Notices by Ray Gulick, he/him/wtf (rgulick@social.coop)

The perception that there has been less activism in 2025 is simply wrong, a function of lazy and shuttered corporate- and billionaire journalism. The Harvard Crowd Counting Consortium noted that in 2025 “our research shows that street protests today are far more numerous and frequent than skeptics might suggest.” In fact, “since 22 January, we’ve seen more than twice as many street protests than took place during the same period eight years ago.”

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/pro-democracy-momentum-is-real?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3719374&post_id=160385830&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=false&r=3ahc10&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

@georgetakei

Sometimes I am really proud to live in NJ! First Booker, now Sherrill.

@chris

Ah! So, mostly just the people most likely to question Matt's decisions.

Re the requirement for suits in the Oval Office: Were I a congressman, I would sponsor a bill requiring members of Trump's cabinet and visiting GOP legislators to wear an organ grinder monkey suit while in the Oval Office, not to be considered complete without the traditional cap.

I'm a little worried about a scenario where the SSA decides I'm dead (and stops putting my hard-earned benefits into my bank account). A couple of months ago, my daughter informed me, after doing an online ancestry search, that I was dead. I looked, and sure enough, I was shown as having died. Took a week or so to correct it; I imagine it would take longer to convince the government.
#LivingDead

Fascists start by marginalizing and brutalizing the most vulnerable populations, and work their way up from there as the general population accepts it. Fascism feeds on racism, misogyny, and othering.

Example: Musk referring to people who disagree with him as NPCs (non-player characters) is an example of othering, no different than Nazis in 1939 referring to jews as vermin.

#Fascism

"Trump and Elon Musk don’t need Putin to tell them what to do—they already want the same things. They’re trying to create the same kind of society: one that is too ignorant to see clearly what’s happening in time to stop it, and so afraid that people are willing to believe there’s no point in even trying."
– Andrea Pitzker

https://degenerateart.beehiiv.com/p/blues-for-ukraine

@FranceskaMann

If the Democrats are gonna get any money from me, they're going to have to get angry and forceful in their resistance to Trump, Elon, and Putin, et al.

Kudos to AOC and a few others, but for the most part, Democrats seem to be keeping their heads down.

@bmacDonald94

@GossiTheDog

FYI, CrowdStrike's share price of ~ $415 currently exceeds its high of ~ $392 prior to the the July incident.

Much of nazi symbolism is based on the Roman empire.

So...claiming Musk's gesture was a Roman salute isn't the smart argument nazis think it is.

#WorldRichestAsshole

It's becoming clearer and clearer that we can't have a real democracy until billionaires have no more political power than ordinary folks. That means getting big money out of politics, for starters.
#Oligarchy
#Democracy

@bconoboy

You mean Ford Ranger?

Prediction: The first American auto maker that markets a small (less than half-ton) electric pickup with a 5-6' bed will strike gold.
#EV
#Epickup

Unionize! It's your/our only hope.
#unionize

Trump would be so upset if this image and hashtag went viral. Please do not boost. 😉
#PresidentMusk

Yes, let's be honest: simple, memorable lies designed to appeal to fear and hate (ie, GOP messaging) will always capture attention more than an honest discussion of complex issues designed to appeal to intellect and people's better angels. A left-wing media apparatus combating right-wing lies is only part of the battle; the rest, and probably the bigger part, is finding a way to help more people value truth and honesty.

https://www.editorialboard.com/lets-be-honest-the-democrats-need-a-media-apparatus-to-compete-with-the-republicans/

'Kakistocracy' has to be the odds-on favorite to win word of the year honors in 2025.
#ItsTheStupidStupid

@GottaLaff
And a vote for Trump is really a vote for Vance.

@mekkaokereke
If you have evidence, present it, and they are not persuaded, then are they really open-minded?

@lowqualityfacts
Sings "You're gonna make it, after all..."
Now throw your hat into the air.
(if you didn't watch MTM in the 70s, you might not get this.)