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The Orphan

@orphan463.bsky.social
380 followers 657 following 302 posts

#politics #resist #climate #science Fight, damn it.

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Reposted by The Orphan
Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Regime Change and Corruption – a conversation with @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu snyder.substack.com/p/regime-cha...
snyder.substack.com
Regime Change and Corruption with Anne Applebaum
A recording from Timothy Snyder's live video
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Colorado's Elections Chief Took on Trump. She Needed Extra Security As She Gave Birth
Colorado’s secretary of state can say with certainty: “The MAGA threat environment follows us through every step of life.”
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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 10/10/2026
One day after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Association of Evangelicals came out against the Pentagon’s plan to livestream an execution, Pope Leo has published a tweet reiterating the Catholic Church’s opposition to the death penalty.
Pope Leo XIV • @Pontifex• •4h
X
The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person. The common good can be safeguarded and the requirements of justice can be met without recourse to capital punishment: effective systems of detention have been developed that protect citizens while at the same time do not completely deprive those who are guilty of the possibility of redemption.
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Abby Ruggiero @ruggie13.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
I filmed this at Stadium-Armory Metro Station in Washington, DC this evening around 6:30 pm. He was minding his business waiting for the train, he wasn’t fighting them, but all of them piled onto him without giving him time to react to that many of them surrounding him.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 08/10/2026
In Opinion Almost 70 years after its inception, “The Twilight Zone” remains incredibly relevant, Alan Sepinwall writes. It tackled “prejudice, creeping authoritarianism, the dangers of humans being replaced by technology and the peril of conformity as a societal ideal in ways that still resonate.”
nyti.ms
Opinion | ‘The Twilight Zone’ Was a Warning America Ignored
With “The Twilight Zone,” Rod Serling created a durable blueprint for understanding our surreal reality.
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I spelled out "superpower suicide" in this essay from May 2026. Empires have risen and failed before, but to my knowledge no state has ever chosen to kill its own power, and succeeded with such rapidity. snyder.substack.com/p/on-superpo...
snyder.substack.com
On Superpower Suicide
And the recovery of justice
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Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
fun fact: The Treaty of Tripoli, 1796, Signed by Prez John Adams, includes: "As the government of the United States of America is *not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion*, as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of [Muslims].." Just saying.
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 04/10/2026
Historian Tim Snyder compares what Trump is doing in Latin America to Soviet tactics in Eastern Europe after WWII: rig elections, apply threats, install the leadership you want. His description of Trump’s approach: “smash and grab.”
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Putin’s fascination with the medieval takes the next step. www.newsweek.com/suspected-pl...
newsweek.com
Suspected Plague Death at Russian Lab Sparks ‘Anti-Epidemic’ Lockdown
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 02/10/2026
Cory Doctorow @doctorow.pluralistic.net coined the term "enshittification" to describe how the internet is declining in value to its end-users. In this essay he argues that enshittification is spreading to other areas as well—some of which are vital to functioning Western democracies today.
buff.ly
Opinion: The world has moved on. But it need not stay this way forever
In 2022, the author, Cory Doctorow, coined the term “enshittification” to describe how the internet is declining in value to its end-users, due to the prevalence of monopolies and an emphasis on…
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 02/10/2026
In 2025, Arizona reported its first plague death since 2007. You can read about the investigation in this weeks MMWR: www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...
cdc.gov
Fatal Pneumonic Plague
This report describes a case of fatal pneumonic plague reported in Arizona during 2025.
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
rollingstone.com
Trump Plans to Bring Back Firing Squads, Group Executions if He Retakes White House
The former president wants to expand the use of the death penalty, and expand the federal government's options for carrying out death sentences.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
ahem
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The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · 30/09/2026
⚡ Update: Russia sends NATO new nuclear threat over Kaliningrad as tensions rise. Russia told NATO it would be ready to use nuclear weapons if alliance members attempt to isolate Kaliningrad Oblast, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart told the Kyiv Independent.
kyivindependent.com
Russia sends NATO new nuclear threat over Kaliningrad as tensions rise
Russia told NATO it would be ready to use nuclear weapons if alliance members attempt to isolate Kaliningrad Oblast, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart told the Kyiv Independent Sept. 30.
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Christopher Mathias @letsgomathias.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
very cool to see my new @talkingpointsmemo.com colleague @joshkovensky.bsky.social joining Posting Through It to talk with @jaredlholt.bsky.social & @michaelehayden.bsky.social about all his great reporting! open.spotify.com/episode/59Tb...
open.spotify.com
144: Content Creators for the Authoritarian State feat. Josh Kovensky
Posting Through It · Episode
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 24/09/2026
Since SCOTUS destroyed the Voting Rights Act, Southern states can now redraw a dozen majority-Black districts in time for the 2028 elections, triggering the largest drop in Black congressional representation since the end of Reconstruction. And that’s just the beginning.
motherjones.com
Jim Crow was on the ash heap of history. Then came the Roberts court.
The disaster the justices have unleashed has its roots in one of the darkest periods of our past.
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 23/09/2026
The US could use its acknowledgement of having space weapons as the first step in a reciprocal transparency and risk-reduction initiative. It could invite Russia and China to acknowledge a basic reality: All three nuclear powers possess systems that could interfere with or destroy space assets.
buff.ly
The US acknowledged its space weapons. Now it must build guardrails
Confirming classified space-control capabilities will not deter rivals on its own—Washington must now use this disclosure as a springboard for reciprocal transparency and risk-reduction measures…
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Bill Atkinson @atkinsopht.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
"The planetary life support systems relied upon by humans have deteriorated to their worst levels ever recorded amid ongoing pollution and habitat destruction, according to a key yet grim annual update by scientists." @climatecasino.net www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
‘Planetary boundaries’ necessary for flourishing of life have been massively breached, scientists warn
New report shows key indicators of Earth’s health are ‘outside the safe operating space’ as climate disaster looms
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Le Monde in English @english.lemonde.fr · 21/09/2026
US networks including Fox News halt Trump pool coverage over White House ban
lemonde.fr
US networks including Fox News halt Trump pool coverage over White House ban
In solidarity with CNN, major US broadcasters ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC announced the suspension of their TV pool coverage of President Donald Trump on Monday.
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Nancy Lucía López @cybergata.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I'm so tired of the lies. #Cartoon
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 13/09/2026
Drafted behind closed doors by a small group of defense officials, a new Pentagon strategy aims to expand battlefield nuclear options and blur the line between conventional and nuclear warfare—bypassing public oversight while raising the risk of unintended escalation, writes @joecirin.bsky.social.
thebulletin.org
Pentagon's secret plan: Reviving Cold War doctrines to lower the threshold for nuclear war
Drafted behind closed doors by a small group of defense officials, a new Pentagon strategy aims to expand battlefield nuclear options and blur the line between conventional and nuclear…
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 12/09/2026
In Opinion If A.I. “could destroy human life on earth, why continue to build it? Often the answer is that since its development is inevitable, responsible actors need to get there first,” Michelle Goldberg writes. But that explanation “doesn’t account for tech leaders’ messianic dreams.”
nyti.ms
Opinion | Why Tech Oligarchs Are Willing to Risk Apocalypse
Silicon Valley’s strange new theology.
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 11/09/2026
"A new nuclear policy is taking shape in secret, crafted by a small group of Pentagon officials, that will give President Donald Trump more ways to start a nuclear war," writes Joe Cirincione @joecirin.bsky.social.
thebulletin.org
Pentagon's secret plan: Reviving Cold War doctrines to lower the threshold for nuclear war
Drafted behind closed doors by a small group of defense officials, a new Pentagon strategy aims to expand battlefield nuclear options and blur the line between conventional and nuclear…
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 11/09/2026
Okay everyone. Here’s the YouTube interview with @jimmykimmel.com and @jamestalarico.bsky.social You know what to do. Watch it. Share it. Donate. Bury them. youtu.be/WLDE9LrGpNk?...
youtu.be
Jimmy Kimmel’s Interview with James Talarico That the FCC Doesn’t Want You To See
YouTube video by Jimmy Kimmel Live
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David Gilbert @davidgilbert.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
SCOOP @telliotter.bsky.social and I identified the authors of the bogus noncitizen voting Census report and how they used bad data to make faulty conclusions They include a former DOGE guy (of course) and two people from AFPI, a Trump-aligned think tank www.wired.com/story/a-us-c...
wired.com
A US Census Report on Noncitizen Voting Used Bad Data to Reach Faulty Conclusions
Trump has touted a recent Census report. WIRED found grave flaws in its analysis and the process behind it, and confirmed the identity of several of its authors—among them a one-time DOGE affiliate.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Very thoughtful takedown from @aselrod.bsky.social of the mindless rush to celebrate the stabbing of Bank of America president, with an emphasis on what lusting for a descent into barbarism really means:
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Remember that we can always find power, solidarity, and hope in the labor movement. [Artwork by Ricardo Levins Morales]
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ProTip (AKA alt_localgov) @protip.altgov.info · 07/09/2026
Last time, this caused the Great Depression. Sure, there were other policy failures too, but the general dynamics of the situation were articulated in Senate testimony by Mariner Stoddard Eccles in 1933 fraser.stlouisfed.org/files/docs/m...
fraser.stlouisfed.org
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leftylady.bsky.social @leftylady.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Power to the people! ✊
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caroline cash @cashbrowns.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Nancy 9/7/26 … Happy Labor Day 🛠️
8 Hours for Work, 8 Hours for Rest, 8 Hours for What We Will. Based on a screenprint by Ricardo Levins Morales after the organizing work done by Robert Owen.
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Avi Lewis @avilewis.ca · 04/09/2026
This is the government of Canada’s scientific finding. It is true. It is also a terrible message. Here’s what’s also true: 🧵 www.ctvnews.ca/climate-and-...
ctvnews.ca
Changes to Canada's climate now 'irreversible,' federal report says
The impacts of climate change in Canada are now largely irreversible and average temperatures are expected to rise by at least 3.5 C by the end of the century, a new government report warns.
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Jen Fifield @jenafifield.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
1/ Just in: An anonymous federal worker has filed a whistleblower disclosure warning that the U.S. Postal Service's attempt to create a system to regulate mail voting for the midterms has been "rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed." @propublica.org has the details 👇
Screenshot of the top of a whistleblower disclosure titled "USPS Rushed Implementation of New and Untested IT Systems Threatens U.S. Ballot Mail Delivery." Addressed to Senator Blumenthal, the first point details how the whistleblower has "significant concerns about the USPS's secretive, rushed, chaotic, and fundamentally flawed process for the creation and implementation of an entirely new and untested set of IT systems" intended for the 2026 midterms.
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C6H4(CH3)(NO2) @nitrotolueno.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
¿Estáis viendo ¡ahora mismo! el eclipse de Luna?
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MAKS 26 👀🇺🇦 @maks23.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
🇪🇺❗️RFERL: A leaked letter from Baltic and Polish EU commissioners reveals growing alarm over Russian aggression, citing a "deteriorating security environment" with increased airspace violations and drone incursions.
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
“Local media has been dying all over America, which means there’s essentially no way to hold local governments accountable— they can do whatever they want,” he told the white nationalists meeting. “You should be fantasizing about this. This is a good thing.” www.confrontthehate.com/p/white-nati...
confrontthehate.com
As Local News Dies, White Nationalists See an Opening
At an invitation-only gathering in Italy, far-right leaders mapped out strategies to target rural America while local press coverage vanishes.
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 23/08/2026
Trump triggered a full-blown trade war with Canada, his own Treasury Secretary is battling the bond markets and losing, MAGA is tearing itself apart, and some of Trump’s latest stock trades are raising serious questions. And that’s just the beginning.
meidasplus.com
This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 446.
… We are officially in a trade war with Canada, historically our closest ally and key trading partner, as Trump seems determined to crash the Republican clown car into a ditch before the midterms.
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Campaign against Climate Change @campaigncc.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
Essential reading on the consequences of El Niño. Its impacts on staple crops, rice in particular, will land on top of fertiliser shortages and low US harvests due to drought. “A sufficiently large El Niño is not a weather anomaly at all. It is going to be a global food shock on a 12 month fuse.”
4hunger.org
Scorched Harvest: The Strongest El Niño Ever Forecast, the Crops in Its Path, and the Hunger It Will Leave Behind
How 3.6 degrees of warm water in the tropical Pacific is about to redraw the map of global hunger and why, this time, no one in power can claim they were not warned.
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WIRED @wired.com · 22/08/2026
Mini human brains are being grown in labs all over the world. Soon, they could outthink neural networks.
wired.com
AI Is Dead. Organoids Are Alive
Mini human brains are being grown in labs all over the world. Soon, they could outthink neural networks.
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 17/08/2026
Annual US defense expenditures now approach $1 trillion—and could head toward $1.5 trillion in the coming fiscal year. How did we get here? One factor is the stream of national service officials who take positions at private military contractors and lobbying firms, writes John Mecklin @meckdevil.
thebulletin.org
The defense revolving-door, Silicon Valley edition
An eye-opening glimpse at the links between two congressional committees and more than 100 defense contractors, consultants, and lobbyists.
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
"The Republican Party is not good for the economy. They screw it up every time. And the Republican Party is not pro-military. The last two Republican presidents have started completely unnecessary wars." Good Mike Tomasky intervention: newrepublic.com/article/2143...
newrepublic.com
At Long Last, Americans Are Starting to See the Truth About the GOP
A businessman can set this country right. Republicans are better for the economy. Republicans love the military. Lie, lie, and lie.
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 14/08/2026
In Alfonso Cuarón's film Children of Men, set in a world without children, the state mandates fertility tests of its citizens while forcing refugees into cages. The themes in this 20 year-old science fiction film are reflected in the world we live in today, write Eric Trump and Josephine Johnston.
thebulletin.org
Treat me like a human: the prescience of Children of Men
The images and themes in the Britain of Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 film "Children of Men" resonate with current politics. In this childless world, the state mandates fertility tests of its citizens, while…
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TPM @talkingpointsmemo.com · 13/08/2026
The DOJ and DHS spent months surveilling Minneapolis civil society in a bid to make the antifa fever dream real, per a new court filing. The name of their campaign: "Operation Puppet Master." talkingpointsmemo.com/news/dhs-spi...
talkingpointsmemo.com
DHS Spied on Churches, Libraries and Union Halls in Minneapolis Protest Crackdown, Defense Attorney Alleges
Federal agents with the Department of Homeland Security sent undercover agents to...
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Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
it was/is extremely appalling: zeteo.com/p/trump-ice-...
zeteo.com
Trump Admin Hopes to Use ICE Shooting Probe to Target Soros and the Left
Trump’s Justice Department and FBI are expanding his smear campaign against Renee Nicole Good – and trying to go after so-called ‘left-wing terror networks.’
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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
by the way
wired.com
Car Subscription Features Raise Your Risk of Government Surveillance, Police Records Show
Records reviewed by WIRED show law enforcement agencies are eager to take advantage of the data trails generated by a flood of new internet-connected vehicle features.
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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
www.theguardian.com/world/2026/a...
theguardian.com
Greenland issues ‘strong warning’ as Trump-linked oil firm prepares to drill
Island’s government says no approval given after Greenland Energy brings kit ashore for exploratory drilling
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 06/08/2026
Update: The @financialtimes.com finds "Colombian illegal armed groups trying to send soldiers to gain cutting-edge Ukrainian expertise in drone warfare — and then deploy those skills against their own country’s army" giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
Colombian narcos’ quest for Ukrainian drone expertise
Unmanned aerial vehicles have upended Colombia’s decades-long armed conflict, as cartels and rebel groups reclaim the skies
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Ms. Misanthrope 🇺🇸 @lilmsmisanthrope.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Candida auris, a drug resistant fungus with a mortality rate up to 60 percent, has infected 3,130 people across 23 states this year. More than 95 percent of tested strains resist the first line antifungal treatment. The agency tracking it has lost a quarter of its workforce.
share.google
Cases of potentially deadly fungus detected in 23 states, CDC data shows. What to know
Cases of a potentially deadly fungus have been detected in 23 states so far this year, according to data from the CDC. Here's what to know.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 05/08/2026
The experience of being chased by a murderous kamikaze drone, a flying machine that behaves as if it were alive, is not one that humans are equipped to understand: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
The Dystopian Future Dawns in Kherson
Putin’s human safari in Ukraine is the beginning of a grim new normal.
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Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists @thebulletin.org · 04/08/2026
The scariest movie film curator Rebecca Fons has ever seen is no Hollywood blockbuster. It's a 47-minute, black-and-white, 1960's pseudo-documentary that almost immediately disappeared—possibly because those who commissioned it thought the result "too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting."
thebulletin.org
A film about nuclear war “too horrifying for the medium of broadcasting”
The scariest movie I've ever seen is not a Hollywood blockbuster from the ‘90s, often referred to as “the golden age for disaster movies.” Instead, it’s something much less well-known: a 47-minute,…
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