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orac

@orac.bsky.social
782 followers 2K following 623 posts

California @orac.bsky.social @orac@mastodon.social

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Reposted by orac
Hamilton Nolan @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social · 2h
The most important political task in America is clawing back wealth from the very rich. The most important ballot measure in America is the California billionaire tax. Oligarchy is at the front door. Time to stop fucking around. www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/the-war-ag...
hamiltonnolan.com
The War Against Accumulated Capital
Either pass wealth taxes or learn to love digital feudalism.
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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 18h
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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ProPublica @propublica.org · 06/10/2026
4/ Fernando Vasquez, an 18-year-old citizen, was on break from work when agents chased and handcuffed him, then put him in their truck. After realizing their mistake, the agents left the teen alone in the woods, with no way to get home. Then they threw his ID out of the truck.
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 05/10/2026
Holy shit.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I know Rahm Emanuel. I worked with him for years in the Clinton administration, and then when he was Obama’s chief of staff. Rahm Emanuel represents everything that’s been wrong about the Democratic Party for the last 30+ years. Be warned. robertreich.substack.com/p/the-rahm…
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orac @orac.bsky.social · 18h
Scene from Half-Life 2: A City Scanner drone over City 17
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Reuters @reuters.com · 06/10/2026
Hungary government proposes wealth tax on ultra-rich reut.rs/4zhY9uz
reut.rs
Hungary government proposes wealth tax on ultra-rich
Hungary's government has proposed a wealth tax targeting individuals with assets exceeding 1 billion forints ($3.08 million), Prime Minister Peter ​Magyar said on Tuesday, delivering on a campaign promise of ‌his governing Tisza party.
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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Trump says 'Let them take out Los Angeles.' Recall this map: The *entire states* with population smaller than LA County. Among them they have 80+ US Senators. LA is about 1/3 of Calif's population, which has 2.
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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The biggest democratic/liberal mistake of the last 50+ years has been operating like the right has anything to offer America. It was the fundamental problem with Bill Clinton to Obama and everyone in between
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roterote @roterote.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
For a very clear comparison, emulating Magyar would be removing all the MAGA justices and judges from Federal Courts in the first 100 days. That is the scale of democratic chemotherapy we are discussing.
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roterote @roterote.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The US Democrats need to look at their next Presidency as an endless sprint to obliterate MAGA, every day for years. Until the cancer is gone then there should be no time wasted on MAGA tears or conciliation. Only endless justice and rebuilding the democracy. Govern like every day is the last day.
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roterote @roterote.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The Magyar government understands if they let up then Fidesz and Orban will regroup like the Brasilian Far Right did and can come right back in. So they have to move with intense endless purpose to cut out the cancer of Orban. Because five years is not much time to reverse it all & clock’s ticking.
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roterote @roterote.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I think Greg is correct, but Americans need to be aware that Magyar’s Tisza government is aggressively going after every Fidesz official, removing them, using every lever of the state to yank them out of power. This is far more aggressive and rapid than anything proposed in the US so far.
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orac @orac.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
nine albums
Nine album covers in a 3x3 grid. The albums from top left are: The Jazz Butcher - Sex and Travel, Pharoah Sanders - Karma, Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation, The The - Infected, The Replacements - Tim, The Feelies - Only Life, It's Immaterial - Life's Hard and Then You Die, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Dazzle Ships
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Liam Dillon @liamjdillon.com · 02/10/2026
Years ago I interviewed Houston Mayor Annise Parker who told me one of the main reasons the city was able to cut homelessness by so much is she forced all the governments and nonprofits into a room and made them use the same data system. Meanwhile in LA www.latimes.com/california/s...
The agencies use different data systems, and even different Google spreadsheets, to produce their reports and often have different bureaus within them managing different housing programs.For example, a senior director for Bass told the interviewers that the Inside Safe program uses an internal Google spreadsheet to manage its occupancy records and does not have access to the Homeless Management Information System, the countywide database that tracks street contacts with homeless people and housing placements
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 03/10/2026
Trump's human binky made the trip to Alabama with him #TravelWithNatalie (Brendan Smialowski/Getty)
pic of Ms Harp on AF1
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Michael Kupperman @mkupperman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
IT's not here to help us, it's here to immiserate us. It's here to finish the job of stripping us and everything we've built for parts. It was developed with bad intentions and that's why it can never be anything more than a predatory sick joke.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Everyone involved in this process — including the Palantir employees — have to be investigated and probably go to jail.
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Zoe TunnHELL ➡️ NYCC @zoewithasword.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The idea that Newsom is even remotely a serious candidate for president is so goddamn clown shoes at this point In the past month he's vetoed LGBTQ+ rights measures, pushed the Paramount merger through, further cozied up to AI barons and now this. Dude couldn't even win a Governor reelection now
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Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 01/10/2026
For me, the act of writing is how I learn what I’m writing about. I don’t know why people want to outsource that.*
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Hunter Walker @hunterw.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Anti trans hatred is the same as any other anti-gay, religious, or racial hatred we have ever known. This includes the efforts to dress it up, hide it, and make it about protecting women or children. That's exactly what bigots did to Black and gay people.
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deus_ex.txt @deus-ex-txt.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
What if I told you that the depression was caused by a cabal of wealthy businessmen who want to rule the world?
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Spooky Rin Stedecore 👻🎃 🔪 @stedeco.re · 01/10/2026
This would be disqualifying even if Newsom wasn't a piece of shit. You get an endorsement from Goebbels, you're done.
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Jon Ossoff @ossoff.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Now is the moment for us to reach down and pick up the power we have as citizens and rebuke these abuses so decisively that no president will try anything like this again for centuries.
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Robert Evans (the Only Robert Evans) @iwriteok.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
a righteous act
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Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Klobuchar: “For a US senator to have false information and imply, based on a confusion about the name of a team … and imply that you were in another city, that you were somehow involved that day in what was happening in Georgia, and then call you a dirtbag, is something that deserves an apology.”
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Sahil Kapur @sahilkapur.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A phenomenal moment in the Senate. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., claims he has evidence Jack Smith went to a HAWKS game in Atlanta. Smith denies it. Schmitt declares he has busted Jack Smith for perjury. Smith, vexed, says he went to HAWKEYES game in Maryland. WATCH IN FULL, UNINTERRUPTED
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gothic göre @britneyspheres.bsky.social · 21/06/2026
"Vertical Societies" (2023) by Richard Nadler
Huge towers at night, with a lot of people behind the illuminated windows
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orac @orac.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
9 games
My 9 Games - the games are: Archon, M.U.L.E., Mr. Robot and his Robot Factory, Grim Fandango, Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Portal, Portal 2, Disco Elysium
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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 26/09/2026
Pretty strongly believe we should tax this man into poverty. Literally take away everything he has. Let him live off of Social Security and whatever form of public housing and health care he can scrounge in the country he's tried so hard to break.
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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 25/09/2026
I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 25/09/2026
Being really enthusiastic about new technology and our scientific and technology industries was the USA’s brand for what, the entire 20th century? And seems like over the course of about 20 years, big tech and our abject failure to meaningfully regulate it has pretty successfully lit that on fire.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 25/09/2026
It’s really stunning how the USA has so swiftly shifted from being one of the most techno-optimistic and tech-industry-loving countries on earth, to a country where most people seem to assume - not incorrectly, at least in many cases - that tech is out to get them.
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orac @orac.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
repost with an image of your favorite James Bond (wrong answers only)
Scene from North By Northwest. Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint standing in a hallway. Cary Grant is wearing a suit and sunglasses. Eva Marie Saint is wearing a black coat, white shirt, and a necklace.
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orac @orac.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
repost with an image of your favorite James Bond (wrong answers only)
Maxwell Smart holding a phone built into a shoe
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Meredith Shiner @meredithshiner.com · 23/09/2026
this administration illegally shut down federal agencies, impounded money from Congress, set up for-profit concentration camps and sent children there. They dismantled our public health infrastructure and children died of measles. Doing accountability for crimes against our Constitution is the work.
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Micah @rincewind.run · 23/09/2026
are you fucking serious newsom and bonta should be raked over the fucking coals for settling
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
News: A California DA tried Stanford students with felonies over pro-Palestine protests. Bolts reported the DA was fundraising off of this. A defense attorney dug more & filed a motion to recuse him off the cases. A judge removed him in May + gave cases to the AG. AG just dropped felony charges.
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Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 18/10/2024
Let's not forget this fuckbucket made a photo op out of throwing away unhoused people's belongings
ktla.com
Newsom vows to withhold funds from California cities and counties that don’t clear homeless encampments
Governor Gavin Newsom is putting pressure on local cities and counties to comply with an order to dismantle homeless encampments across the state. On Thursday afternoon, Newsom was seen clearing an…
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Michael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
This aired just the once in 1998 on the live SNL show for which McKay wrote it. It was effectively banned as it never aired again. I wonder why. MEDIA-OPOLY
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Nick Field @nickfield.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The State AGs were on pace to kill the Paramount/Warner Bros by litigation and delay until Gavin Newsom stepped in and turned the tide. Now the Trump loyalist Ellisons will control CNN and HBO. Don't ever, ever forget that Newsom stabbed us in the back www.wsj.com/business/med...
wsj.com
Exclusive | Newsom Expresses Concerns About State Antitrust Suit Against Paramount
The California governor has told people involved in the suit that blocking the $81 billion deal could harm Hollywood jobs.
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Outside the obvious timebomb of selling out trans kids to appeal to ~16 bigots in deep Ohio, an underplayed part of the whole "trans kids in youth sports" stuff is making the most psycho Little League parents the most important political demo in America. They're joy vampires for the kids themselves!
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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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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
We have to purge the Democratic Party of centrists and corporate hacks. If you take money from AIPAC, AI, and Crypto, you are part of the problem. We will use you for the short term, but make no mistake, we will get rid of you and replace you with fighters.
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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Nothing good results from this disastrous Paramount-WB merger. Nothing. So many people will be hurt. Why? So billionaires can make more money, gain more control, and suppress art and speech they don't like.
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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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Patrick Cosmos @veryimportant.lawyer · 20/09/2026
Not really sure where a bunch of liberals got the idea that they can’t win without throwing trans people in the garbage, but they’re stupid and cruel and wrong. If you want a human sacrifice so damned bad put gavin newsom in the wicker man
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Thomas Lecaque @tlecaque.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I want the name of every consultant who convinces a Democrat to run an ad ceding ground to trans hatred, and I want them blacklisted by the party and noted so I can never give a cent to anyone who hires them ever again.
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