Mark Arnest
@marnest.bsky.social
Composer, Pianist, Servant to Several Cats. He/him. 💙 🇺🇸🇺🇦 Born 312.4 ppm CO2
Pinned
Mark Arnest
@marnest.bsky.social
· Jun 14
"Fascist regimes are doomed to lose their wars, because they are constitutionally incapable of making an objective assessment of the enemy’s strength."
–Umberto Eco, Ur-Fascism, pub. in Five Moral Pieces
–Umberto Eco, Ur-Fascism, pub. in Five Moral Pieces
Reposted by Mark Arnest
Second anniversary of our Apple TV’s spectacular attempt to understand me asking for “Hercule Poirot’s Christmas”
December 23, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Second anniversary of our Apple TV’s spectacular attempt to understand me asking for “Hercule Poirot’s Christmas”
Reposted by Mark Arnest
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
December 24, 2025 at 7:00 PM
A small (personal) example of this book’s intellectual dishonesty:
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
My father-in-law is reading In Covid’s Wake, and excitedly told me he found a passage where I’m quoted. The quote in question is me saying the FBI worked to censor speech on social media.
Huh? When did I say that?!
Reposted by Mark Arnest
Reposted by Mark Arnest
NO DRAB GAB TUESDAY
December 23, 2025 at 3:33 PM
NO DRAB GAB TUESDAY
Reposted by Mark Arnest
Bill Clinton releasing a statement saying 'release the Epstein files, you cowards' was not on my bingo list.
December 22, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Bill Clinton releasing a statement saying 'release the Epstein files, you cowards' was not on my bingo list.
Reposted by Mark Arnest
“Gantchev suffered from type 2 diabetes and told his wife no diet accommodations were made for him. She and Anna said the small amount of food that is given to people detained at North Lake was not enough for maintaining Gantchev's blood sugar levels.”
Bulgarian Chicago business owner dies in ICE custody, sparking calls for 'immediate investigation'
https://abc7chicago.com/post/bulgarian-chicago-business-owner-nenko-gantchev-dies-ice-custody-family-congresswoman-call-immediate-investigation/18301520/
https://abc7chicago.com/post/bulgarian-chicago-business-owner-nenko-gantchev-dies-ice-custody-family-congresswoman-call-immediate-investigation/18301520/
Bulgarian Chicago business owner dies in ICE custody, sparking calls for 'immediate investigation'
A Bulgarian man from Chicago arrested during an immigration enforcement 'blitz' has died while in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a Michigan private prison, the ABC7 I-Team has learned.
abc7chicago.com
December 20, 2025 at 3:04 AM
“Gantchev suffered from type 2 diabetes and told his wife no diet accommodations were made for him. She and Anna said the small amount of food that is given to people detained at North Lake was not enough for maintaining Gantchev's blood sugar levels.”
Reposted by Mark Arnest
This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...
Opinion | Obama Supported It. The Left in Canada and Norway Does. Why Don’t Democrats?
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 2:57 PM
This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...
Reposted by Mark Arnest
The Epstein file is the only thing Trump has ever taken his name off of
🚨 "The Justice Department redacted the names and identifiers of victims. Fox News Digital has learned that the same redaction standards were applied to politically exposed individuals and government officials. "
h/t @kleinmatic.bsky.social
h/t @kleinmatic.bsky.social
Epstein files explode open as DOJ details discovery of powerful figures and more than 1,200 victims
EXCLUSIVE: More than a dozen people and government officials' names appear in the hundreds of thousands of pages of Jeffrey Epstein files made public Friday, sources said.
www.foxnews.com
December 19, 2025 at 11:20 PM
The Epstein file is the only thing Trump has ever taken his name off of
Reposted by Mark Arnest
the sort of canonical raison d’être of NSF funding, of course, is that it supports research efforts that do not appeal to the venture capital/industry/near-term profit-motivated set,
The National Science Board, which oversees NSF, has published recommendations to update the foundation's merit review (which was just updated).
Below are the main points. www.nsf.gov/nsb/updates/...
Below are the main points. www.nsf.gov/nsb/updates/...
December 17, 2025 at 9:19 PM
the sort of canonical raison d’être of NSF funding, of course, is that it supports research efforts that do not appeal to the venture capital/industry/near-term profit-motivated set,
Reposted by Mark Arnest
Reposted by Mark Arnest
Wow they really just waited for everyone to forget about it and then went ahead and did it anyway.
Breaking news: U.S. Coast Guard allows a new workplace harassment policy to take effect, downgrading the definition of swastikas and nooses from overt hate symbols to “potentially divisive” despite facing backlash over the new language.
Coast Guard enacts policy calling swastikas, nooses ‘potentially divisive’
The Coast Guard’s workplace harassment manual that downgrades the definition of swastikas and nooses quietly went into effect this week.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Wow they really just waited for everyone to forget about it and then went ahead and did it anyway.
Reposted by Mark Arnest
🎶 I heard there was a secret Ford
That bargain shoppers all ignored
But you don’t really care for savings, do ya 🎶
Hello. This is the ghost of Leonard Cohen, inviting you to come on down to Ghost of Leonard Cohen Used Cars.
I, of course, didn’t expect the afterlife to be this way.
That bargain shoppers all ignored
But you don’t really care for savings, do ya 🎶
Hello. This is the ghost of Leonard Cohen, inviting you to come on down to Ghost of Leonard Cohen Used Cars.
I, of course, didn’t expect the afterlife to be this way.
December 14, 2025 at 2:43 PM
🎶 I heard there was a secret Ford
That bargain shoppers all ignored
But you don’t really care for savings, do ya 🎶
Hello. This is the ghost of Leonard Cohen, inviting you to come on down to Ghost of Leonard Cohen Used Cars.
I, of course, didn’t expect the afterlife to be this way.
That bargain shoppers all ignored
But you don’t really care for savings, do ya 🎶
Hello. This is the ghost of Leonard Cohen, inviting you to come on down to Ghost of Leonard Cohen Used Cars.
I, of course, didn’t expect the afterlife to be this way.
Reposted by Mark Arnest
Reposted by Mark Arnest
Those tree hugging hippies in Hungary now lead the world in the share of electricity generated from solar with almost 25% of their electricity coming from solar in 2024.
A remarkable leap from just 7% five years ago.
A remarkable leap from just 7% five years ago.
December 12, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Those tree hugging hippies in Hungary now lead the world in the share of electricity generated from solar with almost 25% of their electricity coming from solar in 2024.
A remarkable leap from just 7% five years ago.
A remarkable leap from just 7% five years ago.
Reposted by Mark Arnest
honestly, if i were trying to design a place for the political opposition to take a stand against trump, i couldn't have done better than abrego garcia. by trying to destroy basic constitutional protections, it was *trump* who made this a dispute over due process and the Constitution.
December 12, 2025 at 6:33 PM
honestly, if i were trying to design a place for the political opposition to take a stand against trump, i couldn't have done better than abrego garcia. by trying to destroy basic constitutional protections, it was *trump* who made this a dispute over due process and the Constitution.
Reposted by Mark Arnest
Remarkable how brutal the ruling against Trump on Abrego Garcia truly is: It details flagrant and malicious abuses of power all throughout. Trump and Stephen Miller were testing their ability to spread lawless state terror. But the court held the line. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2043...
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2043...
Fiasco for Trump as Judge Issues Harsh Rebuke in Abrego Garcia Case
Judge Paula Xinis’s ruling temporarily freed Kilmar Abrego Garcia from custody. It also savagely indicted Trump’s lawless handling of this whole affair from start to finish.
newrepublic.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Remarkable how brutal the ruling against Trump on Abrego Garcia truly is: It details flagrant and malicious abuses of power all throughout. Trump and Stephen Miller were testing their ability to spread lawless state terror. But the court held the line. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2043...
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2043...
Reposted by Mark Arnest
The first paragraph of Judge Breyer‘s opinion granting an injunction in the California National Guard case is a banger.
December 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
The first paragraph of Judge Breyer‘s opinion granting an injunction in the California National Guard case is a banger.
I used to thank Satan at the end of my 50-word theater bio for creating the conflict on which drama depended. My takeaway was that about one percent of people read 50-word bios to the end. (MY bio, anyway!)
Just once I’d like an athlete to say “hail Satan” at the beginning of a post game interview, is that too much to ask
December 10, 2025 at 4:43 PM
I used to thank Satan at the end of my 50-word theater bio for creating the conflict on which drama depended. My takeaway was that about one percent of people read 50-word bios to the end. (MY bio, anyway!)
Okay, before you get to the reveal, who does this sound like?
December 9, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Okay, before you get to the reveal, who does this sound like?
Reposted by Mark Arnest
Trump says Lisa Cook is unfit to be a Fed governor because she claimed two different properties as her primary residence on her mortgage applications. (Cook denies this.)
Trump did the exact same thing on mortgage applications submitted a mere 7 weeks apart.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Trump did the exact same thing on mortgage applications submitted a mere 7 weeks apart.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
December 8, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Trump says Lisa Cook is unfit to be a Fed governor because she claimed two different properties as her primary residence on her mortgage applications. (Cook denies this.)
Trump did the exact same thing on mortgage applications submitted a mere 7 weeks apart.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Trump did the exact same thing on mortgage applications submitted a mere 7 weeks apart.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Reposted by Mark Arnest
One of my neighbors has been putting up these fish facts posters. All kinds of different fish, marine, freshwater, deep, shallow, all kinds. This is a good one. “Stg this real fish” took me out. Good work, neighbor.
December 7, 2025 at 3:39 PM
One of my neighbors has been putting up these fish facts posters. All kinds of different fish, marine, freshwater, deep, shallow, all kinds. This is a good one. “Stg this real fish” took me out. Good work, neighbor.
Reposted by Mark Arnest
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?
November 23, 2025 at 7:30 PM
If I’m understanding this correctly, X is owned by a white nationalist who pays poor people of color in developing countries to pretend to be working class white Americans to scare other white Americans into being afraid poor people of color from developing countries are going to ruin America?
Reposted by Mark Arnest
to reiterate a point from the column trump’s pardons of fraudsters and corrupt politicians should be understood as an expression of his belief that corruption should not be a crime
December 3, 2025 at 4:02 PM
to reiterate a point from the column trump’s pardons of fraudsters and corrupt politicians should be understood as an expression of his belief that corruption should not be a crime
My new goal in life is to see this demolished.
Nightmare-client’s renovation makes Page One:
@nytimes.com @lukebroadwater.bsky.social
@nytimes.com @lukebroadwater.bsky.social
December 3, 2025 at 6:10 PM
My new goal in life is to see this demolished.