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Reposted by Michael Fletcher

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 6h

Stephen Miller is murdering Venezuelans and Colombians in cold blood bc he believes it helps his propaganda campaign to paint Latinos as dangerous.

www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

Stephen Miller views the air strikes as an opportunity to paint immigrants as a dangerous menace, according to one of the White House officials.

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Reposted by Michael Fletcher

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 7h

*ding ding* We’re seeing rampant lawlessness from the Trump admin @billybinion.bsky.social

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Reposted by Michael Fletcher

The Onion @theonion.com · 8h

Bored National Guard Goes Door To Door Asking If Chicagoans Have Any Order They Need Restored https://theonion.com/bored-national-guard-goes-door-to-door-asking-if-chicagoans-have-any-order-they-need-restored/

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 11h

I tend to agree with most of this. Blue state governors, including Pritzker, need to do more than just talk.
Yes, communicating with the voters is necessary, even critical, but it won't be sufficient.

𝕃𝕦𝕜𝕚𝕦𝕞 @americanmanifesto.news · 12h

Trump’s whisper about the Insurrection Act is louder than most of us notice. This article says Democratic governors must declare emergencies or let a fascist narrative run unchecked. Time’s ticking. https://americanmanifesto.news/democratic-governors-must-declare-states-of-emergency-now

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 13h

Oops! Not Venezuelan? (See my cautionary commentary on the Base Rate Problem.)

This was either a mistake or Trump broadening his summary executions of suspects in international waters to other Latin American nations.

THESE ATTACKS ARE TOTALLY OFF THE RAILS.

abcnews.go.com/amp/Internat...

Colombian president says US military struck Colombian boat, killed his citizens

The last boat struck by the U.S. military in the Caribbean Sea was Colombian with Colombian citizens inside, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on Wednesday.

abcnews.go.com

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 14h

Ignore The Dude at your peril! 😎

WuTangIsForTheChildren @wutangforchildren.bsky.social · 1d

The Dude has spoken:

"ICE? Let's get ICE off our streets and into our beverages. This aggression will not stand. Let's just abide together"

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Reposted by Michael Fletcher

Agnes Mack @agnessmack.bsky.social · 16h

David Pope in Canberra Times

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 15h

Liam Nissan for the win! 😎

(I came to SM for the erudite discourse. I stayed for the trenchant cutting humor.)

Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 22h

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 15h

The headline we all needed.

"Giant Plastic Frog causes the manly men of ICE to huddle in fear."

Chris 🎃 DevPods.gg gamedev community @chrisdeleon.bsky.social · 1d

Portland protestor frog costume: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge pepper balls?

Morpheus from Matrix movie: No, Frog. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 15h

I remember the good old days when after being asked to stay to work overtime on some (often dramatically overstated) crisis du jour but told, "We can't pay you. We have no overtime money," we had to remind management that asking federal workers to work without pay was, you know, not legal. 😎

JoeMyGod @joemygod.bsky.social · 15h

Duffy Begs Air Traffic Controllers: "Show Up For Work" - Joe.My.God.

“Historically, there’s about 5 percent of delays that is attributed to staffing issues in our towers. In the last couple of days, it’s been 53 percent. And so my message to the air traffic controllers...

www.joemygod.com

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 15h

The problem is that under-reporting likely outcomes, at times after predicating the assessment with overly generous and ultimately unjustifiable assumptions, does not change the eventual, likely dire, outcome.
It only allows policy makers to keep doing the downplay the threat two-step. /3

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 15h

Note: If there is a theme regarding science in general and Climate Science specially, it is that scientists are usually cautious in their statements. In the case of Climate Science the desire to not sound alarmist has undoubtedly softened wording for decades. /2

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 15h

Uhmmm. Haven't we seen this movie? /1

Woman holding sign that says, "At the start of every Disaster Movie there's a scientist being ignored."

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 16h

The Senate Republicans are still playing the Rubber Stamp Legislature in service of a dictatorship which is summarily executing people suspects who present no immediate threat.

apnews.com/article/trum...
Senate Republicans vote down legislation to check Trump's use of war powers against cartels

Senate Republicans vote down legislation to check Trump's use of war powers against cartels

Senate Republicans have voted down legislation that would have put a check on President Donald Trump’s ability to use deadly military force against drug cartels.

apnews.com

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

Dystopian comedy is an underappreciated genre.

Thomas M. Keck @tmksyracuse.bsky.social · 1d

Weber State administrators told student they couldn't present their research on the state's anti-DEI law at an on-campus conference on censorship(!) unless they removed all mentions of DEI from their slides

www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...

Weber State Censors, Then Cancels, Censorship Conference

University officials said that several planned presentations violated a Utah state law banning diversity, equity and inclusion at public universities.

www.insidehighered.com

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

There is no credible evidence of an afterlife, or heaven. These claims just haven't met the burden of proof.

Sorry.

Now, if we lose our tether to empirical reality and accept the heroic assumptions about heaven, there is a mountain of credible evidence that suggests that Trump is not going there.😎

MaTT FLaMMaBLe @mattflammable.bsky.social · 2d

I know everything is a firehose, but I think this deserves more attention.

The dude has certainly been contemplating the afterlife a lot lately.

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

If you are wondering why I post skeets as early as 4am.....

Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 4d

I can’t not believe how hard it is to sleep when you’re watching your country, be dismantled by the dumbest people.

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

Note: Having played chess for decades I can confidently conclude that no player above the level of a fish willingly cedes the initiative to their opponent. /2

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

Work faster. Act now with the forces already available.

If the ever cautious Europe waits until they are fully rearmed they will likely have waited too long. It would continue their long tradition of ceding the initiative to a ruthless opponent. /1

Ursula von der Leyen @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu · 1d

Make no mistake.

The recent incursions in our skies are part of a pattern of growing threats.

It’s time to call it by its name.
This is hybrid warfare.

Europe must get the capacity to respond and protect our skies.

Work has begun.

→ link.europa.eu/4Fxrqr

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

Such actions could drive home the reality of dictatorship to even the densest MAGA Zombie who has had their brain eaten away by decades of propaganda, and the supposedly freedom-loving flag-waving Gunaholics. /9

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

military. His ego very likely got in the way. He wants to bring the military to heel just for the personal satisfaction. Strategically, he only needed to keep them neutral.
As I wrote about recently, Americans traditionally aren't keen on having a military force occupying their cities and towns. /8

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

Strategically, Trump's attempt to co-opt the military is still a bit of question mark. He doesn't really need them to do what he plans. He already has his pliant DOJ, the Department of Homeland Repression, and their ICE Gestapo.
He actually may be overplaying his hand with his plans for the /7

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

simply declare Trump God Emperor and be done with all the pretend to be a Republic pretense.

Again, as I've said, it's not possible to predict exactly how all this will go, but one thing is almost certain. It won't involve rainbows, unicorns and pony for everyone. /6

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

Trump is still putting on the steel gauntlet of dictatorship one finger at time, likely not wanting to risk suddenly awakening the slumbering populace to the reality of dictatorship. This incident indicates that is likely because his team doesn't think they consolidated power sufficiently to /5

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Michael Fletcher @mefletcher54.bsky.social · 1d

It's pretty clear from his actions that Trump wants to go the modified military dictatorship route with the Department of Homeland Repression and the Department of Injustice and its FBI acting as his Committee for State Security. /4

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