The Gray Matters Report
@graymattersrep.bsky.social
Longtime loudmouth, chief cook & bottle washer, dab hand. Curator of stuff, enjoyer of food. Lots of etceteras. NYC in my bones, Terre Noire in my heart. Margaree Community Oven 🔥
Bespoke follower/blocker. This ≠ That.
Lenapehoking and Unama'ki
Bespoke follower/blocker. This ≠ That.
Lenapehoking and Unama'ki
Pinned
NEW: I wrote about how the richest man in the world is a Nazi.
thehandbasket.substack.com/p/elon-musk-...
thehandbasket.substack.com/p/elon-musk-...
And if he wasn't that rich this would have been broadly acknowledged long ago
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
If swing voters had coherent, logical thoughts about politics they would not be swing voters.
Losing my mind at the Dems with their billionaire backers and powerful friends who have come up with the brilliant strategy that the party should adopt the policy positions of the avg MAGA voter — apparently ignoring that independents and swing voters even exist. Is this what $40 million gets you??
January 18, 2026 at 9:02 PM
If swing voters had coherent, logical thoughts about politics they would not be swing voters.
all over the world
acab
acab
"In recent protests, the police have been accused of using excessive force. This included the use of rubber bullets, batons, tear gas, pepper spray, and bean bag projectiles. Umbrellas can protect against some of these police tactics by maintaining distance or acting as a shield."
Hong Kong protests: Coordinating chaos
The tactics protesters use to fortify the front lines
www.reuters.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:25 PM
all over the world
acab
acab
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
In the last 18 days alone:
- Two men in ICE custody have killed themselves (jails are supposed to protect against this)
- Two men died of cardiac-related issues
- One man was reportedly choked to death by a guard
- One man died of fentanyl withdrawal (family question the medical care provided)
- Two men in ICE custody have killed themselves (jails are supposed to protect against this)
- Two men died of cardiac-related issues
- One man was reportedly choked to death by a guard
- One man died of fentanyl withdrawal (family question the medical care provided)
A third immigrant held at Camp East Montana has died, reportedly by suicide. Victor Manuel Díaz was detained in Minnesota. He is the sixth migrant to die since Jan. 1 in ICE detention.
My story:
www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...
My story:
www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/i...
January 18, 2026 at 5:40 PM
In the last 18 days alone:
- Two men in ICE custody have killed themselves (jails are supposed to protect against this)
- Two men died of cardiac-related issues
- One man was reportedly choked to death by a guard
- One man died of fentanyl withdrawal (family question the medical care provided)
- Two men in ICE custody have killed themselves (jails are supposed to protect against this)
- Two men died of cardiac-related issues
- One man was reportedly choked to death by a guard
- One man died of fentanyl withdrawal (family question the medical care provided)
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
I've set a personal goal of getting 500 people to send a letter to their City Council Member by the end of February. I will be asking for signatures online & at in person events here in NYC. If you live in NYC & haven't already supported our library funding demand, please do.
City Council, we demand half a percent of the overall city budget for libraries!
In response to the NYC FY2026 Budget, adopted this June, the Brooklyn Public Library, the New York Public Library, and the Queens Public Library released a joint statement thanking City Leaders for in...
actionnetwork.org
January 18, 2026 at 7:56 PM
I've set a personal goal of getting 500 people to send a letter to their City Council Member by the end of February. I will be asking for signatures online & at in person events here in NYC. If you live in NYC & haven't already supported our library funding demand, please do.
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
Arlit Maria Martinez is a mother of 4. Her son, Kevin, died of cancer while she was in ICE custody.
ICE refused her request to be at Kevin's side in his final moments. They must let her attend Kevin’s memorial.
Arlit, I hope you hear how many patriots stand with you.
ICE refused her request to be at Kevin's side in his final moments. They must let her attend Kevin’s memorial.
Arlit, I hope you hear how many patriots stand with you.
January 18, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Arlit Maria Martinez is a mother of 4. Her son, Kevin, died of cancer while she was in ICE custody.
ICE refused her request to be at Kevin's side in his final moments. They must let her attend Kevin’s memorial.
Arlit, I hope you hear how many patriots stand with you.
ICE refused her request to be at Kevin's side in his final moments. They must let her attend Kevin’s memorial.
Arlit, I hope you hear how many patriots stand with you.
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
Many Americans are terrible neighbors to each other, and that is why MN is striking everyone as extraordinary activism... when they are telling us that it is not. They're good neighbors!
It's no wonder that "being a shitty neighbor" is the hallmark of our domestic politics and our foreign policy.
It's no wonder that "being a shitty neighbor" is the hallmark of our domestic politics and our foreign policy.
January 18, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Many Americans are terrible neighbors to each other, and that is why MN is striking everyone as extraordinary activism... when they are telling us that it is not. They're good neighbors!
It's no wonder that "being a shitty neighbor" is the hallmark of our domestic politics and our foreign policy.
It's no wonder that "being a shitty neighbor" is the hallmark of our domestic politics and our foreign policy.
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
It is a choice to call far right cop assailant Jake Lang a "conservative influencer," and not a good one.
[updated}
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/u...
[updated}
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/u...
January 18, 2026 at 4:31 PM
It is a choice to call far right cop assailant Jake Lang a "conservative influencer," and not a good one.
[updated}
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/u...
[updated}
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/u...
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
_ @gideonrachman.bsky.social here on why for its own sake — and for the sake of the wider world — Europe needs to stand firm on Greenland. www.ft.com/content/2642...
January 18, 2026 at 7:22 PM
_ @gideonrachman.bsky.social here on why for its own sake — and for the sake of the wider world — Europe needs to stand firm on Greenland. www.ft.com/content/2642...
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
Has ICE studied Napoleon, Hitler’s army and Soviet winters?
How many of the ICE troops on Minnesota are Florida/Alabama men?
January 18, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Has ICE studied Napoleon, Hitler’s army and Soviet winters?
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
to them europe is at best a tourist attraction, a disney world, and the people in it are the costumed characters dancing around and posing for pictures with them. they're going to try to complain to the manager
i do think if the Euros activate the Anti-Coercion Instrument, the American right is going to freak and likely start treating the EU as an ideological enemy
January 18, 2026 at 3:58 PM
to them europe is at best a tourist attraction, a disney world, and the people in it are the costumed characters dancing around and posing for pictures with them. they're going to try to complain to the manager
which people
January 18, 2026 at 4:43 PM
which people
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
Hitler on Czechoslovakia: "Peace through strength. Make it part of Germany and there will not be a conflict because Germany right now, we're the hottest country in the world, we're the strongest country in the world. France and the UK project weakness. Germany projects strength."
Bessent on Greenland: "Peace through strength. Make it part of the US and there will not be a conflict because the US right now, we're the hottest country in the world, we're the strongest country in the world. Europeans project weakness. The US projects strength."
January 18, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Hitler on Czechoslovakia: "Peace through strength. Make it part of Germany and there will not be a conflict because Germany right now, we're the hottest country in the world, we're the strongest country in the world. France and the UK project weakness. Germany projects strength."
their mothers must be so proud
January 18, 2026 at 3:36 PM
their mothers must be so proud
every time Bessent opens his mouth he confirms that the phrase empty suit was created for him
the guy is a 24 karat dope
the guy is a 24 karat dope
WELKER: What is the national emergency that justifies this new slate of tariffs?
BESSENT: The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency
BESSENT: The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency
January 18, 2026 at 3:35 PM
every time Bessent opens his mouth he confirms that the phrase empty suit was created for him
the guy is a 24 karat dope
the guy is a 24 karat dope
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
Legacy media still dares not call it fascism.
January 18, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Legacy media still dares not call it fascism.
"acquiring" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here
Cruz: "When it comes to Greenland, I want to commend President Trump for being single-mindedly focused on America first... I believe it is overwhelmingly in America's national interest to acquire Greenland... the whole history of America has been a history of acquiring new lands and new territories"
January 18, 2026 at 3:29 PM
"acquiring" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
"... some people just didn’t know is so wrong. It wasn’t about knowing or not knowing, in this case. It was about believing & choosing. There were a lot of people who believed that enslavement was wrong. Enslaved people believed it was wrong. Free black people believed it was wrong."
"The cliché of judging people by the standards of their time, by working to exempt people in the past from the critical eye of the present, simultaneously obscures other historical figures who we might appraise more positively, especially knowing the context in which they were making their choices."
Don't We Have To Judge People By The Standards Of Their Time?
Many who reach for this cliché want it to function as a shield against judgment altogether.
contingentmagazine.org
January 18, 2026 at 2:04 PM
"... some people just didn’t know is so wrong. It wasn’t about knowing or not knowing, in this case. It was about believing & choosing. There were a lot of people who believed that enslavement was wrong. Enslaved people believed it was wrong. Free black people believed it was wrong."
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
How it started ... How it's going
January 17, 2026 at 9:58 PM
How it started ... How it's going
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
Last year, a colleague who I don't know IRL emailed me to say after he read my article, it's completely changed the way he teaches the subject. What a huge compliment.
Research can take years and years. Can we do more of that? Email the author of an article/book you loved to let them know?
Research can take years and years. Can we do more of that? Email the author of an article/book you loved to let them know?
January 18, 2026 at 11:54 AM
Last year, a colleague who I don't know IRL emailed me to say after he read my article, it's completely changed the way he teaches the subject. What a huge compliment.
Research can take years and years. Can we do more of that? Email the author of an article/book you loved to let them know?
Research can take years and years. Can we do more of that? Email the author of an article/book you loved to let them know?
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
how anyone can put “more than 100 children killed” and ceasefire into the same headline has me fucking enraged. Use your senses. Christ.
January 18, 2026 at 6:25 AM
how anyone can put “more than 100 children killed” and ceasefire into the same headline has me fucking enraged. Use your senses. Christ.
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
Study of the head of a bat, 1888 by Beatrix Potter, not only an English writer and illustrator, but also a natural scientist and conservationist #womensart
January 18, 2026 at 5:23 AM
Study of the head of a bat, 1888 by Beatrix Potter, not only an English writer and illustrator, but also a natural scientist and conservationist #womensart
Reposted by The Gray Matters Report
Krawec's Bad Indians Book Club reminds us that books aren’t neutral. Reading with intention becomes an act of resistance and one that asks us to pay attention to silences and center the voices pushed to the margins.
redpopnews.com/the-power-of...
redpopnews.com/the-power-of...
The Power of Reading as Resistance in Bad Indians Book Club
Krawec's Bad Indians Book Club is based on a list of Indigenous reading recommendations that led to a bookclub and podcast. But it goes far beyond a collection of book reviews and conversations. It we...
redpopnews.com
September 17, 2025 at 10:32 AM
Krawec's Bad Indians Book Club reminds us that books aren’t neutral. Reading with intention becomes an act of resistance and one that asks us to pay attention to silences and center the voices pushed to the margins.
redpopnews.com/the-power-of...
redpopnews.com/the-power-of...
I can't help but wonder what these soldiers think about this
ABC News reporting 1,500 active duty soldiers are on standby to deploy to MINNESOTA.
The soldiers are from the 11th Airborne Division, based at Joint Base Elmendorf--Richardson, one of the Army's premier infantry formations.
The division is also the military's leading formation for Arctic warfare
The soldiers are from the 11th Airborne Division, based at Joint Base Elmendorf--Richardson, one of the Army's premier infantry formations.
The division is also the military's leading formation for Arctic warfare
Hundreds of active-duty soldiers on standby, 2 defense officials say
abcnews.go.com
January 18, 2026 at 3:08 AM
I can't help but wonder what these soldiers think about this
rfk jr. is going to be bill cassidy's epitaph and legacy for all time - that and nothing else
hope it was worth it for him - it certainly hasn't been for the rest of us
hope it was worth it for him - it certainly hasn't been for the rest of us
bill cassidy traded countless lives of babies and children and grandmas so trump wouldn’t burn him. and trump just burned him.
Trump says he will endorse Julia Letlow if she runs against Bill Cassidy in a Republican senate primary.
January 18, 2026 at 3:01 AM
rfk jr. is going to be bill cassidy's epitaph and legacy for all time - that and nothing else
hope it was worth it for him - it certainly hasn't been for the rest of us
hope it was worth it for him - it certainly hasn't been for the rest of us