nomandates
@nomandates.bsky.social
Democratic Texan. Self-appointed arbiter of who does not have a mandate.
"If we do not wake up to this threat, then we, as a country, will die in our sleep."-Beto O'Rourke (8/15/2019)
Slava Ukraini!
"If we do not wake up to this threat, then we, as a country, will die in our sleep."-Beto O'Rourke (8/15/2019)
Slava Ukraini!
Pinned
nomandates
@nomandates.bsky.social
· Jul 5
Must read: David Pepper's 🧵 on the racist history of referring to certain humans, including children, as "alligator bait."
Please also read his full post at substack: open.substack.com/pub/davidpep...
bsky.app/profile/davi...
Please also read his full post at substack: open.substack.com/pub/davidpep...
bsky.app/profile/davi...
Reposted by nomandates
Incredibly, there's been no real discussion of the positions on immigration that Abigail Spanberger took en route to her blowout victory. So I took a look. What I found challenges a lot of pundit narratives. It's all in this piece and thread:
This has gotten lost: Abigail Spanberger won big after vowing to RESCIND Glenn Youngkin's executive order directing local cooperation with ICE and voting AGAINST the anti-immigrant Laken Riley Act. Yet she gained bigly with working class.
New piece laying this out:
newrepublic.com/article/2030...
New piece laying this out:
newrepublic.com/article/2030...
November 13, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Incredibly, there's been no real discussion of the positions on immigration that Abigail Spanberger took en route to her blowout victory. So I took a look. What I found challenges a lot of pundit narratives. It's all in this piece and thread:
Reposted by nomandates
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” bandleader Cleto Escobedo has died, the late-night host announces. He was 59.
Jimmy Kimmel announces death of bandleader and close friend Cleto Escobedo III
Kimmel met Escobedo in 1977, when the late-night host's family moved out of New York to Las Vegas. The two had been "inseparable" ever since, Kimmel wrote.
nbcnews.to
November 12, 2025 at 10:00 AM
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” bandleader Cleto Escobedo has died, the late-night host announces. He was 59.
Reposted by nomandates
Google is suing 25 people it alleges are behind a “relentless” scam text operation that uses a phishing-as-a-service platform called Lighthouse. www.wired.com/story/lighth...
This Is the Platform Google Claims Is Behind a 'Staggering’ Scam Text Operation
Google is suing 25 people it alleges are behind a “relentless” scam text operation that uses a phishing-as-a-service platform called Lighthouse.
www.wired.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Google is suing 25 people it alleges are behind a “relentless” scam text operation that uses a phishing-as-a-service platform called Lighthouse. www.wired.com/story/lighth...
Reposted by nomandates
A little bit of history worth knowing. If it’s history, they are trying to wipe it out, to make room for the absurd tales of eternal innocence that bring fascism and bloodshed closer.
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 12, 2025 at 3:12 AM
A little bit of history worth knowing. If it’s history, they are trying to wipe it out, to make room for the absurd tales of eternal innocence that bring fascism and bloodshed closer.
Reposted by nomandates
it appears SCOTUS will save trump from himself...and the US economy...by striking down his petty tariffs
but nothing can save us from the ai bubble bound to pop...the investor class is driving us off the cliff...again
if only we had a functioning congress
but nothing can save us from the ai bubble bound to pop...the investor class is driving us off the cliff...again
if only we had a functioning congress
November 6, 2025 at 3:23 AM
it appears SCOTUS will save trump from himself...and the US economy...by striking down his petty tariffs
but nothing can save us from the ai bubble bound to pop...the investor class is driving us off the cliff...again
if only we had a functioning congress
but nothing can save us from the ai bubble bound to pop...the investor class is driving us off the cliff...again
if only we had a functioning congress
Reposted by nomandates
This is Oakley. He has an injury that requires physical therapy and at-home massages. Luckily, his cat sibling River has been training his whole life for this. 14/10 for both
November 10, 2025 at 11:58 PM
This is Oakley. He has an injury that requires physical therapy and at-home massages. Luckily, his cat sibling River has been training his whole life for this. 14/10 for both
Reposted by nomandates
Bleak, important piece by a federal judge about how Trump is destroying the rule of law
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why I Am Resigning
A federal judge explains his reasoning for leaving the bench.
www.theatlantic.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Bleak, important piece by a federal judge about how Trump is destroying the rule of law
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by nomandates
The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
November 10, 2025 at 1:49 AM
The average SNAP benefit per month is $177 a person.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
The average ACA benefit per month is up to $550 a person.
People want us to hold the line for a reason. This is not a matter of appealing to a base. It’s about people’s lives.
And working people want leaders whose word means something to them.
Reposted by nomandates
This is not a deal — it's an empty promise.
Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families.
Time for Democrats to stand tall for affordable healthcare. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families.
Time for Democrats to stand tall for affordable healthcare. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Senate reaches deal on ending the shutdown
Democrats are coalescing around a bipartisan agreement to fund the government.
www.politico.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:50 AM
This is not a deal — it's an empty promise.
Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families.
Time for Democrats to stand tall for affordable healthcare. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families.
Time for Democrats to stand tall for affordable healthcare. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Reposted by nomandates
"Donald Trump makes up fantasy thing, news media org reports it as fact bc they are just glorified stenographers"
President Trump said Sunday that each American will receive at least $2,000 from tariff revenue collected by the administration. https://www.nbc4i.com/news/u-s-world/trump-says-americans-will-receive-2k-each-from-tariff-push/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=bluesky_
November 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
"Donald Trump makes up fantasy thing, news media org reports it as fact bc they are just glorified stenographers"
Reposted by nomandates
The Chicago Sun-Times offers a detailed deconstruction of the ICE Joseph Goebbels-style political propaganda, paid for and broadcast with taxpayer funds all to vilify the people of Illinois. Nearly 2 months into Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign, social media feeds from his
Watch how government ‘propaganda’ techniques portray Chicago as a city at war with the feds
The government’s social media storytelling doesn’t always match what’s happening in communities across the nation’s third-largest city and its suburbs. Nick Cull, a professor at USC's communications a...
chicago.suntimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:09 PM
The Chicago Sun-Times offers a detailed deconstruction of the ICE Joseph Goebbels-style political propaganda, paid for and broadcast with taxpayer funds all to vilify the people of Illinois. Nearly 2 months into Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign, social media feeds from his
Reposted by nomandates
Read this excellent report about the Trump Hollywood- style propaganda team and how they brainwash the public.
The Chicago Sun-Times offers a detailed deconstruction of the ICE Joseph Goebbels-style political propaganda, paid for and broadcast with taxpayer funds all to vilify the people of Illinois. Nearly 2 months into Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign, social media feeds from his
Watch how government ‘propaganda’ techniques portray Chicago as a city at war with the feds
The government’s social media storytelling doesn’t always match what’s happening in communities across the nation’s third-largest city and its suburbs. Nick Cull, a professor at USC's communications a...
chicago.suntimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:42 PM
Read this excellent report about the Trump Hollywood- style propaganda team and how they brainwash the public.
Reposted by nomandates
Reagan-appointed federal judge: "justice is supposed to be administered...equally for everyone, without fear or favor. This is the opposite of what is happening now....Day after day, I observed in silence as President Trump, his aides, & his allies dismantled so much of what I dedicated my life to."
“What Nixon did episodically and covertly, knowing it was illegal or improper, Trump now does routinely and overtly.” — recently retired federal judge
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why I Am Leaving the Federal Bench
A judge explains his reasons for resigning.
www.theatlantic.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Reagan-appointed federal judge: "justice is supposed to be administered...equally for everyone, without fear or favor. This is the opposite of what is happening now....Day after day, I observed in silence as President Trump, his aides, & his allies dismantled so much of what I dedicated my life to."
Reposted by nomandates
“It seemed as though protesters were being treated cruelly, all for a photo op … Fox News cameras were seemingly allowed unimpeded access to the street to film what was happening to us … It was like the set of a movie—except it was real life, and our constitutional rights were violated.”
I’m One of the Clergy ICE Assaulted. They Treat Immigrants Worse
I learned the hard way that my clerical collar doesn’t offer much protection from ICE. But immigrants have no protection at all.
sojo.net
November 9, 2025 at 4:01 PM
“It seemed as though protesters were being treated cruelly, all for a photo op … Fox News cameras were seemingly allowed unimpeded access to the street to film what was happening to us … It was like the set of a movie—except it was real life, and our constitutional rights were violated.”
Reposted by nomandates
A leading federal judge quits in protest of Trump's corruption-- & to fight it
Wow
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Wow
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why I Am Leaving the Federal Bench
A judge explains his reasons for resigning.
www.theatlantic.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:51 PM
A leading federal judge quits in protest of Trump's corruption-- & to fight it
Wow
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Wow
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by nomandates
People need to understand that Chicago is a preview, not a culmination.
I have been actively watching contracts and surge funding over the last few days and what I would say to my friends in Baltimore is “be absolutely ready, right now.”
ICE poised to ramp up raids in Baltimore by Thanksgiving
The Trump administration has rush-ordered infrastructure to conduct raids, abduct residents, and detain people for months.
open.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:51 PM
People need to understand that Chicago is a preview, not a culmination.
Reposted by nomandates
Reposted by nomandates
This piece is as good as people say it is. Read it to appreciate that writing isn't just about content, but style. AI can't do this.
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:10 AM
This piece is as good as people say it is. Read it to appreciate that writing isn't just about content, but style. AI can't do this.
Reposted by nomandates
I'm struck by how many Chicagoans have seemingly felt compelled to write and share reflections on "this is what it feels like in Chicago right now". We know we're going through something awful together and we want the world to understand it.
Threading several of these pieces below.
Threading several of these pieces below.
November 9, 2025 at 1:15 AM
I'm struck by how many Chicagoans have seemingly felt compelled to write and share reflections on "this is what it feels like in Chicago right now". We know we're going through something awful together and we want the world to understand it.
Threading several of these pieces below.
Threading several of these pieces below.
Reposted by nomandates
Three questions:
1. Is who politicians follow online newsworthy?
2. Is the vice-president more important than a primary candidate to be junior Senator from Texas?
3. If the answer is yes to the first two, why isn’t Axios doing a fuck ton of stories about who JD Vance is following?
1. Is who politicians follow online newsworthy?
2. Is the vice-president more important than a primary candidate to be junior Senator from Texas?
3. If the answer is yes to the first two, why isn’t Axios doing a fuck ton of stories about who JD Vance is following?
James Talarico, a Texas Democrat running for U.S. Senate who has put his faith at the forefront of his campaign, follows several adult film performers, escorts and OnlyFans models on Instagram, according to an Axios review.
Faith-forward Texas Senate candidate follows porn actors, escorts online
James Talarico has become a sensation in Texas politics by talking about how his Christianity is the basis for his progressive politics.
www.axios.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Three questions:
1. Is who politicians follow online newsworthy?
2. Is the vice-president more important than a primary candidate to be junior Senator from Texas?
3. If the answer is yes to the first two, why isn’t Axios doing a fuck ton of stories about who JD Vance is following?
1. Is who politicians follow online newsworthy?
2. Is the vice-president more important than a primary candidate to be junior Senator from Texas?
3. If the answer is yes to the first two, why isn’t Axios doing a fuck ton of stories about who JD Vance is following?
Reposted by nomandates
Our reporters interviewed 40 of the men the Trump administration sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador: They described being beaten, sexually assaulted by guards and driven to the brink of suicide. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
‘You Are All Terrorists’: Four Months in a Salvadoran Prison
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Our reporters interviewed 40 of the men the Trump administration sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador: They described being beaten, sexually assaulted by guards and driven to the brink of suicide. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
Reposted by nomandates
Senate update: Republicans are now trying to sneak a backdoor national abortion ban into their government funding bill. Republicans will stop at nothing to control women's health care decisions.
November 8, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Senate update: Republicans are now trying to sneak a backdoor national abortion ban into their government funding bill. Republicans will stop at nothing to control women's health care decisions.
Reposted by nomandates
Seriously? He has no idea how insurance works or how to govern. I’ll never get over 77 million people thinking a man this incompetent belongs anywhere near the Oval Office.
November 8, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Seriously? He has no idea how insurance works or how to govern. I’ll never get over 77 million people thinking a man this incompetent belongs anywhere near the Oval Office.
Reposted by nomandates
oh so these people do pay attention to who politicians follow on social media, they just don’t care that the vice president follows a bunch of actual neo-nazis
Axios tried to bust James Talarico for following adult content creators on Instagram and I'm genuinely impressed by his campaign's response
November 8, 2025 at 4:39 PM
oh so these people do pay attention to who politicians follow on social media, they just don’t care that the vice president follows a bunch of actual neo-nazis