Josh Rodríguez
@jrodstl.bsky.social
Theme park, comic book, and video game nerd
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
October 3, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
The news media call Zohran Mamdani a "democratic socialist." That's not his party affiliation – that's his ideology. So why don't the media focus on the ideology of MAGA Republicans and call them "fascists"?
June 25, 2025 at 11:12 PM
The news media call Zohran Mamdani a "democratic socialist." That's not his party affiliation – that's his ideology. So why don't the media focus on the ideology of MAGA Republicans and call them "fascists"?
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
It's worth keeping in mind, insofar as today's #SCOTUS ruling is going to put a lot of pressure on federal district courts to certify nationwide class actions, that part of why nationwide classes have become harder to certify is because of ... the Supreme Court:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-136-...
www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-136-...
Bonus 136: Nationwide Injunctions vs. Nationwide Class Actions
If those who oppose non-plaintiff-specific relief are doing so on principle and not just politics, they should support more robust nationwide class action suits against the federal government.
www.stevevladeck.com
June 27, 2025 at 2:27 PM
It's worth keeping in mind, insofar as today's #SCOTUS ruling is going to put a lot of pressure on federal district courts to certify nationwide class actions, that part of why nationwide classes have become harder to certify is because of ... the Supreme Court:
www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-136-...
www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-136-...
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
The left better start figuring out how to weaponize today's decision rather than just (rightfully) criticizing it.
- Go back into Judge Kaczmaryk's court to dissolve all of his nationwide orders.
- Pass gun bans and insist any order applies only to plaintiffs.
- Go back into Judge Kaczmaryk's court to dissolve all of his nationwide orders.
- Pass gun bans and insist any order applies only to plaintiffs.
June 27, 2025 at 2:27 PM
The left better start figuring out how to weaponize today's decision rather than just (rightfully) criticizing it.
- Go back into Judge Kaczmaryk's court to dissolve all of his nationwide orders.
- Pass gun bans and insist any order applies only to plaintiffs.
- Go back into Judge Kaczmaryk's court to dissolve all of his nationwide orders.
- Pass gun bans and insist any order applies only to plaintiffs.
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
from “student debt forgiveness is tyranny” to “the president is allowed to point at someone and have them summarily executed on the spot” in 2 years
June 27, 2025 at 2:27 PM
from “student debt forgiveness is tyranny” to “the president is allowed to point at someone and have them summarily executed on the spot” in 2 years
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
If the Supreme Court thinks universal injunctions are unconstitutional, to wait until *now* to say that, in this of all cases, with this of all presidents, is a devastating indictment of both its impartiality and its prudence.
June 27, 2025 at 2:29 PM
If the Supreme Court thinks universal injunctions are unconstitutional, to wait until *now* to say that, in this of all cases, with this of all presidents, is a devastating indictment of both its impartiality and its prudence.
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
The Supreme Court is about to go on an extended summer vacation, after having blown up the docket of every single lower court judge who has been working like a dog to deal with the firehose of illegal orders coming out of this administration.
If the Supreme Court thinks universal injunctions are unconstitutional, to wait until *now* to say that, in this of all cases, with this of all presidents, is a devastating indictment of both its impartiality and its prudence.
June 27, 2025 at 2:33 PM
The Supreme Court is about to go on an extended summer vacation, after having blown up the docket of every single lower court judge who has been working like a dog to deal with the firehose of illegal orders coming out of this administration.
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
So am I reading this court decision correctly? We now have 50 micronations with their own laws interpreting the U.S. Constitution wholly separate from one another? But there's one guy with private law enforcement who is immune from all punishment who can do whatever he wants in those 50 states?
June 27, 2025 at 2:52 PM
So am I reading this court decision correctly? We now have 50 micronations with their own laws interpreting the U.S. Constitution wholly separate from one another? But there's one guy with private law enforcement who is immune from all punishment who can do whatever he wants in those 50 states?
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
Taken as a whole, the Supreme Court has decided we should live in a smaller, crueler country where neighbors should be pitted against each other more frequently.
June 27, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Taken as a whole, the Supreme Court has decided we should live in a smaller, crueler country where neighbors should be pitted against each other more frequently.
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
It’s bad that Trump thinks he got elected Boss of America and the whole government is just his staff, but it’s much worse that a majority of the Supreme Court and the leaders of both chambers of Congress agree
June 27, 2025 at 3:16 PM
It’s bad that Trump thinks he got elected Boss of America and the whole government is just his staff, but it’s much worse that a majority of the Supreme Court and the leaders of both chambers of Congress agree
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
Lest we forget: this is the ear that was "blown off."
June 9, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Lest we forget: this is the ear that was "blown off."
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
You’ll never see ICE-Gestapo sent to MAGA owned farms and businesses or to crime hub Mar-a-Lago, there’s a reason for that.
June 9, 2025 at 4:27 AM
You’ll never see ICE-Gestapo sent to MAGA owned farms and businesses or to crime hub Mar-a-Lago, there’s a reason for that.
I’m embarrassed that he’s my representative in the Senate. I would say he’s a partisan hack, but he doesn’t believe in anything that doesn’t benefit him, regardless of which party the idea comes from.
HAWLEY: Let's see the Trump chart. You don't think it's a little bit anomalous that Trump has so many more nationwide injunctions against him?
KATE SHAW: A very plausible explanation you have to consider is that he's engaged in much more lawless activity than other presidents
KATE SHAW: A very plausible explanation you have to consider is that he's engaged in much more lawless activity than other presidents
June 3, 2025 at 9:43 PM
I’m embarrassed that he’s my representative in the Senate. I would say he’s a partisan hack, but he doesn’t believe in anything that doesn’t benefit him, regardless of which party the idea comes from.
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
What a telling exchange here.
Scholar @kateshaw.bsky.social with the analytics and the scholarship just bursting a hole in these political theatrics.
Watch the staffer's reaction.
Scholar @kateshaw.bsky.social with the analytics and the scholarship just bursting a hole in these political theatrics.
Watch the staffer's reaction.
HAWLEY: Let's see the Trump chart. You don't think it's a little bit anomalous that Trump has so many more nationwide injunctions against him?
KATE SHAW: A very plausible explanation you have to consider is that he's engaged in much more lawless activity than other presidents
KATE SHAW: A very plausible explanation you have to consider is that he's engaged in much more lawless activity than other presidents
June 3, 2025 at 8:59 PM
What a telling exchange here.
Scholar @kateshaw.bsky.social with the analytics and the scholarship just bursting a hole in these political theatrics.
Watch the staffer's reaction.
Scholar @kateshaw.bsky.social with the analytics and the scholarship just bursting a hole in these political theatrics.
Watch the staffer's reaction.
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
You have three days, starting today, to leave a public comment with the FDA about, say, why COVID-19 boosters should remain available to everyone and also free. "Individual consumer" is the category you most likely want (unless you are one of the other categories; if so, choose that).
Regulations.gov
www.regulations.gov
May 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM
You have three days, starting today, to leave a public comment with the FDA about, say, why COVID-19 boosters should remain available to everyone and also free. "Individual consumer" is the category you most likely want (unless you are one of the other categories; if so, choose that).
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
“Experts have been closely watching the variant, which is now dominant in China and is on the rise in parts of Asia. Hong Kong authorities say that rates of COVID-19 in the city have climbed to the worst levels they have seen in at least a year…”
U.S. reports cases of new COVID variant NB.1.8.1 behind surge in China
Authorities in Hong Kong say COVID-19 levels are the worst in at least a year.
www.cbsnews.com
May 23, 2025 at 1:14 AM
“Experts have been closely watching the variant, which is now dominant in China and is on the rise in parts of Asia. Hong Kong authorities say that rates of COVID-19 in the city have climbed to the worst levels they have seen in at least a year…”
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
Trump officials' showings at hearings today were disasters, but it doesn't make headlines bc the media's default assumption is that Rs are clownish rascals. But if Dems didn't know what was happening at their agencies or what habeas corpus is, it'd be front page news. This is a key media asymmetry.
May 21, 2025 at 3:32 AM
Trump officials' showings at hearings today were disasters, but it doesn't make headlines bc the media's default assumption is that Rs are clownish rascals. But if Dems didn't know what was happening at their agencies or what habeas corpus is, it'd be front page news. This is a key media asymmetry.
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
Hidden deep in the Republican tax bill is a $1.4B gift to the NRA: a repeal of the 90-year-old tax on gun silencers. Just 12 lines in a 400-page bill. A huge win for gun lobbyists and a dangerous loss for public safety. They buried it for a reason.
US Republican budget proposal has removal of gun silencer tax in its sights
U.S. Republican tax writers pushing through President Donald Trump's signature tax cut priorities proposed to eliminate a customer tax on firearm silencers, a tax potentially undoing the almost 100-year-old tax.
www.reuters.com
May 16, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Hidden deep in the Republican tax bill is a $1.4B gift to the NRA: a repeal of the 90-year-old tax on gun silencers. Just 12 lines in a 400-page bill. A huge win for gun lobbyists and a dangerous loss for public safety. They buried it for a reason.
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
Increasing revenue 25 times would make our world so, so much worse than it's already been made by ai. On an ecological level, of course, but also in every interaction we have with the internet and technology.
Some astonishing numbers in here:
-OpenAI loses $2 for every $1 it makes
-OpenAI projects annual losses of $14 billion by 2026
-To break even OpenAI needs to increase revenue 25x in just 5 years
-33% of VC portfolios are committed to AI
-5 AI-heavy stocks account for 29% of the S&P 500's value
-OpenAI loses $2 for every $1 it makes
-OpenAI projects annual losses of $14 billion by 2026
-To break even OpenAI needs to increase revenue 25x in just 5 years
-33% of VC portfolios are committed to AI
-5 AI-heavy stocks account for 29% of the S&P 500's value
Bubble Trouble
An AI bubble threatens Silicon Valley, and all of us.
prospect.org
March 25, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Increasing revenue 25 times would make our world so, so much worse than it's already been made by ai. On an ecological level, of course, but also in every interaction we have with the internet and technology.
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
Casey Means called the COVID-19 pandemic “a Darwinian moment for America.”
“Americans must build personal immunity defenses through radical changes in diet and exercise, or risk getting sick and dying,” she wrote.
This is who Donald Trump picked to be surgeon general.
“Americans must build personal immunity defenses through radical changes in diet and exercise, or risk getting sick and dying,” she wrote.
This is who Donald Trump picked to be surgeon general.
May 8, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Casey Means called the COVID-19 pandemic “a Darwinian moment for America.”
“Americans must build personal immunity defenses through radical changes in diet and exercise, or risk getting sick and dying,” she wrote.
This is who Donald Trump picked to be surgeon general.
“Americans must build personal immunity defenses through radical changes in diet and exercise, or risk getting sick and dying,” she wrote.
This is who Donald Trump picked to be surgeon general.
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
DOGE guy at the CFPB owned verboten stocks.
He was explicitly warned by ethics lawyers that he wasn’t permitted to take any action that could benefit those companies — and him.
He then helped fire workers anyway.
Including the ethics lawyers who warned him.
www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...
He was explicitly warned by ethics lawyers that he wasn’t permitted to take any action that could benefit those companies — and him.
He then helped fire workers anyway.
Including the ethics lawyers who warned him.
www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...
DOGE Aide Who Helped Gut CFPB Was Warned About Potential Conflicts of Interest
Before he helped fire most Consumer Financial Protection Bureau staffers, DOGE’s Gavin Kliger was warned about his investments and advised to not take any actions that could benefit him personally, ac...
www.propublica.org
May 7, 2025 at 10:54 AM
DOGE guy at the CFPB owned verboten stocks.
He was explicitly warned by ethics lawyers that he wasn’t permitted to take any action that could benefit those companies — and him.
He then helped fire workers anyway.
Including the ethics lawyers who warned him.
www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...
He was explicitly warned by ethics lawyers that he wasn’t permitted to take any action that could benefit those companies — and him.
He then helped fire workers anyway.
Including the ethics lawyers who warned him.
www.propublica.org/article/cfpb...
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
Some notes on the aesthetics of the second Trump term. Its accompanying artistic movement is grotesque slop. Slop for the slop god
www.404media.co/the-ai-slop-...
www.404media.co/the-ai-slop-...
The AI Slop Presidency
AI-generated outrage bait is the perfect artistic medium for a president who rules by trying to overwhelm the system.
www.404media.co
May 7, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Some notes on the aesthetics of the second Trump term. Its accompanying artistic movement is grotesque slop. Slop for the slop god
www.404media.co/the-ai-slop-...
www.404media.co/the-ai-slop-...
Reposted by Josh Rodríguez
Apparently we're the first outlet that wrote about Schmitt hiring Hochman. Google news seems to think so anyway. I haven't seen anyone else doing so. If you work at a big publication...please do try and bubble this up. Hochman is as openly a Nazi as they come. See the link for receipts.
“More prestigious outlets like National Review and the New York Times that had once gladly lent him their column space were presumably a bit more reluctant to publish his work now that what had once been implicit had become explicit.” www.liberalcurrents.com/missouri-sen...
Missouri Senator Eric Schmitt's Nazi Staffer
Nathan Hochman was fired from the DeSantis campaign for making a transparently neoNazi video featuring the Governor, and has only doubled down on his white nationalism since.
www.liberalcurrents.com
May 7, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Apparently we're the first outlet that wrote about Schmitt hiring Hochman. Google news seems to think so anyway. I haven't seen anyone else doing so. If you work at a big publication...please do try and bubble this up. Hochman is as openly a Nazi as they come. See the link for receipts.