Van Badham
@vanbadham.bsky.social
Guardian columnist, co-hosts The Week on Wednesday podcast, makes theatre, yaps a lot. Contact me: https://linktr.ee/vanbadham You should totally buy my book, QANON & ON: A Short and Shocking History of Internet Conspiracy Cults. It’s bonkers.
Pinned
Westpac’s work-from-home complaint was a cultural miff that doesn’t resonate in today’s Australia | Van Badham
Women who manage to perform their jobs well while caring for children should get a bloody medal, not a trip to Fair Work
www.theguardian.com
My latest in the Guardian is about why work-from-home is here to stay - and why a bunch of corporate boyos may be shitty about that:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Van Badham
Don't call the cops on someone in a mental health crisis unless you want them dead.
Three former San Antonio police officers were acquitted on Monday of all charges related to the fatal shooting of a woman who appeared to be having a mental health crisis when they were dispatched to her apartment in 2023. nyti.ms/4qRnvvT
3 San Antonio Officers Acquitted in Fatal Shooting of Woman in 2023
Melissa Perez, 46, swung a hammer in their direction and appeared to be in distress in her home when the officers arrived, officials said.
nyti.ms
November 10, 2025 at 10:38 PM
Don't call the cops on someone in a mental health crisis unless you want them dead.
Yep.
Transphobia is a pipeline to the far right. An example:
Suzanne Moore used to be a left wing columnist at the Guardian.
Then came the anti-trans panic. Despite the Guardian also promoting it, it wasn’t enough & she left.
Moore is now complaining about wokeness over the Irish famine & colonialism.
Suzanne Moore used to be a left wing columnist at the Guardian.
Then came the anti-trans panic. Despite the Guardian also promoting it, it wasn’t enough & she left.
Moore is now complaining about wokeness over the Irish famine & colonialism.
Suzanne Moore, who would rather be locked up than pay her BBC licence fee because the BBC is too nice to trans people for her liking.
November 10, 2025 at 11:54 PM
Yep.
Reposted by Van Badham
It's important to keep pointing this out about the many people who have gone the same way. Too often we suggest or imply that the trans moral panic merely allowed these people to be who they always were. Not true. We're seeing a process of *radicalisation*. We can't fix things unless we name them.
Transphobia is a pipeline to the far right. An example:
Suzanne Moore used to be a left wing columnist at the Guardian.
Then came the anti-trans panic. Despite the Guardian also promoting it, it wasn’t enough & she left.
Moore is now complaining about wokeness over the Irish famine & colonialism.
Suzanne Moore used to be a left wing columnist at the Guardian.
Then came the anti-trans panic. Despite the Guardian also promoting it, it wasn’t enough & she left.
Moore is now complaining about wokeness over the Irish famine & colonialism.
Suzanne Moore, who would rather be locked up than pay her BBC licence fee because the BBC is too nice to trans people for her liking.
November 10, 2025 at 7:51 AM
It's important to keep pointing this out about the many people who have gone the same way. Too often we suggest or imply that the trans moral panic merely allowed these people to be who they always were. Not true. We're seeing a process of *radicalisation*. We can't fix things unless we name them.
Reposted by Van Badham
Mamdani is going to implement Charcuterie Law. Everyone will be made to eat huge boards of the finest cooked meats.
Mamdani is going to implement Shakuhachi law. Everyone will be made to listening to the soothing tones of traditional Japanese flute music.
Mamdani is going to implement Sriracha law. Everyone will have to slather hot sauce on their scrambled eggs
November 9, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Mamdani is going to implement Charcuterie Law. Everyone will be made to eat huge boards of the finest cooked meats.
Reposted by Van Badham
Reposted by Van Badham
🔥 @agiftfromtodd.bsky.social : "Y’all get it now?? Do you understand what’s possible? I don't wanna hear no more 'my vote doesn't matter. Nothing ever changes.' Look what happens when you participate. We win everything. There are more of us… for the rest of your damn life, you gotta vote.”
November 6, 2025 at 9:57 PM
🔥 @agiftfromtodd.bsky.social : "Y’all get it now?? Do you understand what’s possible? I don't wanna hear no more 'my vote doesn't matter. Nothing ever changes.' Look what happens when you participate. We win everything. There are more of us… for the rest of your damn life, you gotta vote.”
Reposted by Van Badham
Crucial thing to watch: The Dem blowout wins suggest it'll be way more risky for GOPers to gerrymander, because the GOP safer seats may become more vulnerable than expected. Rs in those seats will now be very nervous.
Exchange on this w/Dem operative Jessica Post:
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
Exchange on this w/Dem operative Jessica Post:
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
November 7, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Crucial thing to watch: The Dem blowout wins suggest it'll be way more risky for GOPers to gerrymander, because the GOP safer seats may become more vulnerable than expected. Rs in those seats will now be very nervous.
Exchange on this w/Dem operative Jessica Post:
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
Exchange on this w/Dem operative Jessica Post:
newrepublic.com/article/2028...
Reposted by Van Badham
Every person who thinks it's just pedantry to argue about what constitutes "fascism" should think very hard about how much damage has been done to American life by the indiscriminate and incorrect usage of words like "terrorism," "war," "treason" and "communist", among many others.
November 8, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Every person who thinks it's just pedantry to argue about what constitutes "fascism" should think very hard about how much damage has been done to American life by the indiscriminate and incorrect usage of words like "terrorism," "war," "treason" and "communist", among many others.
Reposted by Van Badham
Voting with your ears.
“People send me back their the season brochure shredded in an envelope and say: ‘Never, never, will I return, while he’s in power.’”
-- director of the Washington Nat'l Opera, which stages its performances in the Kennedy Center (Center chair: Donald Trump)
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
-- director of the Washington Nat'l Opera, which stages its performances in the Kennedy Center (Center chair: Donald Trump)
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Washington National Opera may move out of Kennedy Center due to Trump ‘takeover’
Ticket sales at about 40% unsold compared with before president made himself chair of US performing arts center
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Voting with your ears.
Reposted by Van Badham
A democracy fighting against an authoritarian movement.
So to be far, Tom, what would you call this current form of government we are living under?
November 9, 2025 at 12:47 AM
A democracy fighting against an authoritarian movement.
Reposted by Van Badham
This is a parody account. This is not a real quote.
Stop sharing it.
And if you say, "well, it's ok because it might as well be real," I will block you.
Stop sharing it.
And if you say, "well, it's ok because it might as well be real," I will block you.
November 9, 2025 at 12:54 AM
This is a parody account. This is not a real quote.
Stop sharing it.
And if you say, "well, it's ok because it might as well be real," I will block you.
Stop sharing it.
And if you say, "well, it's ok because it might as well be real," I will block you.
Reposted by Van Badham
I will put this on QT to remind everyone that I have repeatedly called Trump a fascist, but rejected the argument that America is now a fascist state.
I suspect people know I've said this, and just keep ignoring it, because the need for drama is greater than the need for precision.
I suspect people know I've said this, and just keep ignoring it, because the need for drama is greater than the need for precision.
So it seems that, objectively, this pre-Trump dictionary definition of "fascist" describes the Trump philosophy and system very accurately, better than other terms that are frequently suggested (e.g. "authoritarian", "totalitarian", etc.) So let's just call Trump a fascist already. It is what it is.
November 9, 2025 at 3:22 AM
I will put this on QT to remind everyone that I have repeatedly called Trump a fascist, but rejected the argument that America is now a fascist state.
I suspect people know I've said this, and just keep ignoring it, because the need for drama is greater than the need for precision.
I suspect people know I've said this, and just keep ignoring it, because the need for drama is greater than the need for precision.
Reposted by Van Badham
Hitler was appointed - not elected - Chancellor in January 1933. The Enabling Act, allowing laws to be put in place without the legislature, was pushed through in March.
53 days.
So, yeah, pretty much overnight.
53 days.
So, yeah, pretty much overnight.
No it didn’t lol they didn’t just wake up one day & say we’re going to have a third Reich & by the next day it was there ffs
November 9, 2025 at 5:00 AM
Hitler was appointed - not elected - Chancellor in January 1933. The Enabling Act, allowing laws to be put in place without the legislature, was pushed through in March.
53 days.
So, yeah, pretty much overnight.
53 days.
So, yeah, pretty much overnight.
Reposted by Van Badham
Not only that, but if German elites (esp von Papen and Hindenburg) hadn't caved, Hitler wouldn't have been chancellor. People think Hitler rode into office on some big democratic wave, when in fact he snuck in through the side door due to the incompetence of a few men.
I’ve been going through every NYT daily beginning in 1933 and it is remarkable how quickly Hitler consolidated power after becoming chancellor. It was sudden, and there was very little resistance.
November 9, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Not only that, but if German elites (esp von Papen and Hindenburg) hadn't caved, Hitler wouldn't have been chancellor. People think Hitler rode into office on some big democratic wave, when in fact he snuck in through the side door due to the incompetence of a few men.
Reposted by Van Badham
This is obscene.
Two panels commemorating the contribution of Black American soldiers towards the liberation of the Netherlands in World War Two have been quietly removed from a cemetery in Limburg. It follows a complaint by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission.
November 9, 2025 at 5:52 AM
This is obscene.
Reposted by Van Badham
So many people think it's normal to spend huge amounts of money on cars and vacations and house luxuries, and then think it's the world's fault they're broke.
Americans spent 13 BILLION dollars on sports betting last year. |(Let's not even talk about porn or lotteries.)
Americans spent 13 BILLION dollars on sports betting last year. |(Let's not even talk about porn or lotteries.)
So many people with comfortable positions are not living the reality of everyday folks. See here:
Housing in metro areas is a real problem. But Will has a point about "affordability," which is really about "affording what you *want*," not what you might need.
Health care and housing? Yes, problems. The rest, not so much.
Health care and housing? Yes, problems. The rest, not so much.
November 9, 2025 at 4:49 AM
So many people think it's normal to spend huge amounts of money on cars and vacations and house luxuries, and then think it's the world's fault they're broke.
Americans spent 13 BILLION dollars on sports betting last year. |(Let's not even talk about porn or lotteries.)
Americans spent 13 BILLION dollars on sports betting last year. |(Let's not even talk about porn or lotteries.)
Reposted by Van Badham
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
OpenAI in Danger After Authors Suing It Gain Access to Its Internal Slack Messages
Authors and publishers, who are suing OpenAI, secured access to internal Slack messages and emails discussing the deletion of pirated books.
futurism.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:57 AM
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
Reposted by Van Badham
Altman has been quite clear about his strategy.
From the 2008 crash he learned that if you bind enough of the economy to your business you can do whatever you like; government will decide the rules no longer apply.
What he's selling is unaccountabilty.
From the 2008 crash he learned that if you bind enough of the economy to your business you can do whatever you like; government will decide the rules no longer apply.
What he's selling is unaccountabilty.
I honestly don’t get the value of this company. They hoover up energy and water. Their product constantly gets things wrong and, in extreme cases, coaches people into suicide.
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
And it’s all built on what seems to be malicious and vast intellectual property theft.
What does OpenAI offer the world?
“authors & publishers who filed a lawsuit against the Sam Altman-led firm have secured access to internal Slack messages… discussing the mass deletion of a pirated books dataset… A NY district court ordered OpenAI to hand over the communications regarding data deletion”
futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com/artificial-i...
November 9, 2025 at 9:03 AM
Altman has been quite clear about his strategy.
From the 2008 crash he learned that if you bind enough of the economy to your business you can do whatever you like; government will decide the rules no longer apply.
What he's selling is unaccountabilty.
From the 2008 crash he learned that if you bind enough of the economy to your business you can do whatever you like; government will decide the rules no longer apply.
What he's selling is unaccountabilty.
We’ve found it. It cost the world a trillion dollars to discover, but literally the saddest, most pathetic shit in all humanity has just happened and you, Elon Musk, ARE that sad, pathetic shit.
November 9, 2025 at 10:21 AM
We’ve found it. It cost the world a trillion dollars to discover, but literally the saddest, most pathetic shit in all humanity has just happened and you, Elon Musk, ARE that sad, pathetic shit.
Reposted by Van Badham
Mamdani is going to implement Shiatsu Law. Everyone will be made to get a therapeutic massage
Mamdani is going to implement Shakuhachi law. Everyone will be made to listening to the soothing tones of traditional Japanese flute music.
Mamdani is going to implement Sriracha law. Everyone will have to slather hot sauce on their scrambled eggs
November 9, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Mamdani is going to implement Shiatsu Law. Everyone will be made to get a therapeutic massage
Reposted by Van Badham
Mamdani will implement shakshuka law. One from a different region every day of the week.
Let's bring together Arabs and Jews over breakfast.
Let's bring together Arabs and Jews over breakfast.
November 9, 2025 at 4:55 AM
Mamdani will implement shakshuka law. One from a different region every day of the week.
Let's bring together Arabs and Jews over breakfast.
Let's bring together Arabs and Jews over breakfast.
Reposted by Van Badham
Mamdani is going to implement Shakira law. Everyone will Tsamina mina, eh, eh
Waka waka, eh, eh
Waka waka, eh, eh
November 9, 2025 at 7:05 AM
Mamdani is going to implement Shakira law. Everyone will Tsamina mina, eh, eh
Waka waka, eh, eh
Waka waka, eh, eh
Reposted by Van Badham
Mamdani is going to implement Shake Shack law. Everyone will be made to only eat Chicago-style hot dogs.
November 9, 2025 at 5:15 AM
Mamdani is going to implement Shake Shack law. Everyone will be made to only eat Chicago-style hot dogs.
Reposted by Van Badham
Mamdani is going to implement Shar-pei law. But only once the wrinkles are worked out.
November 9, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Mamdani is going to implement Shar-pei law. But only once the wrinkles are worked out.
Reposted by Van Badham
Someone put this "blue plaque" on a London Tesla showroom to mark his becoming the world's first trillionaire. “World’s first trillionaire Elon Musk. Could have solved world hunger but funded fascists instead. Bellend.”
November 9, 2025 at 9:02 AM
Someone put this "blue plaque" on a London Tesla showroom to mark his becoming the world's first trillionaire. “World’s first trillionaire Elon Musk. Could have solved world hunger but funded fascists instead. Bellend.”