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Kelsey Atherton

@atherton.bsky.social

29K followers 950 following 14K posts

War, robots, & bad futures but imagining better. I edit @cipolicy.bsky.social's International Policy Journal, opinions my own. Unitarian Universalist. He/him. Husband to @alymay.bsky.social & father of 2. Front takes towards enemies.

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 24d

Flake Music

You're nine years, a second dog,
two cats, and two kids into what you thought would be a temporary return to straighten things out for a little bit. Online lets you feign cosmopolitanism as your material life is increasingly provincial. When you land here, you've already returned.

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 3h

yesssss

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 4h

The Wretched Of The Outer Rim

Sam Ratner @samratner.bsky.social · 4h

Wookiepedia entry for “Frantz Fanon”

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 5h

Firing David Frum would be praxis over evil

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Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 5h

Fascinating report just released by DropSite which reveals that David Frum, while working on a profile of an Israeli ambassador to the United Nations for the Atlantic, was also shadow-writing speeches for that same ambassador.

David Frum, Douglas Murray Secretly Drafted Speeches for Israeli Ambassador

Leaked emails from former Israeli UN Ambassador Ron Prosor show David Frum, Douglas Murray offering to write his speeches and a CNN producer fundraising for Israel’s Iron Dome during Israel’s 2014 war

www.dropsitenews.com

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Jewish Currents @jewishcurrents.bsky.social · 5h

Jewish Currents has learned that the Conscience flotilla, with
Emily Wilder aboard reporting for us, has been intercepted and boarded by the Israeli military. Communications with Emily and the rest of the boat have been cut. We are awaiting further updates.

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 9h

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 11h

[sigh] Who called it the president going to a fee on imported goods as a way to circumvent Congressional authorization for spending and not Shipping Money

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Roger Cormier @yayroger.bsky.social · 7h

He is now wearing a Dump Here 62 shirt.

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Roger Cormier @yayroger.bsky.social · 7h

A gentleman with a "Dump Here 61" shirt caught the Raleigh home run (on a bounce.)

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Eoin Higgins @eoinhiggins.bsky.social · 7h

Centrists can try to rewrite history, but they’ve been winning the battle over the Democratic Party for years. If that’s translating into losses at the ballot box, maybe it’s time to actually try something new.

Jon Chait Thinks Kamala Harris Went Too Far Left. He's Just Falling for Trump's Demagoguery.

A year ago, Jonathan Chait said centrists were winning. When Kamala Harris lost, though, he fell for Trump's anti-trans demagoguery.

theintercept.com

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Patrick Cosmos @veryimportant.lawyer · 9h

everything else the trump administration has done has felt like pure libidinal reagan energy. but "this secret opinion says we can legally do sadistic stuff to random guys" has a bush/obama flavor that feels different, simply by virtue of producing a flimsy opinion instead of just shrugging

CNN @cnn.com · 1d

The Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. https://cnn.it/4o7ma1R

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 9h

King Charles, 1640s, English Revolution, which informed the American one over a century later, please learn how to read

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 9h

no

bsky.app/profile/athe...

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 10h

open the schools

[crowd cheers]

to make sure the public has a better grounding in the history of legislative sovereignty so that I don't have to keep explaining that King Charles and King George were antagonists of different revolutions

[crowd has dispersed]

Reposted by Kelsey Atherton

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 9h

Man…man.

www.texastribune.org/2025/10/07/t...

“Why Sergio?”: Deportation ends 36-year dream for celebrated Waco chef

Sergio Garcia built a wide following for his regional Mexican cuisine over the decades, becoming a favorite of the White House press corps visiting Waco during the Bush presidency. Then in March, ICE ...

www.texastribune.org

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 10h

man I am talking about the claim, the claimed power. But I'm glad your avatarless self has seen through the false reality of talking about news as it is reported or abuses of power before they're in effect

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 10h

so here's what I did: I copy-pasted the text "WHITE HOUSE TO TRANSFER TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND WIC: LEAVITT" into a search bar, and then I found this, the first hit. Online can be scary but some basic research skills will make it a useful tool for navigating the web.

www.cnn.com/2025/10/07/p...

White House says it will use tariff revenue to fund federal food aid for mothers and young children | CNN Politics

The Trump administration said Tuesday it will use tariff funds to keep afloat a federal food assistance program for nearly 7 million pregnant women, new moms and young children during the government s...

www.cnn.com

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 10h

you want a receipt for the entire English Revolution

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 10h

well the one against whom there was an English Revolution

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 10h

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 10h

I really and truly don't, because I'm talking about the English Revolution against King Charles, in part for the crime of raising revenue without the consent of Parliament, which is what is happening when Trump promises to use Tariffs to pay for government programs.

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Josh Fruhlinger @jfruh.bsky.social · 11h

been reading about the glorious revolution and it’s funny that this event that looms so large in the history of British parliamentary govt and thus world liberal democracy was straightforwardly the Dutch doing a regime change as part of their geopolitical struggle against France

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 10h

it's true, I failed to include every grievance (legitimate or gross) that the American colonists had against the Crown in my post about the similarities between Trump declaring he'll use a non-congressional revenue source for govt programs, like how King Charles did. There's only 300 characters here

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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · Jul 4

There’s this story I sometimes tell about a Gifted & Talented thing I did as a kid, where all the kids knew that “Ring Around the Rosy” was about the plague but they didn’t know how to adjust for these other kids who knew that too, so a bunch of 6 year olds just stood in a circle telling each other

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 11h

hell yeah

Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 11h

[sigh] Who called it the president going to a fee on imported goods as a way to circumvent Congressional authorization for spending and not Shipping Money

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