Thomas Catan
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tomcatan.bsky.social
Thomas Catan
@tomcatan.bsky.social
Open source research person
Formerly: Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Times of London.

https://www.wsj.com/news/author/thomas-catan
Reposted by Thomas Catan
A lot of centrist commentators who genuinely got worked up about the unforgivably insulting nature of "cling to guns and religion" or "basket of deplorables" are weirdly silent about Trump portraying himself as literally shitting on American cities
October 19, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
💯
September 5, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
I went on Ezra Klein's podcast to discuss how Trump is building his own paramilitary force.

Grim as this discussion is, we recorded it *before* Trump's executive order directing Hegseth to set up rapid deployment units within the National Guard.

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/o...
Opinion | Trump Is Building His Own Paramilitary Force
www.nytimes.com
August 27, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
"John Roberts and his Republican colleagues have granted a kid with ties to criminal hackers, Ed 'Big Balls' Coristine, live access to every American’s Social Security data." @emptywheel.bsky.social www.emptywheel.net/2025/08/26/a...
Amid Hunt for Crime in DC, Whistleblower Implicates Ed "Big Balls" Coristine and John Roberts - emptywheel
John Roberts and his Republican colleagues have granted a kid with ties to criminal hackers, Ed "Big Balls" Coristine, live access to every American's Social Security data.
www.emptywheel.net
August 27, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
Fire with fire is the only way to change the equation www.axios.com/2025/08/04/c...
GOP effort forms to stop redistricting war between California's Newsom and Texas' Abbott
Democrats are skeptical of Rep. Kevin Kiley's bill to ban mid-decade redistricting.
www.axios.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
Breaking News: A judge said the government should release Kseniia Petrova, a Russian scientist employed by Harvard University, saying U.S. customs had “no factual or legal basis” for revoking her visa.
Judge Finds Government Acted Illegally in Russian Scientist Case
www.nytimes.com
May 28, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
History always has a lesson.
April 19, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
This is getting fewer headlines than it should. After coming to power promising to help working people, the president is revealing his real priorities by actively making it easier for banks to rip people off.
The CFPB Has Been Gutted
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau terminated the positions of 1,406 employees at the congressionally mandated agency.
www.wired.com
April 19, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
“Department of Government Efficiency.”
April 19, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
Just thinking about what the US looked like before the EPA existed
March 13, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
What a front cover...
March 6, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
Great job alert: ProPublica is hiring a computational journalist, "someone who will use technology and data to identify and unlock stories that would otherwise be out of reach."

Salary: $120K-$140K
Remote: ✅

Come join us!
Computational Journalist
New York, New York, United States
boards.greenhouse.io
March 6, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
Didn't expect the leopards to give our kids their spots
As the measles outbreak in Texas keeps spreading, parents who previously chose not to vaccinate their children are now lining up to get their kids the shots needed to protect them from the serious illness.
As Texas measles outbreak grows, parents are choosing to vaccinate kids
At least 124 people, mostly babies, children and teens, have been infected. Eighteen people have been hospitalized.
www.nbcnews.com
February 26, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
Your regular reminder McConnell could have taken care of this in January 2021
Mitch McConnell on the Ukraine war:

"Blame for this human catastrophe rests solely on Vladimir Putin … If Russian forces laid down their arms, Europe would be at peace. If Ukrainian forces laid down theirs, Putin's aims would not stop … Mistaking this fact is as embarrassing as it is costly."
February 24, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
It’s not just Space X. Musk was able to save Tesla because of a loan from the Dept of Energy. Here he is in 2013 filled with gratitude for the federal agency & the taxpayers who saved his business.
From reporting by @puck.news. airmail.news/issues/2025-...
February 22, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
This might be the most nakedly corrupt document I’ve seen on DOJ letterhead — and I wrote a history of Watergate!
“You are directed … to dismiss the pending charges in United States v. Adams, No. 24 Cr. 556 (SDNY)…. The Justice Department has reached this conclusion without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based”
February 11, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
I can’t believe the Supreme Court said the president was above the law and now the president is acting like he’s above the law.
February 11, 2025 at 2:17 AM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
Imagine if the entire DC media was reporting on Musk and Trump with the *ferocity* and *velocity* of WIRED these past three weeks.

IMAGINE what we would know now that we don’t.
troublemakers
February 7, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
To be clear, I 100% believe that the primary barrier to Elon Musk gaining control of the Treasury payments system is COBOL
February 3, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
Costco is raising pay for most of its hourly US workers to more than $30 an hour amid contract talks with unionized employees
Costco Increases Pay to Over $30 an Hour for Most Store Workers
Costco Wholesale Corp. is raising pay for most of its hourly US workers to more than $30 an hour amid contract talks with unionized employees.
www.bloomberg.com
January 31, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
I have a new paper in Dialogues on Climate Change exploring climate outcomes under current policies. I find that we are likely headed toward 2.7C by 2100 (with uncertainties from 1.9C to 3.7C), and that high end emissions scenarios have become much less likely.

journals.sagepub.com...
January 15, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
He’s just now figuring this out
December 28, 2024 at 1:52 PM
Reposted by Thomas Catan
"I Traded My News Apps for Rumble, the Right-Wing YouTube. Here’s What I Saw."
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
I Traded My News Apps for Rumble, the Right-Wing YouTube. Here’s What I Saw.
After watching 47 hours of video, I found an alternate reality curated for Trump supporters.
www.nytimes.com
December 13, 2024 at 2:17 PM