Steve Rafferty
@sraffert.bsky.social
Librarian to Data Analyst/Programmer to Data Scientist to Retired
News junkie and, at 68, an aspiring novelist.
News junkie and, at 68, an aspiring novelist.
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
Only JD Vance would visit Milan and bring his own food with him.
February 8, 2026 at 7:53 PM
Only JD Vance would visit Milan and bring his own food with him.
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
Ossoff: "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? The president posting about the Obamas like a Klansman."
February 7, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Ossoff: "You're seeing what I'm seeing, right? The president posting about the Obamas like a Klansman."
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
wishing a very sad Sunday to all Patriots fans. sorry to this guy.
February 8, 2026 at 7:34 PM
wishing a very sad Sunday to all Patriots fans. sorry to this guy.
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
I’m watching a lot of petty, mean-spirited haters dunking on Kid Rock on every platform and seriously you all rock.
February 8, 2026 at 6:59 PM
I’m watching a lot of petty, mean-spirited haters dunking on Kid Rock on every platform and seriously you all rock.
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
I keep thinking about when Mike Johnson was asked about the NFL getting Bad Bunny to play the halftime show and he responded by saying they should find "someone who appeals to a broader audience" like... 82-year-old Lee Greenwood.
Really shows how much of a bubble the right lives in.
Really shows how much of a bubble the right lives in.
February 8, 2026 at 2:46 PM
I keep thinking about when Mike Johnson was asked about the NFL getting Bad Bunny to play the halftime show and he responded by saying they should find "someone who appeals to a broader audience" like... 82-year-old Lee Greenwood.
Really shows how much of a bubble the right lives in.
Really shows how much of a bubble the right lives in.
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
So how about every question from the press is "When will the president apologize for his disgusting racism and also resign?" and they just keep asking that, and only that, till he does both (though I'll be fine with just the latter)?
February 6, 2026 at 3:50 PM
So how about every question from the press is "When will the president apologize for his disgusting racism and also resign?" and they just keep asking that, and only that, till he does both (though I'll be fine with just the latter)?
Was not a financial decision.
Jeff Bezos’s wealth has increased an average of $70 million every day of 2026, meaning that he could have offset The Post’s losses with what he’s made since Monday.
February 5, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Was not a financial decision.
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
Things are grim but I believe the assholes have overreached. All they have is violence and intimidation and they're up against righteous anger, mutual aid, popular opinion, and *there are more of us than them.* Violence and intimidation are *not enough.*
Hold fast, stay tight. We can win.
Hold fast, stay tight. We can win.
February 5, 2026 at 2:14 PM
Things are grim but I believe the assholes have overreached. All they have is violence and intimidation and they're up against righteous anger, mutual aid, popular opinion, and *there are more of us than them.* Violence and intimidation are *not enough.*
Hold fast, stay tight. We can win.
Hold fast, stay tight. We can win.
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
I say it again and again...the Repugnican party must be totally obliterated in the upcoming elections, so that there will never be even the remotest possibility that a shitshow like this can ever happen again.
Vote as if your very existence depends on it ... BECAUSE IT DOES!!!
Vote as if your very existence depends on it ... BECAUSE IT DOES!!!
February 5, 2026 at 1:27 PM
I say it again and again...the Repugnican party must be totally obliterated in the upcoming elections, so that there will never be even the remotest possibility that a shitshow like this can ever happen again.
Vote as if your very existence depends on it ... BECAUSE IT DOES!!!
Vote as if your very existence depends on it ... BECAUSE IT DOES!!!
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
Heads are going to explode 💥
Cato Institute just nuked the lie. Immigrants have cut U.S. deficits by $14.5 TRILLION since 1994, slashing the national debt by a third.
All that “immigrants are bleeding us dry” noise? Absolute bullshit.
1/3
Cato Institute just nuked the lie. Immigrants have cut U.S. deficits by $14.5 TRILLION since 1994, slashing the national debt by a third.
All that “immigrants are bleeding us dry” noise? Absolute bullshit.
1/3
February 4, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Heads are going to explode 💥
Cato Institute just nuked the lie. Immigrants have cut U.S. deficits by $14.5 TRILLION since 1994, slashing the national debt by a third.
All that “immigrants are bleeding us dry” noise? Absolute bullshit.
1/3
Cato Institute just nuked the lie. Immigrants have cut U.S. deficits by $14.5 TRILLION since 1994, slashing the national debt by a third.
All that “immigrants are bleeding us dry” noise? Absolute bullshit.
1/3
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”
February 4, 2026 at 7:41 PM
We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”
Curiouser and curiouser.
🚨🚨Poland to examine “increasingly likely possibility that pedophilia scandal was co-organized by intelligence services” in Moscow.
Read the full story below. 🖇️
www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...
Read the full story below. 🖇️
www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2...
February 4, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Curiouser and curiouser.
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests
February 4, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
worth noting that the second rich people stopped being afraid of mobs tearing them limb from limb, they stopped building libraries and opera houses and stuff and started ripping the copper wiring out of the walls of society instead
February 4, 2026 at 4:44 PM
worth noting that the second rich people stopped being afraid of mobs tearing them limb from limb, they stopped building libraries and opera houses and stuff and started ripping the copper wiring out of the walls of society instead
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
in my lifetime, the Washington Post has gone from All The President's Men to All The Dictator's Lapdogs
February 4, 2026 at 7:05 PM
in my lifetime, the Washington Post has gone from All The President's Men to All The Dictator's Lapdogs
Looking at the numbering of the upcoming Superbowl I'm reminded how the NFL worried 10 years ago that viewers wouldn't understand Superbowl L .
February 3, 2026 at 6:51 PM
Looking at the numbering of the upcoming Superbowl I'm reminded how the NFL worried 10 years ago that viewers wouldn't understand Superbowl L .
I'm entertaining a new theory: perhaps they re-introduced lead into gasoline in 2014 or earlier.
February 3, 2026 at 6:24 PM
I'm entertaining a new theory: perhaps they re-introduced lead into gasoline in 2014 or earlier.
Project Salt Box: How citizen sleuths are monitoring ICE in Maryland www.thebanner.com/community/lo...
Project Salt Box: How citizen sleuths are monitoring ICE in Maryland
Inside their homes scattered around the Baltimore area, the group of watchdogs is unearthing records, like property filings, contracts, and government procurements, that are otherwise overlooked.
www.thebanner.com
February 2, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Project Salt Box: How citizen sleuths are monitoring ICE in Maryland www.thebanner.com/community/lo...
I wrote this about a week ago but only got around to proofing and editing today. Feel free to share (please).
open.substack.com/pub/steveraf...
open.substack.com/pub/steveraf...
Considering the End Game
What Are His Enablers Thinking?
open.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 8:53 PM
I wrote this about a week ago but only got around to proofing and editing today. Feel free to share (please).
open.substack.com/pub/steveraf...
open.substack.com/pub/steveraf...
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
I'll be honest, I don't expect fair elections for the midterms. But I'm going to push for voting anyway because we can't just hand this country over to them. We've got to fight to the bitter end to restore Democracy in this country.
February 1, 2026 at 3:14 PM
I'll be honest, I don't expect fair elections for the midterms. But I'm going to push for voting anyway because we can't just hand this country over to them. We've got to fight to the bitter end to restore Democracy in this country.
Reposted by Steve Rafferty
To all the Minnesotans who are making their voices heard and protesting peacefully:
The world is watching, and when change comes, it will be because of you.
The world is watching, and when change comes, it will be because of you.
February 1, 2026 at 3:49 PM
To all the Minnesotans who are making their voices heard and protesting peacefully:
The world is watching, and when change comes, it will be because of you.
The world is watching, and when change comes, it will be because of you.
A good observation.
Epstein’s economic power among academics was made possible by a capitalist system that makes higher education dependent on the charity economy rather than a public good supported by taxing the rich
February 1, 2026 at 4:21 PM
A good observation.