Anthony Alaniz
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hopefulnihilist.bsky.social
Anthony Alaniz
@hopefulnihilist.bsky.social
Writer. Photographer. Horror lit and film fan.

Writing about tech, civil rights, secularism, and liberty at https://hopefulnihilist.substack.com

"Religion can never reform mankind because religion is slavery." — Robert G. Ingersoll, 1899
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
Historian here it’s not just the Supreme Court, it’s time for a Third Reconstruction of American democracy now that we have seen how easy it is for bad actors to play the system for nefarious goals.
December 19, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
There’s room for somebody on the left to wrap themselves in the flag a little & make a point that the right’s rejection of America as a creedal nation—and their ad hoc, ahistorical effort to make it an ethnonationalist project instead—is distinctly *unamerican,* a rejection of the national project.
If immigrating from England makes you a "heritage American" then I guess I'm one too.
December 20, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
A compelling piece of art at the International African American Museum by Hank Willis Thomas
December 19, 2025 at 8:59 PM
New social media just dropped.

“Babe, have you seen what people are saying in the Dropbox comments?”
absolutely wild move by @oversightdemocrats.house.gov to allow comments on the dropbox folder with the epstein photos
December 18, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
The name "Popular Science" doesn't mean we shift our coverage depending on public opinion. It means we cover relevant subjects that are rigorously researched, reliable, and grounded in reality.

And trans lives are grounded in reality.

We see y'all. No matter what.

www.popsci.com/science/tran...
First-of-a-kind study shows encouraging data for trans kids who socially transition
Ninety-four percent of participants in a new study stood firm in their trans identity after five years, and "detransitioning" is rare.
www.popsci.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
They booked a bunch of 14 year old models to come to a Mar A Lago party, told them to dress sexy and tried to ply them with alcohol.
These are the people who are willing to go on the record.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
December 18, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
Again, anti-wokeness is a backlash to integration of white collar work. Only white men are allowed to have prestigious jobs otherwise it's unfair bsky.app/profile/mike...
Wow, the horror. Completely shut out of an industry that … promoted him to senior reporter by 40
December 16, 2025 at 4:49 PM
They’re not pissed off. They’re upset their shit parents and got held responsible for it.

These are fundamental failures of parenting—and you’re highlighting it.

Why give losers the time of day?
Welcome to the pissed-off parent pushback: After years of therapists and others encouraging adult children to cut ties with families they deem harmful or “toxic,” estranged parents are speaking out on.wsj.com/4s49U52
These Moms Are Done Being ‘Doormats’ for Their Estranged Children
Parents publicly blast their adult offspring for cutting them off, drawing tens of thousands of online followers.
on.wsj.com
December 16, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
Conservative judges in 2025: "the founders did not understand the First Amendment to extend to aliens."

James Madison, the author of the First Amendment, in 1800: "wtf are you talking about."
December 16, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
no quote captures Trump voters more than this from 2019:

www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
December 15, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
Steve isn’t here anymore, but he always posted this picture on Hanukkah so I thought we could carry on his tradition and remember him.
Happy Hanukkah to our friends who celebrate. Rachel Posner, a rabbi’s wife in Kiel, Germany, took this photograph in 1931 -- a potent reminder that fascism must be fought in every generation, even if it's wrapped in an American flag and a red hat.
December 14, 2025 at 11:45 PM
This times 100. I think one of the issues in raising children in America today is that we do not treat them as people, and their quasi legal status being dependent upon the situation creates a multitude of issues where children can easily be taken advantage of and have no power to defend themselves.
Today I am once again making loads of new Bluesky friends by insisting on one of my most sincerely held beliefs that makes way too many people fucking furious: that teenagers are autonomous beings who are not their parents' property and who possess independent volition and interiority
December 14, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
this is a general warrant and it's specifically the kind of warrant the framers passed the 4th amendment to outlaw
WOW. @haleaziz.bsky.social with a new scoop: ICE now gets a running list of every person who is going to be taking a domestic flight inside the United States from the TSA and runs it through their database looking for targets. This explains the Babson College student's arrest.
Immigration Agents Are Using Air Passenger Data for Deportation Effort
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
I always love seeing what journalism students pull off with the right training and support. This team tracked Russian vessels in Europe and connected them to drone swarms over military bases. www.digitaldigging.org/p/they-drone...
They Droned Back
Young journalists expose Russian-linked vessels circling off the Dutch and German coast
www.digitaldigging.org
December 12, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
As was clear during Trump 1, roughly 37% of Americans are committed to white supremacy &/or Christian nationalism, no matter the cost. Very much reminds me of the Reconstruction South, which doubled down on the plantation regime that had destroyed the country in the aftermath of emancipation.
December 9, 2025 at 4:01 PM
December 10, 2025 at 2:34 AM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
Farmers (rather corporations) in the U.S. are acting like large landholders everywhere across history. They want cheap, obedient labor and high prices for their crops. They are afraid the state will in/directly expropriate them. They are, therefore, allied with whichever leader meets these demands.
December 9, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
December 8, 2025 at 6:11 PM
December 8, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
December 7, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
I'm not sure it's in the self interest of America's tech bro billionaires to suggest that we bring back public executions to punish the most destructive people in our society.
A Palantir billionaire just called for public hangings.

“It's time to bring back masculine leadership to protect our most vulnerable,” writes Joe Lonsdale.

This is where Silicon Valley authoritarianism is heading:

www.thenerdreich.com/joe-lonsdale...
Joe Lonsdale Calls For Public Hangings
Silicon Valley radicalization escalates
www.thenerdreich.com
December 6, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
That usually applies to private conversations, and if one’s conduct happens in public view, it’s fair to record.

General Motors has argued in court that it has the right to collect your data because you’re driving in public with no expectation of privacy.

Weeee…

www.motor1.com/news/757240/...
GM Argues It Can Sell Your Data Because You Drive on Public Roads
In a filing to dismiss a lawsuit, General Motors argued that it can sell your driving data because you drive on public roads. Here are the details.
www.motor1.com
December 5, 2025 at 10:25 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
The so called, “National Security Strategy” is nothing short of an abomination and a betrayal of everything our country stands for.
December 6, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by Anthony Alaniz
Historian of Reconstruction here, Eric Foner and I agree with this message. We did a joint presentation on this very topic in Princeton yesterday!
December 6, 2025 at 3:25 PM