Jonathan R
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give-a-damn.bsky.social
Jonathan R
@give-a-damn.bsky.social
Activist working for peace, democracy and justice.
A less corrupt government would be nice, too.
Trustee: Metropolitan College of NY http://MCNY.edu
Organizer for http://MediaAndDemocracyProject.Org

Avatar: Liberty crying
Header: Hubble telescope photo
Reposted by Jonathan R
Oak Lawn Methodist Church Nativity in Dallas, TX
December 21, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
*Found* ?????????
The Justice Department said it found over a million more pages of Jeffrey Epstein documents, extending the time it will take for a full release. A law passed by Congress gave the department a deadline of last Friday to release the files. nyti.ms/49rG0QL
A Million More Epstein Documents Have Been Found, Justice Dept. Says
Democratic lawmakers, who had criticized the Justice Department’s release of the material, accused the Trump administration of violating the law mandating the release of the files.
nyti.ms
December 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
Nothing builds trust like nixing stories about human rights abuses because the abusers haven’t agreed to be quoted
Bari Weiss just sent this Christmas Eve email to the CBS News staff about "building trust," which includes her tripling down on spiking the CECOT piece "to make sure it's comprehensive and fair."

One CBS staffer tells me: "She really has no idea how insulting she comes across."
December 24, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
🎶 do you believe in 🎶
December 24, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
“Trans people and our families are facing terror from this administration.”
Doctors in Jail? Hospitals Stripped of Fed Funding? The Criminalization of Trans Youth Healthcare
The Trump administration on Thursday announced new measures to target hospitals and doctors providing care to trans youth. Under the new rules unveiled by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr...
www.democracynow.org
December 19, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
When @wired.com made FOIA-based stories free, subscriptions went up.

When @404media.co published public records reporting without a paywall, new sources came forward.

We spoke to both about why dropping paywalls like this is good for journalism — and for business.
Wired and 404 Media make FOIA reporting free. Other news outlets should too
We spoke to Katie Drummond of Wired, Joseph Cox of 404 Media, and Lauren Harper of Freedom of the Press Foundation about the case for unpaywalling public records-based reporting
freedom.press
October 30, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
From me: If they wanted to tank their majority, Republicans couldn't do much worse than dragging out a debate on their worst issue (health care) into an election year, after affirmatively causing a severe rise in the cost of living for tens of millions.
prospect.org/2025/12/19/r...
Republicans Can’t Escape Their Self-Created Health Care Problem - The American Prospect
Another series of failures ensures that a debate they can’t win will extend into the election year of 2026.
prospect.org
December 19, 2025 at 2:27 PM
From Israel Balderas:

Pay Attention. Something Important Is Being Redefined. The FCC, the Press.. youtu.be/IuowxJJLI80?...

#Journalism #FreePress
Pay Attention. Something Important Is Being Redefined. The FCC, the Press and a Quiet Shift in Power
YouTube video by Israel Balderas
youtu.be
December 19, 2025 at 2:47 PM
UN human rights chief: U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats ‘unacceptable’
www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...

"Unacceptable" is a massive understatement but I guess working for the UN constrains him.
UN human rights chief: U.S. strikes on alleged drug boats 'unacceptable'
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk called for an investigation into the strikes, in what appeared to mark the first such condemnation of its kind from a United Nations organizati...
www.pbs.org
December 18, 2025 at 2:23 PM
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NEW: Without USAID funding to help buy food for refugees, the World Food Program rushed to prioritize families based on need, determining that only half the population would get food.

Refugees learned which half they were in from a number stamped on the back of their ration card.
After Trump Officials Cut Food Aid to Kenya, Children Starved to Death
“Brutal and traumatizing”: Interviews and a trove of internal documents show government officials and aid workers desperately tried to warn Trump advisers about impending disaster and death.
www.propublica.org
December 17, 2025 at 12:00 PM
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BREAKING >>>

Huge story from @laurenfeiner.bsky.social on the fight between Frequency Forward & the #FCC over a FOIA request tied to DOGE and potential conflicts of interest involving #Musk

www.theverge.com/policy/84506...
What 1,000 pages of documents tell us about DOGE
An advocacy group is pushing for the agency to release more information.
www.theverge.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
www.theverge.com/entertainmen...

Loving my annual subscription to the Verge. Well done @lopatto.bsky.social and the entire Verge team. We need more of this regardless of the politics or ideology. @reckless.bsky.social
Larry Ellison’s big dumb gift to his large adult son
Is funding his son’s dreams of media moguldom enough?
www.theverge.com
December 17, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Reposted by Jonathan R
Really, really great article on @wikipedia.org
It's a new day, and that means a new batch of Verge articles are completely free to read (until tomorow).

First up, from @joshdzieza.bsky.social: The world’s largest encyclopedia became the factual foundation of the web, but now it’s under attack.
www.theverge.com/cs/features/...
December 17, 2025 at 12:32 PM
The Disturbing Abuse of H-2A Visa Workers in America
open.substack.com/pub/truthify...
The Disturbing Abuse of H-2A Visa Workers in America
by Barbara Martin, Indivisible 1431
open.substack.com
December 17, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Reposted by Jonathan R
An essential report on the Trump regime's war on Free Speech in 2025 by @attorneynora.bsky.social

- categories of degradation of free speech
- summaries by month

Strongly recommend.
December 15, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
Today's newsletter: The same machine that destroyed 600 lives over Charlie Kirk has nothing to say about Trump mocking Rob Reiner. www.readtpa.com/p/the-rules-...
The Rules of Grief
The post-Kirk purge was never about decency. Trump's response to Rob Reiner's murder proves it.
www.readtpa.com
December 15, 2025 at 8:20 PM
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I agree the MBA-run media is in the tank for Trump and conservatives.
However, Trump with 36% approval and Biden with 41% approval probably produces similar electoral outcomes, because our system empowers conserv minorities.

We can get Trump down below 30%, win big, then do Big Structural Change.
AP on Trump now, and Biden in June 2022.

For Trump, declining to 36 percent approval is “good news.”

For Biden, holding steady at 41% is “a source of concern.”
December 12, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
The public is worried about AI. Regulating AI is winning issue for Democrats but their own party leaders are too complicit with Silicon Valley to use it. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Corporate Democrats Are Foolishly Surrendering the AI Fight
Voters want the party to get tough on the industry. But Democratic leaders are following the money instead.
www.thenation.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
This post by the world’s richest and most divorced man on the site he bought to promote his far right extremism is ripped straight from the Klan messaging of the 1870s or the 1915 film Birth of a Nation that inspired the Klan’s rebirth as a PR stunt/Ponzi scheme/terrorist organization in the 1920s.
December 10, 2025 at 1:11 PM
We care about human rights ...

... at least one day a year. Today's the day.

www.un.org/en/observanc...

#HumanRights
Human Rights Day | United Nations
Human Rights Day commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
www.un.org
December 10, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
Three Tweets That Capture The Entire Elon Musk Free Speech Con

We've spent years calling out what a hypocrite Elon Musk is on free speech. But sometimes the universe Elon hands you a gift: three tweets in the span of a little over a week that demonstrate the entire con more clearly than any deep…
Three Tweets That Capture The Entire Elon Musk Free Speech Con
We've spent years calling out what a hypocrite Elon Musk is on free speech. But sometimes the universe Elon hands you a gift: three tweets in the span of a little over a week that demonstrate the entire con more clearly than any deep dive ever could. Let’s start with this one: That’s Elon announcing that: Falsely labeling non-violent people as “fascist” or “Nazi” should be treated as incitement to murder…
www.techdirt.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Reposted by Jonathan R
How ICE’s Plan To Monitor Social Media Threatens Not Just Privacy, But Civic Participation

When most people think about immigration enforcement, they picture border crossings and airport checkpoints. But the new front line may be your social media feed. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has…
How ICE’s Plan To Monitor Social Media Threatens Not Just Privacy, But Civic Participation
When most people think about immigration enforcement, they picture border crossings and airport checkpoints. But the new front line may be your social media feed. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has published a request for information for private-sector contractors to launch a round-the-clock social media monitoring program. The request states that private contractors will be paid to comb through…
www.techdirt.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Happy International Anti-Corruption Day!
www.unodc.org/unodc/en/ant...

Find something to do to fight corruption, at least one day a year.

#Corruption

@citizensforethics.org @pogo.org

1/n
International Anti-Corruption Day - 9 December
International Anti-Corruption Day - 9 December
www.unodc.org
December 9, 2025 at 1:55 PM