Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
If he didn't do it, the appeals panel would, so he's pre-empting.
Writer, political analyst, comms consultant. UK, Israeli, US. Politics, current affairs and technology. arieh@ariehkovler.com. https://linktr.ee/ariehkovler
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view profile on Bluesky Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
If he didn't do it, the appeals panel would, so he's pre-empting.
Neil Norman And His Cosmic Orchestra (@fubsyshabaroon.bsky.social) reposted
Well, this sounds fucking dreadful.
Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) reposted
I know it’s a subtle distinction that most mainstream media publications will elide but technically Judge Breyer found that the Trump administration’s *use* of the military was illegal Trump’s legal authority to *deploy* the guard in CA is a separate question that’s pending before the 9th Cir.
Craig (@craiging619.bsky.social) reposted
Fellow ‘Bluesky Elders’ will remember that the site was set up to pivot away from quote-tweets and dunks, but unfortunately I’ve found the perfect image to quote-tweet dunk someone with.
Jacqueline Sweet (@jsweetli.bsky.social) reposted
The man quoted here is a former MMA fighter who fought at 135 pounds nicknamed The Cyborg.
Stephen Bush (@stephenkb.bsky.social) reposted
A thing I think is surprising, to me at least, is look, if you're a professional pollster, frankly who cares which platform you are on. But if your business is links, frankly why are you not trying to move more people over here? You can always just block the crazies.
Josh Ling (@metacrab.org) reposted
Just realised I can't view any 18+ pages on Steam because my account doesn't have a credit card + none of the credit cards I own are supported. @valvesoftware.com this is so busted lol, my account is literally 18+ years old on its own
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
The injunction is stayed until 12 September.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
The NG and other military will be banned from "executing the laws" in California, "including but not limited to engaging in arrests, apprehensions, searches, seizures, security patrols, traffic control, crowd control, riot control, evidence collection, interrogation, or acting as informants"
Loic Toleco (@loictoleco.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
Somebody told him the "Nobel peace prize" was out of reach because woke jury, but that getting the "Nobel war price" would be even cooler.
John Oxley (@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk) reposted
Feels like the flag debate has been kicking around my whole life and it still boils down to: Civic institutions should fly the flag routinely. Sporting occasions and national events, sure get it out. Year round flag on your house, bit weird, trashy. Doing it to "intimidate the forrins", obvs bad
Andy Craig (@andycraig.bsky.social) reposted
Nobody who is not a nazi has every enjoyed reading Mein Kampf. Of course it's hateful and morally repulsive and all that, but it's also terrible just as a piece of writing, basically a transcribed and only loosely edited stream of consciousness rant. It's an interminable slog and really rather dull.
Eliot Higgins (@eliothiggins.bsky.social) reposted
When centrists adopt far-right rhetoric, they don’t make themselves stronger. They make themselves look inauthentic, legitimise the far right, and shift the political debate onto terrain defined by their opponents. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
Jonathan Cohn (@jonathancohn.bsky.social) reposted
Perfect encapsulation of the Trump administration: The guy suing Harvard for alleged antisemitism is a straight-up Hitler-admiring Nazi. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/m...
Seth Cotlar (@sethcotlar.bsky.social) reposted
The indictment was handed down 2 days after career prosecutor Richard Barker, the acting US atty for eastern Washington state, resigned. In a social post, Barker wrote “I am grateful that I never had to sign an indictment or file a brief that I didn’t believe in.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Ilya Marritz (@ilyamarritz.bsky.social) reposted
the DOJ atty (& 2x Harvard grad) who suggested Harvard showed "wanton indifference to antisemitism" once wrote a paper from the perspective of Hitler & expressed admiration for Mein Kampf stunning reporting from @hilaryburns.bsky.social @talkopan.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/m...
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
- promises to end all wars in his election campaign - keeps claiming he has ended a bunch of wars - is obsessed with winning the Nobel Peace Prize - illegally renames the DoD to the "Department of War"?
Andy Craig (@andycraig.bsky.social) reposted
One of my Supreme Court reform takes is they should be completely barred from taking any outside income (incl. publishing deals) and it should be particularly frowned upon, normatively, to be writing books. Memoirs are for writing after you retire, not five years into a lifetime appointment.
John Oxley (@joxley.jmoxley.co.uk) reposted
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
She was spectacularly bad at it, too. Hated by the lawyers, who rather liked Gove in the role.
General Boles (@generalboles.bsky.social) reposted
because of woke www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/s...
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
If I had to guess, the 2pm announcement will be a nothingburger. Remember that post-Covid, Trump wanted people to think he was too sick to walk, only to reveal a Superman logo under his shirt. He loves this stuff, people thinking he's dead so he can 'come back'.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
I'm guessing because they were just the most mundane names given to bit characters.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
By "force" you mean "legally compel", right? Because he forces people to do things all the time using other forms of direct and indirect coersion.
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) (@sundersays.bsky.social) reposted
Prima facie, Elon Musk appears to be manipulating X platform for specific political voices he supports (as well as using his own account to amplify the far right & furthest right). In particular the platform dynamic has shifted & is helping Tommy Robinson to be amplified more than Nigel Farage.
Stephen Bush (@stephenkb.bsky.social) reposted
AI could mean that the average musician receives essentially nothing from streaming or even record releases and all their money, if any, comes from touring or OnlyFans-one, second, sorry, I'm getting a call.
Hari Kunzru (@harikunzru.bsky.social) reposted
It is insane to me that the richest man in the world is using his global megaphone to call for millions of British people to be rounded up and deported (including my family) and somehow this isn’t even news.
Ben Ansell (@benansell.bsky.social) reposted reply parent
In what world do you get 'accepted' into US universities without actually applying to them? I imagine that maybe a letter encouraging application or something like that was sent. Perhaps it has been misremembered.
General Boles (@generalboles.bsky.social) reposted
"Morgan this wasn't on the grid" "well it is now"
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
Exclusive photo of Keir Starmer
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
I blame the EU.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
They had him out briefly in front of the cameras on the weekend. More than they did in 2017.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
I think it says NI can be assuaged by paying it the 350m a day?
Glen O'Hara (@gsoh31.bsky.social) reposted
Shall I tell you what's wrong with the Policy Exchange nonsense? Okay: I'm about the most conciliatory Irish unity sceptic there could possibly be among Nationalists. Without ECHR, I would consider the Belfast Agreement, and the compromises and agreements the Union rests on, as dissolved.
Pat Green (@thepatgreen.bsky.social) reposted
"Superman is woke! Smithsonian is woke! Lego is woke! Cracker Barrel logos are woke!" It must be so exhausting hating everyone and everything, all the time. What a sad, pathetic way to live your life.
Marisa Kabas (@marisakabas.bsky.social) reposted
Must be Gruden’s favorite golf outfit since he wore it last week at Trump’s club in Virginia.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
Exactly.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
He's a Kentaur, so presumably it's the same place Ken's is?
BeijingPalmer (@beijingpalmer.bsky.social) reposted
Ok is she too careless to realize that the blanked out word here is ”Jews” or is she fully over the edge?
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) reposted
The headline calls this unexpected consequences, but I would call this extremely expected consequences.
Simon HB (@norock.bsky.social) reposted
Actually, Frankenstein is a doctor success at the Venice film festival
UNITED24 Media (@united24media.com) reposted
🔴 Footage from a factory in China was found on the camera of a Russian “Gerbera” drone downed in Ukraine, likely recorded during device testing. This was reported by serviceman and radio technology expert and consultant Serhii Beskrestnov.
Quantian (@quantian.bsky.social) reposted
The commonly cited AI water usage statistics are based on a methodology where, if your data center buys green energy from a hydroelectric dam (as lots do, including the hyperscalers), then “natural evaporation of the water from the lake behind the dam” is counted as that data center’s water use.
Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) reposted
I’m absolutely begging reporters to stop suggesting that Lisa Cook stated that she would use both properties as a principal residence on her mortgage APPLICATIONS Mortgage APPLICATIONS and mortgage AGREEMENTS are not the same thing We have no idea what she represented on the APPLICATIONS
Carl T. Bergstrom (@carlbergstrom.com) reposted
What’s particularly odd is that this is not Trump‘s cadence or writing style.
molly conger (@socialistdogmom.bsky.social) reposted
the haters and losers will say it's foolish to indulge in wild speculation but you can't deny it's extremely funny that they have to write headlines like this
Justin Ling (@justinling.ca) reposted
Offering Ashli Babbitt a military funeral and revoking Secret Service detail for Kamala Harris in the same day feels pretty auspicious. apnews.com/article/ashl... www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
you can sue your mistress for telling your wife about the affair?
jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) reposted
she said that “black” with a hard r
Grudgie the Whale (@grudgie.bsky.social) reposted
I would like to remind people Trump literally posted Obama’s personal address and a lunatic follower of his showed up there the next day armed to the teeth. You might not have heard about it because places like the NYT never reported it (they reported the gunman but not the Trump part at all!)
amanda moore 🐢 (@noturtlesoup17.bsky.social) reposted
Oh my god Jim is WHAT?!
David Roberts (@volts.wtf) reposted
I mean, nothing matters any more, but it's worth pointing out that preventing demagogic leaders from controlling the money supply was one of the *central issues in the American Revolution*.
Amarnath Amarasingam (@amaramarasingam.bsky.social) reposted
A warning I often repeat for those working with attacker manifestos, like the one in Minnesota: resist the temptation to seize on one element that aligns with your own political or policy concern and elevate it as the only motive. Don't strip-mine manifestos to suit your current political project.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
Many political types love the West Wing, not as realistic but as aspirational.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
Once.
Corey Quinn (@quinnypig.com) reposted
Any phone this thin is by definition foldable.
molly conger (@socialistdogmom.bsky.social) reposted
it’s not a good sign when old episodes of my show have any renewed relevance but this one does provide some context for the horrifying phenomenon of the meme poisoned school shooter
jon ben-menachem (@jbenmenachem.com) reposted
Wow. This would end international student PhD participation. It wouldn’t affect university finances, but it would impoverish us intellectually.
Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) reposted
Seems like the kind of thing federal agents could handle if they weren’t busy tracking down America’s most wanted DoorDash delivery drivers in DC.
jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) reposted
i find this image so fascinating. it is both a literal example of authoritarianism but also a second-hand reproduction of the aesthetics of other authoritarian states. it's like a simulacra of authoritarianism whose purpose is to attempt to make the simulacra real.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
"If only more schizophrenic kids stopped taking their meds, then we wouldn't have school shootings" is certainly a *creative* opinion.
BeijingPalmer (@beijingpalmer.bsky.social) reposted
no no, it was "Don't! Be Evil!"
Raffi Melkonian (@rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social) reposted
To give you a sense of how nuts this is, Paxton claims a court of only Republican appointed Republicans is “Beto loving” because they asked for a response to one of his filings.
Nick Fleisher (@nickfleisher.bsky.social) reposted
It has been wild to see what were always the two most paranoid pro-Second Amendment scenarios—the government snatching people away and sending occupying armies into communities—literally happen this year, to the delight of conservatives
Michael Senters the Sigillite, ABD. (Yang Wen-li stan) (@mikesenters.bsky.social) reposted
The shooter literally had the minimalist “Loss” meme on their rifle. You cannot take anything this person said or did at face value. It’s all so deep soaked in irony and toxic fandom culture that if you aren’t actually researching this stuff for a living you really shouldn’t be engaging with it.
Eliot Higgins (@eliothiggins.bsky.social) reposted
There's references to about 10 mass shootings, one of the 9/11 hijackers, multiple far right, antisemetic and racist slogans, a bunch of very online nihilist type memes, and various conspiracy theories.
Tristan Lee (@tristanl.ee) reposted
Very concerning that mass shooters are starting to adopt a style of "shitposting" that combines the aesthetics of Tarrant-style Nazism with a self-aware, terminally-online-zoomer nihilism. Nothing in these manifestos (or written on AR-15s) should be taken literally.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
Look, I know how this works, I understand it. But even I still haven't fully broken "blue tick = worth a bit more attention" reflex, and when I glance at the replies over there I have to remind myself every time that they aren't even a fair sample of the userbase, let alone the public.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
"blue tick = influential" turned out to be a very sticky idea. Combine that with replies from anyone who doesn't pay getting buried under far right blue-ticks and it FEELS like opinion has dramatically shifted hard Right, especially for MPs who were used to the old system.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
This is true, and it's pernicious. Musk's algo changes and pay-to-play mean that blue tick replies get all the visibility, and those are disproportionately likely to be far-right nuts. MPs see their Twitter replies are dominated by racists and assume that public opinion is dominated by racists too.
Anthony Clark (@nedroid.com) reposted
A jury of my peers? TWELVE murderers?!
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
The one I really want, done well, is the Book of Samuel. It's just constant drama, interpersonal conflict, romance, war, betrayal, sex...
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
Always have to make sure you wank an even number of times.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
The Matter of Britain would be a really cool setting in general. Giants! Wizards! The Crystal Cave could stand a 21st century TV adaptation, actually.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
No flouride in the water, worse dental care in general and no root canals, implants etc. Older people today are more likely to have a mouth full of crowns and implants
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
When I was a kid, my great-grandma had had false teeth like basically all old people then, and my parents told me everyone's teeth can come out like that. You just have to find the little button that releases them. I spent so long fiddling around my gums for the release catch.
Alex von Tunzelmann (@alexvont.bsky.social) reposted
Beautiful. I still remember a friend coming over to our place when we were about 5 or 6 and my parents giving us ice cream. “Oh, have you just been to France?” she asked. Much confusion ensued, until it became clear that her parents had told her you could only get ice cream in France 🍦
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
You think the attempted murder, terrorism and treason charges may have been OTT?
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
Remember there was like a year where the Right's biggest fear was walkable cities with local shops and amenities? Seems like a lifetime ago, but it was 2023-4.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
Gonna start randomly-quote tweeting big accounts here and angrily accusing them of stuff. Today, Orientalism. Tomorrow... idk, Polio minimization?
Full Fact (@fullfact.org) reposted
A video which appears to show Vladimir Putin criticising the UK’s “hypocrisy” on Gaza is circulating on social media. But we’ve found no evidence that the Russian President made these comments, and the creator of the clip has said it is “fictional”.
Mike Rothschild (@rothschildmd.bsky.social) reposted
In 2015, Alex Jones spent a year spinning paranoid stories of US troops planning to enact martial law, assist a Chinese invasion, and execute dissenters in "death domes." In 2025, troops are in the streets, and Alex Jones couldn't be happier. themikerothschild.com/2025/08/27/j...
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
I am pretty deep in the New Right Bullshit and I had to look this one up. The person running this account is either so deeply Pepe-brained that they either think people will get the reference, or they're deliberately trying to dog-whistle to the frens.
Michael Senters the Sigillite, ABD. (Yang Wen-li stan) (@mikesenters.bsky.social) reposted
You all have no idea how in the fucking weeds you have to be to understand this reference.
jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) reposted
this stuff is such a disgrace. a free citizen of a free country should be ashamed to engage in it.
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com) reply parent
The Pilgrims came to America from Leiden in the Netherlands to escape England's mandatory church attendance?
Glen O'Hara (@gsoh31.bsky.social) reposted
This is good on the practical disestablishment or abolition of the Anglosphere university, which has happened almost on the quiet - without much discussion or planning. www.mikejonesonline.com/contextjunky...
Arieh Kovler (@ariehkovler.com)
Proving the old adage wrong.
Nick Barlow (@nickbwalking.bsky.social) reposted
Thread. And I remember Euro 96 making a concerted effort to use St George's Cross because the Union Jack was seen as being tainted by the hooligans and racists of the 70s and 80s. Same with Three Lions, it was about adopting new imagery to get football to a new audience.
Brad Heath (@bradheath.bsky.social) reposted
National Guard soldiers called into service for President Trump's law enforcement surge in D.C. have been assigned to spread mulch at federal monuments. Normally the Park Service does that, but the administration laid off the workers. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...