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Diversify Your Information Gathering
With Donald Trump’s direct attacks on US media sources like CNN or MSNBC, we should anticipate that we won’t necessarily be able to rely on them all the time. Consider that we may be cut off from them entirely, or that they will self-censor themselves for preservation purposes. Potentially they will be turned into right-wing propaganda outlets for the regime. This might not be immediately evident if it occurs, so I’m not sure it’s wise to trust any US-based mainstream corporate-owned news outlets at this stage. I’m currently maintaining deep skepticism of everything I see right now.
We should also disabuse ourselves of the notion that we can trust algorithmically sorted news gathering via social media networks like Facebook, Bluesky, and Threads. Of these, I tend to trust Mastodon the most since it’s a decentralized open source federated network, which makes it resistant to manipulation. Sites like Reddit can be good as a means of gathering information, but due to their centralized nature are potentially easy to be compromised by bad actors.
I’ve made a list of news outlets I think are reasonably reputable and have gotten myself a nice RSS reader in order to obtain direct feeds of their content on an ongoing basis. You should consider getting one as well if you don’t already have one. You can subscribe to lots of feeds on there and export an OPML list of your subscriptions to clients on other platforms. I’ve included a download link at the end of the article to help you get started.
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On Mac and iOS, I use an app called Reeder Classic.
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On Windows, I use RSS Radar. It’s also available for Mac.
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And on Linux I use Newsflash.
Here are some of the news sources I’m choosing to prioritize: Al Jazeera English, BBC News, CBC News, Democracy Now, DW News English, Jacobin, Le Monde English, NPR, ProPublica, RFI, The Globe and Mail, The Guardian, The Stranger (it’s a Seattle institution), WBUR, WGBH.
I’ve also got a VPN provider called Nord VPN, so I can use the British version of the BBC News website, which is somewhat different than the US version.
Consider getting yourself a shortwave radio. While I don’t use these as news sources, with a simple handheld unit (I have a Tecsun R9700DX), I’ve been able to pick up Radio Nikkei based in Japan, Radio New Zealand, Radio Havana Cuba, and various other broadcasters as far as the Philippines, China, Russia, Central America, and even Canada. There’s a long history of using shortwave radio to send information across borders to suppressed populations. That’s what we were doing with Voice of America and others until Trump shut them down this past day. It is possible this form of information dissemination will become necessary again in our time for our own use to gather news from abroad.
With regard to long distance radio, by the way, here’s a fun fact: You can also pick AM radio stations located across the country over long distances at night. From Seattle, when I’m DXing, I can often pick up AM broadcasters located in San Francisco, Reno, and Colorado.
Get yourself a ham radio. I have a handheld Baofeng UV-5R. You’ll find that there are local repeater groups regularly broadcasting that you can tune into and hear from people all over your region and indeed the world. It’s fun to listen to them, and hear people talk about things happening on the ground in your locality. Get a ham radio operator license. I haven’t yet done this, but I would like to eventually. Even if you don’t have a license, you can still listen, and in a life and death emergency situation, it is also permissible to use them unlicensed under specific conditions (see exceptions 97.403 and 97.405).
Above all else. Keep an open mind. Be skeptical of what you see and hear. Think before you share. Consider the source and keep in mind any biases the sharer might have had.
Good night, and good luck.
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My OPML file: While I tend to follow lots of tech news sites and bloggers as well, I’ve extracted just the information sources I’ve put together that are relevant to me for the purposes of this post. Maybe you can use it as a starting point for yourself: Download
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A man was “violently interrogated” at Logan Airport for hours yesterday. Stripped naked, put in a cold shower by federal officials, and pressured to give up his green card.
Source: www.wgbh.org/news/loca…
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One of the most incredible tenor sax solos I’ve ever heard. Remember the name Santosh Sharma.
Listen to this: youtu.be/Qccc89eBt…
I’ve not heard anybody since John Coltrane himself pull off that sound so faithfully.
America’s in the 1930s, but this group is solidly in 1964. 🎷
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Ignore This Warning At Your Peril
The excuses are always the same:
• I didn’t take him seriously.
• I had no idea something like this would happen.
• He said he was fighting for me.
These are all catastrophic failures of critical thought. Ignorance is not an excuse – what is knowable is your responsibility to be aware of. Take it from Hitler’s personal secretary, Traudl Junge: youtu.be/-aVI3gvIS…
Right now, America is witnessing the systematic dismantling of the rule of law. It is not normal for a president to stand at the Department of Justice podium and publicly name political opponents he wants eliminated or investigated. That happened today.
It is not normal for a president to declare that two major news networks are now “illegal” in his view – and then promise to act on it. That happened today.
Historically, the DOJ has operated as a nonpartisan institution, a firewall against political corruption. But Trump doesn’t believe in that. He follows a deeply flawed “unitary executive” theory, where the president wields unchecked control over the federal government. This is not democracy – it’s the architecture of authoritarian rule.
You might not feel the impact yet. But it is happening.
And I’m sorry to say: you’re not safe either.
Politics is no longer functioning as normal. It has been consumed by one man’s unquenchable thirst for power. You might not see yourself as a target, but to him, you don’t exist. And if you get in his way, he will destroy you.
He doesn’t care about you. He is using you. He lets you keep things that don’t threaten him while he consolidates more power for himself.
If you’re not scared yet, you should be.
The window to stop this is closing fast.
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Credit to @danielpunkass for his post, which inspired me to write this one up.
For some additional follow-up about what fascism is and how it works, I recently made a playlist to try to explain it all. It’s not an easy concept to understand.
Finally: The most important thing you can do right now is to get involved in protests. Show up. Speak out. Talk to friends, neighbors, and strangers about what is happening: Make sure nobody has an excuse to claim ignorance.
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This is fascism: www.youtube.com/watch
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Bernie Sanders responds to today’s CR vote: www.youtube.com/watch
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Donald Trump is attacking law firms he doesn’t like, but not without purpose. This is a direct assault on the legal system in order to break the rule of law and we’re underreacting to it: www.tiktok.com/@cohen489…
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Downtown Seattle viewed from Jose Rizal Park late afternoon today.
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Bellevue this evening as seen from Leschi.
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It’s worth asking the question: Does Schumer truly believe what he says, or is he being coerced?
Nancy Pelosi understands the mechanics of a shutdown and she seems to be against Schumer’s position: www.politico.com/live-upda…
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Senator Murray on the CR situation: youtu.be/Xefx8iV0_…
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Not as clear this time, but it boggles my mind that a shot like this is even possible from a phone. During totality at 11:40pm PDT.
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Partial eclipse @ 10:36pm PDT from Seattle. Taken with my iPhone 16 Pro through double pane glass that is in desperate need of cleaning, some cloud obstruction, and massive glare from a nearby street lamp. WILD!
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So I’m mad about the CR news this evening, but I’m also willing to believe that I don’t have the whole picture here.
Chuck Schumer gives his side of the story: youtu.be/SJDHET0MA…
His explanation doesn’t sound totally unreasonable. He’s on the front line. Tell me why he’s wrong. 🤷♂️
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Bernie ought to be leader of Democrats in the Senate: youtu.be/TaHu0pBBc…
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While there are SO MANY troubling stories in the news, one which is particularly gross are his advances towards Canada. He is threatening them with invasion: www.ctvnews.ca/politics/…
Here’s my protest sign: No means no!
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Traitor Recklessly Undermining Mutual Peace
Stop threatening Canada with invasion, you sick fuck.
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Steve Wozniak says Elon Musk is a bully: www.instagram.com/reel/DG_H…
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Your silence is complicity.
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Canada considers destabilization an issue of grave national concern: www.cbc.ca/news/poli…
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Palate cleanser from the endless stream of news shit: This interview between Katee Sackhoff and Ronald D. Moore is excellent listening if you’re a fan of his work, science fiction in general, or even just the journey of becoming a screenwriter. youtu.be/Xu704p568…
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He’s going on TV every day threatening the sovereignty of Canada. This is deeply wrong and must be stopped. Why are we allowing him to normalize talk of an invasion? The Cabinet and Republicans in Congress have the power to stop him, but have abdicated their constitutional obligation to do so.
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Politico: Mark Cuban wants to fill the void created by Musk’s cuts
It feels like he’s playing the Good Cop while Musk does the Bad Cop. Either way, the end result is the privatization of government services.
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There’s a special election on April 1st this year. Two house seats in Florida are up for grabs. If we win, we can break the Trump regime’s power grab and stall Project 2025. I’ve just donated to two campaigns:
- Josh Weil: joshweil.us
- Gay Valimont: gayforcongress.com
Your turn!
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It’s that simple: www.tiktok.com/t/ZT2VAAP…
We have to raise holy hell about this or free speech is dead in America.
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