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sergiol652.bsky.social

@sergiol652.bsky.social
1.1K followers 207 following 2.2K posts
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Reposted by @sergiol652.bsky.social
Michael Froomkin @mfroomkin.bsky.social · 3h
Relative got a $500 check from US Treasury and a shocking letter full of lies signed by Trump and ending with "May God bless you". Basically a pre-electoral bribe. News reports say they're sending almost a million of these. Full text in alt below. (I told him to cash it quick before it bounces.)
Dear [name],

For years, the Biden Administration overcharged you to fund the operation of HealthCare.gov. That money belongs to hard-working Americans, not the Government, and now, I am returning it to you!

With this Historic Action, my Administration is taking the surplus funds that accumulated from the Obamacare ''Premium Tax" and issuing a one-time $500 REFUND to Americans who use the HealthCare.gov platform to purchase their health insurance, but who do not receive Taxpayer Subsidies to help pay for their Coverage. You have paid into this flawed System, and now you are finally getting something back.

Healthcare Dollars should benefit Patients, not Insurance Companies or Government Bureaucrats. Since returning to office, I have fought to lower Healthcare Costs, increase Accountability, and Put Patients First. Through TrumpRx, we are delivering massive discounts on Household Prescription Drugs, and my Most-Favored-Nation Pricing Agreements have already saved Americans more than 1 Billion Dollars on much-needed Medications. We also secured an unprecedented 50 Billion Dollar investment to transform Rural Healthcare, expanded access to Health Saving Accounts for millions of people on Obamacare, and restored Pnce Transparency, all while roofing out the Waste, Fraud, and abuse across our Healthcare System.

I am proud to return your money to you, and I will never stop fighting to put the American People FIRST, restore Affordability, protect your hard-earned money, and lower the Cost of Healthcare.

May God bless you, and may He continue to bless the United States of America!

Sincerely,

[signed] 

DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 1h
And now we find that Russia is cultivating pneumonic plague in test tubes.
bbc.com
Putin warns West that Russia is ready to use every weapon to protect Kaliningrad
The Russian leader insists Moscow is "not threatening anyone" and is merely responding to statements by Western leaders.
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 1h
Ultimately, generative AI will be a side show curiousity. The long term method will be having AI utilize existing editing software to illustrate, animate, and render images and sound. It's editable and will allow for editing and refinement by people as well.
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 2h
This is your occasional reminder that generative "AI" in particular could have been developed on public domain materials and/or licensed and compensated works but the major players intentionally, methodically and systemically chose to steal labor from working creative folks instead
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Whitney Curry Wimbish @whitneycwimbish.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Another person has died in Trump's concentration camps. 47-year-old Julian Curo-Churata was from Peru. He died on Sept. 29 after he was imprisoned for three months in Richwood Correctional Center in Louisiana. That camp is run by LaSalle Corrections. There's no cause of death listed.
ice.gov
Illegal alien from Peru passes away in ICE custody in Louisiana
ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments.
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 1h
Due to Trumpian changes in federal policy: "Households will pay an additional $920 billion for energy between 2026-2040 – about $6,500 cumulatively per household across that period and $640 per household in 2035." Much more in this @energyinnovation.org analysis:
energyinnovation.org
Economic, Consumer Cost, Pollution Impacts of Federal Energy Policy Changes In 48 U.S. States
Federal energy policy changes will harm all 48 contiguous U.S. states through higher energy bills, lost jobs, and worse air pollution.
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 1h
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Roy Moore’s push to restore an $8.2 million defamation verdict over a 2017 Senate race ad funded by a Democratic-aligned super PAC. apnews.com/article/roy-...
apnews.com
Supreme Court rejects Roy Moore's push to restore $8.2M defamation verdict
The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected Roy Moore’s push to restore an $8.2 million defamation verdict awarded to him over a 2017 Senate ad.
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 1h
"I take Utahns’ voting rights very, very seriously. They are sacred, and they ought to be protected, and they ought to be preserved, and they shouldn’t be mucked around with for political purposes.” www.newsfromthestates.com/article/utah...
newsfromthestates.com
Utah’s top election chief says Trump admin’s ‘gamesmanship’ with voting keeps her up at night
Editor’s note: This story is part of We Vote Utah, a partnership between KUER, PBS Utah and Utah News Dispatch to cover Utah’s 2026 elections.The top election official in the red state of Utah has bee...
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Elizabeth Anne, PhD @lacksauthority.bsky.social · 1h
never the wrong time for this classic
Screenshot of a tweet by @RobbtKraft reading “scientist: "does everyone here know what Watson and Crick discovered?" 
me from back of room: "Rosalind Franklin's notes"”
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Truthout @truthout.org · 1h
If elected, Flávio Bolsonaro has vowed to grant amnesty to his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest and serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup in 2022 to overturn Lula’s last victory.
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Truthout @truthout.org · 1h
Brazil’s presidential election is headed to a runoff between leftist incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and far-right Senator Flávio Bolsonaro after neither candidate cleared 50%. Bolsonaro received 47% of the vote compared to Lula’s 45%. The second round of voting is on October 25.
truthout.org
Far Right Makes Gains in Brazil in First Round of Presidential Race
“The momentum has been with the right since 2018,” says Brazilian philosopher Rodrigo Nunes.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 1h
Congressional Candidate Has Different Wife For Campaigning In Rural Counties theonion.com/congressional-candidat…
Congressional Candidate Has Different Wife For Campaigning In Rural Counties
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 1h
"I'm asking you to pretend I'm on the ballot." -Donald Trump
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1h
Trump: "The Fake News New York Times 'reported' on my Great, PACKED Rally in Ohio that, 'the place was not full.' In actuality ... The Arena was totally MAXED OUT. What does happen at all of my SOLD OUT Rallies, is people tend to migrate down ... I never have empty seats — Never have & never will!"
Trump: "The Fake News New York Times 'reported' on my Great, PACKED Rally in Ohio that, 'the place was not full. Some upper sections were almost completely empty.' In actuality, thousands of people were unable to get in. The Arena was totally MAXED OUT, including all upper sections. What does happen at all of my SOLD OUT Rallies, is that the people in the upper sections tend to migrate down to the Main Floor — The 'migration' process always happens! The Times knows this, and so does everyone else. I never have empty seats — Never have, and never will! Because of their dishonesty, I have cinematographers shooting the various Arenas where I speak, in that some of the Fake News likes to dishonestly report lies and untruths. In actuality, my Events for very good Republican Politicians are probably more crowded than ever. There are no empty seats, there haven’t been for years, and there never will be. The Rallies are 'HOTTER' than ever. They are all 'happenings,' and they never happened before, and will never be duplicated again. The Networks refuse, however, under any circumstances, to show the Crowds, but you can hear the thunderous applause, and know that it represents thousands and thousands of people. Watch tonight, for example, in the Great State of Nebraska, where I’ll be heading soon. See you later! President DONALD J. TRUMP"
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 1h
I was thinking about the Anthropic, SpaceX, and OpenAI IPOs. What this might be a harbinger of is the end of public markets as a mechanism for growing wealth. Wealth inequality is so extreme that VCs, PE funds, and wealth investors no longer need a public market for growth, just exit liquidity.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1h
Imagine winning a Nobel and having a bushy head of not grey hair
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Atrios @eschatonblog.com · 1h
for 25 years, versions of "need to fix declining trust in news" has been code for 'gotta get more right wing'
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 1h
Russian officials say she died from pneumonia of an unknown cause, and preliminary tests found no evidence linking her illness to the pathogens she worked with. There are still unanswered questions, but pneumonic plague has not been confirmed at this time.
reuters.com
Dozens quarantined in Siberia after plague institute lab worker dies
A laboratory worker at a plague research institute in ​Siberia has fallen ill and died in undisclosed circumstances, prompting authorities to quarantine dozens of ‌people, and the head of Russia's hea...
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 1h
This is a really good piece by @natashakorecki.bsky.social at NBC News: "Many Latinos were better versed in the details of Salgado Araujo’s shooting death than in the names and backgrounds of those running for some of the highest-profile offices in their state..." www.nbcnews.com/politics/202...
nbcnews.com
How the shooting death of a Houston father is igniting Latino politics in Texas
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed on his way to work by ICE agents, who said he used his vehicle as a weapon. An outraged community is demanding justice — and change.
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LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 1h
Existential crisis. Swear I’m invisible sometimes.
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Toby Buckle @polphilpod.bsky.social · 1h
electorates worldwide quickly turn on neofascists in office, but also have the memory of gnats
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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 5h
“… Hastert faced allegations that he molested four teenagers, ages 14 to 17, in the 1970s, when he was a wrestling coach at Yorkville High School in Illinois. In 2015, Hastert pleaded guilty to structuring cash withdrawals to hide hush-money payments to one of his sexual-abuse accusers.”
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 5h
There is more to drop on this story. What the Times does not mention is that Salus, the company that got an almost $1 billion no bid contract was also telling other contractors it could secure them govt contracts - if they were willing to hand tens of millions to her boyfriend, Corey Lewandowski.
Marketing firms were told they were guaranteed a contract, but they just needed to hire a consulting firm who could serve as a pass-through to paying Lewandowski. The consulting firm would get half or more of the contract. The company that was acting as a middleman here, telling the marketing firms they had to pay Lewandowski, was Salus. This is one of the companies owned by the Noem donor William Walters.

Sounds complicated, right? In simple terms, Noem gave almost $1 billion dollars in no-bid contracts to a company that then became a middleman for others selling services to government. That company told contractors they had to pay Noem’s boyfriend an extraordinary amount of money if they wanted to receive a government contract. It seems reasonable to assume that some of the inflated costs of these contracts returned to Lewandowski.
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Colson Whitehead @colsonwhitehead.com · 5h
Was he coked out his gourd? Yes. Is it still cool? Yes.
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Susanne democratic socialist @momoftwo.bsky.social · 6h
Congrats to Aaron and Public Notice. Looking forward to more great articles. Subscribe. The hype is real.
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Eric Umansky @ericumansky.bsky.social · 6h
ICE has disclosed another detainee who died We know: -After 17yrs, he'd only ever been busted for... *an expired car tag.* He was in a camp run by for-profit w/ history medical neglect An American died at one of its jails *after strep-throat.* austinkocher.substack.com/p/julian-cur...
austinkocher.substack.com
Julian Curo-Churata Is the 37th Person to Die in ICE Custody This Fiscal Year, Capping Off the Agency’s Deadliest Year on Record
According to ICE, 47-year-old Peruvian national Julian Curo-Churata died in Louisiana on Tuesday, September 29.
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NYTimes: affirmative action for mediocre editors angry at MeToo @originalist.bsky.social · 5h
Hired with no experience as assistants to columnists like Maureen Dowd, then assigned to cover President and national news Failing upward and "meritocracy" promoted by fellow mediocre and biased NYT editors Top Times politics reporters, reporting that Trump speeches are comparable to James Joyce:
To watch him up close on this third run for president was to see him blend comedy, fury, optimism, darkness and cynicism like never before. He was an expert communicator, able to transmute legal and mortal peril to build upon his self mythology. He won new supporters and kept old ones in thrall.
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Locust Pocus Collective @locustpocus.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
i dont want to build a bridge for the billionaires, i want to build a guantanamo bay just for them
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Paul Dawkins 🍉 @pdawkins.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
"You can't tell people that they're bad all the time." Elon Musk and tech barons of that ilk wield their influence in the tech industry like a sledgehammer over 8 billion people worldwide. Fuck their feelings, and tell the truth about them. Access journalism will literally doom us all.
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Mary Shelley’s Fluoxetine @crabapplejones.bsky.social · 5h
I take it back. I looked at others on the scroll and its a fascist stroking contest with evidence of true dumbfuckery.
“ We set some ground rules:
We would not present an idealized version of the world as we'd like to see it but rather document reality as it is.
No heads of state, and no foreign actors whose influence can't be felt acutely here in the United States.
It would not be a simple ranking of net worth or follower count but a measure of hard power.”

“No heads of state” and “a measure of hard power” are highlighted.A photo of Pope Leo XIV, who Vanity Fair have “ranked” as 18 (below such luminaries as Josh Kushner. JOSH Kushner?! text reads “Pope Leo XIV Head of the Catholic Church, His Holiness the Humanist”“ vanityfair MARCO RUBIO
You've seen the memes. Rubio, stone-faced on a sofa in the Oval Office, newly appointed to a role just vacated by an embarrassed or embattled official of some sort:
Rubio as Venezuelan president, Rubio as manager of Manchester United, Rubio as supreme leader of Iran.
We've come a long way from the 2016 campaign, when Trump dubbed the junior senator from Florida "Little Marco" (which Rubio countered with an even littler presidential penis joke). Rubio's role has afforded him vast powers over an administration that's shaping the world at its whims. He took charge of USAID even as Elon Musk's DOGE gutted the agency.”

Overwritten with WTF in yellow highlighter and the nonsense about USAID highlighted too.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 6h
VF editorial director Mark Guiducci’s comment that holding powerful people accountable isn’t “the project of journalism” makes a lot more sense now!
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
this reveals SO MUCH about legacy media
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 5h
Everything that Trump Touches Dies
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Alex Winter @alexwinter.com · 5h
I continue to support my dear friend and her family in Gaza as long as they are displaced and rely on donations to survive. Please give, so she can take care of her children. No amount is too small. And give to others. There are many Gazans in need. 🙏💕 chuffed.org/project/1981...
My friend's youngest daughter.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 5h
Ken Paxton continuing to lay the groundwork to blame Team Trump is he loses. www.politico.com/news/2026/10...
politico.com
Campaign ‘all coming from DC,’ Paxton says
“I don’t control message or what we’re doing,” Texas GOP Senate candidate Ken Paxton said during a small fundraising event in September.
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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 7h
The Trump administration wanted NYC to explicitly turn away trans veterans from a shelter so NYC was forced to turn down funding for it because it would violate city and state law. www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
cbsnews.com
NYC turns down $1.3 million for homeless shelter due to dispute over transgender veterans
The city says the federal government would have required them to exclude transgender veterans from seeking shelter beds at the Borden Avenue Veterans' Residence.
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The Onion @theonion.com · 5h
Toddler Scientists Finally Determine Number Of Peas That Fit Into Ear Canal theonion.com/toddler-scientists-fin…
Toddler Scientists Finally Determine Number Of Peas That Fit Into Ear Canal
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Megan O'Matz @megomatz.bsky.social · 5h
How @propublica.org Reporters Became Private School Owners in 24 Hours The reporting experiment demonstrates how easy it can be to open private schools that might then access public money. No credentials or background checks required. / by @jodiscohen.bsky.social @jsmithrichards.bsky.social
propublica.org
How ProPublica Reporters Became Private School Owners in 24 Hours
The reporting experiment demonstrates how easy it can be to open private schools that might then access public money. No credentials or background checks required.
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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 5h
“Pierre Damas Bel deserves to be remembered for more than the tragedy that ended his earthly journey,” said Carl Ruby, pastor of Springfield’s Central Christian Church: ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/10/05/h...
ohiocapitaljournal.com
Haitian college student Pierre Damas Bel remembered for his hard work, kindness, and love of soccer • Ohio Capital Journal
Family and friends remembered Pierre Damas Bel as a hard-working, loving, and dependable young man who had hopes of building a hospital in Haiti.
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Alt Library of Congress @altlofc.altgov.info · 5h
The Republican Party platform is more like an abyssal pit of suffering and death.
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Kentoc'h Mervel @torr-reor.eurosky.social · 5h
Also this: bsky.app/profile/did:...
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Kentoc'h Mervel @torr-reor.eurosky.social · 02/10/2026
To the English-speakers reading my posts: I've been looking from some international coverage of the student protests in France, and it seems that "schools remain closed as student protests turn violent" is the most frequent press take on the situation here...
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Gabe Ortíz @tusk81.bsky.social · 5h
“This group wants you and other Haitians who have come to Springfield to know that you are a blessing, not a burden to our community,” Pastor Ruby said. "You are a part of our community, and we do not want you to be ripped away.”
Some in attendance at the funeral might not have known Damas Bel, Ruby said, but wanted to show support for his family and the Haitian community in Springfield. 

“This group wants you and other Haitians who have come to Springfield to know that you are a blessing, not a burden to our community,” Ruby said. 

“You have made our city better. You have not made it worse. This group wants you to know that you are not guests in Springfield. … You are a part of our community, and we do not want you to be ripped away.”
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"Among the first to appear before the judge was Angel, a 13-year-old. He had no attorney. “Would you like to request voluntary departure, or should I issue a removal order?” the judge asked “I don’t know,” Angel said, bursting into tears: “I have no one. I have nothing.” www.cnn.com/2026/09/28/p...
cnn.com
Inside the Texas courtroom where toddlers face immigration judges | CNN Politics
Migrant children as young as 2 are showing up at immigration courts nationwide, many without attorneys, to try make their case to stay in the US and avoid deportation.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 20h
yeah, the reason republicans are just not going to budge from texas is the reason why armies try not to abandon their capitals. it isn’t necessarily a strategic defeat to lose the seat of power, but it is a profound blow to morale.
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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 18h
This is a signal of what pro-democracy folks here are going to be up against should we prevail in the next two elections. The number one goal here has to be coming and staying together to fight for our democracy and deliver for the people.
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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 18h
seeing this while reading ‘end times fascism’ by @naomiaklein.bsky.social and @astra.bsky.social has me reeeeeeling
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 20h
An interesting paper given that Judge Perry just named Baude as amicus in the Broadview 6 case to write what I fully expect to be an argument about whether judges are helpless when DOJ breaks the law.
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 19h
Levin: Two years ago, after Trump was elected the 2nd time, there was conventional wisdom around the country, within Washington, D.C., and the elite circles who said that the smart move was to capitulate. But that’s not what happened because millions of people around the country refused to give in.
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Linda Holmes @lindaholmes.bsky.social · 19h
Midwest 4-ever
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