Tom Oates
@tpoates.bsky.social
media and cultural studies | author of Football and Manliness | co-author of Forming the Public | views are my own
Pinned
Tom Oates
@tpoates.bsky.social
· Nov 12
Forming the Public
www.press.uillinois.edu
Available for preorder now!
Reposted by Tom Oates
Reposted by Tom Oates
oooh. Bookmarking this! "How to turn off AI tools in Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more." Step-by-step instructions from Consumer Reports.
How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More via @ConsumerReports
AI features are crowding into Google search, Gmail, iPhones, Windows laptops, and other products. If you're suffering from AI overload, these settings can help.
www.consumerreports.org
October 15, 2025 at 8:53 PM
oooh. Bookmarking this! "How to turn off AI tools in Apple, Google, Microsoft, and more." Step-by-step instructions from Consumer Reports.
You hang up first. No you hang up first. Ok, we’ll count to three and hang up. 1. 2. 3. You didn’t hang up either! 🥰
October 16, 2025 at 5:20 PM
You hang up first. No you hang up first. Ok, we’ll count to three and hang up. 1. 2. 3. You didn’t hang up either! 🥰
Reposted by Tom Oates
October 8, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Reposted by Tom Oates
Republican Sunday: YOU HAVE AWAKENED A DRAGON OF WHITE RAGE WE WILL SWIM IN THE BLOOD OF OUR TERRORIST ENEMIES AS THEIR CHILDREN WORK OUR SLAVE CANPS
Republican Monday: we’re sweet widdle puddy tats what never hurted a fly and the mean man’s post fwightened us so bad we cwosed up our widdle eyes
Republican Monday: we’re sweet widdle puddy tats what never hurted a fly and the mean man’s post fwightened us so bad we cwosed up our widdle eyes
Kristi Noem on Newsom tweeting that she was going to have a "bad day" -- "It was cryptic. And it was really menacing. It immediately panicked my family and friends."
September 23, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Republican Sunday: YOU HAVE AWAKENED A DRAGON OF WHITE RAGE WE WILL SWIM IN THE BLOOD OF OUR TERRORIST ENEMIES AS THEIR CHILDREN WORK OUR SLAVE CANPS
Republican Monday: we’re sweet widdle puddy tats what never hurted a fly and the mean man’s post fwightened us so bad we cwosed up our widdle eyes
Republican Monday: we’re sweet widdle puddy tats what never hurted a fly and the mean man’s post fwightened us so bad we cwosed up our widdle eyes
“Americans are free people, and we do not take infringements upon our liberties lightly. The time has come for resistance and to reclaim our God-given right to free expression.” Rand Paul in January. Also Rand Paul:
Rand Paul: "People say, 'Oh, people have a right to say things.' Well, actually they don't necessarily have a right to say things. Many people have in their contract what we call a morals clause ... I think it is time for this to be a crackdown on people."
September 17, 2025 at 5:01 PM
“Americans are free people, and we do not take infringements upon our liberties lightly. The time has come for resistance and to reclaim our God-given right to free expression.” Rand Paul in January. Also Rand Paul:
Reposted by Tom Oates
cato institute analysis of murders by political ideology since 1975, excluding 9/11
September 16, 2025 at 8:20 PM
cato institute analysis of murders by political ideology since 1975, excluding 9/11
Reposted by Tom Oates
No word has ever done more work for rightwing politicians & pundits than “they”
September 15, 2025 at 11:27 PM
No word has ever done more work for rightwing politicians & pundits than “they”
Self proclaimed Christians
Brian Kilmeade endorses euthanizing homeless people: "Involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill them."
September 14, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Self proclaimed Christians
Mamdani 1 FIFA 0
The biggest sporting event in the world is happening in our backyard. But most New Yorkers will be priced out of watching it live.
Sign our petition calling on FIFA to put game over greed: zohranfornyc.com/gameovergreed
Sign our petition calling on FIFA to put game over greed: zohranfornyc.com/gameovergreed
September 10, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Mamdani 1 FIFA 0
Reposted by Tom Oates
Getting yelled at on the internet is not what turns people into fascists.
September 1, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Getting yelled at on the internet is not what turns people into fascists.
Reposted by Tom Oates
Hitler targets ethnic and religious minorities. Critics see big risks.
August 29, 2025 at 3:18 AM
Hitler targets ethnic and religious minorities. Critics see big risks.
Reposted by Tom Oates
I doubt a Black reporter could have done this story and been "invited in."
But, apparently, the Times does not consider that this fact may bias their story? How is segregated access "objective?"
Whiteness is a credential often presented as neutrality.
But, apparently, the Times does not consider that this fact may bias their story? How is segregated access "objective?"
Whiteness is a credential often presented as neutrality.
A New York Times real estate reporter interviewed the founder of an Arkansas housing development that admits only white, heterosexual people. “I treated him like a human,” she said. “He invited me in.”
Here's a gift link to the story: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/r...
Here's a gift link to the story: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/r...
August 21, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I doubt a Black reporter could have done this story and been "invited in."
But, apparently, the Times does not consider that this fact may bias their story? How is segregated access "objective?"
Whiteness is a credential often presented as neutrality.
But, apparently, the Times does not consider that this fact may bias their story? How is segregated access "objective?"
Whiteness is a credential often presented as neutrality.
More safety tips from the party that claims the COVID vaccine is more dangerous than COVID.
Markwayne Mullin: "I'm not joking when I say this. I drive around Washington DC in my Jeep - yes, I drive myself - & I don't buckle up. The reason I don't buckle up - people can say whatever they want - is because of carjacking. I don't want to be stuck in my vehicle when I need to exit in a hurry."
August 14, 2025 at 2:34 PM
More safety tips from the party that claims the COVID vaccine is more dangerous than COVID.
Note that the same folks pushing this depraved perspective are simultaneously limiting our ability to critically question what our present “culture and society…treat as no big deal.”
August 13, 2025 at 10:22 PM
Note that the same folks pushing this depraved perspective are simultaneously limiting our ability to critically question what our present “culture and society…treat as no big deal.”
Reposted by Tom Oates
How many more studies need to be conducted worldwide to show that giving people things they need actually helps them.
Germany gave people €1,200/month no strings attached.
They kept working, slept better, switched to better jobs, and even gave more to others.
Turns out, when people aren’t drowning, they swim further.
#UBI doesn’t kill ambition, it frees it.
They kept working, slept better, switched to better jobs, and even gave more to others.
Turns out, when people aren’t drowning, they swim further.
#UBI doesn’t kill ambition, it frees it.
July 24, 2025 at 8:32 PM
How many more studies need to be conducted worldwide to show that giving people things they need actually helps them.
Reposted by Tom Oates
I am no constitutional scholar, but I can't help but feel that "the President gets to dictate what every university can teach and what every television station should broadcast" is closer to what the founding fathers were worried about when it comes to free speech than trigger warnings on syllabi.
July 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I am no constitutional scholar, but I can't help but feel that "the President gets to dictate what every university can teach and what every television station should broadcast" is closer to what the founding fathers were worried about when it comes to free speech than trigger warnings on syllabi.
“Uncontrolled fits of cheerfulness”
Tulsi Gabbard is using a White House press briefing to accuse Hillary Clinton of using tranquilizers. Dystopian stuff.
July 23, 2025 at 7:34 PM
“Uncontrolled fits of cheerfulness”
Reposted by Tom Oates
WNBPA now selling “Pay Them What You Owe Them” T-shirts, too.
July 21, 2025 at 7:13 PM
WNBPA now selling “Pay Them What You Owe Them” T-shirts, too.
Reposted by Tom Oates
Sean Duffy: "Crime actually is up in New York City ... I don't think things are going well in New York City." (Violent crime is at historic lows so far this year in NYC.)
July 17, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Sean Duffy: "Crime actually is up in New York City ... I don't think things are going well in New York City." (Violent crime is at historic lows so far this year in NYC.)
Faces of Death as part of my driver’s ed training. For real.
July 12, 2025 at 4:35 AM
Faces of Death as part of my driver’s ed training. For real.
Reposted by Tom Oates
CORRECTION: An earlier post said experts estimate 100,000 Utahns will lose access to health insurance under Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill."
That number is actually about 200,000.
That number is actually about 200,000.
‘Big Beautiful Bill’ passes Senate with Mike Lee and John Curtis’ votes
Utah's Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis vote for the "Big Beautiful Bill," narrowly securing Donald Trump's domestic policy agenda in the U.S. Senate.
www.sltrib.com
July 2, 2025 at 12:21 AM
CORRECTION: An earlier post said experts estimate 100,000 Utahns will lose access to health insurance under Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill."
That number is actually about 200,000.
That number is actually about 200,000.
Reposted by Tom Oates
Oscar Robertson was not only one of the best basketball players, but he left a legacy in shaping free agency in the NBA.
Oscar Robertson to receive Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for work shaping free agency
Oscar Robertson was not only one of the best basketball players, but he left a legacy in shaping free agency in the NBA.
bit.ly
June 30, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Oscar Robertson was not only one of the best basketball players, but he left a legacy in shaping free agency in the NBA.
Reposted by Tom Oates
White supremacy explains a lot of apparent contradictions. The GOP was for states’ rights when the politics supported white supremacy. When they can accomplish white supremacist goals with federal power, they are against states’ rights.
Republicans control the White House and Congress. More federal power means more opportunities for them to impose MAGA’s will on the rest of America, and so of course they’ve learned to live with—and even prefer—centralizing authority. ICYMI @citizencohn.bsky.social:
How Trump Killed the GOP’s Love of States’ Rights
From immigration to education to Medicaid, the new strategy is to impose a MAGA vision on America—whether or not states like it.
www.thebulwark.com
June 29, 2025 at 12:33 PM
White supremacy explains a lot of apparent contradictions. The GOP was for states’ rights when the politics supported white supremacy. When they can accomplish white supremacist goals with federal power, they are against states’ rights.
Reposted by Tom Oates
*Biden tries to forgive student loans*
SCOTUS: Whoa there, that is, uh, a major question. Which means you can't do it.
*Trump revokes part of the constitution*
SCOTUS: Obviously, we got to give the President the benefit of the doubt on this one.
SCOTUS: Whoa there, that is, uh, a major question. Which means you can't do it.
*Trump revokes part of the constitution*
SCOTUS: Obviously, we got to give the President the benefit of the doubt on this one.
June 27, 2025 at 3:08 PM
*Biden tries to forgive student loans*
SCOTUS: Whoa there, that is, uh, a major question. Which means you can't do it.
*Trump revokes part of the constitution*
SCOTUS: Obviously, we got to give the President the benefit of the doubt on this one.
SCOTUS: Whoa there, that is, uh, a major question. Which means you can't do it.
*Trump revokes part of the constitution*
SCOTUS: Obviously, we got to give the President the benefit of the doubt on this one.