Rand Barthel
@randomcoolzip.bsky.social
Father, grandfather, retired software engineer, BA in Physics, lover of life, the stars, birds, sailing, history, and philosophy. Climate activist and believer in liberal democracy and humane values. Scantily clad women need not follow. Not here for that.
I think I may start ending each social media post with "We are better off with the immigrants." Kind of like Roman senator Cato ended every speech with "Carthage must be destroyed."
Another option, which I used to do years ago, is Voltaire's "Ecrasez l'infame".
Another option, which I used to do years ago, is Voltaire's "Ecrasez l'infame".
January 21, 2026 at 11:18 PM
I think I may start ending each social media post with "We are better off with the immigrants." Kind of like Roman senator Cato ended every speech with "Carthage must be destroyed."
Another option, which I used to do years ago, is Voltaire's "Ecrasez l'infame".
Another option, which I used to do years ago, is Voltaire's "Ecrasez l'infame".
Truth to tell, we've been the bad guys before. But now we have placed a man in power who has no trace of goodness in him, and he has surrounded himself with people like him. They have invited us into their moral cave, and about a third of us have accepted the invitation.
"What do we call it when a stronger person decides to rob a weaker person because he can? It is just gangsterism. We are the most dangerous gangsters in the world today." @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/we-are-the...
www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/we-are-the...
We Are the Bad Guys
The swaggering threat to global stability is us.
www.hamiltonnolan.com
January 5, 2026 at 4:03 AM
Truth to tell, we've been the bad guys before. But now we have placed a man in power who has no trace of goodness in him, and he has surrounded himself with people like him. They have invited us into their moral cave, and about a third of us have accepted the invitation.
Weiss' quashing of this report proves that she is unfit to lead a news organization. Nothing produced by CBS News during her tenure should be believed.
Looks like this was shared on GlobalTV in Canada and someone recorded it and sent it to multiple groups for wide distribution. Love it!!
December 23, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Weiss' quashing of this report proves that she is unfit to lead a news organization. Nothing produced by CBS News during her tenure should be believed.
We know they're lying. They know we know they're lying. We know they know we know they're lying. " - Solzhenitsyn
December 17, 2025 at 4:22 AM
We know they're lying. They know we know they're lying. We know they know we know they're lying. " - Solzhenitsyn
Reposted by Rand Barthel
ROTFL.
Also ... [facepalm].
Also ... [facepalm].
Mamdani isn't requiring NYC students to 'learn Arabic numerals.' They already do
You can't introduce something that has already been in use for centuries.
www.snopes.com
November 22, 2025 at 2:38 PM
ROTFL.
Also ... [facepalm].
Also ... [facepalm].
The next step is to make sure Trump and his creatures actually release all of the Epstein files. They will surely release a carefully chosen subset of the least incriminating, and then falsely claim that they have handed everything over. Just like Trump did with the Mar-a-Lago files.
November 19, 2025 at 4:19 AM
The next step is to make sure Trump and his creatures actually release all of the Epstein files. They will surely release a carefully chosen subset of the least incriminating, and then falsely claim that they have handed everything over. Just like Trump did with the Mar-a-Lago files.
Reposted by Rand Barthel
I may get in trouble for this, but here goes: everybody who is calling for Chuck Schumer's head should take a deep breath and listen to Lawrence O'Donnell's Nov. 10 monologue on "The Last Word." Lawrence knows the Senate well, and makes some points worth thinking about.
youtu.be/Eqe0Suhoats
youtu.be/Eqe0Suhoats
Lawrence: With Trump's shutdown ending, Dems are closer than ever to forcing Epstein files release
YouTube video by MSNBC
youtu.be
November 12, 2025 at 12:30 AM
I may get in trouble for this, but here goes: everybody who is calling for Chuck Schumer's head should take a deep breath and listen to Lawrence O'Donnell's Nov. 10 monologue on "The Last Word." Lawrence knows the Senate well, and makes some points worth thinking about.
youtu.be/Eqe0Suhoats
youtu.be/Eqe0Suhoats
It is not too early for Stephen Miller to start exploring the real estate market in Argentina.
November 5, 2025 at 3:51 PM
It is not too early for Stephen Miller to start exploring the real estate market in Argentina.
I think Congressional Dems should use the months of enforced idleness to conduct a People's House of Representatives on the Capitol steps. They should invite any Republicans who have reached their limit with their party's BS to join them. Hold hearings, pass legislation.
November 1, 2025 at 3:54 AM
I think Congressional Dems should use the months of enforced idleness to conduct a People's House of Representatives on the Capitol steps. They should invite any Republicans who have reached their limit with their party's BS to join them. Hold hearings, pass legislation.
My wife and I just canceled our Amazon Prime membership. We try to vote with our money in favor of the kind of future we want, and what we want is fewer oligarchs, less late-stage capitalism, and less power of the few over the many.
October 31, 2025 at 1:53 AM
My wife and I just canceled our Amazon Prime membership. We try to vote with our money in favor of the kind of future we want, and what we want is fewer oligarchs, less late-stage capitalism, and less power of the few over the many.
The most poignant sign I saw today.
Dwight D. Eisenhower — “Only our individual faith in freedom can keep us free.” #NoKings
October 19, 2025 at 1:35 AM
The most poignant sign I saw today.
Reposted by Rand Barthel
An astonishingly large crowd!
Chicago
Chicago
October 18, 2025 at 9:18 PM
An astonishingly large crowd!
Chicago
Chicago
I counted 261 No Kings democracy defenders at the One Traffic Light in the Little Town of Mendon, MA this morning!
October 18, 2025 at 7:39 PM
I counted 261 No Kings democracy defenders at the One Traffic Light in the Little Town of Mendon, MA this morning!
Reposted by Rand Barthel
“Have you ever notice how you can drive by the same trees or signs until you stop noticing them, until one disappears?”
October 11, 2025 at 8:54 PM
“Have you ever notice how you can drive by the same trees or signs until you stop noticing them, until one disappears?”
Reposted by Rand Barthel
If every person who reads & SHARES this post were to SIGN UP & ATTEND an Oct 18 #NoKings2 Day event, we'd have our numbers for serious action!
Don't just post on social media, SHOW UP AND BE COUNTED Oct 18! We need the resistance numbers for future action!
Register nokings.org
@indivisible.org
Don't just post on social media, SHOW UP AND BE COUNTED Oct 18! We need the resistance numbers for future action!
Register nokings.org
@indivisible.org
No Kings
As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...
nokings.org
October 4, 2025 at 6:32 PM
If every person who reads & SHARES this post were to SIGN UP & ATTEND an Oct 18 #NoKings2 Day event, we'd have our numbers for serious action!
Don't just post on social media, SHOW UP AND BE COUNTED Oct 18! We need the resistance numbers for future action!
Register nokings.org
@indivisible.org
Don't just post on social media, SHOW UP AND BE COUNTED Oct 18! We need the resistance numbers for future action!
Register nokings.org
@indivisible.org
This fits right in with the new theory that Epstein and Maxwell were running a kompromat shop: luring wealthy people into compromising positions, then selling the evidence to third parties interested in blackmailing those wealthy people. Epstein and Maxwell were getting paid at both ends.
The DOJ is requesting the names of two of Epstein’s co-conspirators whom he secretly wired money after his arrest in Miami, remain secret to respect their privacy.
To hell with their privacy arrest them!
#ProudBlue#Voices4Victory
apple.news/AchHAgXqwS1W...
To hell with their privacy arrest them!
#ProudBlue#Voices4Victory
apple.news/AchHAgXqwS1W...
DOJ says names of two associates Epstein wired $100k and $250k to should stay secret — NBC News
The Justice Department request came after NBC News asked a federal judge to unseal the names of two people Epstein paid and helped protect from prosecution.
apple.news
September 8, 2025 at 5:17 PM
This fits right in with the new theory that Epstein and Maxwell were running a kompromat shop: luring wealthy people into compromising positions, then selling the evidence to third parties interested in blackmailing those wealthy people. Epstein and Maxwell were getting paid at both ends.
Implicit in Trump's bullying of Fed chair Jerome Powell is the assumption that Powell is an authoritarian who can order the Fed to do what he wishes. Actually the he's the chair of the seven-member Board of Governors who make major decisions collectively.
August 2, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Implicit in Trump's bullying of Fed chair Jerome Powell is the assumption that Powell is an authoritarian who can order the Fed to do what he wishes. Actually the he's the chair of the seven-member Board of Governors who make major decisions collectively.
@harvard.edu Class of '78. I was thrilled when Harvard told Trump to pound sand last spring. Disappointed to hear of this $500 million settlement. Trump does not negotiate in good faith. He'll be back for more. His regime does not value truth or learning and finds universities inconvenient.
July 31, 2025 at 2:07 AM
@harvard.edu Class of '78. I was thrilled when Harvard told Trump to pound sand last spring. Disappointed to hear of this $500 million settlement. Trump does not negotiate in good faith. He'll be back for more. His regime does not value truth or learning and finds universities inconvenient.
Like everything else Trump does, the American Gulag is a grift.
That’s $328,000 per year (plus bonuses)!!!
TO STAFF A CONCENTRATION CAMP!!!
TO STAFF A CONCENTRATION CAMP!!!
Holy Crap look at the posted job applications for Alligator Auschwitz! The amount of money these so called Guards will be making is insane! 🤬🤬
July 20, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Like everything else Trump does, the American Gulag is a grift.
It is never too late, or not worth the effort, to make the future less awful than it would otherwise be.
I’m hearing a lot of despair and “what’s the point”-ing.
Here’s the point:
ONE less person kidnapped by ICE.
ONE more child vaccinated.
ONE grant reinstated.
ONE more PEPFAR treatment.
ONE more meal to a hungry kid.
ONE more person covered by Medicaid.
One life is ALWAYS worth resistance.
Here’s the point:
ONE less person kidnapped by ICE.
ONE more child vaccinated.
ONE grant reinstated.
ONE more PEPFAR treatment.
ONE more meal to a hungry kid.
ONE more person covered by Medicaid.
One life is ALWAYS worth resistance.
July 16, 2025 at 12:57 PM
It is never too late, or not worth the effort, to make the future less awful than it would otherwise be.
Elect an asshole, expect a shitshow.
Saturday newsletter; Our main character is the agency’s thoroughly absurd second-in-command, Dan Bongino, who is clashing with the only slightly less absurd attorney general over the cover-up cock-up clusterfuck handling of the Epstein files.
open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
open.substack.com/pub/charlies...
Surely, You Are Not Surprised
The Bongino Principle Revisited
open.substack.com
July 12, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Elect an asshole, expect a shitshow.
Trump makes the case for birthright citizenship.
July 12, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Trump makes the case for birthright citizenship.
Statements like this remind us just how gobsmackingly stupid racism is.
oh, we have some straightforward gutter racism. “the blacks and the browns are the reason white people can’t get ahead” www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
July 12, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Statements like this remind us just how gobsmackingly stupid racism is.
Not forgetting, not forgiving.
It will never be comprehensible or forgivable that the man who incited a deadly insurrection and attack on our Capitol was able to run again and retake the levers of power.
July 12, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Not forgetting, not forgiving.