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Zach McDowell

@zacharymcdowell.bsky.social

Communication and information professor at UIC. Editor of communication +1. Nerd. Wikipedian. Open access advocate.

313 Followers  |  75 Following  |  116 Posts  |  Joined: 01.01.2024  |  1.7935

Latest posts by zacharymcdowell.bsky.social on Bluesky

🧊 is actual Gestapo. No ID, masks, improper labels (they're not "police"). And worse - our police (the few that wanna help) can't actually force 🧊 to show ID. Why? Because if they are 🧊 then they're "impeding a federal investigation." They are tying the hands of police to actually protect citizens.

06.10.2025 17:09 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Illinois and Chicago sue to block Trump deployment of National Guard The state of Illinois and city of Chicago are suing the Trump administration over their plans to deploy the National Guard.

Good start.

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

06.10.2025 17:03 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Officials restrict Chicago airspace, citing 'credible threat' of attacks on agents The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed a temporary flight restriction was put in place β€œat the request of the Department of Homeland Security."

I cannot express how absolutely bull this is www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

05.10.2025 05:02 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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FAA restricts private drones over Chicago as feds step up immigration arrests The Federal Aviation Administration set the sweeping restrictions Wednesday at the request of the Department of Homeland Security.

Pretty soon, they're going to ban video altogether; they just haven't figured out how to. It will be labeled as a matter of "security"

chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...

02.10.2025 20:51 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Tumblr linked to Republican John Reid engaged with Nazi porn accounts Reid denies ownership with the blog.

To be honest I’m not even surprised about this considering everything else.

americanjournalnews.com/tumblr-linke...

02.10.2025 12:26 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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U.S. Department of Education, AFPI, TPUSA, Hillsdale College, and Over 40 National and State Organizations Launch America 250 Civics Coalition The U.S. Department of Education, alongside the America First Policy Institute, Turning Point USA, Hillsdale College, and more than 40 leading national and state-based organizations today announced th...

Let me get this right… the β€œteachers are indoctrinating our kids” group is … creating a propaganda campaign to indoctrinate kids?

www.ed.gov/about/news/p...

18.09.2025 22:19 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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$10 Million in Contraceptives Have Been Destroyed on Orders From Trump Officials

I’m tired of being upset and tired of all of this. You get DOGE to cancel stuff to fund a 300M ballroom and then destroy $10M birth control? This is the point. Distract.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/11/h...

12.09.2025 00:27 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Exactly

06.09.2025 19:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump threatens Chicago with β€˜Department of War’ and suggests ICE raids imminent β€˜I love the smell of deportations in the morning…’ Chicago is about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,’ Trump’s TruthSocial post read

What do you do when the President makes a threat of β€œwar” to the city you live in? Asking for all of us. Can the Governor deploy the Illinois national guard to defend its residents against masked thugs?

www.the-independent.com/news/world/a...

06.09.2025 19:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Republicans investigate Wikipedia over allegations of organized bias Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee opened a probe into alleged organized efforts to inject bias into Wikipedia entries and the organization’s responses.Β  Chair …

The ignorance of how things work makes me facepalm constantly. WIKIPEDIA IS COMMUNITY GENERATED CONTENT! are they gonna β€œinvestigate” 4chan next? Maybe they should just read my open access book…

thehill.com/homenews/hou...

29.08.2025 20:05 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump’s war on free expression could plant a burning flag on the Supreme Court steps Trump is picking a fight he knows he can’t win, writes John Bowden. Does he want to provoke protests or merely rile up his supporters against liberal judges?

Yet again the party of β€œfree speech” and β€œdon’t tread on me”

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

25.08.2025 23:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump Has a New Definition of Human Rights State Department reports portray Germany as more oppressive than El Salvador.

I mean we are all pretty tired of yelling β€œit’s like Hitler” but this is pretty intense. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

13.08.2025 23:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Church doubles down after preacher encouraged prayers for LGBTQ deaths A preacher from the Sure Foundation Baptist Church in Indianapolis said LGBTQ+ people "deserve the death penalty."

It’s funny that the administration wants to strip nonprofit status from orgs while groups like this remain fine with their tax exempt churches. www.newsweek.com/church-preac...

07.07.2025 17:26 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Unrestrained Trump flirts with Insurrection Act as Marines deploy to L.A. Trump already has broken decades of precedent by federalizing California's National Guard without the state's consent.

β€œIf they spit we hit” - Violence as a reaction from an armed force as a response to protest is absolutely authoritarianism. www.axios.com/2025/06/10/l...

10.06.2025 11:57 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Major General Randy E. Manner, former Acting Vice Chief, National Guard Bureau statement to Fox News: β€œThe President's federal deployment of the National Guard over the official wishes of a governor is bad for all Americans concerned about freedom of speech and states rights. The governor has the authority and ability to respond to the civil disturbances with law enforcement capabilities within his state, augmented as necessary by requesting law enforcement assistance from other governors. There are over a million badged and trained members of law enforcement in this country for the governor to ask for help if he needs it. While this is presently a legal order, it tramples the governor’s rights and obligations to protect his people. This is an inappropriate use of the National Guard and is not warranted.”

Major General Randy E. Manner, former Acting Vice Chief, National Guard Bureau statement to Fox News: β€œThe President's federal deployment of the National Guard over the official wishes of a governor is bad for all Americans concerned about freedom of speech and states rights. The governor has the authority and ability to respond to the civil disturbances with law enforcement capabilities within his state, augmented as necessary by requesting law enforcement assistance from other governors. There are over a million badged and trained members of law enforcement in this country for the governor to ask for help if he needs it. While this is presently a legal order, it tramples the governor’s rights and obligations to protect his people. This is an inappropriate use of the National Guard and is not warranted.”

Major General Randy E. Manner, former Acting Vice Chief, National Guard Bureau statement to Fox News:

"This is an inappropriate use of the National Guard and is not warranted.”

09.06.2025 03:18 β€” πŸ‘ 20650    πŸ” 7266    πŸ’¬ 296    πŸ“Œ 254
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I am in downtown Los Angeles right now and it is completely surreal to hear that Trump is sending Marines here. We are listening to mariachi music. People have dogs. There are teenagers here. It is utterly and completely peaceful. Please tell your friends.

09.06.2025 21:28 β€” πŸ‘ 12544    πŸ” 5638    πŸ’¬ 209    πŸ“Œ 248
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RFK Jr threatens ban on federal scientists publishing in top journals US health secretary calls leading medical journals such as Lancet β€˜corrupt’ and pushes to create state-run alternatives

Nothing says freedom like state run media that publishes its own β€œfacts”

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

28.05.2025 17:38 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A hidden measure in the Republican budget bill would crown Trump king | Robert Reich The bill could stop federal courts from enforcing their rulings, eliminating any restraint on Trump

Between this and the AI provision, this is a circus of nightmares. Im really not sure what stops thid outside of a full blown revolt.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

27.05.2025 19:36 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump Pardoned Tax Cheat After Mother Attended $1 Million Dinner

They've always been thinly veiled, but the audacity is really incredible now.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/27/u...

27.05.2025 17:12 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I was just about to post this. This is absolutely batty. This is from a President who ran a corrupt for profit β€œuniversity” smh

22.05.2025 19:13 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This is getting perfectly Chicago?

18.05.2025 02:48 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
RFK Jr., the Health Secretary, Says Not to Take Medical Advice From Him

If you don’t think people should take medical advice from you, the country’s top health official…. MAYBE YOU SHOULD STOP OFFERING IT. And also maybe stop influencing policy about it.

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/u...

15.05.2025 18:55 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Agreed. Bernie is center left compared to much of Europe. His positions are mostly β€œmoderate” in general and becoming increasingly middle of the road for many

15.05.2025 02:06 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

this is the issue - the liberals have backed away and have been cast as incompetent and also just (probably rightfully so) lining the pockets of the rich. The right sells a different story. Bernie and those crew sell this story and people buy it - but then the dems blackball em

14.05.2025 00:59 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

there's no "or not" - we are gonna have flesh eating maggots everywhere because of MAMA. Make America Maggot Again!

14.05.2025 00:56 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Look what the "states rights" folks have cooked up here - sneaking in something absolutely ridiculous... again...

13.05.2025 01:03 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump Administration Live Updates: White South Africans Given Refugee Status Arrive in the U.S.

I honestly thought this was a joke until now. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/05...

12.05.2025 18:10 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This alone is huge, but that the Register if Copyrights was canned right after this release is even bigger.

www.copyright.gov/ai/Copyright...

12.05.2025 14:42 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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We are joining forces with @wikimediauk.bsky.social to tell Trans stories on Wikimedia platforms as part of Trans History Week.

Do you have a Trans story you think should be on wiki? Then join us on the 9th May all day as we edit wiki together.

To register, scan the QR code.

07.05.2025 15:04 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

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