smurfsup | aka the sentient backpack

. . Banner Image: Sheouak Petaulass, The Pot Spirits (1960), Stencil Print Icon Image: detail from Ikayukta Tunnillie, Owls (1978), Lithograph 👇 Click for enlargements

I don't know that there is a definitive line to cross that makes you say, "I live in a police state now" but when masked gunmen can routinely brutalize the public, citizen or immigrant alike, with impunity, you have reached that point.

The achievement of Serbian students overthrowing Aleksandar Vučić can't be overstated. In 2024, they began protesting. In 2025, they transformed a protest movement into civil dissidence. In 2026, they became a political party — and two months later, crushed a corrupt state-entrenched authoritarian.

JUST POSTED: Today at The NYT we are publishing a major investigation into how President Trump used his executive powers to expose millions of Americans to greater cancer risks. A six month-long investigation built on more than 10,000 pages of FOIA records. Read it www.nytimes.com/2026/10/24/c...

This seems like a big deal

One must fall. Cast your votes: strawpoll.com/PKgle4D2RZp

There was another Print On Demand wall calendar that had a back cover too but i felt like their day numbers were too big so there was less writeable space in the useful part of the calendar. everyone please bully your least favourite design to be voted off the island #critterposting

Want to see if your ZIP code is affected by reduced mail service? Use our look up tool: www.propublica.org/article/mail...

"The soldier beside you does not become more trustworthy because of the way they pray. Trust comes from knowing that person will do their duty, protect their teammates, and uphold the nation’s and the profession’s values."

Trying an experiment while I have a couple days off work

Bluesky I know you do not care about golf. But I am telling you that in this specific case, you SHOULD care about golf. I explain in @slate.com what the Trump administration is doing to East Potomac Golf Course in D.C. slate.com/culture/2026...

To make a plan to vote, visit the website of Democracy Works, a nonpartisan nonprofit that helps voters find accurate information about their polling place:

Damn of all the many times I’d have liked to comment/question to 1 of @musicologyduck.bsky.social ’s posts [impossible, apparently, 4 the likes of me 😏], the one about helicopters & ear training *makes* ask: Are you one of the few ppl who hears and enjoys the ‘music’ of a cacophonous MRI machine?

So, as it Turns Out, America Lost the Cold War: "There is no mistaking who is in the driver’s seat in this relationship: Putin. There is no mistaking who is taking orders from the Kremlin. There is no mistaking which country benefits and which pays the price."

“Donald Trump is a traitor. And he’s not simply a traitor in the loose sense of someone who commits an act of betrayal…Trump is a traitor in the very particular sense laid out in the U.S. Constitution…’adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.’” www.americaamerica.news/p/donald-tru...

Whether it is the East Wing of the White House, the Reflecting Pool on the Mall, the East Potomac golf course, or the Kennedy Center, the wildly incompetent Donald Trump can't turn his attention to *anything* without leaving behind debris and destruction.

Ossoff: "The crisis we must meet is deeper than this presidency. Trump's rise is proof that business as usual has failed, that our politics, sickened by corruption, is failing the American public and compromising our national integrity. And that the hour is late to fix what's broken."

(THR) - TikTok has banned the entire Musk film account, citing political content that violates its policies. .. raises concerns about Big Tech suppression that the very film seeks to expose.” @thr.com www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politic...

❗❗❗Mark Zuckerberg's meta just suspended the No Kings Instagram account. I just rushed back from my local No Kings to jump on this. Bottom line, would be helpful for all pro-No Kings folks to elevate the issue and help us get the word out about No Kings today. The Nerd Reich strikes again.

“When the men with guns who have always claimed to be against the system start wearing uniforms and marching with torches and pictures of a leader, the end is nigh. When the pro-leader paramilitary and the official police and military intermingle, the end has come.” youtu.be/2NUHKa4SFUA?...

Whistles work! New York, get some whistles.

I am angry tonight. Because tonight ICE shot a New Yorker. They shot a New Yorker while his five year old child was in the car. ICE makes this city less safe. We want them out. Now.

Sneaky Death Cult

Republicans delayed some of the worst Medicaid cuts until after the midterms so voters would blame Democrats and give the GOP a talking point for 2028. Data via the Center for American Progress. lincolnsquare.media #ProtectHealthcare #VoteBlue2026

As usual, great job by @boltsmag.org assembling a massive array of elections information into a concise and smart package. boltsmag.org/whats-on-the...

*so important*: if you’re voting by mail, assume the USPS will delay because it’s its policy. You can: —put it in drop box —go to counter to watch them postmark in front of you —if you’re dropping it in a mailbox, do it VERY EARLY.

EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU’RE REGISTERED, check to make sure. Trumpists are purging the rolls. www.vote.org Deadline to register is TODAY in Arizona, Arkansas Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and TEXAS!

"Before Stonehenge was raised, before Egypts first pyramid broke ground,before the Nazca people drew their famous lines across the Peruvian desert,someone in what is now southern Arizona shaped a 272-foot fish into the earth On April 23,2026,"a border-wall contractor drove heavy equipment across it"

I checked again today. I have been purged in Alabama before. Everyone check!

Something big may be happening: Trump's world-historical misrule may be creating the conditions for the emergence of a coalition similar to the one that ousted Viktor Orban earlier this year: Anti-corruption, anti-authoritarian, pro-democracy. I made this case here: newrepublic.com/article/2161...

Tomorrow, on October 1, the biggest transfer of wealth from the working class to the wealthy hits a critical milestone. Many of the provisions from the Big Ugly Bill will go into effect, harming hundreds of thousands of Michiganders in order to create tax cuts for the richest people in America.

Procedural hardball is disruptive, but makes perfect sense from a radical perspective. The whole question is whether there’s a good basis for radicalization. Given [gestures everywhere] the answer’s clearly yes. www.offmessage.net/p/the-new-ra...

MapQuest has the opportunity to do the funniest thing

Circus Performers, by Walt Kuhn, 1978, 📸 via @marisakabas.bsky.social

The trailer for my new film, "Musk," has just been released.

Tens of thousands of voter registrations have gone unprocessed in Texas. Affecting large areas deeply. If you’re in Texas, check your registration is up to date and accurate ASAP. www.texastribune.org/2026/09/22/t...

Please know that this is one of my few legitimate areas of actual, high-level professional expertise: Kicking the healthiest people off of a health insurance program will bankrupt it. Not 'could;' not 'might,' not 'probably," but absolutely will, with mathematical certainty.

I designed this course to give students — and now, you — a deeper understanding of why inequalities of income and wealth have widened significantly over the last 40 years in the U.S., and their consequences. The classes will be posted on Mondays, all the way through the 14 weeks of the course.

Check out this voter guide to help spread the word on voting this election. Build your ballot & make a plan to vote at ivote.ubc.civicengine.com/ec. Get a clue, always vote BLUE!

🏆💯 THIS the Nation-wide Voter Status tool I’d been looking for! - CHECK your Registration status - Get DEADLINES and DATES for all methods of voting (by Mail; Early In-Person; On-Day In-Person) - Get LOCATIONS and tools for registration & voting - Make a VOTING PLAN tool pass it on!

**Lights Out Alert Sunday & Monday Nights** Birdcast is estimating 300-400 million birds will be in flight.

I just honestly can't get over that Save Women Sports, an anti-trans group could only find five trans athletes competing K through 12. Five. The NCAA president testified a year and a half ago or so that there were less than 10 college level trans athletes. What the fuck are we doing, people

If anyone's a freelance journalist (I assume there are some on Bluesky) and wants to contribute to election coverage please reach out to me, akleinman at heartlandsignal

From executive producer Rachel Maddow, Kill. Bury. Print. is streaming September 27 on Peacock www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLfo...

Really cool site. www.lostfunds.org

Our music and our memories are being wiped out. AMERICA built this city. Not a president. Join us!