FirecatStef 🏳️‍⚧️ 🏳️‍🌈

The Media Malpractice That Sent America Tumbling Into Trumpism Political journalists need to stop pretending they don’t know what Republicans are going to do.

This article boils down to “we told you so.” But I like how it explains why the mainstream media dismissed and downplayed what we told you (because their “how to do journalism” rules demand it, e.g.: “Insist on a both-sides structure even when one side is lying“).
newrepublic.com/article/2059...

Trump Will Try to Steal the Midterms; Let’s Plan Accordingly - WhoWhatWhy An administration that executes citizens in the streets and then lies about it will do anything to stay in power.

Pretty sure this is true.

Trump Will Try to Steal the Midterms; Let’s Plan Accordingly whowhatwhy.org/elections/tr...

Yeah I’m familiar with the “think positive” cult peeps who blame people for their own misfortune because “you create your own reality.” I guess that is somewhat similar to lying about a specific thing when there’s direct evidence it’s false.

Wow. I can definitely see how it would work sometimes about some things, but believing it works for everything? I’m sorry you have first-hand experience of this.

Did Trump confuse Greenland with Iceland at Davos? Leavitt denied it, but evidence shows he did Trump said "Iceland" when he appeared to mean "Greenland" four times in his speech. Leavitt later denied he mixed the names up.

Can someone explain to me what Leavitt / the regime expect to gain by lying about a thing when the truth is easily discovered?
www.snopes.com/fact-check/t...

'A directive from above': Former NYT editor lays out how the paper pushes anti-trans bigotry In this in-depth interview, former New York Times editor Billie Jean Sweeney details how the paper shifted towards openly promoting anti-trans hatred, how some staff tried to stop it, how it's directe...

If you want to trust that your news is based in fact, don’t get your news from the New York Times.
transnews.network/p/a-directiv...

Child Dies From Flu In SMC, Health Officials Confirms The county health department has reported a flu-related death of an adolescent patient.

Get your flu vaccines, folks! patch.com/california/r...

Male bonds develop one way, female friendships another. Should we stop trying to make men more like women? | Gaby Hinsliff The strong and silent masculine image is often derided, but why? Perhaps companionship via trains, golf or a quiet drink is enough, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff

Not sure how much of this viewpoint I agree with (setting aside the overgeneralizing), but I find it refreshing because ppl don’t ask often enough whether something declared to be a problem really is one.

Question Authority.
[Why?]

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Imperialism in the Echo Chamber How "Narcoterrorism" and "Stolen Oil" Paved the Path to Caracas

I liked the part of this post toward the end that discusses how mainstream news media have been misleading their consumers by withholding and downplaying information about the regime’s attacks on Venezuela.

Imperialism in the Echo Chamber open.substack.com/pub/nolanhig...

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mamdani and the Future of MAGA Marjorie Taylor Greene might be on the right side of history by breaking with Trump over the Epstein Scandal, but her toxic brand of white Christian nationalism is the present and future of MAGA.

Don’t be fooled.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mamdani and the Future of MAGA open.substack.com/pub/thelefth...

Some Tennessee Libraries Shut Down For “Emergency Closure” Over Transgender Books It is unclear how many other libraries have or may need to temporarily shut their doors in order to cull their children’s sections for gender-subversive content.

I’m sorry children in Smyrna and Murfreesboro, TN, might miss out on the pleasure of reading Harriet the Spy.

(No, I don’t know if HtS is included in the cull of gender-subversive books. But I found it somewhat gender-subversive when I read it as a kid.)

www.erininthemorning.com/p/some-tenne...

Me too!

Bomb threats in New Jersey and Trump warnings for California mark Election Day Bomb threats to New Jersey polling stations, a voter roll mishap in Pennsylvania potentially affecting thousands of voters and warnings by President Donald Trump against California’s mail balloting sy...

“He continues to lie about his loss in the 2020 presidential election.” > Thanks to AP for describing The Big Lie this way, instead of merely saying that he claims he won the election, which is how I usually see it described in major news outlets. Framing matters!
apnews.com/article/elec...

October 14, 2025 The government shutdown, which started on October 1, is entering its third week.

I love this. Furries for democracy!
“protesters have deprived [ICE] of photo opportunities by dressing in animal costumes. ICE agents staring down a giant frog and Mr. Potato Head don’t look very dominant.”
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-14...

Those are all great movies for sure!

Republicans Push FBI To Designate Trans Advocacy As Violent Extremism. Inside The Project 2025 Organization's Proposal. On Thursday evening, news emerged that individuals within and outside of Trump administration were pushing to cast trans activists as domestic terrorists. Then, Project 2025 dropped its proposal.

Dennis:
Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system!
[MP&tHG]

Republicans Push FBI To Designate Trans Advocacy As Violent Extremism. Inside The Project 2025 Organization's Proposal.
www.erininthemorning.com/p/republican...

Jimmy Kimmel Wasn’t the Biggest Corporate Media Capitulation to Trump This Week The mainstream media is up in arms about Trump’s attack on Jimmy Kimmel’s free speech rights — but barely made a peep about Mahmoud Khalil.

Most of the alternative media I’m subscribed to didn’t bring up Khalil either.

Jimmy Kimmel Wasn’t the Biggest Corporate Media Capitulation to Trump This Week theintercept.com/2025/09/19/j...

And don’t forget Victor, Victoria

Michigan GOP Proposes Bill Banning Porn and Depictions of Trans People The law would force internet providers to implement “mandatory filtering technology.”

See Twelfth Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and As You Like It before they’re banned.
H.B. 4938 would ban content involving “imitating, depicting, or representing [oneself as] the other biological sex by means of a combination of attire, cosmetology, or prosthetics.”
www.them.us/story/michig...

What’s cool is what you and I say it is!

Good to know they exist here! <3

same here

I wish they’d hurry up!

Investigating claims Charlie Kirk shooting suspect's roommate is trans The roommate — whom the suspect called "my love" – reportedly had no prior knowledge of the shooting and was cooperating, based on court filings.

“This person has not come forward publicly, so their gender identity remains unknown. There was no evidence to confirm or deny their transgender identity aside from [Tyler’s] mother's comments.”
Investigating claims Charlie Kirk shooting suspect's roommate is trans www.snopes.com/news/2025/09...

The New Yorker is trying to convince me that Bluesky has become annoying and everyone’s back on Xitter. True or false?

I never got the hang of Twitter. I have similar problems with Bluesky. I don’t need a social site to deliver me more links. I want conversation. Is conversation dead? Where is it?

Trader Joe's Donates '100%' of Unsold Products Every Day, Gave Away 98 Million Pounds Last Year The food donations are part of Trader Joe’s Neighborhood Shares Program

I didn’t know this. Cool.
people.com/trader-joe-s...

Meet the New Conservative Cancel Culture, This Time With Government Informers Professors who speak wrongthink in class are being summarily fired.

prospect.org/education/20...

Matthew Dowd's firing begins flood of people facing consequences for their comments on Kirk's death Former MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd opened a floodgate of people who faced consequences for statements in the media — social or otherwise — in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassinat...

apnews.com/article/dowd...

Laughter Can Be A Political Martial Art Otpor’s Mischief Against Milošević: A Blueprint for Anti-Authoritarian Resistance

Laughter Can Be A Political Martial Art
open.substack.com/pub/antiauth...

ABC News Writes Trump's Chicago Invasion Press Release For Him Thirty-four paragraphs of violence porn, one mention of plummeting crime rates. This is how authoritarian moves get normalized.

ABC News Writes Trump's Chicago Invasion Press Release For Him open.substack.com/pub/readtpa/...