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tommyokeefe.com
Tommy O'Keefe (He/Him)
@tommyokeefe.com
210 followers 340 following 340 posts
Music. Books. Coffee. Code.
Process Philosophy / Theology nerd.
Longing for a world where everyone can thrive.
Collective Liberation is the goal we're aiming for.
https://www.tommyokeefe.com/
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tommyokeefe.com
Tommy O'Keefe (He/Him) @tommyokeefe.com · Nov 16
Hey, Hi, Hello!

I'm Tommy:
- 43 trips around the sun
- Married dad of 2 (cooler than me)
- Committed to Collective Liberation
- Former pastor / exvangelical hopeful skeptic
- Process philosophy / theology nerd
- I love music, especially all things post-*
- I write (mostly code)

Let's be friends!
tommyokeefe.com
The song that Tam sings at the end of this episode is so moving. Well worth your time!
earhustlesq.com Ear Hustle Podcast @earhustlesq.com · Jun 13
Some days, Tam feels like he's gonna lose his sh*t.
Listen to "30 Days," out now on your favorite podcast app: buff.ly/gY6PmzU
June 29, 2025 at 10:01 PM
Reposted by Tommy O'Keefe (He/Him)
iwriteok.bsky.social
remember this; try

if the things some people are trying look useless or stupid to you maybe they are, find something that seems smart. and keep an eye on whether or not the shit other people are trying works.
gregpak.net Greg Pak @gregpak.net · May 23
“it matters to try”

that’s everything, friends

i don’t give one gat damn if the odds are slim for any one particular action

we have to try

that’s the moral and ethical injunction for all of us living in 2025

we have to try
threnody.bsky.social emily moonlight @threnody.bsky.social · May 21
ok. that's all i've got.

today's democrats aren't who will liberate us in the end, but the folks nearest institutional power are the ones who can, while things are bad, most easily help hold up the falling sky & buy time.

this shit can be both "not enough" & "really matter."

it matters to try.🏳️‍⚧️💜
May 23, 2025 at 4:00 AM
tommyokeefe.com
It’s Sunday and I’m listening to mournful doom metal again.

I’ll never grow tired of the last few minutes of Warning’s “Bridges” - the raw sounds of a heart cracking open and spilling out as old wounds are seen in a fresh light.

youtu.be/TbDz40Jw1bs?...

#metalsky
Warning - Bridges live at Roadburn 2017
YouTube video by Starry Eyed Lizard
youtu.be
May 4, 2025 at 8:50 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Really helpful analysis of how federal funding flows through public media and what Trump’s EO related to public media means practically.

semipublicco.substack.com/p/breaking-d...
Breaking Down President Trump's Public Media Executive Order
Plus, a look at how federal funding of public media works (up until now)
semipublicco.substack.com
May 2, 2025 at 9:01 PM
tommyokeefe.com
It’s #FuneralDoomFriday over here so we’re blasting the gorgeous 2020 Bell Witch / Aerial Ruin colab “Stygian Bough, Vol. I”. Haunting, mournful, meditative, crushing - this one has it all.

bellwitch.bandcamp.com/album/stygia...

#metalsky
Stygian Bough Volume I, by BELL WITCH and AERIAL RUIN
5 track album
bellwitch.bandcamp.com
May 2, 2025 at 1:00 PM
tommyokeefe.com
I know people traditionally share these on Friday, but I always forget, lol. Monday morning seems more natural to me. The previous week had ended, a new week is about to get started. Anyway, here’s what I listened to last week - spoiler alert: it was a LOT of Frodus.
#fivebyfive #weekoflistening
5x5 collage of the last week of listening in album covers .
April 14, 2025 at 1:00 PM
tommyokeefe.com
fascistic moves wrapped
in a cloak of cost savings
efficient for who

www.wired.com/story/instit...
The DOGE Axe Comes for Libraries and Museums
The Institute of Museum and Library Services has long received bipartisan support. But after years of trying, President Donald Trump has delivered it a crushing blow.
www.wired.com
April 2, 2025 at 9:43 PM
tommyokeefe.com
In the name of health
eliminating research
cutting departments

forget the future
cold hard cash for the taking
blood on doge's hands

#haiku #HaikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines

www.wired.com/story/cdc-gu...
The CDC Has Been Gutted
Thousands of CDC employees who worked on things like preventing HIV and lead poisoning have been told they were subject to a reduction in force. Experts say people will die.
www.wired.com
April 2, 2025 at 9:28 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Terrorism as
An empty signifier
Makes dissent a crime

#Haiku #HaikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines

www.wired.com/story/fbi-te...
The FBI Is Investigating Attacks on Tesla as ‘Domestic Terrorism.’ Here’s Why That Matters
The domestic terrorism designation could give law enforcement sweeping authority to surveil people protesting against Elon Musk's role in the US federal government, civil liberties experts warn.
www.wired.com
March 22, 2025 at 4:02 PM
tommyokeefe.com
bending into ears
ultrasonic waves collide
audio enclave

#haiku #HaikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines

theconversation.com/researchers-...
Researchers created sound that can bend itself through space, reaching only your ear in a crowd
By combining ultrasound with a concept called nonlinear acoustics, you can create sound that stays silent until it reaches a specific location.
theconversation.com
March 21, 2025 at 2:53 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Just realized that I’m spinning the same album that I’m wearing today 😂

#OldManGloom
Selfie - I’m wearing an Old Man Gloom “Darkness of Being” shirt and you can see my “Darkness of Being” LP behind me
March 19, 2025 at 2:40 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Musk yearns for shutdown
DOGE on a slash and burn run
That no one can stop

#Haiku #HaikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines
wired.com WIRED @wired.com · Mar 11
EXCLUSIVE: Sources tell WIRED that Elon Musk has wanted a government shutdown in part because it would potentially make it easier to eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
Elon Musk Has Wanted the Government Shutdown
Sources tell WIRED that Elon Musk has wanted a government shutdown in part because it would potentially make it easier to eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of federal workers.
www.wired.com
March 11, 2025 at 6:20 PM
tommyokeefe.com
There are three words I keep coming back to when I think about the DOGE led gutting of our country’s infrastructure and wonder what the lasting effects of it will be. Those words are:

#EFFICIENT
#EFFECTIVE
#RESILIENT
March 9, 2025 at 4:08 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Lone wolf they called him
Not seeing what lies beneath
A network of hate

Fragile young minds make
Fertile soil for vile beliefs
Weeping as we reap

#Haiku #HaikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines
propublica.org ProPublica @propublica.org · Mar 8
NEW: The murders of two people outside an LGBTQ+ bar at first looked like the act of a lone shooter. A ProPublica and @frontlinepbs.bsky.social investigation shows they were, in fact, the culmination of a coordinated, international recruiting effort by online extremists.
How the Terrorgram Collective’s Neo-Nazi Influencers Groomed a Teen to Kill
The murders of two people outside an LGBTQ+ bar at first looked like the act of a lone shooter. A ProPublica and FRONTLINE investigation shows they were, in fact, the culmination of a coordinated,…
propub.li
March 9, 2025 at 3:28 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Nothing to see here
Benevolent overlords
Protect us from harm

#Haiku #HaikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines
propublica.org ProPublica @propublica.org · Mar 9
“By firing us, you’re going to cut down on how much revenue the country brings in,” said an axed IRS specialist who’d been brought in to audit complex tax returns filed by large corporations and wealthy individuals. “This was not about saving money.”

By @andykroll.bsky.social
How DOGE’s Cuts to the IRS Threaten to Cost More Than DOGE Will Ever Save
The Trump administration claims gutting federal agencies will save money, but cutting the IRS means the government collects less taxes. “If you’re interested in the deficit and curbing it, why would…
propub.li
March 9, 2025 at 2:23 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Everything’s for sale
Pay to play democracy
Meal ticket indeed

#haiku #HaikuTheNews
#HaikuTheHeadlines
wired.com WIRED @wired.com · Mar 4
SCOOP: Business leaders are paying as much as $5,000,000 to meet one-on-one with President Donald Trump at his Florida compound, sources tell WIRED, while others are paying $1,000,000 apiece to dine with him in a group setting.
People Are Paying Millions to Dine With Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Business leaders are paying as much as $5,000,000 to meet one-on-one with the president at his Florida compound, sources tell WIRED, while others are paying $1,000,000 apiece to dine with him in a…
buff.ly
March 5, 2025 at 2:38 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Cane brandished like sword
Wealthy country failing poor
Al Green had enough

#haiku #haikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Al Green kicked out of Trump’s speech as Democrats bring signs, heckle
Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) shouted at Trump, shaking his cane and saying that the president had “no mandate” to cut Medicaid, before being escorted out of the House chamber.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 5, 2025 at 2:29 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Totally normal
Threaten students with prison
Nothing to see here

#Haiku #HaikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump threatens to pull federal funds for US schools allowing ‘illegal protests’
President also claims he will imprison ‘agitators’ a day after administration called for review at Columbia University
www.theguardian.com
March 4, 2025 at 8:19 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Gentrifier gray
Hides gutted interiors
Open floor plan woes

#Haiku #HaikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/int...
The house color that tells you when a neighborhood is gentrifying
A Washington Post color analysis of D.C. found shades of gray permeate neighborhoods where markers of gentrification have spiked.
www.washingtonpost.com
March 3, 2025 at 2:00 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Eliminate waste
The savings all disappear
DOGE math ain’t mathing

#Haiku #HaikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines
npr.org NPR @npr.org · Mar 2
An NPR review of new data added to DOGE's "wall of receipts" finds the group quietly changed previous errors, added new ones and still has little verified savings to show for its work.
DOGE's savings page fixed old mistakes — and added new ones
An NPR review of new data added to DOGE's "wall of receipts" finds the group quietly changed previous errors, added new ones and still has little verified savings to show for its work.
www.npr.org
March 3, 2025 at 1:01 AM
tommyokeefe.com
Some of my thoughts on @team18f.bsky.social being cut completely by the GSA under the guidance of DOGE. Absolutely wild move that clearly has nothing to do with efficiency or effectiveness. At this point I just hope folks on the right can see this for what it is.

www.instagram.com/reel/DGtdUnI...
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
www.instagram.com
March 2, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by Tommy O'Keefe (He/Him)
propublica.org
If DOGE is a federal agency, it can’t shield its records from the public.

If it’s not an agency, then its tens of millions of dollars in funding weren’t legally allocated and should be returned, some contend.
DOGE’s Millions: As Musk and Trump Gut Government, Their Ax-Cutting Agency Gets Cash Infusion
The Department of Government Efficiency is funded — and acts — like a federal agency. But the White House has shielded DOGE from the rules that govern such agencies, ProPublica found as it examines…
propub.li
March 2, 2025 at 2:00 AM
tommyokeefe.com
I found myself randomly humming a song today and at first I couldn’t place it. I eventually realized it was a song I wrote for my wife on her birthday about 11 years ago. I only have a really rough one take recording of it. Might be my favorite thing I ever wrote.

on.soundcloud.com/5tDveHs2oTbp...
Honeybee - Rough Cut (song for Melissa)
Just a dude who wishes he was a musician.
on.soundcloud.com
March 2, 2025 at 1:29 AM
tommyokeefe.com
Russia not a threat
I guess the call is coming
From inside the house

#haiku #HaikuTheNews #HaikuTheHeadlines

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Trump administration retreats in fight against Russian cyber threats
Recent incidents indicate US is no longer characterizing Russia as a cybersecurity threat, marking a radical departure: ‘Putin is on the inside now’
www.theguardian.com
March 1, 2025 at 11:32 PM
tommyokeefe.com
Don’t send us your poor
Entrance denied, lights turned out
laser sight welcome

Thousands of soldiers
Patrolling borders while the
Light inside goes dark

City on a hill?
Fortress for the coldest hearts
No love in our veins

Colossus rebuilt
panopticon of horror
Nobody is safe

#HaikuTheNews
washingtonpost.com The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · Mar 1
Breaking news: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered an additional 2,500 to 3,000 active-duty troops to the southern U.S. border, including soldiers from a motorized brigade equipped with 20-ton armored Stryker combat vehicles.
Pentagon orders up to 3,000 troops and Stryker combat vehicles to border
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth approved orders on Friday to further militarize the U.S. southern border with Mexico, officials said.
wapo.st
March 1, 2025 at 9:55 PM