kate b.
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katebitz.bsky.social
kate b.
@katebitz.bsky.social
senior organizer vs bigots @wstatescenter.bsky.social. lead author of https://www.westernstatescenter.org/protectingpride

forever prematurely antifascist. spokane is good actually. dm for signal contact.

posts reflect your employer’s opinions, not mine.
Reposted by kate b.
in the elite circles of the US, racism is treated less as a matter of social stratification with direct implications for political stakes and more as a matter of moral etiquette. it is even more notable, then, that this administration can't constrain themselves to the meager associated standards
POLITICO reporting that the White House has now claimed the ape video was an accident and removed it.
February 6, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by kate b.
Most Heated Rivalry coverage has been focused on what young people, particularly younger straight women, think. I cover aging and decided to ask older gay men about their thoughts.

I found: A founder of what may have been the first gay hockey blog, a wedding cake shaped like a Zamboni and more.
Older gay men built their own hockey fandom. Then came 'Heated Rivalry.'
The hit show is an unexpected invitation for some older gay hockey fans to reflect on love, acceptance and coming out.
19thnews.org
February 6, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by kate b.
Grant Guidelines for Libraries and Museums Take “Chilling” Political Turn Under Trump

Thank GOD some other outlets are finally talking about this.

www.propublica.org/article/inst...
Grant Guidelines for Libraries and Museums Take “Chilling” Political Turn Under Trump
Former Institute of Museum and Library Services leaders from both political parties expressed concern that the new funding guidelines could encourage a more constrained or distorted view of American h...
www.propublica.org
February 6, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by kate b.
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis just took the bench for today's hearing in the case of Marimar Martinez, the woman shot 5 times by Border Patrol in Chicago.
Good morning. Marimar Martinez, the woman shot 5 times by Border Patrol in Chicago, has taken her seat in a federal courtroom.

Judge Georgia Alexakis is expected to rule on Martinez's request to release evidence from her prosecution.

Background: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...
Marimar Martinez, shot 5 times by Border Patrol in Chicago, plans to attend Trump’s State of the Union
Her attorney disclosed her plans in a fiery court filing, in which he also accused Chicago's U.S. Attorney's office of being "active enablers of an out-of-control client."
chicago.suntimes.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by kate b.
I was just denied entry to the Dilley detention facility while my constituent, seven-year-old Diana, remains inside.

What kind of sick, horrific conditions are children being forced to endure in there?

I will be back tomorrow. Accountability can’t wait.
February 6, 2026 at 2:35 AM
Reposted by kate b.
We wrote a whole paper on this in 2017, on the women who often leave the field sciences as their only route to get away from harassment

anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
February 6, 2026 at 2:06 AM
news about the epstein files has been background radiation for me in a super busy week, but everything I have seen so far just seems like “imagine if the worst people you’ve ever met had way too much money and proximity to power”
February 6, 2026 at 12:58 AM
Reposted by kate b.
Nightmare blunt rotation made up entirely of sleep paralysis demons.
very weird “I am Spartacus” thing happening right now with the worst people on earth
February 5, 2026 at 10:49 PM
Reposted by kate b.
February 5, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Reposted by kate b.
Masks off: GOP FEC Commissioner Trey Trainor, who is now running for Congress, admits he “protected” Donald Trump from campaign finance investigations out of “loyalty”
x.com/baylisswagne...
x.com
February 5, 2026 at 8:31 PM
have decided i might need to develop a belief in metaphysical consequences for wrongdoing. anyone got some spare religiosity i could borrow
This level of apologia (from Megan McArdle in a podcast with Josh Barro and Ross Douthat) is fucking appalling. Idk what else there is to say.
February 5, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by kate b.
The world factbook was an invaluable resource in asylum petitions—a place where the federal government acknowledged in writing that, for example, Tibetans face systematic repression in China. I don’t like to have it vanish.
Add the CIA World Factbook to the long and growing list of disappearing government datasets: www.cia.gov/stories/stor...
February 5, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Reposted by kate b.
Your regular reminder that one of Reform’s key policy proposals on their own website is to turn the UK into a “crypto hub”
KIM: When Binance founder Zhao pleaded guilty to violating money laundering laws & was sent to prison, Binance injected billions into Trump's business & Zhao was pardoned. Is that a conflict?

BESSENT: I'm unfamiliar with any of that

KIM: Is it a conflict?

BESSENT: Again, I'm not going to respond
February 5, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by kate b.
While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.

I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
Epstein had many known connections to Silicon Valley CEOs, but less known was how he made money from those relationships.

We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Reposted by kate b.
In this ep of What Next, NYT's David Enrich talked about how Dems and GOP want to use the Epstein files to pin this on the other party but neither have clean hands. It reminded me of how football fans suddenly care about sexual violence when it's their rival under scrutiny. slate.com/podcasts/wha...
He Reads the Epstein Files So You Don’t Have To
This might be the last drop but this isn’t over.
slate.com
February 5, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Reposted by kate b.
Journalism job opportunity with Borderless Magazine in Chicago 📍
Senior Immigration Enforcement & Courts Reporter - Borderless Magazine - Career Page
Apply to Senior Immigration Enforcement & Courts Reporter at Borderless Magazine in Chicago, IL.
borderlessmagazine.applytojob.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:48 PM
Reposted by kate b.
Workers at the JBS meatpacking plant voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to authorize an unfair labor practice strike against the company, alleging illegal conduct at the bargaining table and inside the plant.

www.denverpost.com/2026/02/05/j...
JBS workers in Greeley vote overwhelmingly to authorize strike
The timing of a potential walkout, which would be the first in the Greeley plant’s history, will be determined at a later date.
www.denverpost.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by kate b.
NEW: Local police did not open investigations into six of the 12 shootings by on-duty federal agents that have led to the deaths or injuries of citizens and immigrants since September, a ProPublica analysis found.
“You’re Not Going to Investigate a Federal Officer”
It doesn’t happen often, but local law enforcement can arrest and charge federal agents. Legal experts say there’s a moral obligation to at least try to hold federal immigration officers accountable w...
www.propublica.org
February 5, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by kate b.
A dispatch from Surprise AZ where residents gathered to protest plans for a warehouse concentration camp in their community by @azrww.bsky.social

“Despite this evidence of authoritarian power, it is possible for even the most local form of government to take a stand in the name of the people.”
A Surprise Zone of Interest
We are All Responsible for What Happens in our Community
www.welcometohellworld.com
February 5, 2026 at 3:52 PM
it’s actually amazing how many episodes of st:tng are sort of The AI Psychosis Episode
February 5, 2026 at 6:18 AM
Reposted by kate b.
My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power
February 4, 2026 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by kate b.
NEW: I spent hours combing through the references to #MeToo in the latest tranche of Epstein files. I found Epstein closely tracked the fallout of #MeToo, joked about being in a "pariahs club," and advised men accused of misconduct behind the scenes 19thnews.org/2026/02/jeff...
Epstein tracked #MeToo fallout and advised accused men behind the scenes
New files released by the Justice Department show Jeffrey Epstein joking about being in a "pariahs club" and discussing the fate of powerful men who had been accused of wrongdoing.
19thnews.org
February 4, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Reposted by kate b.
No one is worth giving up your dreams. I don't care if it is a relative or a lover, ultimately it is your life and you need to live for yourself
If you’re over 30, quote this with some life advice 🤌🏼
January 28, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by kate b.
I once had an immigration client that had been in Richmond, VA disappear for a few days then pop up again in Tacoma, WA. We had to engage local counsel in Washington State to continue to represent her. This was during the Obama administration.
Excellent explanation of how ICE moves immigrants from one prison facility to another to deny them access to justice.
January 28, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Reposted by kate b.
please remember that no matter how many “ICE is losing in MN” articles you read today, there is still a very real, urgent, ongoing crisis in Minnesota.

people need food and they need rent money. that has not changed.
January 28, 2026 at 2:55 PM