Nicole Guenther Discenza
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ndiscenza1.bsky.social
Nicole Guenther Discenza
@ndiscenza1.bsky.social

Medievalist who loves reading, especially science fiction & fantasy. I don't speak for my employer or anyone else.
she/hers

Philosophy 31%
History 28%
Pinned
Remember alt text, folks!
And if you're like me and sometimes forget, go to your Settings, find Accessibility, and have Bluesky remind you!

I'm very sorry, Monica!
((hugs)) and prayers

The kicker on this: I was imagining "Grandma's old cookbook" as being maybe 50s at the latest.

It's from the 80s.
I remember the 80s. I don't remember this nonsense.
Thanksgiving is gonna be lit.

"What emerged from the interview instead was a portrait of a Republican leader barely keeping his head above water in a job to which he does not appear particularly well suited, a conversation full of tragically revealing details packaged as rueful humor but with the biting sting of truth."
much to unpack in the Katie Miller podcast interview with the Johnsons www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...

This essay captures why I teach, and "magic" is the right word.
much to unpack in the Katie Miller podcast interview with the Johnsons www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Thanksgiving is gonna be lit.
SCOOP—In August, nearly 200 current/former FEMA staffers published the Katrina Declaration, a whistleblower letter detailing all the dangers posed by current leadership.

All current employees were put on indefinite leave, and now I've learned one has been fired in violation of federal protections:
FEMA employee terminated for signing whistleblower letter
It appears to be a major violation of federal whistleblower protections and constitutional rights.
www.thehandbasket.co

You're right! He looked kinda vaguely familiar, but I hadn't consciously made the connection!

"She’s in the process of actually getting her residency and she was abruptly arrested and taken from her young child right before Thanksgiving," said Ferreira's attorney.
"Leavitt…said that his son lives with him & his wife full-time, but that Ferreira has maintained a relationship with her son.
Leavitt told WMUR that he always tried to maintain a relationship with Ferreira. He said their son has not spoken to Ferreira since she was detained by ICE several weeks ago"
"A woman with a family connection to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Revere, Massachusetts."

www.wcvb.com/article/karo...

"Leavitt…said that his son lives with him & his wife full-time, but that Ferreira has maintained a relationship with her son.
Leavitt told WMUR that he always tried to maintain a relationship with Ferreira. He said their son has not spoken to Ferreira since she was detained by ICE several weeks ago"
"A woman with a family connection to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has been arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Revere, Massachusetts."

www.wcvb.com/article/karo...

Noem made the choice to send those men to CECOT, and she also visited to see the men in person and see what she had done.
She is a torturer.
The first official confirmation that Noem herself made the decision not to turn the planes around. A couple hundred men were tortured as a result — and soon after, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Trump admin’s Alien Enemies Act process was a total violation of due process.
BREAKING:

“After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador. “

I hope you're completely over it soon!
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University

www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷

It's so much more than the grass, beef, and smoothies—you really do have to watch to the end!
Trump: "Despite their size, Secretary Kennedy has formally certified that these are the first ever MAHA turkeys. They could be fat, but they're still MAHA. They've been fattened on a steady diet of grass, beef, to allow the smoothies and all the other things they have been eating for this occasion."
The first official confirmation that Noem herself made the decision not to turn the planes around. A couple hundred men were tortured as a result — and soon after, the Supreme Court confirmed that the Trump admin’s Alien Enemies Act process was a total violation of due process.
BREAKING:

“After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador. “

Anyone who had a critical word for Charlie Kirk, before or after his death, was blamed for it. Hundreds were fired.

I keep seeing Trump and his people calling for the deaths of senators and other elected officials, and the people who thought it was bad to criticize Kirk are silent.
NEW: As President Trump increases pressure on Colorado Governor Polis to free Tina Peters, a close ally of Peters is calling for Gov Polis and Attorney General Weiser to be executed.

MAGA podcaster Joe Oltmann called for the execution of several Colorado Democrats by name.

I won't pull other bits, because you really have to read the whole story, sentence after sentence, paragraph after paragraph
"Over the past weekend, the UWF presidential search committee abruptly cut short the winnowing process and announced it was designating a single finalist: former Florida Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., who was approved in May by the UWF Board of Trustees" as interim
jaxtrib.org/2025/11/25/i...
Inside track: Manny Diaz Jr., powerful interim president, emerges as sole finalist at UWF
Secret presidential searches have tightened Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ grip on college presidencies.
jaxtrib.org

"Over the past weekend, the UWF presidential search committee abruptly cut short the winnowing process and announced it was designating a single finalist: former Florida Rep. Manny Diaz Jr., who was approved in May by the UWF Board of Trustees" as interim
jaxtrib.org/2025/11/25/i...
Inside track: Manny Diaz Jr., powerful interim president, emerges as sole finalist at UWF
Secret presidential searches have tightened Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ grip on college presidencies.
jaxtrib.org

Oooohhhhh!
Question about the dissent by (the far-right) Justice Ziegler: Does this quote actually appear in Moore v. Harper? Did Moore say that state courts' role in congressional redistricting is "exceedingly limited"? I don't think it did! vhdshf2oms2wcnsvk7sdv3so.blob.core.windows.net/thearp-media...
The FBI is apparently investigating Democrats in Congress.

But I spoke to former FBI employees who tell me that the speed and aggressiveness here indicate that special agents have skipped steps to get the job done.

@notus.com story with @ameliacolon.bsky.social:

www.notus.org/congress/dem...
www.notus.org

"Never have so few done so much to so many."
Trump: "Despite their size, Secretary Kennedy has formally certified that these are the first ever MAHA turkeys. They could be fat, but they're still MAHA. They've been fattened on a steady diet of grass, beef, to allow the smoothies and all the other things they have been eating for this occasion."
This is so incredible. You have to see the photos. These workers held the line for THREE YEARS www.publicsource.org/post-gazette...
NEW: As President Trump increases pressure on Colorado Governor Polis to free Tina Peters, a close ally of Peters is calling for Gov Polis and Attorney General Weiser to be executed.

MAGA podcaster Joe Oltmann called for the execution of several Colorado Democrats by name.
A new kind of rapid Chotining. Please appreciate the alt-text.
what was it that you did here exactly?
A DOGE Exit Interview
It’s the agency’s turn to send a pointless, time-consuming email explaining its accomplishments.
www.theatlantic.com

CNN needs to rethink some things.
absolutely incredible -- CNN host introduces a segment about Trump's "new healthcare proposal," but less than two minutes later breaks into her script to announce "breaking news" that Trump's healthcare proposal is being postponed

I do this to myself all too often, but to have it happen when you're sick is injury upon injury!