Yokem
@yokem.signalfd.com
Around here, I am what I have to say. No more, no less.
The thing that *is* key to liberal democracy though is that you have to have some mechanism for establishing citizenship that is not subject to the political process. Ie, it should be possible to have citizenship by right, not by poltical whim.
Birthright citizenship is probably not integral to liberal democracy, but it is integral to *American* liberal democracy. Our vision of what we are as a country, as a nation beyond an ethnicity, requires it.
December 6, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The thing that *is* key to liberal democracy though is that you have to have some mechanism for establishing citizenship that is not subject to the political process. Ie, it should be possible to have citizenship by right, not by poltical whim.
Reposted by Yokem
Markets dont exist in a vacuum independently of the social context that hosts them. That social context will always in some way shape or restrict the market. The question then is who is drawing those boundaries and what interests get prioritized? What externalities get socialized or not?
November 27, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Markets dont exist in a vacuum independently of the social context that hosts them. That social context will always in some way shape or restrict the market. The question then is who is drawing those boundaries and what interests get prioritized? What externalities get socialized or not?
Reposted by Yokem
Probably the key bit of regulation that is needed on car loans is to require down payments sufficient to cover ~3 years of depreciation. Which would mean if someone wanted to buy a $120k brand new pickup, they'd probably have to come up with $40-$50k up front.
November 27, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Probably the key bit of regulation that is needed on car loans is to require down payments sufficient to cover ~3 years of depreciation. Which would mean if someone wanted to buy a $120k brand new pickup, they'd probably have to come up with $40-$50k up front.
It's worth examining a bit of the underlying mechanics of this "preference". a) Ownership of your home is less complicated in SF environments then in MF environments. b) consumer lifestyles tend to accumulate a lot of stuff. So it is helpful to have more space for that stuff.
Right, this is true, but the OVERWHELMING evidence of the past 100 years of American life is that vastly more people want space and a car than a smaller unit and a car-free lifestyle. This is mostly why the suburban share of US population has grown relentlessly for the entire 20th and 21st century
Some people put a premium on space in my experience, others put a premium on not having to have a car and not being isolated out in the suburbs
November 19, 2025 at 1:04 AM
It's worth examining a bit of the underlying mechanics of this "preference". a) Ownership of your home is less complicated in SF environments then in MF environments. b) consumer lifestyles tend to accumulate a lot of stuff. So it is helpful to have more space for that stuff.
Blue Sky contains multitudes.
ice cream truck but it sells hrt and plays Hatsune Miku and trannies run outside with btc to buy hrt
November 7, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Blue Sky contains multitudes.
This whole thread is a perfect example of why it is deeply misleading to model politics on a linear left-center-right spectrum. It enables bullshit narratives that mask the combo of interests, values & priorities people are really voting on and how the cultural/info environments shape those things.
I guess here on Bluesky it's controversial to note that the Democrats, once the majority across this country, were reduced to national minority (in stages, from 1968, to 1980, to 2016) by moving left.
But if you'd rather think I'm just making Trump's point...well, whatever helps you cope.
But if you'd rather think I'm just making Trump's point...well, whatever helps you cope.
I'm questioning this statement, "the left started to lose the public (who to this day don't see Reagan the same way they do.)"
Who is this *public* you speak of? Wouldn't the left be a subset of it?
This feels like the current Trump regime's feelings that Democrats aren't real Americans.
Who is this *public* you speak of? Wouldn't the left be a subset of it?
This feels like the current Trump regime's feelings that Democrats aren't real Americans.
November 1, 2025 at 6:29 PM
This whole thread is a perfect example of why it is deeply misleading to model politics on a linear left-center-right spectrum. It enables bullshit narratives that mask the combo of interests, values & priorities people are really voting on and how the cultural/info environments shape those things.
This kind of word choice is a broader problem in lots of places in politics though. It's a case of "let's use a fancy word that can mean different things to different people to obscure what we're really talking about."
"we should retire the word 'gentrification' altogether and speak plainly about what actually matters: affordability and displacement.... The better question, morally, isn’t how to bar newcomers but how to absorb them without harming those already there."
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/m...
Is It Bad to Buy Into a Gentrified Neighborhood?
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:39 PM
This kind of word choice is a broader problem in lots of places in politics though. It's a case of "let's use a fancy word that can mean different things to different people to obscure what we're really talking about."
The whole thing is a bullshit, bad faith attack to begin with. It isn't something that can be smoothed over by explaining it.
Wait, are people really upset that Mamdani spoke about his “aunt,” and it was actually his father’s cousin and not his father’s sibling?
Because that is an extremely normal thing a lot of cultures do. Including a lot of large Jewish families!
Because that is an extremely normal thing a lot of cultures do. Including a lot of large Jewish families!
In a bit of a tense moment, one of the La Mega co-hosts presses Mamdani on why he "lied" about his "aunt" having been scared to ride the subway after 9/11 while wearing a hijab.
Mamdani says it was "not a lie" because he refers to his father's cousin as his "aunt."
Mamdani says it was "not a lie" because he refers to his father's cousin as his "aunt."
October 28, 2025 at 4:09 PM
The whole thing is a bullshit, bad faith attack to begin with. It isn't something that can be smoothed over by explaining it.
The entire presumption is that politics works on a linear spectrum. Unfortunately, the world doesn't map cleanly to any single spectrum, nor do any of those spectums function in a linear way.
This whole "common sense moderation" thing is an exercise to moneyball politics and it just does not work like that.
HOW ARE YOU NOT PUBLISHING IT AS A PDF LMAO
October 27, 2025 at 5:40 PM
The entire presumption is that politics works on a linear spectrum. Unfortunately, the world doesn't map cleanly to any single spectrum, nor do any of those spectums function in a linear way.
From their sweepstakes tos (www.coverd.us/sweepstakes). So, no you can't buy more of their lottery tickets. You just can get them for free by buying other bullshit.
October 23, 2025 at 5:56 AM
From their sweepstakes tos (www.coverd.us/sweepstakes). So, no you can't buy more of their lottery tickets. You just can get them for free by buying other bullshit.
Reposted by Yokem
The whole problem is that "class" is a hand-waivy meme that tries to aggregate all kinds of different interests and values that aren't always aligned. It's an attempt to drive a coalition together without the actual work of aligning the different parts of that coalition.
October 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
The whole problem is that "class" is a hand-waivy meme that tries to aggregate all kinds of different interests and values that aren't always aligned. It's an attempt to drive a coalition together without the actual work of aligning the different parts of that coalition.
For no particular reason, I'm going to point out this wiki article as particularly good and insightful.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona...
Personal Rule - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 16, 2025 at 12:04 AM
For no particular reason, I'm going to point out this wiki article as particularly good and insightful.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persona...
Anyone know under current House rules - can a motion to vacate the chair be raised and forced during one of the House's pro-forma sessions that they've been doing the past couple of weeks?
October 14, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Anyone know under current House rules - can a motion to vacate the chair be raised and forced during one of the House's pro-forma sessions that they've been doing the past couple of weeks?
This is really odd to me because there is an immense amount of power in being able to dig into the details of something. Short summaries of reports are narratives. Those narratives are ALWAYS some combo of truth and bullshit. So, digging into the details is how you sus out the truth from the BS.
I think the problem is that no one takes the medium of 'reports' seriously, except as a formality that must be observed for legal compliance or mere appearances.
Subordinates know they won't be read or heeded, superiors can't wade through the morass of unprioritized reporting that gets generated.
Subordinates know they won't be read or heeded, superiors can't wade through the morass of unprioritized reporting that gets generated.
As someone who composes and reads govt reports as part of my job, I'm 100% convinced that 'reports' is actually a cargo cult we are all still engaging, both in the sense of the utter futility of the actions, and in the sense that we are still enacting stuff they did just to win WWII.
October 13, 2025 at 7:16 PM
This is really odd to me because there is an immense amount of power in being able to dig into the details of something. Short summaries of reports are narratives. Those narratives are ALWAYS some combo of truth and bullshit. So, digging into the details is how you sus out the truth from the BS.
The way forward on this kind of thing has to be some kind of a neutral platform and app that can be used for far more than just alerts about ICE presence. Something along the lines of a "city alerts" app that allows end users to submit "local alerts" of any kind. Maybe this already exists?
Apple has removed at least three ICE-tracking apps from the App Store. WIRED spoke with the developers about where they go from here. from @thiccreese.bsky.social and @lhn.bsky.social www.wired.com/story/apple-...
Apple Took Down ICE-Tracking Apps. Their Developers Aren't Giving Up
“We are going to do everything in our power to fight this,” says ICEBlock developer Joshua Aaron after Apple removed his app from the App Store.
www.wired.com
October 9, 2025 at 5:53 PM
The way forward on this kind of thing has to be some kind of a neutral platform and app that can be used for far more than just alerts about ICE presence. Something along the lines of a "city alerts" app that allows end users to submit "local alerts" of any kind. Maybe this already exists?
This just might explain why they sued Oregon (and a few other states) for voter roll data with private SSN info.
👀 Just Now -- President Trump in the Oval Office said a government shutdown gives his administration the power to cut benefit programs, which include Social Security and Medicare.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
September 30, 2025 at 5:20 PM
This just might explain why they sued Oregon (and a few other states) for voter roll data with private SSN info.
Age yourself with a film you saw in a cinema as a kid
September 28, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Age yourself with a film you saw in a cinema as a kid
One thing about this as "evidence": Since the shooter is dead, this "evidence" won't ever have to be looked at or challenged in a court of law.
KASH PATEL: you falsify that evidence with messages that are anti-ICE in nature yet?
LOW LEVEL FBI AGENT: sure did, boss. wrote the words "ANTI-ICE" on them nice and big, just like you asked
KASH PATEL: what
LOW LEVEL FBI AGENT: sure did, boss. wrote the words "ANTI-ICE" on them nice and big, just like you asked
KASH PATEL: what
Hours after a shooting of ICE detainees, the FBI says “early evidence” of messages on the rounds are “anti-ICE in nature.”
Here is a picture FBI Director Kash Patel just tweeted of “the unspent shell casings recovered…engraved with the phrase ANTI ICE.”
Here is a picture FBI Director Kash Patel just tweeted of “the unspent shell casings recovered…engraved with the phrase ANTI ICE.”
September 24, 2025 at 7:22 PM
One thing about this as "evidence": Since the shooter is dead, this "evidence" won't ever have to be looked at or challenged in a court of law.
Here's the thing - we can't stop them from trying. And hunkering down out of fear makes the problem worse. So what can be done? Approach it like any other activity with inherent risks: Take steps to manage your risks. What that looks like is different for everyone. But hiding isn't the answer.
My brother in Christ, do you think that they won’t?
So just to be clear, you think the trump administration, which controls the federal govt, is going to file felony murder charges against an entire protest if someone gets shot, a protest occurring in a state away from federal property
did they teach federalism in any of your conlaw courses
did they teach federalism in any of your conlaw courses
September 17, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Here's the thing - we can't stop them from trying. And hunkering down out of fear makes the problem worse. So what can be done? Approach it like any other activity with inherent risks: Take steps to manage your risks. What that looks like is different for everyone. But hiding isn't the answer.
New technologies absolutely can be good for improving people's lives. But to keep the interests of the user aligned with the the people pushing the new tech - people have to have a substantial amount of control over the tech. A level of control that most end users aren't up for.
the frustrating thing about thinking technology *should* be a way to improve our lives is that when someone invents a doodad that might help people in some minor way it's overshadowed by a dumbass finance guy confidently announcing everyone will be fired and unemployable if they don't buy the doodad
September 15, 2025 at 3:48 PM
New technologies absolutely can be good for improving people's lives. But to keep the interests of the user aligned with the the people pushing the new tech - people have to have a substantial amount of control over the tech. A level of control that most end users aren't up for.
There is real education learned when you have to experience online images as slowly loading progressive jpeg's and fancy websites that were made by carving up designs in photoshop.
The problem with every post-Millennial generation is they got to go straight to high speed internet. Of course you'll get computer madness that way. Make them start with those old screeching modems and work their way up
September 12, 2025 at 10:08 PM
There is real education learned when you have to experience online images as slowly loading progressive jpeg's and fancy websites that were made by carving up designs in photoshop.
A key test will be for a citizen who is stopped by ICE to boldly say "I'm an American citizen, fuck off douchebag." and then attempt to walk away. And then any further detention or expectation of proof needs to challenged further.
This is a paragraph Brett Kavanaugh wrote on his little computer and then sent out into the world:
September 8, 2025 at 4:48 PM
A key test will be for a citizen who is stopped by ICE to boldly say "I'm an American citizen, fuck off douchebag." and then attempt to walk away. And then any further detention or expectation of proof needs to challenged further.
I hope the next Dem prez puts on a big show of personally taking a sledgehammer to this shit and getting rid of it wholesale.
Nothing sums up America under Republican rule like turning a place of history and strength into a strip mall food court.
September 7, 2025 at 4:39 PM
I hope the next Dem prez puts on a big show of personally taking a sledgehammer to this shit and getting rid of it wholesale.
This will keep happening until a Dem administration starts more loosely interpreting the good behavior clause of Article 3.
Oh and if you don’t do that SCOTUS says shame on you for defying us, have some pro-presidentialism
August 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
This will keep happening until a Dem administration starts more loosely interpreting the good behavior clause of Article 3.
Fake it 'til you make it - dictator edition.
i find this image so fascinating. it is both a literal example of authoritarianism but also a second-hand reproduction of the aesthetics of other authoritarian states. it's like a simulacra of authoritarianism whose purpose is to attempt to make the simulacra real.
This is a real photograph of Washington, DC this week, where the United States president has ordered military occupation in peacetime, and ordered the display of colossal portraits of himself.
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
August 28, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Fake it 'til you make it - dictator edition.