Nate Schenkkan
@nateschenkkan.bsky.social
Human rights expert. Global authoritarianism, transnational repression, Turkey and Eurasia, academic freedom. Entirely personal account.
No, Mr. Ovechkin, you are not supporting our country — you are supporting a murderous, brutal dictatorship. There’s a big difference.
‘I’m Russian, and I support my country’: Washington Capitals star Ovechkin on why he appeared in United Russia’s campaign video — Meduza
Alexander Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals winger, addressed his appearance in a United Russia campaign video, saying he supports his country and wishes everyone peace and love. Ovechkin told reporte...
meduza.io
This argument falls apart with the slightest amount of scrutiny.
Prem Thakker ツ@premthakker.bsky.social · 22h agoThe U.S. "War on Terror" death toll is at least 4,500,000
Did not and would not give a fuck about someone like me
ʙᴇᴀᴜx 🕋@obsidian.blacksky.app · 2d agoWould 20 y/o you be impressed or disappointed by you today?
www.scholarsatrisk.org/wp-content/u...
J. Nathan Matias@natematias.bsky.social · 18h agoHow do we find hope, persistence, & success at defending essential rights? Today in @science.org, I published a letter with @rebekahtromble.bsky.social & @ubiquity75.xyz explaining how free inquiry is threatened by government restrictions on movement. www.science.org/eprint/CBDR2...
President Trump has used and abused every tariff power he's been given — and now Congress has handed him more, Cato's Scott Lincicome tells MS NOW. The Russia sanctions bill gives him vague tariff authority with no real guardrails. “It's just a recipe for more chaos.”
If DHS wants real reform: more trained asylum officers, more adjudication capacity, fewer attacks on due process. A “Better Way” can be found here: aila.org/library/a-better-way-on-immigration
A Better Way on Immigration: Principles for America’s Future
Informed by the experience of the more than 18,000 immigration attorneys who are members of AILA, this document outlines five core principles to restore trust, strengthen the rule of law, and build a ...
aila.org
An asylum claim isn't meritless or fraudulent because the government doesn't like it. Fraud requires knowing deception, not an adverse ruling, not trauma-related inconsistencies, not translation gaps, not missing evidence from a collapsing state.
Missed this minilateralism news last week: www.turkiyetoday.com/region/turki...
Türkiye proposes 'Turkpol' law enforcement agency for Turkic states - Türkiye Today
Türkiye's Interior Minister proposed creating Turkpol, an Interpol-style agency for Turkic states, along with ID-based travel
turkiyetoday.com
The thing is that last year's primary had the second-highest voter turnout in primary history, and it resulted in the election of a mayor who wants to continue increasing citizen involvement in city politics fairvote.org/new-york-cit...
New York City cast vote record: An initial analysis of the 2025 Democratic mayoral primary - FairVote
This post explores the New York City cast vote record released July 24 – showing how voters used their rankings in the primary.
fairvote.org
Jake Grumbach@jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 21h ago
But also Canada wouldn't be a member state, so...
Noah Barkin@noahbarkin.bsky.social · 20h agoThis is such a bad piece (in so many ways) from the Wapo editorial board. One example - it says the EU requires all member states to negotiate their trade deals through Brussels - as if an EU superstate imposes this on everyone. EU members gave the EU those powers voluntarily
Big new Amnesty report documenting hundreds of killings by Iranian security forces during the Woman Life Freedom protests in 2022, and labeling the killings crimes against humanity: www.amnesty.org/en/latest/ne...
Iran: Architects of crimes against humanity to suppress protests must face international justice to deter further massacres
New report finds Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity during their bloody suppression of the 2022 Woman Life Freedom uprising
amnesty.org
At a minimum, "this country sucks so bad and always will" isn't good electoral messaging
"You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism"
Man's Hilarious Confused Look
ALT: Man's Hilarious Confused Look
static.klipy.com
Greg Giroux@greggiroux.bsky.social · 23h ago"Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far." "The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today." -Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Fla), a former broadcast journalist, direct to camera in campaign ad #FL27
Rubio plans to "revoke or reject visas from [those] found to be responsible for...uncompensated land seizures, race-based discrimination and the incitement of violence against minority racial/ethnic groups in South Africa." Easy enough. Since they aren't happening. www.cbsnews.com/news/us-sout...
U.S. slaps South Africa with new sanctions due to alleged discrimination against White people
The Trump administration has announced that it will impose travel bans on officials it claims are responsible for discrimination against White people and other minority groups in South Africa.
cbsnews.com
Yet another cylce when Texas is begging me to kick to the football
I've taken to calling this "the sociopath generation" of the party
Alan Elrod@aselrod.bsky.social · yesterdayThe Texas Republican Party is made up of authoritarians, racists, misogynists, perverts, and criminals. It’s powered by right-wing Christians, MAHA influencers, and fascist-curious tech bros. If you want to see what the GOP after Trump looks like, it’s Texas. www.liberalcurrents.com/the-future-o...
🇨🇦PM Carney's speech to the 🇪🇺Parliament starting now, with an intro by speaker Metsola pointing out that both 🇨🇦&🇪🇺 are unions. "Our friendship is built on the same udnerstandig that united Canadians in 1867 and Europeans in 1951 – that we are always stronger when we work together" Two confederations
cf www.statesman.com/news/educati...
UT border surveillance scholar was a shoo-in for tenure. UT denied him.
American Studies scholar Iván Chaar López fears UT’s unexplained tenure denial violated his academic freedom amid scrutiny of controversial fields.
statesman.com
Texas Conference of the AAUP@texasaaup.bsky.social · 2d ago🚨🚨AAUP Chapter at UT Austin VP Lauren Gutterman: “There's been no direct communication from the provost with faculty in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, no clear explanation about why these degree plans are being shut down," she said."The justification is just entirely lacking."
I'm a Russia hawk, and I have friends who support this bill, and I think it's a bad idea www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
House passes Russia sanctions bill named for Lindsey Graham, sending it to Trump
The legislation, which passed the Senate last month, would target Russia’s energy sector by punishing the largest buyers of its oil and gas to slash revenues Russia uses to attack Ukraine.
nbcnews.com
Galeano, who has had asylum application pending for about seven years, was pulled over by agents while driving for Lyft
Exiled Nicaraguan journalist Luis Galeano detained by ICE in Florida
theguardian.com
Borjomi is making a tarragon limonata for sale now in the US and I regret to report it is revolting
this is illegal, certainly under international law *binding on the united states*, on so many levels. and it's also yet another reason why the failure to close gtmo and to hold its originators to some account reverberates today.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 2d agoThis is APPALLING. The Trump administration is detaining multiple random Somali immigrants with no criminal record at Guantanamo Bay, seemingly because the White House ordered ICE specifically to detain Somalis at Gitmo as part of its effort to punish an ethnic group Trump has attacked.
I read a whole book about "plant intelligence" last year that had this problem
Daniel Loxton 🇨🇦@danielloxton.bsky.social · 2d agoHumans aren’t good at thinking about things that do complicated stuff without intentions or consciousness. That was very tricky when writing about evolution for kids. Stuff just happens, and all the happenings accumulate over time! There’s no purpose, no direction, no design—just outcomes
