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Mer

@valkmer2.bsky.social
1.8K followers 463 following 863 posts

Progressive, depressive, occasionally excessive Pro BLM, Pro BIPOC, Pro LGBTQIA+, Anti Bigotry She/her I prefer to let women define themselves. Go Pack Go!

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God @thegodshow.com · 10/10/2026
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Kaitlin Kal Lee @kaitlinkallee.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
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4fuxake @blueheartedly1.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
This 👇
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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Can one politician or journalist tell him he's disgusting, to his face, on camera? One. (1).
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 05/10/2026
Holy shit.
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Ossoff: Did you see this business about Don Jr.‘s wedding in the Bahamas? Where he received, apparently, a cash gift from a Russian oligarch connected to the Kremlin? This man, Kremlev, was apparently in China with Putin two days before he flew to the Bahamas for Don Jr.’s wedding…
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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
If you're still on the fence about whether AI is good or bad for society, consider this: The fascists desperately want it
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
NOT-SO-FUN FACT: Today’s national average diesel fuel price of $6.49 is an all-time record high. ⛽️
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Erik Loomis @erikloomis.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This Day in Labor History: September 19, 1945. 24 fired female employees of the Lindstrom Tool and Toy Company in Bridgeport, Connecticut picketed outside the factory in protest of their firing to replace with returning men. Let's tell the often untold story of women workers in World War II!
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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
AI didn’t “go rogue.” People connected a computer system they know can mess with another computer system in unpredictable ways to less advanced computer system and it messed with that computer system in unpredicted ways. As @tressiemcphd.bsky.social argues, don’t lose sight that *people* did that.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Panic Won’t Fix the Looming A.I. Threat. Politics Will.
The threats from A.I. are real — and they’re ones we know how to deal with.
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Mer @valkmer2.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This is who the Trumps are. This is what they do.
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 02/09/2026
DHS finalized its $16.7 million purchase of 6,650 pairs of electric shock gloves from Compliant Technologies. That comes out to about $2,400 per pair, plus some accessories like glove fresheners in case the ICE agents wearing these direct-contact electroshock weapons get sweaty.
motherjones.com
Lawmakers Push DHS to Cancel Its Shock Gloves Contract
"This administration continues to outfit ICE and CBP with the tools of an occupying paramilitary force."
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 02/09/2026
Pete Hegseth is reportedly considering his chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell—who allegedly abused his estranged wife and children—to succeed US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.
motherjones.com
It looks like Hegseth is replacing top military officers with loyalists
US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is just the latest to depart.
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Last week, the Trump administration deported eight people seeking asylum from the Iranian regime to the Central African Republic.
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Matthew Sheffield @matthew.flux.community · 26/08/2026
Another "voter fraud" allegation collapses: Trump claimed three states had more than 250,000 noncitizens registered to vote, but months later, the Department of Homeland Security is claiming only 185 such cases exist. It hasn't provided what basis it has for accusing them to Nevada:
npr.org
DHS acknowledges the noncitizen numbers it touted on voter rolls were inflated
The Trump administration claimed to have found 250,000 noncitizens on the voter rolls in four states. But the agency's communications with states since then indicate that data was preliminary.
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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
“My parents died so fuck yours too,” is quite the argument against reasonable healthcare
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ACLU @aclu.org · 26/08/2026
Numerous studies, including from the FBI itself, show that invasive mass surveillance tech like Flock and Axon's automatic license plate readers don't help police fight crime. Surveillance is not safety.
futurism.com
Flock Surveillance Cameras Are Actually Horrible for Fighting Crime, FBI Data Shows
New FBI data shows case closure rates for the Atlanta Police Department have not improved despite thousands of ALPRs installed since 2021.
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Mer @valkmer2.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
As usual, shocking but not surprising.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 30/07/2026
Holy shit! Jim Jordan is reduced to stammering when Kasie Hunt presses him on why he continues to support Max Miller despite credible allegations that he abused his ex-wife and toddler daughter
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Zinn Education Project @zinnedproject.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
“ZEP provides tools to tap right into students’ natural curiosity. Instead of relying on dry, standard textbooks, you access vibrant primary sources, forgotten stories, & diverse voices that get your students leaning in.” — Roy Dalisay, MS LA teacher, Schuyler, NE Donate: zinnedproject.org/donate
When you join ZEP, you’re not just downloading another set of lesson plans — you’re transforming how your middle schoolers experience reading, writing, and thinking. ZEP gives you the tools to tap right into students’ natural curiosity. Instead of relying on dry, standard textbooks, you get access to vibrant primary sources, forgotten stories, and diverse voices that instantly get your students leaning in. — Roy Dalisay, Middle School Language Arts Teacher, Schuyler, Nebraska
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Zinn Education Project @zinnedproject.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
In 1991, construction of a new 34-story office in Lower Manhattan unearthed the remains of roughly 15,000 Africans 20 feet below ground. Many were enslaved to build the city. NPS calls it “the oldest & largest known excavated burial site in N. America for both free & enslaved Africans.” 🧵 More: ⬇️
nytimes.com
The New York of the Past Is Still Visible Today. You Just Have to Look. (Gift Article)
Traces of New York’s layered histories can be found scattered throughout its contemporary urban landscape.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 27/07/2026
When an insurance company is deciding whether to pay for your medical treatment, it generates a file, which should contain all records associated with your case, including documents explaining why the claim was denied. You have a right to see this file. (Published May 2023)
propublica.org
Health Insurance Claim Denied? See What Insurers Said Behind the Scenes
Learn how to request your health insurance claim file, which can include details about what your insurer is saying about you and your case.
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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Despite the whining about “ historical accuracy,” the racist backlash to the casting in Nolan’s Odyssey is about the right wanting to justify racial hierarchy by projecting it into a past where it did not actually exist. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
When some on the right speak of reverence for “civilization,” what they’re doing is trying to anachronistically justify the hierarchy of race they would like to see enacted today by rooting it in antiquity. You cannot cast Black people in The Odyssey, because The Odyssey is a pillar of “Western civilization,” which they consider to be white. This faction of the far right imagines antiquity as a kind of idyllic Jim Crow universe of utterly separate civilizations, one in which the integration they despise could not possibly exist.But Greece is not as far from Africa as the North American continent is, and the modern construct of race, a pseudoscientific product of the Atlantic slave trade, would not be invented until thousands of years after Homer. Black people are depicted in Greek art. Egypt, Libya, and “Aethiopia” are frequently referenced in ancient writings. As the Black classics scholar Frank Snowden Jr. wrote in the 1970s, at least one of the characters in The Odyssey, Eurybates, is specifically described as “black-skinned and woolly-haired.” As the Stanford classics professor Sarah Derbew notes in her book Untangling Blackness in Greek Antiquity, Black people are referenced in plays by Euripides, Sophocles, and Aeschylus. They also appear in the writings of Hesiod and Herodotus. One of the lost epic poems is The Aethiopis, in which Memnon, the Aethiopian king and an ally to Troy, plays a major role.
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
And any outlet that let Trump pretend he didn’t know anything about it should be shamed into oblivion
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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Three congressional Democrats say that as much as $21.5 million paid by ABC, Meta, Paramount and X to settle lawsuits brought by Trump is now missing or has been spent without explanation and requested a full accounting from the foundation building his presidential library.
ms.now
Democrats push Trump library to account for millions in lawsuit settlement funds
Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal and Rep. Melanie Stansbury are calling for answers after they noted discrepancies in the president’s financial disclosures.
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Silence is assent @stef47.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
Proof that guns create cowards. Remember the Uvalde 400.
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Dana R. Fisher (aka the Apocalyptic Optimist) @fisherdanar.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
SCIENCE UPDATE in the US, here's where we are (via @nejm.org) TL;DR:A political appointee decides funding, not peer review; Your grant can be canceled at any time without warning; International collaborations are prohibited; & All conferences require political pre-approval @naomioreskes.bsky.social
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 22/06/2026
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Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Could not agree more! Not only did Hillary beat the Orange Atrocity by 2.8 MILLION votes, but Al Gore got 543,895 MORE votes than Bush! The Electoral College allows candidates who received less votes to win the presidency. ABOLISH THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
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Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 18/06/2026
As many are hailing Musk’s entry into this league of one, it’s a good time to review his record as an alt-right extremist who’s amplified and promoted noxious, dangerous, and false ideas.
motherjones.com
Elon Musk: The world’s worst trillionaire
His wealth isn't the only thing that's extreme.
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head of vulture hospitality jaunte @jaunte.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Have a good long think about the phrase "billionaire healthcare executive."
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Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Whether it's Republicans lying about the LA mayor election, or lying about screwworm, or using AI to lie about James Talarico, the Democratic instinct is to correct the record, condemn the attack and move on. It should be to weave a story about the opposition's putrid, morally corrosive dishonesty.
offmessage.net
The Black Mold Of Republican Lies
Even when their smears aren't helpful to them in the short run, they harm Democrats in the long run. Here's a prescription for deterrence.
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 04/06/2026
Use our database to explore the financial disclosures of President Donald Trump and more than 1,600 of his appointees. 👇
projects.propublica.org
Explore Financial Disclosures From President Trump and 1,600 of His Appointees - ProPublica
Use this database to explore potential conflicts of interest for President Donald Trump and his team. The documents disclose positions officials have held outside government, their assets and their de...
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 29/05/2026
ICE hides flight info because if they can get detainees to detention hubs in the south before lawyers and family can locate them, they face harsher courts. But jurisdiction doesn’t change until the flight lands. That’s where this tracking tool comes in. 1/ gillianbrockell.com/habeas-fligh...
gillianbrockell.com
Habeas Flight Watch: New tool helps track ICE flights to your city
Activists have been quietly piloting a live map of ICE flights to help immigration attorneys with habeas filings. Now they say it's ready for everyone to use.
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 28/05/2026
Dear media, You don't have to say "E Jean Carroll accused Trump of defamation and rape." You can say "Trump defamed and raped E Jean Carroll." It's been adjudicated. Thank you
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George Takei @georgetakei.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
You don't have to overturn Citizens United to beat it. Corporations only exist because states charter them, so a state can decide spending in elections isn't a power they wield. Not regulation, redefinition. Hawaii made it law. Montana's gathering signatures. More states are watching.
thinkbigpicture.substack.com
The Novel Progressive Legal Theory That Could Undo Citizens United
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 28/05/2026
Attorneys at the Education Department’s civil rights office described working in a “dismissal factory.” Most discrimination complaints filed by students’ families have been dismissed without ever being investigated, records show. (Published Dec. 2025)
propublica.org
Monkey Sounds, “White Power” and the N-Word: Racial Harassment Against Black Students Ignored Under Trump
Since Trump returned to office, the Education Department’s civil rights office has not resolved a single racial harassment investigation. It sends a message that “people impacted by racial discriminat...
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Robert Faturechi @robert-faturechi.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
New: A top White House aide intervened to get a $620 million Pentagon loan for a company tied to Donald Trump Jr. “The call came from the White House: We have to get this done,” said one person involved. www.propublica.org/article/dona...
propublica.org
The White House Intervened to Get a $620 Million Deal for a Company Tied to Donald Trump Jr.
About three months before the Pentagon announced plans to lend money to Vulcan Elements, Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm took an undisclosed stake in the company.
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 14/05/2026
Playwright Aleshea Harris stunned off-Broadway audiences eight years ago with her revenge play "Is God Is." Now she stuns again with her vivid, violent and startling screen adaptation, in theaters Friday.
bit.ly
Movie Review: Sorry not sorry — ‘Is God Is’ stakes a claim for unapologetic female rage
Playwright Aleshea Harris stunned off-Broadway audiences eight years ago with her revenge play “Is God Is.”
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Bolts @boltsmag.org · 12/05/2026
“I have to be able to vote to get my rights back,” says Matthew Neumann, a trans man who directs the LGBTQ Foundation of Kansas. “Even if I have to get something that misgenders me so I can legally vote them out, I’m going to have to do that now.”
boltsmag.org
A New Law Voids IDs of Transgender Kansans. It Also Threatens Their Voting Access. - Bolts
Kansas Republicans barred trans residents from getting licenses that reflect their gender identity and canceled existing IDs. The move also risks blocking their access to the polls.
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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) defended his decision to suspend his state’s ongoing primary election to redraw the congressional maps, even after 45,000 ballots had already been cast, saying that discarding those votes was “not a big” deal. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
democracydocket.com
Louisiana governor: Discarding 45,000 votes ‘not a big’ deal and ‘not my fault’
“Well, it's not a big de– it's not my fault,” Landry said.
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ebisback.bsky.social @ebisback.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Seriously 🙄
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Ari Berman @ariberman.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
This is absolutely outrageous. SCOTUS reinstated Texas gerrymander 15 weeks before primary because they claimed it was too close to election to block it but now allowing Alabama to gerrymander one week before primary after trial court found map was intentionally discriminatory against Black voters
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 09/05/2026
Why did Trump pardon drug trafficker and Honduran president Juan Hernández? According to leaked audio tapes, it was an initial payment in part of a agreement between Trump, Bibi, and others to take down Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum. english.elpais.com/internationa...
english.elpais.com
‘Hondurasgate,’ the alleged US and Israeli interference plot to destabilize Mexico and other progressive governments
A leaked audio recording points to former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, Javier Milei, and Donald Trump as attempting to create a platform to spread fake news about the administrations of ...
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Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Unearthed reports reveal that RFK Jr. fired every full-time CDC cruise ship sanitation inspector ahead of the Hantavirus cruise ship outbreak. www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-cru...
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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
NEW: John Roberts likes being political. He just doesn't like the accountability that comes with it. Roberts complained Wednesday that people view the justices as "political actors." They are, though, issuing political decisions that have real-world consequences. Today, at Law Dork:
lawdork.com
John Roberts likes being political. He just doesn't like the accountability that comes with it.
Roberts complained Wednesday that people view the justices as "political actors." They are, though, issuing political decisions that have real-world consequences.
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Mer @valkmer2.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Worst field trip ever
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Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
1. ICE has not paid for detainee medical care for 7 MONTHS The termination of payments to providers has coincided with a MASSIVE SPIKE in detainee deaths. This is a health crisis and a moral crisis. Follow along for details. 🧵
popular.info
ICE has not paid for detainee medical care for 7 months
The termination of payments to providers has coincided with a massive spike in detainee deaths and medical crises.
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 03/05/2026
You can order pills from overseas clinics and mutual aid groups. *Possessing* mifepristone is not a crime (except in Louisiana). I'm not saying I have some but I am saying if you are someone who can get pregnant or knows people who can, order some now. www.plancpills.org
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Michaela Laws 📖🖋️Storyteller @vamichaelalaws.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
My most un-woke take is that children (anyone under 18) should be sat down in front of a monitored TV and forced to watch every episode of School House Rock, Sesame Street, Mr. Roger's, Bill Nye, and educational shows like us Millennials did. With tests after. You failed one? TIME TO WATCH AGAIN.
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