From Tangle newsletter on Trump's address to Congress.: > Trump is still repeating a lot of nonsense about Social Security payments to 150-year-old Americans. To recap: We know the Social Security Administration (SSA) issues erroneous payments. Last year the SSA inspector general found $71.8 billion in improper payments from 2015 to 2022 (about 0.84% of the $8.6 trillion in payments over that time). Another inspector general report from 2021 found that the SSA made $298 million in payments to 24,000 dead beneficiaries. But Musk has made much more sweeping claims on X and is pretending DOGE uncovered this. A lot of people explained to Musk that he was misunderstanding the data he was looking at, but he has not corrected the record. Now the president is running with it, even after his own appointed Social Security administrator said “recent reporting” (from Musk and Trump) was misinforming people about fraudulent payments.
Stakeholder Consultant on X: "Earlier today I tweeted this. This photograph is in wide circulation, the woman always identified as Xi Jinping's daughter, Xi Mingze I got several replies pointing out that some very credible sources insisted it was Xi Mingze. So I investigated further https://t.co/pE78gFECWz" / X
Earlier today I tweeted this. This photograph is in wide circulation, the woman always identified as Xi Jinping's daughter, Xi Mingze
I got several replies pointing out that some very credible sources insisted it was Xi Mingze. So I investigated further
Will Chamberlain on X: "The finding that he was a member of MS-13 only came up because he asked for bond. The immigration judge reviewed the evidence and found that it "show[ed] he is a verified member of MS-13." and therefore that Abrego-Garcia did not demonstrate "that his release from custody would https://t.co/kDTP4iM35w" / X
The finding that he was a member of MS-13 only came up because he asked for bond. The immigration judge reviewed the evidence and found that it "show[ed] he is a verified member of MS-13." and therefore that Abrego-Garcia did not demonstrate "that his release from custody would
Ronan Farrow on X: "JD Vance holds a JD from Yale Law (and so do I). Presumably, he knows that he is disregarding the law here, and being deceptive about the protections it affords. Non-citizens physically present in the United States, regardless of their immigration status, are entitled to due https://t.co/MarkSOUsfF" / X
JD Vance holds a JD from Yale Law (and so do I). Presumably, he knows that he is disregarding the law here, and being deceptive about the protections it affords.
Non-citizens physically present in the United States, regardless of their immigration status, are entitled to due
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick on X: "NEW! The Trump administration ADMITTED last night that many of the people sent to do hard labor in a Salvadoran prison are people with NO CRIMINAL RECORD. Stunningly, they argue that because they DON'T know much about these people, that justifies denying them due process! https://t.co/TTmYcRJYYr" / X
REPORT | According to Fox News and much of the rest of the media, Mahmoud Khalil has called “for the total eradication of Western civilization.” Even if the allegation were true, it would be protected speech, but it’s not: the phrase appeared on an Instagram post linked to an… pic.twitter.com/Ek1OuxOO52— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) March 12, 2025
DOGE Quietly Deletes the 5 Biggest Spending Cuts It Celebrated Last Week
The cuts, highlighted on an earlier version of the “wall of receipts” posted by Elon Musk’s team, contained mistakes that vastly inflated the amount of money saved.
Jeff Stein on X: "Elon Musk's pick to run the Social Security Administration, now taking over the agency, is out with a statement today in which he acknowledges that people in the Social Security database who are over 100 years old are "not necessarily receiving benefits" Trump had said "millions https://t.co/NFya0iRi3h" / X
Here’s the thing, because there’s so little straight news left. democrats (or whoever is left that sees what’s happening clearly) need to narrate what’s happening. Someone needs to remind people of actual reality and not maga doublespeak. Russia is not here to bring peace,…— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) February 19, 2025
Doge staffers enter Noaa headquarters and incite reports of cuts and threats
Members reportedly sought access to IT systems at agency that Project 2025 has called ‘harmful to US prosperity’
Elon Musk on X: "Reuters was paid millions of dollars by the US government for “large scale social deception”. That is literally what it says on the purchase order! They’re a total scam. Just wow." / X
Alright I swear this is the last time I am going to try to explain this but nobody can read govt docs so here goes!
1. Politico did NOT get "$8 million in a year" from USAID. It got $8 million from 2016 to fiscal year 2025 from ALL government agencies and departments.
2. USAID…
— Isaac Saul (@Ike_Saul)
Jane Schoenbrun on X: "The rise of extremely powerful propaganda machines enabled by new technologies // the erosion of any press free from capitalist prerogative // misogyny’s libidinal allure to those it seemingly benefits // the odiousness of neoliberalism and its seeming hegemony over leftism" / X
— Jane Schoenbrun (@sapphicspielbrg)
BREAKING: Judge releases Trump’s plan to steal the election in writing:
Oh this is nothing. It’s just the game plan, in writing, that the Trump team literally wrote out on how to steal the 2020 election by undermining all our votes.
Republicans won’t read it though because…
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein)
1/ Alright, friends. It’s starting, and I want to get ahead of it. Four years later, can’t believe we are doing this, but… ELECTION FRAUD DEBUNKING MEGA THREAD, PART II
We’ll have a lot of re-reruns from 2020 (original thread below). Send me any you see. I will investigate…
— Isaac Saul (@Ike_Saul)
(1) Isaac Saul on X: "1/ ALRIGHT Y'ALL. ELECTION FRAUD DEBUNKING MEGA THREAD. I’m following claims of fraud and looking into them. I think I’ve solved most now. Nothing is holding up under any scrutiny so far so I’m making a thread to track in one place. Please RT! #ElectionResults2020 #Election2020" / X
— Isaac Saul (@Ike_Saul)
ngl if youve started liking tr*mp in the last few months I think you should consider yourself as having a “weak memetic immune system”
whatever beliefs you hold are flimsy enough to be swayed by good stories and good PR and politically you’re little more than an infection vector
— Markov (@MarkovMagnifico)
sirens operate as control - not a sign of threat - in israel. last time i was in tel aviv visiting family, a siren went off while i was on the bus. everyone flew into panic, two women sobbed. when the all clear was given, people on the bus started singing the national anthem /1
— ben (@benvyle)
Isaac Saul on Twitter / X
12 thoughts about the Columbia University protests and what is happening on campuses across the country1. I have to be honest about something: I'm really starting to hate writing about anything related to Israel or Gaza. I feel like I can't write authentically about this latest…— Isaac Saul (@Ike_Saul) April 24, 2024
Matthew Chapman on Twitter
Sigh. Okay, once again: The reason the end of the federal net neutrality rule didn't significantly impact the internet is California shortly after enacted its own net neutrality rule, and carriers decided it was cheaper to stay net neutral than create a patchwork for every state. https://t.co/NLV5rEJKt0— Matthew Chapman (@fawfulfan) June 11, 2023
Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin on Twitter / X
Wikipedia has honest to god some of the worst source work I’ve ever seen on virtually all its pages that are primarily historical/political rather than scientific/mathematic. https://t.co/SJxT2enRur— Portrait of the Postman Joseph Roulin (@realerjoetalley) February 19, 2024
1737840369940025695
TikTok isn't misleading the youth, mainstream media is misleading the old. pic.twitter.com/DRbfXjv6xN— onagapnotsew (@westonpagano) December 21, 2023
الكسندرا ميراي on Twitter
This is a masterclass on how to conduct an interview and refuse to fall into the traps. I have to post this in 2 parts because I would never pay Apartheid Elon for blue check Twitter pic.twitter.com/VdZDUdj9GC— الكسندرا ميراي (@LexiAlex) October 27, 2023
Francesco Sebregondi 🔎 on X
About the #Gaza #hospital blast,
The version saying it would have been caused by Palestinian rocket (mis)fire is gaining traction online and among #OSINT communities.
A thread showing weaknesses in this version, and why an Israeli bombing is highly more plausible.⬇️ 1/x
Koba ☭ on X: "🧵 I see a lot of socialists pointing out that Israel "created" Hamas. While there is truth to that, it's reductionist and counterproductive to bring up in most cases when discussing this conflict with people. The rise of religious nationalism within the Palestinian..." / X
Yehuda Shaul on Twitter
[1] These days in Israel, in response to Hamas’ brutal massacre, calls to ethnically cleanse Gaza, deliberately targeting civilians on a mass scale, and other dehumanizing language, have become common.Here are a few examples of this discourse over the last few days.THREAD— Yehuda Shaul (@YehudaShaul) October 17, 2023
We’re Now Seeing the Dire Consequences of Elon Musk’s Changes to Twitter
X is a fog-of-war machine.
olivia m. swarthout on Twitter
this is my least favorite account on this whole website pic.twitter.com/E1G7DryBxj— olivia m. swarthout (@olivia__ms) March 2, 2023
Kat Tenbarge on Twitter
Libs of TikTok is a bad faith viral rage conduit. You know this. I know this. They know it. But she and her followers spin it like they have no idea what they're doing and how dangerous it is. They'll say things like "she's just reposting what other people say! How is that bad?"— Kat Tenbarge (@kattenbarge) November 28, 2022
Tim Urban on Twitter
Twitter is an anti-compassion machine that stokes our tendency to dehumanize and even hate people we don't know personally. Four little exercises I use to combat that and crank up the compassion in my mind:— Tim Urban (@waitbutwhy) November 4, 2022
Prof Paul Bernal on Twitter
Anyway, my tuppence worth on Musk and Twitter. He’s in for a rocky ride, and the question for me is whether his ego is going to make him destroy Twitter. Right now, what’s pretty clear is that he doesn’t understand what makes Twitter work. 1/10— Prof Paul Bernal (@PaulbernalUK) November 1, 2022