Kirsten Allen
@kjallen4.bsky.social
Co-Executive Director/Publisher at Torrey House Press, familiar of cats, lover of wild words and wild places
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
U.S. military spending is set to hit a record $1 trillion.
Roughly half of defense spending goes to private contractors that routinely price-gouge the government.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has failed seven straight audits.
This is the military industrial complex on steroids.
Roughly half of defense spending goes to private contractors that routinely price-gouge the government.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has failed seven straight audits.
This is the military industrial complex on steroids.
December 12, 2025 at 8:01 PM
U.S. military spending is set to hit a record $1 trillion.
Roughly half of defense spending goes to private contractors that routinely price-gouge the government.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has failed seven straight audits.
This is the military industrial complex on steroids.
Roughly half of defense spending goes to private contractors that routinely price-gouge the government.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has failed seven straight audits.
This is the military industrial complex on steroids.
"Yet only 1 percent of roughly 350,000 chemicals have been tested for safety."
share.google/UvbuNkcFcT9M...
share.google/UvbuNkcFcT9M...
Scientists Thought Parkinson’s Was in Our Genes. It Might Be in the Water
New ideas about chronic illness could revolutionize treatment, if we take the research seriously.
share.google
December 11, 2025 at 3:26 AM
"Yet only 1 percent of roughly 350,000 chemicals have been tested for safety."
share.google/UvbuNkcFcT9M...
share.google/UvbuNkcFcT9M...
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Thank goodness Trump didn’t call half of Somalis something like “deplorable” else it would have been the biggest scandal ever
CURTIS: All of us need to wake up every morning & say, 'what am I doing to make immigrants feel welcome' regardless of an individual says
BASH: But he's not just an individual. He's the president calling an entire community garbage
C: We knew very well what we were electing. We wanted a disrupter
BASH: But he's not just an individual. He's the president calling an entire community garbage
C: We knew very well what we were electing. We wanted a disrupter
December 7, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Thank goodness Trump didn’t call half of Somalis something like “deplorable” else it would have been the biggest scandal ever
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
If Virginia Democrats follow through with a new 10-1 congressional map and a couple of other Dem states make small changes, Trump's gambit to rig the 2026 maps will be remembered as an epic blunder.
December 6, 2025 at 2:43 PM
If Virginia Democrats follow through with a new 10-1 congressional map and a couple of other Dem states make small changes, Trump's gambit to rig the 2026 maps will be remembered as an epic blunder.
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Musk’s Wealth
2012: $2 billion
2025: $493.8 billion
Bezos’ Wealth
2012: $18.4 billion
2025: $240.9 billion
Zuckerberg’s Wealth
2012: $17.5 billion
2025: $226.9 billion
Federal Minimum Wage
2012: $7.25
2025: $7.25
It’s not the start of an oligarchy. — We’re in the thick of it.
2012: $2 billion
2025: $493.8 billion
Bezos’ Wealth
2012: $18.4 billion
2025: $240.9 billion
Zuckerberg’s Wealth
2012: $17.5 billion
2025: $226.9 billion
Federal Minimum Wage
2012: $7.25
2025: $7.25
It’s not the start of an oligarchy. — We’re in the thick of it.
December 4, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Musk’s Wealth
2012: $2 billion
2025: $493.8 billion
Bezos’ Wealth
2012: $18.4 billion
2025: $240.9 billion
Zuckerberg’s Wealth
2012: $17.5 billion
2025: $226.9 billion
Federal Minimum Wage
2012: $7.25
2025: $7.25
It’s not the start of an oligarchy. — We’re in the thick of it.
2012: $2 billion
2025: $493.8 billion
Bezos’ Wealth
2012: $18.4 billion
2025: $240.9 billion
Zuckerberg’s Wealth
2012: $17.5 billion
2025: $226.9 billion
Federal Minimum Wage
2012: $7.25
2025: $7.25
It’s not the start of an oligarchy. — We’re in the thick of it.
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Phillis Wheatley, first published African-American female poet, died #OTD in 1784.
Born in W. Africa, sold into slavery at 7 & one of the best-known poets in 18th-century America. Her achievements were a catalyst for the fledgling antislavery movement.
poetryfoundation.org/poets/philli... #poetry
Born in W. Africa, sold into slavery at 7 & one of the best-known poets in 18th-century America. Her achievements were a catalyst for the fledgling antislavery movement.
poetryfoundation.org/poets/philli... #poetry
December 5, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Phillis Wheatley, first published African-American female poet, died #OTD in 1784.
Born in W. Africa, sold into slavery at 7 & one of the best-known poets in 18th-century America. Her achievements were a catalyst for the fledgling antislavery movement.
poetryfoundation.org/poets/philli... #poetry
Born in W. Africa, sold into slavery at 7 & one of the best-known poets in 18th-century America. Her achievements were a catalyst for the fledgling antislavery movement.
poetryfoundation.org/poets/philli... #poetry
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter responded to the Trump administration Tuesday after they used her song "Juno" in a montage depicting ICE raids. https://wapo.st/44xvlkI
December 3, 2025 at 1:00 AM
Pop singer Sabrina Carpenter responded to the Trump administration Tuesday after they used her song "Juno" in a montage depicting ICE raids. https://wapo.st/44xvlkI
Editor/Publisher hot take: while your writing process may have needed epigrams, your reader doesn't.
December 1, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Editor/Publisher hot take: while your writing process may have needed epigrams, your reader doesn't.
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
The White House knows they can call the press names, denigrate reporters, all of it — because those same reporters and mainstream outlets are in on the scam. They get access and scoops and book deals and career advancement by cozying up to the people who publicly abuse them. They don’t care.
December 1, 2025 at 12:49 PM
The White House knows they can call the press names, denigrate reporters, all of it — because those same reporters and mainstream outlets are in on the scam. They get access and scoops and book deals and career advancement by cozying up to the people who publicly abuse them. They don’t care.
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Trump’s net worth has grown by $3 billion since he took office. That’s not a coincidence.
bit.ly/4oV46sG
bit.ly/4oV46sG
A New Era of Crony Capitalism
Washington hasn’t seen graft like this for at least a century.
www.brennancenter.org
November 30, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Trump’s net worth has grown by $3 billion since he took office. That’s not a coincidence.
bit.ly/4oV46sG
bit.ly/4oV46sG
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Nobody outside this country is wondering, like the pundit class does, what was wrong with Kamala Harris.
Everybody outside this country is wondering what’s wrong with US.
Everybody outside this country is wondering what’s wrong with US.
November 29, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Nobody outside this country is wondering, like the pundit class does, what was wrong with Kamala Harris.
Everybody outside this country is wondering what’s wrong with US.
Everybody outside this country is wondering what’s wrong with US.
Come on, folks. @davidcondos.bsky.social @kuer.org @sltrib.com you can do better. This piece on water conservation says "while it's true that most of Utah's water goes to agriculture" but neglects to clarify that "most" means 85%!! utahnewsdispatch.com/2025/11/28/u...
Utah has county-by-county water goals. Is your county hitting them? • Utah News Dispatch
To meet a statewide conservation goal of 16%, a decade-long effort in Utah aims to reduce the water used in homes, schools and businesses.
utahnewsdispatch.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Come on, folks. @davidcondos.bsky.social @kuer.org @sltrib.com you can do better. This piece on water conservation says "while it's true that most of Utah's water goes to agriculture" but neglects to clarify that "most" means 85%!! utahnewsdispatch.com/2025/11/28/u...
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
SIGH
I personally date the fall of the post-Civil Rights constitutional order 2013 & Shelby County v Holder. When a reactionary SCOTUS could knock out the keystone of equal voting rights, & everyone agreed that was valid, it was an epochal change. It meant democracy was itself now a partisan issue.
I personally date the fall of the post-Civil Rights constitutional order 2013 & Shelby County v Holder. When a reactionary SCOTUS could knock out the keystone of equal voting rights, & everyone agreed that was valid, it was an epochal change. It meant democracy was itself now a partisan issue.
As we all wait for Callais to come down, our piece showing that Shelby County increased the racial turnout gap in most of the covered parts of the country has cleared the replication check and is incoming at JOP.
Gutting the VRA was bad, actually.
Gutting the VRA was bad, actually.
November 24, 2025 at 3:12 AM
SIGH
I personally date the fall of the post-Civil Rights constitutional order 2013 & Shelby County v Holder. When a reactionary SCOTUS could knock out the keystone of equal voting rights, & everyone agreed that was valid, it was an epochal change. It meant democracy was itself now a partisan issue.
I personally date the fall of the post-Civil Rights constitutional order 2013 & Shelby County v Holder. When a reactionary SCOTUS could knock out the keystone of equal voting rights, & everyone agreed that was valid, it was an epochal change. It meant democracy was itself now a partisan issue.
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Elon Musk donated $277 million to Trump so he could steal the federal government’s data, dismantle the nation’s infrastructure, and stop foreign aid from going to nonwhite people. It’s a quid pro quo breathtaking in scope, corruption, and damage, & completely unprecedented in American history.
Bye bye, “DOGE”.
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
It no longer exists as a “centralized entity”, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/world/us/dog...
November 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Elon Musk donated $277 million to Trump so he could steal the federal government’s data, dismantle the nation’s infrastructure, and stop foreign aid from going to nonwhite people. It’s a quid pro quo breathtaking in scope, corruption, and damage, & completely unprecedented in American history.
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Never forget this: The forces rigging our economy, undermining our democracy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win. Stay clear-eyed and ready for the fight ahead.
November 22, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Never forget this: The forces rigging our economy, undermining our democracy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win. Stay clear-eyed and ready for the fight ahead.
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
it is almost as if accommodating and conceding to far right ideas legitimizes them and signals to voters that the far right is a legitimate choice for governance
The Danish Social Democrats are currently on course for their worst election result since at least the Second World War, despite their brand of far-right accommodationism being touted as a blueprint for other centre-left parties.
Oh
November 18, 2025 at 2:24 PM
it is almost as if accommodating and conceding to far right ideas legitimizes them and signals to voters that the far right is a legitimate choice for governance
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
This blood is on your hands, Elon.
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 3:51 PM
This blood is on your hands, Elon.
Awfully proud to have published this terrific story of taking risks, making opportunities, and creating space for the wild creatures among us. Check out Sean Gerrity's debut nonfiction, Wild on Purpose, from bookshop dot org or nonprofit TorreyHouse.org/wild-on-purpose
November 5, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Awfully proud to have published this terrific story of taking risks, making opportunities, and creating space for the wild creatures among us. Check out Sean Gerrity's debut nonfiction, Wild on Purpose, from bookshop dot org or nonprofit TorreyHouse.org/wild-on-purpose
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Dick Cheney shot his friend in the face the right way.
by Ezra Klein
by Ezra Klein
November 4, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Dick Cheney shot his friend in the face the right way.
by Ezra Klein
by Ezra Klein
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
believing republicans are fighting for health care is like believing al qaeda wanted to protect the world trade center
Johnson: False claim number three: Democrats are fighting for health care. The fact is the opposite. Republicans are the ones fighting to save health care. Why? It is not just talking points to us.
November 3, 2025 at 3:19 PM
believing republicans are fighting for health care is like believing al qaeda wanted to protect the world trade center
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
SNAP benefits expire in one week.
Leavitt: At this moment in time, the ballroom is really the president's main priority.
October 23, 2025 at 8:30 PM
SNAP benefits expire in one week.
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Merkley: "What we've seen is that democracies no longer die bc men w/guns go in and take it over. Instead, it's electeds who erode the separation of power. If you have a rubber-stamp Congress & courts that deliver more power to the executive, suddenly you have an authoritarian state. It's here now."
October 23, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Merkley: "What we've seen is that democracies no longer die bc men w/guns go in and take it over. Instead, it's electeds who erode the separation of power. If you have a rubber-stamp Congress & courts that deliver more power to the executive, suddenly you have an authoritarian state. It's here now."
Utah legislature chooses to blame Democrats instead of, you know, FEEDING PEOPLE.
SNAP, also known as food stamps, is fully funded by the federal government and helps about 86,000 Utah households buy food each month, the state said. With the continual government shutdown, that aid will cease.
No food stamps? Why federal shutdown will lead to more empty shelves, empty bellies for Utahns
SNAP, also known as food stamps, is fully funded by the federal government and helps about 86,000 Utah households buy food each month, the state said. With the continual government shutdown, that aid will cease.
www.sltrib.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Utah legislature chooses to blame Democrats instead of, you know, FEEDING PEOPLE.
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
Pushing a canoe downstream, it’s comical to imagine decision makers hanging foolishly onto the belief that they can continue to develop the West beyond its means with this vanishing river.
open.substack.com/pub/wildword...
open.substack.com/pub/wildword...
Navigating the Muck
River Notes from Labyrinth Canyon + Dizzying Desert Notes
open.substack.com
October 14, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Pushing a canoe downstream, it’s comical to imagine decision makers hanging foolishly onto the belief that they can continue to develop the West beyond its means with this vanishing river.
open.substack.com/pub/wildword...
open.substack.com/pub/wildword...
Reposted by Kirsten Allen
ICYMI, an environmental group is threatening a lawsuit over the Wilson’s phalarope after the federal government let an endangered species application deadline come and go: www.fox13now.com/news/great-s... #utpol #Utah
October 5, 2025 at 4:46 PM
ICYMI, an environmental group is threatening a lawsuit over the Wilson’s phalarope after the federal government let an endangered species application deadline come and go: www.fox13now.com/news/great-s... #utpol #Utah