Michael Hobbes
@michaelhobbes.bsky.social
Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
This is absolutely brutal. Just SIXTY journalists make up Oregon's largest newspaper chain.
In testimony on a journalism funding bill, a Carpenter Media representative reveals that the company that owns the largest share of newspapers in Oregon employs 60 journalists. Before Carpenter bought them, the Pamplin chain employed 110 people and EO 185, though not all were journalists.
February 13, 2026 at 1:34 AM
This is absolutely brutal. Just SIXTY journalists make up Oregon's largest newspaper chain.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Convinced that the prestige reactionary centrists are cranking that "The Illiberal Left!" dial up to 11 in the hopes that their readership will be rage baited into forgetting that their entire foundational claim - that leftist excesses are the "real" fascist threat - has been thoroughly discredited
The Atlantic is Atlanticking extremely hard this morning
February 13, 2026 at 1:20 AM
Convinced that the prestige reactionary centrists are cranking that "The Illiberal Left!" dial up to 11 in the hopes that their readership will be rage baited into forgetting that their entire foundational claim - that leftist excesses are the "real" fascist threat - has been thoroughly discredited
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
How much do you have to hate yourself to even read this article?
February 13, 2026 at 1:07 AM
How much do you have to hate yourself to even read this article?
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
God the gall of @jaketapper.bsky.social lecturing that Minneapolis small business owner about the meaning of the word "concentration camp" while people are being crammed into poorly resourced buildings by the thousands and shuttled off never to be heard from again
February 12, 2026 at 9:32 PM
God the gall of @jaketapper.bsky.social lecturing that Minneapolis small business owner about the meaning of the word "concentration camp" while people are being crammed into poorly resourced buildings by the thousands and shuttled off never to be heard from again
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Not that I considered CNBC a paragon of journalistic virtue or anything, but selling grifty seminars at the end of slop self-help articles is pretty bleak
February 13, 2026 at 12:54 AM
Not that I considered CNBC a paragon of journalistic virtue or anything, but selling grifty seminars at the end of slop self-help articles is pretty bleak
Incredible stuff, why hasn’t anyone tried this before
February 13, 2026 at 12:51 AM
Incredible stuff, why hasn’t anyone tried this before
‘Psychology expert’
February 13, 2026 at 12:48 AM
‘Psychology expert’
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
One thing to bear in mind as critical context is that these are the biggest fucking cowards who ever lived. He "survived" being spoken to sternly by a woman.
in a text string after the shooting, a fellow agent told Exum he's a "legend"
"Beers on me"
"Beers on me"
February 13, 2026 at 12:13 AM
One thing to bear in mind as critical context is that these are the biggest fucking cowards who ever lived. He "survived" being spoken to sternly by a woman.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
The intention of policies like this proposal is to introduce so much friction, so much pain, so much discomfort and humiliation, that a child desists rather than continue to assert their true identity.
It is nothing less than conversion therapy being written into school policy.
It is nothing less than conversion therapy being written into school policy.
Anyone who had genuine concerns about youth gender medicine would staunchly and wholeheartedly support social transition. Let kids explore their identities to see what works for them!
The fact that this movement opposes even pronouns and haircuts shows that it's just bigotry all the way down.
The fact that this movement opposes even pronouns and haircuts shows that it's just bigotry all the way down.
This draft guidance reproduces Cass insisting that clinicians must be involved in decisions about *social transition* which actually should be none of their damn business
They take the line that this "non-directive" intervention should force things to be "keeping options open and flexible"...
They take the line that this "non-directive" intervention should force things to be "keeping options open and flexible"...
February 12, 2026 at 5:29 PM
The intention of policies like this proposal is to introduce so much friction, so much pain, so much discomfort and humiliation, that a child desists rather than continue to assert their true identity.
It is nothing less than conversion therapy being written into school policy.
It is nothing less than conversion therapy being written into school policy.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
The “Where are the protests?” lament after Trump’s inauguration was always based on a (willful) misperception – a myth propagated by a punditry vying for relevance, hellbent on presenting grandiose reckonings and sweeping narratives rather than careful empirical assessments.
Overall, we have tallied 4x more protests through Jan 31, 2026 than we had through Jan 31, 2018
February 12, 2026 at 9:40 PM
The “Where are the protests?” lament after Trump’s inauguration was always based on a (willful) misperception – a myth propagated by a punditry vying for relevance, hellbent on presenting grandiose reckonings and sweeping narratives rather than careful empirical assessments.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
This is the key point - it's not about Moderna's flu vaccine, it's about sending a signal to the rest of the industry that vaccine development isn't viable in the US. It's all part of the larger anti-vaccine agenda.
FDA's decision not to accept Moderna's flu vaccine filing has sent shock waves through pharma. "When there’s uncertainty about the path to approval & the reliability of the process, that really has pretty serious consequences,” one player told @jasonmast.bsky.social. www.statnews.com/2026/02/12/f...
FDA’s rejection of Moderna threatens to stifle broader vaccine industry
Experts say the FDA "moved the goalposts" on Moderna, creating "a destructive precedent that will undermine the future of vaccine development" in the U.S.
www.statnews.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:55 PM
This is the key point - it's not about Moderna's flu vaccine, it's about sending a signal to the rest of the industry that vaccine development isn't viable in the US. It's all part of the larger anti-vaccine agenda.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Just going to note again, because somehow we've all completely retconned this and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, that pound-for-pound Biden had one of the most draconian border security regimes of any U.S. president ever, second only to Trump, *many of whose policies he inherited and kept*
Not going to read them all because jesus fucking christ but this is nasty work from Friedersdorf
February 12, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Just going to note again, because somehow we've all completely retconned this and I feel like I'm taking crazy pills, that pound-for-pound Biden had one of the most draconian border security regimes of any U.S. president ever, second only to Trump, *many of whose policies he inherited and kept*
Anyone who had genuine concerns about youth gender medicine would staunchly and wholeheartedly support social transition. Let kids explore their identities to see what works for them!
The fact that this movement opposes even pronouns and haircuts shows that it's just bigotry all the way down.
The fact that this movement opposes even pronouns and haircuts shows that it's just bigotry all the way down.
This draft guidance reproduces Cass insisting that clinicians must be involved in decisions about *social transition* which actually should be none of their damn business
They take the line that this "non-directive" intervention should force things to be "keeping options open and flexible"...
They take the line that this "non-directive" intervention should force things to be "keeping options open and flexible"...
February 12, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Anyone who had genuine concerns about youth gender medicine would staunchly and wholeheartedly support social transition. Let kids explore their identities to see what works for them!
The fact that this movement opposes even pronouns and haircuts shows that it's just bigotry all the way down.
The fact that this movement opposes even pronouns and haircuts shows that it's just bigotry all the way down.
I love how every time a new actor signs on to their moral panic they do a victory lap as if it means the moral panic is justified
February 12, 2026 at 4:25 PM
I love how every time a new actor signs on to their moral panic they do a victory lap as if it means the moral panic is justified
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
Polymarket should be burned to the ground for even offering shit like this
February 12, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Polymarket should be burned to the ground for even offering shit like this
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
the modern right is pathologically obsessed with gender in a way that has absolutely no analogue on our side
Trans people aren't obsessed with trans people, TERFs are obsessed with trans people.
February 12, 2026 at 4:06 PM
the modern right is pathologically obsessed with gender in a way that has absolutely no analogue on our side
Not going to read them all because jesus fucking christ but this is nasty work from Friedersdorf
February 12, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Not going to read them all because jesus fucking christ but this is nasty work from Friedersdorf
The Atlantic is Atlanticking extremely hard this morning
February 12, 2026 at 4:21 PM
The Atlantic is Atlanticking extremely hard this morning
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
We’re still getting “look at these wacky wokes” journalism from our most esteemed and revered press.
This week, we have 2 critiques of the Mellon Foundation's politics, one from the most effective journalist of the anti-DEI hysteria
Pretty easy to see where this goes next--establish the narrative, then write the legislation:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
Pretty easy to see where this goes next--establish the narrative, then write the legislation:
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...
The Multibillion-Dollar Foundation That Controls the Humanities
Is the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation the last best hope for American arts and letters—or is it killing them?
www.theatlantic.com
February 12, 2026 at 4:09 PM
We’re still getting “look at these wacky wokes” journalism from our most esteemed and revered press.
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
I am once again begging the far right to take this shit to Literotica and leave the rest of us alone
Fuentes then fantasizes about “breeding gulags”: “So just like Hitler imprisoned Gypsies, Jews, communists, you know, all of his political rivals, we have to do the same thing with women… They go to the breeding gulags. The good ones will be liberated. The bad ones will toil in the mines forever.”
February 12, 2026 at 4:04 PM
I am once again begging the far right to take this shit to Literotica and leave the rest of us alone
I don't talk to anyone this much
www.economist.com/interactive/...
www.economist.com/interactive/...
February 12, 2026 at 3:58 PM
I don't talk to anyone this much
www.economist.com/interactive/...
www.economist.com/interactive/...
"The highest-earning 10% of households now account for nearly half of all U.S. consumer spending. About 30 years ago, those earners were just over one-third of U.S. consumer spending."
US firms confront widening income gulf as wealthy spend, budget shoppers struggle
America's consumer economy is pulling in opposite directions, a gulf increasingly apparent in C-suite commentary, with premium brands profiting from well-off customers while value-focused firms battle...
www.reuters.com
February 12, 2026 at 3:49 PM
"The highest-earning 10% of households now account for nearly half of all U.S. consumer spending. About 30 years ago, those earners were just over one-third of U.S. consumer spending."
Reposted by Michael Hobbes
TIL what the Clever Hans effect is and goddamn if that doesn't just perfectly describe the AI hype. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_...
February 12, 2026 at 11:43 AM
TIL what the Clever Hans effect is and goddamn if that doesn't just perfectly describe the AI hype. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_...