Rachel
@rachelbalsham.bsky.social
ceci n'est pas une tweet
[Based in Nairobi. Work on payments tech in Africa. Think about payments tech in Africa and many other things.]
[Based in Nairobi. Work on payments tech in Africa. Think about payments tech in Africa and many other things.]
Reposted by Rachel
The average child sexual predator looks like the average, church-going husband or father—the very person many faith communities think is safest and most worthy of significant power over others.
Who Is The Average Child Sexual Predator?
Child molesters are as equally married, educated, employed, and religious as any other Americans.
rlstollar.com
January 4, 2026 at 3:48 PM
The average child sexual predator looks like the average, church-going husband or father—the very person many faith communities think is safest and most worthy of significant power over others.
Reposted by Rachel
The Movie I Was Afraid to See
"An unspoken understanding hangs in the air — Palestinians have been so thoroughly dehumanized by the Israeli media that it’s unimaginable that even a 5-year-old girl could be seen as anything but the enemy."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
"An unspoken understanding hangs in the air — Palestinians have been so thoroughly dehumanized by the Israeli media that it’s unimaginable that even a 5-year-old girl could be seen as anything but the enemy."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
Opinion | The Movie I Was Afraid to See
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:49 PM
The Movie I Was Afraid to See
"An unspoken understanding hangs in the air — Palestinians have been so thoroughly dehumanized by the Israeli media that it’s unimaginable that even a 5-year-old girl could be seen as anything but the enemy."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
"An unspoken understanding hangs in the air — Palestinians have been so thoroughly dehumanized by the Israeli media that it’s unimaginable that even a 5-year-old girl could be seen as anything but the enemy."
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
Reposted by Rachel
Right now, your support for journalists like Ruwaida goes 12× further.
Learn more and become a +972 member now through the link:
972mag.com/members
Learn more and become a +972 member now through the link:
972mag.com/members
December 20, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Right now, your support for journalists like Ruwaida goes 12× further.
Learn more and become a +972 member now through the link:
972mag.com/members
Learn more and become a +972 member now through the link:
972mag.com/members
Reposted by Rachel
I was interviewed for @theguardian.com by the wonderful @melodyschreiber.com, one of the finest health reporters in the world, about what I called a “neocolonialist” study planned by Danish researchers in Guinea-Bissau, funded by RFK Jr. So many red flags 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
US plan for $1.6m hepatitis B vaccine study in Africa called ‘highly unethical’
Experts decry ‘neocolonialist’ Guinea-Bissau study after Trump administration changed advice for US babies
www.theguardian.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I was interviewed for @theguardian.com by the wonderful @melodyschreiber.com, one of the finest health reporters in the world, about what I called a “neocolonialist” study planned by Danish researchers in Guinea-Bissau, funded by RFK Jr. So many red flags 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
Just donated. I learned so much from Trudy on the old site over the years. Please support if you can.
I’m dealing with very severe income & work loss, which impacts housing & more and need urgent support. TY so much.🤍🤍
tinyurl.com/gfm-care-support
tinyurl.com/gfm-care-support
December 20, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Just donated. I learned so much from Trudy on the old site over the years. Please support if you can.
Reposted by Rachel
Most profound writing I read in 2026 was "The Emotional Labor Behind AI Intimacy" by a Nairobi man who dreamed of working in air traffic control but instead winds up sexting & chatting w ppl who think they're talking to AI (while AI trains on him). 16 pages & free - READ IT data-workers.org/michael/
December 10, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Most profound writing I read in 2026 was "The Emotional Labor Behind AI Intimacy" by a Nairobi man who dreamed of working in air traffic control but instead winds up sexting & chatting w ppl who think they're talking to AI (while AI trains on him). 16 pages & free - READ IT data-workers.org/michael/
Reposted by Rachel
So orgs have no agency over their admissions, and are are being forced to oprress people against their own and their members' wishes. If trans women making jam makes you angry please know you're a contemptible degenerate, disliked by everyone with an actual soul
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Women’s Institute will no longer accept trans women as members from April
Exclusive: CEO says decision taken with ‘utmost regret and sadness’ after supreme court ruling on definition of a woman
www.theguardian.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:30 PM
So orgs have no agency over their admissions, and are are being forced to oprress people against their own and their members' wishes. If trans women making jam makes you angry please know you're a contemptible degenerate, disliked by everyone with an actual soul
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Rachel
The value of reading history is you know that in 1860 there were abolitionists who were so demoralized that they thought chattel slavery would be permanent. 5 years later those still alive had lived to see its end.
November 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The value of reading history is you know that in 1860 there were abolitionists who were so demoralized that they thought chattel slavery would be permanent. 5 years later those still alive had lived to see its end.
Reposted by Rachel
no matter what the circumstances, democrats are always saving their energy for a mythical future situation where they will do something good
March 14, 2025 at 12:55 AM
no matter what the circumstances, democrats are always saving their energy for a mythical future situation where they will do something good
Reposted by Rachel
For two years, our team of journalists in Gaza illuminated what Israel sought to keep hidden, while enduring the very displacement, starvation, and loss that they reported on.
This is the genocide through their eyes: An illustrated timeline.
www.972mag.com/the-genocide...
This is the genocide through their eyes: An illustrated timeline.
www.972mag.com/the-genocide...
The genocide through their eyes: An illustrated timeline - +972 Magazine
For two years, our team of journalists in Gaza illuminated what Israel sought to keep hidden, while enduring the very displacement, starvation, and loss that they reported on. This is what they saw.
www.972mag.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:09 PM
For two years, our team of journalists in Gaza illuminated what Israel sought to keep hidden, while enduring the very displacement, starvation, and loss that they reported on.
This is the genocide through their eyes: An illustrated timeline.
www.972mag.com/the-genocide...
This is the genocide through their eyes: An illustrated timeline.
www.972mag.com/the-genocide...
Reposted by Rachel
ICE detained a US citizen with a toddler in the backseat. ICE had to be bullied by the crowd to not do their usual MO and drive off with the man and just leave the car in the road. The crowd asked them to let the family come take the baby. Instead they drove off with the child
Armed federal immigration agents drive away with a toddler in the backseat
Armed federal agents drive off with toddler in the back seat of car after arresting the child’s father, a U.S. citizen, who is accused of assault.
www.latimes.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:03 PM
ICE detained a US citizen with a toddler in the backseat. ICE had to be bullied by the crowd to not do their usual MO and drive off with the man and just leave the car in the road. The crowd asked them to let the family come take the baby. Instead they drove off with the child
Reposted by Rachel
A trans girl playing seventh grade soccer is a legitimate concern and issue worthy of condemnation from every mainstream democrat, but a man with a nazi tattoo on his chest running for senate is something we have to accept
More grace for a grown man getting a Nazi tattoo than Black kids in public spaces. It’s obscene.
October 22, 2025 at 4:34 AM
A trans girl playing seventh grade soccer is a legitimate concern and issue worthy of condemnation from every mainstream democrat, but a man with a nazi tattoo on his chest running for senate is something we have to accept
Reposted by Rachel
Really value Katelyn's perspective and insights - just became a subscriber!
So having said all that, if you appreciate my work, do me a favor and quote this with why you like what I do and why others should consider becoming a paid subscriber. patreon.com/katelynburns
Katelyn Burns | Patreon
creating LGBTQ journalism
patreon.com
October 10, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Really value Katelyn's perspective and insights - just became a subscriber!
Reposted by Rachel
"Kenya has now joined a disturbing global trend."
"Turning the country's anti-terror laws on an entire generation of protesters."
"Officials portray demonstrations as attempted coups to justify extreme punishments—including shootings, abductions."
#Kenya #Policing #Incarceration
"Turning the country's anti-terror laws on an entire generation of protesters."
"Officials portray demonstrations as attempted coups to justify extreme punishments—including shootings, abductions."
#Kenya #Policing #Incarceration
Branded as Terrorists: Kenya’s use of anti-terror laws against Gen Z protesters
Kenya has now joined a disturbing global trend.
therealnews.com
September 30, 2025 at 6:47 PM
"Kenya has now joined a disturbing global trend."
"Turning the country's anti-terror laws on an entire generation of protesters."
"Officials portray demonstrations as attempted coups to justify extreme punishments—including shootings, abductions."
#Kenya #Policing #Incarceration
"Turning the country's anti-terror laws on an entire generation of protesters."
"Officials portray demonstrations as attempted coups to justify extreme punishments—including shootings, abductions."
#Kenya #Policing #Incarceration
Reposted by Rachel
Only 1 person in the whole study went from identifying as trans to not identifying as trans. The 1/5 number came from youth going between the binary and non-binary spectrum.
This headline and post are misleading on purpose to fit the economist's editorial bent on the political issue.
This headline and post are misleading on purpose to fit the economist's editorial bent on the political issue.
A recent study found that children who transitioned young retained stable gender identities over time. But the fact that nearly a fifth of those in the group did not ought to give advocates of irreversible medical interventions pause
How stable are the gender identities of younger children?
A study finds that one in five who switch gender change their mind
econ.st
September 22, 2025 at 3:48 AM
Only 1 person in the whole study went from identifying as trans to not identifying as trans. The 1/5 number came from youth going between the binary and non-binary spectrum.
This headline and post are misleading on purpose to fit the economist's editorial bent on the political issue.
This headline and post are misleading on purpose to fit the economist's editorial bent on the political issue.
Reposted by Rachel
You, simply, must read. It’s imperative.
“Its government has shown that international condemnation of the horrors in Gaza carries no weight. It is time for action.”
A non paywalled version. It’s that important:
archive.md/2025.09.05-1...
“Its government has shown that international condemnation of the horrors in Gaza carries no weight. It is time for action.”
A non paywalled version. It’s that important:
archive.md/2025.09.05-1...
September 6, 2025 at 11:11 PM
You, simply, must read. It’s imperative.
“Its government has shown that international condemnation of the horrors in Gaza carries no weight. It is time for action.”
A non paywalled version. It’s that important:
archive.md/2025.09.05-1...
“Its government has shown that international condemnation of the horrors in Gaza carries no weight. It is time for action.”
A non paywalled version. It’s that important:
archive.md/2025.09.05-1...
Reposted by Rachel
All kidding about this nonsense answer aside: The regime is asserting the power to murder without trial a boat full of people suspected of drug trafficking, who easily could have been intercepted and arrested instead. That is unconscionable and horrifying even assuming everyone aboard was guilty.
Q: On the Venezuela vessel strike, what legal authority were you guys working under?
JD VANCE: The legal authority is there are people who are bringing -- literal terrorists -- who are bringing deadly drugs into our country
JD VANCE: The legal authority is there are people who are bringing -- literal terrorists -- who are bringing deadly drugs into our country
September 3, 2025 at 10:09 PM
All kidding about this nonsense answer aside: The regime is asserting the power to murder without trial a boat full of people suspected of drug trafficking, who easily could have been intercepted and arrested instead. That is unconscionable and horrifying even assuming everyone aboard was guilty.
Just donated. Please donate if you can, and/or reshare.
September 1, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Just donated. Please donate if you can, and/or reshare.
Reposted by Rachel
Josephine Riesman's family name graces the Harvard Hillel building. She sees the organization's actions (and inaction) in response to the Trump Administration's efforts at Harvard & beyond as an abdication of the values that founded the Harvard Hillel in 1944: harvardindependent.com/avoid-the-bu...
Avoid the Building with My Family’s Name | Harvard Independent
The Riesman Center for Harvard Hillel was once my refuge. As a struggling undergraduate, I found comfort there, and not because my family’s name was chiseled into its edifice. I was welcomed at its di...
harvardindependent.com
August 28, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Josephine Riesman's family name graces the Harvard Hillel building. She sees the organization's actions (and inaction) in response to the Trump Administration's efforts at Harvard & beyond as an abdication of the values that founded the Harvard Hillel in 1944: harvardindependent.com/avoid-the-bu...
Not *the* good news I opened up the timeline to see, but still very good news!
don't want to let it slip under the radar that racist law prof amy wax lost her discrimination suit against penn and will be suspended from teaching this year
storage.courtlistener.com
August 30, 2025 at 9:57 AM
Not *the* good news I opened up the timeline to see, but still very good news!
Reposted by Rachel
August 29, 2025 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by Rachel
The analogy you want for the US situation isn’t your usual authoritarian regime - where constant dramatic purges aren’t actually the rule; it’s more insidious - or even Erdogan’s Turkey. It’s specifically South Africa in the throes of state capture under Jacob Zuma, from late 2016 to late 2017.
August 26, 2025 at 8:13 AM
The analogy you want for the US situation isn’t your usual authoritarian regime - where constant dramatic purges aren’t actually the rule; it’s more insidious - or even Erdogan’s Turkey. It’s specifically South Africa in the throes of state capture under Jacob Zuma, from late 2016 to late 2017.