Nick
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npadiak.bsky.social
Nick
@npadiak.bsky.social
Be excellent to each other.

Rogers Park, Chicago
A fun wrinkle in the “Conservatives are the obvious villains in every story” thing:

Sometimes it’s tough to discern whether conservatives are being ironic trolls about “This villain was actually the hero hur-hur” thing or whether they actually BELIEVE that, say, Gaston (or Jessep) was right.
Coming as a shock to zero people, Megyn Kelly thinks Nathan Jessep is the hero of the movie. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/o... (h/t @pastpunditry.bsky.social)
December 16, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Conservatives are the obvious villains in every story, part 413
The Trump administration is letting bosses get away with rampant wage theft.

Penalties for bosses who break wage and hour laws has fallen a staggering 94% during the second Trump administration.

Workplace health and safety penalties have also dropped 45%.

goodjobsfirst.org/worker-prote...
Worker Protections in Freefall: The Collapse of Federal Labor Enforcement under the Second Trump Administration - Good Jobs First
Worker Protections in Freefall: The Collapse of Federal Labor Enforcement under the Second Trump Administration - Good Jobs First
goodjobsfirst.org
December 16, 2025 at 4:28 PM
To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Folks, would you believe me if I told you JD Vance was over there railing against the immigrants as the reason for the antisemitism
December 16, 2025 at 12:28 AM
December 15, 2025 at 11:49 PM
One of my favorite questions: If you could only watch three films for the rest of your life but they all had to be from the same director, who is the director and what are the movies?

My answer has always been Rob Reiner:
1. The Princess Bride
2. When Harry Met Sally …
3. The American President
December 15, 2025 at 7:03 AM
Reposted by Nick
It is impossible to overstate how accurately this book predicted the rise of a certain type of guy
December 14, 2025 at 12:37 AM
I think this is true AND I do not think these voters deserve a pass for it.

They were (numerical) adults who could and should have learned that this was exactly what they were voting for. It was out in the open for anyone who cared to take responsibility for informing themselves before voting.
This is what I mean when I say very few people knew what they were voting for in 2024. No one knew Laura Loomer would control national security. No one knew Stephen Miller would effectively be president.
December 13, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Conservatives are the obvious villains in every story, part 168
December 12, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Conservatives are the obvious villains in every story, part 90
The U.S. House approved a measure overturning President Trump’s executive order eliminating union rights at federal agencies, but it is unlikely to pass the Senate because Republicans largely oppose it.
House votes to repeal Trump order ending union rights at federal agencies
Twenty-two Republicans joined with Democrats to overturn the order, but it faces steep odds in the Senate.
wapo.st
December 11, 2025 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by Nick
Note: Trump's plummeting rating on the economy has pierced the crucial Darwin Threshhold...the point at which his approval rating on handling the economy (31 percent) is actually lower than the number of Americans who do not believe in evolution (33-37 percent), the once solid core of Trump support.
There's still room to drop further. "Trump’s handling of the economy is at its lowest point in AP-NORC polling" apnews.com/article/trum...

With CUSMA negotiations w/Canada & Mexico, as well as the renewal of the one-year tariff truce w/China in 2026, expect more market-moving new tariffs next year.
Trump's handling of the economy is at its lowest point in AP-NORC polling
A new AP-NORC poll finds President Donald Trump’s approval on the economy has fallen substantially since he reentered the White House.
apnews.com
December 11, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Occam’s racism strikes again!
Racism.

The answer is racism.
December 11, 2025 at 5:40 PM
This is, of course, fucking infuriating. But removing emotions, it’s also an important example of who has (and is given) a voice in media.

Endless caterwauling before from debt-collecting, ladder-pulling assholes across media. No megaphone now for young(ish), not-wealthy loan holders.
The delta between what Biden did and how much anger he got for it and the absolute crickets Trump has gotten for making the student loan landscape *magnitudes worse than it was before* is absolutely one of the most enraging things about this entirely enraging era.
Congrats again to the people who continuously said Biden did nothing about student loans for four years! www.cnbc.com/2025/12/09/s...
December 10, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Reposted by Nick
We used to be a proper country
December 8, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Reposted by Nick
It's like recognizing that the old-time sense of "begs the question" is irrevocably poisoned but still declining to use its newerfangled definition.

4/2
December 6, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Conservatives are the obvious villains in every story, part 741 (“Christmas Vacation”) and 742 (“A Christmas Carol”)
It is crazy to me that a good chunk of the American populace love Christmas movies, but apparently only for the lights and movements on screen as they take not even a moment to reflect on the message most of them convey. Hell, “A Christmas Carol” is basically socialist propaganda.
More and more are saying Christmas Vacation is a Marxist critique of capitalism badfaithtimes.com/christmas-va...
December 6, 2025 at 4:17 PM
And yet!

These voters, who are all numerically adults and who have full access to information that showed this vaccine shit was for sure gonna happen, chose Trump anyway.

So, yes, they DID vote for this.
Timely: Did Americans vote in 2024 for major changes to vaccine policy? No.

Only 3% picked vaccines as a top 3 issue in the election.

Our just-published research letter in @jamahealthforum.com

jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...
December 5, 2025 at 5:38 PM
But you’ve gotta remember: A carton of eggs was marginally more expensive around election time, so folks just HAD to vote for this.
This regressive move will literally kill people. It's making kids' liver cancer great again. And it's a sign of more harm to come.

CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine www.statnews.com/2025/12/05/c... via @statnews.com
CDC panel recommends delaying birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine
The CDC's ACIP panel voted to recommend delaying the birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine, ending a policy that has reined in the virus.
www.statnews.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Nick
when someone tells me not to use em dashes because AI uses em dashes
November 30, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Remember when she was recorded saying “Who gives a fuck about Christmas?” and how that would’ve been a “scandal” your racist uncle still crowed about if Michelle Obama had said it?
In her first holiday back in charge of White House decor, First Lady Melania Trump presented a straightforward, understated look. The decorations include ample ribbon and LEGO portraits of Presidents Trump and George Washington.
https://wapo.st/4pHght1
December 1, 2025 at 4:56 PM
“Some fascists are more equal than others.”
November 29, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Nick
"How do I deal with my conservative relatives at Thanksgiving dinner?"

Baby, your uncle isn't a conservative. He just doesn't like black people. That's a racist.
November 26, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Reposted by Nick
"one of, if not the, best books

You gotta stop doing that.
November 28, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reposted by Nick
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
On one hand, yes, obviously this is/should be a massive story.

On the other, I understand news orgs’ dilemma: News is NEW and while this is an escalation in rhetoric, it’s one of degree, not kind, so it may not count as “new”—at least not to readers, whose attention these orgs need to survive.
NEW: Just the President calling for the execution of his political opponents.

Watch absolutely zero front pages cover this tomorrow.
November 20, 2025 at 4:19 PM
See, what these Chardonnay liberals don’t understand is that, while Trump was very explicit about his plans to wreck the climate and kill lots of people, the price of eggs was up by, like, 18%, and the two people who lost to him were icky lady-types.

So, ya know, the choice was clear.
All the VSPs decided that we can't talk about climate any more, and the entire climate establishment pathetically acceded, nonetheless: climate change is still very real! And Trump is going to rack up Holocaust-style numbers with his anti-climate policies.
Trump’s Anti-Green Agenda Could Lead to 1.3 Million More Climate Deaths. The Poorest Countries Will Be Impacted Most.
Most of the people expected to suffer these temperature-related deaths live in poor countries in Africa and South Asia that are least prepared to cope with the increasing heat from climate change.
www.propublica.org
November 19, 2025 at 9:04 PM