Brandon Downey
@bdowney.bsky.social
Infosec professional, photographer, math enthusiast, occasional augmented reality warlord. Peculiar but refined tastes in triangles, cinema, and cocktails. Some skill with Azad.
Signal: bdowney.23
Opinions are my own and not those of my employer
Signal: bdowney.23
Opinions are my own and not those of my employer
I remember watching the racist right in the UK stage riots where they tried to burn down hotels where refugees were living. "Good", I thought, "Now Labor has an easy target"
Oops!
Don't let your left party taking marching orders from the opinion section of the Atlantic? (worse: the NYT).
Oops!
Don't let your left party taking marching orders from the opinion section of the Atlantic? (worse: the NYT).
"It took the conservative Tory Party a decade to end up neck and neck with Reform UK, a far-right party led by known Russian asset Nigel Farage. It took the Starmer-led Labour Party much less time to alienate the many UK voters who want nothing more than a major party to stand up to the fascists"
A Blaring Warning For The Democratic Party From Across The Pond
Popularism has been tried in the UK, and failed.
www.liberalcurrents.com
February 17, 2026 at 3:56 AM
I remember watching the racist right in the UK stage riots where they tried to burn down hotels where refugees were living. "Good", I thought, "Now Labor has an easy target"
Oops!
Don't let your left party taking marching orders from the opinion section of the Atlantic? (worse: the NYT).
Oops!
Don't let your left party taking marching orders from the opinion section of the Atlantic? (worse: the NYT).
Real victory for feminism: Normally you'd need to be a white man fail upwards into running CBS, but she managed to break the glass ceiling!
"It really has to sting for Bari. The person she wanted for the Evening News anchor chair is choosing to leave CBS altogether because of her," one CBS News staffer told me tonight. "This is 'fuck you' to Bari."
Anderson Cooper has decided to nope out of '60 Minutes' and will not return next season, according to Breaker's Lachlan Cartwright.
www.breakermedia.com/p/scoop-ande...
www.breakermedia.com/p/scoop-ande...
February 17, 2026 at 12:42 AM
Real victory for feminism: Normally you'd need to be a white man fail upwards into running CBS, but she managed to break the glass ceiling!
Reposted by Brandon Downey
So…the Bari Weiss-led CBS News loses Anderson Cooper from 60 Minutes after 20 years but keeps Peter Attia, the health contributor whose name appears in documents connected with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein over 1,700 times. So far, she’s covering the institution in glory. https://loom.ly/fI7qA9o
🔎 SCOOP: Anderson Cooper To Depart 60 Minutes
Legendary Newsman Will Focus on CNN And Family
www.breakermedia.com
February 16, 2026 at 10:51 PM
So…the Bari Weiss-led CBS News loses Anderson Cooper from 60 Minutes after 20 years but keeps Peter Attia, the health contributor whose name appears in documents connected with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein over 1,700 times. So far, she’s covering the institution in glory. https://loom.ly/fI7qA9o
Reposted by Brandon Downey
Reposted by Brandon Downey
Local government may not technically control federal real estate, but the elderly Republican who owns and runs Majestic knows his business depends heavily on deals with many separate local governments (many of them in CA!), and he cultivates a civic minded philantropist reputation for a reason.🤷♀️
BREAKING: Majestic Realty, who owns one of the warehouses ICE was planning to purchase to create a detention camp, announced today that it would not sell to the agency. More at DMagazine.com shortly.
February 16, 2026 at 8:07 PM
Local government may not technically control federal real estate, but the elderly Republican who owns and runs Majestic knows his business depends heavily on deals with many separate local governments (many of them in CA!), and he cultivates a civic minded philantropist reputation for a reason.🤷♀️
Reposted by Brandon Downey
It's kind of funny how Hayek's (mostly correct) argument against central planning because concentrating that much economic power in one place inevitably lead to totalitarian behavior is also a pretty strong argument against like, extreme concentrations of wealth and market power
February 16, 2026 at 7:52 PM
It's kind of funny how Hayek's (mostly correct) argument against central planning because concentrating that much economic power in one place inevitably lead to totalitarian behavior is also a pretty strong argument against like, extreme concentrations of wealth and market power
Reposted by Brandon Downey
i‘m using it for a column but i want to share here this line from lincoln on jefferson because it is applies to our situation as well. you can find it in his april 6, 1859 letter to henry l. pierce.
February 16, 2026 at 5:11 PM
i‘m using it for a column but i want to share here this line from lincoln on jefferson because it is applies to our situation as well. you can find it in his april 6, 1859 letter to henry l. pierce.
Reposted by Brandon Downey
👀 Invoking Orwell, a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore panels and historical acknowledgments of the history of slavery that the National Park Service removed in Philadelphia. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
February 16, 2026 at 6:24 PM
👀 Invoking Orwell, a federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore panels and historical acknowledgments of the history of slavery that the National Park Service removed in Philadelphia. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Brandon Downey
RIP to one of the all-timers. I hope Robert Duvall finally reached the surface.
February 16, 2026 at 7:04 PM
RIP to one of the all-timers. I hope Robert Duvall finally reached the surface.
Reposted by Brandon Downey
Reposted by Brandon Downey
Read the “AI agent wrote a hit piece about me because I rejected its patch” blog.
1. There’s no evidence the AI autonomously decided to publish the article.
2. AI generated news articles full of falsehoods including Ars Technica’s article on the incident are a sad, new normal that devalue the web.
1. There’s no evidence the AI autonomously decided to publish the article.
2. AI generated news articles full of falsehoods including Ars Technica’s article on the incident are a sad, new normal that devalue the web.
An AI Agent Published a Hit Piece on Me – More Things Have Happened
Context: An AI agent of unknown ownership autonomously wrote and published a personalized hit piece about me after I rejected its code, attempting to damage my reputation and shame me into acceptin…
theshamblog.com
February 16, 2026 at 6:28 PM
Read the “AI agent wrote a hit piece about me because I rejected its patch” blog.
1. There’s no evidence the AI autonomously decided to publish the article.
2. AI generated news articles full of falsehoods including Ars Technica’s article on the incident are a sad, new normal that devalue the web.
1. There’s no evidence the AI autonomously decided to publish the article.
2. AI generated news articles full of falsehoods including Ars Technica’s article on the incident are a sad, new normal that devalue the web.
Does nobody in government listen to If Books Can Kill (if nothing else)?
Since the government is about to introduce a social media ban for under-16s based largely on vibes – and Jonathan Haidt's shitty book – in the hopes it boosts its popularity (it won't), I'll re-up this.
If we're banning under-16s, why not over-60s?
If we're banning under-16s, why not over-60s?
On almost everything – fraud, polarisation, radicalisation, misinformation – evidence suggests that over 60s are in much more urgent need of online protection and education than teenagers.
But that issue gets zero political attention, and is a total non-starter. Nothing good will come of it.
But that issue gets zero political attention, and is a total non-starter. Nothing good will come of it.
February 16, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Does nobody in government listen to If Books Can Kill (if nothing else)?
Reposted by Brandon Downey
Alien Finance Minister: So you don't have money.
Lead Consultant: correct
AFM: but you trade with societies who do have money.
LC: correct
AFM: like gold pressed latinum
LC: Yes.
AFM: Isn't that a numeraire?
LC: No one outside of this room is allowed to know what that word means.
Lead Consultant: correct
AFM: but you trade with societies who do have money.
LC: correct
AFM: like gold pressed latinum
LC: Yes.
AFM: Isn't that a numeraire?
LC: No one outside of this room is allowed to know what that word means.
September 12, 2024 at 4:39 PM
Alien Finance Minister: So you don't have money.
Lead Consultant: correct
AFM: but you trade with societies who do have money.
LC: correct
AFM: like gold pressed latinum
LC: Yes.
AFM: Isn't that a numeraire?
LC: No one outside of this room is allowed to know what that word means.
Lead Consultant: correct
AFM: but you trade with societies who do have money.
LC: correct
AFM: like gold pressed latinum
LC: Yes.
AFM: Isn't that a numeraire?
LC: No one outside of this room is allowed to know what that word means.
Reposted by Brandon Downey
BREAKING: @barackobama.bsky.social clarifies his position on aliens after his answer during the speed round of our interview went viral.
February 16, 2026 at 12:09 AM
BREAKING: @barackobama.bsky.social clarifies his position on aliens after his answer during the speed round of our interview went viral.
Good light at brunch today.
February 15, 2026 at 10:30 PM
Good light at brunch today.
Reposted by Brandon Downey
A child dying of cancer spent her final days fighting to free her wrongfully detained father from ICE custody.
This comes just weeks after a mother from Maryland was denied the right to be at her son’s side as he died from cancer.
Not one dime for this cruelty.
www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/...
This comes just weeks after a mother from Maryland was denied the right to be at her son’s side as he died from cancer.
Not one dime for this cruelty.
www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/...
Ofelia Torres, teen who fought to have her father released from ICE custody, dies from rare cancer
Ofelia Torres, 16, died on Friday from Stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive form of cancer, her father's lawyer confirmed.
www.cbsnews.com
February 15, 2026 at 9:20 PM
A child dying of cancer spent her final days fighting to free her wrongfully detained father from ICE custody.
This comes just weeks after a mother from Maryland was denied the right to be at her son’s side as he died from cancer.
Not one dime for this cruelty.
www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/...
This comes just weeks after a mother from Maryland was denied the right to be at her son’s side as he died from cancer.
Not one dime for this cruelty.
www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/...
Reposted by Brandon Downey
Propaganda during WWI and WWII in fact
February 15, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Propaganda during WWI and WWII in fact
Reposted by Brandon Downey
The previous administration was run by beta cuck soy boys who were too soft to carry out their duties. Here’s why I fired a Coast Guard pilot for forgetting my blankie.
by Kristi Noem
by Kristi Noem
February 15, 2026 at 6:13 PM
The previous administration was run by beta cuck soy boys who were too soft to carry out their duties. Here’s why I fired a Coast Guard pilot for forgetting my blankie.
by Kristi Noem
by Kristi Noem
Reposted by Brandon Downey
Musk is a malevolent force in American life, driven by white nationalism and incredibly influential given his obscene wealth. He's a supervillain.
But people get that. He's deeply unpopular, with an approval rating in the mid-30s with Trump. We just need political leaders willing to take him on.
But people get that. He's deeply unpopular, with an approval rating in the mid-30s with Trump. We just need political leaders willing to take him on.
We must speak plainly about the agenda Elon Musk & other MAGA leaders are pushing. It’s white nationalism.
There’s no room for Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native, Jewish or all other Americans in Musk’s monocultural vision.
Multiculturalism is superior. We can’t allow Musk & others to end it.
There’s no room for Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, Native, Jewish or all other Americans in Musk’s monocultural vision.
Multiculturalism is superior. We can’t allow Musk & others to end it.
February 15, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Musk is a malevolent force in American life, driven by white nationalism and incredibly influential given his obscene wealth. He's a supervillain.
But people get that. He's deeply unpopular, with an approval rating in the mid-30s with Trump. We just need political leaders willing to take him on.
But people get that. He's deeply unpopular, with an approval rating in the mid-30s with Trump. We just need political leaders willing to take him on.
The good news is many -- maybe even most people -- respond to horrors in their neighborhood in this way.
But people also are so insulated from the effects of politics (and political violence) they would never let themselves believe this was happening until they see it with their own eyes.
But people also are so insulated from the effects of politics (and political violence) they would never let themselves believe this was happening until they see it with their own eyes.
Yesterday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at today’s ICE Out of Lindenwold protest is a must watch 😭. @maddow.bsky.social
February 15, 2026 at 6:07 AM
The good news is many -- maybe even most people -- respond to horrors in their neighborhood in this way.
But people also are so insulated from the effects of politics (and political violence) they would never let themselves believe this was happening until they see it with their own eyes.
But people also are so insulated from the effects of politics (and political violence) they would never let themselves believe this was happening until they see it with their own eyes.
Every time you think "Well I screwed that up" give a thought for how bad you have to fuck up to have a mob of liberals with an inflatable Nazi doll show up at your car dealership every weekend for a year.
#teslatakedown #sunnyvale #anniversary
Shirt by @djinnandtonic.bsky.social
#teslatakedown #sunnyvale #anniversary
Shirt by @djinnandtonic.bsky.social
February 15, 2026 at 4:12 AM
Every time you think "Well I screwed that up" give a thought for how bad you have to fuck up to have a mob of liberals with an inflatable Nazi doll show up at your car dealership every weekend for a year.
#teslatakedown #sunnyvale #anniversary
Shirt by @djinnandtonic.bsky.social
#teslatakedown #sunnyvale #anniversary
Shirt by @djinnandtonic.bsky.social
Reposted by Brandon Downey
Thirty years of concern. Never enough courage.
February 11, 2026 at 1:33 PM
Thirty years of concern. Never enough courage.
Reposted by Brandon Downey
This is a genuinely huge, sweeping victory today for the University of California—or rather, for us, its faculty, acting through our faculty associations, while the UC itself maintained a strict policy of deer-in-headlights silence.
The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:
The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:
Trump administration drops appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement
The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a major higher education case in which a federal judge blocked its $1.2-billion settlement proposal to UCLA over alleged civil rights violations. It will...
www.latimes.com
February 14, 2026 at 4:57 AM
This is a genuinely huge, sweeping victory today for the University of California—or rather, for us, its faculty, acting through our faculty associations, while the UC itself maintained a strict policy of deer-in-headlights silence.
The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:
The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:
Reposted by Brandon Downey
Doctors say that vaccines protect children from dangerous diseases. A nepo baby who barbecues dogs and snorts cocaine off toilet seats says that vaccines make children vulnerable to 5G radiation. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to trust.
February 14, 2026 at 3:39 AM
Doctors say that vaccines protect children from dangerous diseases. A nepo baby who barbecues dogs and snorts cocaine off toilet seats says that vaccines make children vulnerable to 5G radiation. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to trust.
Reposted by Brandon Downey
My position is that I do not intend to vote for Gavin Newsom in a Democratic primary, that I would vote for any Democrat against JD Vance in a general election, and that Hasan Piker is both an idiot and a bad person.
February 13, 2026 at 5:42 PM
My position is that I do not intend to vote for Gavin Newsom in a Democratic primary, that I would vote for any Democrat against JD Vance in a general election, and that Hasan Piker is both an idiot and a bad person.