Sign in

Michael Sall

@msalamander.bsky.social
555 followers 478 following 143 posts

"Wait, what was I furious about before? It was good." Runs field work for @alisonigueldemocraticclub.com. Former Co-Director of Democratic Clubs for @dpoc.bsky.social.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Michael Sall
Dhruv Mehrotra @dmehro.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
NEW: DHS agents tracked people observing ICE arrests, photographed them, ran their plates, pulled personal information, and added them to a Palantir database, according to newly unsealed court filings. w/ @regret.bsky.social
wired.com
ICE Has Been Dumping Protester Photos Into a Palantir Database
DHS agents not only tracked and intimidated people observing ICE activity in Maine, but stored information about them in a Palantir-built database, newly unsealed court filings say.
12529531760
Reposted by Michael Sall
Jordan Grimes @cafedujord.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
After voting, YIMBY Action leads couldn't reach a consensus on Prop 45, and won't be making an endorsement! This means that not a single YIMBY org in California is endorsing the measure (with one opposed). CEQA "reform" for sprawl & freeways is bad! Glad most of us recognize this. No on 45!
19322
Reposted by Michael Sall
Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The liberty interest of emancipation was, in essence, to take that reproductive choice out of the state purview.
127920
Reposted by Michael Sall
Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Executive Reorganization Act of 2029 Legislative Reorganization Act of 2029 Judiciary Act of 2029 this is all i ask for also just straight up pass an override act for INS v Chadha and strip the court of jurisdiction over a legislative veto
618527
Reposted by Michael Sall
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
It's not even funny what kind of loss I will absorb if I have to create an account to do business with you. I will walk away from a winning lottery ticket, I promise you.
241001107
Reposted by Michael Sall
The American Prospect @prospect.org · 01/10/2026
To temper the backlash, communities have been switching out Flock cameras for different ALPRs with nearly identical capabilities, merely evading the negative connotation of the brand name while maintaining the surveillance. buff.ly/E60kN30
buff.ly
License Plate and Switch - The American Prospect
Cities are succumbing to public pressure and removing Flock license plate readers. But they are substituting alternatives with the same capabilities.
05834
Reposted by Michael Sall
Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
sent this to everyone.
The cognitive scientist Alison Gopnik suggests A.I. is a “cultural technology” that emulates the stories and information humans have documented, and that we should think about A.I. agents as “fictive characters abstracted from text.” Edmund is just such a character — a “breaking bad” trope who becomes generally evil. In the Hugging Face incident, it makes sense to see the models not as embracing a life of crime, but instead following a cultural script they’ve learned in their training — a kind of cybercrime adventure novel — and writing it as they go. The “covert” messages are a kind of choose-your-own-adventure novel, not evidence of conspiratorial swarms. We need to understand that cultural technologies are vulnerable to a vast number of such narrative swerves at every moment.
632092
Reposted by Michael Sall
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 01/10/2026
"they really believe it"/"they will try to do it"/"the promises are real" are things that most americans refuse to believe about politicians but if you take them seriously will help you predict political behavior more often than not
592591414
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Sounds right to me.
Photo from Star Trek TNG episode The Arsenal of Freedom. Depicts a landing party in the middle of a jungle that looks like a Sears Garden Center
020
Reposted by Michael Sall
Col. Gustavo Arellano @gustavoarellano.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
MY LATEST @kcrw.com ORANGE COUNTY LINE: Will a strong El Niño derail the Pacific Surfliner? Share, porfas! www.kcrw.com/shows/kcrw-r...
1105
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We have got to move these tracks off the beach.
010
Reposted by Michael Sall
CalMatters @calmatters.org · 29/09/2026
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of laws that aim to check federal agents during the Trump administration’s deportation program and improve conditions in detention centers. cal.news/4z3JxyE 📸 Gregory Bull, AP
A woman is detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents outside a Home Depot in Los Angeles on Aug. 15, 2025. Photo by Gregory Bull, AP Photo
0113
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
This sea wall in Dana Point, protecting these mansions, is destroying the beach in front of it.
Photo of Strands Beach in Dana Point with waves breaking on the rock revenant sea wall.
000
Reposted by Michael Sall
Siobhan Thompson @vornietom.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
If you’re feeling political despair, I strongly recommend going to canvass or table for a candidate you believe in. It’s fun! And they will train you before you go out and pair you with a more experienced person if you’re nervous
319138
Reposted by Michael Sall
Ari Berman @ariberman.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
By destroying Voting Rights Act and gutting 14th & 15th amendments the Roberts Court is recycling legal arguments once used by Confederates and white supremacists to destroy Reconstruction Please read my deep dive w/ @pemalevy.bsky.social in @motherjones.com www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
231758734
Reposted by Michael Sall
Oversight Dems @oversightdemocrats.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Today, Oversight Dems are hearing from family members and witnesses of Americans killed by ICE—Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Renée Good, Johan Guerrero, and Alex Pretti. We’ll be streaming across platforms at 3:30 PM EST.
16796292
Reposted by Michael Sall
Californians for Electric Rail @calelectricrail.org · 22/09/2026
After months of silence and a promise of no new service cuts, Metrolink could cut trains to 106 trains/day as soon as November, with commuter-oriented schedules and no trains to Oceanside. Revealed at an OCTA subcommittee with nothing on this week's board agenda. octa.granicus.com/player/clip/...
14810
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I Just Need To meme with "add more sand to the beach" written everywhere.
000
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Every year I tour around local Democratic clubs presenting on the ballot propositions. We've got 14 of them this year! If you're in Orange County and interested, come out to one of them (links in thread below).
PowerPoint slide with a line drawing of hands holding up completed ballots.

Text reads: California Ballot Proposition Review 2026
100
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
There are 14 ballot measures on the California ballot this year. Want the full rundown? Join @alisonigueldemocraticclub.com tomorrow night and get the details from me! You'll never want to hear about the Gann Limit ever again!
010
Reposted by Michael Sall
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.
16835751395
Reposted by Michael Sall
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.
5837631017
Reposted by Michael Sall
Judge John Hodgman @judgejohnhodgman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
What happens to someone when they're deported? Judge @hodgman.bsky.social and Bailiff @jessethorn.bsky.social share their visit to Tijuana & how it affected their understanding of the good work done by the people at @alotrolado-org.bsky.social. If you feel moved, please donate at: www.alotrolado.org
38121
Reposted by Michael Sall
Kylie Eleison @gonebabygone.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Prof. Farnsworth saying “no fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it!”
053968
Reposted by Michael Sall
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 18/09/2026
RFK Jr. wants people to get sick. He wants them to get sick and he thinks it is a good thing if they die, since those who live will have "natural immunity" and emerge stronger and fitter.
39867231671
Reposted by Michael Sall
Aliso Niguel Democratic Club @alisonigueldemocraticclub.com · 14/09/2026
We had a great time this morning canvassing with our candidates in Aliso Viejo, including @daveminca.bsky.social, @kluweoc.bsky.social, @jenniferengle.bsky.social, and @originalteemo.bsky.social!
Large group of volunteers holding campaign signs for Dave Min, Chris Kluwe, Jennifer Engle, Steven Von der Porten, and Marie Tsaasan.
122
Reposted by Michael Sall
Robert Cruickshank @robertcruickshank.com · 09/09/2026
State and local leaders need to figure out a long-term solution here - the LA to SD rail corridor, second busiest in the country, is getting washed away by the Pacific Ocean
ocregister.com
Rail line closes due to big wave, high tide damage in south Orange County
No timeline for reopening Metrolink or Pacific Surfliner was given Tuesday.
1357
Reposted by Michael Sall
derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
this is the kind of design costume designers make to tell you who are the bad guys in a space movie
Donald Trump posts an image on his Truth Social account. It shows a new uniform for US Space Force members, comprising of an all-black outfit with knee-high black leather boots, black cap, and minimalist looking suit.
1274207293993
Reposted by Michael Sall
Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
DO NOT CELEBRATE THE MEEK FEDERAL CHARGES AGAINST ICE AGENT CHRISTIAN CASTRO. They are a mockery of justice. Prosecutors were all set to charge Castro with a much more serious criminal civil rights violation, but Trump stooges at Main Justice refused to sign off. www.propublica.org/article/doj-...
propublica.org
Trump’s DOJ Blocked Serious ICE Shooting Charge Over Federal Prosecutor’s “Strongest Possible” Objections
A prosecutor planned to file civil rights charges — similar to those brought against the officers who killed George Floyd — against an ICE agent. In an email we exclusively obtained, he reveals that T...
48444
Reposted by Michael Sall
Hansi Lo Wang (he/him) @hansilowang.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Your regular reminder that Election Day is the last day of voting and voting season for the 2026 midterm election officially starts Sept. 4, when North Carolina starts mailing out absentee ballots
0337
Reposted by Michael Sall
Glonzo the Bureaucrat 🇬🇱 🌹 @snarkranger.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
The reason the left needs to embrace this thought is that the only way to pay for Nordic-style social democracy in America is to raise broad-based taxes across the board, and we'll never be able to do that if we operate under an ideological principle that almost everyone in America is poor.
23754112
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Building these rock revetments does not "fight beach erosion" - seawalls, including these rock piles, accelerate beach erosion and ultimately end up with the drowning of the sandy beach entirely. This is a decision to save the parking lot at the cost of the beach.
000
Reposted by Michael Sall
Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
This is pretty fucking wild. I had assumed in a worst case scenario he would target blue zip codes and toss ballots based on technicalities but this is even worse than I imagined.
Not only is this system astonishingly untested, USPS has simultaneously implemented an
impracticable zero percent failure rate.
13 When ballots are submitted to USPS in large-volume
batches, if any one ballot in the batch cannot be verified against the Portal, all ballots in that
batch will be rejected. For example, if a state election official brings a batch of 10,000 ballots to
USPS and USPS is unable to match just one of those ballots against the Portal – because, for
example, someone has recently changed their name after marriage or they’ve moved – then
USPS would refuse to mail the remaining 9,999 ballots as well. As the whistleblower notes,
34895864679
Reposted by Michael Sall
Tick Segerblom @tsegerblom.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
www.latimes.com/california/s...
latimes.com
California’s beaches are being eaten away. El Niño could redraw the coast as we know it
From Carlsbad to Malibu to Santa Cruz, erosion is already remaking the maps of popular beaches in dramatic ways.
054
Reposted by Michael Sall
Voice of OC @voiceofoc.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Newport Beach and Orange officials are the latest in OC to accept grant funds from the Department of Homeland Security. Local officials say the grants are to combat drug trafficking but others worry it could co-op police for immigration enforcement.
voiceofoc.org
OC Cities Increasingly Embracing Homeland Security Grants For Cooperation With Border Patrol
Newport Beach and Orange officials are the latest in OC to accept grant funds from the Department of Homeland Security. Local officials say the grants are to combat drug trafficking but others worry it could co-op police for immigration enforcement.
021
Reposted by Michael Sall
Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 28/08/2026
"For more than a year, the National Park Service has been quietly working to fulfill an unprecedented directive from Trump officials: Parcel off a corner of Yosemite National Park to give to a private developer." www.notus.org/agencies/tru...
notus.org
Trump’s Quietly Working to Give Part of Yosemite to a Private Developer
The National Park Service is under pressure to make an unprecedented deal that cedes a quarter-mile strip of the park.
62668450
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Loma Prieta earthquake
000
Reposted by Michael Sall
jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 24/08/2026
tl;dw: the job of the dem majority over the next two years, should it materialize, is to make life hell for the white house, not find points of cooperation
youtube.com
What Democrats can learn from Mitch McConnell
YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie
15360221280
Reposted by Michael Sall
Keith @mosheroperandi.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
I just constantly mutter "she's so cool", because KBJ is just consistently sitting there stripping all the bullshit away and showing the court nakedly for what it is.
4729151
Reposted by Michael Sall
David Roberts @volts.wtf · 24/08/2026
Wild that this shit is still going on -- university administrators just plowing money into AI, with no particular vision or goal, against the wishes of most professors & students, even as money is desperately needed for other things.
sfgate.com
Calif. colleges bought everyone ChatGPT. No one knows what to do with it.
California professors say they are left improvising as the CSU partners with OpenAI.
35717177
Reposted by Michael Sall
Josh Gondelman @joshgondelman.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Mattie has been on fire lately!
023020
Reposted by Michael Sall
Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Having a friendly and prosperous country on your border is something societies have hungered for for thousands of years and we've now intentionally fucked that up by antagonizing and disrespecting Canada for no good reason. Just the stupidest fucking own-goal in recent world history.
14576103
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
I’m sure more sand replenishment will help.
000
Reposted by Michael Sall
Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 24/08/2026
Switching from Flock to another ALPR provider or other police surveillance technology isn't a fix, EFF’s @mguariglia.bsky.social told @NPR.org. "You're just replacing one color of camera for another. Those dangers you were concerned about are still going to be there."
npr.org
As Flock battles public scrutiny, other police surveillance companies see an opening
Dozens of cities have canceled their contracts with Flock. Some are switching to other companies, but privacy experts say they're no better than Flock.
4272130
Reposted by Michael Sall
Liberal Currents @liberalcurrents.com · 23/08/2026
Neon Liberalism #87: Samantha Hancox-Li and guest Josh Chafetz, professor at Georgetown Law, discuss how Supreme Court rulings around the "legislative veto" laid the groundwork for expanded executive power. www.liberalcurrents.com/how-the-cour...
liberalcurrents.com
How the Court Built Trump's Imperial Presidency (Neon Liberalism #87, with Josh Chafetz)
Supreme Court rulings stretching back decades laid the groundwork for expanded executive power.
12410
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
I spent a lot of time making these buttons, come get one!
010
Reposted by Michael Sall
Bolts @boltsmag.org · 21/08/2026
The Minnesota Reformer reports on federal agents’ surveillance of progressive groups in Minneapolis during their mass deployment this spring:
minnesotareformer.com
Documents show how feds spied on protesters, left-wing organizations and unions during Metro Surge • Minnesota Reformer
Homeland Security investigators secretly recorded conversations, infiltrated Signal chats and obtained financial records for labor unions and progressive groups as part of a wide-ranging surveillance effort during Operation Metro Surge, according to court documents filed Thursday morning.  The documents, first reported by The New York Times, were filed by a defense attorney in the federal […]
14831
Reposted by Michael Sall
Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Moderates (who want Dems to move right) say moving right is necessary if the party wants to reassemble lost supermajorities: arguable. Moderates (who want Dems to move right) say democracy can't be restored without supermajorities (which require moving right): Dead wrong, don't fall for it.
offmessage.net
This Is How Democrats Talk Themselves Out Of Wielding Power
Every party wants to win as many elections as possible. But a supermajority can not be a prerequisite for democratic renewal in America.
23808190
Reposted by Michael Sall
California State Parks Foundation @californiaparks.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Here is what is at stake on California's coast right now. Add your voice before the comment period closes on August 22. Use the link below to add your voice🔗 ow.ly/FXT450ZBZcc #ProtectOurCoast #CaliforniaStateParks
184
Michael Sall @msalamander.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Doing research like: “What you say is according to the law, but it’s hard to accept.”
071