brentlythomas
@brentlythomas.bsky.social
jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none, as my dear sainted mother used to say
somewhere between slappy the squirrel and dorothy zbornak
“Is it any wonder that no truly respectable society has ever trusted its artists?”
Ursula K. Le Guin
they/them
🏳️🌈✊🖤🍉
somewhere between slappy the squirrel and dorothy zbornak
“Is it any wonder that no truly respectable society has ever trusted its artists?”
Ursula K. Le Guin
they/them
🏳️🌈✊🖤🍉
Pinned
brentlythomas
@brentlythomas.bsky.social
· Sep 29
coming out story: ex-mormon, my 1st thanksgiving home was spent w/ a sister missionary from my mission; everyone thought we would get married. we went to watch the remake of “miracle on 34th street”, and as i looked deeply into dylan mcdermott’s crystal blue eyes, i knew it would never work.
Reposted by brentlythomas
there's a moment in PARADISE LOST where Satan arrives in Eden and realizes Hell isn't a place; it's a thing he carries within him and it'll follow him wherever he goes. and i think about that when i see these awful rich men whose monstrous wealth has enriched them not at all
“whatever club he’s invited to join has been devalued by the invitation”
November 11, 2025 at 6:31 AM
there's a moment in PARADISE LOST where Satan arrives in Eden and realizes Hell isn't a place; it's a thing he carries within him and it'll follow him wherever he goes. and i think about that when i see these awful rich men whose monstrous wealth has enriched them not at all
Reposted by brentlythomas
Bluesky suspended Sarah Kendzior today for no reason whatsoever. She just shared excerpts of her articles, which were as always incisive and not offensive at all. Hey @pfrazee.com this is super not OK. I know her- we've interacted a fair bit via chats and her work is essential.
November 11, 2025 at 5:02 AM
Bluesky suspended Sarah Kendzior today for no reason whatsoever. She just shared excerpts of her articles, which were as always incisive and not offensive at all. Hey @pfrazee.com this is super not OK. I know her- we've interacted a fair bit via chats and her work is essential.
Reposted by brentlythomas
Jupiter says trans rights
🔭 Jupiter in Ultraviolet from Hubble
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt
star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/a...
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble; Processing & License: Judy Schmidt
star.ucl.ac.uk/~apod/apod/a...
November 11, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Jupiter says trans rights
Reposted by brentlythomas
Rescued this teddy from the sidewalk near Sheridan and Winona
If you live in the area, share to help it find its owner
If you live in the area, share to help it find its owner
November 10, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Rescued this teddy from the sidewalk near Sheridan and Winona
If you live in the area, share to help it find its owner
If you live in the area, share to help it find its owner
Reposted by brentlythomas
I have to hand it to Democrats. I'm one of the feds working and not getting paid and they manage to make reopening the government feel worse than the alternative.
Like, why did I miss 2.5 paychecks to end up right back where we were before the shutdown started?
Like, why did I miss 2.5 paychecks to end up right back where we were before the shutdown started?
Not a political consultant but I’m not sure “standing up to trump doesn’t work” is the best midterm message, even if if accurately represents senate dems position. Not much point in putting you in power then bsky.app/profile/atru...
Sen. Angus King: "Standing up to Donald Trump didn't work"
November 10, 2025 at 2:19 PM
I have to hand it to Democrats. I'm one of the feds working and not getting paid and they manage to make reopening the government feel worse than the alternative.
Like, why did I miss 2.5 paychecks to end up right back where we were before the shutdown started?
Like, why did I miss 2.5 paychecks to end up right back where we were before the shutdown started?
Reposted by brentlythomas
I received this email about Democrats caving to end the shutdown from one of the SNAP recipients I spoke to:
November 10, 2025 at 2:17 PM
I received this email about Democrats caving to end the shutdown from one of the SNAP recipients I spoke to:
Reposted by brentlythomas
these are surprisingly still available. I know I’m not the only person who goes to concerts but maybe I am one of the only ones who goes alone
I lined up concerts around work trips I had. Due to the shutdown, the trips are canceled.
Chicago: 1 tik to Patti Smith on Nov. 18th
Pittsburgh: 1 tik to Wednesday (in McKees Rocks) on Nov. 20th
If you can't afford to pay for it, it's ok. I'd just rather they weren't wasted. DM for either ❤️
Chicago: 1 tik to Patti Smith on Nov. 18th
Pittsburgh: 1 tik to Wednesday (in McKees Rocks) on Nov. 20th
If you can't afford to pay for it, it's ok. I'd just rather they weren't wasted. DM for either ❤️
November 8, 2025 at 12:27 PM
these are surprisingly still available. I know I’m not the only person who goes to concerts but maybe I am one of the only ones who goes alone
Senators on the brink of retirement who lived full, wealthy lives and never feared the loss of their own healthcare voting for their constituents to die from their inability to afford the same is treasonous
November 10, 2025 at 3:10 AM
Reposted by brentlythomas
This essay is one of the greatest indictments of how mainstream media outlets, especially the Times, repeatedly tried to water down Trump's comments, to the point of inaccurately presenting someone affiliated with an armed right wing militia group in Charlottesville as a Peaceful Statue Enjoyer.
And of course his greatest hit, the story that introduced me to him, and has now gone eight years without being corrected: Peters’ absolute whopper of a lie in defense of Trump’s reaction to the Nazi riot in Charlottesville
theracket.news/p/how-the-ne...
theracket.news/p/how-the-ne...
How the New York Times made 'The Charlottesville Lie' hoax possible
theracket.news
November 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
This essay is one of the greatest indictments of how mainstream media outlets, especially the Times, repeatedly tried to water down Trump's comments, to the point of inaccurately presenting someone affiliated with an armed right wing militia group in Charlottesville as a Peaceful Statue Enjoyer.
gender is a performance and mine is melba moore singing, “i got love” from “purlie” at the winter garden circa 1971
gender is a performance and this season we're staging the Marat/Sade
gender is a performance and ours is a reimagined minimalist theater of the absurd critique of dadaism
November 9, 2025 at 7:16 AM
gender is a performance and mine is melba moore singing, “i got love” from “purlie” at the winter garden circa 1971
Reposted by brentlythomas
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
A Sharon Begley byline, almost 5 years after her death.
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
Upon hearing the news James Watson had died, a STAT reporter said in our Slack, "I wish I could read what Sharon would have written."
Incredible news: Sharon in fact did pre-write a Watson obit. And it is masterful and excoriating.
🧪🧬🧫
James Watson, dead at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers
James Watson, the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA who died Thursday at 97, was a scientific legend and a pariah among his peers.
www.statnews.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:55 AM
pre-writing a devastating obituary for your enemy is god-tier hating of a kind you don’t often see anymore. renaissance haterism. beautiful stuff.
Reposted by brentlythomas
My latest is a love letter to Chicago. "I see you stumbling through the stubborn, awkward rhythm of showing up, again and again. I see you fighting alongside people who sometimes frustrate and confuse you, and defending neighbors you may have never met, because you know they’re all your people."
In Chicago, We Run Toward Danger Together
"Faced with unrelenting state violence, Chicagoans have refused to be cowed," says Mariame Kaba.
organizingmythoughts.org
November 8, 2025 at 2:46 PM
My latest is a love letter to Chicago. "I see you stumbling through the stubborn, awkward rhythm of showing up, again and again. I see you fighting alongside people who sometimes frustrate and confuse you, and defending neighbors you may have never met, because you know they’re all your people."
Reposted by brentlythomas
Party in the Country
November 9, 2025 at 5:52 AM
Party in the Country
Reposted by brentlythomas
if you are struggling to find free food right now - please DM me! I will help you find your local place to go with zero judgment. I have been involved with Food Not Bombs and similar organizations for almost 20 years. FNB is GLOBAL so even if you're outside the USA you can check them out!
November 8, 2025 at 6:50 PM
if you are struggling to find free food right now - please DM me! I will help you find your local place to go with zero judgment. I have been involved with Food Not Bombs and similar organizations for almost 20 years. FNB is GLOBAL so even if you're outside the USA you can check them out!
Reposted by brentlythomas
A few weeks ago I zoomed with a group of high school students and their adult mentor to discuss taking social action. I am thrilled to report that this group of 10 students raised $10,000 in two weeks to support their local food pantry. They sent me a photo and it has them all jumping and I tear up.
November 8, 2025 at 10:42 PM
A few weeks ago I zoomed with a group of high school students and their adult mentor to discuss taking social action. I am thrilled to report that this group of 10 students raised $10,000 in two weeks to support their local food pantry. They sent me a photo and it has them all jumping and I tear up.
Reposted by brentlythomas
Free Walk-up grocery market at Chicago Chicken & Waffles,3933 S. King Drive (in the adjacent parking lot) happening right now. Bring your own bags.
November 8, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Free Walk-up grocery market at Chicago Chicken & Waffles,3933 S. King Drive (in the adjacent parking lot) happening right now. Bring your own bags.
Reposted by brentlythomas
Absolutely sadistic.
A Dem Congress should pass a law banning anyone who is currently serving with ICE or CBP from future Fed employment.
The Feds should condition all future Fed grants to police depts on blanket refusals to hire ppl who were in ICE/CBP right now.
A Dem Congress should pass a law banning anyone who is currently serving with ICE or CBP from future Fed employment.
The Feds should condition all future Fed grants to police depts on blanket refusals to hire ppl who were in ICE/CBP right now.
Or Rodney Taylor, a disabled double amputee who’s been in America since he was two years old.
He was days away from receiving new prosthetic legs when ICE grabbed him
His health is declining, they won’t let him get his legs and they’ve placed him in solitary
www.disabledginger.com/p/help-rodne...
He was days away from receiving new prosthetic legs when ICE grabbed him
His health is declining, they won’t let him get his legs and they’ve placed him in solitary
www.disabledginger.com/p/help-rodne...
Help Rodney Taylor, a Disabled Double Amputee Being Held by ICE
Rodney has been in the country more than 40 years. He's in solitary confinement in Georgia, being denied disability accommodations and having his medical needs ignored. He must be released.
www.disabledginger.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Absolutely sadistic.
A Dem Congress should pass a law banning anyone who is currently serving with ICE or CBP from future Fed employment.
The Feds should condition all future Fed grants to police depts on blanket refusals to hire ppl who were in ICE/CBP right now.
A Dem Congress should pass a law banning anyone who is currently serving with ICE or CBP from future Fed employment.
The Feds should condition all future Fed grants to police depts on blanket refusals to hire ppl who were in ICE/CBP right now.
Reposted by brentlythomas
The man who ended USAID is the world's first trillionaire
November 7, 2025 at 2:14 AM
The man who ended USAID is the world's first trillionaire
Reposted by brentlythomas
When I get my green tea downtown after Court, I don't go to Starbucks (because I'm still boycotting). I go to Veterans Roasters, right across the street from the Daley Center, a Black-owned indy coffee shop that hires unhoused veterans and donates money and food every day to unhoused people.
November 7, 2025 at 7:39 PM
When I get my green tea downtown after Court, I don't go to Starbucks (because I'm still boycotting). I go to Veterans Roasters, right across the street from the Daley Center, a Black-owned indy coffee shop that hires unhoused veterans and donates money and food every day to unhoused people.
Reposted by brentlythomas
we’re sealing the honmoon at the new york city gay men’s chorus
October 6, 2025 at 11:24 PM
we’re sealing the honmoon at the new york city gay men’s chorus
Reposted by brentlythomas
the fact that Sandwich Guy is facing this 'wich trial at all is evidence of subpar justice. he is a hero being put through the judicial grinder. i hope the jury wraps up a not guilty verdict without delay or loafing around
November 6, 2025 at 7:55 PM
the fact that Sandwich Guy is facing this 'wich trial at all is evidence of subpar justice. he is a hero being put through the judicial grinder. i hope the jury wraps up a not guilty verdict without delay or loafing around
Reposted by brentlythomas
If you want to know more about ICE’s third-country removals, I keep what I believe is the only public tracker of all of them here: hardghistory.ghost.io/tracking-all...
There are more than you probably think.
There are more than you probably think.
Tracking All of Trump’s Third-Country Removals (That We Know Of)
Bookmark this post, it will be updated.
hardghistory.ghost.io
November 2, 2025 at 2:58 PM
If you want to know more about ICE’s third-country removals, I keep what I believe is the only public tracker of all of them here: hardghistory.ghost.io/tracking-all...
There are more than you probably think.
There are more than you probably think.
Reposted by brentlythomas
This is terrible news. Transgender Americans need the ability to travel without being outed by government document. The Supreme Court supports efforts by the Trump administration to make us second class citizens.
BREAKING: The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to enforce its anti-trans and anti-nonbinary passport policy during litigation.
The unsigned, four-paragraph order effectively reverses two lower-court decisions. The Democratic appointees dissent.
More to come: www.lawdork.com
The unsigned, four-paragraph order effectively reverses two lower-court decisions. The Democratic appointees dissent.
More to come: www.lawdork.com
![SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. 25A319
DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES, ET AL. v. ASHTON ORR, ET AL.
ON APPLICATION FOR STAY
[November 6, 2025]
This case concerns an Executive Branch policy requiring
all new passports to display an individual’s biological sex at
birth. The United States District Court for the District of
Massachusetts preliminarily enjoined the Government
from enforcing the policy, and the First Circuit declined to
stay the injunction pending appeal. The Government then
filed this stay application. Applying our familiar stay fac-
tors at this preliminary stage, we grant the application.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:36eqtmzysqf7wsslczw4uxcd/bafkreievxyvqikl7wmrg5jkqhsrta5l5xfq272x7caunvxka7vtuzp7hoa@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 8:27 PM
This is terrible news. Transgender Americans need the ability to travel without being outed by government document. The Supreme Court supports efforts by the Trump administration to make us second class citizens.
Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.
November 6, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Rep. Yassamin Ansari has set up a table and this sign outside Speaker Johnson’s office.