Joseph Britt
@zathras5.bsky.social
Wisconsin and the world. Opinions my own. Once a Republican.
Pinned
Joseph Britt
@zathras5.bsky.social
· Mar 20
For the white, against the colored.
For the rich, against the rest.
For the dictator, against the democracy.
These are not the only principles of the Republican Party in the 2020s, but they are the main ones. They are the first fruits of decadence.
For the rich, against the rest.
For the dictator, against the democracy.
These are not the only principles of the Republican Party in the 2020s, but they are the main ones. They are the first fruits of decadence.
Thread. Who says Republicans in Congress don’t get anything for being Trump’s servants? 8 Senators will be able to sue the government — represented by Trump toady Pam Bondi — for damages because their phone records came up in an investigation of the January 6 conspiracy. Via @rparloff.bsky.social
Look at this new outrage. To open govt, we're retroactively letting 8 Senators sue for $500K each over having had their J6 phone toll records looked at. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...
Spending Bill Would Pave Way for Senators to Sue Over Phone Searches
www.nytimes.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Thread. Who says Republicans in Congress don’t get anything for being Trump’s servants? 8 Senators will be able to sue the government — represented by Trump toady Pam Bondi — for damages because their phone records came up in an investigation of the January 6 conspiracy. Via @rparloff.bsky.social
I have nothing especially original to say about Senate Democrats’ surrender on funding the government yesterday. Yes, it was a terrible look; why noodle around with a government shutdown at all if they were going to settle for a deal they could have gotten in September? 🧵
November 10, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I have nothing especially original to say about Senate Democrats’ surrender on funding the government yesterday. Yes, it was a terrible look; why noodle around with a government shutdown at all if they were going to settle for a deal they could have gotten in September? 🧵
State of play on a forming agreement to end the government shutdown until 1/30, by @washingtonpost.com reporters. It would include three appropriations bills (Agriculture, Leg. Branch, Military Construction — the first of which would fund SNAP through September 2026). [gift link] wapo.st/3WNtaVV
Senate moves toward deal to end shutdown, but hurdles remain
The proposal under discussion doesn’t include more funding for ACA subsidies. If a bill passes the Senate, it needs the House to approve and President Donald Trump on board.
wapo.st
November 10, 2025 at 1:23 AM
State of play on a forming agreement to end the government shutdown until 1/30, by @washingtonpost.com reporters. It would include three appropriations bills (Agriculture, Leg. Branch, Military Construction — the first of which would fund SNAP through September 2026). [gift link] wapo.st/3WNtaVV
Reposted by Joseph Britt
Excellent reporting that we need to know, depressing and maddening as it is. Gifted 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/b...
How the Trump Administration Is Giving Even More Tax Breaks to the Wealthy
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Excellent reporting that we need to know, depressing and maddening as it is. Gifted 🎁 www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/b...
Reposted by Joseph Britt
The Paris Climate Agreement after 10 years: Much progress in reducing the growth of emissions and setting technically feasible goals, reports @climatechangenews.com. But progress is slowing, and urgency among world governments is dissipating. www.climatechangenews.com/2025/11/07/h...
Health check: 10 years of the Paris Agreement
A decade since the deal was adopted, climate experts say it is working to cut emissions, spur action and reduce the projected temperature rise - but not as fast as we need it to
www.climatechangenews.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The Paris Climate Agreement after 10 years: Much progress in reducing the growth of emissions and setting technically feasible goals, reports @climatechangenews.com. But progress is slowing, and urgency among world governments is dissipating. www.climatechangenews.com/2025/11/07/h...
Reposted by Joseph Britt
It is not a useful observation or anything but it is still pretty wild that COP30 is starting in Brazil and the richest country in the world, second-largest emitter, and largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases just... isn't there.
November 9, 2025 at 9:37 PM
It is not a useful observation or anything but it is still pretty wild that COP30 is starting in Brazil and the richest country in the world, second-largest emitter, and largest cumulative emitter of greenhouse gases just... isn't there.
Reposted by Joseph Britt
Last night, the Trump Administration sent a letter suggesting Wisconsin should return our FoodShare payments.
My response ⬇️
My response ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Last night, the Trump Administration sent a letter suggesting Wisconsin should return our FoodShare payments.
My response ⬇️
My response ⬇️
Reposted by Joseph Britt
Weekend listen: Sobering account of Ukraine’s difficult position in the battle for Pokrovsk. Ukraine has exposed its undermanned army to painful losses before by clinging to cities exposed to encirclement. With @kyivindependent.com journalist Francis Farrell. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Lawfare Daily: The Looming Fall of Pokrovsk
Podcast Episode · The Lawfare Podcast · 11/05/2025 · 43m
podcasts.apple.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Weekend listen: Sobering account of Ukraine’s difficult position in the battle for Pokrovsk. Ukraine has exposed its undermanned army to painful losses before by clinging to cities exposed to encirclement. With @kyivindependent.com journalist Francis Farrell. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
American murder missions off South America’s coast are in line with Trump’s preference for shooting at targets that don’t shoot back. They are also, says @theintercept.com, “…a farce since America’s adversaries do not even know they are considered at war with the U.S.”. Via @nickturse.bsky.social
"[T]his is not just a secret war, but a secret unauthorized war. Or, in reality, a make-believe war, because most of these groups we probably couldn’t even be in a war with,” said @bcfinucane.bsky.social about US claims it is in armed conflict with 24 cartel groups
theintercept.com/2025/11/07/t...
theintercept.com/2025/11/07/t...
Trump Has a Secret List of 24 “Designated Terrorist Organizations.” We Got Some of the Names.
The U.S. claims it is engaged in “armed conflict” with Tren de Aragua, Ejército de Liberación Nacional, and Cártel de los Soles, among others.
theintercept.com
November 8, 2025 at 10:25 PM
American murder missions off South America’s coast are in line with Trump’s preference for shooting at targets that don’t shoot back. They are also, says @theintercept.com, “…a farce since America’s adversaries do not even know they are considered at war with the U.S.”. Via @nickturse.bsky.social
Reposted by Joseph Britt
Trump's tariffs are hurting us in two ways:
First, the obvious: Higher costs → either lower profits or higher prices.
Second, more subtle (perhaps bigger): We’ve signaled we’re an unreliable partner, so allies are reorganizing supply chains to avoid us. That's hard to unwind.
First, the obvious: Higher costs → either lower profits or higher prices.
Second, more subtle (perhaps bigger): We’ve signaled we’re an unreliable partner, so allies are reorganizing supply chains to avoid us. That's hard to unwind.
November 8, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Trump's tariffs are hurting us in two ways:
First, the obvious: Higher costs → either lower profits or higher prices.
Second, more subtle (perhaps bigger): We’ve signaled we’re an unreliable partner, so allies are reorganizing supply chains to avoid us. That's hard to unwind.
First, the obvious: Higher costs → either lower profits or higher prices.
Second, more subtle (perhaps bigger): We’ve signaled we’re an unreliable partner, so allies are reorganizing supply chains to avoid us. That's hard to unwind.
The Paris Climate Agreement after 10 years: Much progress in reducing the growth of emissions and setting technically feasible goals, reports @climatechangenews.com. But progress is slowing, and urgency among world governments is dissipating. www.climatechangenews.com/2025/11/07/h...
Health check: 10 years of the Paris Agreement
A decade since the deal was adopted, climate experts say it is working to cut emissions, spur action and reduce the projected temperature rise - but not as fast as we need it to
www.climatechangenews.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:46 PM
The Paris Climate Agreement after 10 years: Much progress in reducing the growth of emissions and setting technically feasible goals, reports @climatechangenews.com. But progress is slowing, and urgency among world governments is dissipating. www.climatechangenews.com/2025/11/07/h...
Weekend listen: Sobering account of Ukraine’s difficult position in the battle for Pokrovsk. Ukraine has exposed its undermanned army to painful losses before by clinging to cities exposed to encirclement. With @kyivindependent.com journalist Francis Farrell. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Lawfare Daily: The Looming Fall of Pokrovsk
Podcast Episode · The Lawfare Podcast · 11/05/2025 · 43m
podcasts.apple.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Weekend listen: Sobering account of Ukraine’s difficult position in the battle for Pokrovsk. Ukraine has exposed its undermanned army to painful losses before by clinging to cities exposed to encirclement. With @kyivindependent.com journalist Francis Farrell. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
Reposted by Joseph Britt
Thread. One of the very first things the new administration did last January was set Elon Musk loose on a mission to destroy the US Agency for International Development and its foreign aid programs. Musk succeeded, then left.
@agawande.bsky.social has made a film documenting what came next.
@agawande.bsky.social has made a film documenting what came next.
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
November 7, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Thread. One of the very first things the new administration did last January was set Elon Musk loose on a mission to destroy the US Agency for International Development and its foreign aid programs. Musk succeeded, then left.
@agawande.bsky.social has made a film documenting what came next.
@agawande.bsky.social has made a film documenting what came next.
Reposted by Joseph Britt
The videos surfacing online from Sudan are horrifying, and I say this as a journalist who has sadly become an expert on violent videos and images uploaded to the internet over the last decade. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/w...
Executions and Mass Casualties: Videos Show Horror Unfolding in Sudan
www.nytimes.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:29 AM
The videos surfacing online from Sudan are horrifying, and I say this as a journalist who has sadly become an expert on violent videos and images uploaded to the internet over the last decade. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/w...
Reposted by Joseph Britt
Reposted by Joseph Britt
DC federal judge blocks Trump administration from using furloughed employee email accounts to send partisan messages about government shutdown
Judge says administration “commandeered” email accounts of federal civil servants
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Judge says administration “commandeered” email accounts of federal civil servants
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Memorandum & Opinion – #25 in AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (D.D.C., 1:25-cv-03553) – CourtListener.com
MEMORANDUM OPINION regarding 24 Order granting Plaintiff's 9 Motion for Summary Judgment, denying Defendants' 15 Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment. See full Memorandum Opinion for details. Signed by J...
storage.courtlistener.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:41 PM
DC federal judge blocks Trump administration from using furloughed employee email accounts to send partisan messages about government shutdown
Judge says administration “commandeered” email accounts of federal civil servants
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Judge says administration “commandeered” email accounts of federal civil servants
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
It’s Friday, November 7. Speaker Johnson, with support from nearly all House Republicans, has kept the Jeffrey Epstein Recess going since September 19, per @sahilkapur.bsky.social.
I don’t know what’s in the files Republicans are trying to keep hidden about Trump & Epstein. It must be really bad.
I don’t know what’s in the files Republicans are trying to keep hidden about Trump & Epstein. It must be really bad.
Speaker Johnson is officially keeping the House in recess again next week. This will be the eighth consecutive week the House has been out of session. The chamber hasn't met since Sept. 19. Adelita Grijalva, who was elected on Sept. 23, has not been sworn in.
November 7, 2025 at 7:49 PM
It’s Friday, November 7. Speaker Johnson, with support from nearly all House Republicans, has kept the Jeffrey Epstein Recess going since September 19, per @sahilkapur.bsky.social.
I don’t know what’s in the files Republicans are trying to keep hidden about Trump & Epstein. It must be really bad.
I don’t know what’s in the files Republicans are trying to keep hidden about Trump & Epstein. It must be really bad.
This thread by @ketanjoshi.co is actually a long one, but worth your time if you wonder what data centers means for the power grid.
Nothing good, in brief. And it’s a lot easier to see how data center projects raise money today than it is to understand how they will make money tomorrow.
Nothing good, in brief. And it’s a lot easier to see how data center projects raise money today than it is to understand how they will make money tomorrow.
I reckon the most interesting subset of discourse here is when presumed [good] factors are actually either actually bad, or there to downplay or dismiss the bad even if the amount of good is way smaller than the bad.
A short thread to explain: on "training for electrification" + "demand response"
A short thread to explain: on "training for electrification" + "demand response"
I would love it if public discourse on data centers could be just a skosh more sophisticated than "data centers good vs. data centers bad."
November 7, 2025 at 1:36 PM
This thread by @ketanjoshi.co is actually a long one, but worth your time if you wonder what data centers means for the power grid.
Nothing good, in brief. And it’s a lot easier to see how data center projects raise money today than it is to understand how they will make money tomorrow.
Nothing good, in brief. And it’s a lot easier to see how data center projects raise money today than it is to understand how they will make money tomorrow.
Thread. One of the very first things the new administration did last January was set Elon Musk loose on a mission to destroy the US Agency for International Development and its foreign aid programs. Musk succeeded, then left.
@agawande.bsky.social has made a film documenting what came next.
@agawande.bsky.social has made a film documenting what came next.
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
November 7, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Thread. One of the very first things the new administration did last January was set Elon Musk loose on a mission to destroy the US Agency for International Development and its foreign aid programs. Musk succeeded, then left.
@agawande.bsky.social has made a film documenting what came next.
@agawande.bsky.social has made a film documenting what came next.
Reposted by Joseph Britt
ICE FLIGHT MONITOR: SEPTEMBER 2025 REPORT
The ICE Flight Monitor responds to this lawlessness and lack of information by using publicly available aviation data to monitor and document flights conducted by ICE.
humanrightsfirst.org/library/ice-...
The ICE Flight Monitor responds to this lawlessness and lack of information by using publicly available aviation data to monitor and document flights conducted by ICE.
humanrightsfirst.org/library/ice-...
ICE Flight Monitor: September 2025 Report | Human Rights First
Executive Summary Since taking office on January 20, 2025, the Trump administration has pursued an unprecedented mass deportation agenda. U.S. officials have adopted a range of new tactics to achieve…
humanrightsfirst.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:44 AM
ICE FLIGHT MONITOR: SEPTEMBER 2025 REPORT
The ICE Flight Monitor responds to this lawlessness and lack of information by using publicly available aviation data to monitor and document flights conducted by ICE.
humanrightsfirst.org/library/ice-...
The ICE Flight Monitor responds to this lawlessness and lack of information by using publicly available aviation data to monitor and document flights conducted by ICE.
humanrightsfirst.org/library/ice-...
Thread. @joshtpm.bsky.social and his colleagues at @talkingpointsmemo.com may not have known how strong the currents they started swimming against in the political journalism world were 25 years ago. But they’re still pushing forward, pound for pound one of the strongest news sources out there.
We’re about to hear these worthies explain the history of @talkingpointsmemo.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:34 AM
Thread. @joshtpm.bsky.social and his colleagues at @talkingpointsmemo.com may not have known how strong the currents they started swimming against in the political journalism world were 25 years ago. But they’re still pushing forward, pound for pound one of the strongest news sources out there.
Thread. More trouble in the courts for Trump, this time over weightier matters than a hurled sandwich. Judge McConnell in Rhode Island is not impressed by the administration’s plan to make partial SNAP payments someday out of the nutrition program’s contingency fund. Via @kyledcheney.bsky.social
HAPPENING NOW: Judge McConnell is sharply rebuking the Trump administration for what he said was defying his order to make full SNAP payments by Nov. 5. He has ordered USDA to make the *full* payment to states by tomorrow.
November 6, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Thread. More trouble in the courts for Trump, this time over weightier matters than a hurled sandwich. Judge McConnell in Rhode Island is not impressed by the administration’s plan to make partial SNAP payments someday out of the nutrition program’s contingency fund. Via @kyledcheney.bsky.social
Federal judge Sara Ellis reacts to police riots in Broadview, IL with a restraining order.
Law enforcement has sought to initiate violence against protesters before. Trump’s DHS agencies — sometimes with local collaborators — have used this tactic on a national scale. Via @jonseidel.bsky.social
Law enforcement has sought to initiate violence against protesters before. Trump’s DHS agencies — sometimes with local collaborators — have used this tactic on a national scale. Via @jonseidel.bsky.social
Federal agents’ use of force amid the aggressive deportation campaign in Chicago “shocks the conscience,” and the Trump administration “lacks credibility.”
That’s what a judge found Thursday in a crucial new ruling: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
That’s what a judge found Thursday in a crucial new ruling: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Federal judge enters broader order governing feds' use of force during immigration blitz
The judge previously forbade federal agents from using tear gas or other “riot control” weapons against people who pose no immediate threat and without two warnings during the deportation campaign. Ho...
chicago.suntimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Federal judge Sara Ellis reacts to police riots in Broadview, IL with a restraining order.
Law enforcement has sought to initiate violence against protesters before. Trump’s DHS agencies — sometimes with local collaborators — have used this tactic on a national scale. Via @jonseidel.bsky.social
Law enforcement has sought to initiate violence against protesters before. Trump’s DHS agencies — sometimes with local collaborators — have used this tactic on a national scale. Via @jonseidel.bsky.social
So the sandwich trial is Dunnso. In future, prosecutors may want to ask themselves if bringing an indictment will is likely to make them laughingstocks around the world — before starting the trial.
Sean C. Dunn, the man who pitched a sandwich at the chest of a federal agent in a viral act of opposition to Trump's law enforcement policies in Washington, was acquitted on Thursday after a jury found him not guilty of misdemeanor assault because no duh.
November 6, 2025 at 8:51 PM
So the sandwich trial is Dunnso. In future, prosecutors may want to ask themselves if bringing an indictment will is likely to make them laughingstocks around the world — before starting the trial.
Reposted by Joseph Britt
People fleeing al-Fashir in Sudan are in a 'disturbing' condition, aid group says reut.rs/49CB0ZZ
People fleeing al-Fashir in Sudan are in a 'disturbing' condition, aid group says
Some children fleeing the Sudanese city of al-Fashir are arriving at a humanitarian camp in north Darfur so severely malnourished that treatment may not be able to save them, an international organisation operating there said on Thursday.
reut.rs
November 6, 2025 at 5:05 PM
People fleeing al-Fashir in Sudan are in a 'disturbing' condition, aid group says reut.rs/49CB0ZZ