john tomasic
jtomasic.bsky.social
john tomasic
@jtomasic.bsky.social
Journalism still races! | Non-surveilling internet, please. | Seattle. | UW.
Reposted by john tomasic
It’s stunning to me that the New York Times did not put the story on the bloodbath at the NIH, CDC, and FDA on its front page this morning.
April 2, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
They can't spell "April"?

"The termination emails were riddled with mistakes — with employees’ names, the month of April and even the institute’s title misspelled in places — a telling sign of the rushed and haphazard nature of the operation..."

www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
DOGE fires nearly all staff at U.S. Institute of Peace headquarters
D.C. employees of the institute, founded and funded by Congress, received late-night termination notices, though most of its overseas staff were left in place.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 31, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
US faculty and anyone who cares about academic freedom:

I urge you to check out @wearehighered.bsky.social

* read through compelling letters signed by thousands of faculty

* learn about upcoming actions in which you can participate

* spread the word to encourage others to get involved, too !
Hello, Bluesky!! We are a collective of academics who are standing up for higher education. Join us: www.wearehighered.org
We Are Higher Ed
www.wearehighered.org
March 31, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Reposted by john tomasic
We’ve all been trying to figure out how to solve this collective action problem. This seems like a very positive big step in the right direction. Very grateful to whatever combinations of Rutgers workers are included in the faculty senate.
This exciting resolution from Rutgers University Senate is exactly the kind of model I think higher ed needs: a mutual defense pact of, in this case, Big 10 schools. They call for member institutions to create a joint defense fund and make resources available to any member institution under attack.
March 31, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Reposted by john tomasic
American war planning usually takes place in highly secure facilities. But the Trump administration planned its strikes on the Houthis using a group chat—and accidentally included The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. theatln.tc/IuULQFiY
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
U.S. national-security leaders included me in a group chat about upcoming military strikes in Yemen. I didn’t think it could be real. Then the bombs started falling.
theatln.tc
March 24, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Lol Taibbi
Ohhh nooooo who could have forseeeeeeen
March 13, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Reposted by john tomasic
Ohhh nooooo who could have forseeeeeeen
March 13, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Reposted by john tomasic
Update
March 13, 2025 at 3:13 AM
The Heritage Foundation's fever-dream version of democracy:
March 13, 2025 at 3:22 AM
Reposted by john tomasic
NEW: Biggest Federal Employee Unions Says Shutdown is Preferable to Elon/Trump CR talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/bigge...
Biggest Federal Employee Unions Says Shutdown is Preferable to Elon/Trump CR
Federal workers obviously don’t like government shutdowns. Most of them are furloughed....
talkingpointsmemo.com
March 13, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Reposted by john tomasic
....Howell, an Obama appointee, suggested other firms turned down the job. She expressed “enormous respect for them taking this case when not every law firm in this city or this country would.”
March 13, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Reposted by john tomasic
This isn't even a close call. Also the director is Israeli.
It won Best Documentary. The mayor wants to evict a movie theater for screening it.

"I am a staunch believer in free speech. But normalizing hate and then disseminating antisemitism in a facility owned by the taxpayers of Miami Beach . . . is unjust to the values of our city."

bit.ly/41ZSaN0
March 13, 2025 at 2:25 AM
Reposted by john tomasic
1. The DOGE website is garbage.

The claimed savings has no relationship to the data provided.

And the data that is provided grossly inflates the savings from each canceled contract.

So we just launched our own site — the Musk Watch DOGE Tracker — that breaks everything down.
Introducing: The Musk Watch DOGE Tracker
New tool reveals Musk has overstated verified DOGE savings by at least 92%
www.muskwatch.com
March 12, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
New: we've obtained a leaked list of the more than 200 sites, services, apps an ICE surveillance contractor monitors. Bluesky, OnlyFans, many more. Used to track targets. Highly relevant with the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil by ICE. We've published the full list here: www.404media.co/the-200-site...
The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring
404 Media has obtained the list of sites and services that ICE contractor ShadowDragon pulls data from. ShadowDragon sources data from all over the web and lets government analysts easily search it an...
www.404media.co
March 12, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
Katie Wilson has launched her campaign for mayor of Seattle, as the progressive organizer and general secretary of the Transit Riders Union challenges incumbent Bruce Harrell.
Home | Elect Katie Wilson
I love this city and I know that we can solve our most pressing problems and accomplish great things together. We don’t have to settle for half measures. But we need to take initiative. We need to be ...
www.wilsonforseattle.com
March 12, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
I've been on trial half my life. Yesterday, my 18-year legal drama finally came to an end when the Court of Cassation, Italy’s highest court, definitively convicted me of criminal slander.

/thread
January 24, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
Ladies and gentlemen: we did it
In email to X staff, Musk says "user growth is stagnant, revenue is unimpressive, and we're barely breaking even"; sources: banks plan to sell their debt in X (Wall Street Journal)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
January 24, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
Hassini Yacine (B. 1979)
“Lemons from Algeria”
Oil on canvas
January 24, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
Le Monde quits Twitter.
January 20, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
NEWS: There already have been three Federal Advisory Committee Act lawsuits filed today regarding "DOGE" in federal court in DC:
- a @publiccitizen.bsky.social one
- a @nationalsecuritylaw.org one
- an American Public Health Association one by @democracyforward.bsky.social and @crew.bsky.social
January 20, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
--Martin Luther King Jr.
January 20, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
Vincent van Gogh, Tassel Hyacinth 1889
January 18, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Stop posting photos. Stop taking photos. Stop asking to take photos. No one is safe.
December 11, 2024 at 5:39 PM
Reposted by john tomasic
The Fox News write-up of Kimberly Guilfoyle getting nominated to an ambassadorship does not mention her work for the network, possibly because her departure came after she was reported for sexual harassment with Fox paying a reported $4 million settlement.
December 11, 2024 at 1:44 PM