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Kwon Y.

@kwony.bsky.social

330 followers 840 following 180 posts

History reader (he/him)

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Kwon Y. @kwony.bsky.social · Mar 7

DOGE's efforts to weaken the professional civil service could turn back the clock to an era when the U.S. government was rife with incompetence and corruption.

A weaker administrative state doesn't relieve working people or businesses from costs. It creates new ones.
time.com/7244554/dang...

The Historic Dangers of Politicizing Our Civil Service

Weakening the professional civil service could turn back the clock to an era when government was rife with corruption.

time.com

Reposted by Kwon Y.

Nathan Lane @nathanlane.bsky.social · 1d

Meritocracy is back

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 2d

Trump said he deserved a cut for brokering the TikTok deal, and at once there was agreement that his son Baron would have a top executive slot... though he hasn't asked for it, and has no apparent qualifications to hold it. This is how Trump 2.0 works. www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025...

Barron Trump tipped for top TikTok job

US president’s 19-year-old son could be appointed to the app’s board

www.telegraph.co.uk

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 9h

Ultimately, the death of US manufacturing is about this attitude. It's easy to say "buy american or stfu" because virtue signaling is free. But it's hard to actually sustain a business because many Americans simply don't want to pay what it costs to produce things ethically in this country

Someone on Twitter replies to me: "meh. buy american or stfu."

Two hours later, in a separate thread, the write: "$30 for a single button-up is ridiculous unless it is decent quality silk."

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Kwon Y. @kwony.bsky.social · 12h

Could there be a more relevant time to review this history?

Would we recognize a dirty war in America?
youtu.be/WazTXatfVo4?...

Argentina's Dirty War: The Junta and the Disappeared

YouTube video by The Cold War

youtu.be

Reposted by Kwon Y.

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 1d

The English Revolution was in no small part sparked by King Charles I routing around parliament to find everything he wanted through non/legislative means, despite that being why Parliament exists. Over a century later, American colonists aware of this explicitly gave their Congress power to stop it

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 1d

Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it's to establish personalist control over the FUCKING MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine

Via: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

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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Jacquie @jmteo.bsky.social · 2d

Modern day slave-catchers

Ashton Pittman @ashtonpittman.bsky.social · 2d

ICE left David, a 17-year-old boy, stranded on the side of Interstate 20 after pulling over his immigrant father, Hector, in Mississippi.

David began running in the scorching sun after the car and watched as it disappeared from sight—soon headed to a Louisiana ICE prison.

Here's their story.

ICE Stranded a 17-Year-Old on I-20 After Arresting His Father. The Mississippi Dad Now Faces Deportation.

A 17-year-old watched as ICE arrested his immigrant father, Hector, on I-20 in June. The family faces mounting legal fees and the risk of deportation.

www.mississippifreepress.org

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Joanne Freeman @jbf1755.bsky.social · 2d

“Antifa” means anti-fascist.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

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Maggie Tokuda-Hall @maggietokudahall.bsky.social · 2d

Today my daughter's preschool is holding a farewell assembly for one of her classmates whose mother has no choice but to self deport. The school is hoping it will be joyful in tone, so we might make this less upsetting for this 3 year old.

There's just no words for the uselessness of this cruelty.

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Barred and Boujee aka Madiba Dennie @audrelawdamercy.bsky.social · 2d

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

Sophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 2d

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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Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 3d

“Textbooks have inched toward acknowledging these histories, yet they still fall short of explaining how ‘liberty and freedom’ for some was often used to justify the conquest and dispossession of others.”

Maggie Blackhawk @maggieblackhawk.bsky.social · 3d

New essay in the Atlantic today: How Native Nations Shaped the Revolution by Ned Blackhawk (with many lessons on how we ended up where we are as a nation, and a gift link) www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

How Native Nations Shaped the Revolution

The Founders were inspired—and threatened—by the independence and self-governance of nations like the Iroquois Confederacy.

www.theatlantic.com

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Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 3d

How can we make immigration durably popular? Alex Kustov has an answer & a bunch of novel evidence in his new book

The key is not for liberal politicians to stoop to xenophobia, they must instead to make immigration policy *demonstrably* beneficial to the nation
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Joey Politano's review of In Our Interest

4/5: Immigration has extremely massive economic benefits. It is also one of the most divisive issues in modern democracies. Overcoming the politics of xenophobia is thus one of the most important and ...

www.goodreads.com

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Jill Blake @biscuitkitten.bsky.social · 4d

“the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa”

Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca

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Kwon Y. @kwony.bsky.social · 4d

When can we tune in to watch you livestream Napoleon Total War or Cossacks II?

Reposted by Kwon Y.

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 6d

1858 version of “the wise man bowed his head solemnly and spoke: ‘theres actually zero difference between good & bad things. you imbecile. you fucking moron’

Text of a book reading “What is the difference between a Yankee violating the fugitive slave law in the North, and a Southern man violating the law against the African slave trade in the South?”

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Kwon Y. @kwony.bsky.social · 5d

All I see is a badass

Tess Owen @tessowen.bsky.social · 6d

Judging by the responses to this DHS post, its goal seems to be to mock the physical appearance of a (presumably) American protester.

I wonder if we can think of another political movement in history that was obsessed with the physical appearance of its citizens

Kwon Y. @kwony.bsky.social · 6d

Color me surprised

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 6d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b-----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed. A judge ordered Martinez and a co-defendant released pending trial.

trib.al

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Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 6d

In any other administration this would be considered insane policy uncertainty and rank incompetence. "TRUCK TARIFFS START IN ONE WEEK" only for the deadline to lapse uneventfully and then be followed up by "TRUCK TARIFFS START IN ONE MONTH"

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 17d

Every day, Trump wakes up and thinks “what product should I make arbitrarily more expensive today?”

Truck tariffs means drivers pay billions more for vehicles, companies/consumers pay more for shipping, & the benefits to truckmakers get outweighed by costs to other manufacturers

In order to protect our Great Heavy Truck Manufacturers from unfair outside competition, I will be imposing, as of October 1st, 2025, a 25% Tariff on all “Heavy (Big!) Trucks” made in other parts of the World. Therefore, our Great Large Truck Company Manufacturers, such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Mack Trucks, and others, will be protected from the onslaught of outside interruptions. We need our Truckers to be financially healthy and strong, for many reasons, but above all else, for National Security purposes!

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Industrious Labs @industriouslabs.bsky.social · 6d

Mike Mendoza, Business Manager of IBEW Local 684 (@ibew-9th.bsky.social), makes the case for why investing in clean manufacturing is a win-win for the Central Valley. By signing AB1280, @cagovernornewsom.bsky.social can secure good-paying, skilled jobs for our communities. sjvsun.com/view/moderni...

Modernizing the Central Valley manufacturing sector is a win for good jobs, public health, and the economy

Assembly Bill 1280 offers the Central Valley a rare chance to retain high-value industrial jobs and operators while delivering on clean energy goals, writes IBEW's Mike Mendoza.

sjvsun.com

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Nathan Lane @nathanlane.bsky.social · 6d

I spoke with the Visible Hand podcast about South Korean industrial policy www.thevisiblehand.uk/episodes/epi...

Episode 96: Nathan Lane on South Korea’s Industrial Policy — The Visible Hand

www.thevisiblehand.uk

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Kwon Y. @kwony.bsky.social · 7d

We look forward to you coming over to the Civil War corner.

Kwon Y. @kwony.bsky.social · 7d

A decade ago, this would have been the most insane thing to hear.

Alas, we have since had the 2016 election.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d

Trump: "The problem with Vietnam, we, you know, we stopped fighting to win. We would've won easy. We would've won Afghanistan easy. We would've won every war easy. But we got politically correct. 'Oh, let's take it easy.' We're not politically correct anymore, just so you understand."

Reposted by Kwon Y.

Cristian Farias @cristianfarias.com · 7d

This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

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Kwon Y. @kwony.bsky.social · 8d

JD Vance would be a much happier person if he showed a little gratitude for the contributions of immigrants and democratic institutions in building this country.

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 8d

Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.

Tweet from the VP:
Joy Reid has had such a good life in this country. It's been
overwhelmingly kind and gracious to her. She is far wealthier than most.
Yet she oozes with contempt.
My honest, non-trolling advice to Joy Reid is that you'd be a much
happier person if you showed a little gratitude

Reposted by Kwon Y.

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 9d

Weeks before his death, you say?

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 9d

Julius Caesar was the first Roman to put his own living face on coins, weeks before his death. It is one of the deepest cultural signifiers of something autocracies do and republics do not.

“Render unto Caesar.” A practice so notoriously arrogant Jesus himself dunked on it with snarky wordplay.

Treasury Department Has Plans To Mint Dollar Coin Featuring Donald Trump's Likeness | Defector

The United States Department of the Treasury has developed, to the brink of production, a dollar coin that features the face and likeness of President Donald Trump, according to a source within the Tr...

defector.com

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Kwon Y. @kwony.bsky.social · 9d

In this moment in time, it's inspiring to read about the rescue of Shadrach Minkins by the people of Massachusetts in 1851 in contravention of the Fugitive Slave Act. www.nps.gov/articles/-re...

"Rescued from the Fangs of the Slave Hunter": The Case of Shadrach Minkins (U.S. National Park Service)