CouldThisHappen?
@couldthishappen.bsky.social
Science/tech writer, professional plant fanatic (esp. orchids), space enthusiast, sci-fi geek, probable cylon, ice hockey fan, tree-hugger, animal lover, and lecturer of writing / rhetoric at Boston University. www.joellerenstrom.com
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Huh well it turns out I heard from a few federal workers about this and well
"We civil servants organized to help our colleagues face the hardship of the shutdown, we put up with the pain and our only request was to not be betrayed like this. Trade our pain, make it count."
"We civil servants organized to help our colleagues face the hardship of the shutdown, we put up with the pain and our only request was to not be betrayed like this. Trade our pain, make it count."
November 10, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Huh well it turns out I heard from a few federal workers about this and well
"We civil servants organized to help our colleagues face the hardship of the shutdown, we put up with the pain and our only request was to not be betrayed like this. Trade our pain, make it count."
"We civil servants organized to help our colleagues face the hardship of the shutdown, we put up with the pain and our only request was to not be betrayed like this. Trade our pain, make it count."
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
BBC News is broken and needs to be overhauled - but the wails of persecution by senior journalists and "consultants" that younger journalists actually push back on reactionary instincts to promote inclusive public interest is a sign there is hope there.
Just not under this senior leadership.
Just not under this senior leadership.
November 11, 2025 at 12:34 PM
BBC News is broken and needs to be overhauled - but the wails of persecution by senior journalists and "consultants" that younger journalists actually push back on reactionary instincts to promote inclusive public interest is a sign there is hope there.
Just not under this senior leadership.
Just not under this senior leadership.
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
The Lame Stream Media Has No
Cojones,Or BALLS.......
Cojones,Or BALLS.......
November 11, 2025 at 11:55 AM
The Lame Stream Media Has No
Cojones,Or BALLS.......
Cojones,Or BALLS.......
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
The thing about Mamdani is that he’s a talented politician but not otherworldly or one in a billion, he’s just a competent guy with popular ideas who ran against an entitled piece of shit and to me it’s a lot more optimistic to imagine 1000 campaigns like his than to view him as a unique phenomenon
November 11, 2025 at 1:42 AM
The thing about Mamdani is that he’s a talented politician but not otherworldly or one in a billion, he’s just a competent guy with popular ideas who ran against an entitled piece of shit and to me it’s a lot more optimistic to imagine 1000 campaigns like his than to view him as a unique phenomenon
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Absolutely excellent, eviscerating piece (as usual from Lewis). Explains perfectly (1) though sloppy editing Newsnight merely stated a true fact that Trump caused Jan 6th; (2) how a culture of fear of the right wing political class and super rich has caused an institutional capture by stealth
November 11, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Absolutely excellent, eviscerating piece (as usual from Lewis). Explains perfectly (1) though sloppy editing Newsnight merely stated a true fact that Trump caused Jan 6th; (2) how a culture of fear of the right wing political class and super rich has caused an institutional capture by stealth
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Rick Scott was CEO of a large, for-profit healthcare company called HCA. While Rick Scott was CEO, HCA stole so much money from Medicare they were fined $1.7 Billion.
Rick Scott told me his plan would be to take all of the remaining ACA subsidies and redistribute them to HSA accounts and people can then buy whatever insurance a state certifies. Basically a repeal/replace.
He denied when I asked wouldn’t that create two-tiered system where sick pay much more…
He denied when I asked wouldn’t that create two-tiered system where sick pay much more…
November 11, 2025 at 4:17 AM
Rick Scott was CEO of a large, for-profit healthcare company called HCA. While Rick Scott was CEO, HCA stole so much money from Medicare they were fined $1.7 Billion.
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Really wish I had gotten a better shot of this but holding a phone that says “who else was just ‘following orders’?” up to a riot cop is hard as hell
November 11, 2025 at 6:18 AM
Really wish I had gotten a better shot of this but holding a phone that says “who else was just ‘following orders’?” up to a riot cop is hard as hell
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
A week after a slate of historic election wins, the Democratic Party implodes - classic Dems
November 11, 2025 at 12:19 PM
A week after a slate of historic election wins, the Democratic Party implodes - classic Dems
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Here's an excerpt from The Long Heat on how the promise of carbon removal is being swept away in the logic of carbon offsetting. Thanks @lithub.com.web.brid.gy for publishing it 🙏
lithub.com/carbon-offse...
lithub.com/carbon-offse...
Carbon Offsetting is Not Going to Save the Planet
There is not enough planet Earth to first turn it inside out and then turn it outside in again. Available resources do not allow for removal of the total aggregate of CO2 from the fossil fuels in s…
lithub.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Here's an excerpt from The Long Heat on how the promise of carbon removal is being swept away in the logic of carbon offsetting. Thanks @lithub.com.web.brid.gy for publishing it 🙏
lithub.com/carbon-offse...
lithub.com/carbon-offse...
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Found the tweet that Joyce Carol Oates bodied Elon Musk with and it's so beautiful in its eloquent, simple take down. So much so he's crashing out trying to prove he reads books now. Put this in the Louvre.
November 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Found the tweet that Joyce Carol Oates bodied Elon Musk with and it's so beautiful in its eloquent, simple take down. So much so he's crashing out trying to prove he reads books now. Put this in the Louvre.
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
"In losing, Dems have said: we will relinquish future opportunities to use deadlines to bend Trump to our will. That is a posture of weakness that voters will pick up on."
On the pod, @brianbeutler.bsky.social has good ideas for Ds to salvage something from shutdown:
newrepublic.com/article/2029...
On the pod, @brianbeutler.bsky.social has good ideas for Ds to salvage something from shutdown:
newrepublic.com/article/2029...
Trump’s Rage over Shutdown Boils Over in Rant that Should Wake Up Dems
Trump’s angry new rant about air traffic controllers and the government shutdown showed his weakness. A sharp observer of Senate Democrats explains why they seem to be caving—and what they can do inst...
newrepublic.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:30 PM
"In losing, Dems have said: we will relinquish future opportunities to use deadlines to bend Trump to our will. That is a posture of weakness that voters will pick up on."
On the pod, @brianbeutler.bsky.social has good ideas for Ds to salvage something from shutdown:
newrepublic.com/article/2029...
On the pod, @brianbeutler.bsky.social has good ideas for Ds to salvage something from shutdown:
newrepublic.com/article/2029...
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
A woman confronted Tim Kaine about the shutdown vote and it didn’t go well for him. www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMWYq6yY/
Replying to @lime.accordion Senator Tim Kaine (D - VA) 11/10/2025 Kaine was one of the 8 democrats who held the country hostage for 40 days, only to then fold with no concessions. #democrat #progressi...
TikTok video by Lime Accordion
www.tiktok.com
November 11, 2025 at 12:32 PM
A woman confronted Tim Kaine about the shutdown vote and it didn’t go well for him. www.tiktok.com/t/ZTMWYq6yY/
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Great men& women are leaving us—a Great Generation of thinkers& doers. They leave behind giant shoes to fill and it’s now time for younger generations to step up. People like Alan fought for profound, positive change—change that we must defend & expand.
Our challenges are great, but so were theirs.
Our challenges are great, but so were theirs.
Posting tonight about great city-making books made me realize, to my shock, that I never posted about the deeply sad death this year of one of the greatest urbanists who ever lived— Allan Jacobs. Jake was a big hero of mine in my early life, who became an advisor & friend later on. A GREAT man. #RIP
In memoriam: Professor Emeritus Allan B. Jacobs, influential urban planner and thinker about cities - UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design
Remembering Professor Emeritus Allan B. Jacobs, an influential urban planner and thinker about cities. Jacobs had an outsize impact on the field of urban
ced.berkeley.edu
November 11, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Great men& women are leaving us—a Great Generation of thinkers& doers. They leave behind giant shoes to fill and it’s now time for younger generations to step up. People like Alan fought for profound, positive change—change that we must defend & expand.
Our challenges are great, but so were theirs.
Our challenges are great, but so were theirs.
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
you can either regulate, add subsidies, and/or expand public insurance programs, or:
The new Republican plan same as the old Republican plan: Fucking die already.
Rick Scott told me his plan would be to take all of the remaining ACA subsidies and redistribute them to HSA accounts and people can then buy whatever insurance a state certifies. Basically a repeal/replace.
He denied when I asked wouldn’t that create two-tiered system where sick pay much more…
He denied when I asked wouldn’t that create two-tiered system where sick pay much more…
November 11, 2025 at 12:37 PM
you can either regulate, add subsidies, and/or expand public insurance programs, or:
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
"The world's richest man continually manipulates his company's AI to lie about science and promote white supremacism" sounds like some hack sci-fi writing, but it's just our current reality
November 11, 2025 at 11:48 AM
"The world's richest man continually manipulates his company's AI to lie about science and promote white supremacism" sounds like some hack sci-fi writing, but it's just our current reality
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Chris Murphy subtweets Angus King. Still, it's all hot air and misdirection unless Murphy's willing to call for replacing Senate Dem leadership.
In response to this claim that the "strategy didn't work."
The people were on our side. We were building momentum to help save our democracy. We could have won - the premium increase notices were just starting.
And giving in now will embolden him. Things will likely get worse.
The people were on our side. We were building momentum to help save our democracy. We could have won - the premium increase notices were just starting.
And giving in now will embolden him. Things will likely get worse.
November 10, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Chris Murphy subtweets Angus King. Still, it's all hot air and misdirection unless Murphy's willing to call for replacing Senate Dem leadership.
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
We are literally mad about your failure to fight the real dangers.
But there are real dangers out there that must be fought; and energy spent fighting each other is energy lost to that bigger fight.
November 11, 2025 at 1:37 AM
We are literally mad about your failure to fight the real dangers.
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
The storied choice between socialism and barbarism was made exquisitely clear a good many years ago in the United States, and both major parties chose barbarism. 🫠
November 10, 2025 at 11:04 AM
The storied choice between socialism and barbarism was made exquisitely clear a good many years ago in the United States, and both major parties chose barbarism. 🫠
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Lest we forget as COP30 begins in the Amazon that just over a week ago tech behemoth Nvidia was selling AI for oil and gas expansion to Brazilian state-owned oil giant Petrobras....
Nvidia Flogged AI for Brazilian Oil and Gas on Eve of COP30
The tech giant was in Rio de Janeiro hawking AI software to fossil fuel firms just days before crucial climate crisis negotiations in the Amazon.
My reporting today @desmog.com
www.desmog.com/2025/11/07/n...
The tech giant was in Rio de Janeiro hawking AI software to fossil fuel firms just days before crucial climate crisis negotiations in the Amazon.
My reporting today @desmog.com
www.desmog.com/2025/11/07/n...
Nvidia Flogged AI for Brazilian Oil and Gas on Eve of COP30
As world leaders prepared to descend on the small city of Belém in the Brazilian Amazon for the COP30 climate summit, artificial intelligence (AI) chip-manufacturer Nvidia was instead peddling its ene...
www.desmog.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:51 AM
Lest we forget as COP30 begins in the Amazon that just over a week ago tech behemoth Nvidia was selling AI for oil and gas expansion to Brazilian state-owned oil giant Petrobras....
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
The cruelty and inhumanity of this action are unfathomable and yet totally consistent with everything about Zionist Israel.
You thought the ceasefire would end it - no way - it just dispersed the criminals of the IDF to every corner of Palestine to continue the ethnic cleansing/genocide.
You thought the ceasefire would end it - no way - it just dispersed the criminals of the IDF to every corner of Palestine to continue the ethnic cleansing/genocide.
Israeli occupation forces forcibly expelled the elderly Palestinian Umm Zuhri Shweiki from her home in Silwan’s Batn al-Hawa neighborhood, handing the property to Israeli settlers.
November 10, 2025 at 11:02 AM
The cruelty and inhumanity of this action are unfathomable and yet totally consistent with everything about Zionist Israel.
You thought the ceasefire would end it - no way - it just dispersed the criminals of the IDF to every corner of Palestine to continue the ethnic cleansing/genocide.
You thought the ceasefire would end it - no way - it just dispersed the criminals of the IDF to every corner of Palestine to continue the ethnic cleansing/genocide.
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Bernie Sanders: "What this Senate is about to do is make a horrific situation even worse. So let's be clear what this vote is about. If this vote succeeds, over 20 million Americans are gonna see at least a doubling in their premiums in the ACA."
November 10, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Bernie Sanders: "What this Senate is about to do is make a horrific situation even worse. So let's be clear what this vote is about. If this vote succeeds, over 20 million Americans are gonna see at least a doubling in their premiums in the ACA."
Reposted by CouldThisHappen?
Sanders: Let’s be clear… If this vote succeeds, over 20 million Americans are going to see at least a doubling in their premiums… if resolution is passed tonight, we are on a path way to throw 15 million Americans off of medicaid and the affordable care act, 15 million.
November 10, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Sanders: Let’s be clear… If this vote succeeds, over 20 million Americans are going to see at least a doubling in their premiums… if resolution is passed tonight, we are on a path way to throw 15 million Americans off of medicaid and the affordable care act, 15 million.