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Stephen James

@stephenjamessv.bsky.social
368 followers 883 following 622 posts

Stephen James. OG investigative reporter based in Silicon Valley. Judicial branch, criminal justice, civil and family law, government accountability, FOIA, public records law, government transparency. Past or present member IRE, SPJ, ONA.

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Reposted by Stephen James
Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
I said this in a thread last night and in a thousand threads before it, but you really are doing the work of those who would destroy democracy and the rule of law when you are a doomer. You can be aware of — and vigorously oppose — the lawlessness of this administration without insisting on doom.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
This currently is the best account on Substack. Real time information with comprehensive sourcing about the Ukraine-Russia war. substack.com/@professorbo...
substack.com
Ukraine Killed a Russian Every 93 Seconds, and Trump Told Kyiv to Stop
A NATO official gave Bloomberg the monthly total of 50,000, and Moscow's loudest war blogger told his readers the drones had reached them on purpose. Washington phoned to object.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
This is how the right wing ecosystem works to disseminate misinformation, starting with Just the News “reporter” John Solomon. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/u...
nytimes.com
How the White House Manufactured a Narrative About a Trump Aide’s Call Logs (Gift Article)
A release of selected records from the classified documents inquiry is a case study in how omitting context can create political ammunition.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Shocking but encouraging Ukraine war news: professorbonk.substack.com/p/ukraine-bu...
professorbonk.substack.com
Ukraine Burned Putin's Missile Fuel, and His Censor Let Strelkov's Letter Out of Prison
A Russian soldier says the living answered for the dead when the inspectors came, ISW called the Donetsk campaign defeated, and the page the censor passed calls the war a hopeless trap.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The origin story on this song is gut wrenching. This is a modern day bookend to that. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH0-...
youtube.com
When The Levee Breaks feat. John Paul Jones | Playing For Change | Song Around The World
YouTube video by Playing For Change
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
[Stallone is 80] The insurance companies say 78, that’s the average [age when people die], so I’m two years into borrowed time.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Historian Heather Cox Richardson is a daily must-read heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-...
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
September 28, 2026
It has become routine for Trump to spend the weekend posting wildly on social media, and this weekend was no exception.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
This is compelling investigative reporting 👏 stocks.apple.com/AdvUKhYHkTnS...
stocks.apple.com
In the Shadow of Elon Musk’s Data Centers, Where the Noise Never Stops: ‘This Is Nothing But Torture’ — Popular Mechanics
xAI brought unpermitted gas turbines, toxic emissions, and a barrage of punishing noise to the Memphis area. Then the people fought back.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
🎯 substack.com/@luizajarovs...
substack.com
Luiza Jarovsky, PhD (@luizajarovsky)
Norwegian humor is on another level. Here's how the Norwegian Consumer Council explained @Cory Doctorow's concept of 'enshittification':
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Reposted by Stephen James
Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 21/09/2026
“ScrollEd has built an app that allows the user to turn any text file — including dry PDFs or text books — into a feed that feels a lot like Instagram Reels or TikTok. As you scroll, the content shows up as AI-generated video, audio, text, or even interactive quizzes.”
techcrunch.com
ScrollEd wants to turn textbooks into TikTok | TechCrunch
ScrollEd turns textbooks into a scrollable, Instagram-like feed with video, audio, and quizzes. The Palo Alto startup, founded by student co-founders (and spouses) Utsav Gupta and Rebecca Neff, pitche...
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lornepw.bsky.social @lornepw.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
“Canadians have two modes – ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘You’re about to be sorry.’” www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/cfcd7fb...
theglobeandmail.com
Canadian pride and rage in the face of tariff madness
In the trade war pressure cooker, Carney’s government was inching toward concessions. Then came the late-breaking story that changed it all
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
this is correct and many people can't let this penetrate their brains. My great aunt was one of the most BRILLIANT, CREATIVE, TALENTED people I knew. But because of when and where she was born & lived her whole life, she didn't get the opportunities and wasn't lucky.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social achieves The Trump Singularity
Screenshot of quote from Ron Filipkowski blaming Trump voters for current events related to President Trump
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Reposted by Stephen James
lizardbreath 🦎🪦🎃 @spindlypete.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
i do think it's good to give children weird old folk music to listen to but it does end up causing some scenarios like right now the lads are having a bubble bath and singing a song about a buxom chambermaid who lights up to bed a brisk young butcher in her inn and later grows thick about the waist
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/books/2026/s...
theguardian.com
Naomi Klein: ‘Extreme wealth has a deranging effect. It turns you into a supremacist’
She’s tackled neoliberalism and the digital world, now the writer and activist is taking on tech billionaires. She explains how the super-rich are capitalising on climate and financial chaos in pursui...
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
🎯
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Reposted by Stephen James
Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I don't do much 9/11 posting, but I always think about Bretagne, the last surviving ground zero search and rescue dog. When they took her to be euthanized in 2016, first responders saluted as she entered the clinic. She was later carried out in a flag-draped casket. www.chron.com/news/houston...
Bretagne with her handler at Ground ZeroOld golden retriever walking into a vet, saluted by first respondersA flag-draped casket being carried out and saluted
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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
We started a trade war with these people because the president, who has some sort of degenerative brain disease with visible bruises on his hand's injection site that the press doesn't talk about, was bored.
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Amyville Hoyrror @amyhoy.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
i have NEVER seen a recliner work setup with a crt monitor. amazing
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𝕯𝖆𝖓🍂🎃🕸️ @arepublic86.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Charlotte Wainwright restoring and saving old/ancient books. www.wainwrightbookbinding.com
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 31/08/2026
my scanning setup btw
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Columbia Journalism Review @columjournreview.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
“If there’s anybody that should feel awkward, it’s going to be the people involved in making this decision.” Read Karen Attiah's conversation with Riddhi Setty. www.cjr.org/the-intervie...
cjr.org
Karen Attiah is ready to go back to the Washington Post.
“If there’s anybody that should feel awkward, it’s going to be the people involved in making this decision,” she says. If the situation doesn’t work out, she may become a martial-arts influencer or a ...
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Reposted by Stephen James
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 27/08/2026
“Without the union, you’re naked. You have no protection.”
motherjones.com
Karen Attiah fought the Washington Post and won
Employers who fired their staff for posts about Charlie Kirk have lost a string of high-profile disputes.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
“Making a record” driftglass.blogspot.com/2025/06/i-di...
driftglass.blogspot.com
I Did Try To Warn You
When a handful of Republican media hatchet men, ad makers and pundits showed up at the door of the Democratic party, shocked and...
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Epic driftglass.blogspot.com/2026/08/they...
driftglass.blogspot.com
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Reposted by Stephen James
Mike Barthel @mikebarthelauthor.com · 25/08/2026
She also could tell a fuckin story
When the 1974 recording of the song reached number one on the country charts, Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to record the song.
Parton was interested until Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded.
[28] Parton refused. She recalls:
I said, 'I'm really sorry,' and I cried all night. I mean, it was like the worst thing. You know, it's like, Oh, my God... Elvis Presley.' And other people were saying, 'You're nuts. It's Elvis Presley!'...I said, 'I can't do that.
Something in my heart says, 'Don't do that. And I just didn't do it... He would have killed it. But anyway, so he didn't. Then when Whitney [Houston's version] came out, I made enough money to buy Graceland. 29]
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Priceless. Must go into the time capsule.
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Reposted by Stephen James
Bethany Brookshire @beebrookshire.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
This video is excellent. And important. I know a woman who fell, could not get up, and lay there, alone with her dog, for three days until my mother happened to find her (she survived, barely). It is a truly horrible, traumatizing thing to happen to anyone.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
🎯 👉“There's an element of society that thinks nothing matters, everything is corrupt and up for grabs, and views everything as sport... and they're in control”👈 👆 👆
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Put a pin in this: Here it comes. This is it, the start, the first episode of the two episode (one for each year) finale of the Trump administration. Who benefits, exponentially, from the wide adoption of cryptocurrency? The Trump family.
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Reposted by Stephen James
Yastreblyansky @ghastreblyansky.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I'm very pleased with my own little LLM effort to get the machine to decide whether Jared Kushner should or should not be participating in Middle East negotiations yastreblyansky.substack.com/p/ai-experim... but it got the right answer basically because it was so obvious anybody could have.
yastreblyansky.substack.com
AI Experiment
Can the LLM give us objectivity? Or is it something else?
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Reposted by Stephen James
Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
A very important op-ed. I wish I had more followers to promote this! 😢 davisvanguard.org/2026/07/mino...
davisvanguard.org
Op-ed | A CHILD'S ATTORNEY IS OFF THE CASE. OUR REPORTING MATTERED. - Davis Vanguard
The recent removal of minor's counsel Julie Levy from a child custody case underscores the ongoing necessity of journalistic oversight regarding alleged misconduct within California's family courts, a...
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Just discovered The Boys. 🫢 youtu.be/CpCDAz2rbXQ?...
youtu.be
Adam Bourke - In Memorium
YouTube video by Vought International
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Reposted by Stephen James
Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
YIKES BIKES at this takedown of Caraway, Our Place and Great Jones (ie the pink aesthetic cookware Instagram knows my heart craves and I’m always tempted to buy: “The materials science on that coating is peer-reviewed and brutal”
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Roy Edroso @edroso.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
YOU TELL 'EM SOPHIE www.thatfinalscene.com/p/rebutting-...
thatfinalscene.com
rebutting the anti-identity theory of directing
A response to this Redditor claiming identity in directing doesn't matter.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
Getty intern gets the shot. Nice work. www.cjr.org/laurels-and-...
cjr.org
Laurels and Darts: Documenting as protection.
A Getty intern gets the picture—and the subject’s trust. Plus: irresponsible innumeracy at Murdoch outlets.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
👏 VERY rare instance of judge doing their job and referring alleged attorney misconduct to state bar. We routinely see attorney misconduct like this in CA, but judges almost never make the bar referral as REQUIRED by Code of Judicial Ethics canon 3D(2). lawandcrime.com/high-profile...
lawandcrime.com
Judge hits Trump lawyers where it hurts as president wouldn't stop 'cynically' using the courts
The judge said it was "risible to suggest that there was ever adverseness," and that Trump's IRS lawsuit was plainly brought for an "improper purpose."
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
This photo will be iconic forever
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
survivorsisters.org
survivorsisters.org
Survivor Sisters
Survivor Sisters of Epstein & Maxwell
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
One of the challenges of investigative reporting
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
🤣
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Profound insight from @hcrichardson.bsky.social
Quote from Heather Cox Richardson
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Reposted by Stephen James
McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 16/06/2026
"Ben owns a farm. He employs 100 workers. His total payroll is $10 million/year. One day, he buys a mule, which provides the worker who uses it with a modest 10% productivity gain. Ben fires 99 of his workers and purchases 99 mules, expecting a 1,000% productivity gain..."
buff.ly
AI Economics for Dummies
“Xavier owns an apartment that he rents out at a loss of $1 billion/month. Seeing this success, he decides to make financial commitments to construct $850 bi...
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
This explains a lot www.engadget.com/general/a-ta...
engadget.com
A tale of four Kodaks - Engadget
CES 2025 was a good time to check in on how many zombie brands are littering the floor of the consumer electronics industry.
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Reposted by Stephen James
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
This is textbook violation of fiduciary duty on behalf of the Board — it's deliberately sabotaging your own institution to make a political point. Every Board member who voted for this is breaking their oath.
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Stephen James @stephenjamessv.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Wisdom
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