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Matt Johnston

@mattjohnston.bsky.social
268 followers 300 following 1.6K posts

new englander currently occupying a corner of the confederacy • public psychologist • triple threat • he/him life is either a great adventure or nothing

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Reposted by Matt Johnston
Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 20h
Weird that Donald Trump's message is that people who are being assaulted can stop it all by giving up and submitting to the aggressor, so weird, so so weird
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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
New working paper: the Norwegian wealth tax was a huge success. The "exodus" of wealthy people never happened (less than 100 individuals left). Tax revenue increased by 71.5%. No changes in business activity or investment. www.nber.org/papers/w35854
Taxing Entrepreneurial Wealth: Evidence from
Norway, 2021-2025
Marius A. K. Ring
WORKING PAPER 35854|
DOl 10.3386/w35854
ISSUE DATE October 2026
Whether imposing higher taxes on business owners adversely affects business activity by constraining investment and inducing capitalist flight is a central question in the ongoing debate on how to tax the ultra wealthy. To shed new light, I exploit a series of related Norwegian reforms during 2021-2024 that increased dividend tax rates, removed migration-related capital gains tax loopholes, and nearly doubled the effective marginal tax rate on business wealth. These reforms spurred international debate and, allegedly, an "exodus" of Norwegian billionaires (Financial Times,
2023). While I document clear effects on migration, these responses are concentrated among the top 0.1% of the wealth distribution and mostly confined to 2022 and 2023. My results indicate that at most 100 individuals left due to the reforms. I find no evidence of significant outmigration or reduced inflows of startup founders or inventors. I estimate that absent any outmigration, wealth tax revenues would have increased by 75% from 2021 to 2024. Reform-driven outmigration lowers the revenue gain to 71.5%. My findings further show that outmigrating owners' firms remain economically active and do not reduce investment. In a broader set of analyses, I examine whether business outcomes are affected, regardless of whether owners outmigrate, since firms may reduce investment both due to liquidity constraints or distortions to owners' savings decisions. I compare firms owned by Norwegian individuals subject to the wealth tax with firms owned by foreigners and other tax-exempt entities. By merging historical ownership data from Orbis with the Norwegian shareholder register, I perform these analyses on both Norwegian and foreign-domiciled firms.
Across settings, I find no evidence that Norwegian-owned firms pay out more dividends or invest less after the reforms,…
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 10/10/2026
"Fuck everybody who believes that this is what's supposed to be happening. There is nothing happening here that has to do with public safety AT ALL." @jumaane.bsky.social @advocate.nyc.gov
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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Something unprecedented happened during my visit to the Gulf. For the first time in 20 years in Congress, I was denied entry to U.S. military facilities and even meetings with military leaders. An order from Hegseth - that applies to both parties - to hide the cost of the war.
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Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I'm just gonna bookmark this for future reference when Dem pundits complain about how the party has trouble communicating its message to voters. The reason you keep running into trouble with your branding isn't campus radicals. The reason is that your opponents purchased all the media outlets.
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Daniel Gilmore @gilmored85.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I am so beyond fucking tired of the insane levels of deference and plausible deniability news media orgs--esp legacy ones like the NYT--afford Trump and the absolute intellectual rot and cravenness that it represents among the ownership & leadership of those orgs
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Just a reminder: Tillis persuaded the woman Hegseth allegedly raped to come forward with her story, and told her that if she did, it would sink the nomination. She did. At great risk to herself. Tillis then cast the deciding vote for Hegseth. Because he’s a goddamned coward.
ms.now
Outgoing Sen. Tillis regrets pivotal vote for Hegseth: ‘He’s an actor. He’s not a manager’
Outgoing Sen. Thom Tillis spoke to MS NOW about regretting his vote to confirm Pete Hegseth and his strained relationship with Trump.
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
We are, we do, and we’re also judging those who won’t. Every one of them is a danger to the rest of us.
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Grudgie the Wail @grudgie.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Why are we not allowed to judge the character of the voters who want this?
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Drew Magary @drewmagary.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Of course it was all lies. All the fuckers do is lie
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Shoe-per Intelligence @shoe.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
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heute jedoch nicht @heutejedochnicht.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
liebe
Meta-Adbusting in der Londoner U-Bahn
Jeffrey Epstein mit Ray Ban Meta-Smartglasses und Denkblase „Finally, a pair that suits me...“
Caption: „GLASSES FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T DO CONSENT“
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
He’s a completely demented fucking moron
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have.

What does “truth to pain” mean?

It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it.

I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability.

And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live.

She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.
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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The mind that boggles at this phenomenon—the inevitable result of putting violent xenophobic assholes in power and letting them run amok—is probably reeling at all sorts of basic cause and effect situations.
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Julia Carrie Wong @joolia.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
yes my bull went rogue in your china shop but I think we can all agree there’s no liability here it’s an agentic being
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🎃GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE🎃 @golikehellmachine.com · 26/09/2026
i think we are going to learn that there are a number of people in and around this admin who committed no shit, capital T treason and there will be strong incentives for the DOJ to prosecute them
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If you didn't vote Dem, you helped make this: @airbagmoments.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The hypocrisy is the consistency. They will say and do anything, no matter how humiliating it would be to a non power-mad sociopath, if it gains them an iota more power. This is common among those attracted to tyrants.
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Charlie Savage @charliesavage.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The DC Circuit has unsealed about 600 pages of litigation material from the Trump investigations at my request. They include a written 2-1 opinion and dissent (Millett, Wilkins, Katsas) rejecting Trump's attempt to block Mike Pence from testifying before a grand jury www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/u...
nytimes.com
Newly Public Documents Shed New Light on Trump Investigations (Gift Article)
Records unsealed on Wednesday include a 2023 appeals court opinion rejecting Donald J. Trump’s attempt to block Mike Pence’s grand jury testimony.
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Dr. Vaughn Joy @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I should've said one "popular" idea. And as people are pointing out, it wasn't even really his idea. I guess the same goes for Musk. These dweebs steal other people's ideas and go "I'm a genius! All you need to do is steal!" and then they made AI so they can democratize that "genius." Cool.
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Dr. Vaughn Joy @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I hope future generations judge us all for empowering Mark Zuckerberg, the man who only ever had one good idea which was born out of his desire to rank the hotness of women who would never look at him. He really is not the symbol of our times that we want, but he is the one we deserve.
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
The entirety of evangelical christianity is an immoral, destructive grift.
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Gillian Brockell @gillianbrockell.com · 24/09/2026
Plus, an ICE charter plane that was in the air when the appeals court said its bar on third-country removals was effective immediately, has since landed in two known TCR countries—Ghana and Liberia. Story to come at @prospect.org
An FR24 map showing N50JE landing in Accra, Ghana. An FR24 map showing N50JE landing in Monrovia, Liberia.
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
What is the downside for Republicans in ignoring the law? The courts don’t actually do anything. The Democrats don’t do anything. The mainstream media acts like THE FUCKING LAW is just a differing opinion. No downside at all.
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 24/09/2026
Impeach this fascist president.
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
9am and these fuckers have already refused to comply with 2 seperate judicial orders. Someone needs to end this shit.
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Shut them all down, regardless if what they claim is true or not. Use the excuse they’re giving us. Fuck AI.
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The people who credulously pronounce that Republicans had no idea their policies could negatively affect them are dead wrong. They absolutely knew who in their lives they could be affecting. The reason they’re angry is because they stupidly believed their loyalty would shield them from consequences.
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Maria Popova @popovaprof.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
This has been Ukraine’s compromise offer since March 2025. Russia keeps rejecting it. Anybody who tells you Ukraine/Zelensky are the obstacle to peace is a pro-Russian liar.
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🎃 Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 20/09/2026
I just honestly can't get over that Save Women Sports, an anti-trans group could only find five trans athletes competing K through 12. Five. The NCAA president testified a year and a half ago or so that there were less than 10 college level trans athletes. What the fuck are we doing, people
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
These people make me want to slap the shit out of them
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
"This election is about the threat of trans kids" is the worst possible messaging for Dems yet so many candidates are leaning into it. No voter will flip R->D over it. Low-info voters read this as "you're focused on bullshit that doesn't affect me" while the base reads this as "you're an asshole."
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
How on earth is this not an Onion post? It can’t be real.
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I am so unbelievably tired of having something new every single day that is absolutely batshit insane and awful for everyone but the billionaire fascists.
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Joshua Foust 🪖🎮 @joshuafoust.com · 19/09/2026
It should be illegal to buy a company with debt and then sell it off to a foreign owner, but that fight was lost long ago. Anyway, now the Saudis own a truly distressing portion of American entertainment, from Hollywood to Video Games to Sports. This is not neutral behavior. Anyway.
arstechnica.com
FCC lets Paramount sell 49.5% equity stake to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Qatar
FCC rejects concerns about repressive governments buying influence over CBS owner.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 18/09/2026
i am genuinely bewildered by people who say that the rise of white nationalism in the republican party is a response to the "woke left." like, did the woke left cause pat buchanan's 1992 presidential campaign? is the woke left why steve king had a long career in congress?
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The Onion @theonion.com · 18/09/2026
Trans Teen Hatches Nefarious Plot To Undergo Years Of Medical Treatments And Counseling To Win At Swimming theonion.com/trans-teen-hatches-nef…
Trans Teen Hatches Nefarious Plot To Undergo Years Of Medical Treatments And Counseling To Win At Swimming
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Secede and join Canada. Thats the plan.
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
“At the same time, about every two minutes, code checked that the camera was still running and logged the message, “Who’s a good boy?!” More than 12,000 of those messages appear in the recovered logs.” These people are fucking sadistic.
404media.co
Hackers Stole Flock’s Camera Software, Revealing How the Company Tracks Cars and People
While people around the U.S. are tearing down Flock cameras, one group of hackers went a step further: extracting the camera's software too.
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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
The Court of Death, by Rembrandt Peale, 1820, 📸 via @ContextFreeCBB
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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
not quite the same but reminds me of Ram's Head, White Hollyhock-Hills (Ram's Head and White Hollyhock, New Mexico), by Georgia O'Keeffe, 📸 by @emchinn
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ArtButMakeItSports @artbutmakeitsports.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Phaedra and Hippolytus, by Pierre-Narcisse Guérin, 1802, 📸 via @ErikTedJohnson
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
We gotta seize this dude and all of his enabler’s assets after this. He’s done too much damage. It’s not enough for these people to just sail away from this on a big boat. That’s our boat.
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Frederick Deknatel @freddydeknatel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
If Biden or Obama had started a war that led to attacks like these on American bases—and then covered it up for months—the political backlash would eclipse Benghazi. One service member: "We're not defending these bases. We're just watching them get destroyed." www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pho...
cbsnews.com
New photos show widespread damage at U.S. positions caused by Iranian missile, drone attacks
The images were sent to CBS News by active service members under condition of anonymity.
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Anna Lind-Guzik @alindguzik.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
CBS takeover failed, gas prices astronomical, food prices correspondingly astronomical, AI backlash growing, Iran war total quagmire. The only success this admin has had is protecting sexual abusers from accountability and making bank from crypto schemes.
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Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
I don't think people really understand the psychic impact of knowing that multiple times a day every day your friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, and everyone who could ever have any power over you is being flooded with agitprop designed to make them hate you
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 15/09/2026
the truly crazy making part of all of this is that voter fraud EFFECTIVELY DOES NOT EXIST. you have a better chance of finding an actual leprechaun at the end of the rainbow than of finding evidence of voter fraud that influences an election
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Better Things Are Possible @internethippo.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
There’s a bizarre contrarianism in the Democratic Party, where, if an idea catches on with the base it’s treated as presumptively unreasonable forever. Not even an effort to *appear* to be supportive. Politicians used to pander!
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Matt Johnston @mattjohnston.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
This photo gives me immense joy
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Nikes | AlexLeeDee @alexleedee.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
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