Aksel
@macasson.bsky.social
Sometimes archaeologist, anthropologist, and professor in SRU’s College of Liberal Arts.
Co-director of SRU’s Center for Middle East Studies.
Co-director of SRU’s Center for Middle East Studies.
Reposted by Aksel
Heres tonight's #TimelineCleanse:
I can't imagine MAGA doing anything like this.
It is so whimsical, creative & silly — an awesome way to protest.
Doesn't that look like fun?
I would have loved to have been there!
I hope we can think of something fun like that here in sunny California. 🌞 ☀️ 😎
I can't imagine MAGA doing anything like this.
It is so whimsical, creative & silly — an awesome way to protest.
Doesn't that look like fun?
I would have loved to have been there!
I hope we can think of something fun like that here in sunny California. 🌞 ☀️ 😎
January 18, 2026 at 3:33 AM
Heres tonight's #TimelineCleanse:
I can't imagine MAGA doing anything like this.
It is so whimsical, creative & silly — an awesome way to protest.
Doesn't that look like fun?
I would have loved to have been there!
I hope we can think of something fun like that here in sunny California. 🌞 ☀️ 😎
I can't imagine MAGA doing anything like this.
It is so whimsical, creative & silly — an awesome way to protest.
Doesn't that look like fun?
I would have loved to have been there!
I hope we can think of something fun like that here in sunny California. 🌞 ☀️ 😎
Reposted by Aksel
I keep thinking about the toxic, pervasive mythology of "rugged individualism" as a driving force in American culture, and how the collective efforts in the Twin Cities right now are proof that the only way through hard times is together, as a community.
January 17, 2026 at 3:00 PM
I keep thinking about the toxic, pervasive mythology of "rugged individualism" as a driving force in American culture, and how the collective efforts in the Twin Cities right now are proof that the only way through hard times is together, as a community.
Reposted by Aksel
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology." n.pr/4583d8f
Today is the Smithsonian's deadline to give thousands of documents to the White House
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology."
n.pr
January 13, 2026 at 11:54 AM
The White House says the Smithsonian Institution must submit materials about current and upcoming exhibitions and events for a review that will determine whether they express "improper ideology." n.pr/4583d8f
Reposted by Aksel
I've read most of the scholarship about US policing since the early 20th century. What you learn from this is that violence is inherent. You cannot "separate" out violence from policing. Police in the U.S. are violence workers.
January 15, 2026 at 2:33 AM
I've read most of the scholarship about US policing since the early 20th century. What you learn from this is that violence is inherent. You cannot "separate" out violence from policing. Police in the U.S. are violence workers.
Reposted by Aksel
Seeing reports US moving an aircraft carrier to the Middle East. Another military strike on Iran is a misguided and dangerous move—not the way to help protesters and not clear what they’ll accomplish, all while raising risks on US forces and civilians in the region.
January 15, 2026 at 12:01 AM
Seeing reports US moving an aircraft carrier to the Middle East. Another military strike on Iran is a misguided and dangerous move—not the way to help protesters and not clear what they’ll accomplish, all while raising risks on US forces and civilians in the region.
Reposted by Aksel
The House voted 341 to 79 to fund Trump's war-mongering foreign policy agenda.
Only 57 Democrats voted NO.
clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/rol...
Only 57 Democrats voted NO.
clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/rol...
January 14, 2026 at 11:48 PM
The House voted 341 to 79 to fund Trump's war-mongering foreign policy agenda.
Only 57 Democrats voted NO.
clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/rol...
Only 57 Democrats voted NO.
clerk.house.gov/evs/2026/rol...
Reposted by Aksel
Reposted by Aksel
There’s a big story everyone is missing—but this article hits on it.
We aren’t just seeing public health dismantled bc we’ve been taken over by conspiracy theorists and lunatics.
What we’re really seeing is the giant, predatory, underegulated wellness industry come to Washington.
We aren’t just seeing public health dismantled bc we’ve been taken over by conspiracy theorists and lunatics.
What we’re really seeing is the giant, predatory, underegulated wellness industry come to Washington.
FDA deletes warning on bogus autism therapies touted by RFK Jr.‘s allies
The agency used to warn of chelation, used by RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine ally David Geier.
arstechnica.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:30 AM
There’s a big story everyone is missing—but this article hits on it.
We aren’t just seeing public health dismantled bc we’ve been taken over by conspiracy theorists and lunatics.
What we’re really seeing is the giant, predatory, underegulated wellness industry come to Washington.
We aren’t just seeing public health dismantled bc we’ve been taken over by conspiracy theorists and lunatics.
What we’re really seeing is the giant, predatory, underegulated wellness industry come to Washington.
Reposted by Aksel
telling the secret police they have immunity to harm & kill citizens really lays bare the hollowness of decades of right-wing GOP screeching about encroaching Big Government - it was never a problem they had with government per se, just that it wasn't being used to harm the people they wanted to
January 14, 2026 at 6:43 AM
telling the secret police they have immunity to harm & kill citizens really lays bare the hollowness of decades of right-wing GOP screeching about encroaching Big Government - it was never a problem they had with government per se, just that it wasn't being used to harm the people they wanted to
Reposted by Aksel
Breaking News: The EPA will stop considering lives saved when setting pollution limits and instead calculate only the cost to businesses.
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved by Limiting Air Pollution
In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting pollution limits, and not the monetary value of saving human lives, documents show.
nyti.ms
January 12, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Breaking News: The EPA will stop considering lives saved when setting pollution limits and instead calculate only the cost to businesses.
Reposted by Aksel
An arsonist hit a Mississippi synagogue Saturday. Seven Torahs were damaged or destroyed in the fire.
One Torah, from the Holocaust, was in a glass case and wasn't touched.
The same synagogue was bombed by the KKK in 1967.
mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...
One Torah, from the Holocaust, was in a glass case and wasn't touched.
The same synagogue was bombed by the KKK in 1967.
mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...
Predawn fire reduces parts of Mississippi's largest synagogue to charred ruins - Mississippi Today
A fire heavily damaged Jackson’s only synagogue before dawn Saturday – the same house of worship that was firebombed by the Ku Klux Klan in 1967 because the rabbi had been an advocate for civil rights...
mississippitoday.org
January 11, 2026 at 3:59 AM
An arsonist hit a Mississippi synagogue Saturday. Seven Torahs were damaged or destroyed in the fire.
One Torah, from the Holocaust, was in a glass case and wasn't touched.
The same synagogue was bombed by the KKK in 1967.
mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...
One Torah, from the Holocaust, was in a glass case and wasn't touched.
The same synagogue was bombed by the KKK in 1967.
mississippitoday.org/2026/01/10/f...
Reposted by Aksel
A woman recording an ICE agent tells him "Shame on you."
The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?"
"Learned what?" she asks
Then he knocks her phone out of her hand
The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?"
"Learned what?" she asks
Then he knocks her phone out of her hand
January 10, 2026 at 2:52 PM
A woman recording an ICE agent tells him "Shame on you."
The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?"
"Learned what?" she asks
Then he knocks her phone out of her hand
The agent responds, "Have you all not learned from the past couple of days?"
"Learned what?" she asks
Then he knocks her phone out of her hand
Reposted by Aksel
Thanks to Prof. David Chang from the U for writing this for us.
Fort Snelling: The Advance Guard of Federal Invasion Since 1805 - Racket
Federal agents are once more using Fort Snelling for its established purpose: to maintain a “monopoly of violence.”
racketmn.com
January 9, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Thanks to Prof. David Chang from the U for writing this for us.
Reposted by Aksel
This is the ninth shooting by ICE since September (I did not know that). All of them were into vehicles.
Deadly Minneapolis Encounter Is the 9th ICE Shooting Since September
www.nytimes.com
January 7, 2026 at 10:45 PM
This is the ninth shooting by ICE since September (I did not know that). All of them were into vehicles.
Reposted by Aksel
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
January 7, 2026 at 8:26 PM
The “prosecute the former regime at every level” candidate has my vote in 2028.
Reposted by Aksel
They did a school shooting to prevent a movie screening
"Israeli forces stormed the campus shortly before the screening [of The Voice of Hind Rajab]. The Israeli army said it targeted a “gathering in support of terrorism” at the university."
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/...
"Israeli forces stormed the campus shortly before the screening [of The Voice of Hind Rajab]. The Israeli army said it targeted a “gathering in support of terrorism” at the university."
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/...
Israeli school assault wounds dozens of Palestinians in West Bank raid
Casualties taken to Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah following an Israeli army attack on Birzeit University.
www.aljazeera.com
January 7, 2026 at 3:30 AM
They did a school shooting to prevent a movie screening
"Israeli forces stormed the campus shortly before the screening [of The Voice of Hind Rajab]. The Israeli army said it targeted a “gathering in support of terrorism” at the university."
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/...
"Israeli forces stormed the campus shortly before the screening [of The Voice of Hind Rajab]. The Israeli army said it targeted a “gathering in support of terrorism” at the university."
www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/...
Reposted by Aksel
This sucks but I think non-Americans being justifiably angry at Americans for what the American government is doing and threatening to do, and Americans experiencing that anger and frustration personally in ways that are unpleasant, is probably an important part of any path back to stability
January 7, 2026 at 1:15 AM
This sucks but I think non-Americans being justifiably angry at Americans for what the American government is doing and threatening to do, and Americans experiencing that anger and frustration personally in ways that are unpleasant, is probably an important part of any path back to stability
Reposted by Aksel
Thinking of this, and remembering that our administration refused to even negotiate on increasing student health resources when we fought for our first contract. But we have an AI center now.
Every time I see a news article about ChatGPT pushing vulnerable people to harm themselves and others, I want to know how the universities who have eagerly proclaimed their partnerships with this company intend to account for the increasing evidence of the harms of this tech
He put his complete trust in a chat bot that turned him into a savage murderer.
January 4, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Thinking of this, and remembering that our administration refused to even negotiate on increasing student health resources when we fought for our first contract. But we have an AI center now.
Reposted by Aksel
My whole life, advocating war has been fed to me as “the adult position,” akin to drinking your coffee black or reading the business section of the newspaper. Let’s be very clear — war is the childish nonsense of impulsive destructive idiots playing baby-brained video games with real human lives.
January 4, 2026 at 2:02 AM
My whole life, advocating war has been fed to me as “the adult position,” akin to drinking your coffee black or reading the business section of the newspaper. Let’s be very clear — war is the childish nonsense of impulsive destructive idiots playing baby-brained video games with real human lives.
Reposted by Aksel
The kidnapping of Maduro inaugurates a highly dangerous era of U.S. empire that for perhaps the first time in an era of mass media is not pretending to be anything other than a violent, extractive enterprise of domination.
A Criminal Empire
The United States launches a conquest and occupation of Venezuela to extract its oil wealth. The neocon dream is the America First dream
www.forever-wars.com
January 3, 2026 at 7:50 PM
The kidnapping of Maduro inaugurates a highly dangerous era of U.S. empire that for perhaps the first time in an era of mass media is not pretending to be anything other than a violent, extractive enterprise of domination.
Reposted by Aksel
And there ya have it…
Officials from top Wall Street firms will be traveling to Venezuela to investigate “investment prospects” of the country. “The trip will feature about 20 officials from the finance, energy and defense sectors.”
Officials from top Wall Street firms will be traveling to Venezuela to investigate “investment prospects” of the country. “The trip will feature about 20 officials from the finance, energy and defense sectors.”
Finance Industry Eyes Investment Opportunities in Venezuela
Some on Wall Street are already considering possible investment opportunities in Venezuela following the capture of Nicolás Maduro, according to Charles Myers, chairman of consulting firm Signum Globa...
www.wsj.com
January 3, 2026 at 7:13 PM
And there ya have it…
Officials from top Wall Street firms will be traveling to Venezuela to investigate “investment prospects” of the country. “The trip will feature about 20 officials from the finance, energy and defense sectors.”
Officials from top Wall Street firms will be traveling to Venezuela to investigate “investment prospects” of the country. “The trip will feature about 20 officials from the finance, energy and defense sectors.”
Reposted by Aksel
if you are talking today about how bad maduro was and were alive, at all, during the run-up to the iraq war you are potentially the dumbest person to ever live
January 3, 2026 at 5:00 PM
if you are talking today about how bad maduro was and were alive, at all, during the run-up to the iraq war you are potentially the dumbest person to ever live
Reposted by Aksel
On the "boots on the ground" question and Trump saying that it will mainly be about protecting oil operations.
Given this framing, we should expect a massive payday for politically connected mercenary companies, who will use this to expand their private armies.
Given this framing, we should expect a massive payday for politically connected mercenary companies, who will use this to expand their private armies.
January 3, 2026 at 5:38 PM
On the "boots on the ground" question and Trump saying that it will mainly be about protecting oil operations.
Given this framing, we should expect a massive payday for politically connected mercenary companies, who will use this to expand their private armies.
Given this framing, we should expect a massive payday for politically connected mercenary companies, who will use this to expand their private armies.
Reposted by Aksel
Is ICE going to kidnap Maduro and return him to Venezuela?
January 3, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Is ICE going to kidnap Maduro and return him to Venezuela?
Reposted by Aksel
It's an old and obvious pattern. An unpopular president - failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home - decides to launch a war for regime change abroad.
The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.
The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.
January 3, 2026 at 5:08 PM
It's an old and obvious pattern. An unpopular president - failing on the economy and losing his grip on power at home - decides to launch a war for regime change abroad.
The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.
The American people don’t want to “run” a foreign country while our leaders fail to improve life in this one.