Tootfinder

As salty as I am about it, there's also another way to think about this. For anyone who still has connections to folks on the right (which is perhaps unlikely for anyone on this server, I digress), the cult that has consumed them thrives on isolation and grievance.
The words "you were right" have the potential to cut through the programming and open up an opportunity for reconnection. The modern conspiratorial cult of the Right has been built partially around people who were told they were wrong or were crazy. In the vast majority of cases, they were wrong and even when they were right they completely misunderstood why, but we'll skip that for now. Liberals making fun of them (even the times when they definitely earned it) has pushed them further and further into their ideological hole.
The thing about those words, "you were right," in this context is that the way they offer reconnection also requires them to take one little step of betraying their ideology to accept them. So they must choose between maintaining allegiance to a pedophile or finally getting to feel superior after years of living in an illusion of persecution.
Under the ideology of the Right, admitting one is wrong is a weakness. It is admitting defeat. They have to "own the libs" by saying things, things that they know aren't true, in order to feel dominant. But these things are often so absurd that they end up being made fun of, feeling even more weak and pathetic, reinforcing their fear and alienation.
Offering what they're looking for can offer a way out, but only if they're willing to start to recognize the thing they've supported for what it is.
And they were right about some things. They were right that Bill Gates was a terrible person. I've had plenty of liberals defend him based on his philanthropy washing, but he's awful and always has been. The Epstein links make that blatant. They intuitively recognized him and didn't trust him, even if they were wildly off base about *how and why* he shouldn't be trusted... Even if their correct mistrust was leveraged into one of the most destructive conspiracy theories ever (vaccine denial and COVID vaccine avoidance).
They were right about Bill Clinton. He was always shady as fuck. Sure, the people who attacked him at the time turned out to be even more shady but that's not the point right now. He was connected to Epstein and that was always creepy as fuck.
And the Epstein thing was an open secret that liberals ignored for a long time. It was seen as some weird thing that right wing nutjobs believed about the Clintons. But it was true. Not all of it, and there has always been an antisemitic element to the right wing interpretation or Epstein stuff, but his whole pedophile conspiracy was always kind of real.
The whole "Illuminati"/deep state thing is a vast oversimplification, an attempt to make comprehensible an incredibly complex set of interlocking and emergent behaviors. But Epstein did very much want to remake the world, to create a new world order, and he absolutely played a part in it.
The Right wing nutjobs talked about global authoritarianism, Blackhawks flying over American cities, masked men with guns disarming and executing legal gun owners in the streets. That's all happening right now.
The "FEMA concentration camps" are not actually that far off. ICE and FEMA are sister agencies, both under DHS. I'd be more than happy to call that one "close enough" in order to hear some MAGA admit that ICE is, in fact, building concentration camps.
There was always a huge millennialist element to these things. They tended to be connected to "the antichrist." It was absurd, especially for me as someone who no longer identifies as a Christian. But I'll even acquiess that to a degree. The "the number of the Beast" is 666. That's just the sum of the Hebrew spelling of "Nero." Revelations focuses a lot on Nero coming back to life after his death. His death that involved a head wound, thus the line from Revelation 13:3:
> And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.
The parallels between Trump and Nero are easy to draw, and Trump's ear wound feels pretty on-the-nose for this. I don't believe in "prophecy" in this way. I think that there are patterns, and useful patterns can become encoded in beleif systems. But I will, again, happily call this one "close enough" for anyone on that side willing to also acknowledge it. I'm happy to meet on that common ground, because anyone who accepts it must recognize that their duty is to fight against it.
A lot of these correct nuggets are embedded in a framework of religious extremism and antisemitism. The vast majority of the beliefs holding these together are wildly wrong and incredibly toxic. But by giving some room to feel validated, listened to, understood, can give some room to admit things that were wrong.
Cult de-programming starts with an opening. People have to talk through their own thoughts, hear their own inconsistencies. Guiding questions can help them untangle these things for themselves. And it all starts by having enough room to feel safe, to not feel cornered, to not feel stupid. Admitting mistakes means being vulnerable, and the MAGA cult is built on fear. It's built on exploiting vulnerability and locking it away.
De-programming takes a long time. It's not easy. It takes patience. But every person who comes out does so with a powerful perspective, a deep understanding, that can be turned back against it. The best people at getting people out of cults are former members. Some of the most dedicated antifa are former fascists who understood their mistakes and dedicate their lives to fixing them.

Just started reading “Killing the Dead — Vampire Epidemics from Mesopotamia to The New World”, by John Blair. Looks fascinating. 300 pages so it’ll take a while. The idea of the undead has been around for probably as long as we’ve had any awareness of our mortality. Mythologies, oral and written, are chock full of the undead. I’ll try to post snippets of this story as I go along. #bookstodon

Interesting article on fertility in Ireland
https://www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2026/01/29/the-economic-forces-behind-older-motherhood-and-what-makes-ireland-different/
Since I have the data to h…

1/ I hate Bitcoin with a probably-unhealthy intensity and have a hook set up so I get notified on big moves (e.g. down 5.3% today). When they come in I glance at the chart and occasionally get stuck for a few minutes. Stock markets have been explained as an argument between buyers & sellers as to the correct value of the underlying real-world thing. But…
#Bitcoin

Google expands Gemini's hands-free conversational capabilities to walking and cycling modes in Google Maps, available on iOS and rolling out on Android (Aisha Malik/TechCrunch)
https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/29/google-maps-now-lets-you-…

Google Maps now lets you access Gemini while walking and cycling | TechCrunch
When you're walking around and navigating with Maps, you can now ask Gemini questions like "What neighborhood am I in?" or "What are top-rated restaurants nearby?"

The problem with relying on commercial services for hosting any of your blog content is that they may only be around 10 or 15 years.
My blog has been around for 29 years and every now and then I need to fix up a bunch of posts from a decade ago because some service shut down.
My personal site (paid for by doing side jobs for people) has outlasted corporations with VC backing and overpaid CEOs who failed.

A Palestinian middle school student in Michigan
who was publicly admonished for refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance as part of a personal protest against the war on Gaza
has settled with her school district following a lawsuit around her first amendment free speech rights.
The teenager, identified as DK in court documents, said she faced racism from a teacher at the West Middle school in Canton, Michigan,
after she did not participate in the pledge.
T…

The US has announced plans to hold multi-day military exercises in the Middle East
as it deploys what Donald Trump has called an “armada”
led by the USS Abraham Lincoln to the region as part of a tense standoff with Iran.
The display of US air power was announced as the White House has suggested it could launch new strikes on Iran
after the government’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters that has left thousands dead and many more in detention with their fates uncer…

I have a new primary care doc. He seems nice. Nowhere near burned out like some you hear about. I saw him 3 weeks ago to schedule a shot in my arthritic knee, and mentioned the wife & I had both come down with some viral crud going around. Saw him today for the shot & said we were better but not done with the crud yet. The wife got a 1-off scrip for a codeine cough suppressant from urgent care last week & I asked if he’d give us another one, & he did. Maybe next time I’ll ask…

Starting in less than ONE HOUR, our final webinar of this series:
"Report-Back from COP30, Reflections on Change-Making and Next Steps."
Register now to hear about COP30, the Peoples' Summit and the Indigenous Village.
We will also reflect on corporate capture of climate action.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Report Back from COP30, Reflections on Change-Making and Next Steps. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.
In November 2025, Seed the Commons participated in the People’s Summit Towards COP30. We presented a talk as part of the Just Transition axis, and the last day of the summit we marched with tens of thousands of other activists from around the world to demand real solutions to our climate crisis. Alongside organizations such as SEUI 1021 and the SF Labor Council, Seed the Commons co-organized a solidarity climate march on the same day in San Francisco. We merged it with a People Over Billionai…