wescontreras.com - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

W.E.B. Du Bois on the white takeover of southern public schools after Reconstruction. Not a coincidence that the chapter, "Back Towards Slavery," follows his analysis of the eventual dedegration of the public school system. Attacks on education are vital to (re)instituting authoritarian rule.

submitted 16 hours ago • 25 comments

Coming around to the view that a certain kind of narcissist simply needs Musk to be a genius rather than a fraud, because they want to believe there’s a hereditary Brahmin class of accomplished, beautiful minds—and that they’re a part of that class.

submitted 18 hours ago • 432 comments

submitted 8 hours ago • 0 comments

Only this time, it's not schools. It's the entire federal government.

submitted 14 hours ago • 0 comments

Staffing at the HUD office that pays for housing and support services across the country is slated to be cut by 84%. Advocates warn such heavy cuts could make record-high homelessness even worse.

submitted 18 hours ago • 145 comments

NEW — 19-year-old DOGE engineer Edward Coristine turns out to be the grandson of former KGB spy Valery Martynov, who played a role in a sprawling 1980s espionage saga. www.jacobsilverman.com/p/prominent-...

submitted 1 day ago • 493 comments

🚨WaPo scoop: Trump’s new leader of the Social Security Administration was being investigated for privacy violations when he was named to head the agency. — via Lisa Rein

submitted 18 hours ago • 10 comments

Some non-Americans are expressing a sense of helplessness watching the US. My personal recommendation to those feeling that way is to work to steel up the science infrastructure, funding, and culture in your own country. We need everyone to harbor knowledge and incubate progress while the US can't!

submitted 1 day ago • 7 comments

“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” A classic quote from Malcolm X, who was assassinated 60 years ago today.

submitted 1 day ago • 571 comments

Of the Chiefs of Staff, vice chiefs of staff, and judge advocates general of the three branches, Trump fired all the women and Black people.

submitted 1 day ago • 204 comments

"See you in court"

submitted 1 day ago • 3 comments

I'm gonna keep reposting examples of people not taking shit because it's important for us to see that you can, simply, reject the shit. Say "Uh... no no no, we will not be tolerating that."

submitted 1 day ago • 73 comments

This is a strong message. When will other Democrats get on board? Why is there no coordination? Where is leadership?

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

Donald Trump is ending the national database of police misconduct

submitted 1 day ago • 247 comments

This is how it's done. Time for a new meme format: "MAGA stands for [insert latest travesty]"

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

They're not "savings." They're cuts.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

A cheap blood test for pancreatic cancer is HUGE. And it came from NIH funding that's being cut. www.wweek.com/news/2025/02...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Why is it that Republicans across the party can repeat an arbitrary lie consistently, but Democrats can't even get on the same page for a slam dunk like this.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Great. 🤦🏻‍♀️

submitted 4 days ago • 25 comments

USDA says it accidentally fired officials working on bird flu and is trying to rehire them In a statement, an Agriculture Department spokesperson told NBC News that officials are "working to swiftly rectify the situation." www.nbcnews.com/politics/dog...

submitted 4 days ago • 807 comments

Protests beget more protests as people see that its ok to express frustration openly.

submitted 5 days ago • 49 comments

If you wanted to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, you would empower the inspectors general. If you wanted more waste, fraud, and abuse, you would fire them.

submitted 5 days ago • 2287 comments

Last Fall, the Washington Post allowed a right wing group to run a full page ad falsely attacking me for protecting voting rights. Today, Bezos' paper won't accept ads criticizing Elon Musk. Support pro-democracy media. www.democracydocket.com/me-subscribe...

submitted 5 days ago • 637 comments

This tax season, we're here to remind you about TurboTax's 20-year fight to stop Americans from filing their taxes for free. (Published Oct. 2019)

submitted 7 days ago • 63 comments

Remember when they mocked us for saying that democracy is on the ballot?

submitted 7 days ago • 355 comments

People who write about "this is the wrong fight to pick," never ever actually fight for anything. Feel free to ignore them.

submitted 7 days ago • 234 comments

SCOOP: The top US election security watchdog has frozen all of its efforts to aid states in securing elections. The move represents the first major example of the country’s cyber defense agency accommodating Trump’s false claims of election fraud and online censorship.

submitted 8 days ago • 262 comments

This week, approximately 200,000 federal workers have been let go.

submitted 8 days ago • 1034 comments

Elon Musk's teenybopper fascists plainly cannot code for shit www.404media.co/anyone-can-p...

submitted 8 days ago • 7 comments

This comment on r/fednews really stood out to me. Trump and Musk want people to think they're firing do-nothing "bureaucrats," but they're really getting rid of people dedicated to serving this country and keeping it operational. I hope these stories get told.

submitted 8 days ago • 231 comments

Please shout this from the rooftops.

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

Having passed up the opportunity years ago to run DOJ’s Civil Division, I’ve never run a large organization, let alone at DOJ. So I’m no expert. But I’m gonna spitball that if hundreds of your subordinates want to tell you to “go fuck yourself,” you might, perhaps, have a management problem.

submitted 9 days ago • 292 comments

it really doesn't get any more disgusting than this. sick

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs confirms it has dismissed more than 1,000 employees A once unthinkable concept for an agency that operates 100+ major hospitals and many hundreds more clinics And processes veterans benefits news.va.gov/press-room/v...

submitted 9 days ago • 192 comments

Folks: I am NOT affiliated with the group that is using my name to support an economic boycott. Please spread this post, if you would.

submitted 9 days ago • 418 comments

Wasn't the Ukraine war supposed to end on day 1, too?

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

Seriously, creative folks: Don't be afraid to let people know your stuff is out there for them, or worry that "now is not the time for that." People are stressed and freaked out and looking for the things that will give them a moment of rest and joy. It is EXACTLY the time for what we do. Tell them.

submitted 9 days ago • 885 comments

We only know this man is in Gitmo because Noem tweeted a propaganda photo that included him and his sister saw it. He has no criminal record. He entered the US in January and immediately made an appointment with CBP to claim asylum. They sent him to a concentration camp bc of his basketball tattoo.

submitted 10 days ago • 740 comments