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Matthew Sheffield

@matthew.flux.community
13K followers 1.3K following 7K posts

🟦 Analyst and writer focusing on cognition, politics, religion, technology, and media 🟦 Host, Theory of Change 🟦 Also a software developer and web admin Signal: matthewsheffield.01

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Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Zach Everson @zacheverson.com · 18h
Here's a $20 million order, paid for by CBP's Office of Public Affairs, awarded to LMD Agency for a national media campaign starting on Sept. 20. The first pro-Trump ad aired on Sept. 23. www.usaspending.gov/award/CONT_A...
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Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) Call
PIID

70B06C26F00001137
In Progress
(11 months remain)
Unlinked Award
Awarding Agency
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
Recipient
LMD AGENCY, INC.
5950 SYMPHONY WOODS RD STE 500
COLUMBIA, MD 21044-3592
UNITED STATES
Congressional District: MD-03
Related Awards
Parent Award Unique Key
CONT_IDV_70Z02323ACGRC0001_7008
Dates
Today
Start Date
Sep 20, 2026
Current End Date
Sep 19, 2027
Potential End Date
Sep 19, 2027
$ Award Amounts
$20.0 Million
Current Award Amount
$20.0 Million
Obligated Amount
$20.0 Million
Potential Award Amount
Outlayed Amount
$0.00
Obligated Amount
$20,000,000.00
Current Award Amount
$20,000,000.00
Potential Award Amount
$20,000,000.00
View Transaction History
Description

NATIONAL MEDIA CAMPAIGN
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)Code
54 : Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
5418: Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services
541810: Advertising Agencies
Product or Service Code(PSC)
SERVICES
R: SUPPORT SVCS (PROF, ADMIN, MGMT)
R7: MANAGEMENT SUPPORT SERVICES
R701: SUPPORT- MANAGEMENT: ADVERTISING
Contract Activity
$0$5 M$10 M$15 M$20 M$25 MSEP FY '26OCT FY '27DEC FY '27JAN FY '27FEB FY '27APR FY '27MAY FY '27JUN FY '27AUG FY '27SEP FY '27StartTodayCurrent EndPotential End
View transactions table
Federal Accounts
This award has not been linked to any federal account.
Award History

This section displays the awards:

Transaction History - Displays modification records for an award. Each modification appears as a row in the table below.

Sub-Awards - Displays any sub-contracts reported by this contract's recipient (the 'prime recipient' in the sub-award context). Sub-contracts are contractual agreements that a prime recipient makes with another entity (sub-reci
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 12h
The core appeal of reactionary politics is hatred of competent and smart people who follow evidence rather than use it to support conclusions. A million incidents like this happen daily in academia and legal settings, and they're behind almost all right-wing "liberal bias" accusations.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 13h
The root of Trump's most durable support is that he is stupid, and deep down, his most fanatical supporters know that he is. Like recognizes like. They don't like scientists, minorities, journalists, and professors being high-falutin' -- and neither does Trump.
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Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Zoomer Antimillenarian @surcomplicated.bsky.social · 15h
Anyway, the Iran conflict is probably one of the less destructive ways Trump could detonate his political power. Albeit still hugely destructive. But at least we're getting a forced green energy transition and electrification (much stronger than any politically viable federal incentive).
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 13h
Trump’s evangelical allies thought overturning Roe would cement their influence. But some of their leaders are discovering just how little sway they still have. @cheetah.bsky.social went inside a major evangelical summit to see why cracks are starting to show. lnk.thebulwark.com/4hSCSS6?utm_...
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 15h
Any Democrat falsely accused of being a "communist" should keep this video on their phone to play back as a reply.
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Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Jim Carroll @jtccarroll.flux.community · 28/09/2026
My latest @flux.community: An increasingly fascistic Republican Party, not ideas that lie within the continuum of pro-democracy policies, is the true threat to America: why the Third Way declaration of war on the DSA is so very bonkers. 1/x plus.flux.community/p/third-way-...
plus.flux.community
Third Way “war” on democratic socialism betrays a basic misreading of U.S. politics
An increasingly fascistic Republican Party, not ideas that lie within the continuum of pro-democracy policies, is the true threat to America
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Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
Mike Stabile @mikestabile.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Utah wanted websites to verify the actual, physical location of visitors and force them to identify VPN users. The controversial addition to the state's age-verification law was suppose to go into effect next week, but a District Court judge struck it down at least temporarily.
techradar.com
Federal judge strikes down Utah's controversial VPN age verification rules
A major win for digital privacy as courts rule that state-level age verification laws cannot mandate the tracking of encrypted web traffic
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 28/09/2026
The allegedly liberal media is filled w mediocre conservatives like Megan McArdle who think that being criticized for stupid columns is the same thing as being condemned for shouting racial slurs at toddlers. They also claim to be the arbiters of normalcy, despite constantly being abnormal.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 28/09/2026
And made up on the two issues that many Democrats could have done much more about (reproductive and trans rights). Some blue legislatures have indeed codified reproductive rights, but much it has been by voters, including Republicans. Trump himself admits the Republican view here is unpopular.
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Ted Pastrick @splendidsplinter.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
It is. Won't re-litigate Kamala not going on it but I'm glad Talarico went and more Democrats should too, with the same messaging. Democrats fight for the little guy.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 27/09/2026
It's important for Democrats to go on shows like Rogan's. He has a lot of dumb ideas, but ultimately Rogan is a conservative and not a reactionary. Getting conservatives to feel safe with change is what progressives must do. Separate the uninformed normies from the deplorables.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 27/09/2026
It's certainly true that AI doomers vastly overstate the negative applications of the current technologies, but that does not in any way mean that they should escape regulation. Unfortunately, far too much of the regulatory discussion is about fantasy scenarios about tech that can't solve captchas.
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McJulie @mcjulie.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Republicans are governed by a very, VERY strong belief that rich people should not have to pay taxes.
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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
This is literally a Simpsons joke
So learn on the go with
your phone, wherever you are.
Genghis Khan
Professor of HistoryGenghis Khan Simpsons

YOU'LL GO WHERE I GO DEFILE WHAT I DEFILE, EAT WHO I EAT HMM?
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Dan Seitz @dseitz.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
One point that I don't think most people have internalized is that the entire right wing media sphere is basically a giant sugar baby operation for the failkids of various right wingers and their donors, and once that money runs out, they're just going to vanish into the ocean.
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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
You wouldn't know it from reading the headlines, but the president's downward mental health spiral is the biggest story in America right now We won't salvage democracy unless the media and pols start speaking the truth about Trump's damaged mind My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...
inquirer.com
We need to find the words for Trump’s madness before things blow up | Will Bunch
The media and politicians haven’t pinned down anything resembling a suitable description for a president’s downward spiral or the looming battle for U.S. democracy.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 27/09/2026
Throughout history, people who call themselves "rationalist" never actually are.
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Sean Carroll @seanmcarroll.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Important proposals for how to fix science funding. Funding needs to map onto how science is actually done: not by demanding this or that result, but by exploring this or that promising direction and seeing what happens.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 26/09/2026
Remember though, he doesn't like the Antichrist. He is just on camera admiring evil people.
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Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Interesting 🤔
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DebraToTheLeft @debratotheleft.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
THREAD of the day: The “true believers” of the GOP are not going to vote for anyone but the GOP, ever.
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P. G. Woodlouse @pewtertankard.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Hugely important insights in this thread
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Mike Bennett @mikehypercube.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Truly insightful and concise thread.
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Rick Perlstein @rickperlstein.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Very important observations here. Important stuff to mentally assimilate if you think that Democrats getting many more votes than Republicans in November is the whole ballgame.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 25/09/2026
I never saw that article, but yes, these Christians have been living in an imaginary world like this long before the modern jihadist movement began. It's a culture more than a century old that became even more radicalized beginning in the 1970s
flux.community
Far-right Christians think they’re living in a Bible story, and that you are as well - Flux
Literature professor Christopher Douglas discusses the modern-day rewriting of Biblical apocalyptic literature as a justification for political extremism
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Reposted by Matthew Sheffield
David Williamson @david.williamsons.net · 25/09/2026
Yeah. This. It's nuts, but it's also a bigger part of the country today than I sure would like it to be. The American Experiment is imperfect but interesting. To pretend it is God-ordained is, frankly, blasphemous.
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Joe Marshall @joemarshall.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I grew up in a right-wing evangelical household. The reverence that was given to the founders is straight up on par with what Catholics give to Mary. It was always an unspoken truism that the founders were divinely inspired by god. When I left religion, I deconstructed both my religious views, and
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 25/09/2026
🧵One important thing about right-wing culture that people who have never been a part of it don't get is that to most Republican loyalists, their religion is America. They truly believe that the country's creators were directly inspired by God. To write critically of the founders is blasphemy.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 25/09/2026
What Trump thinks happened with his attempt to make "super intelligence" with Xi Jinping. versus What actually happened
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

Very productive meeting with President Xi for both the U.S.A. and China. Tremendous things will be happening. Like almost everyone else, he seemed to like calling the poorly and inaccurately named Artificial Intelligence to a far more accurate and important name, SUPER INTELLIGENCE. That would be “SUPER!” Everyone last night agreed, also. President DJT


4.13k ReTruths

19.2k Likes Sep 25, 2026, 5:46 AM
A simple drawing of two figures with large circular heads. The larger figure is patting the head of the smaller one. The word "pat" is above the head of the smaller figure.
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Pam Keith @pamkeithdc.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I kinda feel like we should stop eating this incredible creatures.
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Dan Ancona @danancona.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
$84.7M.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 25/09/2026
Telling rich people they're the greatest geniuses in world history is actually quite a good strategy, especially is said rich people are actually not that smart.
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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 25/09/2026
In which my RNS colleague @bmietana.bsky.social tracks the "Rise of the Jim Crow theobros." Fascinating an unsettling reporting here, but this is a key line: "…along the way, they are turning outrage into cash." religionnews.com/2026/09/24/t...
religionnews.com
The rise of the Jim Crow theobros
(RNS) — A group of Reformed pastors and influencers has wedded old-school segregationist theology with the hypermasculinity of the manosphere and the savvy of the attention economy to preach and sell ...
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Katherine Alejandra Cross @quinnae.com · 25/09/2026
1976's "Network" turns 50 this year. The pitch black satire of television always felt a little over the top, despite its star-studded cast's performances. But then social media came along and validated everything this movie warned us about--and more. We're all mad as hell now.
liberalcurrents.com
“Network” at 50: Now We’re All Mad as Hell
Paddy Chayefsky’s take on television captured the Long 1970s—and anticipated the rise of social media.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 25/09/2026
Constitutional amendment that it's pronounced "diabeetus."
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Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 25/09/2026
Parker Molloy just published this thoughtful piece tonight. It's worth a read imo. open.substack.com/pub/readtpa/...
open.substack.com
Trainwreck
Old habits, especially embarrassing ones, die hard.
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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
We just dropped a bombshell investigation into ChatGPT's role in the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting. Incredible reporting from @markfollman.bsky.social that will have far-reaching effects...hopefully: www.motherjones.com/media/2026/0...
motherjones.com
ChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge school shooter focus on guns, tactics, and terror, our investigation reveals
OpenAI’s chatbot fed the shooter’s violent fantasies and planning up to the massacre.
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Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Alongside Trump's mental instability and his racism, his idiocy explains things that are otherwise inexplicable: presswatchers.org/2026/09/dona...
presswatchers.org
Donald Trump is an idiot, and the mainstream press is covering up for him | Press Watch
He does incredibly stupid things and doesn’t understand basic concepts, for starters
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 24/09/2026
This is a truly bizarre conversation that Tucker Carlson says he had with Trump. But it does fit w Trump's frequent discussions of his mortality. According to Carlson, Trump also knew that attacking Iran would create a worldwide fiasco. He did it anyway—likely because he's desperate for a legacy.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 24/09/2026
What an absolute disgrace that @mediaite.com has expanded its right-wing quota program to include some guy from Red State that just defended Trump's illegal censorship of CNN, Politico, and MS Now. A website about the media industry publishing opinion pieces in favor of censoring the media.
mediaite.com
Are Courts Ignoring a SCOTUS Ruling Justifying a Press Ban?
With legal wrangling taking place over the White House press ban there is a question about how courts are overlooking a Supreme Court case addressing the issue.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 24/09/2026
Imaginary election fraud is one of those issues where reactionary ignorance and malice perfectly reinforce each other. Having worked among them, they really do believe that millions of people have voted fraudulently. It isn't only because they want to make it harder for Democrats to vote. 🙄
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 24/09/2026
Can't let facts stand in the way of a right wing moral panic though!
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 24/09/2026
I've been getting into Incus lately as a replacement for Proxmox and I have to say it is incredibly impressive. Super fast, super-low resources, has a mature OCI container support, and works on any major Linux distro. Very cool piece of software!
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Jenna Norton @jenna-m-norton.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The immediate threat of the EO seems to have passed, but the greater attack on science by this administration is almost certainly not over. Some good thoughts on what we should be doing. I would add: get organized. Build connections and community. Many voices are louder than one.
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Steve Marmel @marmel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Everybody talks about Susan Collins clutching her pearls when we should have been asking who paid for those pearls in the first place.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 24/09/2026
I really hate the word "discourse" in the poststructuralist sense. It's so harmful because it makes people think that just talking about stuff actually does things.
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Kettering Foundation @kettering.org · 23/09/2026
“This is one of the largest projects that has ever been done on American democracy.” The newest data from the @kettering.org - @gallup.com #DemocracyForAll Project is now available.
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Wait…If you fight Trump’s frivolous lawsuits you will win??? Did anyone tell this to ABC and CBS News?
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 23/09/2026
Yet another lawsuit loss for the most anti-free speech president since Wilson.
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