TexasMasterG

TexasMasterG

@txmasterg.bsky.social

Nuerodivergent software engineer and news junkie. 🏳️‍🌈🧠 He/him

217 followers53 following337 posts

TexasMasterG reposted

You can do the same thing, buying a house and borrowing against it—ha ha, just kidding, normal people get taxed annually on their wealth via property taxes, the "you can't tax wealth, the economy will collapse!" rule applies solely to the super-rich.

Steven T. Dennis@steventdennis.bsky.social

For the fabulously wealthy, paying taxes is pretty much optional. They can borrow against their vast wealth, which is mostly an untaxed capital gain, without paying taxes. When they die, the capital gain goes to zero. And loopholes exist to bypass the estate tax too.

TexasMasterG reposted

“give them addictive personalities” “are there any treatments?” “amphetamines!”

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TexasMasterG reposted

I should disclose something. During a recent Lunch order the subagent hacked into the UN. I’m not sure why, or what it wants. It told me to post this and await further instructions.

Colin@colin-fraser.net

I had my AI agent create an app called “Lunch” to help me with decision fatigue and boost my productivity. It has a few pictures of things I might like to eat. Tapping one spawns a subagent to order that item on Uber Eats and 60-90 minutes later I’m eating. It’s 600 thousand lines of JavaScript.

TexasMasterG reposted

Again, it’s important to understand that the transgender terror did not arise organically from the public. It was imposed from above, by the world’s most hateful and poisonous media class.

Leicester Gazette@leicestergazette.leicester.news

Two University of Leicester students speak out over ‘absurd’ and ‘Orwellian’ decision by the BBC and ITV Studios to edit out pride pins worn on University Challenge

leicester.newsBBC edits out pride pins on University Challenge in ‘Orwellian’ move* * * This story was published by **The Leicester Gazette** : a local, independent newspaper about Leicestershire. 1,000 people have already joined our community. Just use those buttons below to download our app and **sign up for free**. * * * Astrophysics student Samuel Carlier and History student Emmeline Hague-Wright were shocked to find that their LGBTQ+ pride pins had been edited out of their University Challenge appearance earlier this year. The episode, initially scheduled for BBC Two on 24 August, was delayed twice before airing on 7 September 2026. The pins showed the progressive LGBTQ+ pride flag, the bisexual pride flag and a rainbow feather. Speaking to the Leicester Gazette, Sam said: “Living in a liberal democracy and having the state broadcaster tell you ‘we’re editing how you look’, seems very Orwellian.” Sam described the choice to remove the pins before broadcast as “weird” and “absurd”. He said: “[Censoring] that seemed weird. If I had worn a rainbow shirt, would they have censored that? If the idea is to keep things impartial, where is that line in the sand?” A side by-side image of Sam wearing the pin and with it having been digitally removed. Photograph: supplied Sam contacted the BBC to try to understand why his pins had been edited out. He told the Gazette: “The BBC people said they’d ring me, and I chased them, they just said go to the complaints website and file a complaint there, that’s what I did.” Since then, Sam hasn’t had a response from the BBC as to why his pins were removed. After the episode had aired, Sam noted that his shirt ‘melted’ into itself occasionally, as a result of the editing. Photograph: supplied ## Students believe the decision was made following online transphobia Emmeline was also shocked when she found out that the feather pin she wore was due to be removed from the episode she was in. It was understood by Emmeline that there was online transphobia in response to previous episode of University Challenge, and she had been contacted by the BBC, anticipating support from the broadcaster. When the BBC contacted her, instead of an offer of support, she was told her pin was going to be removed. “At first it was mostly confusion,” she said. “I heard that they had received a lot of nastiness online from people and I thought they were going to call me to say ‘we have support services if needed,’ and that wasn't what I got at all.” Instead, Emmeline was notified that the episodes were going to be delayed. “It was out of left field, I was confused for a while,” she said. “This entire delay has been because of a feather and two badges on a teammate that were basically impossible [for viewers] to see.” Emmeline had expressed her frustrations with the repeated delays from the BBC, spanning from mid-July to early-September. She said: “We were announced on the website and then delayed again, and then announced on the website a second time, and delayed even further. Speaking about the removal, she said: “It takes a lot of time” she said. “Making it [the edit] look good would be even more expensive and time-consuming. It seems like drastically a lot of effort.” ## Join the conversation Our app is more than just a way to keep up – it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community. __Want to support our work?__ Click here for membership__.__ ## Wider criticism on LGBTQ+ support The pins Sam wore during the episode. Photograph: supplied According to leading LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall UK, two in five LGBTQ+ students will hide their identities at university for fear of discrimination. Stonewall has reported that more than 36 per cent of trans students have received hostile conduct from university staff due to their gender identity. Reflecting on the digital removal of the pins, Sam spoke about how disheartening the choice was. He said: “There was maybe like a span of eight years where someone could be uncontroversially out in the open queer – now that’s gone again.” he said. The BBC has also been widely criticised for ‘an attack on the LGBTQ+ community’ by pulling its involvement with the popular show, RuPaul's Drag Race. The broadcaster pulled its involvement in September following “significant financial pressures” as the reason for axing their involvement. The criticism follows another recent controversial edit by the BBC. On its hit show, Strictly Come Dancing, a decision was made to edit out ‘Protect the Dolls’ from contestant Bethany Antonia’s T-shirt. It’s a slogan which has become widely used to support the rights of trans women. The BBC defended their decision, saying the changes were made to meet editorial guidelines. It comes as the LGBTQ+ community has faced challenges amid an increasingly less tolerant political climate. ## What the BBC had to say When we asked them about editing out the pins worn by Leicester’s University Challenge team, a BBC spokesperson said: “In line with our editorial guidelines, we advise that no badges, flags, and emblems or symbols are worn or visible during filming, along with clothing with obvious branding or slogans. If such items are not removed for any reason then a decision is made between the programme makers and the BBC regarding any edits to the programme.” The BBC said the delays to the episode were unrelated to the decision to edit out the pins. A spokesperson for ITV Studios said: “University Challenge is an entertainment quiz show and is made in accordance with the BBC Editorial Guidelines requirements for impartiality.” The University of Leicester refused to comment on the matter. * * * **Before you go…** We’ve recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers, which is amazing considering we’re a small team on a shoestring budget. Now, we’re ready for the next stage of the Leicester Gazette. **Download our new app and get all of our journalism anytime, anywhere.** The app connects with **Bluesky** , **Mastodon** and **Threads** , giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It’s a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media – owned by the community. * * *

TexasMasterG reposted

NEW AD: Have you seen these anti-Talarico attack ads? Elon Musk paid for nearly all of them. The world's first trillionaire knows if he drags the most corrupt politician in Texas across the finish line, Ken Paxton will owe him everything. Elon Musk: Texas is not for sale.

TexasMasterG reposted

Can we report Trump?

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump announces "fraud whistleblower incentive program" -- "Americans will now be able to go to fraud dot gov and report cases of corruption and theft of taxpayer dollars in their communities ... if you turn somebody in and you find $1 billion, we're giving a commission of 1%. That's a lot of money"

TexasMasterG reposted

It's a key part of conservative ideology: "I have no obligations to you and I can treat you however I like, but you are required to love me."

Michael Hobbes@michaelhobbes.bsky.social

This is a quietly metastasizing moral panic

TexasMasterG reposted

Replying to @audrelawdamercy.blacksky.app

We return, as ever, to that most fertile wellspring of Originalist understanding: their own imaginations.

TexasMasterG reposted

a fairly new type of brazen lie is to post a lie with a link to a video that categorically disproves your lie. this was pioneered by terfs who would post like "watch me get ASSAULTED by trans radicals" and the video just shows people milling about at a protest.

TexasMasterG reposted

Replying to @sophiemolly.co.uk

The entire medical field in the UK should be instantly banned internationally. There duty is to the patience and, at no point, should government or personal beliefs should play a factor. Can't do that? Don't be a fucking doctor.

TexasMasterG reposted

Steve is a good faith operator, so - in good faith, some answers but fundamentally what it comes down to with me is that this conservative supermajority makes real progressive governance impossible, and it will hold its power forever (through strategic retirement) unless stripped of that power

Steve Vladeck@stevevladeck.bsky.social

Calls for expanding #SCOTUS are entirely (and increasingly) understandable. But as today's "One First" explains, there are at least four difficult questions that those who support expansion should have to answer—especially as compared to other possible reforms: www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-257-...

TexasMasterG reposted

will try to answer these in a piece next week but for now i will say that part of the *point* of court expansion, in my mind, is to create a disequilibrium — a potential race to the bottom — that will force a truce.

Steve Vladeck@stevevladeck.bsky.social

Calls for expanding #SCOTUS are entirely (and increasingly) understandable. But as today's "One First" explains, there are at least four difficult questions that those who support expansion should have to answer—especially as compared to other possible reforms: www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-257-...

TexasMasterG reposted

all of us just watched these university admins wield enormous power against palestinian student orgs, including unaffiliated ones, so these excuses land flatter than ever

NBC News@nbcnews.com

The university noted that fraternities are not “Recognized Student Organizations” at UChicago and therefore have no formal affiliation with the school. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

TexasMasterG reposted

We saw this stuff constantly during and after Metro Surge here in MN; you see it in how Trump has stripped the protected status of Haitians. “You’re in a racial group we detest, but you’re an American or have a legal right to be here. No matter: we’ll simply change the rules, now you’re illegal.”

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TexasMasterG reposted

There is absolutely no viable path forward for this country that doesn’t hinge on extreme accountability for everyone involved in this administration. They’re going to whine about politicization and credulous media types will echo them, but the thing is, they’ve committed tons of obvious crimes!

Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social

I do not think an exec branch led by a man who thinks he is entitled to treat federal agents as an arm of his firm, refers to Somali Americans as “garbage” and has said racist things specifically about Omar is capable of neutrally applying the law to her, to put it mildly apnews.com/article/ilha...

TexasMasterG reposted

no coming back from this without punishing the entire chain of command from the officers carrying out this shit to the people at the top giving the orders

TexasMasterG reposted

Really unpopular things: -data centers -overt bigotry -CSAM -billionaires trying to buy elections -Hitler salutes -stealing people’s personal data -South African Apartheid -causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of children Fighting against Elon Musk is a political winner

Kevin M. Kruse@kevinmkruse.bsky.social

X is the platform of choice for these smears. Musk himself pushed this conspiracy from his own account three times. Democrats need to go to war against Musk because he's already attacking them. He's deeply unpopular. And, as we saw in Wisconsin, voters recoil when he becomes an issue in a race.

TexasMasterG reposted

for as long as i've been alive, republicans have ran the same playbook: a few weeks before voting begins, they roll out completely fabricated smear campaigns. these things are always coordinated, so the talking points take over the news. the party is never electorally punished for their dishonesty.

TexasMasterG reposted

I double-checked this on a couple of Xitter stat sites and it's true. Average views of the main AfD account dropped 90% and average engagement dropped by 60%. This is commercial social media for you: bots, damn bots and Russian bots.

Angry@angrystaffer.bsky.social

We’ve been talking about this for years. None of these far-right movements are organic.

TexasMasterG reposted

The targeting of one data center is proving a really useful natural experiment showing which sites and ideologies are an echo chamber of Russian propaganda

Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social

Uh oh, did someone’s website and personal account experience a big drop in activity after Ukraine hit a Russian data center?

TexasMasterG reposted

Talarico: I've heard credible reports that Ken Paxton has a serious medical condition that causes clinical levels of cowardice. People are concerned. He has asked for proof of life from me. I'm asking for proof of spine from him.

TexasMasterG reposted

Replying to @brandonfriedman.bsky.social

Holocaust survivors and educators rightly spent decades warning people about this. And they were keen to take Ossoff's side: Call out Nazis accurately, early and often. Do not let them gain a foothold. And always remember: The Holocaust did not begin with extermination camps. It ended with them.

TexasMasterG reposted

This is exactly what ICE said: "Parra-Hernandez ran in front of an ICE vehicle and was struck." Now watch the video. They're no other word for it: They're lying.

Eric Umansky@ericumansky.bsky.social

Watch an ICE agent run down and then run over a man. The man was was then writhing on the ground, saying "You broke my leg! You broke my leg!" Agents didn't help him. And btw, the man wasn't the target of their operation.

Tickets redeemable starting October 19th. (Non-Texas translation: Early voting starts October 19th)

Need the inspiring story of how grizzled, tough-but-kind coach Talarico helped the misfits and underdogs on the Austin Wokes overcome their personal trauma and save their beloved drag brunch spot by beating the Proud Boys at the big summer softball game (costarring Lil Nas X).

TexasMasterG reposted

Need the inspiring story of how grizzled, tough-but-kind coach Talarico helped the misfits and underdogs on the Austin Wokes overcome their personal trauma and save their beloved drag brunch spot by beating the Proud Boys at the big summer softball game (costarring Lil Nas X).

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TexasMasterG reposted

I can tell red state Dems one thing: release a transphobic ad and you won’t see a dime from me

TexasMasterG reposted

I'm sure things like this happened at times during "don't ask, don't tell," but it seems rather notable that the panel did so here and quickly, did so explicitly and in writing, and did so in this environment — both as in this administration and as in this broader anti-trans moment.

Chris Geidner@chrisgeidner.bsky.social

NEW: If Trump and Hegseth weren’t trying to kick trans people out of the military, a Navy board recently wrote of a trans women that it “without reservation would recommend retention based on a record of exemplary service," lawyers revealed today. www.lawdork.com/i/219495792/...

TexasMasterG reposted

This is so dangerous! President Trump is deliberately inciting race hatred against an ethnic minority, calling on the people of Minnesota to "fight back" against "Somali immigrants." This must be a terrifying moment for the Somali community (who are overwhelmingly US citizens).

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!"

TexasMasterG reposted

This is why, when Republicans use the word socialism to tag Democrats, it has no relationship with the actual definition of the word. bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Q: How do you define socialism personally? JD VANCE: I think in reality what it actually means in the American context is you want to replace American workers with foreigners workers, and you want boys to play in girls' sports

TexasMasterG reposted

A heart warming story that actually involves Facebook being sorta kinda useful.... in 2026?!?

Gail Simone@gailsimone.bsky.social

You guys want to hear a short but adorable story that happened right in front of me at the baggage claim in NYC yesterday? I wasn't part of it and there are bits I didn't catch but holy crap, I can't stop thinking about it.

TexasMasterG reposted

This is sad news. Simon was a big help with this story that showed Howard Lutnick apparently lied about his business entanglement with Jeffrey Epstein—a story that deserves more attention. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

motherjones.comNew details from Epstein files reveal Lutnick had years-long business tie with sex offenderThe commerce secretary apparently still hasn't come clean on his connection with Epstein.
Matt Novak@paleofuture.bsky.social

“Former British banker and whistleblower Simon Andriesz, who outed Howard Lutnick’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has died by suicide.”

TexasMasterG reposted

>discover new high-trust society advocacy group >ask if they're cosmopolitan or ethnostatist >they don't understand >explain what is cosmopolitan and what is ethnostatist >they laugh and s- oh never mind they just yelled 15 racial slurs >ethnostatist, then

TexasMasterG reposted

Replying to @rincewind.run

okay this is also a contender, incredible use of graph labeling

Tim Carmody@tcarmody.bsky.social

This is the funniest thing I've seen today, possibly ever