John Helling's Avatar

John Helling

@readmorethings.bsky.social

I'm a librarian. I think you should read more things. All of these opinions are mine and not (necessarily) anyone else's.

114 Followers  |  94 Following  |  128 Posts  |  Joined: 21.11.2024
Posts Following

Posts by John Helling (@readmorethings.bsky.social)

We need a ticker showing the cost to the American taxpayer every time a bomb is dropped, a jet takes flight, a warship moves etc

Seems to be plenty of cash for that, not for, you know, actual living.

28.02.2026 12:29 β€” πŸ‘ 819    πŸ” 243    πŸ’¬ 27    πŸ“Œ 14

I would love to see this happen. But is there some other way that the law could even be interpreted?

27.02.2026 17:42 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

Kansas's last elected governor fired the state's commerce secretary (a position appointed by the governor) for not interpreting laws the way he liked & i continue to believe Kansas's current governor could have made the same demand of her current revenue secretary, WHOM SHE APPOINTED

27.02.2026 17:38 β€” πŸ‘ 49    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image

Cover of The Lancet:

@thelancet.com
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

27.02.2026 11:15 β€” πŸ‘ 8096    πŸ” 3436    πŸ’¬ 159    πŸ“Œ 220

The second you leave this country for even a few days, you realize the place you call home is decaying at an almost exponential pace. The realization that you don't have to live like this is stark, and that nobody in power is taking tangible actions to fix it in your lifetime is even starker.

26.02.2026 17:12 β€” πŸ‘ 12989    πŸ” 3234    πŸ’¬ 427    πŸ“Œ 244

What's the justification here? Drivers' licenses are meant to provide proof that the person operating the vehicle is qualified. Are trans people less capable of operating a motor vehicle than anybody else? This is just the state punishing a minority for the crime of existing. Nazi shit.

27.02.2026 00:22 β€” πŸ‘ 283    πŸ” 29    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Justice Department withheld and removed some Epstein files related to Trump An NPR investigation finds the public database of Epstein files is missing dozens of pages related to sexual abuse accusations against President Trump.

NPR: Justice Department withheld and removed some Epstein files related to Trump

www.npr.org/2026/02/24/n...

24.02.2026 12:15 β€” πŸ‘ 729    πŸ” 312    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 23
Preview
A Fatal ICE Shooting Occurred in Texas Months Before Renee Good’s Killing

This case is insane:

ICE shot and killed a citizen last March then *hid it for a year.*

The young man they killed had no criminal history.

All we know about shooting is from internal ICE docs.

We don't know officers' names.

We don't have footage.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/u...

21.02.2026 00:33 β€” πŸ‘ 4093    πŸ” 1832    πŸ’¬ 64    πŸ“Œ 69
Preview
US Supreme Court rules against Trump’s tariffs in 6-3 opinion, dealing blow to trade agenda β€’ Indiana Capital Chronicle The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled the tariffs President Donald Trump issued under an emergency powers act are illegal.

US Supreme Court rules against Trump's tariffs in 6-3 opinion, dealing blow to trade agenda

indianacapitalchronicle.com/2026/02/20/r...

20.02.2026 15:43 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

"Trump's military and rhetorical build-ups make it hard for him to back down without major concessions from Iran on its nuclear program...It's not in Trump's nature"

Except doesn't he do this all the time? Didn't he eat rhetorical shit re: Greenland? Granted there were no carrier strike groups...

18.02.2026 21:08 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Typically you have to prove your residency in the jurisdiction and also that you are who you say you are. If you lose your books, we have to know who to charge for them (sorry)

18.02.2026 20:26 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Video thumbnail

WHITE HOUSE: "When you see it on Truth Social, you know it's directly from President Trump."

TRUMP 2 WEEKS AGO: "Somebody posted, a staffer posted ... somebody slipped. I didn't do it. This was done by somebody else."

18.02.2026 19:23 β€” πŸ‘ 6113    πŸ” 1902    πŸ’¬ 306    πŸ“Œ 134

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide.

This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

18.02.2026 17:39 β€” πŸ‘ 41054    πŸ” 10842    πŸ’¬ 477    πŸ“Œ 1031
Musk on Twitter 2/17/2026: You can just take a picture of your medical data or upload the file to get a second opinion from Grok

Musk on Twitter 2/17/2026: You can just take a picture of your medical data or upload the file to get a second opinion from Grok

Elon posted this yesterday. Just for fun I did it with my before/after cancer PET scans that I had already posted online. In the "before" scan Grok missed the massive tumor lighting up my liver, and in both scans it flagged a non-existent "area of concern" in my chest. Other than that, works great!

18.02.2026 14:24 β€” πŸ‘ 3078    πŸ” 617    πŸ’¬ 83    πŸ“Œ 70
Preview
Tony Clark - Wikipedia

Can we agree that he seems to have the least clever nickname in pro sports

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Cl...

17.02.2026 21:18 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Major corporations bankroll political ad featuring white supremacist slogan Congressman Andy Barr (R-KY), who is running to replace Mitch McConnell in the United States Senate, released his first television ad earlier this month.

Coverage of Andy Barr, a sitting Congressman and candidate for U.S. Senate, running an ad declaring, "It's not a sin to be white" -- a variation of a notorious white nationalist slogan

AP: Zero
NYT: Zero
WashPost: Zero
Reuters: Zero
Politico: Zero
Axios: Zero

17.02.2026 14:51 β€” πŸ‘ 3145    πŸ” 1442    πŸ’¬ 139    πŸ“Œ 114
Post image

Hey everyone. Potentially the biggest story in the country, right here. substack.com/home/post/p-...

15.02.2026 20:39 β€” πŸ‘ 4994    πŸ” 1997    πŸ’¬ 72    πŸ“Œ 219

All I see on my Twitter timeline are reporters parsing every quote from AOC in Germany, trying to mock them for incoherence or inaccuracy, while a demented old man who can’t string sentences together or stay awake sits in the Oval, while the legacy media happily sanewashes his quotes.

16.02.2026 17:46 β€” πŸ‘ 19007    πŸ” 4113    πŸ’¬ 623    πŸ“Œ 181
Preview
What a new Gallup poll shows about the depth of Americans' gloom A new Gallup poll reveals that Americans' optimism about their future is at a low. Only 59% of U.S. adults rate their future life satisfaction highly, which is the lowest measure since Gallup began as...

America feels like shit.

15.02.2026 19:00 β€” πŸ‘ 524    πŸ” 95    πŸ’¬ 28    πŸ“Œ 19

For the same reason they used to let Bob Costas write and recite prose poems before significant sporting events I guess? They want you to know that this is HIGH DRAMA and MEANINGFUL SPECTACLE. Otherwise you might just think it's people jumping as far as they can or whatever

15.02.2026 18:48 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The Fight Over US Climate Rules Is Just Beginning As the EPA moves to roll back the endangerment finding, which allows it to regulate greenhouse gases, experts predict uncertainty for business and a protracted legal fight.

β€œI don't see any plan, any strategy, any end game,” says Pat Parenteau, a professor of environmental law at the University of Vermont. β€œI don't see anything from this administration, just fuck everything up as much as you can. You can print that.”

Sounds accurate to me.

12.02.2026 19:53 β€” πŸ‘ 1381    πŸ” 537    πŸ’¬ 13    πŸ“Œ 36

Something tells me you'll get another one at some point

12.02.2026 21:09 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Indiana Senate sends β€˜Let Kids Be Kids’ child supervision bill to governor β€’ Indiana Capital Chronicle Parents who let kids bike, walk or play outside wouldn’t face neglect claims under a bill sent Tuesday to Gov. Mike Braun.

This is apparently such a problem in Indiana that they are trying to correct it legislatively:

indianacapitalchronicle.com/briefs/india...

11.02.2026 14:05 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Sometimes very hard not to feel like the rest of the country has abandoned Minnesota. We STILL have ICE everywhere. Our schools, businesses, and economy are in profound crisis. But without Bovino here throwing tear gas, much of the country seems to not care at all what’s being done to us.

11.02.2026 11:03 β€” πŸ‘ 6151    πŸ” 2241    πŸ’¬ 295    πŸ“Œ 130

Is it even possible to nail down a societal shift like this? How can you successfully isolate that variable?

10.02.2026 21:29 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

By this (stupid) logic, doesn't that mean there should be millions MORE jobs available?

10.02.2026 14:22 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

the White House, last week: "Donald Trump does not actually control his Truth Social account or what gets posted to it"

newspapers around the country, this week: "President Donald Trump says on his social media account that..."

10.02.2026 06:10 β€” πŸ‘ 146    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

This is what we’re doing to people. We are the bad guys.

09.02.2026 11:48 β€” πŸ‘ 2440    πŸ” 1083    πŸ’¬ 36    πŸ“Œ 33
A racist screenshot of Michelle and Barack Obama

A racist screenshot of Michelle and Barack Obama

Last night, Trump posted a video to his social media platform that contained a racist clip showing Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys. It's still up:

06.02.2026 11:34 β€” πŸ‘ 2642    πŸ” 830    πŸ’¬ 478    πŸ“Œ 566
Post image

I’m on the scene at Franklin and 1st. A convoy of about a couple dozen ICE/HSI agents broke the entryway into an apartment building at 6am. No warrant presented. Less than 24 hours ago, Tom Homan announced the end of large convoys in Minnesota… Bullshit.

05.02.2026 12:48 β€” πŸ‘ 5241    πŸ” 2304    πŸ’¬ 109    πŸ“Œ 142