warfare project, and as usual, they failed pathetically
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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 21/09/2026
what happens next? what always happens. Paramount moves forward, and pays down the massive deal debt with massive layoffs, price hikes, and corner cutting resulting in lower quality products. At which point guys like Newsom, and other folks who pushed for settlement, will be nowhere to be found.
"Golden State Governor Gavin Newsom, who has been advocating for a settlement publicly over the past month, was in “constant contact” with the parties as talks ebbed and flowed over the weekend. Very much aware of the harsh backlash to a settlement that erupted among Congressional Democrats, A-listers like Mark Ruffalo and others as deal talks accelerated, potential 2028 POTUS candidate Newsom is said to have cautioned both sides to find terms that addressed “core concerns” for Hollywood and the state.

“It’s jobs, job, jobs, that’s what this all about,” a source close to power players in Sacramento told Deadline.

Paramount shares are up 9% on the news. WBD gained 10% trading at about $30.50. The deal calls for Paramount to take out Warner stockholders for $31 a share."
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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 21/09/2026
for your future voting knowledge, Gavin Newsom was central in pressuring the AGs to settle their antitrust lawsuit against Paramount:
deadline.com
Done! Paramount Settles Antitrust Suit, Set To Seal Deal For Warner Bros. Discovery
Paramount agreed to settle an antitrust suit by a dozen State Attorneys General led by California's Rob Bonta, the last obstacle to its merger with WBD.
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Chuck Wendig @chuckwendig.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Tbh, good advice regardless of mergers and media consolidations. Support the weird, small art made by real people.
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Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Always good to know that in times of labor crisis California’s government can always be trusted to get a piece of that pie away from those greedy little workers for itself.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Anyway, panic is a psy-op. Stay furious. Stay serious. Organize.
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