Mark Gilbert
@jmarkgilbert.bsky.social
Retired software developer. VITA tax-prep volunteer. Occasional poll worker. Democrat. Minnesotan. Siberian husky walker.
I'm ashamed. My county is treating people like sh*t.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o...
Opinion | ‘The System Is Meant to Break You’: What ICE Is Doing to People Here Legally
www.nytimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:32 PM
I'm ashamed. My county is treating people like sh*t.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/o...
This administration is pro-corruption, pro-sex trafficking, pro-tax-cheat, etc., etc.
www.propublica.org/article/andr...
www.propublica.org/article/andr...
The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation
Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.
www.propublica.org
November 19, 2025 at 9:49 PM
This administration is pro-corruption, pro-sex trafficking, pro-tax-cheat, etc., etc.
www.propublica.org/article/andr...
www.propublica.org/article/andr...
I'm ashamed of what my country is doing. Due process protects us all, but it is being denied.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/o...
Opinion | We Came Here Legally. ICE Locked Us Up Anyway.
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 3:24 PM
I'm ashamed of what my country is doing. Due process protects us all, but it is being denied.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/o...
Cool episode of Linguistic Discovery about guacamole.
linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/p/guacamole
linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/p/guacamole
guacamole = avocado sauce
Where do the words “avocado” and “guacamole” come from?
linguisticdiscovery.substack.com
July 29, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Cool episode of Linguistic Discovery about guacamole.
linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/p/guacamole
linguisticdiscovery.substack.com/p/guacamole
Trump Defunds Effective Crime-Prevention Policies
open.substack.com/pub/brennanc...
open.substack.com/pub/brennanc...
Trump Defunds Effective Crime-Prevention Policies
Misguided budget cuts could reverse encouraging crime trends.
open.substack.com
July 23, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Trump Defunds Effective Crime-Prevention Policies
open.substack.com/pub/brennanc...
open.substack.com/pub/brennanc...
The arrests and deportations Vang describes are both immoral and just plain bad governance. This is not making our country better.
www.startribune.com/mn-ice-depor...
www.startribune.com/mn-ice-depor...
Vang: Deporting these Hmong men isn’t justice — it’s a failure of America’s promise
"I am asking you to reject the idea that immigrants are welcome to do America’s dirty work but are not allowed to call this country home when peace comes," Ka Vang writes.
www.startribune.com
July 18, 2025 at 12:18 PM
The arrests and deportations Vang describes are both immoral and just plain bad governance. This is not making our country better.
www.startribune.com/mn-ice-depor...
www.startribune.com/mn-ice-depor...
A good way for us YIMBYs to think about NIMBYs.
open.substack.com/pub/thedelet...
open.substack.com/pub/thedelet...
"This Town Is Great, Why Would Anyone Want To Live Here?"
Urbanism as localism that isn't obstructionism
open.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 2:35 PM
A good way for us YIMBYs to think about NIMBYs.
open.substack.com/pub/thedelet...
open.substack.com/pub/thedelet...
RFK Jr. guts the U.S. vaccine policy committee
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
RFK Jr. guts the U.S. vaccine policy committee
The system is becoming unrecognizable.
open.substack.com
June 10, 2025 at 3:35 PM
RFK Jr. guts the U.S. vaccine policy committee
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
Immigration is not an "invasion", nor should it be
www.noahpinion.blog/p/immigratio...
www.noahpinion.blog/p/immigratio...
Immigration is not an "invasion", nor should it be
The far right and the far left both want you to think that the purpose of immigration is to overthrow America. Don't let them get away with it.
www.noahpinion.blog
June 10, 2025 at 1:41 AM
Immigration is not an "invasion", nor should it be
www.noahpinion.blog/p/immigratio...
www.noahpinion.blog/p/immigratio...
MAGA’s War on Science
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
MAGA’s War on Science
Why do these people believe that ignorance is strength?
open.substack.com
May 2, 2025 at 3:53 PM
MAGA’s War on Science
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
Cuts to the IRS cost us more in revenue than they save. But, even beyond that, it's a moral good to collect taxes that are owed.
Trump is crippling the tax police www.slowboring.com/p/trump-is-c...
Trump is crippling the tax police www.slowboring.com/p/trump-is-c...
Trump is crippling the tax police
The dire consequences of a decline in voluntary compliance
www.slowboring.com
April 25, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Cuts to the IRS cost us more in revenue than they save. But, even beyond that, it's a moral good to collect taxes that are owed.
Trump is crippling the tax police www.slowboring.com/p/trump-is-c...
Trump is crippling the tax police www.slowboring.com/p/trump-is-c...
The administration's anti-science and anti-government tendencies undo any good that might have come from their legit concerns. Kennedy should have been supporting his work, not undermining him.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/w...
Leading Nutrition Scientist Departs N.I.H., Citing Censorship (Gift Article)
Kevin Hall said his work on ultraprocessed foods has been “hobbled” under the Trump administration. Scientists have been raising such concerns for months.
www.nytimes.com
April 18, 2025 at 12:23 AM
The administration's anti-science and anti-government tendencies undo any good that might have come from their legit concerns. Kennedy should have been supporting his work, not undermining him.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/w...
Reposted by Mark Gilbert
If this is the effect of walking back some of his economic program, just imagine the prosperity he could unleash if he abandoned all of it!
April 9, 2025 at 9:11 PM
If this is the effect of walking back some of his economic program, just imagine the prosperity he could unleash if he abandoned all of it!
Noah Smith gives the details about why Trump's tariffs are bad.
All the arguments for tariffs are wrong and bad www.noahpinion.blog/p/all-the-ar...
All the arguments for tariffs are wrong and bad www.noahpinion.blog/p/all-the-ar...
All the arguments for tariffs are wrong and bad
Trump's defenders are flailing.
www.noahpinion.blog
April 9, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Noah Smith gives the details about why Trump's tariffs are bad.
All the arguments for tariffs are wrong and bad www.noahpinion.blog/p/all-the-ar...
All the arguments for tariffs are wrong and bad www.noahpinion.blog/p/all-the-ar...
If only there was some way for the President to get advice from experts BEFORE doing something stupid...
Stocks Surge as Trump Announces a Delay to Global Tariffs www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/b...
Stocks Surge as Trump Announces a Delay to Global Tariffs www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/b...
Stocks Surge as Trump Announces a Delay to Global Tariffs
The S&P 500 spiked, showing investors’ relief to President Trump’s decision to pause high tariffs for most countries, except for China.
www.nytimes.com
April 9, 2025 at 7:24 PM
If only there was some way for the President to get advice from experts BEFORE doing something stupid...
Stocks Surge as Trump Announces a Delay to Global Tariffs www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/b...
Stocks Surge as Trump Announces a Delay to Global Tariffs www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/b...
Reposted by Mark Gilbert
This essay illustrates how the loudest proponents of “free speech culture” have contributed to normalizing state censorship. Read it. Some key points:
/1
/1
"Mr. Weiner is the president of Assumption University"
Remarkably, no part of the byline is a euphemism.
Remarkably, no part of the byline is a euphemism.
Opinion | Colleges Have to Be Much More Honest With Themselves
To rebuild trust and resist interference, universities must look within.
www.nytimes.com
March 30, 2025 at 8:17 PM
This essay illustrates how the loudest proponents of “free speech culture” have contributed to normalizing state censorship. Read it. Some key points:
/1
/1
Threats to public health at every angle
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
Threats to public health at every angle
Covid anniversary, pandemic revisionism, chronic diseases, and a boulder going down the hill
open.substack.com
March 28, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Threats to public health at every angle
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
open.substack.com/pub/yourloca...
Reposted by Mark Gilbert
As always, not a lawyer, but one thing that leaps out at me about how things are going down in the courts right now is that the US court system is not designed to be responsive to a crisis like this one. A crisis like this one is not what it's FOR.
March 19, 2025 at 8:49 PM
As always, not a lawyer, but one thing that leaps out at me about how things are going down in the courts right now is that the US court system is not designed to be responsive to a crisis like this one. A crisis like this one is not what it's FOR.
Reposted by Mark Gilbert
Patricia Bauman died a year ago.
ActBlue is a payment processor. Almost anyone who’s given to a D candidate in the last 20 years could be mischaracterized as a “ActBlue funder.”
Listing five Jews, two of whom are long dead, as “ActBlue funders” secretly behind the Tesla protests is antisemitism.
ActBlue is a payment processor. Almost anyone who’s given to a D candidate in the last 20 years could be mischaracterized as a “ActBlue funder.”
Listing five Jews, two of whom are long dead, as “ActBlue funders” secretly behind the Tesla protests is antisemitism.
Musk is blaming "Herbert Sandler," among others, for secretly financing the protests and Tesla dealerships over the last few weeks.
Sandler died in 2019.
Sandler died in 2019.
March 9, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Patricia Bauman died a year ago.
ActBlue is a payment processor. Almost anyone who’s given to a D candidate in the last 20 years could be mischaracterized as a “ActBlue funder.”
Listing five Jews, two of whom are long dead, as “ActBlue funders” secretly behind the Tesla protests is antisemitism.
ActBlue is a payment processor. Almost anyone who’s given to a D candidate in the last 20 years could be mischaracterized as a “ActBlue funder.”
Listing five Jews, two of whom are long dead, as “ActBlue funders” secretly behind the Tesla protests is antisemitism.
Reposted by Mark Gilbert
I just don’t understand why some people are “meh”.
March 10, 2025 at 2:22 AM
I just don’t understand why some people are “meh”.
Weekend Update #123: The Week The USA Started Killing Ukrainians
open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Weekend Update #123: The Week The USA Started Killing Ukrainians
Part 1: The Trump Plan to Damage Ukraine and Help Russia
open.substack.com
March 8, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Weekend Update #123: The Week The USA Started Killing Ukrainians
open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
I'm starting to feel some of this.
wapo.st/41EtPw4
wapo.st/41EtPw4
Opinion | Gentle is the joy that comes with age
It turns out the point of life is gratitude. And gratitude is joy.
wapo.st
March 2, 2025 at 7:52 PM
I'm starting to feel some of this.
wapo.st/41EtPw4
wapo.st/41EtPw4