Ellen Van
@ellenvan.bsky.social
She/her
Teacher, reader, vegetable eater
Teacher, reader, vegetable eater
Reposted by Ellen Van
The thing about carceral thinking is that people foreclose their imaginations and think the only thing we can *do* is arrest, prosecute, imprison bad actors.
Meanwhile progressive Minneapolis council members and organizers got an eviction moratorium resolution passed unanimously yesterday!
Meanwhile progressive Minneapolis council members and organizers got an eviction moratorium resolution passed unanimously yesterday!
January 16, 2026 at 12:10 PM
The thing about carceral thinking is that people foreclose their imaginations and think the only thing we can *do* is arrest, prosecute, imprison bad actors.
Meanwhile progressive Minneapolis council members and organizers got an eviction moratorium resolution passed unanimously yesterday!
Meanwhile progressive Minneapolis council members and organizers got an eviction moratorium resolution passed unanimously yesterday!
Reposted by Ellen Van
every time i log on something horrible is happening but also people are trying really hard to help
January 15, 2026 at 2:53 AM
every time i log on something horrible is happening but also people are trying really hard to help
Reposted by Ellen Van
the precedent in no way diminishes the horror. it actually gives us context—not only to understand the horror among horrors, but to find others who have refused it and resisted it, and their methods, and their sustaining loves and joys
We can just say a thing is wrong, without it being unprecedented.
January 15, 2026 at 4:21 AM
the precedent in no way diminishes the horror. it actually gives us context—not only to understand the horror among horrors, but to find others who have refused it and resisted it, and their methods, and their sustaining loves and joys
Reposted by Ellen Van
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open 'just to do quick research'
![You’ve got super fans pausing and zooming in on individuals frames of your documentary. One allegedly shows one of the Duffers with a ChatGPT tab open on their computer. In your presence, what did they use ChatGPT for?
I mean, are we even sure they had ChatGPT open?
I’m personally not, but the internet seems sure.
Well, there’s a lot of chatter where [social media users] are like, “We don’t really know, but we’re assuming.” But to me it’s like, doesn’t everybody have it open, to just do quick research?
I do.
How can you possibly write a storyline with 19 characters and use ChatGPT, I don’t even understand.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7t2urmt3i33jl6tjgiolio6g/bafkreidw2tmcr2ayq74oqmjm5pn2tdox6hlxnpqevhuqqj6oa7nsslx3oi@jpeg)
January 13, 2026 at 8:45 PM
RT if you've never had a tab of ChatGPT open 'just to do quick research'
Folic acid and tylenol
Would love to read something chronicling the normalization of tear gas (chlorobenzylidenemalonitrile). It is a chemical weapon. Apparently folic acid is evil chemicals but this is fine to indiscriminately douse people with?
And they've launched gas.
January 15, 2026 at 11:56 AM
Folic acid and tylenol
I...have no words
I really want ppl w/o Minneapolis connections to understand
You might've heard that Mpls public schools went hybrid bc so many families are in hiding. Well, a coworker just told me that today, during his kid's hybrid class, a kid's apt building was raided onscreen
*Everyone has stories like this*
You might've heard that Mpls public schools went hybrid bc so many families are in hiding. Well, a coworker just told me that today, during his kid's hybrid class, a kid's apt building was raided onscreen
*Everyone has stories like this*
January 15, 2026 at 11:54 AM
I...have no words
Reposted by Ellen Van
ICE kidnapped a defendant from a Massachusetts district court hallway today while the jury was deliberating in his case and refused to allow him to remain long enough to hear the verdict.
He was found not guilty, but will almost certainly be deported anyway
He was found not guilty, but will almost certainly be deported anyway
January 15, 2026 at 5:23 AM
ICE kidnapped a defendant from a Massachusetts district court hallway today while the jury was deliberating in his case and refused to allow him to remain long enough to hear the verdict.
He was found not guilty, but will almost certainly be deported anyway
He was found not guilty, but will almost certainly be deported anyway
Reposted by Ellen Van
the problem with an untrained secret police squad that shoots people in their cars isn’t that they’re untrained
January 15, 2026 at 1:19 AM
the problem with an untrained secret police squad that shoots people in their cars isn’t that they’re untrained
Reposted by Ellen Van
They're still trying to deport Rümeysa Öztürk after she was arrested in the street by plainclothes ICE agents and detained for six weeks for writing a column in her college newspaper that was critical of Israel.
Republican on CNN: You peacefully protest with a letter to the editor. You peacefully protest by starting a Substack or a podcast.
January 15, 2026 at 9:23 AM
They're still trying to deport Rümeysa Öztürk after she was arrested in the street by plainclothes ICE agents and detained for six weeks for writing a column in her college newspaper that was critical of Israel.
Reposted by Ellen Van
Take it from a Filipino, even if you despise the current rulers of your country, you will live to regret the day the United States comes in to remove them
January 3, 2026 at 9:05 PM
Take it from a Filipino, even if you despise the current rulers of your country, you will live to regret the day the United States comes in to remove them
Reposted by Ellen Van
Wrote this 6 years ago and why is it even more applicable now than then 😐
January 4, 2026 at 10:31 PM
Wrote this 6 years ago and why is it even more applicable now than then 😐
Reposted by Ellen Van
Literally a publication for eight-year olds 40 years ago
January 4, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Literally a publication for eight-year olds 40 years ago
Reposted by Ellen Van
The people who most loudly complain "Why can't these immigrants just stay in their country???" are the same ones who most loudly celebrate American military and CIA interventionism in these countries to overthrow their governments.
And they lack the self awareness to understand their own hypocrisy.
And they lack the self awareness to understand their own hypocrisy.
January 4, 2026 at 8:30 PM
The people who most loudly complain "Why can't these immigrants just stay in their country???" are the same ones who most loudly celebrate American military and CIA interventionism in these countries to overthrow their governments.
And they lack the self awareness to understand their own hypocrisy.
And they lack the self awareness to understand their own hypocrisy.
I realize hypocrisy os a useless argument against this government, but I just keep thinking about Venezuelans here (in the US) who are demonized as invaders while our government is literally invading their country.
Cuba is the ultimate manifestation of the Pottery Barn Rule. If they destabilize the govt & can’t rebuild the economy quickly, then they will face a tsunami of migration that will make the MASSIVE 1980 Mariel Boatlift look like a picnic. Rubio’s dream is Miller’s greatest nightmare. This is no joke!
January 4, 2026 at 5:03 PM
I realize hypocrisy os a useless argument against this government, but I just keep thinking about Venezuelans here (in the US) who are demonized as invaders while our government is literally invading their country.
Reposted by Ellen Van
So fucking tired of this
If we count all 115 people killed by US strikes on boats the US has now killed 155 Venezuelans with strikes
January 4, 2026 at 2:06 PM
So fucking tired of this
Reposted by Ellen Van
NYT gonna NYT: "Both Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Maduro identify as socialists, though they have no relationship.” — would be funny if they did this every time you write about two capitalists.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
Mamdani Called Trump to Criticize Venezuela Strikes
www.nytimes.com
January 3, 2026 at 10:01 PM
NYT gonna NYT: "Both Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Maduro identify as socialists, though they have no relationship.” — would be funny if they did this every time you write about two capitalists.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/w...
Reposted by Ellen Van
Those who do not learn from history will be filled with bliss as those who have learned from history look on in horror.
January 4, 2026 at 7:12 AM
Those who do not learn from history will be filled with bliss as those who have learned from history look on in horror.
Reposted by Ellen Van
People talk about distraction, but diffusion is a better way to think about it. When there are ten horrors a day, marshalling critical mass to overturn any one is difficult.
January 3, 2026 at 6:17 PM
People talk about distraction, but diffusion is a better way to think about it. When there are ten horrors a day, marshalling critical mass to overturn any one is difficult.
Reposted by Ellen Van
For those keeping track at home: Since Christmas Eve the United States has bombed or carried out raids in Syria, Somalia, Nigeria and now Venezuela. And Congress' response has ranged from nothing to support.
January 3, 2026 at 6:40 PM
For those keeping track at home: Since Christmas Eve the United States has bombed or carried out raids in Syria, Somalia, Nigeria and now Venezuela. And Congress' response has ranged from nothing to support.
Reposted by Ellen Van
A List of Predictions Made in 1926 About 2026
🧵
🧵
January 1, 2026 at 5:13 PM
A List of Predictions Made in 1926 About 2026
🧵
🧵
Reposted by Ellen Van
🔥 bars 🔥
Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
January 1, 2026 at 8:37 PM
🔥 bars 🔥
Reposted by Ellen Van
In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
January 1, 2026 at 10:30 PM
In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
Reposted by Ellen Van
Happy New Year. Ease yourself in. Reminder: the Year of the Horse kicks off February 17. Consider this, like, a six-week trial period.
January 2, 2026 at 2:31 AM
Happy New Year. Ease yourself in. Reminder: the Year of the Horse kicks off February 17. Consider this, like, a six-week trial period.
Reposted by Ellen Van
It is inaccurate to the point of dishonest to use the phrase "self deport" to describe people detained in horrendous conditions agreeing to be removed from the country
A WBEZ and Sun-Times analysis shows detainees initially booked at Broadview were nearly twice as likely as detainees nationwide to self-deport. Legal experts said inhumane conditions, coercion and a lack of legal counsel were contributing factors.
Broadview detainees during Operation Midway Blitz were self-deporting at alarming rates, analysis finds
chicago.suntimes.com
December 28, 2025 at 5:47 PM
It is inaccurate to the point of dishonest to use the phrase "self deport" to describe people detained in horrendous conditions agreeing to be removed from the country