Sanj
@jaknays.bsky.social
Community dude living in the lovely Santa Cruz Mountains and trying my best to do good in this world. Independent because both parties suck.
Pinned
Sanj
@jaknays.bsky.social
· Mar 5
No Kings In America
A terrifying, but important, read.
Six months ago I wrote this post about “the next terrorist attack.” I republish it now (lightly updated) because my fear of this scenario has recently grown much greater.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
The Next Terrorist Attack
And What Comes After (Updated)
snyder.substack.com
November 2, 2025 at 12:51 AM
A terrifying, but important, read.
Reposted by Sanj
Obama: “as for the president, he’s been focused on critical issues like paving over the rose garden so folks don't get mud on their shoes, & gold plating the Oval Office & building a $300M ballroom
So Virginia, here's the good news. If you can't visit a doctor, don't worry, he will save you a dance”
So Virginia, here's the good news. If you can't visit a doctor, don't worry, he will save you a dance”
November 2, 2025 at 12:47 AM
Obama: “as for the president, he’s been focused on critical issues like paving over the rose garden so folks don't get mud on their shoes, & gold plating the Oval Office & building a $300M ballroom
So Virginia, here's the good news. If you can't visit a doctor, don't worry, he will save you a dance”
So Virginia, here's the good news. If you can't visit a doctor, don't worry, he will save you a dance”
Reposted by Sanj
Make your plans for #NoKings. This Saturday, October 18th.
Free speech is action. Protestors believe that action has meaning. Protestors are exercising the rights enshrined in the Constitution. For me, protest is about love of country.
I'll be there. Please join in.
www.nokings.org
Free speech is action. Protestors believe that action has meaning. Protestors are exercising the rights enshrined in the Constitution. For me, protest is about love of country.
I'll be there. Please join in.
www.nokings.org
No Kings
As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...
www.nokings.org
October 15, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Make your plans for #NoKings. This Saturday, October 18th.
Free speech is action. Protestors believe that action has meaning. Protestors are exercising the rights enshrined in the Constitution. For me, protest is about love of country.
I'll be there. Please join in.
www.nokings.org
Free speech is action. Protestors believe that action has meaning. Protestors are exercising the rights enshrined in the Constitution. For me, protest is about love of country.
I'll be there. Please join in.
www.nokings.org
Such a good read. And, she’s right - the people at the US Open Final don’t reflect the City or America at large.
NEW — I wrote about attending the US Open with Trump in attendance, and what the tepid reaction to a fascist at a sporting event says about this country.
Why I had to see Trump at the US Open with my own eyes
Staring straight across the court at a fascist is bad for the soul, but certainly instructive.
www.thehandbasket.co
September 9, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Such a good read. And, she’s right - the people at the US Open Final don’t reflect the City or America at large.
Yeap. True this.
MAGA Fascist Playbook in 4 simple points:
1. Frame politics as holy war. (existential "good vs evil")
2. Scapegoat enemies. ( as "demons," "Antichrists")
3. Declare an emergency. (nation under threat)
4. Seize power.
They derive these ideas from Nazi philosopher Carl Schmitt.
1. Frame politics as holy war. (existential "good vs evil")
2. Scapegoat enemies. ( as "demons," "Antichrists")
3. Declare an emergency. (nation under threat)
4. Seize power.
They derive these ideas from Nazi philosopher Carl Schmitt.
September 7, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Yeap. True this.
Not may be. Is. He is chipping away at that advantage. State the facts, man. Stop trying to sugar coat things to further a political agenda.
The U.S. has enjoyed a decades-long economic advantage thanks to its reputation as the safest place in the world for investors to put their money and for entrepreneurs to build their businesses.
President Trump may be chipping away at that advantage.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/b... #EconSky
President Trump may be chipping away at that advantage.
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/22/b... #EconSky
Trump’s Attacks on Institutions Threaten a Bulwark of Economic Strength
www.nytimes.com
August 22, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Not may be. Is. He is chipping away at that advantage. State the facts, man. Stop trying to sugar coat things to further a political agenda.
August 20, 2025 at 1:48 AM
I think about this as well…
What’s it going to take?
I think about this every damn day
I think about this every damn day
August 19, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I think about this as well…
Simple question for JD - you say these people hate you. Isn’t it a fact that you hate them even more? The thing is that the first (they hate us) is an opinion. The second (I hate them) is a fact.
This person is a fascist. This shouldn’t be news, but it is convenient to have it all in one place. The hatred is coming from him, and it’s the stuff that underwrites reactionary violence against people whom he does not see as people but enemies to be subjugated and if necessary eliminated.
August 10, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Simple question for JD - you say these people hate you. Isn’t it a fact that you hate them even more? The thing is that the first (they hate us) is an opinion. The second (I hate them) is a fact.
This is sad and something I worry about for myself. ICE will expand this from Latinos to others. Just you wait.
ICE is arresting thousands of people in random locations—what it calls “non-specific” or “general” areas—who had no prior contact with law enforcement: the telltale sign of illegal profiling www.cato.org/blog/1/5-ice...
One in Five ICE Arrests Are Latinos on the Streets with No Criminal Past or Removal Order
New data obtained from ICE drives home how frequently Latino immigrants are arrested off the streets without any recent prior contact with law enforcement.
www.cato.org
August 6, 2025 at 3:34 AM
This is sad and something I worry about for myself. ICE will expand this from Latinos to others. Just you wait.
Journalists need to state the facts. And this is a fact.
CNN senior reporter Matt Egan on Trump firing the BLS chief over the jobs numbers: "This would be like an NFL owner who responds to his team losing big by immediately firing the scoreboard operator."
August 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Journalists need to state the facts. And this is a fact.
I like journalists who simply state the facts.
August 4, 2025 at 2:15 PM
I like journalists who simply state the facts.
Reposted by Sanj
Just two of the 35 ranked organizations — Bloomberg and Netflix — earned an elusive star for independence. The report calls out the concentration of ownership in a few ultrawealthy hands — billionaires, private equity firms, conglomerates — and the threat that poses to democracy.
buff.ly/h1sXaX6
buff.ly/h1sXaX6
A chicken for The New York Times, a star for Bloomberg: A new “Media Capitulation Index” ranks large media and tech companies
What’s the best scale for measuring independence — or lack thereof — in 2025? The media advocacy group Free Press (not to be confused with the Bari Weiss publication by the same name) decided the…
www.niemanlab.org
July 29, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Just two of the 35 ranked organizations — Bloomberg and Netflix — earned an elusive star for independence. The report calls out the concentration of ownership in a few ultrawealthy hands — billionaires, private equity firms, conglomerates — and the threat that poses to democracy.
buff.ly/h1sXaX6
buff.ly/h1sXaX6
This was a good index. Eye opening.
According to the new "Media Capitulation Index" created by advocacy group Free Press (no, not the Bari Weiss outlet of the same name) to rate 35 major media and tech companies, only two organizations earned stars for independence: Bloomberg and Netflix.
www.freepress.net/who-owns-media
www.freepress.net/who-owns-media
Who Owns the Media
Who owns the 35 most powerful media companies in America? Learn how these giants came to dominate the U.S. media landscape through mergers, acquisition and manipulation. Free Press rates their ability...
www.freepress.net
July 30, 2025 at 6:43 AM
This was a good index. Eye opening.
Reposted by Sanj
When are media outlets going to stop reporting Trump’s claims about his “trade deals” before they actually get to see the deals in writing?
July 25, 2025 at 6:08 PM
When are media outlets going to stop reporting Trump’s claims about his “trade deals” before they actually get to see the deals in writing?
Reposted by Sanj
This.
July 26, 2025 at 12:12 PM
This.
This is sad. And this is America 2025!
For months pundits have been theorizing about what institution might finally keep the Trump agenda in check.
The courts? GOP leaders? Donors? IGs? Wall Street? Nope. Correct answer is QAnon
The courts? GOP leaders? Donors? IGs? Wall Street? Nope. Correct answer is QAnon
Lol
GOP lawmakers are canceling all their usual business -- including vote on bill to increase penalties for immigrants who enter the country illegally -- so they can get outta town before being forced to vote on releasing Epstein files www.politico.com/live-updates...
GOP lawmakers are canceling all their usual business -- including vote on bill to increase penalties for immigrants who enter the country illegally -- so they can get outta town before being forced to vote on releasing Epstein files www.politico.com/live-updates...
July 22, 2025 at 2:55 AM
This is sad. And this is America 2025!
I can’t believe that the markets are acting sanely…
all of this
It's deeply weird that people managing oceans of money still think Trump will NOT do what he clearly IS doing - imposing absurdly high tariffs on a whim. He loves doing this and no one will stop him! So why assume we'll see a sudden outbreak of sanity?
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/b...
July 15, 2025 at 3:27 AM
I can’t believe that the markets are acting sanely…
Reposted by Sanj
"On Tyranny" free resources to use and to share, now or any time
snyder.substack.com/p/on-tyranny...
snyder.substack.com/p/on-tyranny...
On Tyranny free resources
To use and to share, now or any time
snyder.substack.com
July 4, 2025 at 4:05 PM
"On Tyranny" free resources to use and to share, now or any time
snyder.substack.com/p/on-tyranny...
snyder.substack.com/p/on-tyranny...
Reposted by Sanj
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
July 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
Reposted by Sanj
This is a concentration camp
July 1, 2025 at 4:49 PM
This is a concentration camp
I am so tired of the scolds and people who simply look to nitpick. I wish life was that black and white and simple as these people make it out to be. No matter your politics, this isn’t ok.
not even a week ago some of us were talking about bsky’s problem with scolds whenever people talk about sports and hey look here’s a real live example. fuck off if you try to steal what little joy most of us have right now.
July 1, 2025 at 12:31 AM
I am so tired of the scolds and people who simply look to nitpick. I wish life was that black and white and simple as these people make it out to be. No matter your politics, this isn’t ok.
This is so true. It’s theater. Period.
June 26, 2025 at 4:49 PM
This is so true. It’s theater. Period.
Sadly many small pricks are still there….
Resisting the urge to make inappropriate puns www.wired.com/story/big-ba...
‘Big Balls’ No Longer Works for the US Government
The technologist Edward Coristine, a key operative in Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency who's gone by the name "Big Balls" online, has resigned, the White House tells WIRED.
www.wired.com
June 26, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Sadly many small pricks are still there….
People don’t understand, or refuse to understand, the meaning of soft power. And, they then squander it.
Refugees in Kenya have died at food distribution centers, officials noted, including a pregnant woman crushed to death during a stampede.
Aid workers said they expected more people to get hurt “as vulnerable households become increasingly desperate.”
Aid workers said they expected more people to get hurt “as vulnerable households become increasingly desperate.”
Death, Sexual Violence and Human Trafficking: Fallout From U.S. Aid Withdrawal Hits the World’s Most Fragile Locations
Exclusive State Department records show: As the Trump administration abandons its humanitarian commitments, diplomats are reporting that the cuts have led to violence and instability while…
www.propublica.org
June 24, 2025 at 3:06 PM
People don’t understand, or refuse to understand, the meaning of soft power. And, they then squander it.