ZKephart
@zkephart.bsky.social
Healthcare, government, disaster response.
Pinned
ZKephart
@zkephart.bsky.social
· Nov 15
How volunteers at one organization in WNC fueled a conspiracy about death counts
Volunteers with Western Carolina Emergency Network provided incorrect death toll to news outlet, posted to social media and chose not to remove as they continue fundraising.
www.bpr.org
Disinformation plagued the hurricane Helene response in Western North Carolina.
This is an amazing look at a group of people who just simply made things up and how their nonsense was amplified by the mostly uninformed social media denziens.
This is an amazing look at a group of people who just simply made things up and how their nonsense was amplified by the mostly uninformed social media denziens.
Reposted by ZKephart
I mean yeah it’s an authoritarian takeover but can we take some comfort in the fact that the people doing it are INSANELY stupid?
December 23, 2025 at 8:15 PM
I mean yeah it’s an authoritarian takeover but can we take some comfort in the fact that the people doing it are INSANELY stupid?
Reposted by ZKephart
The horrific materials in the Epstein files—combined with a chaotic release and a politicized Department of Justice—are a "recipe for inspiring potent distrust and resentment," @cwarzel.bsky.social argues:
The Epstein Files Only Get Worse
It’s beginning to look a lot like … extremely disturbing PDFs.
bit.ly
December 25, 2025 at 2:45 AM
The horrific materials in the Epstein files—combined with a chaotic release and a politicized Department of Justice—are a "recipe for inspiring potent distrust and resentment," @cwarzel.bsky.social argues:
Reposted by ZKephart
"It is logically impossible to simultaneously be evil, corrupt, and incompetent" is an absolutely amazing take to have in the year of 2025
December 23, 2025 at 9:51 PM
"It is logically impossible to simultaneously be evil, corrupt, and incompetent" is an absolutely amazing take to have in the year of 2025
Reposted by ZKephart
Brett Kavanaugh (September 2025): The facts and how they relate to the law don’t matter. Assume ICE and other federal forces always act with integrity, always respect rights, and consistently impose minimal burden.
Brett Kavanaugh (December 2025): Should I not have done that? Was that wrong?
Brett Kavanaugh (December 2025): Should I not have done that? Was that wrong?
Kavanaugh in a footnote in today's opinion says "the officers must not make interior immigration stops or arrests based on race or ethnicity."
December 23, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Brett Kavanaugh (September 2025): The facts and how they relate to the law don’t matter. Assume ICE and other federal forces always act with integrity, always respect rights, and consistently impose minimal burden.
Brett Kavanaugh (December 2025): Should I not have done that? Was that wrong?
Brett Kavanaugh (December 2025): Should I not have done that? Was that wrong?
Reposted by ZKephart
What if they constantly want culture war because policy war is complicated and hard and culture war is stupid and easy
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 7:11 PM
What if they constantly want culture war because policy war is complicated and hard and culture war is stupid and easy
Reposted by ZKephart
@banditelli.org!!! 75 years old? #Birds
The Ancient Birds of Santa Barbara and Beyond
Some birds live surprisingly long lives.
www.independent.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:35 AM
@banditelli.org!!! 75 years old? #Birds
Reposted by ZKephart
Jesuit Rob Lorenz was interviewed by the AMDG podcast.
Meet the Jesuit Ex-National Park Ranger at the Vatican Observatory - Vatican Observatory
Jesuit Rob Lorenz was interviewed by the AMDG podcast.
www.vaticanobservatory.org
November 20, 2025 at 12:04 AM
Jesuit Rob Lorenz was interviewed by the AMDG podcast.
Reposted by ZKephart
Eugene Hasenfus has died.
He was a gunrunner whose plane was shot down over Nicaragua in 1986 during a CIA-sponsored mission. His capture triggered the Iran-Contra investigation that exposed how the US supported militias with drug money to try to overthrow leftist governments in Latin America.
🎁🔗
He was a gunrunner whose plane was shot down over Nicaragua in 1986 during a CIA-sponsored mission. His capture triggered the Iran-Contra investigation that exposed how the US supported militias with drug money to try to overthrow leftist governments in Latin America.
🎁🔗
Eugene Hasenfus, Gunrunner Who Exposed Iran-Contra Plot, Dies at 84
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Eugene Hasenfus has died.
He was a gunrunner whose plane was shot down over Nicaragua in 1986 during a CIA-sponsored mission. His capture triggered the Iran-Contra investigation that exposed how the US supported militias with drug money to try to overthrow leftist governments in Latin America.
🎁🔗
He was a gunrunner whose plane was shot down over Nicaragua in 1986 during a CIA-sponsored mission. His capture triggered the Iran-Contra investigation that exposed how the US supported militias with drug money to try to overthrow leftist governments in Latin America.
🎁🔗
Reposted by ZKephart
Trump drops 11 points - 11 points! - in the past month in Gallup. Just a staggering decline. 1/
Gallup poll | 11/3-11/25
President Trump approval
Disapprove 60% (+6)
Approve 36% (-5)
news.gallup.com/poll/699221/...
President Trump approval
Disapprove 60% (+6)
Approve 36% (-5)
news.gallup.com/poll/699221/...
November 28, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Trump drops 11 points - 11 points! - in the past month in Gallup. Just a staggering decline. 1/
Reposted by ZKephart
So the Trump Administration and its dumbass lackeys in DHS and CTC completely fumbled the ball eh?
Also, the CIA which allegedly radicalized this man through its Zero Unit activities.
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Also, the CIA which allegedly radicalized this man through its Zero Unit activities.
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Counterterrorism officials vetted Guard shooting suspect before he entered U.S.
Individuals with knowledge of the process that Rahmanullah Lakanwal went through contradicted senior Trump officials’ claim that he was not scrutinized.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 11:45 PM
So the Trump Administration and its dumbass lackeys in DHS and CTC completely fumbled the ball eh?
Also, the CIA which allegedly radicalized this man through its Zero Unit activities.
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Also, the CIA which allegedly radicalized this man through its Zero Unit activities.
www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Both the left and the MAGA right have gained popularity by allowing Americans to have no agency in anything that happens to them.
"The airlines" won't let you? The airlines do not control the fact that the American people refuse to invest in trains. I take Amtrak as much as I can if I'm not in a hurry. We should have high-speed trains. But people would rather bitch at the airport than invest in a better future.
We could solve a minority of our air travel problems with Europe style trains. But the airlines will not let us.
November 26, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Both the left and the MAGA right have gained popularity by allowing Americans to have no agency in anything that happens to them.
Reposted by ZKephart
25 years ago, people like these two women couldn't do the sort of damage they did. Granting sociopaths and psychopaths international reach into the lives of millions has been a horrific mistake.
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 7:25 PM
25 years ago, people like these two women couldn't do the sort of damage they did. Granting sociopaths and psychopaths international reach into the lives of millions has been a horrific mistake.
Reposted by ZKephart
"For decades, most Americans professed to support an immigration system that encouraged and rewarded people who followed the rules...Now the signal is being sent that following the law will put you in harm’s way."
www.thebulwark.com/p/arrested-f...
www.thebulwark.com/p/arrested-f...
Arrested for Following the Rules
The danger of ICE’s strategy of targeting immigrants fulfilling their legal responsibilities.
www.thebulwark.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:10 PM
"For decades, most Americans professed to support an immigration system that encouraged and rewarded people who followed the rules...Now the signal is being sent that following the law will put you in harm’s way."
www.thebulwark.com/p/arrested-f...
www.thebulwark.com/p/arrested-f...
Reposted by ZKephart
“Homeland security agents investigating sexual crimes against children…have been redeployed to the immigrant crackdown…hampering their pursuit of child predators…efforts to combat human smuggling and sex trafficking have languished…”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
The Department of Deportation
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:23 PM
“Homeland security agents investigating sexual crimes against children…have been redeployed to the immigrant crackdown…hampering their pursuit of child predators…efforts to combat human smuggling and sex trafficking have languished…”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/u...
Reposted by ZKephart
"300 agents stormed the building, rappelled from a helicopter, knocked down doors and hurled flash-bang grenades. Agents ziptied and detained many US citizens for hours..."
Prosecutors have not filed a *single* criminal charge against anyone arrested that night:
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
Prosecutors have not filed a *single* criminal charge against anyone arrested that night:
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
www.propublica.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:39 AM
"300 agents stormed the building, rappelled from a helicopter, knocked down doors and hurled flash-bang grenades. Agents ziptied and detained many US citizens for hours..."
Prosecutors have not filed a *single* criminal charge against anyone arrested that night:
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
Prosecutors have not filed a *single* criminal charge against anyone arrested that night:
www.propublica.org/article/chic...
Reposted by ZKephart
"For the foreseeable future, the only way to make comprehensive insurance widely available is to subsidize the heck out of it. Some people will find that objectionable. But they might want to remember that taxpayers are also people."
The Actual Human Beings Caught in the Shutdown Vise
There’s a reason so many people need help paying for their health insurance.
www.thebulwark.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:30 PM
"For the foreseeable future, the only way to make comprehensive insurance widely available is to subsidize the heck out of it. Some people will find that objectionable. But they might want to remember that taxpayers are also people."
Reposted by ZKephart
The White House these days is about as trustworthy as unrefrigerated gas station sushi.
A terrific AFP fact check uses reverse image searches to expose how a White House video took scenes from Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Nebraska and lied that they showed "Chicago is in chaos."
factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....
factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....
October 16, 2025 at 3:58 PM
The White House these days is about as trustworthy as unrefrigerated gas station sushi.
Reposted by ZKephart
We were actually getting somewhere, too. 😞
@sbmitche.bsky.social
www.library.hbs.edu/working-know...
@sbmitche.bsky.social
www.library.hbs.edu/working-know...
October 15, 2025 at 11:47 AM
We were actually getting somewhere, too. 😞
@sbmitche.bsky.social
www.library.hbs.edu/working-know...
@sbmitche.bsky.social
www.library.hbs.edu/working-know...
Reposted by ZKephart
Work requirements are going to cost a ton to implement, at a time when states will have less administrative resources, and despite evidence that they don't work
Reports raise red flags: Georgia spent $54M on admin costs for its #Medicaid waiver, nearly twice the $26M spent on care, while enrolling under 3,500 people. CMS still extended the costly program that ties coverage to work requirements. www.cbpp.org/research/fed...
CMS Extends Georgia’s Medicaid Waiver Program, Despite GAO Report Raising Concerns with Costs | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
September 23, 2025: A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) raising concerns about the cost of Georgia’s Pathways to Coverage Medicaid waiver program is a forewarning about how ex...
www.cbpp.org
October 6, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Work requirements are going to cost a ton to implement, at a time when states will have less administrative resources, and despite evidence that they don't work
Reposted by ZKephart
They literally just fought a Supreme Court case for the right to racially profile. It was in the news!
DHS's Tricia McLaughlin: "It is a disgusting smear to say there is racial profiling going on."
October 6, 2025 at 4:49 PM
They literally just fought a Supreme Court case for the right to racially profile. It was in the news!
This law is the new Wehrkraftzersetzung - and Tom is right. Don’t let them silence you.
Some of you are saying that because of NSPM-7, you're blanking out your social media accounts and going to ground.
Has it occurred to you that \the intent behind issuing this gigantic, unconstitutional, and unenforceable thing was to get you to do exactly that?
Has it occurred to you that \the intent behind issuing this gigantic, unconstitutional, and unenforceable thing was to get you to do exactly that?
October 6, 2025 at 4:21 PM
This law is the new Wehrkraftzersetzung - and Tom is right. Don’t let them silence you.
Reposted by ZKephart
At this inflection point for Trump's authoritarian project, the democratic resistance has a chance to rise to the occasion by linking together its legal prong (lawsuits), its political prong (the government shutdown fight), and its popular prong (No Kings). A moment of challenge and opportunity.
October 6, 2025 at 1:16 PM
At this inflection point for Trump's authoritarian project, the democratic resistance has a chance to rise to the occasion by linking together its legal prong (lawsuits), its political prong (the government shutdown fight), and its popular prong (No Kings). A moment of challenge and opportunity.
The South Koreans aren’t going to invest in the US anymore.
October 5, 2025 at 10:17 PM
The South Koreans aren’t going to invest in the US anymore.
Reposted by ZKephart
FACT FOCUS: Democrats did not shut down the government to give health care to illegal immigrants.
FACT FOCUS: Democrats did not shut down the government to give health care to 'illegal immigrants'
This is false. Democrats say they are pushing for the inclusion of key health care provisions in the next congressional spending package.
bit.ly
October 4, 2025 at 9:00 PM
FACT FOCUS: Democrats did not shut down the government to give health care to illegal immigrants.
Reposted by ZKephart
The President is unwell.
PBS comments: “his remarks were rambling and incoherent,” in multiple appearances.
The Guardian calls some of his speeches “baffling” and “weirder than ever.”
Cambridge analysis says that his statements often require “translation” or annotation to make sense.
PBS comments: “his remarks were rambling and incoherent,” in multiple appearances.
The Guardian calls some of his speeches “baffling” and “weirder than ever.”
Cambridge analysis says that his statements often require “translation” or annotation to make sense.
October 2, 2025 at 12:55 AM
The President is unwell.
PBS comments: “his remarks were rambling and incoherent,” in multiple appearances.
The Guardian calls some of his speeches “baffling” and “weirder than ever.”
Cambridge analysis says that his statements often require “translation” or annotation to make sense.
PBS comments: “his remarks were rambling and incoherent,” in multiple appearances.
The Guardian calls some of his speeches “baffling” and “weirder than ever.”
Cambridge analysis says that his statements often require “translation” or annotation to make sense.