Aaron's Bluesky Activity — May 31, 2026

Immigration and the Trump Administration

A significant portion of Aaron's reposts focused on the Trump administration's immigration policies. He shared a piece about cuts to health and housing benefits for immigrants, which the original poster described as the work of "truly awful people." He also amplified a post about Stephen Miller's immigration crackdowns reaching absurdist extremes — in one case, a man who had legally worked as an airport janitor for nearly 30 years was forced out under a new rule requiring all airport workers to be citizens or green card holders. A related repost touched on the federal prosecution of anti-ICE protesters in Washington state, three of whom were convicted of conspiracy charges for blocking a bus headed to a detention center, with up to six years in prison now on the table. The original poster framed the case as a test of what "free speech" actually means — and where concern about it tends to get directed. Details on the health and housing cuts are here.

Science, Corporate Cowardice, and Political Power

Aaron also engaged with broader concerns about institutional erosion. He reposted a piece about an Office of Management and Budget directive described as an incoherent but devastating attack on the U.S. scientific funding system, covered by Ars Technica. On a related cultural front, he shared a post pushing back against the notion that corporations retreating from LGBTQ+ support is somehow fine or neutral — the argument being that corporate backing, whatever its cynical motives, functions as a permission structure that shapes broader social tolerance. A repost about the SpaceX IPO drew sardonic commentary about market rationality, linking to a New York Times piece on Wall Street's enthusiasm for the offering.

Media, Democracy, and Pop Culture

Aaron rounded out the day with a few more diffuse reposts. He shared a post engaging with danah boyd's academic argument that social media is effectively dead, replaced by parasocial media structured around content creators and algorithms rather than genuine social networks. A repost by Elias Isquith argued that modern communication technology has so degraded attention spans that fixed electoral terms are no longer viable and democracies need no-confidence mechanisms for executives. On a lighter note, Aaron expressed agreement with the ongoing lament that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves should have been a franchise, reposting a post calling it a near-perfect adaptation that inexplicably underperformed at the box office.