Paul
@snoofleglax.bsky.social
Professor of physics and astronomy at a SUNY community college. Ph.D., RPI, 2019. I study the structure of the Milky Way. He/Him. Zero tolerance for right wing assholes. Closet metalhead. Opinions entirely my own.
Reposted by Paul
i guess i would like to hear the theory on which setting fire to a random dumpster advances the cause of stopping ice
February 3, 2026 at 12:42 PM
i guess i would like to hear the theory on which setting fire to a random dumpster advances the cause of stopping ice
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"Whoops sorry guys, we've upped your training requirements to 30 months. You'll have to pay your recruits full salary during that time too. We're not going to budget any money for that but you can draw from the already allocated money in the BBB."
The job right now isn't to advocate for more training, or body cams or QR codes or whatever because those things will be effective in their own right. It's to advocate for those things because it will bleed ICE's slush-fund white.
January 30, 2026 at 3:35 AM
"Whoops sorry guys, we've upped your training requirements to 30 months. You'll have to pay your recruits full salary during that time too. We're not going to budget any money for that but you can draw from the already allocated money in the BBB."
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Oh, just thinking about the Fox News Extended universe and how it creates political fervor by detaching its viewers from consensus reality for no reason in particular
People just going out here saying the literal opposite of what happened. Thune caved! Thune did! This is a cave by Thune and Senate Republicans, any possible way you cut it.
January 30, 2026 at 12:11 AM
Oh, just thinking about the Fox News Extended universe and how it creates political fervor by detaching its viewers from consensus reality for no reason in particular
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to be clear this happening is immediate, conclusive proof that the Senate GOP is fracturing hard over this and willing to join the Democrats on *very real, important demands* the Dems are making w/r/t restricting ICE's activity
January 29, 2026 at 11:17 PM
to be clear this happening is immediate, conclusive proof that the Senate GOP is fracturing hard over this and willing to join the Democrats on *very real, important demands* the Dems are making w/r/t restricting ICE's activity
Reposted by Paul
please look forward to your regularly scheduled cavalcade of bullshit about how this is Proof that the Democrats are Unserious Spineless Quislings instead of the closest thing to an unambiguous and conclusive victory as was in reach, I did not expect them to agree to split the bills
January 29, 2026 at 11:17 PM
please look forward to your regularly scheduled cavalcade of bullshit about how this is Proof that the Democrats are Unserious Spineless Quislings instead of the closest thing to an unambiguous and conclusive victory as was in reach, I did not expect them to agree to split the bills
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I keep thinking “my god the people they’ve killed seem like exceptionally good folks” and I think the lesson there is that they’re not exceptional, but that wonderful people abound and that a baseline distrust in humanity is a shitty conservative trope that privileges power over collective strength
you don't become a martyr because you were a saint, you become a saint because you were martyred
I agree that we can’t make Alex Pretti a Benedictine monk because that’s a trap, but we can talk about the good things we did because people will see and hear them and think “I do those things too”
January 25, 2026 at 12:27 AM
I keep thinking “my god the people they’ve killed seem like exceptionally good folks” and I think the lesson there is that they’re not exceptional, but that wonderful people abound and that a baseline distrust in humanity is a shitty conservative trope that privileges power over collective strength
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the western alliance was born in the fires of the most catastrophic conflict in the history of the world. republicans are spitting on the graves of the dead. these men and women are human filth.
Genuinely insane we are living in a world where the Danish have to deploy a battlegroup to protect themselves against America. Makes my blood turn molten, honestly
11/
January 20, 2026 at 10:32 PM
the western alliance was born in the fires of the most catastrophic conflict in the history of the world. republicans are spitting on the graves of the dead. these men and women are human filth.
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there's a whole lot of people in the replies here willfully refusing to understand that a) not a single Democrat voted for the bill which is funding ICE right now and b) it didn't matter because Republicans control the government and thus enacted their reconciliation bill on a pure party-line vote.
ICE must be reined in, and unfortunately, neither a CR nor a shutdown would do anything to restrain it, because, thanks to Republicans, ICE is now sitting on a massive slush fund it can tap whether or not we pass a funding bill.
My full statement on the DHS funding bill.
My full statement on the DHS funding bill.
January 21, 2026 at 2:00 AM
there's a whole lot of people in the replies here willfully refusing to understand that a) not a single Democrat voted for the bill which is funding ICE right now and b) it didn't matter because Republicans control the government and thus enacted their reconciliation bill on a pure party-line vote.
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Reposted by Paul
They expect - they NEED - the people they threaten to fall in line, like the law firms and universities and media companies and billionaires and Congress did. If you say “No, make me,” they simply do not have a Plan B. TRUMP DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH GUYS TO MAKE YOU.
January 17, 2026 at 2:07 PM
They expect - they NEED - the people they threaten to fall in line, like the law firms and universities and media companies and billionaires and Congress did. If you say “No, make me,” they simply do not have a Plan B. TRUMP DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH GUYS TO MAKE YOU.
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It genuinely sucks that I feel like I can’t trust left wing critiques of Dems to reflect reality. I’m sure I sound to many here like a huge Dem booster, but I actually have big issues with most Dem politicians, both individually and as a group. But the amount of BS makes those topics not worth it.
January 17, 2026 at 3:19 AM
It genuinely sucks that I feel like I can’t trust left wing critiques of Dems to reflect reality. I’m sure I sound to many here like a huge Dem booster, but I actually have big issues with most Dem politicians, both individually and as a group. But the amount of BS makes those topics not worth it.
Aluminum Maiden
My Homeopathic Romance
Slightly diminish a band:
And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Complaints
And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Complaints
January 10, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Aluminum Maiden
Reposted by Paul
Newly-released footage reveals Renee Nicole Good’s last words.
January 9, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Newly-released footage reveals Renee Nicole Good’s last words.
Reposted by Paul
The image of the blood-soaked airbag next to the glove compartment overflowing with stuffed animals is going to stick with me for a very long time.
January 8, 2026 at 1:19 AM
The image of the blood-soaked airbag next to the glove compartment overflowing with stuffed animals is going to stick with me for a very long time.
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surrounding them after they just killed somebody and shouting “you can’t kill us all, nazis” is legitimate “ready to run through a wall” inspirational
January 7, 2026 at 6:31 PM
surrounding them after they just killed somebody and shouting “you can’t kill us all, nazis” is legitimate “ready to run through a wall” inspirational
Reposted by Paul
If you have any tips or info regarding the ICE shooting in Minneapolis, please text me on Signal @ premthakker.35
Your anonymity will be protected
Your anonymity will be protected
January 7, 2026 at 5:11 PM
If you have any tips or info regarding the ICE shooting in Minneapolis, please text me on Signal @ premthakker.35
Your anonymity will be protected
Your anonymity will be protected
Reposted by Paul
A U.S. citizen was shot and killed in her car by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
Nowhere and nobody is safe from this administration weaponizing ICE and going after whole communities.
ICE must follow the demands of local and state leaders and get out of Minneapolis at once.
Nowhere and nobody is safe from this administration weaponizing ICE and going after whole communities.
ICE must follow the demands of local and state leaders and get out of Minneapolis at once.
ICE agent fatally shoots woman in vehicle during operations in Minneapolis: DHS
The city of Minneapolis said it is "aware of a shooting involving federal law enforcement" near East 34th Street and Portland Avenue, urging people to avoid the area.
abcnews.go.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:27 PM
A U.S. citizen was shot and killed in her car by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
Nowhere and nobody is safe from this administration weaponizing ICE and going after whole communities.
ICE must follow the demands of local and state leaders and get out of Minneapolis at once.
Nowhere and nobody is safe from this administration weaponizing ICE and going after whole communities.
ICE must follow the demands of local and state leaders and get out of Minneapolis at once.
I have big, complicated thoughts about this, specifically in academia and post-secondary education, but I don't have them organized in any coherent fashion.
For some administrators/faculty, any standards for students are unjust and not devoting your time to their needs means you don't care at all.
For some administrators/faculty, any standards for students are unjust and not devoting your time to their needs means you don't care at all.
more seriously, I do genuinely think it was a mistake to go from: 'the project of bureaucratic rationality has at times been poorly implemented in biased ways, we must fix this' to 'the project of bureaucratic rationality is inherently unjust, we must replace it with [worse thing]'
Very bleakly funny that circa-2012-2015 conservatives have been totally vindicated in their arguments against the postmodern turn in parts of academia, the embrace of ‘ways of knowing’, rejection of bureaucratic rationality, etc.…because they embraced all those things and it was indeed a disaster
January 6, 2026 at 11:41 PM
I have big, complicated thoughts about this, specifically in academia and post-secondary education, but I don't have them organized in any coherent fashion.
For some administrators/faculty, any standards for students are unjust and not devoting your time to their needs means you don't care at all.
For some administrators/faculty, any standards for students are unjust and not devoting your time to their needs means you don't care at all.
Reposted by Paul
Right.
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
a lot of problems wouldn't exist if we had a congress with even an ounce of self interest
Honestly insane they didn't brief the gang of eight until it was underway
January 4, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Right.
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
Reposted by Paul
My statement on President Trump’s decision this morning to launch a reckless and illegal attack on Venezuela:
January 3, 2026 at 9:52 PM
My statement on President Trump’s decision this morning to launch a reckless and illegal attack on Venezuela:
Reposted by Paul
This is a stark reason—one of several—to be very cautious here. Others: Almost everyone involved is an unreliable narrator. It’s night. It’s the new year weekend and so still a holiday time for most journalism staffing operations.
People are getting calls now, and getting to work, but be cautious.
People are getting calls now, and getting to work, but be cautious.
Whatever the fuck is going on is clearly very bad and an era of fake/recirculated video making it very hard to tell what is real is making it even worse.
January 3, 2026 at 7:14 AM
This is a stark reason—one of several—to be very cautious here. Others: Almost everyone involved is an unreliable narrator. It’s night. It’s the new year weekend and so still a holiday time for most journalism staffing operations.
People are getting calls now, and getting to work, but be cautious.
People are getting calls now, and getting to work, but be cautious.
Reposted by Paul
this is me saying this: the bare minimum acceptable response from Dems in 2026 will involve rounding up and punishing every single human in the chain of command who performed these actions to the fullest extent to which it is possible and it frustrates me that we DON'T have effective means of demand
January 3, 2026 at 7:16 AM
this is me saying this: the bare minimum acceptable response from Dems in 2026 will involve rounding up and punishing every single human in the chain of command who performed these actions to the fullest extent to which it is possible and it frustrates me that we DON'T have effective means of demand
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You do not need to be a fan of Maduro to think that this is both morally abhorrent and world-historically fucking stupid.
Remember how appalled we all were in 2022 when Russia completely unprovoked attacked Ukraine? That is what we’re doing tonight with Venezuela. We are the bad guys here. Everyone who supports this is supporting unprovoked murder. Fuck every last one of them
January 3, 2026 at 7:03 AM
You do not need to be a fan of Maduro to think that this is both morally abhorrent and world-historically fucking stupid.
Hello, I'm black ice and a firetruck (separate incidents!)
Introduce yourself with what almost killed you:
Hi, I'm a bad driver, a rattlesnake, carbon monoxide, and cancer.
Hi, I'm a bad driver, a rattlesnake, carbon monoxide, and cancer.
Hello, I'm a ruptured brain aneurysm.
January 2, 2026 at 2:42 AM
Hello, I'm black ice and a firetruck (separate incidents!)