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Amanda Cook

@amandacook627.bsky.social

1.5K followers 640 following 1.1K posts

Writer, artist, cosplayer. Fiction at Apex, Etherea, Apparition Lit, Wyngraf. Poetry at The Future Fire & Kaleidotrope.

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Amanda Cook @amandacook627.bsky.social · 28d

It feels like a good time to reshare this story of mine from 2022, published by @apparitionlit.com .

apparitionlit.com/the-impossib...

The Impossible Task of Bringing Water - Apparition Literary Magazine

apparitionlit.com

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Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 1h

Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”

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Winifred Tylenol Spice Burton @authorwinifred.blacksky.app · 52m

I hate ironing/steaming so I'm sympathetic, but why are 60% of those pageant men disheveled?

Is this a cis men problem? Can you imagine ANY self-respecting Pageant Girl of even 5 walking in wrinkles? Let alone one in a global competition?

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Sam Halpert @samhalpert.bsky.social · 1h

www.politico.com/live-updates...

Democratic troop pay bill blocked in House amid shutdown

GOP leaders are seeking to keep pressure on Democrats to reopen the whole government.

www.politico.com

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Sam Halpert @samhalpert.bsky.social · 1h

Dems floated a narrow bill to fund the military, which can’t move because the House isn’t in session. Meanwhile, DoD is now going to spend funds not appropriated by Congress to ensure military paychecks continue.

POTUS now both commands and provisions the military. Unconstitutional and SO dangerous

The Office of Management and Budget sent a notification to Congress about their intent to use research and development funds to pay members of the military, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.
A spokesperson for the OMB confirmed to NBC
News that it plans to use the research and development funds and that there are two years' worth of funds available within the Department of Defense.

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Goblin Gower, PhD (the Ph is for Phantasm) @medievaliste.bsky.social · 58m

If you believe, as many of these guys do, that your wealth is something you deserve, that it authorizes you to act with impunity, then yeah, you’re not going to like meeting people who don’t agree that rich=right.

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Goblin Gower, PhD (the Ph is for Phantasm) @medievaliste.bsky.social · 1h

The right-wing donor class seems secure in the idea that no actual learning is required at university, presumably because they didn’t really have to do much of it in order to achieve success. But that arrogance reveals their deep discomfort with ideas that don’t confirm their self-belief

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Goblin Gower, PhD (the Ph is for Phantasm) @medievaliste.bsky.social · 1h

What right-wing elites are trying to do to universities reveals their total disinterest in education as not just a public good but as a *practice*. To them, college isn’t for learning; it’s a credentialing service that offers ongoing opportunities to network with other wealthy elites.

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Goblin Gower, PhD (the Ph is for Phantasm) @medievaliste.bsky.social · 1h

The idea that alumni should have control over what courses a university offers just because they spent money on it is not unlike me deciding that Chipotle should start serving sushi because I got a mid salad there last week. That’s not what Chipotle is for!

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Goblin Gower, PhD (the Ph is for Phantasm) @medievaliste.bsky.social · 1h

If you’re an alumnus and you think your alma mater is on the wrong track, you can simply choose not to donate. I myself do this every time I toss an unopened solicitation from my undergrad university into the recycling bin.

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Goblin Gower, PhD (the Ph is for Phantasm) @medievaliste.bsky.social · 1h

If you perceive a university as a poor fit for your personal values, then you can simply choose not to attend. Millions of high school seniors do this basic exercise in logic every year.

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Goblin Gower, PhD (the Ph is for Phantasm) @medievaliste.bsky.social · 1h

“You can only teach/research the way I want you to” is bad whether it’s coming from right, left, center, your students, or your department chair.

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Goblin Gower, PhD (the Ph is for Phantasm) @medievaliste.bsky.social · 1h

Either universities are private businesses that get to set their own priorities or they’re public goods that are obligated to serve everyone. You can’t have it both ways.

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Usdi Crittenden @lilusdi.bsky.social · 1h

This is a perfect representation of US aesthetics and that is NOT a compliment

Bevis Musson @bevismusson.bsky.social · 2h

Mr United States. Look, at least it's not an unironed Superman costume bought from a cheap costume shop, but my gods USA, what the fuck is this? I mean, I guess it does say a lot about the US as a country, but probably not what you want it to say...

A photo of a contestant at Mister Global 2025

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 6h

A library director in Wyoming who was fired two years ago because she refused to remove books with sexual content and LGBTQ themes from a library's children and young adult sections has just been awarded $700,000 in a settlement. t.co/EA5L1kOZfV

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/us/wyoming-library-settlement-book-bans-terri-lesley.html?smtyp=cur&smid=fb-nytimes&fbclid=IwdGRjcANWLXdleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHhlnY6nKj_j4zuP3VjNSstXWBaV1t8-sPQ5C3b_jS6WN...

t.co

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Marsha Loftis @msloftis.bsky.social · 1d

Finished!!! Star Trek Solar Sail quilt. This has not been washed yet. I will take more pictures later.,#StarTrek #quilt

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 21h

My first thought was “wow I hope this guy didn’t give out his name because he could absolutely be charged” and yup, he is correct to stay anonymous.

This man’s account is shocking. His neighbors’ situation is shocking. The entire Chicago raid is shocking.

On the other side was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for his help.
"I wasn't planning on letting her stay, but I didn't know what the hell was going on," the man said of his Venezuelan migrant neighbors. But he quickly relented. The little girl was inconsolable and hid under his bed.
"I didn't want them to take her," said the man, who didn't want to be named because he fears he'll be targeted by federal authorities for his actions.
"I gave her my bedroom, and I just told her,
'Just stay there. Don't open, don't, shh, just stay quiet," he recalled telling the mom and daughter as he choked back tears.

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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 5h

We will need Nuremberg-like trials

LongTime🤓FirstTime👨‍💻 @longtimehistory.bsky.social · 7h

ICE secretly kidnap autistic boy during bathroom break—never notify parents.

Mother reported him missing a week ago—turns out ICE had him detained the whole time.

He was helping sell fruit and asked to go to the restroom—by the time she was done helping a customer he was gone.

Houston, Texas

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Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · 18h

The editors of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) were apparently fired today.

The precursor to MMWR began in 1878 to address emerging public health threats rapidly.

We are not “great” without it. We are vulnerable to threats from sporadic foodborne illness to bioterrorism.

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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 15h

The mass firings at the CDC tonight drive home the fact that no one is coming to save us

But we can save each other

Wear a mask. Ideally a respirator like an N95

Even if you’re vaccinated. Even if you’re “not worried”

It protects you but it also protects everyone else

Bonus? Less colds & flus!

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Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 13h

153 kids are in quarantine in South Carolina.

118 kids in Minneapolis.

This is what happens when we ignore the science.

When we stop vaccinating, long eradicated diseases come back.

The kids deserve better than this. Measles can disable. It can kill. And it’s completely preventable.

Hundreds of U.S. students quarantined amid measles outbreaks

At least 270 unvaccinated kids are staying home from school as measles continues to spread nationwide. "Expect more," one expert said.

www.nbcnews.com

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jeff com-BOO-ters @helldude.bsky.social · 6h

it's why i think constantly hollering at people about the lesser of two evils is participating in a race to the bottom. i think its fine to expect that politicians have an interest in serving you, an interest in governance, and a genuine and enthusiastic desire to make things better for everyone

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jeff com-BOO-ters @helldude.bsky.social · 6h

"i don't get the sense that this candidate wishes me specific harm"

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jeff com-BOO-ters @helldude.bsky.social · 6h

the inverse of this is how much of politics is now just accepting that you have to vote for people who hate you, so your best option is to vote for people who hate other people more than they hate you

dr. hazel 🐝 @hazelmonforton.com · 6h

I think the main refreshing thing about Mamdani, for me, is that he actually likes New York City and wants to see it thrive for everyone.

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Amanda Cook @amandacook627.bsky.social · 8h

Just an awe-inspiring creation that makes me appreciate dressmaking as an art form.

youtu.be/KZvzHI-sRdw?...

I Built a Cathedral You Can Wear - The Most Detailed Handmade Dress I’ve Ever Made

YouTube video by Frieda Lepold

youtu.be

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 1d

aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage

Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 1d

During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door.   It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help.

He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

Neighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’

During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th...

chicago.suntimes.com

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