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
Treasury Secretary Bessent says Denmark and its investment in the US are ‘irrelevant’ | CNN Politics
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday offered some biting words about Denmark, which maintains territorial control over Greenland, after the European country’s pension fund announced it would ...
edition.cnn.com
Gonna just pin this right here:
"The European Union collectively owns $8 trillion of America’s Treasuries, making it the largest financer of US debt."
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/21/p...
"The European Union collectively owns $8 trillion of America’s Treasuries, making it the largest financer of US debt."
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/21/p...
I know I shouldn't post this stuff because I am amplifying the crazy, but here is Trump's speech before the World Economic Forum today in Davos, Switzerland:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoaO...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoaO...
A Fish Called Wanda (3/11) Movie CLIP - Don't Call Me Stupid (1988) HD
YouTube video by Movieclips
www.youtube.com
January 21, 2026 at 3:47 PM
I know I shouldn't post this stuff because I am amplifying the crazy, but here is Trump's speech before the World Economic Forum today in Davos, Switzerland:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoaO...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoaO...
Gonna just pin this right here:
"The European Union collectively owns $8 trillion of America’s Treasuries, making it the largest financer of US debt."
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/21/p...
"The European Union collectively owns $8 trillion of America’s Treasuries, making it the largest financer of US debt."
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/21/p...
Treasury Secretary Bessent says Denmark and its investment in the US are ‘irrelevant’ | CNN Politics
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday offered some biting words about Denmark, which maintains territorial control over Greenland, after the European country’s pension fund announced it would ...
edition.cnn.com
January 21, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Gonna just pin this right here:
"The European Union collectively owns $8 trillion of America’s Treasuries, making it the largest financer of US debt."
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/21/p...
"The European Union collectively owns $8 trillion of America’s Treasuries, making it the largest financer of US debt."
edition.cnn.com/2026/01/21/p...
An utter, utter dolt. What a humiliation for the people of the United States on the international stage.
"If it wasn't for America, everybody around here would be speaking German" says Trump at a conference in--Switzerland.
"If it wasn't for America, everybody around here would be speaking German" says Trump at a conference in--Switzerland.
January 21, 2026 at 2:22 PM
An utter, utter dolt. What a humiliation for the people of the United States on the international stage.
"If it wasn't for America, everybody around here would be speaking German" says Trump at a conference in--Switzerland.
"If it wasn't for America, everybody around here would be speaking German" says Trump at a conference in--Switzerland.
They're not sending their best.
🇺🇸 Trump on WW2: Without us, you would all be speaking German or a little Japanese, perhaps. After WW2, we gave Greenland back to Denmark. How stupid were we to do that. But we did it. How ungrateful are they now?
January 21, 2026 at 2:16 PM
They're not sending their best.
Surprised this was a 5/5 difficulty
Connections
Puzzle #955
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
Connections
Puzzle #955
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
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January 21, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Surprised this was a 5/5 difficulty
Connections
Puzzle #955
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
Connections
Puzzle #955
🟦🟦🟦🟦
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
This 💯. Trump can still jerk the media around on their (self-imposed) choke chain, after ten years of this same obvious "control the news cycle" tactic.
"You're asking me about something that the president just said... He's never going to implement it... We should talk instead about what he's doing... Every time we get distracted by what he talks about rather than what he does... he destroys and he redistributes to the rich."
January 20, 2026 at 4:09 PM
This 💯. Trump can still jerk the media around on their (self-imposed) choke chain, after ten years of this same obvious "control the news cycle" tactic.
I finally met the sweathogs at the professional school. Guys in their 20s who act like they're still in middle school. They got their first term grades last week and it is pretty certain they will flunk out the school barring a miracle at the end of this school year, so now they really don't care...
a group of people are sitting in a classroom with the words `` pick me pablo '' written above them .
ALT: a group of people are sitting in a classroom with the words `` pick me pablo '' written above them .
media.tenor.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:04 PM
I finally met the sweathogs at the professional school. Guys in their 20s who act like they're still in middle school. They got their first term grades last week and it is pretty certain they will flunk out the school barring a miracle at the end of this school year, so now they really don't care...
"When I saw the size, scope and lawlessness of the federal onslaught unfolding here, I understood that Good’s killing was emblematic of its true mission: to stage a spectacle of cruelty upon a city that stands in stark defiance of Trump’s dark vision of America."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Opinion | In Minneapolis, I Glimpsed a Civil War
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:36 PM
"When I saw the size, scope and lawlessness of the federal onslaught unfolding here, I understood that Good’s killing was emblematic of its true mission: to stage a spectacle of cruelty upon a city that stands in stark defiance of Trump’s dark vision of America."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/o...
Forgot what a great movie "Glory" is. MLK Day viewing in the Ketchem household. And I still remember the Robert Gould Shaw monument at the Massachusetts State House from my Boston days.
January 19, 2026 at 5:14 PM
Forgot what a great movie "Glory" is. MLK Day viewing in the Ketchem household. And I still remember the Robert Gould Shaw monument at the Massachusetts State House from my Boston days.
Believe it or not, MLK once delivered a sermon in East Berlin's Sophienkirche. The church still has a small exhibit about it.
January 19, 2026 at 2:30 PM
Believe it or not, MLK once delivered a sermon in East Berlin's Sophienkirche. The church still has a small exhibit about it.
With reports that SCOTUS will rule on tariffs tomorrow, a primer on how Trump could get around an adverse decision. But note all these options have significant strings attached, many require explicit Congressional approval, and cannot be arbitrarily imposed.
www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-at...
www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-at...
The Supreme Court might slow Trump’s strategy. But he still has other tariff options.
If the administration’s primary objective is to preserve tariff revenue and counter unfair practices, sections 301, 232, or 122 remain viable alternatives.
www.atlanticcouncil.org
January 19, 2026 at 1:21 PM
With reports that SCOTUS will rule on tariffs tomorrow, a primer on how Trump could get around an adverse decision. But note all these options have significant strings attached, many require explicit Congressional approval, and cannot be arbitrarily imposed.
www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-at...
www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-at...
I am starting to think this whole Greenland thing is really an ultimate MAGA loyalty test. Are they prepared to truly go off the cliff to support a batshit loon? Will they drink the kool aid? And how is breaking up NATO in any way enhancing security in the ... North Atlantic?
January 19, 2026 at 12:00 PM
I am starting to think this whole Greenland thing is really an ultimate MAGA loyalty test. Are they prepared to truly go off the cliff to support a batshit loon? Will they drink the kool aid? And how is breaking up NATO in any way enhancing security in the ... North Atlantic?
How did this happen
January 19, 2026 at 7:32 AM
How did this happen
Just watched "Night Train to Munich", fun little Carol Reed action pic with heavy overlap with Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" (same screenwriting team, same female lead, comic relief by Charters & Caldicott, and of course, international intrigue on a train with WWII looming on the horizon.
January 18, 2026 at 9:13 PM
Just watched "Night Train to Munich", fun little Carol Reed action pic with heavy overlap with Hitchcock's "The Lady Vanishes" (same screenwriting team, same female lead, comic relief by Charters & Caldicott, and of course, international intrigue on a train with WWII looming on the horizon.
this 💯
Average Sunday show interview:
OFFICIAL: we are going to dip enemies of the state into acid vats
HOST: how will you pay for it?
OFFICIAL: tariffs
HOST: critics say tariffs don't generate acid vat money
OFFICIAL: tariffs have generated more money than has ever existed
HOST: thank u for ur time
OFFICIAL: we are going to dip enemies of the state into acid vats
HOST: how will you pay for it?
OFFICIAL: tariffs
HOST: critics say tariffs don't generate acid vat money
OFFICIAL: tariffs have generated more money than has ever existed
HOST: thank u for ur time
January 18, 2026 at 5:16 PM
this 💯
Europe is finally learning what every eight year old knows: giving in to the schoolyard bully only encourages him to ratchet up the abuse.
January 18, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Europe is finally learning what every eight year old knows: giving in to the schoolyard bully only encourages him to ratchet up the abuse.
Yeah, forcing schools to put a copy of the (specifically Protestant) version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom isn't political at all...
Here is the poster:
Here is the poster:
omg the Ten Commandments "poster" that Louisiana intends to send to schools (which are required to display them in every public classroom, including at universities) includes images of Moses and Mike Johnson share.google/eoRiDvHsshEg...
January 17, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Yeah, forcing schools to put a copy of the (specifically Protestant) version of the Ten Commandments in every classroom isn't political at all...
Here is the poster:
Here is the poster:
"A November Gallup poll found that one in five Americans would like to emigrate, including 40% of women aged 15-44 — a 400% increase on a similar poll taken in 2014."
edition.cnn.com/travel/us-du...
edition.cnn.com/travel/us-du...
‘Grab what you can:’ The global rush for second passports | CNN
As rules tighten worldwide, more people are pursuing dual citizenship as a form of mobility, opportunity and insurance in an increasingly uncertain political and economic landscape. Here’s what you ne...
edition.cnn.com
January 17, 2026 at 5:03 PM
"A November Gallup poll found that one in five Americans would like to emigrate, including 40% of women aged 15-44 — a 400% increase on a similar poll taken in 2014."
edition.cnn.com/travel/us-du...
edition.cnn.com/travel/us-du...
"DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin has described the protesters as a “a mob”, accusing them of throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at federal officers. Yet there is no evidence of anything being thrown at officers in the video of Rummler being shot."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
US federal forces blind two protesters shot in face with ‘less-lethal’ munitions
Kaden Rummler and Britain Rodriguez tell KTLA and LA Times of being shot at close range during California protest
www.theguardian.com
January 17, 2026 at 2:54 PM
"DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin has described the protesters as a “a mob”, accusing them of throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at federal officers. Yet there is no evidence of anything being thrown at officers in the video of Rummler being shot."
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
For the folks who wonder how a modern, civilized country like Germany so quickly deteriorated into open lawlessness and state-sponsored violence in 1933, while "decent" people stood by and did nothing--I give you the Trump DOJ and DHS, and all the people who swallow every bite of state propaganda.
January 17, 2026 at 2:50 PM
For the folks who wonder how a modern, civilized country like Germany so quickly deteriorated into open lawlessness and state-sponsored violence in 1933, while "decent" people stood by and did nothing--I give you the Trump DOJ and DHS, and all the people who swallow every bite of state propaganda.
While the political map of Germany has obviously changed dramatically in the last 200 years, you can still discern borders going back to the Holy Roman Empire in both Protestant and Catholic ecclesiastical districts to this day. The polities vanished, but the parish borders continued to follow them.
January 17, 2026 at 2:33 PM
While the political map of Germany has obviously changed dramatically in the last 200 years, you can still discern borders going back to the Holy Roman Empire in both Protestant and Catholic ecclesiastical districts to this day. The polities vanished, but the parish borders continued to follow them.
Flashback: Your Weekly History Quiz, Jan. 17, 2026
Can you sort 8 historical events?
www.nytimes.com
January 17, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Heaven is the film archive at Berlin's America Memorial Library.
The trick is they are grouped by director, then alpha by title. So the frothy comedies of Ernst Lubitsch are followed by the space operas of George Lucas, and then whatever category Baz Luhrmann is.
The trick is they are grouped by director, then alpha by title. So the frothy comedies of Ernst Lubitsch are followed by the space operas of George Lucas, and then whatever category Baz Luhrmann is.
January 17, 2026 at 11:11 AM
Heaven is the film archive at Berlin's America Memorial Library.
The trick is they are grouped by director, then alpha by title. So the frothy comedies of Ernst Lubitsch are followed by the space operas of George Lucas, and then whatever category Baz Luhrmann is.
The trick is they are grouped by director, then alpha by title. So the frothy comedies of Ernst Lubitsch are followed by the space operas of George Lucas, and then whatever category Baz Luhrmann is.
My god it could actually happen. Barring massive voter fraud by Fidesz, Orbán could actually be out of power in a few months.
💥Hungary’s opposition leader Péter Magyar, whose center-right Tisza party is polling 10–15 points ahead of Viktor Orbán's far-right Fidesz, has begun unveiling his team. He named István Kapitány, a former global executive vice president of Shell, to lead economic development and energy policy.
January 17, 2026 at 11:02 AM
My god it could actually happen. Barring massive voter fraud by Fidesz, Orbán could actually be out of power in a few months.