Real Mel Valentin
@melvalentin.bsky.social
I'm here, I'm there, I'm everywhere. Writer-for-hire. SF-based film critic (Cinapse, Screen Anarchy, That Shelf). Pragmatic progressive.
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
man we should bring back the pamphlet
Hey historians 🗃️: Do you know of presses that publish short books (around 30K words / 90 pages plus notes)? I have been working on an article project that could easily turn into an great micro-history of that length, but I'm not sure it would make it to the usual full 60-90K words...
November 19, 2025 at 3:48 AM
man we should bring back the pamphlet
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Medicare for All would save $450B a year.
Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.
Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.
It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.
It’s about priorities.
Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.
Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.
It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.
It’s about priorities.
November 18, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Medicare for All would save $450B a year.
Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.
Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.
It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.
It’s about priorities.
Every dollar spent on food stamps generates $1.50-$1.80 in economic activity.
Each dollar going to low-wage workers adds $1.20 to the economy overall.
It’s not about what this country can or can’t afford.
It’s about priorities.
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Sadly, she's every Trump voter: Someone who, wittingly or unwittingly, voted for their own abuser.
Epstein survivor Jena-Lisa Jones: "Trump really ran his campaign on this. This is why I voted for him. The release of these files has been so important for me for so long that when he run on that, I really had some hope that someone would do something about it."
November 19, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Sadly, she's every Trump voter: Someone who, wittingly or unwittingly, voted for their own abuser.
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Despicable.
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 19, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Despicable.
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
If the President can impose his own taxes and use the proceeds to spend on his own projects, all without Congress, we have a dictatorship not a constitutional republic.
BREAKING: Deputy White House Chief of Staff James Blair said the administration is eyeing ways to give millions of Americans $2,000 dividend checks from tariff revenue without congressional approval, per Bloomberg.
November 19, 2025 at 2:46 AM
If the President can impose his own taxes and use the proceeds to spend on his own projects, all without Congress, we have a dictatorship not a constitutional republic.
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
So you mistakenly dismembered a journalist?
MBS claims the murder of Khashoggi was "a huge mistake and we're our doing our best that this doesn't happen again."
November 18, 2025 at 6:12 PM
So you mistakenly dismembered a journalist?
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
New — I wrote about the myriad ways journalism’s moral rot manifests, and how our crumbling institutions have created the conditions for it to fester:
Moral rot in elite journalism is killing the whole field
The Nuzzi/RFK Jr. mess and the revelation of Esptein's journo pals lay bare a profound moral absence at the heart of our free press.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 18, 2025 at 10:03 PM
New — I wrote about the myriad ways journalism’s moral rot manifests, and how our crumbling institutions have created the conditions for it to fester:
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
i will kind of accept this from some random person who barely pays attention. ben shapiro though? he's just lying
Ben Shapiro: “When the president said deport all the illegal immigrants, I never thought that he meant that literally”
November 18, 2025 at 7:41 PM
i will kind of accept this from some random person who barely pays attention. ben shapiro though? he's just lying
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia and current de-facto ruler of that kingdom, whose word is law and power is unquestioned, is visibly like “whoah dude, dial down the authoritarian thing a bit”
Q: Why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now?
TRUMP: It's not the question that I mind. It's your attitude. I think you're a terrible reporter. It's the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who's highly respected asking him an insubordinate question
TRUMP: It's not the question that I mind. It's your attitude. I think you're a terrible reporter. It's the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who's highly respected asking him an insubordinate question
November 18, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, heir to the throne of Saudi Arabia and current de-facto ruler of that kingdom, whose word is law and power is unquestioned, is visibly like “whoah dude, dial down the authoritarian thing a bit”
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Elon Musk’s new pay package could amount to $100B per year.
That's the same as 3.2 million cashiers’ paychecks combined.
It’s more than 1.4 million elementary school teachers’ paychecks.
It’s more than 2 million janitors’ paychecks.
Billionaire greed is out of control.
That's the same as 3.2 million cashiers’ paychecks combined.
It’s more than 1.4 million elementary school teachers’ paychecks.
It’s more than 2 million janitors’ paychecks.
Billionaire greed is out of control.
November 18, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Elon Musk’s new pay package could amount to $100B per year.
That's the same as 3.2 million cashiers’ paychecks combined.
It’s more than 1.4 million elementary school teachers’ paychecks.
It’s more than 2 million janitors’ paychecks.
Billionaire greed is out of control.
That's the same as 3.2 million cashiers’ paychecks combined.
It’s more than 1.4 million elementary school teachers’ paychecks.
It’s more than 2 million janitors’ paychecks.
Billionaire greed is out of control.
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
This is bullshit! What are the charges?
📌 Border Patrol arrested two women for allegedly honking their car horn to alert others of the agents’ presence
📌 Border Patrol arrested two women for allegedly honking their car horn to alert others of the agents’ presence
November 18, 2025 at 7:43 AM
This is bullshit! What are the charges?
📌 Border Patrol arrested two women for allegedly honking their car horn to alert others of the agents’ presence
📌 Border Patrol arrested two women for allegedly honking their car horn to alert others of the agents’ presence
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
November 18, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
A reminder that seven years ago almost to the day, the CIA determined that Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the killing of @washingtonpost.com journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
CIA concludes Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi’s assassination
Audio recordings, intercepted phone calls and other intelligence link Mohammed bin Salman to killing that Saudis say was conducted by rogue elements.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
A reminder that seven years ago almost to the day, the CIA determined that Mohammed Bin Salman ordered the killing of @washingtonpost.com journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
I hired and worked with Jamal for a year.
www.washingtonpost.com/world/nation...
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
this would have been a month-long scandal in 2011
President Trump walking past the flag at the Whitehouse which has fallen to the ground
November 18, 2025 at 12:38 AM
this would have been a month-long scandal in 2011
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
You don't often see this at the end of a whistleblower story:
November 18, 2025 at 1:01 AM
You don't often see this at the end of a whistleblower story:
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Whoever came up with these tariffs in the first place should be fired.
November 17, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Whoever came up with these tariffs in the first place should be fired.
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
I think Americans are realizing that democracy is a participation sport, and the the government is ours if we want it to be. I feel like we got complacent and hoped some other third party would do the work for us. Seems like we have to learn that lesson every generation.
November 18, 2025 at 3:19 AM
I think Americans are realizing that democracy is a participation sport, and the the government is ours if we want it to be. I feel like we got complacent and hoped some other third party would do the work for us. Seems like we have to learn that lesson every generation.
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Checkmate, Mr. President
November 17, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Checkmate, Mr. President
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Yesterday, a Republican tried to give me holy water and Trump perfume because I’m “demonic.”
Extremely normal stuff coming from an extremely normal party.
Extremely normal stuff coming from an extremely normal party.
November 17, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Yesterday, a Republican tried to give me holy water and Trump perfume because I’m “demonic.”
Extremely normal stuff coming from an extremely normal party.
Extremely normal stuff coming from an extremely normal party.
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
i'd say it did. the public put a group of thieves, vandals and extremists in office last november and they promptly went about destroying everything that might work to limit their ability to loot, steal and inflicting pain on the people they hate
This whole NYT account about the weaponization of DOJ is beyond disturbing. Kinda feels like the US government fell in January.
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
November 17, 2025 at 2:19 PM
i'd say it did. the public put a group of thieves, vandals and extremists in office last november and they promptly went about destroying everything that might work to limit their ability to loot, steal and inflicting pain on the people they hate
Reposted by Real Mel Valentin
In 2020, Trump signed legislation to create a report on combating the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous people. Now, the Trump administration removed the report and said it violates Trump’s anti-DEI executive order
oklahomawatch.org/2025/11/14/t...
oklahomawatch.org/2025/11/14/t...
Trump Administration Removes Report on Missing and Murdered Native Americans, Calling It DEI Content - Oklahoma Watch
The Trump administration removed a congressionally mandated report on missing and murdered Native Americans from the DOJ website, citing compliance with an executive order against DEI. Senators who ch...
oklahomawatch.org
November 17, 2025 at 9:37 AM
In 2020, Trump signed legislation to create a report on combating the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous people. Now, the Trump administration removed the report and said it violates Trump’s anti-DEI executive order
oklahomawatch.org/2025/11/14/t...
oklahomawatch.org/2025/11/14/t...