Investing and financial regulation, Capitol Hill and public policy, national security. Retweets are posts worth looking at twice.
Joined October 2013
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Every morning you wake up you have a choice:
“Do I want to self-actualize, and live in reality, or do I want to hand my life over to the attention economy and start the day scrolling on my phone?”
Michael Brodek retweeted
Armed federal agents seized 2020 ballots from a Fulton County election facility in Georgia in January. Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett says she has no idea where the ballots are now. cbsn.ws/3WgUsa5
Michael Brodek retweeted
In case you were wondering if Larry Ellison would use his partial ownership of TIKTok to shut down the exposure of his billionaire buddies and their weirdness, corruption and grifting … wonder no more. TikTok just shut down the media page of the world renowned, Oscar winning director Alex Gibney’s documentary film “MUSK”. The comprehensive documentary on all things Elon. It’s more f&@&’d then you can imagine. The best thing any of us can do now is to go see it! It will blow your mind. Billionaire broke mind virus. Hear it from the people who have known Elon over the years. #BrokeMindVirus
Michael Brodek retweeted
3 days after Meta was ordered to stop manipulating algorithms to favor Flavio Bolsonaro in the presidential election, two orgs have submitted evidence to Brazil's Superior Electoral Court that the corporation is still violating national election laws. panamericandispatch.org/p/me…
Michael Brodek retweeted
I was very surprised to learn that our vice president has spoken on the phone with Putin. That is very uncharacteristic of Putin to have a call with any US government official besides the president. Are there any readouts of these calls?
Vance: "I've never met Putin in person. I've spoken to him on the phone. He was calmer than you might expect. The American media has a stereotype of him. He's very deliberate and measured in his words.
I think, at his core, he's someone who cares about Russia's interests as he sees them. One reason he respects the President is that he recognizes the President cares about the interests of the American people."
Carney Lays Out His Vision for Breaking Canada’s Reliance on U.S. nytimes.com/2026/09/23/world… via @NYTimes
Michael Brodek retweeted
There have been 27 international Bank-Fund meetings since 1947, generally one every three years.
The U.S. Treasury Secretary attended 26 of the 27.
And no one seemed that surprised or disappointed that the Treasury didn't attend this one.
Some impressions from the Bank-Fund meetings in Bangkok:
1. The words are all negative but the numbers are all positive. Is all about unprecedented waves of shocks and risks while the IMF upgraded the forecast to something even stronger.
2. No one cares about tariffs anymore, they expect them to continue forever and have adjusted and moved on.
3. Everyone cares a lot about high interest rates. They expect them to continue forever but they haven't moved on.
4. Oil prices fall somewhere between these two. Everyone cares some, aren't sure if they'll continue and have partially moved on.
5. Everyone is having exactly the same conversations about AI as they are having here: will the demand boost continue, is it a bubble, will it kill jobs, when will it show up in productivity. I sensed much more optimism than pessimism and finance ministers and central bankers are not particuarly interested in p(doom).
6. No one seemed to mind that Scott Bessent didn't bother to attend.
Michael Brodek retweeted
.@palmerluckey adds his voice to those accusing Europe of hypocrisy for criticizing US sanctions waiver while buying Russian oil or gas. But surely it's relevant how much EU purchases have fallen (see charts). Irrespective of the merit of EU's continued purchases, it bore a lot of economic pain to get to this point and the marginal pain rises with each additional BTU cut off. Recognizing this, Trump himself has issued waivers to European buyers of Russian energy, most notably last year to Viktor Orban of Hungary. Meanwhile, EU pain was U.S. gain: it became a larger supplier to Europe. Indeed, as a net petroleum exporter, U.S. has benefitted from sanctions. But it has such low tolerance for any hit to consumers it is easing sanctions anyway.
I hate qualifying arguments like this, but - everyone knows I am about as pro-Ukraine/anti-Russian as it gets. That regularly leads to friction between me and other Republicans, even ones who otherwise align 99%.
With that said, whining from Europeans and the American left about America buying $1B in diesel fuel from Russia is so out of touch with reality. The EU has spent over $200B on Russian fuel and is on-track to buy hundreds of billions more. Most of that was purchased by wealthy EU members who can absolutely afford alternatives.
xitter.cf/PalmerLuckey/status/20…
Michael Brodek retweeted
A horrific Russian strike in the Kharkiv region. A “shahed” struck people directly – in a park near an ordinary café. Pure atrocity. Six people were killed, including children. A little girl was killed in a stroller – her name was Angelina, she was just over a year old, born in August 2025… Her mother’s name was Inna. She died in the hospital… Another girl who was killed was 11 years old. My condolences to their families and loved ones. Another 14 people were injured, including six more children.
I am grateful to everyone who supports Ukraine under these circumstances and helps us shoot down “shaheds,” shoot down missiles, and stop Russian assaults. These are horrific photos, but behind them are shattered lives and the truth about this war. Lives must be protected. Ukraine needs air defense. You can't think about making money with Russia as long as it continues its asinine war. We ask that sanctions on Russia stay in place as long as the killings continue. We ask America to be strong, and we ask it to apply the Lindsey Graham law. We ask Europe to continue its support. We ask that everything possible be done to bring peace and guarantee security. Ukraine wants peace. It is Russia that has insisted on continuing the killing all this time. The world has enough strength to stop the war. That strength must finally be used – against the murderers.
Michael Brodek retweeted
Donald Trump canceled his scheduled Oct. 16 deposition in his lawsuit against the BBC because of "matters of national importance."
The BBC alerts the judge that those matters were: a rally in Dalton, Ga. and a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.
ALT The BBC submits this Notice to raise newly available information regarding the “matters of national importance” that Plaintiff claimed kept him from his scheduled deposition. As the BBC now knows, on October 16, Plaintiff attended and addressed a campaign rally in Dalton, Georgia, alongside Plaintiff’s favored candidates in Georgia’s upcoming U.S. Senate and gubernatorial elections. Plaintiff subsequently traveled to his resort club and residence at Mar-a-Lago for a Republican National Committee fundraising event.
Michael Brodek retweeted
BREAKING
The BBC subpoenaed Jack Smith for a deposition to defend itself against Trump's defamation lawsuit.
Smith didn't object to the subpoena.
Team Trump opposes. buff.ly/cf6GaG2
ALT No one forced Plaintiff to file this lawsuit and to dispute that his speech on January 6 incited the violence that followed at the Capitol. But as long as he chooses to maintain the case, he cannot commit the fundamental injustice of preventing the BBC from obtaining the evidence it needs to robustly defend itself on every element of his claim, including Plaintiff’s burden to prove falsity.
Remember when we had a global pandemic that demonstrated weaknesses in global emergency coordination and government services, and then Trump (in his second term) kicked things off by haphazardly firing heath government employees and even nuclear security employees?
Michael Brodek retweeted
Short-form video addiction is linked to rising loneliness and lower life satisfaction.
The quiet toll of endless scrolling.
Michael Brodek retweeted
Translation: The President shows he’s being duped by Putin and doesn’t know who is at fault in this war. He denies what other members of his own Administration are saying about Russian aid to Iran. This will go down as a very embarrassing chapter in U.S. history.
truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT…
Michael Brodek retweeted
“.. seventh person in Texas to die while detained by ICE this year.”
@TexasTribune
texastribune.org/2026/10/18/…
Michael Brodek retweeted
Wow.
Albanians just set fire to the Supreme Court after it allowed Jared Kushner to buy land in the country against the their will.
Michael Brodek retweeted
The Fed does not target food
.@SecScottBessent: “Core inflation is down. Food is below the Fed’s targets. Prescription drugs have had the biggest decrease in history. Rents are down. This is an energy shock. We will get to the other side of the Iran conflict, and those prices will come down.”
Michael Brodek retweeted
60 Minutes obtained an internal FBI email temporarily reassigning 260 analysts to work on a “priority investigation” into the 2020 ballots seized from a Fulton County, Georgia, election facility in January. That was three months ago, and nothing has come of it yet. cbsn.ws/4z7X20A
Michael Brodek retweeted
It's been a good week for Putin. In recent days, Trump has:
* Struck a diesel deal lifting some sanctions
* Restricted Starshield for Ukraine
* Cut intel warnings of Russian missile launches against Ukraine for several days
* Canceled Lindsey Graham sanctions
* Demanded Ukraine dump Zelensky
* Absolved Russia for helping Iran fight the US
* Pushed Europe to resume buying Russian gas
Michael Brodek retweeted
Donald Trump set another record.
There’s NEVER been an election (since polling began in the United States) where voters said “corruption” was their top worry.
Until now.
I mean, he’s hitting the notes.
OSSOFF: I refuse to leave my girls a world as dark and dangerous and cruel as this one threatens to become. I refuse to accept that they will grow up with artificial friends and teachers in a society where the sick die not because there's no cure, but because they have no money—where we have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world a thousandfold but we still refuse to guarantee healthcare for every citizen.
When Eva's old enough to ask me why I let this happen. I'm determined to answer truthfully that I didn't.