Ben
@benhixon.bsky.social
Gay married southern liberal with woods and pets. Welcome to my livejournal.
If I haven’t independently verified your identity then I will assume you’re an LLM.
If I haven’t independently verified your identity then I will assume you’re an LLM.
Reposted by Ben
Okay, Mr. "I stopped 700 wars" and "I should receive the Nobel Prize" is about to start a war that no one wants, and will do the United States absolutely zero good: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Trump weighs Venezuela strikes as U.S. forces prepare for attack order
High-level discussions, underway for days, have explored a variety of potential military options, people familiar with the matter said.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Okay, Mr. "I stopped 700 wars" and "I should receive the Nobel Prize" is about to start a war that no one wants, and will do the United States absolutely zero good: www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
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youngkin serving the commonwealth by conspiring with the white house to destroy one of its flagship educational institutions
And there need to be hearings on what Youngkin did with the DOJ. Get that tall shitass under oath.
November 14, 2025 at 4:30 PM
youngkin serving the commonwealth by conspiring with the white house to destroy one of its flagship educational institutions
Reposted by Ben
Reposted by Ben
student journalists on US university campuses (& grounds!) are doing amazing work. it saddens me that their professional prospects after graduation are precarious semi-self-employment or getting sucked into the sclerotic remains of major national media
Ryan and Sheridan provide full accounts of Ryan’s resignation. They differ significantly
“I concur fully with President Ryan’s recollection of events,” former Board Rector Robert Hardie said.
cavalierdaily.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
student journalists on US university campuses (& grounds!) are doing amazing work. it saddens me that their professional prospects after graduation are precarious semi-self-employment or getting sucked into the sclerotic remains of major national media
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Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education is currently conducting studies on milkweed plantings and effects on spotted lanternfly populations, assuming toxicity of milkweed as a natural insecticide for the lanternfly.
#garden #gardening
#garden #gardening
Milkweed as an Eco-friendly Tactic for Spotted Lanternfly Control - SARE Grant Management System
projects.sare.org
November 14, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education is currently conducting studies on milkweed plantings and effects on spotted lanternfly populations, assuming toxicity of milkweed as a natural insecticide for the lanternfly.
#garden #gardening
#garden #gardening
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They’re all just looting the treasury now
November 14, 2025 at 6:07 PM
They’re all just looting the treasury now
Absolutely brutal politics. She had to have known about President Ryan's notes ahead of time. Oh my god what an ambush. Governor-elect Spanberger brings a fucking sniper rifle to a gun fight. Has an incoming governor ever so utterly demolished the legitimacy of her predecessor during transition?
November 14, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Absolutely brutal politics. She had to have known about President Ryan's notes ahead of time. Oh my god what an ambush. Governor-elect Spanberger brings a fucking sniper rifle to a gun fight. Has an incoming governor ever so utterly demolished the legitimacy of her predecessor during transition?
Reposted by Ben
This Beth Wilkinson lol www.cnn.com/videos/polit...
Kavanaugh’s attorney: He respects women | CNN Politics
Brett Kavanaugh’s attorney Beth Wilkinson tells CNN’s John Berman dozens of women have spoken in favor of her client, and that he treats women with dignity and respect.
www.cnn.com
November 14, 2025 at 3:13 PM
This Beth Wilkinson lol www.cnn.com/videos/polit...
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Jim alleges that the US DOJ told a UVA Board of Visitors member that, if the president did not resign, they would "bleed UVA white." I want to reiterate that, regardless of my issues with Jim Ryan as president, he is a respected professor of the law so I believe his contemporaneous notes.
November 14, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Jim alleges that the US DOJ told a UVA Board of Visitors member that, if the president did not resign, they would "bleed UVA white." I want to reiterate that, regardless of my issues with Jim Ryan as president, he is a respected professor of the law so I believe his contemporaneous notes.
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Primarily focused on the DOJ role in this but, as a higher ed scholar, I can't help but notice that UVA admin seemed a bit credulous. It feels like he genuinely thought he could satisfy the DOJ, and I just never believed that could happen.
November 14, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Primarily focused on the DOJ role in this but, as a higher ed scholar, I can't help but notice that UVA admin seemed a bit credulous. It feels like he genuinely thought he could satisfy the DOJ, and I just never believed that could happen.
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I’ve worked with Beth. It’s fucking incomprehensible that someone as smart as her would begin a conversation with a (potentially adverse) unrepresented party without providing some sort of Upjohn-type warning about who she represents. That’s something they teach you on day one of white collar work.
November 14, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I’ve worked with Beth. It’s fucking incomprehensible that someone as smart as her would begin a conversation with a (potentially adverse) unrepresented party without providing some sort of Upjohn-type warning about who she represents. That’s something they teach you on day one of white collar work.
Reposted by Ben
This is *depraved* -- glamor shots & an exculpatory feature for a woman who shit on the key central tenets of journalism, repeatedly.
NYT is celebrating elite freedom from accountability. Actively celebrating it. You wouldn't put this in a satire, it's too ham-handed!
NYT is celebrating elite freedom from accountability. Actively celebrating it. You wouldn't put this in a satire, it's too ham-handed!
November 14, 2025 at 6:25 PM
This is *depraved* -- glamor shots & an exculpatory feature for a woman who shit on the key central tenets of journalism, repeatedly.
NYT is celebrating elite freedom from accountability. Actively celebrating it. You wouldn't put this in a satire, it's too ham-handed!
NYT is celebrating elite freedom from accountability. Actively celebrating it. You wouldn't put this in a satire, it's too ham-handed!
Reposted by Ben
Former UVA President Jim Ryan has just released a 12-page memo of his own account of his forced resignation last summer. Here’s just a bit in which Paul Manning, a member of the Board, was told by DOJ that unless Ryan departed they would “bleed UVA white.”
November 14, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Former UVA President Jim Ryan has just released a 12-page memo of his own account of his forced resignation last summer. Here’s just a bit in which Paul Manning, a member of the Board, was told by DOJ that unless Ryan departed they would “bleed UVA white.”
Reposted by Ben
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
November 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
Reposted by Ben
JD Vance owns a company that buys American real estate and sells it to foreign investors. They specifically target Americans in crisis to buy their property for less than it is worth.
JD Vance: "A lot of young people are saying housing is way too expensive. Why is that? Because we flooded the country with 30 million illegal immigrants who were taking houses that ought by right go to American citizens."
November 13, 2025 at 10:54 PM
JD Vance owns a company that buys American real estate and sells it to foreign investors. They specifically target Americans in crisis to buy their property for less than it is worth.
Reposted by Ben
I say it over and over again: when you have that much money, you want to live where you want to live and you are simply not going to relocate because of marginal tax rates
Alan Dershowitz will never leave Martha’s Vineyard and they won’t even sell him a pierogi
Alan Dershowitz will never leave Martha’s Vineyard and they won’t even sell him a pierogi
NEW: The first two years of Massachusetts' millionaire tax has raised $3 billion more than expected.
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
And rather than driving the rich away, IPS researchers found that the number of millionaires has *increased.*
Tax the rich. Greg Ryan in @bloomberg.com:
Millionaire Tax That Inspired Mamdani Fuels $5.7 Billion Haul in Massachusetts
A millionaire levy in Massachusetts that New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani holds up as a model for taxing the rich has generated $3 billion more in revenue than expected without forcing...
www.bloomberg.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:24 AM
I say it over and over again: when you have that much money, you want to live where you want to live and you are simply not going to relocate because of marginal tax rates
Alan Dershowitz will never leave Martha’s Vineyard and they won’t even sell him a pierogi
Alan Dershowitz will never leave Martha’s Vineyard and they won’t even sell him a pierogi
Reposted by Ben
"Please trust us now when we say that what is happening in the Chicago area is wrong *** It is not law enforcement; it is terror."
Letter from Chicago broadcast veterans: Federal immigration agents have traumatized us and eroded our rights
The fact that some federal immigration forces may be leaving soon is cold comfort given the damage they’ve done.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:05 PM
"Please trust us now when we say that what is happening in the Chicago area is wrong *** It is not law enforcement; it is terror."
Reposted by Ben
NEW: @propublica.org investigated the Chicago apartment raid where kids were zip-tied and citizens detained for hours. They find:
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
November 13, 2025 at 2:08 PM
NEW: @propublica.org investigated the Chicago apartment raid where kids were zip-tied and citizens detained for hours. They find:
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
Reposted by Ben
Thomas Massie to CNN on the Epstein files: "This vote is gonna be on your record for longer than Trump is gonna be president. And what are you gonna do in 2028 and 2030 when you're in a debate … and they say, 'How can we trust you? You covered up for a pedophile back in 2025.'"
November 13, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Thomas Massie to CNN on the Epstein files: "This vote is gonna be on your record for longer than Trump is gonna be president. And what are you gonna do in 2028 and 2030 when you're in a debate … and they say, 'How can we trust you? You covered up for a pedophile back in 2025.'"
Reposted by Ben
Very, very important observation.
This has gotten lost: Abigail Spanberger won big after vowing to RESCIND Glenn Youngkin's executive order directing local cooperation with ICE and voting AGAINST the anti-immigrant Laken Riley Act. Yet she gained bigly with working class.
New piece laying this out:
newrepublic.com/article/2030...
New piece laying this out:
newrepublic.com/article/2030...
November 13, 2025 at 12:50 AM
Very, very important observation.
Reposted by Ben
Study Finds Most Americans Can't Find Where They Are Being Deported On Map
November 11, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Study Finds Most Americans Can't Find Where They Are Being Deported On Map
Reposted by Ben
Unlike you, I can read and that’s why I know what the constitution says.
Trump on Ilhan Omar: "I look at somebody who comes from Somalia...and she comes in and tells us how to run our country. 'The Constitution says this, the Constitution says that.' The whole thing is crazy."
November 11, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Unlike you, I can read and that’s why I know what the constitution says.
love it
Charli xcx - House featuring John Cale (Official Video)
YouTube video by Charli xcx
m.youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:33 PM
love it
Reposted by Ben
This is why it's different. It was unfair that Biden was given no credit for the soft landing but people were still traumatized and still felt discombobulated. Trump promised to bring morning in America and not only hasn't the economy improved the entire culture is in chaos.
but also, Biden inherited something in rough shape and made it better and Trump inherited something in excellent shape and made it worse. But that said, people are mostly responding to nominal prices (CPI has ticked up post April) and deteriorating job market (which Trump is largely responsible for)
November 10, 2025 at 10:06 PM
This is why it's different. It was unfair that Biden was given no credit for the soft landing but people were still traumatized and still felt discombobulated. Trump promised to bring morning in America and not only hasn't the economy improved the entire culture is in chaos.
Look, I was chair of Culpeper in a close election year (@abigailspanberger.com versus Dave Brat) after a contentious primary (v Dan Ward). We panicked over a potential third-party spoiler running in the sore loser lane (Helen Ali). We worried Ali might get 5% and cost us the win. Cuomo got 42%! WTF!
November 10, 2025 at 5:16 AM
Look, I was chair of Culpeper in a close election year (@abigailspanberger.com versus Dave Brat) after a contentious primary (v Dan Ward). We panicked over a potential third-party spoiler running in the sore loser lane (Helen Ali). We worried Ali might get 5% and cost us the win. Cuomo got 42%! WTF!