instant wizard

@instantwizard.bsky.social

169 Followers 181 Following

Avid reader, mostly fiction: speculative, SF, literary. Cats, Crochet, PoFi, Switch games, makeup esp eyeshadow, thunderstorms, pub quiz. American living abroad since 2015. Remote since 2016.

It was surreal listening to my friends recount everything they had done to get me out: working with lawyers, reaching out to the media, making endless calls to detention centers, desperately trying to get through to Ice or anyone who could help. They said the entire system felt rigged, designed to make it nearly impossible for anyone to get out. The reality became clear: Ice detention isn’t just a bureaucratic nightmare. It’s a business. These facilities are privately owned and run for profit. Companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group receive government funding based on the number of people they detain, which is why they lobby for stricter immigration policies. It’s a lucrative business: CoreCivic made over $560m from Ice contracts in a single year. In 2024, GEO Group made more than $763m from Ice contracts. The more detainees, the more money they make. It stands to reason that these companies have no incentive to release people quickly. What I had experienced was finally starting to make sense.
Late at night, a young father stands in a dumpster in Buenos Aires, passing scraps and discarded food to his wife and two young children. In a subway station, a homeless couple sleep in an unoccupied corner, their heads sheltered by cardboard boxes. On the streets of the city’s slums – known as villas miseria – children queue for plastic containers of food, their parents hiding out of sight. Such scenes have become increasingly common as Argentina faces some of its harshest austerity measures yet. Under the rightwing president Javier Milei, who came to power a year ago, public spending has been slashed, wages depressed, tens of thousands of government employees laid off and subsidies for energy and transport ended. ​Milei’s allies celebrate the impact of their leader’s “chainsaw” campaign of fiscal balance and deregulation. “I’m very happy with the job we’ve been doing,” beamed Federico Sturzenegger, Argentina’s minister of deregulation and state transformation, praising the government’s “difficult, bold decisions”. “We believe things have worked much better than anybody could have imagined. I think people feel the same thing … there’s an increased optimism.”
Two cats, one brown and one orange, sleep and cuddle on a small sleeping brown and orange sleeping bag.
This is a take on a meme where an anime man is smiling and holding his hand out towards a butterfly, saying “is that a pigeon?”. The image comes from a scene in the The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird where an android is trying to convince a police detective that he is human. In this image, the butterfly has been replaced by a photo of a cat sneaking a freshly caught fish from a plastic bag by the feet of a fisherman, who does not see the cat. The text says “is this catfishing?”.
Text reads: What Senate Democrats Must Do This isn't a moment for half-measures or political games. Democracy is at stake, and Senate Democrats must respond as if the Constitution is on the line-because it is. • Shut Down the Senate. Use every procedural tool- quorum calls, endless amendments, and withholding consent-to grind Senate business to a halt. No votes, no deals, no cooperation until Trump's freeze is rescinded. Specifically, they must: - Commit to oppose all nominees while this freeze remains in place Reject every request for Unanimous Consent to advance Senate business - Vote NO on all Cloture votes, Motions to Proceed, or any other procedural vote - Request Quorum Calls at every possible opportunity to slow things down • Refuse to Negotiate. Trump is using federal programs as hostages in a power grab. Democrats must refuse to engage in any funding or debt ceiling negotiations while this freeze remains in place. No compromises with dictatorship. • Sound the Alarm. Every senator must become a megaphone for what's at stake. Go on TV, hold town halls, and flood social media with the stories of families who will lose food, homes, and healthcare because of Trump's chaos. • Back Legal Challenges. Support every lawsuit challenging this freeze. File amicus briefs, amplify cases, and make it clear this isn't just morally wrong—it's illegal.
Orange kitten is tangled in mouse on a stretchy string toy and also knocked over the scratched post and is attacked the base. (He is fine and not tangled dangerously.)