Rick Claypool
@rickclaypool.bsky.social
writing weird sad stories, foraging wild fungi, researching terrible things corporations do
almost forgot since I was up late celebrating lefty wins in Pvd 😅 the 10-year anniversary edition of LEECH GIRL LIVES is out TODAY TYSM @nmamatas.bsky.social for the killer intro & @spaceboybooks.bsky.social for helping me share my weirdo vision of the shitty future bookshop.org/p/books/leec...
so we're all just like, guinea pigs in OpenAI's experiments now? cool, cool, I'm sure it'll work out fine
Lukasz Olejnik@lukaszolejnik.bsky.social · last wk.My comment for Reuters about the OpenAI-agent incident where agents apparently coordinated emergently during a routine web search and analysis task, probing a website for vulnerabilities and exhibiting exploitation attempts, persistence, and coordination. www.reuters.com/world/europe...
One year ago, I started highlighting the growing number of enforcement matters that the FEC cannot resolve until we regain a quorum. Last year, there were 154. Now, it’s doubled to 307. We need a quorum to tackle this backlog and fully achieve the agency’s mission this election.
NEW @publiccitizen.bsky.social report: Corporate money in the 2026 midterms has surged to $650 million. www.citizen.org/article/corp...
I have five copies of Toadstones left over from NecronomiCon, each one exposed to the unnatural radiations of Providence, R.I. and exhibiting strange, supernatural properties, including the strange manifestation of unknown passages from the Necronomicon. Own one, if you dare...$25, that INCLUDES S+H
Chicken Parmigiana: "I am filled with fear. Pullet flesh, seared to white, cast like bronze within a crunchy coat." (Happy b-day, HP) buff.ly/2unvzL4
H.P. Lovecraft Writes Olive Garden’s Dinner Menu
“Such that they confound the senses and simultaneously seduce my bravery to dread. I am left muttering to myself a mantra of origin unknown, ‘When you’re her...
mcsweeneys.net
Great coverage of the eye-popping sums of corporate money gushing into the 2026 elections -- already 1/3 of all corporate money since 2010! A major problem I note is that it makes niche corporate policies (crypto regs) distract Congress from issues people actually care about (cheaper groceries)
Reuters@reuters.com · 3w agoA handful of billionaires and companies are driving corporate spending in U.S. midterm elections this year, and they aren’t the usual power brokers who have sat atop the political food chain in Washington in previous decades.
"Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows" Thomas Beaumont for @apnews.com with research via Doug Pasternak at @publiccitizen.bsky.social
Trump dwarfs his predecessors in the number of ultra-rich in his second White House, report shows
The number of people worth more than $100 million whom President Donald Trump has appointed to his administration is more than four times the combined total of the three previous presidents.
apnews.com
TOADSTONES (2022, Malarkey Books) would bring this troubled nation together
Jordan S. Carroll 🌹@jordanscarroll.bsky.social · 2mo agoThe US should have a national book we all read every summer. America Reads.
Ok so "Win for America" is a super PAC that is literally being fueled by gambling losses – losses that are now being weaponized against our democracy to expand these corporations’ pool of potential marks. For the public and for our democracy, that’s a lose-lose.
Reuters Legal@legal.reuters.com · 2mo agoDraftKings, FanDuel and other online sports betting companies have ramped up election spending on the U.S. midterms to at least $72 million so far, the latest campaign election data shows, as prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket bring fresh scrutiny — and competition — to online betting.
Corporate Political Spending in 2026 Midterms Shatters All-Time Record: Today's #BradCast Guest: @rickclaypool.bsky.social of @publiccitizen.bsky.social; Also: Amazon and gig workers on SNAP and Medicaid skyrockets; Primary elections results from AZ... FULL STORY, LISTEN: bradblog.com?p=18216
Corporate Political Spending in 2026 Midterms Shatters All-Time Record: ‘BradCast’ 7/22/2026
Guest: Rick Claypool of Public Citizen; Also: Number of Amazon and gig workers on SNAP and Medicaid skyrockets; Primary elections results from AZ...
bradblog.com
"The Trump DOJ’s grotesque retreat from corporate crime enforcement leaves Americans increasingly vulnerable to tainted food, workplace exploitation, environmental destruction, widespread ripoffs, and all-around illegal corporate predation."
Letting Fraudsters Run Wild, Trump Justice Department Abandons Corporate Crime Enforcement
"The Trump DOJ’s grotesque retreat from corporate crime enforcement leaves Americans increasingly vulnerable to tainted food, workplace exploitation, environmental destruction, widespread ripoffs, and all-around illegal corporate predation."
commondreams.org
$517 million in corporate money and it's only July. This is exactly what happens when billionaires and corporations are allowed to bankroll our elections. The people should decide our future, not whoever can write the biggest check.
Rick Claypool@rickclaypool.bsky.social · 3mo agoNEW @publiccitizen.bsky.social report: Corporations have already spent $517 million on the 2026 midterms. That's more corporate money than any previous election cycle -- and nearly 1/3 of all corporate political spending since Citizens United www.citizen.org/article/corp...
Silicon Valley really showing itself to be nothing more than Phillip Morris in a grey hoodie, buying the laws it wants so that it can continue its predation.
Rick Claypool@rickclaypool.bsky.social · 3mo agoThe spending coincides with the rise of *corporate supremacist super PACs.* These are set up not to advance either major party or any candidate, but solely to push the interests of specific corporate sectors. Crypto, AI & online betting super PACs are driving the trend
The midterms are a battle between the privileged and the oligarchs against the rest of us. The time to stand up and fight is now before it is too late.
Rick Claypool@rickclaypool.bsky.social · 3mo agoNEW @publiccitizen.bsky.social report: Corporations have already spent $517 million on the 2026 midterms. That's more corporate money than any previous election cycle -- and nearly 1/3 of all corporate political spending since Citizens United www.citizen.org/article/corp...
"If the current, broken campaign finance system remains unchallenged—and corporate spending is allowed to drown out the voices of real voters and real people—these corporate campaigns will keep multiplying."
'A Disaster for Democracy': Report Shows Surging Corporate Spending in 2026 Elections
The US Supreme Court's ruling has opened the floodgates for corporate supremacists to pour millions into elections, drowning out the voices of real voters.
commondreams.org
NEW @publiccitizen.bsky.social report: Corporations have already spent $517 million on the 2026 midterms. That's more corporate money than any previous election cycle -- and nearly 1/3 of all corporate political spending since Citizens United www.citizen.org/article/corp...
What an outrage. Proud to have contributed in a small way to the @publiccitizen.bsky.social research the Post's story is based on
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 3mo agoMore than half of the publicly identified donors to President Trump’s White House ballroom project have won new or expanded federal contracts worth more than $50 billion, according to a report from a government watchdog group.
I’m running for Congress! ❤️✌🏻
onekade@onekade.bsky.social · 7mo agoMy buddy Alexis Goldstein is running for Congress. She is not only a badass who will fight for the people of Maryland and the United States; she is a financial expert who can and will go toe to toe with the rich assholes intent on amassing more wealth. secure.actblue.com/donate/alexi...
cointelegraph asked me about crypto and AI super PACs and I kind of unloaded 😂https://www.tradingview.com/news/cointelegraph:ab6436d34094b:0-crypto-and-ai-could-be-dirty-words-on-2026-midterm-campaign-trail/
happy 100th birthday David Attenborogh!!!
The Guardian@theguardian.com · 4mo agoSir David Attenborough 'overwhelmed' by 100th birthday greetings – audio
this was awesome (and I'm a little speechless the convo started with a discussion of my corporate crime research)
Public Citizen@publiccitizen.bsky.social · 4mo agoOur Co-President Lisa Gilbert will be speaking to Representative Summer Lee TODAY at 11:30am ET on corporate oversight, government accountability, and the insidious impact of money in American politics. Tune in: fightcorporatepower.substack.com?utm_campaign...
Big Tech companies have spent at least $653 MILLION cozying up to Trump & Congressional Republicans. Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Oracle, and Palantir have all chosen to align themselves with Trump. We have to choose democracy over oligarchy.
$1.5 million. wow, that'll show him
The Washington Post@washingtonpost.com · 4mo agoElon Musk agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine in a settlement with the SEC over allegations that in 2022 he cost Twitter shareholders $150 million by being late to disclose that he was amassing shares in the social network.
WATCH: The DOJ quietly closed 23,000+ criminal cases in the first six months of the second Trump administration, abandoning hundreds of investigations into terrorism, white-collar crime, drugs and other offenses as it shifted resources to pursue immigration cases. Full story: propub.li/4tHp2Wd
the first issue of Agita, the new magazine of flash horror and sci-fi from @agitapublishing.bsky.social, is live! co-edited and with an intro by yers truly, it's a pretty great collection of three fantastic little tales of BAD SCIENCE! check it out! agitamag.com/issue/issue-...
Issue 1, May 2026 – Agita Magazine
agitamag.com
Every year, across multiple administrations, across both parties, the DOJ has announced over and over again that "individual accountability" is their priority when prosecuting corporate crime. And every year, they failed to prosecute the Sacklers. What a disgrace. www.cnbc.com/2026/04/29/p...
