Owen Smigelski

Owen Smigelski

@lothar.blue

Dad of 3 boys, server admin since 93. I do ICANN policy, compliance & legal for Namecheap. Adjacent to LAX. Distance runner, geek, reader, Yankees, Stern fan. Big supporter of 🇺🇦 and science. Nothing I post is remotely legal advice.

415 followers334 following2.3K posts

Owen Smigelski reposted

Put aside issues of credentials or Trump’s creepy obsession with hiring women who look like Ivanka. Zacharia’s background alone raises so many counterintelligence questions it’s genuinely concerning that she is routinely so close to the President of the United States. National security be damned.

Owen Smigelski reposted

I think Ossoff captures something that Newsom never did: the Dem base wants you to fight but they want real shit not goofy memes and too-online riffs

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

OSSOFF: You didn't answer earlier. Answer now. Did Donald Trump win the 2020 election? MIKE COLLINS: You know, the 2020 election. Everybody has seen my views on that OSSOFF: What are they? COLLINS: There was a lot of doubt in that election OSSOFF: I didn't hear an answer

Owen Smigelski reposted

What exactly should Zelenskyy be grateful to Trump for? That Trump has ensured that the war drags on for far longer than it needed to at the expense of Ukrainian property and lives?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia nods along on Fox & Friends as Rachel Campos-Duffy blasts that "ingrate Zelenskyy who keeps blowing up refineries and making things more complicated for the president ahead of the midterms"

Owen Smigelski reposted

More than 500 U.S. citizens have been detained by ICE, according to ProPublica. 70% of ICE detainees have no criminal conviction. Trump’s promise to go after the “worst of the worst” was always a lie. It was always a pretext to terrorize Black and brown communities. Remember this.

projects.propublica.orgMore Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublicaThe government doesn’t track how often immigration officers detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve found more th

Owen Smigelski reposted

Important: the Trump Administration can't do all their evil themselves. They need people to enable their plans. Those people need to be deterred by fear for their own liability. They won't all get Trump pardons, which are useless for civil damages anyway and possibly useless altogether...

Justin Levitt@justinlevitt.bsky.social

This is a big deal. DC fed judge says that DOJ's pursuit (and use) of the state voter files is unlawful, on a bunch of different grounds. And effectively confirms that for the 18 states that submitted files willingly, whoever collected the files at DOJ Civil Rights committed federal crimes.

Owen Smigelski reposted

Replying to @karlbode.com

this is the REAL WORLD people, sometimes you have to make the HARD CHOICES, like streaming a murder by an historically corrupt authoritarian with cratering approval ratings and the reading comprehension of a third grader

Owen Smigelski reposted

This is the take you need re: Hegseth's "live stream an execution" plan.

Techdirt@techdirt.com

Hey Platforms: Your Violent Content Policies Are About To Meet The Pentagon’s Firing Squad There is plenty of coverage everywhere you look about how Pete Hegseth and... https://www.techdirt.com/2026/10/09/hey-platforms-your-violent-content-policies-are-about-to-meet-the-pentagons-firing-squad/

Owen Smigelski reposted

WHAT THE FUCK DONALD TRUMP?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump tries to start a race war: "The once Great State of Minnesota is being taken over by Somali Immigrants ... The Somalians should not be allowed to get away with what they are doing. They view you as weak and stupid people. Fight back Minnesota, fight back!"

Owen Smigelski reposted

Fun fact: Tesla went with a giant touchscreen instead of knobs for the Model 3 purely to save time and money. Knobs would have required spinning up a whole supply chain. The company spun it as a luxury feature and much of the industry followed suit. But it was always an inferior substitute.

Steve Mullis@stevemullis.net

[car dealership waiting room] Me: [chanting] knobs, knobs- Other car buyers: knobs, KNOBS Car salesman: [pounding desk] KNOBS, KNOBS, KNOBS!

Owen Smigelski reposted

Trump tells ranchers to eat shit 👇 Q: Nebraska is no. 1 beef state. It was striking to see universal condemnation for your choice to import 300,000 metric tons of foreign beef. What message do you have? TRUMP: So, I have been better to ranchers and to farmers than any president in history, but...

Owen Smigelski reposted

And the other 35% are morons, in the MAGA cult, or both

Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social

AP-NORC: 65% of U.S. adults believe Trump is to blame for their cost-of-living concerns.

Owen Smigelski reposted

Russia has capital punishment written into its laws, but it has a complete freeze on executions; you know you are a fucked up hellhole when you are actually worse than Russia.

Owen Smigelski reposted

YES WE ARE TOTALLY A CREDIBLE MOVEMENT WHY DO YOU ASK

Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social

Russell Brand, who's awaiting trial in London next month on rape and sexual assault charges, will moderate a panel at DC's MAHA summit tomorrow on reforming a U.S. health agency

Owen Smigelski reposted

Orange Order provocateurs won’t be happy until they drag the North back to segregation and worse. Their marches are part of a plan of intimidation & provocation, and they want retaliation. In the past the intimidation was condoned by the govt. Seems like it still is.

Owen Smigelski reposted

Ignoring strike years/2020... .316 average is lowest to lead the majors ever 45 homers is lowest total to lead the majors since 2014 116 RBI is lowest total to lead the majors since 2014 119 runs scored is lowest total to lead majors since 2014 40 doubles is lowest total to lead majors since 1972

Owen Smigelski reposted

Replying to @markhisted.org

Doing the January 6th Commission but for DOGE could splash this on TV and social media for weeks. Imagine the impact.

Owen Smigelski reposted

“Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush, said the use of federal funds for the ads could be an ‘abuse of power’ and ‘an impeachable offense.’ He urged Congress to demand a reimbursement for the spending.”

Eric Lipton NYT@ericlipton.nytimes.com

What an odd moment in United States history. A U.S. president is running an overtly political camaign advertisement, right before midterm elections, paid for by the U.S. government. Trump appears to believe he is immune from any kind of legal limit. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/u...

Owen Smigelski reposted

Brendan Carr is the guy who spent 5 years hyperventilating on cable news about the FAINTEST POSSIBILITY that China had undue influence over TikTok China, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar having a near 50% investment stake in a major U.S. media conglomerate: no problem

thewrap.comFCC Approves Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger Foreign InvestmentThe agency approved a request for foreign investors to indirectly hold a non-voting stake in excess of 25% in the aggregate