Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 5hThe definition of Republican insanity: The GOP-controlled Congress trying to pull a "gotcha!" on Jack Smith and expecting results other than getting their heads handed to them on a platter by someone far smarter than they are. 252
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 9hThis abomination should be illegal. This policy amounts to working to bypass (what little is left of) US legal protections by shipping people to what are essentially foreign concentration camps in nations with questionable governments (to say the least). www.washingtonsun.com/courts/supre...washingtonsun.comSupreme Court Allows Trump to Continue Third-Country Deportation PushThe justices agreed to hear arguments over the speedy deportation policy in December. 141
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 9h[Sarcasm On] A brief review of economic history shows, of course, that corporations of all types require no oversight, and that regulations and laws limiting their behavior are completely unnecessary. They are perfectly capable of self-regulation. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...theguardian.comTrump announces vague ‘morally binding’ AI deal among tech CEOs for ‘tremendous self-policing’US president also issues executive order officially rebranding ‘artificial intelligence’ as ‘superintelligence’ 252
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 9hA tale as old as time, these days. "Yes, it will worsen the Climate Disaster, but it will help the economy!" This reminds me of this classic parody, also about Australia and coal. It completely sums up the attitude of fossil fuel corporations. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqXz...youtube.comAUSTRALIANS FOR COAL. What is your investment dollar doing?YouTube video by Yannis Nikolakopoulos 171
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 19h"When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?"It's one of my favorite JM Keynes quotes. It can be incredibly hard to simply follow the evidence. Forget everything you thought you knew. Tabula rasa. 110
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 29/09/2026A senator on the Senate UnTrumpian Activities Committee makes a bombshell announcement: "I have in my hand an envelope that contains all the names of former government employees named Jack Smith who had reserved seats for an NBA game." 132
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 29/09/2026AI instruction seems more mind-numbing than this classic bit of teacher parody which at least had a real teacher in front of the class. We are talking pencils-in-the-ears-level mind-numbing. I suspect it's a conspiracy to make sure Texas kids grow up to be mind-numbingly stupid Republicans. 😎static.klipy.comTeacher Asks 'Anyone?'Alt: Teacher Asks 'Anyone?' 021
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 29/09/2026There is a lesson from history. Few people know that much of the manpower behind the Holocaust was provided by ordinary police, not the SS or the Gestapo. It is a common practice, an authoritarian governments to co-op ordinary civil servants, making them part of the machinery of repression. 182
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Seems doubtful. 😎static.klipy.comPretty Bubbles Animation with SparklesALT: Pretty Bubbles Animation with Sparkles 131
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 29/09/2026There is a strong argument to be made that the super-billionaires need to be downsized by a wealth tax in addition to the income tax they already (mostly don't) pay (that should also be increased. One Economist proposed a measly 2%. Why not 10% or even 20% - A YEAR until their wealth drops 4167
Reposted by Michael FletcherBruce Wilson @brucewilson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026The contrition tango. 262
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 28/09/2026The business model for the 21st Century. Create a product (e.g., invasive surveillance tools) Sell products to let people avoid the negative impact of that product (e.g., a VPN or even Philip K. Dick's Scramble Suit) 121
Reposted by Michael FletcherKhashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 28/09/2026Unbelievable. Apparently at the same time Trump is withholding a $14 billion arms package to Taiwan approved by Congress, he offered to sell arms to Xi Jinping, despite the fact that China is aiding Iran and Russia. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/u...nytimes.comTrump Offered to Sell Arms to China, U.S. Ambassador Says (Gift Article)President Trump made the offer to Xi Jinping, China’s leader, said David Perdue, the ambassador to China. The White House later said the U.S. had no plans for such a sale. 1091019553
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 28/09/2026It's fairly pathetic how the Trump and the GOP have copied and are still copying Orban's playbook. Have they realized that Orban ultimately lost? Don't expect the GOP to see the light and reform. Instead, expect them to double down. 262
Reposted by Michael FletcherFrederick Deknatel @freddydeknatel.bsky.social · 27/09/2026"It is almost impossible to overstate their desire to avoid responsibility." @akbarshahidahmed.bsky.social to @shainin.bsky.social on his "incriminating account of America’s foreign policy establishment, even as Biden’s top staffers are busy whitewashing their reputations elsewhere in the media."equator.orgGuilty Men • EQUATORA new book thoroughly documents America’s complicity in genocide 056
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 27/09/2026How will the GOP attempt to disrupt, interfere with, and sow doubt about election results? Let me count the ways. Also, if space weren't a vacuum, you would hear the echoes of their yelling after it bounced off the moon about 26 days after Election Day. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...theguardian.comTrump allies could use midterms ‘counting window’ to disrupt results, experts warnFears grow that loyalists in key states could use critical period when votes are counted to amplify false claims 020
Reposted by Michael FletcherNaomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Big Tech wants us talking about about whether AI will usher in "superintelligent" heaven or killer-robot hell so we won't talk about the harms their technologies are already unleashing. @arimelber.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaja88xxirYyoutube.comAI psyop? Author calls BS on 'end times' warningsYouTube video by MS NOW 634098
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Vought, like Trump, is supposed to faithfully execute the law. He is flagrantly flouting it. He needs to be impeached just like Trump. 155
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 27/09/2026It's literally the President's job to carry out and enforce the laws Congress passes, including allocating money to programs he doesn't like. The Constitution specifically states that he is supposed to "faithfully execute" the laws. www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-c...cbsnews.comTrump cancels nearly $1 billion in spending approved by Congress, a move some lawmakers called illegalPresident Trump moved to cancel almost $1 billion in spending that was approved by Congress, marking the second time his administration has employed a rarely used tactic that some lawmakers in both pa... 101
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Europe is the cautious, practically unresponsive frog in the cooking pot while Russia slowly ups the temperature. With the Trumpian US now playing for Team Autocracy, they appear nearly paralyzed with fear. 100
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Rahm vs. Vance is 2028, is a nightmare scenario that should cause anyone to wake up screaming in a cold sweat at 3 AM. 031
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 26/09/2026As I was saying earlier today. It's human use and misuse of AI that worries me the most. 031
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Today, from the pulpit of the First Nerd Reich Church: "I love Cthulhu and Satan because those guys really get things done!"😎 044
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 26/09/2026The stupid is genuinely fingernails-on-blackboard painful. 010
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 26/09/2026Human misuse is a far bigger threat than AI becoming Skynet. It is already happening. The problem is that these models are so complex that they become black-box models; that is, the people who program them often can't say exactly how results are generated. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comIt’s not hypothetical: the dangers of AI are already here | Granate Kim and Mohamed HusseinIsrael and the US have used AI to kill in Gaza and Iran, while law enforcement uses it in surveillance and arrests. The future is here 176
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 26/09/2026The Supreme Court allows the Trump administration to have their own voter database. What we know about this cobbled together data disaster is that it lends strong credence to Theodore Sturgeon's dictum, "Eighty percent of everything is crap." 0104
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 25/09/2026AI doing what you didn't want it to do and doing harm is a programming error. The people who wrote the code are responsible. It's not an autonomous being with agency. It's code. It's really that simple people. 010
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Storm from the northeast, sailor and beach residents take warning. 010
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 25/09/2026promoting a reply discussing the motivations of the Roberts Court. 000
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Question: Will Bibi sink any deal (again) because of Lebanon, and because the war provides cover and conveniently distracts the international community's attention from his ethnic cleansing efforts in Gaza and the West Bank? www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...theguardian.comIran awaiting response from Trump on proposal to open strait of Hormuz in six daysCountry says US must lift sanctions on its oil exports and end the war on all fronts, including in Lebanon 074
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Corporations paying for science fraud papers is nothing new. Sadly, a few choose a fat paycheck over professional integrity. A few years ago, one scientist lined up a series of fraudulent papers and called them his "deliverables." It is sad and pathetic stuff. 1104
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Trump never pays for anything. I wonder how many statutes this violates. I'm guessing there is more than one. apnews.com/article/paid...apnews.comUS government foots bill for television advertisement featuring Trump's midterm messagingAn ad running on Fox News and Newsmax showing images of President Donald Trump and calling for the defeat of communism was paid for by the U.S. government. 051
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 24/09/2026The "Florida Man" classics keeps dropping. Also, I wonder if the Florida Man phenomenon has anything to do with the conditions in Florida - a State largely dominated a corrupt GOP for over a decade 130
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 23/09/2026More on Stephen Miller's Orwellian Doublespeak, "remigration" policy. 172
Reposted by Michael FletcherAngry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 23/09/2026No matter what side of the aisle you’re on, this argument should be chilling. Trying to limit freedom of the press under the guise of national security is what tinpot dictators do. That’s not how a functioning democracy works. 915111953705
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Ah, the old National Security dodge. If I had a dollar for every time someone used that excuse to cover for doubtful, unethical, or even illegal activities, I'd be rich. www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...nbcnews.comDefending Trump media ban, DOJ cites national security and says White House access is a ‘privilege’The court filing urges a federal judge not to block the order, ahead of an emergency hearing Wednesday after a lawsuit filed by CNN, MSNOW and Politico. 5116
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Get used to the idea that deaths from the growing Climate Disaster will start adding zeroes, a lot of zeroes. www.theguardian.com/environment/...theguardian.comHuge El Niño projected to cause 450,000 deaths in next six monthsNew report predicts a heavy toll from Nigeria to the US – and comes on top of existing impacts of the climate crisis 173
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Trump has had corrupt links with the Russians for decades. It very likely began in the 80's but possibly even earlier. Connections to US mob figures go back even further. It was practically common knowledge in New York that Trump was "mobbed up." 243
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 22/09/2026It can't get much more stupid than that. Oz must have cut statistics class. Or, like many Republicans he is so overcome by ideological tunnel-vision that he doesn't know how the system works, or even care to know how it works. He will do what ideological purity demands, no matter the harm. 1112
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 22/09/2026You were warned about this man for 10 years. 270
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 22/09/2026The banality of corruption joins the banality of evil. The amount of corruption in the GOP has become so commonplace that is has overwhelmed most. Corruption that once would have ended careers is now barely commented on or even taken note of. By ignoring it, the public becomes part of it. 222
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 22/09/2026For small nations or regions, letting the billionaires and corporations in to run amok is almost as bad as finding oil or rare minerals and then governments, billionaires and corporations come in to run amok. 031
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 22/09/2026I've decided to write a cautionary short-story even shorter than Frederic Brown's shortest: Assassinations and military coups don't end well. The End. 010
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 22/09/2026What we are doing isn't enough. All the pledges to do something, as long as it doesn't hurt the global economy or fossil fuel profits. That model was always doomed to fail. It was never going to be enough. www.theguardian.com/environment/...theguardian.com‘Planetary boundaries’ necessary for flourishing of life have been massively breached, scientists warnNew report shows key indicators of Earth’s health are ‘outside the safe operating space’ as climate disaster looms 032
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 21/09/2026The Night Economy is coming. That is my name for a time when daytime temperatures become so dangerous that all significant human activity outdoors, including sports and economic activity, will be moved out of the the deadly daytime heat or, if possible, be transferred indoors. 021
Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 21/09/2026Filtering out parts of history we don't like or that make us feel uncomfortable is a huge mistake. It should be presented as it was, warts and all; no chaser. Otherwise the space gets filled with narratives meant to manipulate people's beliefs and understanding. 141