Simon St.Laurent
@simonstl.com
"Enraged hermit" aspiring to chaotic good. Tech, gardening, politics, Quakerism, Green, and more. Cis, he/his. Also @simonstl@mastodon.social
Pinned
Simon St.Laurent
@simonstl.com
· Nov 18
When times are bad, help people.
When times are good, help people.
When times are good, help people.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Nine months ago
November 12, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Nine months ago
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Honestly, one of the things that's most shocked me about the last 10 years is the revelation of how many highly-educated elite white men who self-identify as moderates, liberals, and/or Democrats, still seem to be 100% on board with race science and masculine superiority.
How dare you imply that our friendship was based on leering at teenage girls, it was based on sorting races into C, B, A and S tiers
November 12, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Honestly, one of the things that's most shocked me about the last 10 years is the revelation of how many highly-educated elite white men who self-identify as moderates, liberals, and/or Democrats, still seem to be 100% on board with race science and masculine superiority.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Really wild how all these Harvard scientists and mathematics guys constantly talked about how Jeffrey Epstein was this brilliant, "misunderstood" man and then you read his emails and he's clearly a barely literate lecher, extremely easy to understand
November 12, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Really wild how all these Harvard scientists and mathematics guys constantly talked about how Jeffrey Epstein was this brilliant, "misunderstood" man and then you read his emails and he's clearly a barely literate lecher, extremely easy to understand
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Wild how every single member of the political and business elite went into full drooling fascism the second the prospect of consequences for abhorrent behavior started to seem possible
My takeaway from every new Epstein revelation is that some powerful people victimized many powerless young women, many more knew, some actively enabled it--and we're still being told that MeToo and accountability for sexual violence have gone too far
November 12, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Wild how every single member of the political and business elite went into full drooling fascism the second the prospect of consequences for abhorrent behavior started to seem possible
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
What the Epstein files show is the *solidarity* of many men-across class, race, religion, profession & party affiliation-in the global political project of keeping the boot on women's necks.
People have no problem understanding class solidarity among the rich. Why can't they see gender solidarity?
People have no problem understanding class solidarity among the rich. Why can't they see gender solidarity?
Like I dunno, maybe the reason it took a lady to break open the story of all the men protecting the dude trafficking underage girls is because the male journos were all emailing him making jokes about it?
November 12, 2025 at 9:09 PM
What the Epstein files show is the *solidarity* of many men-across class, race, religion, profession & party affiliation-in the global political project of keeping the boot on women's necks.
People have no problem understanding class solidarity among the rich. Why can't they see gender solidarity?
People have no problem understanding class solidarity among the rich. Why can't they see gender solidarity?
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Let me tell you: these people are having breathless freakouts about people who live two, three blocks away. They think bus fare is what keeps them safe because they are completely bonkers about how they are racist. Their mindscape of the city does not reflect actual reality.
November 12, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Let me tell you: these people are having breathless freakouts about people who live two, three blocks away. They think bus fare is what keeps them safe because they are completely bonkers about how they are racist. Their mindscape of the city does not reflect actual reality.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Important to understand the Epstein stuff and the fascism and the corruption are, in a lot of ways, really all the same story from different angles: powerful men who can and do abuse vulnerable people around them because they can, and because systems of elite accountability catastrophically failed
November 12, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Important to understand the Epstein stuff and the fascism and the corruption are, in a lot of ways, really all the same story from different angles: powerful men who can and do abuse vulnerable people around them because they can, and because systems of elite accountability catastrophically failed
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
if you tweet about jesus’ demands of his followers (that they abandon wealth and devote themselves to charity), you will get replies from americans describing a version of jesus who simply does not exist. it’s not like there’s a translation of the book in which the messiah loves money
November 12, 2025 at 9:19 PM
if you tweet about jesus’ demands of his followers (that they abandon wealth and devote themselves to charity), you will get replies from americans describing a version of jesus who simply does not exist. it’s not like there’s a translation of the book in which the messiah loves money
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Zero coverage of the Epstein emails on Fox News this morning.
New Epstein emails mentioning Trump don't appear to interest Fox News
www.mediamatters.org
November 12, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Zero coverage of the Epstein emails on Fox News this morning.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Jeffrey Epstein being a “this email is confidential” guy is such a great little detail.
November 12, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Jeffrey Epstein being a “this email is confidential” guy is such a great little detail.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
In our case, the first stone courses were laid onto the soft ground, and allowed to sink. The walls were levelled off, and more courses added...then they let it sink. That continued until the lowest stone course hit the bedrock, then they just kept building. The walls are their own foundations 🤷♀️
November 12, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Yup
i just bought an address book because i realized if i want to continue to send postcards to friends and fam i should have all the addresses in one place
and i don't want it online anymore i realized
I am steadily wanting less and less to be on the internet because the internet is so shit now
and i don't want it online anymore i realized
I am steadily wanting less and less to be on the internet because the internet is so shit now
November 12, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Yup
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
New: A judge in Washington has ruled images from Flock surveillance cameras are public records and that anyone can request them. Highlights the pervasiveness of this tech and just how much surveillance is being done. Very notable ruling
www.404media.co/judge-rules-...
www.404media.co/judge-rules-...
Judge Rules Flock Surveillance Images Are Public Records That Can Be Requested By Anyone
A Washington judge said images taken by Flock cameras are "not exempt from disclosure" in public record requests.
www.404media.co
November 12, 2025 at 3:22 PM
New: A judge in Washington has ruled images from Flock surveillance cameras are public records and that anyone can request them. Highlights the pervasiveness of this tech and just how much surveillance is being done. Very notable ruling
www.404media.co/judge-rules-...
www.404media.co/judge-rules-...
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Wow, a Long Island jury awarded $112 Million to 674 immigrants who were unlawfully held by county police so they could be handed over to ICE
Federal jury awards $112M to immigrants detained by Suffolk for ICE
A federal jury found the county and the Sheriff's Office violated the Constitutional rights of 674 people.
longisland.news12.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Wow, a Long Island jury awarded $112 Million to 674 immigrants who were unlawfully held by county police so they could be handed over to ICE
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Presumably a mistaken suspension of a journalist who is a very anodyne poster over here, @aaron.bsky.team and co. What's the best way to reach the team who can look into it?
In a rare case of Substack notes usefulness, I just learned that Sarah Kendzior (author of They Knew and a brilliant writer) got bounced from Bluesky. What the hell? new @sarahkendzior.bsky.social
November 11, 2025 at 4:53 AM
Presumably a mistaken suspension of a journalist who is a very anodyne poster over here, @aaron.bsky.team and co. What's the best way to reach the team who can look into it?
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
It’s wildly disingenuous for @aaron.bsky.team to reply to queries about Sarah Kendzior’s suspension about how they don’t comment publicly on individual users when he knows that we all know that they haven’t even told her privately what the basis for the suspension is
November 11, 2025 at 8:14 PM
It’s wildly disingenuous for @aaron.bsky.team to reply to queries about Sarah Kendzior’s suspension about how they don’t comment publicly on individual users when he knows that we all know that they haven’t even told her privately what the basis for the suspension is
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
You have to understand what pieces like this from the NYT are and are not.
They are not an honest assessment of the state of politics today.
They are a negotiation tactic—an effort by a calcified, right-leaning legacy institution to steer the discourse in a direction more palatable to elites.
They are not an honest assessment of the state of politics today.
They are a negotiation tactic—an effort by a calcified, right-leaning legacy institution to steer the discourse in a direction more palatable to elites.
November 11, 2025 at 8:17 PM
You have to understand what pieces like this from the NYT are and are not.
They are not an honest assessment of the state of politics today.
They are a negotiation tactic—an effort by a calcified, right-leaning legacy institution to steer the discourse in a direction more palatable to elites.
They are not an honest assessment of the state of politics today.
They are a negotiation tactic—an effort by a calcified, right-leaning legacy institution to steer the discourse in a direction more palatable to elites.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
i knew it would be bad but i didn’t know it would be comically bad newrepublic.com/post/203018/...
November 11, 2025 at 8:21 PM
i knew it would be bad but i didn’t know it would be comically bad newrepublic.com/post/203018/...
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
If Sarah Kendzior is indeed blocked on @bsky.app, this is a completely unjustified and highly questionable move. Sarah Kendzior is among the best voices of knowledge-based critical journalism in the US. See to it that this is corrected immediately and with an apology, @pfrazee.com!
Bluesky
Social media as it should be. Find your community among millions of users, unleash your creativity, and have some fun again.
bsky.app
November 11, 2025 at 7:16 AM
If Sarah Kendzior is indeed blocked on @bsky.app, this is a completely unjustified and highly questionable move. Sarah Kendzior is among the best voices of knowledge-based critical journalism in the US. See to it that this is corrected immediately and with an apology, @pfrazee.com!
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Okay why the fuck has Sarah Kendzior been suspended??!!!!
November 11, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Okay why the fuck has Sarah Kendzior been suspended??!!!!
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Propaganda does not rely entirely on unassailable evidence and impeccable logic to discipline its targets. Neither can the response, writes Calum Matheson, an associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh.
Scholars Must Recognize the Role of Affect and Emotion in Disinformation | TechPolicy.Press
The tactics of digital emotional manipulation are many and varied, but many of the most prominent exploit frustration and rage, writes Calum Matheson.
www.techpolicy.press
November 11, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Propaganda does not rely entirely on unassailable evidence and impeccable logic to discipline its targets. Neither can the response, writes Calum Matheson, an associate professor and chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Pittsburgh.
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
Many things led to this moment but top of mind right now are blaming women for ruining the workplace & continuing to smear those who speak out against genocide.
It’s a shame because I need to be up-to-date on the news but I will not support fascism financially.
It’s a shame because I need to be up-to-date on the news but I will not support fascism financially.
November 11, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Many things led to this moment but top of mind right now are blaming women for ruining the workplace & continuing to smear those who speak out against genocide.
It’s a shame because I need to be up-to-date on the news but I will not support fascism financially.
It’s a shame because I need to be up-to-date on the news but I will not support fascism financially.
"stupid but not surprising" newrepublic.com/article/2029...
Transcript: The Dems Blinked, and That Will Embolden Trump
TNR’s Monica Potts and Alex Shephard say the Democrats’ decision to cut a deal and end the shutdown was stupid but not surprising.
newrepublic.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:58 PM
"stupid but not surprising" newrepublic.com/article/2029...
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
"Part of the strategy was Spanberger using the political capital that Virginia voters gave her to throw her party under the bus. That's the kind of person she has shown herself to be, somebody who takes grassroots energy and dulls it," says @alexshephard.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/2029...
Transcript: The Dems Blinked, and That Will Embolden Trump
TNR’s Monica Potts and Alex Shephard say the Democrats’ decision to cut a deal and end the shutdown was stupid but not surprising.
newrepublic.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:53 PM
"Part of the strategy was Spanberger using the political capital that Virginia voters gave her to throw her party under the bus. That's the kind of person she has shown herself to be, somebody who takes grassroots energy and dulls it," says @alexshephard.bsky.social. newrepublic.com/article/2029...
Reposted by Simon St.Laurent
what if the firehose of fascist shit isn't wiping out the memory of the electorate? what if it's just hitting different things? and idk it seems like a persisting problem to me that dems aren't in lockstep with and fully tied to no kings, possibly the biggest social movement in american history
November 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
what if the firehose of fascist shit isn't wiping out the memory of the electorate? what if it's just hitting different things? and idk it seems like a persisting problem to me that dems aren't in lockstep with and fully tied to no kings, possibly the biggest social movement in american history