Simon Birenbaum
@simonbirenbaum.bsky.social
One way out....climb.
There are probably 50 people in America concerned about hitting some sort of "ceiling" and 45 of them are irredeemably fascist. It's insane to devote half of your messaging to trying to placate them. (This complaint is one of many here, of course.)
No value, no villain, no vision. Sounds like the tagline for the earnings call of a collapsing appliance retailer
November 30, 2025 at 8:06 PM
There are probably 50 people in America concerned about hitting some sort of "ceiling" and 45 of them are irredeemably fascist. It's insane to devote half of your messaging to trying to placate them. (This complaint is one of many here, of course.)
@profanity.accountant I doubt the count will be high, I don't post much.
November 29, 2025 at 1:22 PM
@profanity.accountant I doubt the count will be high, I don't post much.
"It's a dead parrot!"
November 28, 2025 at 2:57 PM
"It's a dead parrot!"
"And now that it's an issue that everyone knows and cares about, we will cave completely in full view of the public!"
Durbin said critics of his vote “need to understand how the Senate works”
November 10, 2025 at 1:19 PM
"And now that it's an issue that everyone knows and cares about, we will cave completely in full view of the public!"
Only Senate Democrats see an issue the public is mad at Republicans about and think, "The people might be mad at us like that one day, let's take this off the table, lest the people become fooled later on!"
MSNBC reported Schumer's office felt that the longer that shutdown went on, the more likely it was that people would start to blame the Dems.
My kingdom for Democrats that don't govern out of fear. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The American people are far braver than their reps.
My kingdom for Democrats that don't govern out of fear. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The American people are far braver than their reps.
November 10, 2025 at 1:18 PM
Only Senate Democrats see an issue the public is mad at Republicans about and think, "The people might be mad at us like that one day, let's take this off the table, lest the people become fooled later on!"
Who he voted for doesn't actually matter that much. What matters is that Schumer (and other party leaders) THINK that showing support for Mamdani is a liability. This is wrong on both a strategic and tactical level.
Reporter: Today is election day in New York City. Did you vote for Mamdani or Cuomo?
Schumer: Look, I voted. And I look forward to working with the next mayor to help New York City.
Schumer: Look, I voted. And I look forward to working with the next mayor to help New York City.
November 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Who he voted for doesn't actually matter that much. What matters is that Schumer (and other party leaders) THINK that showing support for Mamdani is a liability. This is wrong on both a strategic and tactical level.
"This is Simon"
October 26, 2025 at 11:37 PM
"This is Simon"
This is extremely impeachable and a competent Dem party would say so every day. (And a Rep party that cared about the ideals of America would say so, too, they're not off the hook.)
Trump and Bessent clarify that they will only help out Argentina as long as Milei is in power. Trump adds that the same thing goes with NYC, where the White House will hold up funds if Mamdani wins.
October 14, 2025 at 9:37 PM
This is extremely impeachable and a competent Dem party would say so every day. (And a Rep party that cared about the ideals of America would say so, too, they're not off the hook.)
It just really sucks that the most common use case for AI right now seems to be "make a woman appear to do something without needing her consent."
Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies
Want to See Marilyn Monroe in Game of Thrones? AI Could Make It Soon
Despite early, and familiar, copyright growing pains, Sora may be the prelude to AI-generated on-demand TV and movies
www.scientificamerican.com
October 14, 2025 at 9:33 PM
It just really sucks that the most common use case for AI right now seems to be "make a woman appear to do something without needing her consent."
I have a different take, which is that these groups are being attacked by people who want to keep the current (or restore past) hierarchies. The possibility of self-improvement for marginalized groups brings the possibility of people who "should" be on the bottom inverting existing hierarchies.
You can tell a lot about a society by its folk devils so it's interesting that ours seem to be migrants, trans folks and students: very different groups but the common denominator seems to be... self-improvement? You can kinda see why they would elicit resentment in an aging, sclerotic society...
October 1, 2025 at 11:35 AM
I have a different take, which is that these groups are being attacked by people who want to keep the current (or restore past) hierarchies. The possibility of self-improvement for marginalized groups brings the possibility of people who "should" be on the bottom inverting existing hierarchies.
Reposted by Simon Birenbaum
Do you work for City Schools? Are you passionate about empowering youth and preparing them for their futures? Our students need your guidance and support! We are seeking dedicated district employees to volunteer as mentors in our Future Ready! Mentoring program. http://baltcityschools.org/42ivRSz
September 29, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Do you work for City Schools? Are you passionate about empowering youth and preparing them for their futures? Our students need your guidance and support! We are seeking dedicated district employees to volunteer as mentors in our Future Ready! Mentoring program. http://baltcityschools.org/42ivRSz
Reposted by Simon Birenbaum
My general belief is that Dems need to spend more time thinking about what they believe and less about what they think some imaginary swing voters want them to believe.
Political strategy will stem from an authentic set of beliefs.
Political strategy will stem from an authentic set of beliefs.
This was revealing. Worth reading. The basic demand is that Coates spend less time thinking/writing his true feelings and more time playing political strategist. Klein asks him over and over him to do Dem strategy; he says no, over and over. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/o...
Opinion | Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines
www.nytimes.com
September 28, 2025 at 5:06 PM
My general belief is that Dems need to spend more time thinking about what they believe and less about what they think some imaginary swing voters want them to believe.
Political strategy will stem from an authentic set of beliefs.
Political strategy will stem from an authentic set of beliefs.
Importantly, a blood libel is false, and the things people are saying about ICE are true.
JD Vance is now using the term "blood libel" to describe criticism of ICE, saying, "The Democrats and the media — because they so hate the idea of a real border — are engaging in a kind of blood libel against ICE agents."
Somewhere, our ancestors wept.
Somewhere, our ancestors wept.
September 27, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Importantly, a blood libel is false, and the things people are saying about ICE are true.
Something something we must condemn all political violence something something....
Ingraham: A Democrat congressional candidate was thrown to the ground by an ICE agent. Good work
September 20, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Something something we must condemn all political violence something something....
People calling this an attack on the first amendment are wrong. This isn't a clash between the government and a private company. It's the alignment of the profit motives of a megacorporation and it's billionaire owner with the propaganda needs of a fascist, corrupt government.
To borrow from @mtsw.bsky.social, the reason ABC and CBS didn't put up any kind of principled fight to defend their late night hosts is because they don't care about their programming as much as they care about the political ends of the Trump administration.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr: "There's actions we can take on licensed broadcasters. It's long past the time that...Comcast and Disney say 'We're not gonna run Kimmel anymore...because we licensed broadcasters are running the possibly of fines or licensed revocation from the FCC.'"
September 18, 2025 at 12:27 PM
People calling this an attack on the first amendment are wrong. This isn't a clash between the government and a private company. It's the alignment of the profit motives of a megacorporation and it's billionaire owner with the propaganda needs of a fascist, corrupt government.
To borrow from @mtsw.bsky.social, the reason ABC and CBS didn't put up any kind of principled fight to defend their late night hosts is because they don't care about their programming as much as they care about the political ends of the Trump administration.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr: "There's actions we can take on licensed broadcasters. It's long past the time that...Comcast and Disney say 'We're not gonna run Kimmel anymore...because we licensed broadcasters are running the possibly of fines or licensed revocation from the FCC.'"
September 18, 2025 at 10:51 AM
To borrow from @mtsw.bsky.social, the reason ABC and CBS didn't put up any kind of principled fight to defend their late night hosts is because they don't care about their programming as much as they care about the political ends of the Trump administration.
Reposted by Simon Birenbaum
this is an object lesson in why praising Dems when they do the right thing - and not just castigating them for doing the wrong thing - is good politics for those of us who want them to fight
Van Hollen raised his profile by doing the right thing and the lesson he learned was keep fighting
Van Hollen raised his profile by doing the right thing and the lesson he learned was keep fighting
“Mr. Van Hollen saw a different lesson [from his role in the Abrego Garcia case]. ‘This finger in the wind stuff has got to end. We also need to stop deluding ourselves that the problem is all about messaging, or about volume, or style. We don’t just need to fight. We need to fight for something.’”
September 14, 2025 at 12:26 AM
this is an object lesson in why praising Dems when they do the right thing - and not just castigating them for doing the wrong thing - is good politics for those of us who want them to fight
Van Hollen raised his profile by doing the right thing and the lesson he learned was keep fighting
Van Hollen raised his profile by doing the right thing and the lesson he learned was keep fighting
Among the other sins of this sentence, it misunderstands the point of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which suggests we need what's on the bottom (safety, food) before we can achieve what's at the top (dignity, self-actualization). It's actually a great example of why the Right wants people to be...
This is the opening sentence of the book btw
September 13, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Among the other sins of this sentence, it misunderstands the point of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which suggests we need what's on the bottom (safety, food) before we can achieve what's at the top (dignity, self-actualization). It's actually a great example of why the Right wants people to be...
This is also a good reminder of why terrorizing communities with massive police presence doesn't make people safer. The police require the cooperation of the community, and harassing the public makes it harder, not easier, to solve crimes.
fbi puts another one in the books. closing the case the way most crime is solved: someone calls and tells them who did it.
September 12, 2025 at 9:13 PM
This is also a good reminder of why terrorizing communities with massive police presence doesn't make people safer. The police require the cooperation of the community, and harassing the public makes it harder, not easier, to solve crimes.
This would have the same effect as finding an old book of Cthulu and trying to read it.
Somebody is gonna try to replay the Twitter archive in real time à lá WWII In Real Time (accounting for deleted accounts, missing archives, etc etc) to try to figure out what individual decisions makers were seeing, and is going to drive themselves insane in the process
August 31, 2025 at 1:23 PM
This would have the same effect as finding an old book of Cthulu and trying to read it.
"You can only take a vaccine if you've personally conducted a years long double blind study of its efficacy."
RFK Jr: We need to stop trusting the experts... Trusting the experts is not a feature of science or democracy, it's a feature of religion and totalitarianism.
August 30, 2025 at 12:18 PM
"You can only take a vaccine if you've personally conducted a years long double blind study of its efficacy."
Even just the phrase "could give him greater control over the central bank" is offensive. He's not supposed to have ANY control over the central bank!
They’re not making the slightest pretense of doing anything but weaponizing a federal agency against Trump’s enemies, and the New York Times’ response is “Well played, sire!”
August 26, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Even just the phrase "could give him greater control over the central bank" is offensive. He's not supposed to have ANY control over the central bank!
Happy Back to School Day to all who celebrate.
August 25, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Happy Back to School Day to all who celebrate.
I'm....not sure if i trust the convicted and unrepentant child sex trafficker to determine what settings are "inappropriate"?
*DOJ RELEASES REDACTED MAXWELL INTERVIEW WITH TODD BLANCHE
*GHISLAINE MAXWELL PRAISED TRUMP AS 'KIND' AND 'CORDIAL'
*MAXWELL SAYS SHE NEVER SAW TRUMP 'IN ANY INAPPROPRIATE SETTING'
*GHISLAINE MAXWELL PRAISED TRUMP AS 'KIND' AND 'CORDIAL'
*MAXWELL SAYS SHE NEVER SAW TRUMP 'IN ANY INAPPROPRIATE SETTING'
August 22, 2025 at 10:42 PM
I'm....not sure if i trust the convicted and unrepentant child sex trafficker to determine what settings are "inappropriate"?
Raw milk is way more likely to cause health problems for kids than hormones or puberty blockers prescribed by a doctor.
🧫 Raw milk outbreak sickens 171 people
A new CDC report links raw milk from one California dairy to a multistate Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak. 70% of cases were in children.
Raw dairy can carry serious health risks, especially for kids.
🔗 www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...
#RawMilk #SciComm 🧪
A new CDC report links raw milk from one California dairy to a multistate Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak. 70% of cases were in children.
Raw dairy can carry serious health risks, especially for kids.
🔗 www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes...
#RawMilk #SciComm 🧪
Outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium Infections Linked ...
This report describes a Salmonella outbreak linked to ...
www.cdc.gov
July 26, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Raw milk is way more likely to cause health problems for kids than hormones or puberty blockers prescribed by a doctor.