Stephen
@sppz.bsky.social
Family man, music lover, eMPA student, (former?) bike commuter, hiker, public servant, music lover, poetry lover, public library fan, thinker, left-handed. He/him/his. Opinions are my own.
This is wild timing. And also very frustrating/sad/confusing/bad policy.
Miranda Yaver@mirandayaver.bsky.social · 6d agoOn Tuesday, the Trump Admin announced they were ending the Medicare Part D subsidy program. Touching the third rail of politics is a heckuva strategy going into midterms (part D open enrollment starts 10/15). My latest analysis for @msnowreports.bsky.social. www.ms.now/opinion/trum...
"Judge Simon points out that he’s far from the only judge to conclude that, under Trump, the DOJ has forfeited the presumption of regularity it enjoyed for generations. Dhillon live-tweeting her every retaliatory move on social media is just the cherry on top." — @lizdye.bsky.social
Harmeet Dhillon demonstrates danger of posting through it
When being terminally online goes wrong.
publicnotice.co
Had a chance to hear beautiful music in a beautiful setting tonight—a short live set by @brianfoote.bsky.social & Paul Dickow, of their recent collaborative work released by Geographic North, at an outdoor venue of a botanical garden. Closing set by Cosmic Tones Research Trio was also amazing!
Trump's big news is China acquired the publicly available voter file? Bro, DOGE employees took off with our Social Security info on thumb drives.
“A lot of what you’re seeing in the bill is catch-up on 30 years of policy that has been stalled because Congress hasn’t had the bandwidth to do any housing legislation,” said Ben Metcalf…. “It is the kind of thoughtful legislating that Congress used to do all the time but now never does.”
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 4w agoThe 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act is the largest housing effort in a generation — but it’s unlikely to do much to blunt high costs anytime soon. Here is what's in the bill.
This is good work to review more deeply. “America’s problems are solved problems. Just not here.”
Adam Bonica@adambonica.bsky.social · 7mo agoIf there's one empirical insight I'd want everyone to understand about American politics, it's this: America's problems are solved problems. Just not here. What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. 🧵
Good AOTY list from one of this little corner of the Internet’s finest listeners. As always, so much to discover within for me.
David James 🍩@funkentechno.bsky.social · 8mo agohey guys I posted my AOTY 2025 list. optimisticunderground.com/2025/12/15/1...
This is an incredible LIE being told by the guy that manages the agency that oversees the ACA. It's obscene how easily, how frequently and how dramatically these Trump folks lie to us. ✅Fact check from the extremely reliable @kff.org (& no, KFF did not retract this.)
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 9mo agoQ: Unless ACA subsidies are extended, the average plan will increase by somewhere around 115% DR OZ: Where'd you get that number? Q: Kaiser Family Foundation OZ: They retracted that. Here's the truth. The average American who's on ACA is gonna pay $13 more than this year. That's not a big issue
Age verification? When I bought my first computer, they tried to upsell me to 8MB of RAM at the store.
Anil Dash@anildash.com · last yr.Age verification? I *upgraded* to a Commodore 64.
Love the closing line tonight. Thanks, as always, for the cogent and clarifying recap of events, @hcrichardson.bsky.social.
Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR)@hcrichardson.bsky.social · last yr.June 8, 2025
Momma’s new album is good! At number 2 on this list is a pleasant surprise. Nice to see the new Caroline album noted, as well as Horsegirl—both are also standout albums to me, so far this year.
Stereogum@stereogum.com · last yr.The 50 Best Albums Of 2025 So Far
@wired.com has been doing great reporting on the technocratic aspects of the present administration.
WIRED@wired.com · last yr.SCOOP: Sahil Lavingia, who says he was fired from DOGE after speaking out about his experiences there, told WIRED about how he communicated with the group, who appears to be in charge, and what might be coming next.
@propublica.org, going the extra lengths for the good, accurate story, yet again.
ProPublica@propublica.org · last yr.THREAD: We recently heard that the Trump administration was leaning on the government of Gambia to help Elon Musk. For weeks, our team made phone calls, wrote letters and knocked on folks’ doors to try to confirm it. But we were stuck. So our reporters got on a plane to Banjul. 1/
Proud of my Senator for not getting spun around my this wildly circular response pattern.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last yr.MERKLEY: Are you gonna launch an investigation of the reported violation of the due process of several hundred people? P: It is not for me to call the balls & strikes M: You haven't read the Constitution? It says 'all persons'...it concerns me you're not familiar w/the core concept of due process
Name a non-fictional person who could carry the One Ring, uncorrupted, all the way to Mordor
Movie you’ve watched more than 6 times using GIFs. (“Hard mode”: no Star Wars, Star Trek, or LOTR.)
a man in a green dress is holding a green cloth
ALT: a man in a green dress is holding a green cloth
media.tenor.com
Liz Thurmond@countmystars.bsky.social · last yr.Movie you’ve watched more than six times using gifs ("Hard mode" no Star Wars, Star Trek or LOTR)
As he was falling asleep tonight, my five-year-old asked me, “Dad, who is our mayor? Like, the president, but for our city.” I told him the name of our mayor. Then he asked me, “Dad, is Trumps going to hurt us?” Why is my 5yr old asking this second question??
This was my thinking upon hearing the news of his breaking the floor speech time record.
Hunter Walker@hunterw.bsky.social · last yr.In his 1957 filibuster, Strom Thurmond said "Negroes ... are not so well qualified to vote as are the white people.” A Black senator just broke the record Thurmond set with that speech. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cory-bo...
@wired.com really has some great reporting going on in these present times.
WIRED@wired.com · last yr.NEW: DOGE is trying to gift itself a building worth $500 million, court filings show. It's the culmination of a dramatic battle between DOGE and the United States Institute of Peace, a Congressionally funded think tank. www.wired.com/story/doge-t...
Love love love this album and the one before it, ‘Imperial f.f.r.r.’. Complex, dynamic, cyclical indie rock with minimalist vibes and great melodies. Looking forward to receiving my 2LP reissue soon.
Philip Sherburne@philipsherburne.bsky.social · last yr.This is so great. I love that Robinson hired producer Brian Paulson because of Gastr del Sol's "The Serpentine Similar" -- what a connection! (Also tickled to see a Crispy Ambulance reference.)
Follow/be aware of the trusted and experienced voice.
Anil Dash@anildash.com · last yr.Every person on Bluesky should know: * Every post on Bluesky is PUBLIC forever * Every post on Bluesky is archived by ICE, NSA, and many other agencies * Even if you delete a post, it’s already been captured * Judges don’t care if you were “kidding” or being ironic www.404media.co/the-200-site...
@joycewhitevance.bsky.social — ask me about this, from one Bobcat to another.
Joyce White Vance@joycewhitevance.bsky.social · last yr.1/ Musk says he’s dead but he isn’t. Social Security clawed back 2 months of benefits & haven’t sent more. “He called Social Security 2 or 3 times a day for two weeks, with each call put on hold and then eventually disconnected.” Finally he went down in person www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
100% Gemini behavior — wants things both ways.
Chris Hayes@chrislhayes.bsky.social · last yr.For all the TRUMP = STRONG propaganda this is *exactly* what his “leadership” was like in Covid. Constant zigging and zagging, self-contradictory, incapable of commitment, wanting to have it both ways. It was a disaster!
I’ve recently been seeing some summaries of the 1994 Trilateral Process between US-Ukraine-Russia re Ukrainian nuclear stockpile and missle treaty follow-thru in the aftermath of the downfall of USSR in 1991. I don’t recall reading this important historical context in the past 6 years /1
Interesting interview. Always helpful to listen to (and consider!) voices outside your own conversation.
John Cassidy@johncassidysays.bsky.social · last yr.Very interesting interview. Britain has always had smart spies. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FocQ...
This excellent thread is also a bit of Oregon political history in disguise. Now representing OR CD-1: @repbonamici.bsky.social
loreleikelly@loreleikelly.bsky.social · last yr.🧵 I went to work in Congress with a Member who was raised in South Africa and part of the anti-apartheid movement. She taught me how to optimize the power of the opposition in the House. Like the trimtab on the rudder, members can steer the ship. Here are the six R's of minority power.
Great, wonky thread of how things work (or are supposed to work).
Bobby Kogan@bbkogan.bsky.social · last yr.OMB director Russ Vought has officially begun carrying out his section of Project 2025. Technical thread to follow, but it’s really important - this is a major path through which the Trump administration will illegally impound funding, refusing to carry out some of our spending laws.
