Dr Seán Ketchem
@cskwriter.bsky.social
An American/German in Berlin. Berkeley alum (Go Bears!). Erstwhile Texan. Credo: “There are other forces at work than those of evil. And that is an encouraging thought.”
Pinned
Dr Seán Ketchem
@cskwriter.bsky.social
· Jul 22
Reading "Berlin Command" by Frank L. Howley, the former commandant of the American Sector of West Berlin. He describes how there had been serious consideration to revise the London Protocols to allow the Western Allies to keep Thuringia, Saxony, and eastern Mecklenburg in exchange for their sectors.
![In the London Protocol signed on 12 September 1944, the Allies of World War II (then without France) agreed on dividing Germany into three occupation zones after the war.
EAC planning of occupation zone borders in Germany, 1944
The first zone protocol was drawn up at the meeting of the European Advisory Commission (EAC) on 12 September 1944 and signed by John Gilbert Winant (USA), William Strang (UK) and Fedor Gusev (USSR) at Lancaster House in London,[2] and described the first notions of the boundary between the zones to be created: Eastern, Northwestern, and Southwestern zones in Germany, and the three parts of the area of Greater Berlin. The basis of the ideas were the borders of Germany from 31 December 1937 and Greater Berlin from 27 April 1920.
The north-western and south-western zones in Germany and Greater Berlin had not yet been assigned as British or American sub-areas. The relevant text passages provided for this were only documented with spaces, whereas the eastern zone and the north-eastern zone of Greater Berlin were already marked directly with "USSR".
In terms of borders, the western borders of Thuringia, Anhalt and the Prussian province of Saxony were referred to. This meant that the areas east of the Werra and west of the Elbe were not - as was often published - "exchanged for West Berlin", but the areas in the west of the Elbe were already intended to be part of the Eastern Zone.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ndxd4h47nhylsdfke4x4arlk/bafkreihkoyhhjemwmw5o2u72tjml6sfk3orwuhgfq4ul57cjc77p2a2ole@jpeg)
If U.S. Brigadier General Frank L. Howley had gotten his way in the summer of 1945, I would never have been born.
I'll explain!
I'll explain!
Amen. Having also grown up in the South and seeing the scourge of racism rear its ugly head again, I am thankful for all the courage shown by decent people who know that what is happening to the U.S. is deeply, deeply wrong.
OPINION: "As a white woman who openly rejects the worst of Mississippi, I am blessed to have siblings, nieces and nephews I can gather with who do not bring hate to the dinner table," Donna Ladd writes.
buff.ly/g7ajAHh
buff.ly/g7ajAHh
Editor’s Note | What I’m Thankful for in 2025: The Rough Cut
Donna Ladd writes that 2025 has been a good year. Despite the ongoing challenges, there is plenty to be thankful for.
www.mississippifreepress.org
November 27, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Amen. Having also grown up in the South and seeing the scourge of racism rear its ugly head again, I am thankful for all the courage shown by decent people who know that what is happening to the U.S. is deeply, deeply wrong.
One year ago, 49% of the U.S. electorate went to the polls to cast their vote for racism, cruelty, corruption, and criminality. They wanted this. This is why regardless of a regime change in 2028, the U.S. can no longer be considered a trusted partner on the world stage. The foundations cannot hold.
November 27, 2025 at 12:22 AM
One year ago, 49% of the U.S. electorate went to the polls to cast their vote for racism, cruelty, corruption, and criminality. They wanted this. This is why regardless of a regime change in 2028, the U.S. can no longer be considered a trusted partner on the world stage. The foundations cannot hold.
This administration would have literally arrested my own mother and sent her to a detention center.
"It was supposed to be a celebratory milestone. Instead, as each interview wrapped up, agents swooped in, handcuffed the foreign spouse and took him or her away."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
"It was supposed to be a celebratory milestone. Instead, as each interview wrapped up, agents swooped in, handcuffed the foreign spouse and took him or her away."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens
www.nytimes.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:16 AM
This administration would have literally arrested my own mother and sent her to a detention center.
"It was supposed to be a celebratory milestone. Instead, as each interview wrapped up, agents swooped in, handcuffed the foreign spouse and took him or her away."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
"It was supposed to be a celebratory milestone. Instead, as each interview wrapped up, agents swooped in, handcuffed the foreign spouse and took him or her away."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
I heard that going into S5 without rewatching any of the previous episodes or the recap videos is known as "raw dogging", as in "Did you guys watch any of the TikTok recap videos?" "Nah, we're going to raw dog it tonight".
Season 5 of Stranger Things will drop at 8pm EST (US East Coast time) tonight. This is a global release so the episodes will be available here in Germany beginning at 2am on Thursday.
Of course, by now those quirky middle schoolers are well into their 40s...
Of course, by now those quirky middle schoolers are well into their 40s...
a red sign that says stranger things 3 on a black background
ALT: a red sign that says stranger things 3 on a black background
media.tenor.com
November 26, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I heard that going into S5 without rewatching any of the previous episodes or the recap videos is known as "raw dogging", as in "Did you guys watch any of the TikTok recap videos?" "Nah, we're going to raw dog it tonight".
Season 5 of Stranger Things will drop at 8pm EST (US East Coast time) tonight. This is a global release so the episodes will be available here in Germany beginning at 2am on Thursday.
Of course, by now those quirky middle schoolers are well into their 40s...
Of course, by now those quirky middle schoolers are well into their 40s...
a red sign that says stranger things 3 on a black background
ALT: a red sign that says stranger things 3 on a black background
media.tenor.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Season 5 of Stranger Things will drop at 8pm EST (US East Coast time) tonight. This is a global release so the episodes will be available here in Germany beginning at 2am on Thursday.
Of course, by now those quirky middle schoolers are well into their 40s...
Of course, by now those quirky middle schoolers are well into their 40s...
So for the record this race was not considered to be remotely competitive. The Tennessee state GOP was so sure of the hard R pattern of the district they lopped off a chunk of Nashville to disenfranchise urban voters, turning a Solid R district into a Likely R district (as the TX gerrymanders did).
Emerson poll | 11/22-11/24 LV
Tennessee’s 7th congressional special election (Trump +22)
(Leaners pushed)
🟥Matt Van Epps 49.4%
🟦Aftyn Behn 47.0%
Others 3.5%
emersoncollegepolling.com/tennessee-7t...
Tennessee’s 7th congressional special election (Trump +22)
(Leaners pushed)
🟥Matt Van Epps 49.4%
🟦Aftyn Behn 47.0%
Others 3.5%
emersoncollegepolling.com/tennessee-7t...
Tennessee 7th District 2025 Special Election Poll: Republican Van Epps and Democrat Behn Locked In Tight Race - Emerson Polling
Voters Split on Trump’s Job Performance as Economic Issues Top Voters’ Concerns A new Emerson…Full Release & Results
emersoncollegepolling.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:50 PM
So for the record this race was not considered to be remotely competitive. The Tennessee state GOP was so sure of the hard R pattern of the district they lopped off a chunk of Nashville to disenfranchise urban voters, turning a Solid R district into a Likely R district (as the TX gerrymanders did).
Ha!
Do you ever have that dream in which you are incredibly late for work/class and the world seems to be going very slowly as the panic and anxiety rises within you because you know that the consequences for your lateness rise exponentially with each passing minute?
Also... You're a cat. 😝
Also... You're a cat. 😝
November 26, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Ha!
I actually didn't know that the MTA is run by the State of New York, not New York City, so technically the mayor can't offer free bus rides. The idea is to offset the fare revenue loss with higher corporate and income taxes, but the mayor can't do that either, the city can only raise property taxes.
November 26, 2025 at 12:06 PM
I actually didn't know that the MTA is run by the State of New York, not New York City, so technically the mayor can't offer free bus rides. The idea is to offset the fare revenue loss with higher corporate and income taxes, but the mayor can't do that either, the city can only raise property taxes.
“I had a customer who had not received her SNAP ask for a credit in tears,” she said on Tuesday. “I made sure they had what they needed. Parent of a special-needs child. She got all the sides, and even a cake she needed. I was crying with her as she kept apologizing.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
SNAP Recipients Plan Thanksgiving, Down to Their Last Cent
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:39 AM
“I had a customer who had not received her SNAP ask for a credit in tears,” she said on Tuesday. “I made sure they had what they needed. Parent of a special-needs child. She got all the sides, and even a cake she needed. I was crying with her as she kept apologizing.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Pitchbot knocks it out of the park.
American public opinion is largely generated by foreigners who make money by lying to Americans over unregulated social media. Out of respect to those entrepreneurial foreigners, we will continue to treat their commodified fictions as one side of a reasoned American debate.
-The Editorial Board
-The Editorial Board
November 25, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Pitchbot knocks it out of the park.
Back from the Berlin Tenants' Union, and no surprise, my 2024 heating cost adjustment is wrong. It took her all of two minutes to spot what I guess are obvious "mistakes" and missing supporting documents. She said to to ignore the new charges and gave me several shotbarrels' full of legal gunpowder.
November 25, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Back from the Berlin Tenants' Union, and no surprise, my 2024 heating cost adjustment is wrong. It took her all of two minutes to spot what I guess are obvious "mistakes" and missing supporting documents. She said to to ignore the new charges and gave me several shotbarrels' full of legal gunpowder.
EU rules that member states (here Poland) must recognize same-sex unions legally contracted in another EU state, regardless of the local policy regarding same-sex marriage (in this case a Polish couple who married in Berlin but whose marriage was not recognized in Poland).
www.dw.com/en/eu-same-s...
www.dw.com/en/eu-same-s...
Same-sex marriage must be recognized across EU, court rules – DW – 11/25/2025
European Union countries must recognize the lawful same-sex marriages of EU citizens conducted in other member states, the bloc's top court has ruled.
www.dw.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:07 PM
EU rules that member states (here Poland) must recognize same-sex unions legally contracted in another EU state, regardless of the local policy regarding same-sex marriage (in this case a Polish couple who married in Berlin but whose marriage was not recognized in Poland).
www.dw.com/en/eu-same-s...
www.dw.com/en/eu-same-s...
"These revelations appear to confirm what researchers and close observers have long known: that foreign actors (whether bots or humans) are posing as Americans and piping political-engagement bait, mis- and disinformation, and spam into people’s timeline."
November 25, 2025 at 7:43 AM
"These revelations appear to confirm what researchers and close observers have long known: that foreign actors (whether bots or humans) are posing as Americans and piping political-engagement bait, mis- and disinformation, and spam into people’s timeline."
I love Muppet Christmas Carol. The corny jokes, the Muppets clearly "performing" characters (Sam the Eagle as the headmaster has to be corrected by Gonzo the director when he says "it's the American way") and Michael Caine playing the part absolutely straight. And Fozziewig's Rubber Chicken Factory!
![The Muppet Christmas Carol is a 1992 American Christmas musical film produced and directed by Brian Henson (in his feature directorial debut). It is the fourth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. Adapted from the 1843 novella A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens with a screenplay written by Jerry Juhl, the film takes artistic license to suit the aesthetic of the Muppets, but follows Dickens' original story closely. It is the first Muppet film where a human is the main protagonist.[5]
The film stars Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge alongside Muppet performers Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, and Frank Oz. It is the first Muppet film to be produced following the deaths of creator Jim Henson and performer Richard Hunt; the film is dedicated to both.
The film was released in the United States on December 11, 1992, by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution under its Walt Disney Pictures label. It was a modest box office success and received generally favorable reviews. It is the first Muppets film to be produced by Disney, whose parent company would later acquire the rights to the Muppets characters and assets in 2004. The film's reputation has grown in the years since its release, and it is often listed as one of the best Christmas films of all-time.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ndxd4h47nhylsdfke4x4arlk/bafkreihsn43jsw2nvqq2kvobgstg3uum2z3ctxkggha2rwciop7jtboihm@jpeg)
November 24, 2025 at 10:25 PM
I love Muppet Christmas Carol. The corny jokes, the Muppets clearly "performing" characters (Sam the Eagle as the headmaster has to be corrected by Gonzo the director when he says "it's the American way") and Michael Caine playing the part absolutely straight. And Fozziewig's Rubber Chicken Factory!
The greatest Thanksgiving story ever told.
47 years ago today, dozens of turkeys met their unfortunate demise in a Cincinnati parking lot.
November 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
The greatest Thanksgiving story ever told.
Rogue One is the only one of the latter-day films that holds up with the original trilogy. The Kitten Katz wholly endorse this ranking.
We wanted so badly to like Solo but just couldn't get there.
We wanted so badly to like Solo but just couldn't get there.
haven’t seen ROS or Solo but this seems like a pretty ball-knowing list from Pritzker, particularly if he volunteered the name “Star Wars” rather than “A New Hope”
November 24, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Rogue One is the only one of the latter-day films that holds up with the original trilogy. The Kitten Katz wholly endorse this ranking.
We wanted so badly to like Solo but just couldn't get there.
We wanted so badly to like Solo but just couldn't get there.
"Old Texas Town, about the size of a movie set, is threatened by its landlord. Where the sheriff’s office, saloon, cantina, church, courtroom, cemetery, bank and a faithful reproduction of the Alamo now stand, the developers plan to build a data processing center."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/w...
Before Berlin’s Cowboys Are Booted Off Their Land, One Final Hoedown
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2025 at 12:26 PM
"Old Texas Town, about the size of a movie set, is threatened by its landlord. Where the sheriff’s office, saloon, cantina, church, courtroom, cemetery, bank and a faithful reproduction of the Alamo now stand, the developers plan to build a data processing center."
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/w...
Well may you ask, why would the producers of a high-profile international production choose for a lead romantic role an unknown actor with a comically hayseed accent, which was in fact so thick it required his lines to be dubbed over in his own native language?
I dunno, you tell me:
I dunno, you tell me:
November 24, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Well may you ask, why would the producers of a high-profile international production choose for a lead romantic role an unknown actor with a comically hayseed accent, which was in fact so thick it required his lines to be dubbed over in his own native language?
I dunno, you tell me:
I dunno, you tell me:
Fun facts: the film was a Czech-German coproduction and the actors delivered their lines in their native languages, which were then dubbed into Czech or German respectively. Except the Czech actor who played the Prince was also dubbed over in the Czech version due to his heavy rural Moravian accent.
The countdown begins: which German TV station will be the first to air "Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel"?
(in English, it is known as "Cinderella Busts a Nut"--each nut she cracks turns into a magical gift to help her win over a handsome prince with a compulsive foot fetish).
(in English, it is known as "Cinderella Busts a Nut"--each nut she cracks turns into a magical gift to help her win over a handsome prince with a compulsive foot fetish).
November 24, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Fun facts: the film was a Czech-German coproduction and the actors delivered their lines in their native languages, which were then dubbed into Czech or German respectively. Except the Czech actor who played the Prince was also dubbed over in the Czech version due to his heavy rural Moravian accent.
"Vance is said to have wept in his bathroom, furious that the commander-in-chief had used his special “piggy” nickname on someone else. “But I’m supposed to be his piggy—I’m supposed to be his only piggy,” a weeping Vance said as he collapsed against the bathroom door."
theonion.com/jd-vance-cri...
theonion.com/jd-vance-cri...
JD Vance Cries In Bathroom After Trump Uses ‘Piggy’ Nickname On Someone Else
WASHINGTON—In the wake of a controversial incident aboard Air Force One in which President Donald Trump insulted a female journalist, Vice President JD Vance is said to have wept in his office bathroo...
theonion.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:46 AM
"Vance is said to have wept in his bathroom, furious that the commander-in-chief had used his special “piggy” nickname on someone else. “But I’m supposed to be his piggy—I’m supposed to be his only piggy,” a weeping Vance said as he collapsed against the bathroom door."
theonion.com/jd-vance-cri...
theonion.com/jd-vance-cri...
Leise rieselt der Schnee...
November 24, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Leise rieselt der Schnee...
I feel seen.
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 24, 2025 at 9:10 AM
I feel seen.
Well the data is out and it shows that the majority of those MAGA accounts pretending to be ordinary working class Americans are in fact foreign bots and troll farms, just as everyone thought.
That is the big falsehood of Twitter--it presents a false reality where MAGAs are the mainstream majority.
That is the big falsehood of Twitter--it presents a false reality where MAGAs are the mainstream majority.
November 24, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Well the data is out and it shows that the majority of those MAGA accounts pretending to be ordinary working class Americans are in fact foreign bots and troll farms, just as everyone thought.
That is the big falsehood of Twitter--it presents a false reality where MAGAs are the mainstream majority.
That is the big falsehood of Twitter--it presents a false reality where MAGAs are the mainstream majority.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
November 24, 2025 at 6:37 AM
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...