Stephen
@sppz.bsky.social
Family man, music lover, eMPA student, (former?) bike commuter, hiker, public servant, music lover, poetry lover, public library fan, thinker, left-handed. He/him/his. Opinions are my own.
Good AOTY list from one of this little corner of the Internet’s finest listeners. As always, so much to discover within for me.
hey guys I posted my AOTY 2025 list. optimisticunderground.com/2025/12/15/1...
December 30, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Good AOTY list from one of this little corner of the Internet’s finest listeners. As always, so much to discover within for me.
Reposted by Stephen
This is an incredible LIE being told by the guy that manages the agency that oversees the ACA. It's obscene how easily, how frequently and how dramatically these Trump folks lie to us.
✅Fact check from the extremely reliable @kff.org (& no, KFF did not retract this.)
✅Fact check from the extremely reliable @kff.org (& no, KFF did not retract this.)
October 30, 2025 at 12:27 AM
This is an incredible LIE being told by the guy that manages the agency that oversees the ACA. It's obscene how easily, how frequently and how dramatically these Trump folks lie to us.
✅Fact check from the extremely reliable @kff.org (& no, KFF did not retract this.)
✅Fact check from the extremely reliable @kff.org (& no, KFF did not retract this.)
Age verification? When I bought my first computer, they tried to upsell me to 8MB of RAM at the store.
Age verification? I *upgraded* to a Commodore 64.
Age verification? Saw Young MC open for the Fine Young Cannibals.
July 30, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Age verification? When I bought my first computer, they tried to upsell me to 8MB of RAM at the store.
Love the closing line tonight. Thanks, as always, for the cogent and clarifying recap of events, @hcrichardson.bsky.social.
June 9, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Love the closing line tonight. Thanks, as always, for the cogent and clarifying recap of events, @hcrichardson.bsky.social.
Momma’s new album is good! At number 2 on this list is a pleasant surprise. Nice to see the new Caroline album noted, as well as Horsegirl—both are also standout albums to me, so far this year.
June 2, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Momma’s new album is good! At number 2 on this list is a pleasant surprise. Nice to see the new Caroline album noted, as well as Horsegirl—both are also standout albums to me, so far this year.
@wired.com has been doing great reporting on the technocratic aspects of the present administration.
SCOOP: Sahil Lavingia, who says he was fired from DOGE after speaking out about his experiences there, told WIRED about how he communicated with the group, who appears to be in charge, and what might be coming next.
WIRED Talked to a Fired DOGE Staffer About Who Was Really in Charge
Sahil Lavingia, who says he was fired from DOGE after speaking out about his experiences there, told WIRED about how he communicated with the group, who appears to be in charge, and what might be comi...
www.wired.com
May 30, 2025 at 2:21 PM
@wired.com has been doing great reporting on the technocratic aspects of the present administration.
@propublica.org, going the extra lengths for the good, accurate story, yet again.
THREAD: We recently heard that the Trump administration was leaning on the government of Gambia to help Elon Musk. For weeks, our team made phone calls, wrote letters and knocked on folks’ doors to try to confirm it. But we were stuck.
So our reporters got on a plane to Banjul. 1/
So our reporters got on a plane to Banjul. 1/
May 16, 2025 at 3:34 AM
@propublica.org, going the extra lengths for the good, accurate story, yet again.
Proud of my Senator for not getting spun around my this wildly circular response pattern.
MERKLEY: Are you gonna launch an investigation of the reported violation of the due process of several hundred people?
P: It is not for me to call the balls & strikes
M: You haven't read the Constitution? It says 'all persons'...it concerns me you're not familiar w/the core concept of due process
P: It is not for me to call the balls & strikes
M: You haven't read the Constitution? It says 'all persons'...it concerns me you're not familiar w/the core concept of due process
May 8, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Proud of my Senator for not getting spun around my this wildly circular response pattern.
Reposted by Stephen
Name a non-fictional person who could carry the One Ring, uncorrupted, all the way to Mordor
May 2, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Name a non-fictional person who could carry the One Ring, uncorrupted, all the way to Mordor
Movie you’ve watched more than 6 times using GIFs.
(“Hard mode”: no Star Wars, Star Trek, or LOTR.)
(“Hard mode”: no Star Wars, Star Trek, or LOTR.)
April 26, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Movie you’ve watched more than 6 times using GIFs.
(“Hard mode”: no Star Wars, Star Trek, or LOTR.)
(“Hard mode”: no Star Wars, Star Trek, or LOTR.)
As he was falling asleep tonight, my five-year-old asked me, “Dad, who is our mayor? Like, the president, but for our city.”
I told him the name of our mayor. Then he asked me, “Dad, is Trumps going to hurt us?”
Why is my 5yr old asking this second question??
I told him the name of our mayor. Then he asked me, “Dad, is Trumps going to hurt us?”
Why is my 5yr old asking this second question??
April 18, 2025 at 7:20 AM
As he was falling asleep tonight, my five-year-old asked me, “Dad, who is our mayor? Like, the president, but for our city.”
I told him the name of our mayor. Then he asked me, “Dad, is Trumps going to hurt us?”
Why is my 5yr old asking this second question??
I told him the name of our mayor. Then he asked me, “Dad, is Trumps going to hurt us?”
Why is my 5yr old asking this second question??
This was my thinking upon hearing the news of his breaking the floor speech time record.
In his 1957 filibuster, Strom Thurmond said "Negroes ... are not so well qualified to vote as are the white people.”
A Black senator just broke the record Thurmond set with that speech.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cory-bo...
A Black senator just broke the record Thurmond set with that speech.
talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cory-bo...
Cory Booker Just Gave The Longest Speech In The History of The US Senate
Only two men have spoken on the floor of the U.S. Senate...
talkingpointsmemo.com
April 2, 2025 at 3:19 AM
This was my thinking upon hearing the news of his breaking the floor speech time record.
@wired.com really has some great reporting going on in these present times.
NEW: DOGE is trying to gift itself a building worth $500 million, court filings show. It's the culmination of a dramatic battle between DOGE and the United States Institute of Peace, a Congressionally funded think tank. www.wired.com/story/doge-t...
DOGE Is Trying to Gift Itself a $500 Million Building, Court Filings Show
The documents reveal a DOGE affiliate is attempting to transfer the headquarters of an independent think tank, the United States Institute of Peace, to the government at no cost.
www.wired.com
April 1, 2025 at 4:59 AM
@wired.com really has some great reporting going on in these present times.
Love love love this album and the one before it, ‘Imperial f.f.r.r.’. Complex, dynamic, cyclical indie rock with minimalist vibes and great melodies. Looking forward to receiving my 2LP reissue soon.
This is so great. I love that Robinson hired producer Brian Paulson because of Gastr del Sol's "The Serpentine Similar" -- what a connection! (Also tickled to see a Crispy Ambulance reference.)
Asked Mark Robinson of UNREST about intuitive set-lists, the origins of “Cath Carroll,” sleeping where Nirvana slept and three decades of “Perfect Teeth”
wapo.st/4iTT0As
wapo.st/4iTT0As
March 19, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Love love love this album and the one before it, ‘Imperial f.f.r.r.’. Complex, dynamic, cyclical indie rock with minimalist vibes and great melodies. Looking forward to receiving my 2LP reissue soon.
Follow/be aware of the trusted and experienced voice.
Every person on Bluesky should know:
* Every post on Bluesky is PUBLIC forever
* Every post on Bluesky is archived by ICE, NSA, and many other agencies
* Even if you delete a post, it’s already been captured
* Judges don’t care if you were “kidding” or being ironic
www.404media.co/the-200-site...
* Every post on Bluesky is PUBLIC forever
* Every post on Bluesky is archived by ICE, NSA, and many other agencies
* Even if you delete a post, it’s already been captured
* Judges don’t care if you were “kidding” or being ironic
www.404media.co/the-200-site...
March 16, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Follow/be aware of the trusted and experienced voice.
@joycewhitevance.bsky.social — ask me about this, from one Bobcat to another.
1/ Musk says he’s dead but he isn’t. Social Security clawed back 2 months of benefits & haven’t sent more. “He called Social Security 2 or 3 times a day for two weeks, with each call put on hold and then eventually disconnected.” Finally he went down in person www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...
I found a ‘dead’ person on Social Security in Seattle
“Dead” Ned Johnson turns out to be very much alive. It took him weeks to convince the system he was breathing and to start clawing his benefits back.
www.seattletimes.com
March 16, 2025 at 5:53 AM
@joycewhitevance.bsky.social — ask me about this, from one Bobcat to another.
100% Gemini behavior — wants things both ways.
For all the TRUMP = STRONG propaganda this is *exactly* what his “leadership” was like in Covid. Constant zigging and zagging, self-contradictory, incapable of commitment, wanting to have it both ways. It was a disaster!
This is what weak, flailing leadership looks like. His inability to make meaningful change in areas like this explains the desperate, authoritarian bluster of his largely illegal Executive Orders. This is the sort of leader who opposing politicians should definitely NOT cater to.
March 6, 2025 at 8:45 PM
100% Gemini behavior — wants things both ways.
I’ve recently been seeing some summaries of the 1994 Trilateral Process between US-Ukraine-Russia re Ukrainian nuclear stockpile and missle treaty follow-thru in the aftermath of the downfall of USSR in 1991. I don’t recall reading this important historical context in the past 6 years /1
March 2, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I’ve recently been seeing some summaries of the 1994 Trilateral Process between US-Ukraine-Russia re Ukrainian nuclear stockpile and missle treaty follow-thru in the aftermath of the downfall of USSR in 1991. I don’t recall reading this important historical context in the past 6 years /1
Machete method—just hacking away and leaving incredibly crude edges.
Trump Is Breaking Things First And Trusting That Congress, Courts Will Get On Board Later talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-i...
Trump Is Breaking Things First And Trusting That Congress, Courts Will Get On Board Later
For recent presidents armed with congressional trifectas, the beginning of a term...
talkingpointsmemo.com
February 24, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Machete method—just hacking away and leaving incredibly crude edges.
This is the way.
Katherine Clark: "We just see cowardice. We just see them bowing to Trump, bowing to the fear Elon Musk will fund a primary opponent for them. Is there any red line that they won't cross? Is there anything that they won't give from their constituents to the billionaire class bc Trump told them so."
February 24, 2025 at 4:49 PM
This is the way.
Interesting interview. Always helpful to listen to (and consider!) voices outside your own conversation.
February 22, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Interesting interview. Always helpful to listen to (and consider!) voices outside your own conversation.
This excellent thread is also a bit of Oregon political history in disguise. Now representing OR CD-1: @repbonamici.bsky.social
🧵 I went to work in Congress with a Member who was raised in South Africa and part of the anti-apartheid movement. She taught me how to optimize the power of the opposition in the House. Like the trimtab on the rudder, members can steer the ship. Here are the six R's of minority power.
February 22, 2025 at 6:13 PM
This excellent thread is also a bit of Oregon political history in disguise. Now representing OR CD-1: @repbonamici.bsky.social
Great, wonky thread of how things work (or are supposed to work).
OMB director Russ Vought has officially begun carrying out his section of Project 2025.
Technical thread to follow, but it’s really important - this is a major path through which the Trump administration will illegally impound funding, refusing to carry out some of our spending laws.
Technical thread to follow, but it’s really important - this is a major path through which the Trump administration will illegally impound funding, refusing to carry out some of our spending laws.
February 21, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Great, wonky thread of how things work (or are supposed to work).
This is the message: “Weak and Afraid.”
This is how Congressional Republicans are acting in their abdication of duties to check the Executive Branch.
This is how the Executive Branch is acting in their roughshod deforestation of various federal agencies and of the federal government workforce.
This is how Congressional Republicans are acting in their abdication of duties to check the Executive Branch.
This is how the Executive Branch is acting in their roughshod deforestation of various federal agencies and of the federal government workforce.
Goldman: "My Republican colleagues are so weak and afraid of Donald Trump that they're willing to undermine their own constitutional authority just to please them. You're giving away your own power in fealty to Donald Trump."
February 12, 2025 at 7:35 PM
This is the message: “Weak and Afraid.”
This is how Congressional Republicans are acting in their abdication of duties to check the Executive Branch.
This is how the Executive Branch is acting in their roughshod deforestation of various federal agencies and of the federal government workforce.
This is how Congressional Republicans are acting in their abdication of duties to check the Executive Branch.
This is how the Executive Branch is acting in their roughshod deforestation of various federal agencies and of the federal government workforce.
Somehow, I entirely missed the existence of Balmat, a new-ish record label from the inimitable @philipsherburne.bsky.social (and friends). Then I stumbled onto this release and I’m totally blown away by the release and the several others in their catalog.
earthtraxonline.bandcamp.com/album/dreams...
earthtraxonline.bandcamp.com/album/dreams...
Dreams & Whispers, by Bartosz Kruczyński
14 track album
earthtraxonline.bandcamp.com
December 13, 2024 at 6:29 PM
Somehow, I entirely missed the existence of Balmat, a new-ish record label from the inimitable @philipsherburne.bsky.social (and friends). Then I stumbled onto this release and I’m totally blown away by the release and the several others in their catalog.
earthtraxonline.bandcamp.com/album/dreams...
earthtraxonline.bandcamp.com/album/dreams...