Saul Shaker
@catsashimi.bsky.social
I'm junk, but I'm still holding up this little wild bouquet
@catsashimi@zirk.us on Mastodon
PFP: Detail from "Artists Examining the Work of a Rival" by Honoré Daumier
Banner: Detail from "Christmas 3020" by Makoto Fujimura
@catsashimi@zirk.us on Mastodon
PFP: Detail from "Artists Examining the Work of a Rival" by Honoré Daumier
Banner: Detail from "Christmas 3020" by Makoto Fujimura
Reposted by Saul Shaker
I wonder if they're going to try to do an end around the agency heads again. Because most of the agencies have been trying to bring back at least a fair portion of people cut by DOGE/Vought.
My best bet is this just leads to another attempt to kill CFPB
My best bet is this just leads to another attempt to kill CFPB
Trump said he will meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, a Project 2025 author, to discuss cutting what he called “Democrat Agencies.” - www.cnbc.com/2025/10/02/t...
Trump touts shutdown as 'unprecedented opportunity' to cut more Democratic priorities
Trump in a Truth Social post said he will meet with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to discuss cutting agencies.
www.cnbc.com
October 2, 2025 at 2:21 PM
I wonder if they're going to try to do an end around the agency heads again. Because most of the agencies have been trying to bring back at least a fair portion of people cut by DOGE/Vought.
My best bet is this just leads to another attempt to kill CFPB
My best bet is this just leads to another attempt to kill CFPB
Reposted by Saul Shaker
feels a bit weird that we keep having these stories about individual cyber attacks but without anyone really joining the dots and going "okay, shall we maybe talk about this as a major global story"
Japan is just a few days away from running out of Asahi Super Dry as the producer of the nation’s most popular beer wrestles with a devastating cyber attack that has shut down its domestic breweries www.ft.com/content/bb86...
Japan days away from running out of Asahi Super Dry after cyber attack
Vast majority of factories of nation’s most popular beer have stopped work this week
www.ft.com
October 2, 2025 at 11:39 AM
feels a bit weird that we keep having these stories about individual cyber attacks but without anyone really joining the dots and going "okay, shall we maybe talk about this as a major global story"
Reposted by Saul Shaker
I think about this chart 24/7
October 2, 2025 at 1:55 PM
I think about this chart 24/7
Reposted by Saul Shaker
An under-the-radar but huge story: in less than 2 weeks, Microsoft plans to end support for the Windows 10 operating system, which is currently used on 42% (!) of all PCs globally. Over 400 million computers will be vulnerable to hacks or destined for the dump if users don't pay up.
Microsoft Is Abandoning Windows 10. Hackers Are Celebrating.
The company will stop supporting the OS on October 14. Advocacy groups warn this will leave up to 400 million computers vulnerable to hacks or in the dump.
prospect.org
October 2, 2025 at 1:50 PM
An under-the-radar but huge story: in less than 2 weeks, Microsoft plans to end support for the Windows 10 operating system, which is currently used on 42% (!) of all PCs globally. Over 400 million computers will be vulnerable to hacks or destined for the dump if users don't pay up.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
New Washington Post poll on who voters blame for the government shutdown:
October 2, 2025 at 12:49 PM
New Washington Post poll on who voters blame for the government shutdown:
Reposted by Saul Shaker
This is a perfect example of how Donald Trump views the entire federal government, and really the whole country, as a thing that belongs to him personally.
L'État, c'est moi.
L'État, c'est moi.
BREAKING: sources say NARA has forced out Dr. Todd Arrington, the federal director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, after he declined to allow the Trump administration to remove a sword from the library for a gift to King Charles
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/exclusive-...
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/exclusive-...
EXCLUSIVE: NARA Ousts Eisenhower Library Director Over Proposed Trump Gift to King Charles
The director, a historian and Army veteran, declined to allow the Trump administration to remove a priceless artifact from the library's permanent collection
lastcampaign.substack.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:00 PM
This is a perfect example of how Donald Trump views the entire federal government, and really the whole country, as a thing that belongs to him personally.
L'État, c'est moi.
L'État, c'est moi.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
The White House is threatening "imminent" mass firings. Down at the ground level though the things you'd expect to see in advance of that simply aren't happening. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/shutd...
Shutdown Dogs That Aren’t Barking: Russ Vought Abject Degeneracy (Follow Up) Edition
I can’t go into too much detail without revealing my sources. But...
talkingpointsmemo.com
October 1, 2025 at 11:00 PM
The White House is threatening "imminent" mass firings. Down at the ground level though the things you'd expect to see in advance of that simply aren't happening. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/shutd...
Reposted by Saul Shaker
in particular, "hahaha we are using the shutdown to enact project 2025 by firing ideologically unwelcome federal employees" and "the dastardly Democrats shut down the government" are not coherent messages
October 2, 2025 at 12:04 PM
in particular, "hahaha we are using the shutdown to enact project 2025 by firing ideologically unwelcome federal employees" and "the dastardly Democrats shut down the government" are not coherent messages
Reposted by Saul Shaker
This ransom memo should be as big a deal as the Kimmel suspension. It probably won't be but the stakes are higher for higher ed.
Breaking News: The White House asked nine top universities to pledge support for President Trump’s agenda to help ensure access to research funding.
Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference
Demands sent to nine top schools included pledging to freeze tuition for five years and to commit to strict definitions of gender.
nyti.ms
October 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM
This ransom memo should be as big a deal as the Kimmel suspension. It probably won't be but the stakes are higher for higher ed.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
one reason to insist on historically informed political analysis is to avoid the kind of punditry that takes Atlantic articles to be the only relevant context (or an audience that will fall for that)
I simply believe we have to read nonsense like 'the right is against free speech now?' They tried to forbid schools from teaching evolution--make them teach creationism. No sex ed! They tried to get all climate change scientists fired. They censored textbooks. This is only PART of what they did.
October 2, 2025 at 11:50 AM
one reason to insist on historically informed political analysis is to avoid the kind of punditry that takes Atlantic articles to be the only relevant context (or an audience that will fall for that)
Reposted by Saul Shaker
there are simply no words to describe the grief of this happening on yom kippur.
Manchester synagogue: Two dead in Manchester synagogue attack, with suspect also believed to have been killed - police
The suspect was shot by police, who say his condition cannot be confirmed due to
www.bbc.com
October 2, 2025 at 11:54 AM
there are simply no words to describe the grief of this happening on yom kippur.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
Surreal moment for America. Needless to say, if the normal police ever pulled something like this — pulling every single person out of an apartment building and handcuffing them to run warrant checks — they would be sued into oblivion.
Yet ICE is going to get away with it entirely.
Yet ICE is going to get away with it entirely.
October 2, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Surreal moment for America. Needless to say, if the normal police ever pulled something like this — pulling every single person out of an apartment building and handcuffing them to run warrant checks — they would be sued into oblivion.
Yet ICE is going to get away with it entirely.
Yet ICE is going to get away with it entirely.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
Cracks in the dam, ppl. Cracks in the dam.
MADELEINE DEAN: The president is unhinged. He's unwell
JOHNSON: A lot of folks on your side are too
D: Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals?
J: I didn't see it
D: It's so dangerous! Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a POTUS who's unwell.
JOHNSON: A lot of folks on your side are too
D: Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals?
J: I didn't see it
D: It's so dangerous! Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a POTUS who's unwell.
October 2, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Cracks in the dam, ppl. Cracks in the dam.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
Some schools will be starved of resources. Other schools will be offered bribes. The end goal is the same. To make the universities an extension of the Trump administration. Shame on any of these institutions willing to take the bribes.
October 2, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Some schools will be starved of resources. Other schools will be offered bribes. The end goal is the same. To make the universities an extension of the Trump administration. Shame on any of these institutions willing to take the bribes.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
DHS includes a bunch of false and defamatory statements in their tweet about Kilmar Abrego Garcia as they prepare to send him to Uganda.
October 2, 2025 at 1:22 AM
DHS includes a bunch of false and defamatory statements in their tweet about Kilmar Abrego Garcia as they prepare to send him to Uganda.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
Don’t get mad at the muppets for playing the Riyadh Comedy Festival, it’s the only way they can save the theater
October 2, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Don’t get mad at the muppets for playing the Riyadh Comedy Festival, it’s the only way they can save the theater
Reposted by Saul Shaker
No joke: one of the most racist, idiotic, dangerous things I’ve ever read. A stunning inversion of reality, turning segregationists into terrified refugees, while actual victims of segregation are transformed into a kind of invading horde who seized inner cities by force - and should be now removed.
October 2, 2025 at 12:07 AM
No joke: one of the most racist, idiotic, dangerous things I’ve ever read. A stunning inversion of reality, turning segregationists into terrified refugees, while actual victims of segregation are transformed into a kind of invading horde who seized inner cities by force - and should be now removed.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
Consumers do in fact say “fuck this I don’t want it” all the time. today might be a real good day to ask somebody at Xbox or Disney about that for example.
‘It’s too late to be scared’: readers on the controversial rise of AI ‘actors’
‘It’s too late to be scared’: readers on the controversial rise of AI ‘actors’
The birth of AI ‘actor’ Tilly Norwood has caused a backlash in Hollywood and has sparked conversation from Guardian readers
www.theguardian.com
October 1, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Consumers do in fact say “fuck this I don’t want it” all the time. today might be a real good day to ask somebody at Xbox or Disney about that for example.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
"Lutnick, in a notable break with the DOJ, claimed late pedophile Epstein was 'the greatest blackmailer ever' — and may have traded the feds video of his rich and well-connected associates getting massages from young women in exchange for a controversial 2008 plea deal."
Exclusive | Howard Lutnick tells ‘Pod Force One’ ex-neighbor Jeffrey Epstein showed off massage room, made creepy comment during townhouse tour
“This guy was the greatest blackmailer ever. … That’s how he had money,” Lutnick said on the latest episode of “Pod Force One,” out Wednesday.
nypost.com
October 1, 2025 at 8:58 PM
"Lutnick, in a notable break with the DOJ, claimed late pedophile Epstein was 'the greatest blackmailer ever' — and may have traded the feds video of his rich and well-connected associates getting massages from young women in exchange for a controversial 2008 plea deal."
Reposted by Saul Shaker
This short passage from a Politico afternoon newsletter captures a huge amount of the advantage gained by lying at scale and the why the DC press corps remains wired for the GOP.
October 1, 2025 at 9:58 PM
This short passage from a Politico afternoon newsletter captures a huge amount of the advantage gained by lying at scale and the why the DC press corps remains wired for the GOP.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
Let's be clear a what's happening here: the "censorship" and "bias" narrative is being extended to Wikipedia bc the far right knows that getting bullshit into LLMs is how to shape reality as "answer engines" replace search engines.
Wikipedia is core to that fight so the grievance blitz is here.
Wikipedia is core to that fight so the grievance blitz is here.
October 1, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Let's be clear a what's happening here: the "censorship" and "bias" narrative is being extended to Wikipedia bc the far right knows that getting bullshit into LLMs is how to shape reality as "answer engines" replace search engines.
Wikipedia is core to that fight so the grievance blitz is here.
Wikipedia is core to that fight so the grievance blitz is here.
Reposted by Saul Shaker
They are stealing taxpayer dollars from blue states because Democrats in Congress refuse to give Trump a blank check for his authoritarianism.
Corruption. Coercion. Blackmail. Lawlessness.
I won’t bend the knee to a wannabe dictator and his cronies. We will prevail.
Corruption. Coercion. Blackmail. Lawlessness.
I won’t bend the knee to a wannabe dictator and his cronies. We will prevail.
October 1, 2025 at 9:20 PM
They are stealing taxpayer dollars from blue states because Democrats in Congress refuse to give Trump a blank check for his authoritarianism.
Corruption. Coercion. Blackmail. Lawlessness.
I won’t bend the knee to a wannabe dictator and his cronies. We will prevail.
Corruption. Coercion. Blackmail. Lawlessness.
I won’t bend the knee to a wannabe dictator and his cronies. We will prevail.