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Defend Democracy

@stoppeterthiel.bsky.social
2.5K followers 4.3K following 4.2K posts

Stop Billionaires From Stealing Democracy - Eyes on you: Murdoch, Putin, MBS,Thiel, Koch, Mercer, Musk, Zuck, Bezos, Crow, Lutnick, Griffin etc... #nyc #librarian #defenddemocracy

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Art Of Coop @artofcoop.bsky.social · 20h
I know we’re not supposed to goof on people’s looks, but if this is what being a billionaire does to you, I’m happy to be a poor slob
Peter Thiel looking like a particularly vicious Dan Clowes drawing
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The Onion @theonion.com · 29/09/2026
Creatively Tapped-Out Peter Thiel Launches Startup Called ‘Frodo, But Evil’ theonion.com/creatively-tapped-out-…
Creatively Tapped-Out Peter Thiel Launches Startup Called ‘Frodo, But Evil’
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Someone better post that video of Josh Holly running like a coward on Jan 6
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Get 'em @corybooker.com I don't blame you for yelling.
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Trump never should have been eligible to run for President after Jan 6 and the classified document case. Lock his criminal ass up!
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Trump never should have been eligible to run for President after Jan 6 and the classified document case. Lock his criminal ass up!
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
If I were a republican, I would be embarrassed. By the way these Republican senators are behaving questioning Jack Smith. Unbelievable. 
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
These Republican Senators questioning Jack Smith are partisan hacks. I am watching in dismay! Insanity. DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE ECONOMY YOU IDIOTS!!
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
The face of someone who sold their soul to the devil.
Sen Kennedy questioning Jack Smith at the Senate judiciary committee. Looking like a complete fool. 
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Holy fuck, Senator Kennedy is a class A dick these Republicans have sold their soul to the devil.
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Oh, it’s almost like Donald Trump is working for Russia instead of the United States
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 28/09/2026
Last month, we refurbished 10 tennis courts in Crotona Park — the only public tennis courts in the Bronx with lights for night play. We stopped by recently to see how things were going. Thank you to NYJTL, USTA and Yonex for helping us deliver high-quality public spaces that New Yorkers deserve.
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 27/09/2026
The bizarre culture that’s sprung up around Silicon Valley AI companies - which overlaps hugely with rationalist and effective altruist circles - appears to be seriously pressuring some women into attending sex parties for the sake of networking. This is, needless to say, horrifying.
taco belle
@ animalologist
Multiple things can be true at once
22h
The purpose of SlutCon is to help ease men who are scared of approaching women, and for women who simply enjoy flirting to be in an environment where that happens a lot, since there's generally a dearth of that
At the same time, many - probably most! - women do Not want to be flirted with or propositioned by men they don't know. When a small scene only has a handful of large, well-known events, each one has disproportionate impact on everybody's ideas of acceptable behavior among other members of their milieu.
Attending the same events = specific shared context. Means
you're somewhat on the same page.
I suspect that the men who publicly raised concerns about SlutCon's impact on the scene are being megaphones for private objections and distresses they've heard from women in the scene who would NOT be comfortable at an event like that, but who don't voice it publicly because they suspect they'd suffer socially for doing so. That going to SlutCon to be flirted with gives women social cachet, and squirming at the idea means you're [not cool, can't get with the program, are probably a wokescold or a prude etc etc other pejoratives] and therefore, that you'll be excluded or held at a distance
Now, if this scene were purely a social scene, that'd be perfectly fine. Don't go to parties that don't suit you!! The issue arises because it's NOT purely a social scene. This scene is inarguably tied up with Al safety, research, and the SF tech scene in general.
When consistently being invited to the right parties is professionally advantageous, and when SlutCon itself **is** going to be an excellent networking opportunity for people in those fields, it's not neutral that {sexual proclivities} are the filtering mechanism that determines who's in the room. It means that promiscuity & forwardness is explicitly professionally advantageous.
And, if the norms of SlutCon influence the norms of that milieu outside of the e…My suspicion is that men come out of the event more bold, more forward, and with the expectation that events attended by former flirt-girls are fair game for SlutCon-style forwardness. This creates a hostile environment for women who just want to socialize and work with these men, without being propositioned. And without pretending that they're cool with being sexualized for the sake of their inclusion in the scene.
I don't think we have solutions yet, but it's important that we can talk about it, at least.
Jakeup • @ myhandle
Sep 25
the purpose of SlutCon is to help men who are scared of women to start liking women, by putting them in proximity to women who like men and aren't scared of men
I'm not attending or involved in any way, but this is very aligned to my own mission and I'm rooting for their success
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Faine Greenwood @faineg.com · 27/09/2026
Women trying to succeed in Silicon Valley AI and effective altruist spaces are reporting feeling serious social pressure to attend sex parties - where people have reported being sexually assaulted, like below. Events like Aella’s “Slutcon,” which is happening again this weekend.
Ann Pierce
@itsannpierce
20h
I am disheartened by this as well. I already lost a bunch of followers for agreeing with @tautologer, but it's saddening to see local nerdy women being caricatured as Karen-like outsiders and getting pushed out of the scene. This is exactly why you hear so few concrete, names-attached stories of sexual harrassment and assault. I'm told there is a history of discrediting these because the "slut normalization" thing is top priority and these stories get inconveniently in the way of spreading this ideology.
I got roped into attending last year's Saturday Slutcon party because so many local and out-of-town friends were there (to echo sentiments @tautologer expressed about "slut events becoming central to the larger scenes). Mostly I hung out with people I knew and that was great. But in the course of my 3-ish hours there, there were 2 times my "no" was not accepted by a man I didn't know, and I was physically pushing a huge guy off of me who was rubbing his penis on me, who continued to do it despite my physical force against him, and after I finally wriggled away from him, told him I wanted to dance alone etc., he came back and did it again.
This was scary and bad, but it didn't even cross my mind to report this because one of the other people who didn't accept my "no" earlier in the night was the bartender (an officially sanctioned authority at the event), and I knew the event was organized exclusively by women into CNC (who are vocal about how rapey behavior turns them on), so I figured this sort of thing would just get me laughed at. And anyway, I heard there were a lot of other incidents like it. Later though, someone encouraged me to report this story to the organizers, and despite my embarrassment I did, so *they know* that this and other incidents happened. This is why they cut the Saturday night party this year and created a larger training program for the flirt girls - *because* of things like this last year. Yet the narrative bein…People who haven't been to Slutcon are saying "it's just group therapy," "it's just innocent flirting." But the environment is much like a sex party in that many people are nude, there is making out and sex acts happening out in the open. I think it's pretty unreasonable to expect that every nerdy girl who likes rationalist bloggers or is into EA/AI safety should automatically be comfortable with this! That if she's not, there's something wrong with her, we don't want her in our scenes, etc.
Not to mention, it's explictly an event *for men*, where men are the clients and the "flirt girls" are the product. Last year I overheard an exchange where a man felt "led on" by a flirt girl and was trying to get her punished/kicked out. (A dynamic that seems inevitable in this context!)
Anyway- it does sound like they've upped their consent education a lot this year, are more organized, and that's good! As I've told my friends who are attending: I hope they have fun!
I heard several accounts last year of women who had no problems and really enjoyed the event. That's great!
Just... can we live in reality about this? There are real reasons why male-female sexual dynamics are tricky.
Encouraging autistic men who can't yet read body language to go around asking to see womens' boobs is maybe a bit ill-advised. Maybe not everyone should be/identify as a slut; maybe it's not for everyone.
And yeah, filtering the Bay Area Al safety scene down to only women who are super comfy with this eliminates *most* women - including many of the really smart, nerdy, weird women who've been in the larger scenes for years. What a loss for humanity.
I absolutely understand why people with a minority sexuality would want to create belonging, would want to create spaces for people like themselves. But why do it like this/at this cost?
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
NEW EPISODE: Podcaster and author David Pakman joins me to discuss how algorithms control what you see and why the next influencer in your feed might not be a real person at all. www.youtube.com/watch?v=deoY...
youtube.com
Why the Algorithm Favors Right Wing Content with David Pakman
YouTube video by Democracy Docket
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
whoa, Kristin Welker sucks. First she cozies up to Stephen Miller, now acting like a Trump sycophant questioning the Iranian Foreign Minister. I want proof of life for Mitch McConnell
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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 27/09/2026
#OtD 27 Sep 1936 1000 uniformed fascist Blackshirts led by Oswald Mosley in Leeds, UK, were confronted by 30,000 anti-fascist locals who attacked them, pelted them with stones, hitting Mosley, and drowned out speeches by singing The Red Flag stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/9965...
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Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 26/09/2026
This is actually hell, right?
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Rachael Hamlet @karmamylanta.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Watch the trailer here:
youtu.be
Musk | Official Trailer | Bleecker Street
YouTube video by Musk
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Norm Eisen @normeisen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Please don't overreact to the SCOTUS SAVE database decision today Page 6 of the decision makes clear that we are in the 90 day statutory window when mass changes cannot be made to voter lists! Yeah it's a shit decision for the reasons the 3 dissenters say but we can deal with it. More to come...
nytimes.com
Supreme Court Allows Expansive Voter Screening Tool Ahead of Midterms (Gift Article)
Critics of the Trump administration system to monitor the citizenship status of voters had raised alarms about privacy and improper voter purges.
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Went to spring break art show and I like this woman’s art the best. Hannah Epstein.
Crazy face made by textiles, smiling with lots of teeth and colorful, striped tears Zappy eyes
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Went to Spring/Break arr show yesterday and basically the only artist I was into was Hannah Epstein 
Space X Crazy animal face with
Wool



Craxy ab
Sl crazy animal face Strange animal phase made out of fiber 
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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · 25/09/2026
Peter Thiel says the "Antichrist" will preach "peace." Now his cronies in the Trump regime are pushing "Pax Silica" ("Silicon Peace"). It's a grandiose name for AI colonialism and imperialism. 1st target: The Philippines. More from @kieraevebutler.bsky.social www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
motherjones.com
Tech Bros and the Trump administration are building an AI empire—in the Philippines
Pax Silica aims to lock up rare earths, and hand Silicon Valley the keys.
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David Forbes @davidforbes.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I keep getting asked if I seriously think anti-trans Democrats will team up with Republicans to pass more anti-trans laws. Yes, I do.
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🌬Breeze @cool-summer-breeze.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is the Stolen Neighbors Quilt. Each of the 11,000 squares represents a person taken by ICE in Minnesota.
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Is anyone NOT missing Trump suck up to Xi Jinping China’s president?
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Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 23/09/2026
Climate Week is here in New York City, and our work has deep roots. 18,261 trees planted this year. The most in a decade.
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 23/09/2026
Today on Volts: Home batteries are useful, but not everyone can afford a Powerwall, or wants to deal with an electrician. A company called Pila is selling small (1.6kWh) batteries that can plug into a normal wall outlet and back up appliances or pair with rooftop solar. I talk with the CEO.
volts.wtf
Do small residential batteries make sense?
A conversation with Cole Ashman of Pila Energy.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Microsoft has laid off over 5,000 workers since July. Its CEO made $96.5M in 2025, a 22% increase from the previous year. Microsoft made $101B in net income last year — and raked in up to $12.5B in tax breaks from Trump's Big Ugly Bill. This is what a rigged system looks like.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Authoritarians want to consolidate state power over what information the public can know. Just a timely reminder.
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Nick Field @nickfield.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"On Tuesday, more than 120 staffers from POLITICO and Business Insider—across both the U.S. and European workforces—dispatched a letter to Döpfner objecting to Axel Springer's honoring of Thiel" www.status.news/p/axel-sprin...
status.news
Axel’s Thiel Tempest
The publisher is set to honor Trump ally Peter Thiel this week—and Status has learned that staffers at Politico and Business Insider are pushing back, accusing their parentco of undermining its own co...
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
A recent survey found that 92% of U.S. adults have delayed or avoided medical care due to high costs. Meanwhile, a new study from Yale estimates that Medicare for All would save over 114,000 lives and $1 trillion a year. If this country was truly “pro-life,” we would have universal healthcare.
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Right in time for the midterms!!
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Brandy Zadrozny @brandyzadrozny.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Bonus for whoever wrote this chyron
Trump speaking at UN — MS NOW chyron reads: Trump touts being a peacemaker while asking if he should annihilate Iran
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Listening to Trump speak at the UN. I am ashamed. I cannot believe that Americans voted three times for this madman moron. He is a criminal idiot. How could people vote for this three times!!!
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 22/09/2026
Sen. Susan Collins helped steer millions in federal defense contracts to Navatek, whose CEO illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign. The FBI sought to launch a probe and was eyeing Collins and other lawmakers. Then Trump gutted the unit in charge. THREAD 🧵
Martin Kao, CEO of defense contractor Navatek, poses next to Sen. Susan Collins for a photo. Collins is holding a model of a boat in her hands. Behind them is a large sign with the Navatek logo.
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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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Greg Olear @gregolear.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Fixed it. And yes, this is from a real DOD Hegseth propaganda video.
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Imani Gandy @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 20/09/2026
I just honestly can't get over that Save Women Sports, an anti-trans group could only find five trans athletes competing K through 12. Five. The NCAA president testified a year and a half ago or so that there were less than 10 college level trans athletes. What the fuck are we doing, people
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19/09/2026
Q: At what point does Congress step in and address the Iran war? MIKE JOHNSON: It's not a war. They're trying to resolve an operation -- Operation Epic Fury, which was an epic success. I don't think we need liberal Marxist Democrats telling the commander in chief what to do w/the military right now
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Joe Walsh @walshfreedom.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
PAXIS.app helps you understand the rights at stake: peacefully recording officers in public is protected, subject to reasonable restrictions. Arresting someone merely for filming could violate the First Amendment. Unreasonable force or arrest without probable cause could violate the Fourth. 3/4
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Caroleeena @caroleeena.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
As a long, long, long, long, long time Converse buyer, I will never buy a Converse product ever again. I am sick of the virtue signalling to racists. I see this and I see a man hanged, a white robe that could be a klansman's robe and light shaped like a KKK hat. What the actual hell!?!
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Musicology Duck @musicologyduck.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
People forming a human chain around the Kennedy center
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Every time I see that Meta ad with the David Bowie music, it makes me furious. Did Iman sell Zuckerberg Bowie’s music? It’s sickening.
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Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 12/09/2026
“I know with your help, we’ll make our community grow and we’ll take back our country.” Robert De Niro wants you to vote early and join your local No Kings event on October 17: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i...
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MS NOW @ms.now · 19/09/2026
NOW: Protesters gather outside the Kennedy Center and are expected to form a human chain in opposition to Trump's takeover of the institution.
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Lol. Somehow I ended up on a list called “transphobes and the people that support them” it couldn’t be further from the truth. Whatever. The Internet is bananas.
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Ralph Brandi @thereisnocat.com · 16/09/2026
As an American citizen, I want all that money back. Confiscate every goddamned penny.
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Todd Blanche is doing the devil's work
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Defend Democracy @stoppeterthiel.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
OMG I cannot believe the FBI Dir Kash Patel is doubling down on employing VICTIMS of beastiality and trafficking... These criminals think we are stupid. Also, I cannot believe Patel is FBI director and he lives in Las Vegas!! Hahah Sob
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