Michael Fletcher
@mefletcher54.bsky.social
Retired Intelligence Analyst. Cold War era US Army Vet. Fairly familiar with System Dynamics and History. Personal eccentricities: Scadian KSCA, USCF NM&LM. Details and periodic commentary at http://mefletcher.blogspot.com/
Pinned
Last year, surveillance giant Palantir (who got an 8-figure contract from ICE) paid $0 in federal income tax despite making $1.5 BILLION, partly due to new tax cuts in Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill.
They cut Medicaid & SNAP to pay for this.
This monstrosity must be reversed.
They cut Medicaid & SNAP to pay for this.
This monstrosity must be reversed.
Palantir Pays Zero Federal Income Tax Despite Explosive Growth, Largely Due to Trump Tax Law
Palantir reported $1.5 billion of U.S. income but paid exactly zero federal income tax in 2025. Despite explosive growth, tax breaks from the Trump tax law helped Palantir avoid paying even a dime of...
itep.org
Throughout history, there was a big tell as to who truly ruled. Did Kings, Dictators and High Priests pay taxes? Of course not!
Those who truly rule don't pay taxes.
Those who truly rule don't pay taxes.
Throughout history, there was a big tell as to who truly ruled. Did Kings, Dictators and High Priests pay taxes? Of course not!
Those who truly rule don't pay taxes.
Those who truly rule don't pay taxes.
Last year, surveillance giant Palantir (who got an 8-figure contract from ICE) paid $0 in federal income tax despite making $1.5 BILLION, partly due to new tax cuts in Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill.
They cut Medicaid & SNAP to pay for this.
This monstrosity must be reversed.
They cut Medicaid & SNAP to pay for this.
This monstrosity must be reversed.
Palantir Pays Zero Federal Income Tax Despite Explosive Growth, Largely Due to Trump Tax Law
Palantir reported $1.5 billion of U.S. income but paid exactly zero federal income tax in 2025. Despite explosive growth, tax breaks from the Trump tax law helped Palantir avoid paying even a dime of...
itep.org
February 18, 2026 at 1:58 AM
Throughout history, there was a big tell as to who truly ruled. Did Kings, Dictators and High Priests pay taxes? Of course not!
Those who truly rule don't pay taxes.
Those who truly rule don't pay taxes.
Evil
"the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children"
“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 9:03 PM
Evil
This describes an eye-popping betrayal of trust by Noem. In addition to lacking some fundamental human properties, she seems to have no understanding of the culture of mariners and how they behave in the face of the ever-present dangers of the sea. /1
How is it possible that Kristi Noem still has this job. Imagine if you’re a family member or a shipmate of this guardsman.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...
February 17, 2026 at 6:15 PM
This describes an eye-popping betrayal of trust by Noem. In addition to lacking some fundamental human properties, she seems to have no understanding of the culture of mariners and how they behave in the face of the ever-present dangers of the sea. /1
It brings to mind, "baffle them with bullshit." What kind of person could accept such gobbledygook as erudition?
Ok, we know the answer.
The intellectual shallowness of our Techbro overlords, who seem, to a man, convinced of their own genius and right to rule, never ceases to amaze me.
Ok, we know the answer.
The intellectual shallowness of our Techbro overlords, who seem, to a man, convinced of their own genius and right to rule, never ceases to amaze me.
May I present to you, the most recent incisive stylings of our ruling elite’s philosopher-king?
February 17, 2026 at 1:50 PM
It brings to mind, "baffle them with bullshit." What kind of person could accept such gobbledygook as erudition?
Ok, we know the answer.
The intellectual shallowness of our Techbro overlords, who seem, to a man, convinced of their own genius and right to rule, never ceases to amaze me.
Ok, we know the answer.
The intellectual shallowness of our Techbro overlords, who seem, to a man, convinced of their own genius and right to rule, never ceases to amaze me.
Maybe it's time to do a Lidar and GPR sweep around a certain ranch. The use of other forensic tools used in such matters might also be justified. These might reveal some things. They might not.
Just saying.
Just saying.
February 17, 2026 at 11:40 AM
Maybe it's time to do a Lidar and GPR sweep around a certain ranch. The use of other forensic tools used in such matters might also be justified. These might reveal some things. They might not.
Just saying.
Just saying.
Reposted by Michael Fletcher
There is no nice way to say this:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is obstructing justice.
It, like it's parent organization, the now renamed the Department of Injustice, are the wholly-owned subsidiaries of our proto-dicatatorship.
Expect no justice there.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is obstructing justice.
It, like it's parent organization, the now renamed the Department of Injustice, are the wholly-owned subsidiaries of our proto-dicatatorship.
Expect no justice there.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
FBI won’t share Alex Pretti shooting evidence, Minnesota authorities say
State’s governor had demanded impartial inquiry into the shooting of the VA nurse by federal immigration agents
www.theguardian.com
February 17, 2026 at 9:59 AM
There is no nice way to say this:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is obstructing justice.
It, like it's parent organization, the now renamed the Department of Injustice, are the wholly-owned subsidiaries of our proto-dicatatorship.
Expect no justice there.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is obstructing justice.
It, like it's parent organization, the now renamed the Department of Injustice, are the wholly-owned subsidiaries of our proto-dicatatorship.
Expect no justice there.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
A Jackson quote that has stuck with me over the years seems relevant in a time when our nation is building a network of concentration camps for brown people. I don't recall the exact quote, but the gist is,
"If you are building prisons instead of schools, society is headed in the wrong direction."
"If you are building prisons instead of schools, society is headed in the wrong direction."
Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon and two-time presidential candidate, dies at 84 www.nbcnews.com/news/obituar...
Rev. Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon and two-time presidential candidate, dies at 84
“Our father was a servant leader — not only to our family, but to the oppressed, the voiceless, and the overlooked around the world,” the Jackson family said in a statement Tuesday.
www.nbcnews.com
February 17, 2026 at 9:52 AM
A Jackson quote that has stuck with me over the years seems relevant in a time when our nation is building a network of concentration camps for brown people. I don't recall the exact quote, but the gist is,
"If you are building prisons instead of schools, society is headed in the wrong direction."
"If you are building prisons instead of schools, society is headed in the wrong direction."
This is also an important point about human survival. Humans don't thrive and survive by being loner preppers with goods stockpiled and weapons caches. Human survived by building resilient communities of mutual support. Such communities could and often would interlock with other nearby communities
The forest is the system: Not the individual trees. Many people try to build resilience by making themselves bigger, stronger, more independent. They stockpile resources, they build higher walls, they try to go it alone. HOWEVER, We The People are stronger together. Unite!
February 16, 2026 at 7:29 PM
This is also an important point about human survival. Humans don't thrive and survive by being loner preppers with goods stockpiled and weapons caches. Human survived by building resilient communities of mutual support. Such communities could and often would interlock with other nearby communities
Reposted by Michael Fletcher
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
February 15, 2026 at 2:47 PM
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Republicans is not a difficult one.
Dogs haven't organized seditious plots and an insurrectionist coup and aren't trying to install a dictatorial police state. Dogs aren't covering for child rapists.
Also, overall, dogs are far nicer.
Dogs haven't organized seditious plots and an insurrectionist coup and aren't trying to install a dictatorial police state. Dogs aren't covering for child rapists.
Also, overall, dogs are far nicer.
February 16, 2026 at 2:49 PM
If they force us to choose, the choice between dogs and Republicans is not a difficult one.
Dogs haven't organized seditious plots and an insurrectionist coup and aren't trying to install a dictatorial police state. Dogs aren't covering for child rapists.
Also, overall, dogs are far nicer.
Dogs haven't organized seditious plots and an insurrectionist coup and aren't trying to install a dictatorial police state. Dogs aren't covering for child rapists.
Also, overall, dogs are far nicer.
I thought traitors attempting to fool us by wrapping themselves in the flag was supposed to be a metaphor.
February 16, 2026 at 10:17 AM
I thought traitors attempting to fool us by wrapping themselves in the flag was supposed to be a metaphor.
I'm surprised they aren't labeling it a "Special Military Operation."
"Weeks-long military operations" in foreign countries usually go by a more accurate label: War. It's called war, just like Russia's "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine is a war.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
"Weeks-long military operations" in foreign countries usually go by a more accurate label: War. It's called war, just like Russia's "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine is a war.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Exclusive: US military preparing for potentially weeks-long Iran operations
The disclosure by two U.S. officials raises the stakes for both nations.
www.reuters.com
February 15, 2026 at 10:17 PM
I'm surprised they aren't labeling it a "Special Military Operation."
"Weeks-long military operations" in foreign countries usually go by a more accurate label: War. It's called war, just like Russia's "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine is a war.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
"Weeks-long military operations" in foreign countries usually go by a more accurate label: War. It's called war, just like Russia's "Special Military Operation" in Ukraine is a war.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
Reposted by Michael Fletcher
When the billionaires have most of the money, they'll face a political challenge from the impoverished masses; hence the giant prisons.
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
February 15, 2026 at 6:41 PM
When the billionaires have most of the money, they'll face a political challenge from the impoverished masses; hence the giant prisons.
Reposted by Michael Fletcher
Reminder that Francesca Albanese is not being targeted for a sentence twisted and lifted out of context in a speech.
She is being targeted for daring to name the names of giant companies complicit in the crime of genocide.
They would rather destroy international law than be accountable to it.
She is being targeted for daring to name the names of giant companies complicit in the crime of genocide.
They would rather destroy international law than be accountable to it.
It was my great honour to interview the one and only Francesca Albanese yesterday. Watch here, and find out why Trump and Rubio are so determined to stop her vital work:
zeteo.com/p/israels-te...
zeteo.com/p/israels-te...
Israel's Tech Boom & the Economy of Genocide
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur, joins Naomi to discuss calls for her removal and her latest report documenting the 'corporate machinery sustaining Israel’s settler-colonial project.’
zeteo.com
February 15, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Reminder that Francesca Albanese is not being targeted for a sentence twisted and lifted out of context in a speech.
She is being targeted for daring to name the names of giant companies complicit in the crime of genocide.
They would rather destroy international law than be accountable to it.
She is being targeted for daring to name the names of giant companies complicit in the crime of genocide.
They would rather destroy international law than be accountable to it.
Acrimony is a common problem when nations or even US states negotiate water use. At least the US states won't start shooting to resolve such disputes.
This problem will grow, and conflict could result as the bite of the Climate Disaster deepens in the coming years.
This problem will grow, and conflict could result as the bite of the Climate Disaster deepens in the coming years.
The leaders of seven states failed to negotiate a deal to share the diminishing waters of the Colorado River by a Trump administration deadline, leaving the Southwest in a quagmire while the river’s depleted reservoirs continue to decline. www.latimes.com/environment/... @latimes.com
As a Colorado River deadline passes, reservoirs keep declining
Seven states have missed a federal deadline to reach a water deal on the Colorado River. They remain divided on how to cut water use.
www.latimes.com
February 15, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Acrimony is a common problem when nations or even US states negotiate water use. At least the US states won't start shooting to resolve such disputes.
This problem will grow, and conflict could result as the bite of the Climate Disaster deepens in the coming years.
This problem will grow, and conflict could result as the bite of the Climate Disaster deepens in the coming years.
DOJ is now largely dysfunctional as thousand of lawyers have either left in professional disgust or were fired. The MAGA shell remaining is barely stumbling along from blunder to blunder and not really functioning. /1
Pam Bondi is leaving her Democratic successor a mess
www.salon.com
Next Dem attorney general faces a mess
twp.ai
February 15, 2026 at 2:27 PM
DOJ is now largely dysfunctional as thousand of lawyers have either left in professional disgust or were fired. The MAGA shell remaining is barely stumbling along from blunder to blunder and not really functioning. /1
Past behavior indicates the Russians have a predilection for exotic poisons. I guess the Russian Intelligence and Security services now consider the old NKVD bullet to the back of the head crude and passe. Poisons, radioactive and otherwise, and windows in tall buildings seems preferred these days.
Several methods of synthesizing the toxin have been published
February 15, 2026 at 10:35 AM
Past behavior indicates the Russians have a predilection for exotic poisons. I guess the Russian Intelligence and Security services now consider the old NKVD bullet to the back of the head crude and passe. Poisons, radioactive and otherwise, and windows in tall buildings seems preferred these days.
Changing Party affiliation to keep some MAGA wingnut off the GOP ticket appears to be a thing these days.
Or we could call it Democrats and unaffiliated voters being neighborly, and helping Republicans avoid making stupid decisions. 😎 /1
www.outerbanksvoice.com/2026/02/14/m...
Or we could call it Democrats and unaffiliated voters being neighborly, and helping Republicans avoid making stupid decisions. 😎 /1
www.outerbanksvoice.com/2026/02/14/m...
Motivated primarily by sheriff’s race, some Dare Democrats change registration
By Maggie Miles | Outer Banks Voice Two days before the Feb. 6 registration deadline, Natalie Jewett-Dutt went online and changed her party affiliation from Democrat to unaffiliated.
www.outerbanksvoice.com
February 15, 2026 at 10:24 AM
Changing Party affiliation to keep some MAGA wingnut off the GOP ticket appears to be a thing these days.
Or we could call it Democrats and unaffiliated voters being neighborly, and helping Republicans avoid making stupid decisions. 😎 /1
www.outerbanksvoice.com/2026/02/14/m...
Or we could call it Democrats and unaffiliated voters being neighborly, and helping Republicans avoid making stupid decisions. 😎 /1
www.outerbanksvoice.com/2026/02/14/m...
Disingenuous feigned ignorance* on the part of Jeffries, or just a lack of basic thinking skills?
You decide.
I wonder as to the political comorbidities the Democratic Party has to have to elect this man as their leader. /1
You decide.
I wonder as to the political comorbidities the Democratic Party has to have to elect this man as their leader. /1
I think @wajali.bsky.social was clear. He acknowledges the current fight, but asks @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social to lead on the long term goal of abolishing ICE. I don’t understand the leader’s reticence on that very simple, and frankly moderate position.
A simple ? from Wajahat Ali pushes Hakeem Jeffries into a crashout:
"Why not lead and abolish ICE? What you're telling us is you want our taxpayer dollars to pay for a lawless masked armed agency to continue terrorizing our cities."
Jeffries: "I don't understand anything you just said to me."
"Why not lead and abolish ICE? What you're telling us is you want our taxpayer dollars to pay for a lawless masked armed agency to continue terrorizing our cities."
Jeffries: "I don't understand anything you just said to me."
February 15, 2026 at 9:05 AM
Disingenuous feigned ignorance* on the part of Jeffries, or just a lack of basic thinking skills?
You decide.
I wonder as to the political comorbidities the Democratic Party has to have to elect this man as their leader. /1
You decide.
I wonder as to the political comorbidities the Democratic Party has to have to elect this man as their leader. /1
I often wonder about all the side effects of people's poor grasp of basic geography.
There is a principle in Critical Thinking that states it requires a command of a certain depth of knowledge. Knowledge is the drive-train that allows the engine of Critical Thinking to move our thinking forward. /1
There is a principle in Critical Thinking that states it requires a command of a certain depth of knowledge. Knowledge is the drive-train that allows the engine of Critical Thinking to move our thinking forward. /1
Apparently, the FBI agents investigating the Epstein case had to look up where Wisconsin is.
February 15, 2026 at 8:46 AM
I often wonder about all the side effects of people's poor grasp of basic geography.
There is a principle in Critical Thinking that states it requires a command of a certain depth of knowledge. Knowledge is the drive-train that allows the engine of Critical Thinking to move our thinking forward. /1
There is a principle in Critical Thinking that states it requires a command of a certain depth of knowledge. Knowledge is the drive-train that allows the engine of Critical Thinking to move our thinking forward. /1
Yet not one Trump official has been held to be in contempt of Court.
Courts have ruled 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally. It hasn’t stopped.
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Courts have ruled 4,400 times that ICE jailed people illegally. It hasn’t stopped.
The decisions amount to a huge legal rebuke, but the administration has continued jailing people indefinitely.
www.reuters.com
February 14, 2026 at 8:35 PM
Yet not one Trump official has been held to be in contempt of Court.
Reposted by Michael Fletcher
Getting this???
Pushing for federal IDs, and then shutting down methods for getting it.
This is about control and about manipulating our elections.
Full Stop.
Resist fascism.
Pushing for federal IDs, and then shutting down methods for getting it.
This is about control and about manipulating our elections.
Full Stop.
Resist fascism.
February 14, 2026 at 4:31 PM
Getting this???
Pushing for federal IDs, and then shutting down methods for getting it.
This is about control and about manipulating our elections.
Full Stop.
Resist fascism.
Pushing for federal IDs, and then shutting down methods for getting it.
This is about control and about manipulating our elections.
Full Stop.
Resist fascism.
Protest songs. The most American an American can be. 😎
Let's all sing along.
Together, now. Turn it up 🎵
February 14, 2026 at 5:28 PM
Protest songs. The most American an American can be. 😎