John Gaffney
@jfpgaffney.bsky.social
Old guy. Seems that I am busy doing something close to nothing. Incredibly unfazed by immobile escalators.
Reposted by John Gaffney
I guess Woodside is off the table. sfstandard.com/2026/01/27/m...
January 28, 2026 at 9:16 PM
I guess Woodside is off the table. sfstandard.com/2026/01/27/m...
Reposted by John Gaffney
The reason Wurman and people like him act this way is because they believe that right-wing justices on the supreme court have so little integrity that they might just get what they want. And they aren't clearly wrong.
Ilan Wurman's anti-birthright citizenship Supreme Court amicus. I won't mince words. He bastardizes the common law. It is a methodologically bankrupt approach to the history of Anglo-American constitutionalism. It is little more than preening to gain someone's favor, but certainly not a scholar's.
January 28, 2026 at 8:49 PM
The reason Wurman and people like him act this way is because they believe that right-wing justices on the supreme court have so little integrity that they might just get what they want. And they aren't clearly wrong.
Reposted by John Gaffney
Latinas for Trump cofounder "worried for the first time that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents might stop her son, a young adult, because he looks Hispanic"
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
‘Latinas for Trump’ Co-Founder Warns Immigration Will Cost G.O.P. the Midterms
www.nytimes.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Latinas for Trump cofounder "worried for the first time that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents might stop her son, a young adult, because he looks Hispanic"
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...
Reposted by John Gaffney
Tl;dr2: Read @danielmcdowell.bsky.social for a more concerned view. Since he is one of the smartest IPE folks I know, especially on this topic, this "vibe shift" is absolutely worth taking seriously. The question is when & (per above) the vibe shift becomes a real shift, & does the work.
There's a dollar "vibe shift" happening now that is different from past bouts of dollar pessimism. You might be skeptical. That's understandable since the de-dollarization narrative has been around for years now, and little has changed about the dollar's global position. 1/
January 28, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Tl;dr2: Read @danielmcdowell.bsky.social for a more concerned view. Since he is one of the smartest IPE folks I know, especially on this topic, this "vibe shift" is absolutely worth taking seriously. The question is when & (per above) the vibe shift becomes a real shift, & does the work.
Reposted by John Gaffney
Just saw this, and it makes me wonder how you think you should still be in the United States Senate — let alone a Democrat — if you’re going to follow up the first two paragraphs with the third.
This is a dead child, and your response sounds like Al Gore talking about Reinventing Government.
This is a dead child, and your response sounds like Al Gore talking about Reinventing Government.
Anadith Danay Reyes Álvarez died in government custody.
She had sickle cell and congenital heart disease but couldn’t access timely and adequate medical care.
We need to reform immigration detention.
She had sickle cell and congenital heart disease but couldn’t access timely and adequate medical care.
We need to reform immigration detention.
January 28, 2026 at 6:44 AM
Just saw this, and it makes me wonder how you think you should still be in the United States Senate — let alone a Democrat — if you’re going to follow up the first two paragraphs with the third.
This is a dead child, and your response sounds like Al Gore talking about Reinventing Government.
This is a dead child, and your response sounds like Al Gore talking about Reinventing Government.
Reposted by John Gaffney
shared hate of a third party usually burns briefly, but it can still keep you warm
Unanimous vote in the House to repeal provision letting Senators sue the US over the Jan 6 probe and get millions of dollars
Genuinely endearing how much the two chambers hate each other. A true Legolas/Gimli meme for House members against their true enemy, the Senate
(will be part of the minibus)
Genuinely endearing how much the two chambers hate each other. A true Legolas/Gimli meme for House members against their true enemy, the Senate
(will be part of the minibus)
January 23, 2026 at 6:24 AM
shared hate of a third party usually burns briefly, but it can still keep you warm
Reposted by John Gaffney
Last year a whistleblower said DOGE had illegally accessed a Social Security database. SSA now acknowledges it's true—& that DOGE employees had secret agreement w/ unidentified political advocacy group to use SocSec data to help overturn election results. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
January 21, 2026 at 2:23 AM
Last year a whistleblower said DOGE had illegally accessed a Social Security database. SSA now acknowledges it's true—& that DOGE employees had secret agreement w/ unidentified political advocacy group to use SocSec data to help overturn election results. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Reposted by John Gaffney
The fact that Vanity Fair hired Nuzzi after she *admitted in her book* to helping RFK get a role in the Trump administration is one of the most damning indictments of elite media I've ever seen.
Not only is VF sweeping it under the rug but no one else in elite media seems perturbed by it either!
Not only is VF sweeping it under the rug but no one else in elite media seems perturbed by it either!
At the very least, these big media pubs have some explaining to do
January 17, 2026 at 7:11 PM
The fact that Vanity Fair hired Nuzzi after she *admitted in her book* to helping RFK get a role in the Trump administration is one of the most damning indictments of elite media I've ever seen.
Not only is VF sweeping it under the rug but no one else in elite media seems perturbed by it either!
Not only is VF sweeping it under the rug but no one else in elite media seems perturbed by it either!
Reposted by John Gaffney
Useful idiots learn their usefulness was temporary and conditional.
this is a rollicking great read
it's a story of a bunch of tenured idealists who believed that they were building a university dedicated to free speech and free inquiry, but then lost control of their project to... the right-wing megadonors who funded the university
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
it's a story of a bunch of tenured idealists who believed that they were building a university dedicated to free speech and free inquiry, but then lost control of their project to... the right-wing megadonors who funded the university
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
They Wanted a University Without Cancel Culture. Then Dissenters Were Ousted.
Inside the civil war at the anti-woke university backed by Bari Weiss.
www.politico.com
January 16, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Useful idiots learn their usefulness was temporary and conditional.
Reposted by John Gaffney
This study has been canceled (for now). Instead, as @pauloffit.bsky.social suggested, “take the $1.6m and vaccinate as many children as you can at birth”.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
January 15, 2026 at 11:12 PM
This study has been canceled (for now). Instead, as @pauloffit.bsky.social suggested, “take the $1.6m and vaccinate as many children as you can at birth”.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Reposted by John Gaffney
And if the Supreme Court hadn’t have gotten in the way things would have gone significantly better. journals.law.harvard.edu/crcl/wp-cont...
journals.law.harvard.edu
January 14, 2026 at 2:11 AM
And if the Supreme Court hadn’t have gotten in the way things would have gone significantly better. journals.law.harvard.edu/crcl/wp-cont...
Reposted by John Gaffney
Seizure ... by whom? If we're asserting that the money is safer in Qatar than the US, that suggests that it is being protected because Qatar has something the US lacks — presumably a lack of accountability to American courts and Congress. www.semafor.com/article/01/1...
January 14, 2026 at 7:25 PM
Seizure ... by whom? If we're asserting that the money is safer in Qatar than the US, that suggests that it is being protected because Qatar has something the US lacks — presumably a lack of accountability to American courts and Congress. www.semafor.com/article/01/1...
Reposted by John Gaffney
Today on Volts: Swedish tech entrepreneur Jonas Birgersson was once known in his country as "broadband Jesus" for his efforts in spreading decentralized, low-cost broadband access. Now, he wants to bring the same decentralized, peer-to-peer revolution to the electricity grid.
Making the electricity grid work like the internet
Jonas Birgersson joins me to explain how "packet-switching" for electrons can lead to energy abundance and grid resilience.
www.volts.wtf
January 14, 2026 at 6:25 PM
Today on Volts: Swedish tech entrepreneur Jonas Birgersson was once known in his country as "broadband Jesus" for his efforts in spreading decentralized, low-cost broadband access. Now, he wants to bring the same decentralized, peer-to-peer revolution to the electricity grid.
Reposted by John Gaffney
The NYT interviewed a bunch of people who are grossly misinformed about basic facts and decided it was someone else’s job to inform them
January 14, 2026 at 5:49 PM
The NYT interviewed a bunch of people who are grossly misinformed about basic facts and decided it was someone else’s job to inform them
Reposted by John Gaffney
In the last 4 days:
-- Elise Slotkin says she's being criminally investigated by DOJ
-- ICE illegally goes "door to door" in Minneapolis
-- FBI raids the home of a WP journalist
-- DHS illegally arrests, detains 100+ Somalians with legal refugee status
-- Elise Slotkin says she's being criminally investigated by DOJ
-- ICE illegally goes "door to door" in Minneapolis
-- FBI raids the home of a WP journalist
-- DHS illegally arrests, detains 100+ Somalians with legal refugee status
January 14, 2026 at 2:47 PM
In the last 4 days:
-- Elise Slotkin says she's being criminally investigated by DOJ
-- ICE illegally goes "door to door" in Minneapolis
-- FBI raids the home of a WP journalist
-- DHS illegally arrests, detains 100+ Somalians with legal refugee status
-- Elise Slotkin says she's being criminally investigated by DOJ
-- ICE illegally goes "door to door" in Minneapolis
-- FBI raids the home of a WP journalist
-- DHS illegally arrests, detains 100+ Somalians with legal refugee status
Reposted by John Gaffney
Again, it is almost impossible to overstate how deeply unserious our major media outlets have been in the last years in the face of lawless authoritarianism. Other, more serious choices, continue to remain readily available.
January 14, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Again, it is almost impossible to overstate how deeply unserious our major media outlets have been in the last years in the face of lawless authoritarianism. Other, more serious choices, continue to remain readily available.
Reposted by John Gaffney
Read this story and decide if this is the America you want to live in.
ICE saw a Latino man driving a car. Chased him down and rammed him. Just because he wasn’t white.
He was just a guy - an American citizen - driving to the auto shop.
ICE saw a Latino man driving a car. Chased him down and rammed him. Just because he wasn’t white.
He was just a guy - an American citizen - driving to the auto shop.
ICE rams car in south Minneapolis while profiling Latino driver
ICE agents rammed into a man’s car in south Minneapolis Monday afternoon while profiling the Latino driver.
sahanjournal.com
January 13, 2026 at 7:19 PM
Read this story and decide if this is the America you want to live in.
ICE saw a Latino man driving a car. Chased him down and rammed him. Just because he wasn’t white.
He was just a guy - an American citizen - driving to the auto shop.
ICE saw a Latino man driving a car. Chased him down and rammed him. Just because he wasn’t white.
He was just a guy - an American citizen - driving to the auto shop.
Reposted by John Gaffney
Yes, immigration agents not only took Arnoldo's phone, the 10th grader had to use Find My Phone to locate it — in a vending machine for used electronics, close to an ICE detention center.
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
January 14, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Yes, immigration agents not only took Arnoldo's phone, the 10th grader had to use Find My Phone to locate it — in a vending machine for used electronics, close to an ICE detention center.
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Reposted by John Gaffney
A teenage boy was walking home in Minneapolis yesterday when four masked men jumped out of a van & questioned him - with no parent or guardian present.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
January 13, 2026 at 5:56 PM
A teenage boy was walking home in Minneapolis yesterday when four masked men jumped out of a van & questioned him - with no parent or guardian present.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
He was bundled into the van & taken away.
Bystanders heard the boy say: “Can I just go home?”
I don’t know how America comes back from all this.
Reposted by John Gaffney
With the Trump admin whining about EU "censorship" and blocking Thierry Breton from entering the country, I thought it might be worth comparing the local reaction to Breton's attempt to abuse the law to censor vs. Brendan Carr's more successful abuse here in the US.
Only one faced consequences
Only one faced consequences
The EU Fired Their Censor. Ours Kept His Job
The Trump administration has spent months shrieking about EU "censorship" while actively censoring people themselves. While I've long been a critic of parts of the DSA, Americans—particularly MAGA officials—keep crying wolf over the DSA's non-censorial…
The Trump administration has spent months shrieking about EU "censorship" while actively censoring people themselves. While I've long been a critic of parts of the DSA, Americans—particularly MAGA officials—keep crying wolf over the DSA's non-censorial…
The EU Fired Their Censor. Ours Kept His Job
The Trump administration has spent months shrieking about EU "censorship" while actively censoring people themselves. While I've long been a critic of parts of the DSA, Americans—particularly MAGA officials—keep crying wolf over the DSA's non-censorial aspects, then turn around and abuse their own power to silence speech they dislike. They seem to get a thrill out of the hypocrisy.
www.techdirt.com
January 13, 2026 at 5:48 PM
With the Trump admin whining about EU "censorship" and blocking Thierry Breton from entering the country, I thought it might be worth comparing the local reaction to Breton's attempt to abuse the law to censor vs. Brendan Carr's more successful abuse here in the US.
Only one faced consequences
Only one faced consequences
Reposted by John Gaffney
JUST IN: Judge Mehta rules that Trump/Russ Vought's termination of environmental grants during the shutdown — targeted solely at states that voted for Kamala Harris — violated the 5th Amendment's Equal Protection clause and orders them restored.
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
January 12, 2026 at 6:04 PM
JUST IN: Judge Mehta rules that Trump/Russ Vought's termination of environmental grants during the shutdown — targeted solely at states that voted for Kamala Harris — violated the 5th Amendment's Equal Protection clause and orders them restored.
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...
Reposted by John Gaffney
The Fed and markets have a very serious problem
ft.com/content/21b5...
ft.com/content/21b5...
January 12, 2026 at 7:22 AM
The Fed and markets have a very serious problem
ft.com/content/21b5...
ft.com/content/21b5...
Reposted by John Gaffney
What happens if the legislature refuses to confirm the appointment of a new central bank chair? Asking for the world‘s largest economy.
www.reuters.com/business/fin...
www.reuters.com/business/fin...
January 12, 2026 at 7:05 AM
What happens if the legislature refuses to confirm the appointment of a new central bank chair? Asking for the world‘s largest economy.
www.reuters.com/business/fin...
www.reuters.com/business/fin...
Reposted by John Gaffney
Congratulations to all the bankers, hedge-fund managers, private-equity honchos, tech titans, corporate executives and op-ed writers for backing the man who will do more to undermine the system that made them insanely wealthy than any other presidential candidate in their lifetimes.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US central bank had been served grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department threatening a criminal indictment, a dramatic escalation of the Trump administration’s attacks on the Fed.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Fed Served With DOJ Subpoenas, Powell Vows to Stand Firm
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US central bank had been served grand jury subpoenas from the Justice Department threatening a criminal indictment, a dramatic escalation of the Trump admi...
www.bloomberg.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:08 AM
Congratulations to all the bankers, hedge-fund managers, private-equity honchos, tech titans, corporate executives and op-ed writers for backing the man who will do more to undermine the system that made them insanely wealthy than any other presidential candidate in their lifetimes.