Mark Coatney
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mcoatney.bsky.social
Mark Coatney
@mcoatney.bsky.social
510 followers 660 following 770 posts
I am part of the problem. Working on a solution with Roverai: http://roverai.cc . Founder, CounterMeasure. Ex Tumblr, Forbes, Al Jazeera, Time, Nwk, etc.
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Reposted by Mark Coatney
ericumansky.bsky.social
NEW FROM PP

The Trump admin keeps denying immigration agents are grabbing Americans, so we tracked it

500+ Americans detained

70+ kids, some cuffed or zip-tied

60+ held after filming

36+ held for day+ w/o access to lawyer

~12 deported (yes, deported)

projects.propublica.org/american-cit....
More Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublica
The government doesn’t track how often immigration officers detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve found more than 500 Americans who were held against their will during this Trump administrati...
projects.propublica.org
October 6, 2026 at 10:19 AM
mcoatney.bsky.social
One way forward on this that I really loved is how Mamdani’s social media is all about a celebration of being out in the world with others. His Scavenger Hunt was just perfect, and a map to follow
October 2, 2026 at 5:43 PM
mcoatney.bsky.social
This is so well done; thanks @lorak.bsky.social
lorak.bsky.social Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 3d
this is really sad but puts words to some things that you may have a hard time articulating so worth a read...
aselrod.bsky.social Alan Elrod @aselrod.bsky.social · 4d
For my latest, I wrote about some of the modern addictions shaping American life, from social media to celebrity to sports betting.

Read at @liberalcurrents.com

www.liberalcurrents.com/portraits-of...
October 2, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
abdulelsayed.bsky.social
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.
September 30, 2026 at 3:39 PM
mcoatney.bsky.social
Someone help me this seems bad
October 1, 2026 at 12:13 AM
mcoatney.bsky.social
This, absolutely. And nice work by the podcast producers to let that moment play out; it was one of the best things in the interview and it came at the very end
cwarzel.bsky.social Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 6d
There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have. What does “truth to pain” mean? It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it. I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability. And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live. She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.
September 30, 2026 at 4:48 PM
mcoatney.bsky.social
This is completely unrelated to anything (except it's fun to think about the White Whale as a Town agent) but at Rob Delaney's prompting I'm rereading Moby-Dick, and my Lord I'd forgotten this bit from Ahab:
Text from The Quarterdeck chapter of "Moby-Dick" that reads: "All visible objects, man, are but as pasteboard masks. But in each event⁠—in the living act, the undoubted deed⁠—there, some unknown but still reasoning thing puts forth the mouldings of its features from behind the unreasoning mask. If man will strike, strike through the mask! How can the prisoner reach outside except by thrusting through the wall? To me, the white whale is that wall, shoved near to me. Sometimes I think there’s naught beyond. But ’tis enough. He tasks me; he heaps me; I see in him outrageous strength, with an inscrutable malice sinewing it. That inscrutable thing is chiefly what I hate; and be the white whale agent, or be the white whale principal, I will wreak that hate upon him."
September 30, 2026 at 1:57 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
lanceulanoff.com
Major report says it's now impossible to 'buy a new car that does not track you' — as Tesla is branded one of the worst offenders for privacy breaches www.techradar.com/vehicle-tech...
'Nearly every automaker sent data to outside companies': Worrying report says 28 of 30 car apps are sending personal info to data brokers
Your vehicle might be sending your personally identifiable info to data brokers and Big Tech, new report finds.
www.techradar.com
September 30, 2026 at 8:15 AM
mcoatney.bsky.social
roverai.cc/your-dark-ma...
Your Dark Materials
When a company takes a name from literature, it gives us a window into how the people who build the company think.
roverai.cc
September 29, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
juddlegum.bsky.social
1. How has MAGA Inc. raised an unprecedented amount of money? Let’s review:
September 29, 2026 at 12:56 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
teamtalaricohq.bsky.social
Ken Paxton: The only thing that really saves us is that the Supreme Court came along and allowed Super PACs. Otherwise... I would be sitting here and never have a chance...
September 29, 2026 at 12:44 AM
mcoatney.bsky.social
Funny thing about this story @apnews.com is that there is no mention of the cause of these blackouts and shortages. Who is responsible for this? Elves?
September 29, 2026 at 10:38 AM
mcoatney.bsky.social
Some news:

roverai.cc/its-been-a-m...
It's Been a Minute
Rover is a daemon, a manifestation of your self, a separate entity that knows you and your tastes, remembers what you remember, a thing you can talk to and learn from.
roverai.cc
September 28, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
mcsweeneys.net
"Our internal polling indicates that football remains incredibly popular. Even the general idea of Charlie Brown successfully booting a football, which we concede has never come close to happening, nevertheless polls modestly well across most major neighborhood demographics."
buff.ly/X2RjqP5
“Charlie Brown Must Stay the Course”: A Football Kick Autopsy Report by the Democratic Party
“While Charlie Brown did once again accelerate toward the ball, miss the ball entirely as Lucy pulled it away, flip backward through the air, and land violen...
buff.ly
September 27, 2026 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
abdulelsayed.bsky.social
Here's how we get Medicare for All done:

Make Medicare whole (no one can keep all the parts straight!)
Include vision, dental, and hearing.
Begin extending to more people, starting with children.

We arrive at Medicare for All, which means great Medicare for everyone.
September 26, 2026 at 10:16 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
propublica.org
Hey, ProPublica reporter Jake Pearson here. I’m taking over the account to tell you about my new story.

For months, I posed as a problem gambler on DraftKings to test the company's "responsible gaming" safeguards.

Spoiler alert: They made me a VIP — and I lost $10K. Here's how it all went down. 🧵
Selfie taken by ProPublica reporter Jake Pearson, a man wearing a backwards baseball cap and an orange T-shirt.
September 26, 2026 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
daninkc.bsky.social
Kansas Livestock Association comes out against the ICE Raids????!!!!
September 25, 2026 at 5:47 AM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
bencollins.bsky.social
lol holy shit I wouldn't talk about literally anything else if I was the guy running against him.

—"What do you think about trans kids in sp-"

—"Did you hear my opponent had his patient, who was 8 months pregnant, arrested in front of her son because she didn't pay a $50 medical bill?"
teamhamiltonhq.bsky.social teamhamiltonhq.bsky.social @teamhamiltonhq.bsky.social · 11d
Meischa was Roger Marshall's patient. This is her story.
September 25, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
drekarbt.bsky.social
forward.com/news/836468/...
Mamdani more popular than Netanyahu among U.S. Jews, new poll shows
The Associated Press survey found growing dissatisfaction with Israel's wartime leadership, even as the New York mayor remains divisive over his views on Israel
forward.com
September 24, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
nytimes.com
Breaking News: Massachusetts is investigating how DraftKings and other gambling sites use A.I. The inquiry follows a New York Times report that showed how DraftKings has deployed the technology to target losing gamblers with promotions that encouraged more betting.
Massachusetts Is Investigating Gambling Companies’ Use of A.I.
In response to a New York Times report on DraftKings, the state’s gaming commission said it would evaluate how each company deployed the technology.
nyti.ms
September 24, 2026 at 11:07 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
mayor.nyc.gov
Never been to the opera before?
Now’s your chance. We’re giving away 70,000 free tickets to the @metopera at the iconic Lincoln Center. Go to on.nyc.gov/opera to enter the lottery. There’s not a bad seat in the house.
September 24, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
status.news
The anonymous source behind one of the stories the White House cited to justify banning POLITICO was none other than Vice President JD Vance, we have learned.

Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/white-hous...
The Source Behind The Ban
The anonymous source behind one of the stories the White House cited to justify banning POLITICO was none other than Vice President JD Vance, Status has learned.
www.status.news
September 23, 2026 at 9:38 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
michaelwarburton.bsky.social
This aired just the once in 1998 on the live SNL show for which McKay wrote it.
It was effectively banned as it never aired again.

I wonder why.

MEDIA-OPOLY
September 21, 2026 at 6:07 PM
mcoatney.bsky.social
Finally! Good to see some action
scottnover.bsky.social Scott Nover @scottnover.bsky.social · 15d
BREAKING: TV pool will not be providing coverage of presidential events until further notice b/c of CNN's ban, pool chair and FOX News Washington Bureau Chief Bryan Boughton said.

It's effectively a boycott by the fellow members — ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX:
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
September 21, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by Mark Coatney
robertscotthorton.bsky.social
The victim's lawyer is furnishing details: His name is Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, and he's a DoorDash delivery man. He was making a delivery when ICE agents attacked him, riddling his car with bullets and shooting him in the back. Don't believe a word that DHS says about this incident.
Attorney: Austin man shot by ICE agent was making DoorDash delivery
A Venezuelan man shot by an ICE agent in Austin was making a DoorDash delivery, his attorney said. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was later released from the hospital into ICE custody.
www.statesman.com
September 21, 2026 at 1:43 AM