fishburgher
@fishburgher.bsky.social
ZA development economist; humanist
Reposted by fishburgher
I think any story about Trump's autocracy should be mostly about the people and institutions who failed to stop it. This guy isn't a political genius, everything else just happens to be rotten. 'Toddler Consolidates Power In Household' is a story about incompetent parents, not shrewd maneuvering
October 28, 2025 at 2:07 PM
I think any story about Trump's autocracy should be mostly about the people and institutions who failed to stop it. This guy isn't a political genius, everything else just happens to be rotten. 'Toddler Consolidates Power In Household' is a story about incompetent parents, not shrewd maneuvering
The hysteria about "cancel culture" and "wokeness" enabled this: a fascist regime dictating what acceptable truth is and what is allowed to be taught. The "centrists" and "free speech warriors" are mum - which reveals that their whole schtick was strategic theatrics.
2 Oct 2025 -- Trump admin sends letter to 9 top schools (Dartmouth, Brown, MIT, USC, Vanderbilt & Universities of AZ VA PA & TX) threatening tax status and funding unless they officially recognize 2 genders and limit int'l students, DEI & pro-Palestinian activism. @rikiwilchins.bsky.social
Trump Hits Colleges With Ultimatum Over List of MAGA Demands
The administration sent letters demanding nine universities back the president’s agenda.
www.thedailybeast.com
October 2, 2025 at 10:47 AM
The hysteria about "cancel culture" and "wokeness" enabled this: a fascist regime dictating what acceptable truth is and what is allowed to be taught. The "centrists" and "free speech warriors" are mum - which reveals that their whole schtick was strategic theatrics.
Tracks with his history of spreading antisemitic narratives.
I can't help but recoil every time I hear Carlson's uncanny maniacal laugh.
I can't help but recoil every time I hear Carlson's uncanny maniacal laugh.
Tucker Carlson tells a story that appears to blame Jews for killing Jesus (they didn’t) and also killing Charlie Kirk.
September 22, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Tracks with his history of spreading antisemitic narratives.
I can't help but recoil every time I hear Carlson's uncanny maniacal laugh.
I can't help but recoil every time I hear Carlson's uncanny maniacal laugh.
Reposted by fishburgher
No he didn't, he made it all about him, said Jimmy Kimmel "has the right to be wrong", and then at the end of the show he called Javier Bardem and Meg Stalter antisemites.
Bill Maher Destroys Trump And ABC In Brutal Monologue On Kimmel Bombshell
Bill Maher Destroys Trump And ABC In Brutal Monologue On Kimmel Bombshell
Bill Maher came out swinging against Trump and ABC for the ouster of late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over remarks after the killing of Charlie Kirk.
The post Bill Maher Destroys Trump And ABC In Brutal Monologue On Kimmel Bombshell first appeared on Mediaite.
dlvr.it
September 20, 2025 at 10:59 AM
No he didn't, he made it all about him, said Jimmy Kimmel "has the right to be wrong", and then at the end of the show he called Javier Bardem and Meg Stalter antisemites.
Reposted by fishburgher
hard to really take a lot of this kimmel shit that seriously, especially from people who were lockstep behind bringing militarized cops and paid goons down on college kids for calling a genocide a genocide. the horse has been walking very slowly out the barn for a while now
September 18, 2025 at 3:05 AM
hard to really take a lot of this kimmel shit that seriously, especially from people who were lockstep behind bringing militarized cops and paid goons down on college kids for calling a genocide a genocide. the horse has been walking very slowly out the barn for a while now
Starmer's choice for ambassador to the US. Well done, neo-Blairites.
September 9, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Starmer's choice for ambassador to the US. Well done, neo-Blairites.
Reposted by fishburgher
A lot of people who got the measles as children died or suffered lifelong disabilities as a result. The measles vaccine was a godsend to worldwide public health, and it’s an absolute scandal that this lethally ignorant dolt has any power over public health.
March 12, 2025 at 2:42 AM
A lot of people who got the measles as children died or suffered lifelong disabilities as a result. The measles vaccine was a godsend to worldwide public health, and it’s an absolute scandal that this lethally ignorant dolt has any power over public health.
Reposted by fishburgher
spaceX is obviously propped up by public funds. peter thiel's company, palantir, is entirely reliant on government contracts. if the pentagon budget had any oversight these dudes would be running MLMs
February 13, 2025 at 4:31 PM
spaceX is obviously propped up by public funds. peter thiel's company, palantir, is entirely reliant on government contracts. if the pentagon budget had any oversight these dudes would be running MLMs
Must be convenient for Lewis to not look at the evidence all her critics point to, and then declare it to be 'poorly evidenced' - like a baby without a comprehension of object permanence.
Ruled: Helen Lewis wants to be a properly centrist cissexual and trans youth’s right to gender-affirming care appears to her simply as an “unpopular and poorly evidenced” question. 11/
December 22, 2024 at 10:10 AM
Must be convenient for Lewis to not look at the evidence all her critics point to, and then declare it to be 'poorly evidenced' - like a baby without a comprehension of object permanence.
Reposted by fishburgher
it’s wild republicans have been able to continue to fool voters for decades now. no one has object permanence
December 18, 2024 at 5:40 PM
it’s wild republicans have been able to continue to fool voters for decades now. no one has object permanence
Reposted by fishburgher
“Do not post pictures of yourselves doing war crimes” isn’t really compatible with “we are not doing war crimes”
December 13, 2024 at 5:56 PM
“Do not post pictures of yourselves doing war crimes” isn’t really compatible with “we are not doing war crimes”
Would be comical if it weren't so grim. These rubes deserve to be shunned from serious discussions because there's no excuse for falling for Trump's (obvious) BS. His first term was soaked in blood. He escalated US or US-backed civilian slaughter around the world - Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, etc.
Kudos to everyone who voted for Donald Trump because he was the Peace Candidate
December 13, 2024 at 7:26 PM
Would be comical if it weren't so grim. These rubes deserve to be shunned from serious discussions because there's no excuse for falling for Trump's (obvious) BS. His first term was soaked in blood. He escalated US or US-backed civilian slaughter around the world - Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, etc.
I can understand why having *the highest* accident rate of any auto brand may explain why Musk dislikes reporting on accidents.
www.forbes.com/sites/steveb...
www.forbes.com/sites/steveb...
December 13, 2024 at 6:31 PM
I can understand why having *the highest* accident rate of any auto brand may explain why Musk dislikes reporting on accidents.
www.forbes.com/sites/steveb...
www.forbes.com/sites/steveb...
All the polls I've seen are phrased ambiguously. People are "satisfied" with their health insurance relative to *zero* health insurance. If polls asked the relevant question the narrative changes entirely. For example: "Would you prefer more affordable health insurance that isn't tied to your job?"
Arraying polls that show people are satisfied with their health insurance, to make a political point that reform is not imperative, is one of the stupidist things around.
The political error of relying on such polls...
The political error of relying on such polls...
December 13, 2024 at 6:13 PM
All the polls I've seen are phrased ambiguously. People are "satisfied" with their health insurance relative to *zero* health insurance. If polls asked the relevant question the narrative changes entirely. For example: "Would you prefer more affordable health insurance that isn't tied to your job?"
Reposted by fishburgher
Y'days post: The politics of stupid mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-...
If believing that doing what right wing populists ask for will reduce populism’s appeal is dumb, then aping what they say is worse still. It misinforms the public in a way that helps the populist!
If believing that doing what right wing populists ask for will reduce populism’s appeal is dumb, then aping what they say is worse still. It misinforms the public in a way that helps the populist!
The politics of stupid
I had a conversation on social media recently that went a bit like this (and I’m paraphrasing): ‘I want massive reductions in immigrat...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com
December 11, 2024 at 9:56 AM
Y'days post: The politics of stupid mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2024/12/the-...
If believing that doing what right wing populists ask for will reduce populism’s appeal is dumb, then aping what they say is worse still. It misinforms the public in a way that helps the populist!
If believing that doing what right wing populists ask for will reduce populism’s appeal is dumb, then aping what they say is worse still. It misinforms the public in a way that helps the populist!
X-itter: cesspool of misinformation curated by far-right billionaire, who paid $250bn to elect Trump
Bluesky: journalists and academics reporting and analyzing Trump's authoritarian takeover of the republic
NYT: these two social media sites are the same - I'm so smart and objective
Bluesky: journalists and academics reporting and analyzing Trump's authoritarian takeover of the republic
NYT: these two social media sites are the same - I'm so smart and objective
FYI Bluesky folks. Keep this in mind. CNN "Most Americans approve how Trump is handling his return to the White House" Important to keep perspective. This site is an echo chamber of sorts. Just like Twitter has become. www.cnn.com/2024/12/11/p...
CNN Poll: Most Americans approve how Trump is handling his return to the White House | CNN Politics
Most Americans expect President-elect Donald Trump to do a good job upon his return to the White House next month (54%), and a majority approves of how he’s handling the presidential transition so far...
www.cnn.com
December 11, 2024 at 8:43 PM
X-itter: cesspool of misinformation curated by far-right billionaire, who paid $250bn to elect Trump
Bluesky: journalists and academics reporting and analyzing Trump's authoritarian takeover of the republic
NYT: these two social media sites are the same - I'm so smart and objective
Bluesky: journalists and academics reporting and analyzing Trump's authoritarian takeover of the republic
NYT: these two social media sites are the same - I'm so smart and objective
Haidt & co spent 2010s whingeing about how kids are too coddled. In 2020s they've been complaining kids being too exposed (to social media). Kids are thus both too coddled and too exposed. Their prescribed policies have been awful in both cases. Now they want Trump to decide what's safe for kids
Who benefits from blocking the Kids Online Safety Act? Only companies whose business model relies on hooking kids. That means especially Meta, Snap, and Tiktok. The House should bring KOSA to a vote, now.
www.anxiousgeneration.com/kosa
www.anxiousgeneration.com/kosa
How can we keep our kids safe online?
Advocate for Kids’ Online Safety – call, email, or write a letter to the editor! Overprotected in the real world and underprotected online, Gen Z is facing a mental health crisis. Technology platforms...
www.anxiousgeneration.com
December 11, 2024 at 7:14 PM
Haidt & co spent 2010s whingeing about how kids are too coddled. In 2020s they've been complaining kids being too exposed (to social media). Kids are thus both too coddled and too exposed. Their prescribed policies have been awful in both cases. Now they want Trump to decide what's safe for kids
Best moderation policy I've seen is from Angry Metal Guy (a metal blog I frequent). It states:
"Don't be a dick or we'll ban you"
"Don't be a dick or we'll ban you"
this is genuinely the only effective moderation strategy
hard and fast rules mean that the worst actors will quickly test exactly what the lines are and live right on them, and they are very good at this
"nah, man, you're bad news, goodbye" is the only way to deal with them
hard and fast rules mean that the worst actors will quickly test exactly what the lines are and live right on them, and they are very good at this
"nah, man, you're bad news, goodbye" is the only way to deal with them
For the record: I think the best thing Something Awful did on the internet was implement a "We can just ban you if your vibes are off" policy, and I hope that's what we're seeing here.
December 6, 2024 at 7:25 PM
Best moderation policy I've seen is from Angry Metal Guy (a metal blog I frequent). It states:
"Don't be a dick or we'll ban you"
"Don't be a dick or we'll ban you"
Magas say that politicians are corrupt because they're for sale to donors - so they elect the robber barons directly instead. Making corruption more efficient again.
Everyone’s mad that Trump has appointed almost all billionaires but you have to understand that billionaires are a good choice because they are immune to the temptations created by things like empathy or recognizing other people as autonomous human beings rather than objects
December 6, 2024 at 7:16 PM
Magas say that politicians are corrupt because they're for sale to donors - so they elect the robber barons directly instead. Making corruption more efficient again.
Reposted by fishburgher
around 42% of all marriages end in divorce. that is a very high regret rate for people committing to life changing decisions. the state should do something, ultimately we should ban marriage entirely
December 4, 2024 at 5:37 PM
around 42% of all marriages end in divorce. that is a very high regret rate for people committing to life changing decisions. the state should do something, ultimately we should ban marriage entirely
Reposted by fishburgher
Check out Important Context for everything you need to know about Bhattacharya and Makary. No both-sides nonsense. No sanewashing.
Just cold, hard facts.
www.importantcontext.news/p/everything...
www.importantcontext.news/p/everything...
Just cold, hard facts.
www.importantcontext.news/p/everything...
www.importantcontext.news/p/everything...
December 2, 2024 at 9:24 PM
Check out Important Context for everything you need to know about Bhattacharya and Makary. No both-sides nonsense. No sanewashing.
Just cold, hard facts.
www.importantcontext.news/p/everything...
www.importantcontext.news/p/everything...
Just cold, hard facts.
www.importantcontext.news/p/everything...
www.importantcontext.news/p/everything...
Reposted by fishburgher
Centrists, as Patel has journalists, nonprofit heads, and politicians frog-marched in handcuffs in front of TV cameras:
“I am outraged that the left made him do this.”
“I am outraged that the left made him do this.”
December 1, 2024 at 12:46 AM
Centrists, as Patel has journalists, nonprofit heads, and politicians frog-marched in handcuffs in front of TV cameras:
“I am outraged that the left made him do this.”
“I am outraged that the left made him do this.”
Reposted by fishburgher
November 30, 2024 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by fishburgher
The IDF honors the ceasefire in Lebanon by bombing Lebanon
November 28, 2024 at 1:52 PM
The IDF honors the ceasefire in Lebanon by bombing Lebanon