Paul Whatever
@tonytomaytuh.bsky.social
I live in Chicago and I write and sometimes I take pictures.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
November 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
And yes, I know our history does not give a lot of reasons for optimism.
But just accepting that guarantees nothing better will happen.
Things DO sometimes improve, but they only do when ppl reject pessimism and push for that better outcome.
And lose a lot! But all the wins come from trying.
But just accepting that guarantees nothing better will happen.
Things DO sometimes improve, but they only do when ppl reject pessimism and push for that better outcome.
And lose a lot! But all the wins come from trying.
November 7, 2025 at 12:58 PM
And yes, I know our history does not give a lot of reasons for optimism.
But just accepting that guarantees nothing better will happen.
Things DO sometimes improve, but they only do when ppl reject pessimism and push for that better outcome.
And lose a lot! But all the wins come from trying.
But just accepting that guarantees nothing better will happen.
Things DO sometimes improve, but they only do when ppl reject pessimism and push for that better outcome.
And lose a lot! But all the wins come from trying.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
There had better be trials. And not just for the low-level thugs carrying out these orders, but for everyone up the chain of command.
If we get past this, the solution isn’t to pretend it never happened and invite Stephen Miller to Harvard’s Institute of Politics.
It’s trials w real punishments.
If we get past this, the solution isn’t to pretend it never happened and invite Stephen Miller to Harvard’s Institute of Politics.
It’s trials w real punishments.
A family friend was telling us about what her husband shared about his experience in Broadview before he was deported back to Mexico. She's been sharing to friends and family because she's just in disbelief & horror what her husband told her. She wasn't able to talk to him until he was in Mexico.
November 7, 2025 at 12:45 PM
There had better be trials. And not just for the low-level thugs carrying out these orders, but for everyone up the chain of command.
If we get past this, the solution isn’t to pretend it never happened and invite Stephen Miller to Harvard’s Institute of Politics.
It’s trials w real punishments.
If we get past this, the solution isn’t to pretend it never happened and invite Stephen Miller to Harvard’s Institute of Politics.
It’s trials w real punishments.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
Doomers are really a scourge, whining about how all is lost while millions of people are putting in the hours to get us through this.
October 24, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Doomers are really a scourge, whining about how all is lost while millions of people are putting in the hours to get us through this.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
This is how it works: We protect each other, period. These are our neighbors, our friends, our family. We do the things we have to do to ensure that as many of us can make it to tomorrow as possible. Not everyone does. I need you to understand that we tried.
dansinker.com/posts/2025-1...
dansinker.com/posts/2025-1...
What I Need You To Understand, Notes from Chicago in Late October | dansinker.com
dansinker.com
October 24, 2025 at 11:26 PM
This is how it works: We protect each other, period. These are our neighbors, our friends, our family. We do the things we have to do to ensure that as many of us can make it to tomorrow as possible. Not everyone does. I need you to understand that we tried.
dansinker.com/posts/2025-1...
dansinker.com/posts/2025-1...
Reposted by Paul Whatever
Here's a photo of my friend and colleague, Jorge Bautista, getting shot in the face with a flashbang grenade. The ICE Agent is so afraid of Jorge (who was posing no threat) that he has wet himself. Please share this photo. Everyone needs to know what cowards ICE agents are.
October 23, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Here's a photo of my friend and colleague, Jorge Bautista, getting shot in the face with a flashbang grenade. The ICE Agent is so afraid of Jorge (who was posing no threat) that he has wet himself. Please share this photo. Everyone needs to know what cowards ICE agents are.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
If you need a whistle, please drop by our office (7016 N Clark Street) to pick up one for free.
If you see ICE, blow three short bursts.
If they are detaining someone, blow three long bursts.
If you see ICE, blow three short bursts.
If they are detaining someone, blow three long bursts.
If you are on ICE watch in the Rogers Park vicinity please have a buddy and exercise extreme caution. ICE has assaulted verifiers today and arrested at least one of our people. If you are vulnerable to ICE in this area, I recommend staying inside if possible.
October 21, 2025 at 6:47 PM
If you need a whistle, please drop by our office (7016 N Clark Street) to pick up one for free.
If you see ICE, blow three short bursts.
If they are detaining someone, blow three long bursts.
If you see ICE, blow three short bursts.
If they are detaining someone, blow three long bursts.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
A terrific AFP fact check uses reverse image searches to expose how a White House video took scenes from Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Nebraska and lied that they showed "Chicago is in chaos."
factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....
factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....
October 16, 2025 at 2:07 PM
A terrific AFP fact check uses reverse image searches to expose how a White House video took scenes from Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Nebraska and lied that they showed "Chicago is in chaos."
factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....
factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....
Reposted by Paul Whatever
This is a good time to remind people that your backpack may have a whistle on it.
October 13, 2025 at 1:40 AM
This is a good time to remind people that your backpack may have a whistle on it.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
The inflatables have made it to Broadview.
October 12, 2025 at 4:34 PM
The inflatables have made it to Broadview.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
JOURNALISM IS NOT A CRIME. BEARING WITNESS IS NOT OBSTRUCTION.
BREAKING: Masked Border Patrol agents aggressively arrested WGN video producer Debbie Brockman in Lincoln Square Friday morning, supposedly for "obstructing justice." (Video via Josh Thomas on Facebook)
Follow @heartlandsignal for more.
Follow @heartlandsignal for more.
October 10, 2025 at 8:14 PM
JOURNALISM IS NOT A CRIME. BEARING WITNESS IS NOT OBSTRUCTION.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
Statement on Abuse of Power of ICE and Other Federal Agents in Chicago
October 5, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Statement on Abuse of Power of ICE and Other Federal Agents in Chicago
Reposted by Paul Whatever
I literally wrote earlier today that ICE and CBP are "a portrait of an authoritarian secret police that seems set to model itself on history’s worst fascist enforcers." www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/welcome-to...
Case in point here:
Case in point here:
ICE agents tear-gassing neighborhoods while sitting in their cars is some messed up shit. As @gregdoucette.bsky.social would say, “cops are great.”
October 3, 2025 at 9:26 PM
I literally wrote earlier today that ICE and CBP are "a portrait of an authoritarian secret police that seems set to model itself on history’s worst fascist enforcers." www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/welcome-to...
Case in point here:
Case in point here:
Reposted by Paul Whatever
I would love for a single democrat to reckon with the fact that conservatives are not in fact motivated by reasonable concerns. They are — just as they were with ‘concerns’ over blacks and gays and numerous other minorities over the last five decades — motivated by bigotry.
September 20, 2025 at 8:18 AM
I would love for a single democrat to reckon with the fact that conservatives are not in fact motivated by reasonable concerns. They are — just as they were with ‘concerns’ over blacks and gays and numerous other minorities over the last five decades — motivated by bigotry.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
The library is one of the best things this country has to offer and everyone should be taking advantage of their local branch. Also librarians are some of the best people who will consistently fight for your right to read.
(More ways to support libraries here: ilovelibraries.org)
(More ways to support libraries here: ilovelibraries.org)
September 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
The library is one of the best things this country has to offer and everyone should be taking advantage of their local branch. Also librarians are some of the best people who will consistently fight for your right to read.
(More ways to support libraries here: ilovelibraries.org)
(More ways to support libraries here: ilovelibraries.org)
Battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:
1.) Freshly cleaned glasses lenses
2.) The smell of coffee beans
3.) Nailing a free throw into the waste basket from across the room
4.) Favorite tee-shirt day
5.) Joking with the cashier at 7-11
1.) Freshly cleaned glasses lenses
2.) The smell of coffee beans
3.) Nailing a free throw into the waste basket from across the room
4.) Favorite tee-shirt day
5.) Joking with the cashier at 7-11
1. watching a seed you planted poke its green nose out of the dirt
2. exiting a movie theater into unexpected rain
3. petting a dog that leans hard into your hand
4. listening to the surf at night, or through a morning wall of fog
5. an ice-cold Topo Chico, an edible, & a horny novel before bed
2. exiting a movie theater into unexpected rain
3. petting a dog that leans hard into your hand
4. listening to the surf at night, or through a morning wall of fog
5. an ice-cold Topo Chico, an edible, & a horny novel before bed
Battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:
1. that first good stretch of the day
2: watching birds outside your window
3: long walks with a good audiobook
4: compliments to or from a stranger
5: planning something fun, even (or especially?) if it’s months away
1. that first good stretch of the day
2: watching birds outside your window
3: long walks with a good audiobook
4: compliments to or from a stranger
5: planning something fun, even (or especially?) if it’s months away
September 17, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Battle doomscrolling by posting 5 small pleasures in life:
1.) Freshly cleaned glasses lenses
2.) The smell of coffee beans
3.) Nailing a free throw into the waste basket from across the room
4.) Favorite tee-shirt day
5.) Joking with the cashier at 7-11
1.) Freshly cleaned glasses lenses
2.) The smell of coffee beans
3.) Nailing a free throw into the waste basket from across the room
4.) Favorite tee-shirt day
5.) Joking with the cashier at 7-11
September 15, 2025 at 12:26 PM
September 14, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Paul Whatever
reposting with alt text because this feels incredibly significant. the right-wing disinfo machine means a lot of the people grieving Charlie Kirk never heard any of the things he said that would have tarnished his brand as Guy Who Just Wants to Have Dialogue Across the Aisle
September 13, 2025 at 9:24 PM
reposting with alt text because this feels incredibly significant. the right-wing disinfo machine means a lot of the people grieving Charlie Kirk never heard any of the things he said that would have tarnished his brand as Guy Who Just Wants to Have Dialogue Across the Aisle
Reposted by Paul Whatever
Hjalmar Munsterhjelm's Metsälampi Kuutamossa (Forest Pond in Moonlight), oil on canvas, 1888
September 12, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Hjalmar Munsterhjelm's Metsälampi Kuutamossa (Forest Pond in Moonlight), oil on canvas, 1888
Reposted by Paul Whatever
pretty wild that it so quickly became normalized that immigrants don’t have even basic free speech rights
www.axios.com/2025/09/11/c...
www.axios.com/2025/09/11/c...
State Department warns immigrants not to mock Kirk's death
Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted the warning on Thursday.
www.axios.com
September 11, 2025 at 7:38 PM
pretty wild that it so quickly became normalized that immigrants don’t have even basic free speech rights
www.axios.com/2025/09/11/c...
www.axios.com/2025/09/11/c...
Reposted by Paul Whatever
"Chicago and Pritzker remind us that Trump triumph is not inevitable, and that his power has real logistical limits. He depends on people caving; he depends on people compromising. If you don’t, he folds. One victory isn’t winning the war. But it reminds us what winning the war might look like."
I wrote about how Chicago's resistance led Trump to back down on sending the national guard. This is a victory for the state and the city, and shows that fighting fascism can work. www.everythingishorrible.net/p/pritzker-s...
Pritzker Scares Trump Away
Yes, Democrats can defeat Trump if they fight.
www.everythingishorrible.net
September 11, 2025 at 3:02 PM
"Chicago and Pritzker remind us that Trump triumph is not inevitable, and that his power has real logistical limits. He depends on people caving; he depends on people compromising. If you don’t, he folds. One victory isn’t winning the war. But it reminds us what winning the war might look like."
Reposted by Paul Whatever
Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI
Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.
www.theatlantic.com
September 6, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Just a reminder to check for your name in this list of books that OpenAI trained from. If your name is there, they probably owe you several thousand dollars.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
OpenAI cried that if everyone eligible author files, the company will go bankrupt, so I'm alerting every author I have ever spoken to.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
Last night, Gov. Pritzker announced a legal hot line/resource hub to help LGBTQ+ folks access health care, ID documents, housing, government benefits (like Medicaid/SNAP) or address safety concerns.
When it launches Monday, Illinois Pride Connect can be reached at (855) 805-9200 from 9am-4pm M-Thu.
When it launches Monday, Illinois Pride Connect can be reached at (855) 805-9200 from 9am-4pm M-Thu.
Pritzker announces 'first of its kind' legal help line for LGBTQ+ Illinoisans
Illinois Pride Connect will come online Monday, offering advice on health care access, identifying documents, housing, government benefits and safety concerns.
chicago.suntimes.com
August 22, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Last night, Gov. Pritzker announced a legal hot line/resource hub to help LGBTQ+ folks access health care, ID documents, housing, government benefits (like Medicaid/SNAP) or address safety concerns.
When it launches Monday, Illinois Pride Connect can be reached at (855) 805-9200 from 9am-4pm M-Thu.
When it launches Monday, Illinois Pride Connect can be reached at (855) 805-9200 from 9am-4pm M-Thu.
Reposted by Paul Whatever
I have a new story thing in @havehashad.com. I'm grateful and humbled to appear in this amazing journal.
www.havehashad.com/hadposts/whi...
www.havehashad.com/hadposts/whi...
August 8, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I have a new story thing in @havehashad.com. I'm grateful and humbled to appear in this amazing journal.
www.havehashad.com/hadposts/whi...
www.havehashad.com/hadposts/whi...