Spenglernot

Someone on Twitter replies to me: "meh. buy american or stfu." Two hours later, in a separate thread, the write: "$30 for a single button-up is ridiculous unless it is decent quality silk."

This two-parter below is exactly why it's hard to make clothes in the United States.

Let's look at how much it costs to produce a button-up shirt in the US. 🧵

A photograph from the 1988 ACT UP demonstration outside the FDA. Many people are participating in a die-in on the front steps, holding mock tombstones with messages like "RIP - killed by the FDA" and "Dead from lack of drugs." A line of police officers (some with classic 80s mustaches) wearing riot helmets stands between them and the building; one cop wearing white gloves is walking through the demonstrators. Affixed to the 2nd story windows of the building is a series of posters and a large blank banner reading Silence = Death.

This week in 1988: 1,000+ ACT UP demonstrators shut down the FDA headquarters, demanding (and eventually winning) action on developing HIV/AIDS treatments. ACT UP's militant and creative actions always included powerful visual artwork, and paved the way for movements in the decades to come.

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy

Sunday reading:

I wrote about the aggrieved extremist who is currently firing thousands of federal workers and ravaging state capacity based on conspiratorial nonsense - and about mainstream media’s infuriating tendency to sanitize Russell Vought and the regime he serves.

This week’s piece:

a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society

I went back to the hellsite for my reaction and... I was basically speechless. Still kinda am, tbh
#ofmd

Pope urges news agencies to stand as bulwark against lies, manipulation and post-truths Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the “ancient art of lying” and manipulation.

“With your patient and rigorous work, you can act as a barrier against those who, through the ancient art of lying, seek to create divisions in order to rule by dividing,” he said. “You can be a bulwark of civility against the quicksand of approximation and post-truth...”

apnews.com/article/pope...

We have armed secret police kidnapping people off the street based on the color of their skin.

When we win: we will haul them before a Senate committee. The masks will come off. There will be consequences.

Ukrainian journalist Roshchyna posthumously named Press Freedom Hero The IPI said Roshchyna's death on Sept. 19, 2024 "exposed the brutal treatment suffered by the dozens of Ukrainian journalists unjustly held by Russian authorities, and brought new urgency to the need...

Here is a reporter who deserves to be remembered.
kyivindependent.com/ukrainian-jo...

Chicago journalist Debbie Brockman, who was thrown to the ground & handcuffed by ICE, has been released without charges

DHS said she assaulted an officer, but eye witnesses claim she didn’t

The lack of charges makes it clear that ICE is lying to try and cover up the fact that they attack the press

If this was happening in any other country you'd have journalists and analysts discussing risks of state failure

This Is Fascism

🧵
ICE abducted a 15-year-old autistic boy during a bathroom break and kept him hidden for nearly a week.
His mother thought he was missing. Even local police couldn’t find him because ICE never told anyone they had him.

He was selling fruit with his mom when he asked to use the restroom.

10 Steps to Freedom & Power Democracy is Under Attack. Learn the Playbook. Join the Fight. Defend Our Freedom.

www.10stepscampaign.org

@jules1212.bsky.social
@cheryldogmom.bsky.social
@ltwlauren.bsky.social
@faewings.bsky.social
@elizabethpatterson.bsky.social
@markymark757.bsky.social
@mgeotsa.bsky.social
@bs58.bsky.social
@dcombes.bsky.social
@abbarsha.bsky.social
@sassy0210.bsky.social

Orange shit clown’s regime invents any reason it wants to justify the police state. We can’t appease them into leaving us alone - they also can’t fund their police state without blue state money.

What Thiel is saying about tax havens = what Altman is saying about copyright:

"I can't be rich unless you let me steal from you."

This is how Broligarchs differ from oligarchs of yore: the latter tried to hide their thievery; the Broligarchs trumpet their entitlement to steal as a natural right.

ICE IS DISAPPEARING PEOPLE TO WORK CAMPS

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Bruh, that slope became a cliff 9 months ago. The way I see it, vote yes on 50 to help try to save the Union or or vote no to preserve CA fair districts for 2025-2030 and make secession inevitable. We're either gonna save the USA from fascism or we're gonna have to leave it.

It's official — a court ruled that the public's interest in knowing if Elon Musk has a security clearance and access to classified information outweighs any potential privacy interests.

Great FOIA ruling in favor of the @nytimes.com.
storage.courtlistene...

Syril Karn shocked from Star Wars Andor reference to “libertarian” Republican Senator Rand Paul’s opposition to Donald Trump blowing up alleged Venezuelan drug smugglers starwars scifi tv

Rand Paul and when the authoritarian dude promising do even more authoritarian things does authoritarianism.

Pope to Chicago Labor Leaders: “Please know of my appreciation for your welcome of immigrants and refugees, especially your support of food pantries and shelters….I encourage you to continue to advocate for society to respect the human dignity of the most vulnerable.” www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

Schatz: They’re stopping wind and solar because this guy has some very strange ideas about the energy mix. And it’s consistent with the rest of his political and economic philosophy — if there’s less of everything, it gives him more authority to dole out favors

No Kings As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...

No Kings,
For the love of America.

The Human Trafficking Case That Could Hand Government Contractors Blanket Immunity In a little-noticed Supreme Court case, the country’s largest private prison operator argues companies should be shielded from lawsuits when doing the government’s dirty work.

The nation’s largest private prison company is asking the Supreme Court to give federal contractors blanket immunity from lawsuits — including human trafficking claims.

If they win, private contractors could operate with even less accountability than they do now.

UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera

In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.

As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.

Cartoon by John Deering.

No Kings As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...

Make your plans for #NoKings. October 18th. Free speech is action. Please join in. You'll see me at one of the events.
www.nokings.org

Imagine that