(VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
@braak.bsky.social
It's me, braak, returned at long last from my social media exile.
I encourage you to purchase my book, RADHIKA RAAD AND THE TOWER INGENIUS, which is now available (for purchase).
https://a.co/d/1nix74W
I encourage you to purchase my book, RADHIKA RAAD AND THE TOWER INGENIUS, which is now available (for purchase).
https://a.co/d/1nix74W
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
computers used to be, are, could be again, very cool things. but these bastards have made the computer suck. it’s reprehensible. i love the computer! stop making it bad!
August 4, 2025 at 4:11 PM
computers used to be, are, could be again, very cool things. but these bastards have made the computer suck. it’s reprehensible. i love the computer! stop making it bad!
Okay but do these guys think that Kid Rock is an actual celebrity-celebrity, or is this just a way of rewarding him for his loyalty or something.
Who's up for an official U.S. government video showing RFK Jr. working out with Kid Rock and doing a cold water plunge in jeans
February 17, 2026 at 11:15 PM
Okay but do these guys think that Kid Rock is an actual celebrity-celebrity, or is this just a way of rewarding him for his loyalty or something.
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
Another thing to add to the Dem platform: all of these contracts were plainly procured through fraud, not one of them will be honored, and all culpable parties will be prosecuted.
This isn't a "radical" demand, it's the bare minimum required to re-establish the rule of law.
This isn't a "radical" demand, it's the bare minimum required to re-establish the rule of law.
The current person in charge of ICE's procurement for detention is a GEO Group executive who ran the company's immigration detention portfolio. He was granted an "ethics waiver" from DHS allowing him to hand out contracts to GEO in his new role.
February 17, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Another thing to add to the Dem platform: all of these contracts were plainly procured through fraud, not one of them will be honored, and all culpable parties will be prosecuted.
This isn't a "radical" demand, it's the bare minimum required to re-establish the rule of law.
This isn't a "radical" demand, it's the bare minimum required to re-establish the rule of law.
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
People talk about this stuff in terms of how much it'll suck for gaming and I hate to inform you how many MRI machines, X-Rays, all sorts of other vital machinery are just a Windows IoT Edition PC in a beige plastic box with a big magnet/accelerator/whatever attached.
WD and Seagate confirm: Hard drives for 2026 sold out
WD and Seagate confirm: Hard drives for 2026 sold out
Hyperscalers are tearing hard drives out of the hands of manufacturers. Prices are therefore also rising for SSDs.
www.heise.de
February 17, 2026 at 9:12 PM
People talk about this stuff in terms of how much it'll suck for gaming and I hate to inform you how many MRI machines, X-Rays, all sorts of other vital machinery are just a Windows IoT Edition PC in a beige plastic box with a big magnet/accelerator/whatever attached.
Wild Hunt
Soooo has everybody figured out what their street gang’s theming is going to be after the Event?
February 17, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Wild Hunt
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
"you can't air x unless you also air y" is in fact prohibiting you from airing x when the FCC itself has this as the standard (this is from their ruling that Bill Maher was protected as bona fide)
February 17, 2026 at 10:21 PM
"you can't air x unless you also air y" is in fact prohibiting you from airing x when the FCC itself has this as the standard (this is from their ruling that Bill Maher was protected as bona fide)
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
“Don’t hate on the delivery robots, that’s a really hard job that often goes to immigrants who aren’t paid much and work under terrible conditions"
Yes, the robots are not going to make those peoples’ jobs easier. They are going to replace them and leave them with nothing. You understand that right
Yes, the robots are not going to make those peoples’ jobs easier. They are going to replace them and leave them with nothing. You understand that right
February 17, 2026 at 6:45 PM
“Don’t hate on the delivery robots, that’s a really hard job that often goes to immigrants who aren’t paid much and work under terrible conditions"
Yes, the robots are not going to make those peoples’ jobs easier. They are going to replace them and leave them with nothing. You understand that right
Yes, the robots are not going to make those peoples’ jobs easier. They are going to replace them and leave them with nothing. You understand that right
hello, everyone. I am trying to do a new project, in (somewhat) coordination with my local dems -- the idea is to keep track of the news during the week and then to do a news roundup at the beginning of the week.
We're calling it the Watch-Fire, from a lyric in Battle Hymn of the Republic
We're calling it the Watch-Fire, from a lyric in Battle Hymn of the Republic
News for the Week of February 14, 2026
ICE's War on Children
In Minnesota, and throughout the country, ICE's brutal raids are traumatizing children. Rewire News reports from Minneapolis about the devastation being wrought in Minnesota sch...
the-watchfire.ghost.io
February 17, 2026 at 9:56 PM
hello, everyone. I am trying to do a new project, in (somewhat) coordination with my local dems -- the idea is to keep track of the news during the week and then to do a news roundup at the beginning of the week.
We're calling it the Watch-Fire, from a lyric in Battle Hymn of the Republic
We're calling it the Watch-Fire, from a lyric in Battle Hymn of the Republic
no
Writers if you could drop your novel or short story into an AI and have it make a great and watchable movie out of your story, and you could sell that movie, would you do it? #writers #WritingCommunity
February 17, 2026 at 8:50 PM
no
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If you are confiscating writing materials from imprisoned children because they smuggled out a letter that described the conditions they're living under, you are a literal monster and should be treated accordingly.
February 17, 2026 at 7:42 PM
If you are confiscating writing materials from imprisoned children because they smuggled out a letter that described the conditions they're living under, you are a literal monster and should be treated accordingly.
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
Turns out not every community in America wants a patriotic detention facility, which is weird, because they’re really cool and not at all the physical manifestation of a barbaric federal effort to racist-ly reshape the demographic makeup of America.
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
NIMBY Americans don't want human warehouses as neighbors. Weird! | Opinion
Hello, I'm from the government, and I'd like to see what it's going to take to get your community into one of our new immigrant detention facilities!
www.usatoday.com
February 17, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Turns out not every community in America wants a patriotic detention facility, which is weird, because they’re really cool and not at all the physical manifestation of a barbaric federal effort to racist-ly reshape the demographic makeup of America.
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
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Just want to say, the headline is what it is, but I have not made any demand for justice and I have no plan to take legal action. As far as I knew this was a piece about people getting fired for badmouthing Kirk after he bought the farm.
Hell yeah love to see this. The way @scumbelievable.bsky.social was treated fucking sucked. Respect to all these folks. He was an awful man.
More than 600 people were fired or punished for posting about Charlie Kirk’s death. They want justice
Acolytes of the far-right activist urged employers to fire his critics. Now those who were terminated are suing and claiming their right to free speech
www.theguardian.com
February 17, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Just want to say, the headline is what it is, but I have not made any demand for justice and I have no plan to take legal action. As far as I knew this was a piece about people getting fired for badmouthing Kirk after he bought the farm.
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come on he can't look like that. You can't be buying the Pedo Ranch and look like a shaved Grinch who keeps showing up at Cindy Lou Who's place even when it isn't Christmas Eve.
Report: Texas Republican candidate Don Huffines owns Jeffrey Epstein’s Santa Fe ranch
https://heartlandsignal.com/2026/02/17/report-texas-republican-candidate-don-huffines-owns-jeffrey-epsteins-santa-fe-ranch/
https://heartlandsignal.com/2026/02/17/report-texas-republican-candidate-don-huffines-owns-jeffrey-epsteins-santa-fe-ranch/
Report: Texas Republican candidate Don Huffines owns Jeffrey Epstein’s Santa Fe ranch
A new report revealed that Donald Huffines, a Republican running in Texas’ Comptroller of Public Accounts race in 2026, is the owner of deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch in Santa F...
heartlandsignal.com
February 17, 2026 at 7:57 PM
come on he can't look like that. You can't be buying the Pedo Ranch and look like a shaved Grinch who keeps showing up at Cindy Lou Who's place even when it isn't Christmas Eve.
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
They raided the jailed children to steal their letters.
The problem, in federal officials' minds, wasn't confining children in prison-camp conditions; it was that the children could tell the public about it.
The problem, in federal officials' minds, wasn't confining children in prison-camp conditions; it was that the children could tell the public about it.
“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.
Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.
www.propublica.org/article/ice-...
February 17, 2026 at 8:01 PM
They raided the jailed children to steal their letters.
The problem, in federal officials' minds, wasn't confining children in prison-camp conditions; it was that the children could tell the public about it.
The problem, in federal officials' minds, wasn't confining children in prison-camp conditions; it was that the children could tell the public about it.
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
The difference between a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant is the difference between a $20 bill and a napkin that a fascist wrote "twenty dollars" on.
February 17, 2026 at 6:56 PM
The difference between a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant is the difference between a $20 bill and a napkin that a fascist wrote "twenty dollars" on.
I think one of the things about this, and one of the things that makes me revisit the deranged slang from like the beatnik and flapper era, is that the people who talk like this also to some degree understand that they're taking the piss.
February 17, 2026 at 7:45 PM
I think one of the things about this, and one of the things that makes me revisit the deranged slang from like the beatnik and flapper era, is that the people who talk like this also to some degree understand that they're taking the piss.
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
February 17, 2026 at 6:02 PM
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In other news, Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts. The company is run by Tricia McLaughlin’s husband. www.propublica.org/article/kris...
February 17, 2026 at 7:26 PM
In other news, Firm Tied to Kristi Noem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million DHS Ad Contracts. The company is run by Tricia McLaughlin’s husband. www.propublica.org/article/kris...
Henry David Thoreau's brother died after cutting himself shaving.
Historian of medicine here. Yes. Yes, they did.
before antibiotics did people just die all the time from everything?
February 17, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Henry David Thoreau's brother died after cutting himself shaving.
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Historian of medicine here. Yes. Yes, they did.
before antibiotics did people just die all the time from everything?
February 17, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Historian of medicine here. Yes. Yes, they did.
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Reupping this because I can't stop thinking about it in light of USAID, ICE, Epstein, and the seeming total disinclination of our elite institutions to do anything about any of it.
Sometimes I think about the family get-together where I said I was afraid the plan was for the ultra-wealthy to reverse climate change simply by letting billions of people die, and I expected my climate expert brother-in-law to explain why that wasn't true, but he just said "Huh" and got real quiet.
February 17, 2026 at 7:27 PM
Reupping this because I can't stop thinking about it in light of USAID, ICE, Epstein, and the seeming total disinclination of our elite institutions to do anything about any of it.
Reposted by (VFP) Strategic Gravitas Reserve
There's actually only two kinds of divination: augury, which is learning the language of birds and snakes (&c), and necromancy, which is communicating with the dead. A lot of divination like cartomancy, i ching, tea leaves, pyromancy, these are all actually a form of necromancy. How?
Meta has patented AI that can run a dead person's account, continuing to post and chat on their behalf
It can message and video call by replicating a user's online behavior using their past data
It can message and video call by replicating a user's online behavior using their past data
February 17, 2026 at 2:42 PM
There's actually only two kinds of divination: augury, which is learning the language of birds and snakes (&c), and necromancy, which is communicating with the dead. A lot of divination like cartomancy, i ching, tea leaves, pyromancy, these are all actually a form of necromancy. How?
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People get all Manichean about this stuff, like the only options are complete naivete and giving up the ship. "Maybe they'll try but we won't let them" is an option.
February 17, 2026 at 6:54 PM
People get all Manichean about this stuff, like the only options are complete naivete and giving up the ship. "Maybe they'll try but we won't let them" is an option.