Jeff Stirling
@stirlingthinks.bsky.social
Humanist, researcher, teacher, manservant to an imperious dog.
Minimum Wage, adjusted for inflation from the year I graduated from college would be
$31.30/hour today.
It's not that number anyplace in this country, and it is still
$7.25/hr in many places. 🤷♂️🤦♂️
$31.30/hour today.
It's not that number anyplace in this country, and it is still
$7.25/hr in many places. 🤷♂️🤦♂️
What did minimum wage get you each decade? In 2025, it buys you nothing but exhaustion.
There’s not a single place in America where a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford even a modest 2-bedroom. Not one. That’s the economy we’re living in. #TrumpAffordabilityCrisis
There’s not a single place in America where a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford even a modest 2-bedroom. Not one. That’s the economy we’re living in. #TrumpAffordabilityCrisis
December 4, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Minimum Wage, adjusted for inflation from the year I graduated from college would be
$31.30/hour today.
It's not that number anyplace in this country, and it is still
$7.25/hr in many places. 🤷♂️🤦♂️
$31.30/hour today.
It's not that number anyplace in this country, and it is still
$7.25/hr in many places. 🤷♂️🤦♂️
Say again?
Can you even hear what's coming out of your own mouth?
Can you even hear what's coming out of your own mouth?
Patel on J6 arrest: "When you attack American citizens, when you attack our institutions of legislation, when you attack our nation's Capitol, you attack the very being of our way of life."
December 4, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Say again?
Can you even hear what's coming out of your own mouth?
Can you even hear what's coming out of your own mouth?
Reposted by Jeff Stirling
The billionaires who own much of the the infrastructure of our 21st century lives have progressively enshittified that infrastructure while expanding their wealth, and then they scold us for being small-souled peasants who don’t believe in progress anymore.
it is amazing how so much tech gets unremittingly worse year on year at whatever you once used it for and less pleasant to use and more bound up with creepy politics as well as personal and environmental harms and yet also still less productive of actual goods and these are somehow great visionaries
November 30, 2025 at 1:38 PM
The billionaires who own much of the the infrastructure of our 21st century lives have progressively enshittified that infrastructure while expanding their wealth, and then they scold us for being small-souled peasants who don’t believe in progress anymore.
She shoots her own puppies, so . . .
What’s the matter with her?
December 2, 2025 at 3:05 AM
She shoots her own puppies, so . . .
My brother died last month at 71 years old. These tests would have likely saved his life.
Trump can't even remember what they were MRI-ing. 🤦♂️
Trump can't even remember what they were MRI-ing. 🤦♂️
JohnsHopkins website says they do cardiac MRI if pt has symptoms of
~Atherosclerosis
~Cardiomyopathy
~Congenital heart disease
~Heart failure
~Aneurysm
~Heart valve disease
~Cardiac tumor
~Atherosclerosis
~Cardiomyopathy
~Congenital heart disease
~Heart failure
~Aneurysm
~Heart valve disease
~Cardiac tumor
December 1, 2025 at 11:23 PM
My brother died last month at 71 years old. These tests would have likely saved his life.
Trump can't even remember what they were MRI-ing. 🤦♂️
Trump can't even remember what they were MRI-ing. 🤦♂️
Reposted by Jeff Stirling
It's a complicated dynamic that's gotten us to this terrible place, but one key part of it, IMO, is that these companies regard their users not as customers with pre-existing needs they seek to fulfill, but as a malleable product whose attention they seek to manipulate and monetize.
November 30, 2025 at 2:34 PM
It's a complicated dynamic that's gotten us to this terrible place, but one key part of it, IMO, is that these companies regard their users not as customers with pre-existing needs they seek to fulfill, but as a malleable product whose attention they seek to manipulate and monetize.
Reposted by Jeff Stirling
This bleak (but unfortunately compelling) thread makes me think that the individual human mind/psyche is just ill-suited to being plugged into machines that allow everyone everywhere to be simultaneously talking about everything that has ever happened or could have happened at any time in any place.
This is not a "students today" post--it's more "this is a new form of dysfunction" that doesn't look exactly like it's been in previous decades. It's more than just "first-year chaos." It's an across-the-board inability to process instructions, engage with longer texts, and *connect* with others.
November 29, 2025 at 3:06 PM
This bleak (but unfortunately compelling) thread makes me think that the individual human mind/psyche is just ill-suited to being plugged into machines that allow everyone everywhere to be simultaneously talking about everything that has ever happened or could have happened at any time in any place.
Our 'Secretary of War' has yet to be introduced to the complex technology of the mirror image.
Apparently.
Kakistocracy triumphant.
Apparently.
Kakistocracy triumphant.
November 25, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Our 'Secretary of War' has yet to be introduced to the complex technology of the mirror image.
Apparently.
Kakistocracy triumphant.
Apparently.
Kakistocracy triumphant.
The answer to just about "why is everything so fucked up now" question is Ronald Reagan.
November 16, 2025 at 9:50 PM
The answer to just about "why is everything so fucked up now" question is Ronald Reagan.
These fucking debt engineers are making another run at us.
"To obtain the capital they need, hyperscalers have leveraged a growing list of complex debt-financing options ... That shift is fueling speculation that A.I. investments are turning into a game of musical chairs whose financial instruments are reminiscent of the 2008 financial crisis."
Vibe shift.
Vibe shift.
Debt Has Entered the A.I. Boom
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:15 PM
These fucking debt engineers are making another run at us.
Reposted by Jeff Stirling
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
November 8, 2025 at 4:23 AM
40 years ago we’d have congressional hearings falsely accusing metal bands of putting backwards messages in their songs that told kids to kill themselves & now we have a planet-killing chatbot that’s all like “bet you won’t commit suicide chickenshit bitch” & the government is like here’s $5 billion
Reposted by Jeff Stirling
And let's name names. #ElonMusk #MarcoRubio #RussellVought and #DonaldTrump (with help from #JohnRoberts). This is premeditated murder--of children. You can spin it anyway you like but you cannot escape this fact.
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 12:25 PM
And let's name names. #ElonMusk #MarcoRubio #RussellVought and #DonaldTrump (with help from #JohnRoberts). This is premeditated murder--of children. You can spin it anyway you like but you cannot escape this fact.
Reposted by Jeff Stirling
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
Reposted by Jeff Stirling
📽️ WATCH: We reviewed 700+ videos, hours of footage from ICE protesters and counterprotesters in Portland.
Trump justified the deployment of National Guard troops by calling the city "War ravaged," with an ICE office under siege. That's not what we found.
🔗 Full story: https://propub.li/43fRCmF
Trump justified the deployment of National Guard troops by calling the city "War ravaged," with an ICE office under siege. That's not what we found.
🔗 Full story: https://propub.li/43fRCmF
November 6, 2025 at 4:01 AM
📽️ WATCH: We reviewed 700+ videos, hours of footage from ICE protesters and counterprotesters in Portland.
Trump justified the deployment of National Guard troops by calling the city "War ravaged," with an ICE office under siege. That's not what we found.
🔗 Full story: https://propub.li/43fRCmF
Trump justified the deployment of National Guard troops by calling the city "War ravaged," with an ICE office under siege. That's not what we found.
🔗 Full story: https://propub.li/43fRCmF
He's putting those cheap and stupid things on the OUTSIDE now? 😡
It’s like they wake up every day and ask themselves “how can we make this place look even cheaper and tackier and less historic?”
November 5, 2025 at 3:34 PM
He's putting those cheap and stupid things on the OUTSIDE now? 😡
But just like the Prosperity Gospel grifters Trumpism imitated, there will be no refunds and no apologies at the end, and the grifters will finish out their lives in their palatial homes, drinking expensive spirits, and laughing at the uncountable victims they left in their wakes.
This explanation is ridiculous yet likely true. Millions of people did not conceptualize Trump the way we do (e.g., "bad person who did a bad job and wants to do bad things like X, Y, Z") but rather as a TV character, an avatar of prosperity who would somehow bless them economically.
"... the best explanation for 2025 is that voters didn’t know what they were getting with Trump 2.0 last November, but now they do — and they don’t like it."
@gelliottmorris.com
@gelliottmorris.com
November 5, 2025 at 1:15 PM
But just like the Prosperity Gospel grifters Trumpism imitated, there will be no refunds and no apologies at the end, and the grifters will finish out their lives in their palatial homes, drinking expensive spirits, and laughing at the uncountable victims they left in their wakes.
Who knew that Charles, an actual king, would show US Republicans how to take out the trash?
Lot happening in the world but this is truly a remarkable, and damming, development: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/w...
Prince Andrew to Be Stripped of His Royal Title
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:17 PM
Who knew that Charles, an actual king, would show US Republicans how to take out the trash?
Reposted by Jeff Stirling
No there isn’t you Vichy bastards
There is a legal case for a third term—but it is strewn with obstacles
Trump 2028
There is a legal case for a third term—but it is strewn with obstacles
econ.st
October 30, 2025 at 4:18 PM
No there isn’t you Vichy bastards
That, my friends, is a bag full of piss.
The thing hanging in his trouser leg is also a bag full of piss.
The thing hanging in his trouser leg is also a bag full of piss.
October 30, 2025 at 1:25 AM
That, my friends, is a bag full of piss.
The thing hanging in his trouser leg is also a bag full of piss.
The thing hanging in his trouser leg is also a bag full of piss.
No. No. No. Just no.
JUST IN: Trump says he has instructed the Department of Defense to start testing our nuclear weapons
October 30, 2025 at 1:21 AM
No. No. No. Just no.
Reposted by Jeff Stirling
The Red Scare Used Against Educators Today www.zinnedproject.org/news/red-sca...
The Red Scare Used Against Educators Today
The right-wing media is on the attack against the Zinn Education Project. In their Red Scare vitriol, these media outlets discredit activism and critical analysis in people’s history. The real targets...
www.zinnedproject.org
October 29, 2025 at 10:40 PM
The Red Scare Used Against Educators Today www.zinnedproject.org/news/red-sca...
Every single word. 👇
And it's not just New York City.
And it's not just New York City.
👇🏻👇🏻
New York City is great — for the wealthiest.
October 29, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Every single word. 👇
And it's not just New York City.
And it's not just New York City.
White coats and rubber rooms stuff.
And the 25th A won't save us.
And the 25th A won't save us.
October 26, 2025 at 10:52 PM
White coats and rubber rooms stuff.
And the 25th A won't save us.
And the 25th A won't save us.
Omg 🤣🤣
October 26, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Omg 🤣🤣
Horrifying.
A Naperville man was hauled away by federal immigration agents Thursday morning as his two sons watched, the older boy begging them not to hurt his father and tearfully asking for a chance to speak to him before they left.
As his two sons watch and cry, ‘Pa, te amo,’ federal agents arrest man outside of Naperville apartments
A Naperville man was hauled away by federal immigration agents Thursday as his two sons cried and begged for him not to be hurt.
trib.al
October 25, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Horrifying.