Etienne Cloche
@valentinabass.bsky.social
6.2K followers 10K following 1.7K posts
My 21st Century superpowers are: being impervious to culture wars influencing, conspiracy theories and gambling ads ——————————— Politics, Music, Football and other random cultural ephemera
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Reposted by Etienne Cloche
marcelias.bsky.social
I am sounding the alarm that the GOP is engaged in an all out attack voting rights and free and fair elections. Voter suppression, gerrymandering, and troops in blue cities are just some of the ways they are using to try to rig the rules to keep power in 2026 and beyond.

Pay attention and act!
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
drjackbrown.bsky.social
"Disciplined, peaceful defiance can expose the illegitimacy of oppressive power. RESIST."

Arianeh Sajadi
valentinabass.bsky.social
Presumably they want to characterise it as the new “locker room talk” 🙄
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.
26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
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(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.
valentinabass.bsky.social
Artificial GENERAL Intelligence is the oligarchy’s goal. But the bubble will implode before it’s possible to realise it. Think of it as this era’s Alchemy
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
thetrudz.photo
What D’Angelo said Black Messiah means. It came out at the end of 2014 and it was so needed.
Article (Nolan Feeney; TIME) excerpt reads: “Black Messiah is a hell of a name for an album. It can be misunderstood. Many will think it's about religion. Some will jump to the conclusion that I'm calling myself a Black Messiah. For me, the title is about all of us. It's about the world. It's about an idea we can all aspire to. We should all aspire to be a Black Messiah.

It's about people rising up in Ferguson and in Egypt and in Occupy Wall Street and in every place where a community has had enough and decides to make change happen, D'Angelo writes in a statement about the album It's not about praising one charismatic leader but celebrating thousands of them. Not every song on this album is politically charged (though many are), but calling this album Black Messiah creates a landscape there these songs can live to the fullest. Black Messiah is not one man. It's a feeling that, collectively, we are all that leader.”

“D’Angelo’s First Album in 14 Years Is Finally Here, and It’s Surprisingly Timely” via TIME.
valentinabass.bsky.social
As shocking as they were when they happened you expected Ozzy, Sly and to a degree, Brian. But not this one. R.I.P D’Angelo.
D’Angelo
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
unraveledpress.com
ICE is all over the city and burbs today, including Waukegan. Multiple reports on social media from people who have found empty work vans and are trying to locate family of their owners. This is a near daily occurrence now.
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
wajali.bsky.social
The only way we save our country is through our numbers.

Trump and MAGA don't have the majority, not even close.

Overwhelm them with numbers. Resist everywhere. They are too reckless, incompetent, and self-destructive.

Also, divide and conquer. Many fissures, especially around Epstein.
valentinabass.bsky.social
zoegrunewald.bsky.social
"Until now, public knowledge about the relationship between Reform U.K. and the A.D.F. was limited to a single quote Mr. Farage gave to the group, which they pushed out in a press statement. But the A.D.F. has quietly been courting the party since at least 2024."

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/w...
They Helped Topple Roe v. Wade. Now Their Sights Are Set on Britain.
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
alexvont.bsky.social
I bang on about this a lot: I think the combination of a global pandemic, underregulated internet/SM, collapse/corruption of trustworthy media, plus now unregulated genAI, is a wildly toxic environment for radicalisation & mental health. We see the results of that in our politics & lives every day
jamesdaustin.bsky.social
Everyone knows at least one person (normally, but not exclusively, a guy) whose gone properly mental due to net rabbit holes.

We see public figures regularly go mad and destroy themselves.

And we have, at a policy level, just decided to put our fingers in our ears and go nahnahnah
alastairmeeks.bsky.social
Last night I heard of another friend of a friend who has been lost to a rabbit hole of online propaganda. We need to start treating this as a serious public health concern.
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
hannahkateboast.bsky.social
obsessed with the antifascist frogs in Portland, I hope they continue to multiply 🙏
Person in frog costume with poster saying 'frogs together strong'
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
angierasmussen.bsky.social
I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
sherylnyt.bsky.social
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:
valentinabass.bsky.social
Absolutely this. The links are longstanding, all the way back to UKIP and Brexit in fact. Whatever the branding, Farage Inc are always Putin’s meat puppets. Keep up the amazing work Zack!
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
zackpolanski.bsky.social
Ever since I finished Question Time, Reform have massively been on the attack.

Including a rant from Richard Tice entirely designed to distract from Reform and Russia.

Everyone should know about Nathan Gill, the bribes from Russia and the link to Reform.
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
thebulwark.com
George was just trying to get to work.

ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process.

This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.
thebulwark.com
"They put me on suicide watch and they put me in the cell, I'm naked, in like a hospital dress and just a concrete bed with like a mattress, like a thin mattress and, they leave the light on 24/7."

@timmiller.bsky.social talked to a veteran who ICE wrongly detained and brutalized
Reposted by Etienne Cloche
sturdyalex.bsky.social
“It’s far too soon to predict how the next election will shape up. We are roughly the same distance from Labour having to call a General Election, as we are from the last pandemic lockdown. Try to conceive of that amount of stuff still to happen.”
quietriotpod.bsky.social
🆕 Anti-Woke Wake: It the Tory Party dead or just resting? ☠️

💥 Tory Conference debrief
💥 France latest political soap
💥 A deal on Gaza - but antisemitism on the rise

An amazing episode with special guest @samfr.bsky.social.

🍊 open.spotify.com/episode/5JQF...

🍏 podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/q...
Anti-Woke Wake: Is the Tory Party dead or just resting?
Podcast Episode · Quiet Riot · 09/10/2025 · 1h 13m
podcasts.apple.com