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Seth D. Michaels

@sethdmichaels.bsky.social
8.8K followers 2.8K following 14K posts

Bert of the Intellect, Ernie of the Will DC based, comms at @ucs.org (all opinions mine), @emtrap.bsky.social enthusiast, ambivalently Online, generally polite, still People Magazine's Seth D-est Man Alive. please don't argue in my notifications

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Reposted by Seth D. Michaels
Brian PJ Cronin @brianpjcronin.bsky.social · 51m
Maybe how AI is going to kill us all isn't by becoming conscious and launching nukes to kill all carbon based lifeforms so that the machines can rule in the ashes but just "The computer told me to start World War III so I did."
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maura quint @mauraquint.bsky.social · 15h
Yes every woman has been harassed, many assaulted. But every woman has also experienced invisible loss from moments she avoided harassment. She felt a space becoming unsafe, so she left, while men stayed on. And in leaving, she lost: opportunities, experiences, learning, promotions, even simply fun.
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James Hell Brooks @kleinman.bsky.social · 15h
On November 4 you're gonna hear a lot of tech freaks claim that really they consider themselves to be center left
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Ned Resnikoff @resnikoff.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I think about this interview with the distinguished philosopher Conan O'Brien a lot. I actually think this is a healthy way to live your life! www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/a...
Is this how you want to go out, with a show that gets smaller and smaller until it’s gone?

Maybe that’s O.K. I think you have more of a problem with that than I do. [Laughs.] At this point in my career, I could go out with a grand, 21-gun salute, and climb into a rocket and the entire Supreme Court walks out and they jointly press a button, I’m shot up into the air and there’s an explosion and it’s orange and it spells, “Good night and God love.” In this culture? Two years later, it’s going to be, who’s Conan? This is going to sound grim, but eventually, all our graves go unattended.

You’re right, that does sound grim.

Sorry. Calvin Coolidge was a pretty popular president. I’ve been to his grave in Vermont. It has the presidential seal on it. Nobody was there. And by the way, I’m the only late-night host that has been to Calvin Coolidge’s grave. I think that’s what separates me from the other hosts.

I had a great conversation with Albert Brooks once. When I met him for the first time, I was kind of stammering. I said, you make movies, they live on forever. I just do these late-night shows, they get lost, they’re never seen again and who cares? And he looked at me and he said, [Albert Brooks voice] “What are you talking about? None of it matters.” None of it matters? “No, that’s the secret. In 1940, people said Clark Gable is the face of the 20th Century. Who [expletive] thinks about Clark Gable? It doesn’t matter. You’ll be forgotten. I’ll be forgotten. We’ll all be forgotten.” It’s so funny because you’d think that would depress me. I was walking on air after that.
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Charlie Jane "Lessons in Magic and Disaster" Anders 🏳️‍⚧ @charliejane.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I really do think tech crossed a line at some point between "helping you do the things you want to do" on the one hand, and "helping you do the things tech wants you to do" on the other. At this point, we're all contorting ourselves to live how the tech industry thinks we should be living.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 30/09/2026
Eugenics 🤝 ai www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/h...
One of the things that is going to change is that we’re never ever again going to be able to be dominated by public officials who tell us, ‘Trust the experts,’” Mr. Kennedy said during the Tuesday session.

“If somebody tells you, ‘Masks work, trust the experts,’ A.I. may tell you otherwise,” he added. “If somebody tells you, ‘Social distancing works, trust the experts,’ A.I. may correct that. And if somebody tells you that a vaccine will prevent transmission and infection, or you need to take it to protect your grandmother, A.I. may say it actually doesn’t do that.”
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
going to be traveling to Oahu tomorrow for vacation so if you see me On Here between now and Oct 8, feel free to yell at me
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Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Elite universities mea culpas about the “loss of trust” in higher education so often fail to consider the force of the longterm propagandistic attack on universities, given extensive play in conservative media, that long preceded Trump, but which he has massively accelerated.
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Zoë “Baddie Proctor” Quinn @unburntwitch.com · 25/09/2026
TIL what a manicule is
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Notorious RBMK @comraderobot.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
i don’t think there is much Actual Evil in the world and there is even less Evil Collusion. like 99% of the time it’s just people with shit ass systemic incentives acting rationally
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Trump and the GOP's REAL base of support — the billionaires, Big Oil, Big Tech and AI, Big Crypto, defense contractors, and Wall Street — know that the midterm elections may limit what they can get away with in the future. Understand the stakes and vote accordingly.
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
love this show dearly and it's not (just) because of how sethdmichaels-coded James is
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Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Important to remember that the uber-wealthy are an uncommonly anti-social, interpersonally repugnant group of people devoid of charm and values; it’s how they got that way. They elevate their own.
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
well put: “'The harm caused by burdening or disenfranchising even a few lawful voters outweighs the nonexistent harm that the Government experiences when it is prevented from taking an action that it likely lacks the authority to take,' Jackson wrote." apnews.com/article/save...
apnews.com
Supreme Court lets Trump administration use revamped federal voter eligibility database for now
The Supreme Court is allowing states to resume using a controversial federal tool to check voter eligibility before the November elections.
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
at 5'11" i can confirm that i am completely and savagely owned by this post
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Texas, in particular, is actually very easy to draw as a Dem gerrymander because it's so urbanized. here's a map that's 22R-16D by Trump 2024 numbers but 19-19 for Biden 2020 and 21D-17R for O'Rourke 2018, and it's cleaner than the actual 30R-8D 2026 map davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap...
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
also: if they’ve got the Senate, pick up a couple of modest but broadly popular bills to be filibuster bait to set up your 2028 efforts and make the case for abolishing the filibuster. A new minimum wage hike, an easily-explained anti-corruption bill, things of that nature
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Embroidering this on a throw pillow so I always remember it
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
James Carville has essentially been doing his 30 Rock cameo for the last three decades for a dwindling audience of young boomers/old Gen Xers who watch cable news and give political donations
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Ody @odeecs.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
"We're the silent majority!" scream a sliver of parasitic oligarchs who never shut the fuck up.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
that 18 percent seems really well represented in the news and on social media bsky.app/profile/atru...
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Michael Clemens @mclem.org · 25/09/2026
This statement by a top US official is false: many have a legal status. It is also deceptive: many others lack legal status only because his own Administration removed it. But setting facts aside, this is a deeply shocking statement from a person responsible for decisions with life/death effects.
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Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
The Republicans own this mess. I gave up on them in July 2025, when they—like sheep—voted for Russ Vought’s recission package that included all of the “DOGE” cuts, including the ones that killed 700,000 many of them children. You couldn’t get rid of USAID by passing a bill, so you blessed DOGE.
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Primetime: good movie. Pattinson is On One (laudatory) but Wever and Gisondo and the supporting cast are also all terrific. it's of course bleak but it's also frequently quite funny.
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Danielle Kurtzleben @titonka.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Well now that everyone is wrong about Breaking Bad, let's read something about why we get so wrapped up in stories about Bad Men: daniellekurtzleben.substack.com/p/why-we-lov...
daniellekurtzleben.substack.com
Why We Love Bad Men (AKA: A Qualified Appreciation of Martin Scorsese)
This essay has been gestating for literally years. Okay.
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Zach Rabiroff @zachrabiroff.com · 21/09/2026
Civilization AND its discontents? In this economy?
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Zoe TunnHELL ➡️ NYCC @zoewithasword.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Kharleesi...
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Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Reminder that his superpac is sitting on a tom of cash that they haven't even reserved ad time with, but he'd rather steal taxpayer dollars to feed his vanity than spend even donor money
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A massive redistribution of wealth to fossil fuel extractors/refiners and their partners in the finance and tech industry, paid for in increased hospital visits by kids
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dr. rich traditions, JD @helldude.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
this is basic product liability. if a company was selling Rat Poison Ice Cream they would be made to stop pretty quickly
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Ketan Joshi @ketanjoshi.co · 24/09/2026
Buried at the end of NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang's NYT interview: the single most terrible yet somehow confusingly appropriate metaphor for fossil-fuelled AI I have ever seen ketanjoshi.co/2026/09/16/n...
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
we’re truly never lacking for opportunities to blame the Reagan-Era financialization-of-everything
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
yes! it’s willfully sacrificing the law on the altar of the unwritten Those People Don’t Belong Here and I Want to Hurt Them rule
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David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I'm under no illusions about how things are or what the trajectory is. But I'm also excited for the future because that is where I will hang out with the people I care about and do the things I like doing, or haven't done before. Weird but telling that this holds less appeal for much richer people.
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
if the Trump administration says it’s sunny out you should bring an umbrella.
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Josephine beckbook.com Riesman @josie.zone · 24/09/2026
Hey, I wrote this! You should read it!!
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Incredible. First Secretary Mullin claimed that DHS had identified 15,903 noncitizens on Nevada’s voter roll. Then DHS officials told a skeptical Nevada, no no no, that’s just people we flagged. Here are the names of 185 people we KNOW aren’t citizens. All 185 were citizens. DHS got 100% wrong.
When the Department of Homeland Security sent Nevada a list of 185 names last month that it claimed identified noncitizens who had been improperly allowed to register to vote, state election officials got to work.
On Tuesday, the state sent a strongly worded rebuke to the federal government: Every single person on the list was a lawful citizen.
"As for the 185 individuals, our records indicate that they were citizens," Greg D. Ott, a deputy attorney general in Nevada, wrote, according to a copy of a letter sent to Department of Homeland Security officials obtained through open records requests.
"You have provided nothing of substance to suggest otherwise."Following the meeting, Ms. Vogt sent a clarifying email to Nevada officials. "I also wanted to be sure I clarified that we did not reduce the 15,903 to 185," she wrote. "We've manually reviewed some of the 15,903 and confirmed 185 are not U.S. Citizens."
Now, Nevada officials are saying even that 185 number is wrong. They also took issue with a letter D.H.S. sent them in early September, in which the agency reiterated its initial claims about nearly 16,000 noncitizens on the rolls and pressured state officials to review each case in a letter to Nevada officials in early September.
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David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
It's too depressing and obnoxious to write about, but virtually all of the doomy/horny AI hyperventilating is transparently displaced anxiety about our fucked climate and political situation. Even rich idiots know it's bad and being permitted to get worse. They're trying to write their own ending.
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Yell In a War @jelenawoehr.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
it really needs to be more openly discussed that all the people advocating for “we should be fine with losing basic skills if we get more systems thinking” are men, meaning socialized to expect to be able to offload basic tasks of daily living onto a wife as part of their compensation for existing
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
“sawdust and glue is coming, and if you don’t adapt to digesting it, there’s no place for you in the new food system”
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
it’s wild to me that a company whose primary use-case is search, whose name literally became synonymous with search, is so gleefully advancing and accelerating the destruction of the usefulness of search
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Garnet Henderson @garnethenderson.com · 24/09/2026
Overton is Trump's nominee to be the next head of the FDA. She just said Trump's mandate for her, if confirmed, is to "go fast." As a reminder, the FDA is currently conducting a "review" of the abortion drug mifepristone. Overton has called abortion pills "dangerous."
autonomynews.co
FDA Pick Called Abortion Pills ‘Dangerous,’ Texas Abortion Funds Head Back to Court: August 24 News Roundup
Plus, a former federal prosecutor said she was fired for pursuing cases against people who blockaded abortion clinics.
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Tom the Dancing Bug, by Ruben Bolling @rubenbolling.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
🔴 Brand new comic now up on @boingboing.net ! - 🤖 ELON MUSK AND HIS DOGE PALS VS. GIANT A.I. ROBOTS!! - boingboing.net/2026/09/23/t...
boingboing.net
Tom the Dancing Bug: Elon Musk and His DOGE Pals vs. Giant A.I. Robots!
Tom the Dancing Bug, IN WHICH Elon Musk and his DOGE Pals are up against giant A.I. robots! -> ANNOUNCING The Tom the Dancing Bug Community Saves America Drive! For…
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Bradley Herring @bradleyherring.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Glenn Beck spent about 3 years doing this same shit and so many dumbasses fell for it. The same dumbasses will fall for it again, I promise you
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En Buen Ora @enbuenora.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I had someone use this justification explicitly. They said that because Donald Trump says so many horrible and over the top and sometimes crazy things, that therefore he's less deceptive than the wily clever politicians trying to deceive them. So deceit is aesthetic, not related to truthfulness.
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
a characteristically sharp set of Q&A here
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Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
preach
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Since 2016, pundits and politicians have misinterpreted Trump fans saying "he tells it like it is." That never meant "he's honest, and speaks with factual accuracy." It meant "he repeats my BS back to me, the stuff various authorities tell me is false, made up, a conspiracy theory, or nonsense."
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Seth D. Michaels @sethdmichaels.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
this is well put ironically, "Donald Trump lies all the time" is the kind of uncalibrated and unsmoothed statement that doesn't feel like normal political rhetoric and we'd all be better off if more people felt comfortable saying it!
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