Liam
@ataketoofar.bsky.social
Recovering soldier, observer of the birth of the new America
Reposted by Liam
related to this a lot of people in the pundit class need to learn how to just be annoyed by someone or something without turning it into What’s Wrong With America
i am fascinated by how nate silver turns everything he doesn’t like into a bespoke ideology. it’s not that he is annoyed by HCR, it is that she is a dreaded “ism” responsible for everything he doesn’t like about the democratic party. same with bluesky.
what the fuck are you talking about man
December 13, 2025 at 11:38 PM
related to this a lot of people in the pundit class need to learn how to just be annoyed by someone or something without turning it into What’s Wrong With America
Reposted by Liam
Trump sent Vance there twice. He threatened to cut off all federal spending to the state. He vowed to back primary challengers of any Republican who voted against him here. He posted their names online, prompting his fans to send them death threats.
But all that failed, so now he wasn't involved.
But all that failed, so now he wasn't involved.
Reporter: The senate in Indiana voted against the redistricting effort.
Trump: I wasn't working on it very hard. I wasn't very much involved
Trump: I wasn't working on it very hard. I wasn't very much involved
December 12, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Trump sent Vance there twice. He threatened to cut off all federal spending to the state. He vowed to back primary challengers of any Republican who voted against him here. He posted their names online, prompting his fans to send them death threats.
But all that failed, so now he wasn't involved.
But all that failed, so now he wasn't involved.
I was in ROTC when when the original torture memo came out, and still remember officers and NCOs dismissing the findings as “playing in the water” or “getting a bit hungry”. This stuff doesn’t go away unless there are active repercussions.
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:22 AM
I was in ROTC when when the original torture memo came out, and still remember officers and NCOs dismissing the findings as “playing in the water” or “getting a bit hungry”. This stuff doesn’t go away unless there are active repercussions.
Reposted by Liam
They’re wearing masks so they can’t be prosecuted later. As long as they think they can’t be prosecuted, their crimes will intensify. They will torture, starve and kill, as they have already, on greater and greater scale.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
I’ve come to believe that we need to gather considerable forces and a campaign to demand the removal of face masks by ICE, Border Patrol, FBI and police.
It is a practice in conflict with the principles of transparency & accountability that are central to the concept of democracy.
It is a practice in conflict with the principles of transparency & accountability that are central to the concept of democracy.
Video on social media shows an immigration agent pulling a gun in Little Village and holding it to the side — which is not an appropriate or safe way to hold a gun. (Among other issues.)
November 9, 2025 at 2:36 PM
They’re wearing masks so they can’t be prosecuted later. As long as they think they can’t be prosecuted, their crimes will intensify. They will torture, starve and kill, as they have already, on greater and greater scale.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
Signed, someone who’s covered the unaccountable War on Terror for 23 years.
Reposted by Liam
I now realize that for my entire adult life, I've had a very narrow conception of what "supporting and defending the Constitution" means. Standing on business when armed agents of the State are knocking on your door is way more important, by a country mile, than anything I did overseas
Border Patrol “attempted to arrest a plumber working inside a Logan Heights home but left empty-handed after the homeowner refused them entry.
The homeowner told agents she would not allow them inside because the warrant they presented did not include her address and lacked a judge's signature.”
The homeowner told agents she would not allow them inside because the warrant they presented did not include her address and lacked a judge's signature.”
Federal immigration operations target San Diego neighborhoods, sparking community resistance
Federal immigration agents conducted operations in Logan Heights and Southeast San Diego on Friday, with community members capturing footage of the enforcement actions.
www.10news.com
October 13, 2025 at 12:01 PM
I now realize that for my entire adult life, I've had a very narrow conception of what "supporting and defending the Constitution" means. Standing on business when armed agents of the State are knocking on your door is way more important, by a country mile, than anything I did overseas
Reposted by Liam
aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage
During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.
It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.
He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.
chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’
During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...
chicago.suntimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:31 PM
aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage
Reposted by Liam
the pope remains Catholic.
This is simultaneously not an especially radical theological belief and, politically speaking (especially in the U.S. context), quite a thing for Pope Leo to say. www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/266859/...
October 1, 2025 at 8:44 PM
the pope remains Catholic.
War Without Cost
Many people have told me that AI will change the world.
open.substack.com
September 28, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Reposted by Liam
The South Korean Ministry of Defense has awarded medals of merit to 11 officers for disobeying direct orders of superiors during the martial law fiasco, orders that they deemed to be contrary to the constitution and endangerment to democracy.
www.chosun.com/english/nati...
www.chosun.com/english/nati...
National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders
National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders Honored for rejecting illegal orders during martial law, Marine death probe
www.chosun.com
September 27, 2025 at 6:44 PM
The South Korean Ministry of Defense has awarded medals of merit to 11 officers for disobeying direct orders of superiors during the martial law fiasco, orders that they deemed to be contrary to the constitution and endangerment to democracy.
www.chosun.com/english/nati...
www.chosun.com/english/nati...
Reposted by Liam
Putting aside the legality or morality of any of this, it's deeply funny that the Trump administration seems to think that a drone campaign is going to have any material effect on drug flows. Yeah, buddy, we couldn't defeat Al Qaeda, but we're gonna stop a $650 billion industry with a few hellfires.
Another US strike on a vessel alleged to be smuggling drugs in the Caribbean.
Once again, the specific entity and individuals targeted are not identified—simply labelled as "terrorists." 1/n
Once again, the specific entity and individuals targeted are not identified—simply labelled as "terrorists." 1/n
September 15, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Putting aside the legality or morality of any of this, it's deeply funny that the Trump administration seems to think that a drone campaign is going to have any material effect on drug flows. Yeah, buddy, we couldn't defeat Al Qaeda, but we're gonna stop a $650 billion industry with a few hellfires.
Reposted by Liam
I'll say it a thousand times -- any account of the past that only celebrates the good parts of a nation without reckoning with the bad is not what we call "history"
It is propaganda, pure and simple.
It is propaganda, pure and simple.
You can't teach U.S. history without "divisive" narratives. Slavery wasn't "unifying." The Japanese incarceration wasn't "unifying." The anti-immigrant Operation Wetback (real name) wasn't "unifying."
It's history's job to tell the truth, not cover up past racism to pave the way for future racism.
It's history's job to tell the truth, not cover up past racism to pave the way for future racism.
White House Announces Comprehensive Review of Smithsonian Exhibitions
www.nytimes.com
August 12, 2025 at 10:29 PM
I'll say it a thousand times -- any account of the past that only celebrates the good parts of a nation without reckoning with the bad is not what we call "history"
It is propaganda, pure and simple.
It is propaganda, pure and simple.
Reposted by Liam
we need to teach the 1930s properly so that people know the Reichstag Fire was exactly this stupid
I just can’t believe our Reichstag Fire is the Big Balls Beatdown.
August 12, 2025 at 12:02 AM
we need to teach the 1930s properly so that people know the Reichstag Fire was exactly this stupid
I’ve wandered fairly far from the Catholic Church in my day but takes like these make me want to become the most ardent papist who ever went to confession
August 9, 2025 at 9:38 PM
I’ve wandered fairly far from the Catholic Church in my day but takes like these make me want to become the most ardent papist who ever went to confession
Reposted by Liam
this is literally the single best thing about reading as a hobby
no matter how much you love books, no matter how fast you read, there are always - always! - more books
you'll never be able to read them all and that's a sad and wonderful thing
no matter how much you love books, no matter how fast you read, there are always - always! - more books
you'll never be able to read them all and that's a sad and wonderful thing
August 4, 2025 at 3:36 PM
this is literally the single best thing about reading as a hobby
no matter how much you love books, no matter how fast you read, there are always - always! - more books
you'll never be able to read them all and that's a sad and wonderful thing
no matter how much you love books, no matter how fast you read, there are always - always! - more books
you'll never be able to read them all and that's a sad and wonderful thing
Reposted by Liam
What really annoys me about the Wehrmacht admiration both institutionally and individually is the American army executed operations, offensively and defensively, at a pretty goddamn high level from 1944-1945, why not really admire that?
You really don’t have to hand it to the German officer corps on WWII but they really did pull one of the all time historiographical Houdinis in their telling of the war
July 30, 2025 at 12:09 AM
What really annoys me about the Wehrmacht admiration both institutionally and individually is the American army executed operations, offensively and defensively, at a pretty goddamn high level from 1944-1945, why not really admire that?
Reposted by Liam
napoleon constantly writing to the wives of his dead officers how much more he'd miss their husbands than they would was a pretty good bit. you have to give him that one
July 4, 2025 at 1:55 PM
napoleon constantly writing to the wives of his dead officers how much more he'd miss their husbands than they would was a pretty good bit. you have to give him that one
Reposted by Liam
the stories that come out of the ICE camps are going to look like the stories that come out of every camp system; rampant corruption, epidemic disease, physical and sexual abuse on a vast scale, a death rate far higher than normal, and medical abuses.
July 2, 2025 at 10:28 PM
the stories that come out of the ICE camps are going to look like the stories that come out of every camp system; rampant corruption, epidemic disease, physical and sexual abuse on a vast scale, a death rate far higher than normal, and medical abuses.
The IJN attacked the US with the understanding that they could defeat the USN and its extreme manufacturing advantage with a 7:10 disadvantage because of the virtues bestowed by the qualitative advantage of the “Yamato Spirit”.
🎥 Artificial intelligence can close the gap between US defense priorities and actual funding. Raft brought together an expert panel to discuss, including US Rep Ed Case, who represents the Honolulu area and talked with Breaking Defense.
#AIInDefense #EdCase #DefenseTechnology #sponsored
#AIInDefense #EdCase #DefenseTechnology #sponsored
Demonstrating credible deterrence in the Indo-Pacific not just with presence, but capability [Video 2] - Breaking Defense
Artificial intelligence can close the gap between US defense priorities and actual funding.
breakingdefense.com
July 2, 2025 at 2:54 PM
The IJN attacked the US with the understanding that they could defeat the USN and its extreme manufacturing advantage with a 7:10 disadvantage because of the virtues bestowed by the qualitative advantage of the “Yamato Spirit”.
Reposted by Liam
The problem here isn't just the answer but the question. Mamdani has denounced antisemitism and clarified his position on this random slogan *other people* chanted at a protest numerous times. This is only a "tough question" if you think it's your job to repeat bad faith Republican attacks.
Hakeem Jeffries on Mamdani: "'Globalizing the intifada' by way of example is not an acceptable phrasing. He's gonna have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward."
June 29, 2025 at 2:18 PM
The problem here isn't just the answer but the question. Mamdani has denounced antisemitism and clarified his position on this random slogan *other people* chanted at a protest numerous times. This is only a "tough question" if you think it's your job to repeat bad faith Republican attacks.
There were plenty of times in US history where this was a possibility before, and was prevented/rolled back by the actions that those before us took. Now it’s simply our turn at the plate.
It's actually remarkable how much of a shithole country your kids will grow up and live as adults. It will just fundamentally be less free and more corrupt, and there has never been a time in U.S. history where that's been true except now.
June 28, 2025 at 2:05 PM
There were plenty of times in US history where this was a possibility before, and was prevented/rolled back by the actions that those before us took. Now it’s simply our turn at the plate.
Reposted by Liam
The only reason Republicans have a reputation as "fiscal hawks" is that the press refuses to tell the public basic facts about what they do when they are in office.
June 19, 2025 at 1:50 PM
The only reason Republicans have a reputation as "fiscal hawks" is that the press refuses to tell the public basic facts about what they do when they are in office.