West Coast Chick
@welcome2absurdia.bsky.social
Keep calm and opposition-party on. NF writer-editor turned grad student. Fan of democracy & freedom, nature & conservation, potato chips, and cats. ******AGAINST EXTREME WEALTH INEQUALITY.******
Pinned
I’m quite confident that if everyone read this book, social media would be a very different place and probably better for everyone’s mental health and society at large.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722989...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722989...
Be careful of using “always” and “never” in your skeets, folks. Black-and-white comments feel satisfying but often don’t benefit conversations.
September 14, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Be careful of using “always” and “never” in your skeets, folks. Black-and-white comments feel satisfying but often don’t benefit conversations.
I swear to G*d, Apple TV on Roku, will it kill you to put a box around the show I’ve selected rather or doing something really obvious than making the icon subtly brighter???
September 7, 2026 at 10:10 PM
I swear to G*d, Apple TV on Roku, will it kill you to put a box around the show I’ve selected rather or doing something really obvious than making the icon subtly brighter???
I’m quite confident that if everyone read this book, social media would be a very different place and probably better for everyone’s mental health and society at large.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722989...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722989...
August 30, 2026 at 4:45 PM
I’m quite confident that if everyone read this book, social media would be a very different place and probably better for everyone’s mental health and society at large.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722989...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/722989...
“Plexiglass cases, like boarded up stores, send a powerful message of a society under siege, even when the real message should be not to trust everything we hear.”
This piece is well worth the read!
This piece is well worth the read!
Great piece on the largely imaginary shoplifting surge:
I do think one thing the piece misses is that a bunch of major police departments started years-long work slowdowns in 2020 where they refused to do their jobs (often falsely claiming their hands were tied by woke prosecutors)
I do think one thing the piece misses is that a bunch of major police departments started years-long work slowdowns in 2020 where they refused to do their jobs (often falsely claiming their hands were tied by woke prosecutors)
We used to be able to buy things in this country
Locking up toothpaste was a warning sign that our executive class was crazy
dannykatch.substack.com
July 25, 2026 at 4:26 PM
“Plexiglass cases, like boarded up stores, send a powerful message of a society under siege, even when the real message should be not to trust everything we hear.”
This piece is well worth the read!
This piece is well worth the read!
Very interesting #research study that raises important questions about scalability and whether the tech tools that ushered in #misinformation problems can help fix them.
A New Way to Fight #Misinformation? smith.queensu.ca/insight/cont...
When "evidence was clear, relevant and helpful, participants got significantly better at discerning true claims from false ones."
Alas, "...incentives of major platforms remain aligned with the dissemination of misinformation..."
When "evidence was clear, relevant and helpful, participants got significantly better at discerning true claims from false ones."
Alas, "...incentives of major platforms remain aligned with the dissemination of misinformation..."
Can This New Way to Fight Misinformation Work? | Smith Business Insight
New research suggests giving people evidence, not answers, may be a better way to fight misinformation.
smith.queensu.ca
July 23, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Very interesting #research study that raises important questions about scalability and whether the tech tools that ushered in #misinformation problems can help fix them.
Our entire presidential administration and its allies are people who’ve spent decades enjoying criticizing and tearing government down. They never understood how much harder it is to actually build and/or maintain things. And we are all paying for their ignorance and hubris.
July 23, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Our entire presidential administration and its allies are people who’ve spent decades enjoying criticizing and tearing government down. They never understood how much harder it is to actually build and/or maintain things. And we are all paying for their ignorance and hubris.
Well, so much for my TED talk. 😕
Standard time is the correct time. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.
July 15, 2026 at 4:13 AM
Well, so much for my TED talk. 😕
Reposted by West Coast Chick
Of the 68 cases of voter fraud prosecuted in the last 30 years, all were perpetrated by republicans. If republicans are so concerned about voter fraud, they just have to stop doing it. Problem solved.
July 14, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Of the 68 cases of voter fraud prosecuted in the last 30 years, all were perpetrated by republicans. If republicans are so concerned about voter fraud, they just have to stop doing it. Problem solved.
Imagine if a Democratic president said Praise be to Allah. It’s a useless thought exercise given that we can do it a 1000 times a day & still not have it lead to any negative repercussions for this prez, but I can’t help myself from doing it and shaking my head in disbelief at least once a week.
Dear God please save us from the President of the United States, who is bragging about committing genocide if someone so much as throws a rotten apple at him.
July 11, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Imagine if a Democratic president said Praise be to Allah. It’s a useless thought exercise given that we can do it a 1000 times a day & still not have it lead to any negative repercussions for this prez, but I can’t help myself from doing it and shaking my head in disbelief at least once a week.
Reposted by West Coast Chick
On a fundamental level, US politics has not made sense to me since 2015. I no longer understand the basic criteria, values, or rules. I don't know why people do things or don't do things, or how people evaluate things. It's profoundly disorienting and alienating. I don't know how else to put it.
June 11, 2026 at 6:01 PM
On a fundamental level, US politics has not made sense to me since 2015. I no longer understand the basic criteria, values, or rules. I don't know why people do things or don't do things, or how people evaluate things. It's profoundly disorienting and alienating. I don't know how else to put it.
Reposted by West Coast Chick
Most of us can't conceive of how much money $1 billion is. One person having that kind of money is obscene.
June 4, 2026 at 12:38 PM
Most of us can't conceive of how much money $1 billion is. One person having that kind of money is obscene.
Ngl, about 5 episodes in to #Andor and am not loving it, which I expected to. Did others find it slow to get into, or is it more likely just not my cup of tea?
May 16, 2026 at 10:13 PM
Ngl, about 5 episodes in to #Andor and am not loving it, which I expected to. Did others find it slow to get into, or is it more likely just not my cup of tea?
I want every single American—but especially white Trump supporters and white GOP voters and legislators—to see this. Shame on all of them!!!
Really. You've got to watch this. It's brief.
Feeling overwhelmed with all of this. LISTEN. Another Louisiana resident (Marshawn is the only name we have) testifies against the state’s racial gerrymander, speaking truth to power up and down the hearing room and predicts how this story will end.
Speak your truth, fight and believe.
Speak your truth, fight and believe.
May 14, 2026 at 5:13 AM
I want every single American—but especially white Trump supporters and white GOP voters and legislators—to see this. Shame on all of them!!!
“Supremacy is an unnatural fever that makes those least infected do the suffering and dying for those who are most infected … but which eventually comes for us all.” A thoughtful piece that comprehensively describes the maladies of our time and culture but also the treatments.
There came a day when the great emperor fell ill with fever, and none of his doctors could revive him. Now the call went out across the empire, promising great reward for any who could find a cure.
www.the-reframe.com/one-thing-yo...
www.the-reframe.com/one-thing-yo...
One Thing You Can Never Say Is You Haven't Been Told
You can't meet people where they are unless they know where they are. You can't be sure they know if they aren't told.
www.the-reframe.com
May 13, 2026 at 6:31 PM
“Supremacy is an unnatural fever that makes those least infected do the suffering and dying for those who are most infected … but which eventually comes for us all.” A thoughtful piece that comprehensively describes the maladies of our time and culture but also the treatments.
I love this more than I can say!!!
get in loser we're getting Reconstruction right this time
April 30, 2026 at 4:12 AM
I love this more than I can say!!!
The absolute right response to sex pests
Female octopuses throw rocks at males that bother them, documented in Octopus tetricus
April 30, 2026 at 4:07 AM
The absolute right response to sex pests
“Forgotten now, Burlingame’s speech was once widely considered one of the most important speeches in American history.” Everyone who cares about American democracy today should read this important essay by @hcrichardson.bsky.social
April 22, 2026
Virginia voters yesterday agreed to a constitutional amendment that would temporarily redistrict the state if any other state redistricted for partisan reasons: that is, in retaliation for the partisa...
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
April 23, 2026 at 2:45 PM
“Forgotten now, Burlingame’s speech was once widely considered one of the most important speeches in American history.” Everyone who cares about American democracy today should read this important essay by @hcrichardson.bsky.social
Reposted by West Coast Chick
If everyone got a receipt for their taxes breaking it down like this, I think our country would look totally different
If you paid taxes for 2025, you likely paid:
$124 — school lunch & nutrition programs
$49 — diplomacy to prevent wars
$19 — USPS
$19 — Federal Aviation Administration
$18 — national parks
and
$4,049 — weapons and war.
These priorities are hurting us all. We need change. #TaxDay
$124 — school lunch & nutrition programs
$49 — diplomacy to prevent wars
$19 — USPS
$19 — Federal Aviation Administration
$18 — national parks
and
$4,049 — weapons and war.
These priorities are hurting us all. We need change. #TaxDay
April 17, 2026 at 12:00 AM
If everyone got a receipt for their taxes breaking it down like this, I think our country would look totally different
⚠️ Senator Mark Warner telling @maddow.bsky.social yesterday that he has “lost a lot of faith that my Republican partners in the Senate will stand up for our basic fair voting and democracy.” ⚠️
April 8, 2026 at 6:31 AM
⚠️ Senator Mark Warner telling @maddow.bsky.social yesterday that he has “lost a lot of faith that my Republican partners in the Senate will stand up for our basic fair voting and democracy.” ⚠️
“We have an economic problem masquerading as a political problem,” says @anatosaurus.bsky.social. “We’re not going to vote our way to democracy.” Lots of important points in this podcast by @andreapitzer.bsky.social.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
The Science of Partying Against Fascism
Podcast Episode · Next Comes What · March 26 · 38m
podcasts.apple.com
April 1, 2026 at 5:13 AM
“We have an economic problem masquerading as a political problem,” says @anatosaurus.bsky.social. “We’re not going to vote our way to democracy.” Lots of important points in this podcast by @andreapitzer.bsky.social.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/n...
“A second Gulf source said the Iranians believed Mr Vance would stick to his word”
Hoo, boy. If the Iranians really think this, they’re in for a rude awakening.
Hoo, boy. If the Iranians really think this, they’re in for a rude awakening.
have fun, Vance
March 25, 2026 at 12:44 AM
“A second Gulf source said the Iranians believed Mr Vance would stick to his word”
Hoo, boy. If the Iranians really think this, they’re in for a rude awakening.
Hoo, boy. If the Iranians really think this, they’re in for a rude awakening.
I resisted this principle for so long bc I just couldn’t understand people who I know are smarter than me (elites/journos) wanting such an obvious moron as Trump to succeed, but I now see that as my failure, not @mtsw.bsky.social’s, to accept the most obvious conclusion from the evidence.
This is where the MTSW principle (do we have a nickname for that?) helped me more than anything else.
bsky.app/profile/mtsw...
bsky.app/profile/mtsw...
oh yeah
March 23, 2026 at 7:09 AM
I resisted this principle for so long bc I just couldn’t understand people who I know are smarter than me (elites/journos) wanting such an obvious moron as Trump to succeed, but I now see that as my failure, not @mtsw.bsky.social’s, to accept the most obvious conclusion from the evidence.
After listening to the segment on Claude, I’m wondering why it’s not spelled “Clod”
The AI-Powered War Machines Are Here
Podcast Episode · On the Media · March 7 · 51m
podcasts.apple.com
March 13, 2026 at 5:20 AM
After listening to the segment on Claude, I’m wondering why it’s not spelled “Clod”