Erika Wittekind
@erikalyn.bsky.social
Freelance writer and editor. Believer in democracy, science, gun control, local journalism, and empathy. Mom to two cats and two teen boys. She/her.
Dane County, WI
Dane County, WI
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
I wish this weren't true, but we now have take his threats about Greenland more seriously, and start to talk about the world-changing mistake if he chose to go to war with Europe - which would essentially guarantee the rest of this century is China's.
January 7, 2026 at 1:10 PM
I wish this weren't true, but we now have take his threats about Greenland more seriously, and start to talk about the world-changing mistake if he chose to go to war with Europe - which would essentially guarantee the rest of this century is China's.
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
This is a catastrophe.
1. Devices are as important to regulate as pharmaceuticals.
2. The market is notoriously bad at determining safety, accuracy, and which technologies are in the public interest.
3. Even when the market does tell us when a tech is bad, it does so *after it has caused harm*.
1. Devices are as important to regulate as pharmaceuticals.
2. The market is notoriously bad at determining safety, accuracy, and which technologies are in the public interest.
3. Even when the market does tell us when a tech is bad, it does so *after it has caused harm*.
“FDA Commissioner Marty Makary indicated that one of the agency’s priorities is fostering an environment that’s good for investors… The new approach appears to open the door to the unregulated use of generative AI products for certain medical tasks, such as summarizing a radiologist’s findings.”
FDA announces sweeping changes to oversight of wearables, AI-enabled devices
The FDA will ease regulation of digital health products, aiming to deregulate AI and promote its widespread use.
www.statnews.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:48 PM
This is a catastrophe.
1. Devices are as important to regulate as pharmaceuticals.
2. The market is notoriously bad at determining safety, accuracy, and which technologies are in the public interest.
3. Even when the market does tell us when a tech is bad, it does so *after it has caused harm*.
1. Devices are as important to regulate as pharmaceuticals.
2. The market is notoriously bad at determining safety, accuracy, and which technologies are in the public interest.
3. Even when the market does tell us when a tech is bad, it does so *after it has caused harm*.
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
hey, remember this?
MAGAs posted plenty of overt, violent wishes about the murder of members of Congress on public forums as the January 6th riot began in earnest (and before).
January 6, 2026 at 10:22 PM
hey, remember this?
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
No one could have predicted January 6th, except for thousands of us random nerds who were watching MAGAs post “gallows making instructions with Home Depot supplies” for days in advance on public websites
January 7, 2024 at 12:25 AM
No one could have predicted January 6th, except for thousands of us random nerds who were watching MAGAs post “gallows making instructions with Home Depot supplies” for days in advance on public websites
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Thom Tillis is welcome to caucus with Senate Democrats & give control of Congress to the only party that does not endorse the Jan 6 coup & the far right authoritarian presidency currently in power. Talk is cheap, & the hour is late.
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
WHOA: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) stands next to image of Jan 6 plaque on Senate floor.. and is noting the pardoned rioters who have been arrested again
Tillis: "We let bad people go"
Re: plaque Tillis says he'll seek unanimous consent to get approval for THIS version of plaque to be hung
Tillis: "We let bad people go"
Re: plaque Tillis says he'll seek unanimous consent to get approval for THIS version of plaque to be hung
January 6, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Thom Tillis is welcome to caucus with Senate Democrats & give control of Congress to the only party that does not endorse the Jan 6 coup & the far right authoritarian presidency currently in power. Talk is cheap, & the hour is late.
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
A bit less than whoa once you realize: he's on his way out. That's the only way these cowards ever tell the truth.
WHOA: Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) stands next to image of Jan 6 plaque on Senate floor.. and is noting the pardoned rioters who have been arrested again
Tillis: "We let bad people go"
Re: plaque Tillis says he'll seek unanimous consent to get approval for THIS version of plaque to be hung
Tillis: "We let bad people go"
Re: plaque Tillis says he'll seek unanimous consent to get approval for THIS version of plaque to be hung
January 6, 2026 at 10:23 PM
A bit less than whoa once you realize: he's on his way out. That's the only way these cowards ever tell the truth.
Even if Greenland was for sale, with what money would the US being buying it with? It's laughable.
Wall Street Journal has Marco Rubio, the US's foreign minister, telling American lawmakers the goal is to buy Greenland from Denmark, not invade: www.wsj.com/politics/nat...
Exclusive | Rubio Tells Lawmakers Trump Aims to Buy Greenland, Downplays Military Action
The secretary of state said the White House is using rhetoric to pressure Denmark into negotiations.
www.wsj.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:21 PM
Even if Greenland was for sale, with what money would the US being buying it with? It's laughable.
Look at a map and tell me what adversaries the US has in the Arctic region. Canada? Iceland? Norway?
Anyway that's what military bases are for. This whole idea is insane on so many levels.
Anyway that's what military bases are for. This whole idea is insane on so many levels.
January 6, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Look at a map and tell me what adversaries the US has in the Arctic region. Canada? Iceland? Norway?
Anyway that's what military bases are for. This whole idea is insane on so many levels.
Anyway that's what military bases are for. This whole idea is insane on so many levels.
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
"did you try to bribe the president of the united states by giving him your nobel peace prize so he will declare that you are in charge of venezuela after abducting its leader by military force" is just a thing that someone can be asked in an interview now and we all have to deal with that
Hannity: Did you at any point offered to give him the Nobel peace prize?
Machado: It hasn’t happened yet. We want to give it to him. Share it with him.
Machado: It hasn’t happened yet. We want to give it to him. Share it with him.
January 6, 2026 at 5:54 AM
"did you try to bribe the president of the united states by giving him your nobel peace prize so he will declare that you are in charge of venezuela after abducting its leader by military force" is just a thing that someone can be asked in an interview now and we all have to deal with that
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
I just want everyone to step back and realize how often it's a trans woman getting bullied off social media.
January 5, 2026 at 9:06 PM
I just want everyone to step back and realize how often it's a trans woman getting bullied off social media.
"Might makes right" is the US foreign policy doctrine now.
"We live in a world, in the real world … that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time."
And with these words, Stephen Miller damns his soul to hell for all eternity.
And with these words, Stephen Miller damns his soul to hell for all eternity.
January 6, 2026 at 12:51 PM
"Might makes right" is the US foreign policy doctrine now.
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
"The stock story was the US managed a successful decapitation of the Iraqi state but made little plans for how to stabilize it afterward. We have a vaguely parallel situation in Venezuela, only the US hasn’t even overthrown the regime. It’s difficult to overstate how absurd this state of affairs is"
Venezuela Regime Change and the Theater of the Absurd
On Saturday, a friend and I were comparing notes on the events...
talkingpointsmemo.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:17 PM
"The stock story was the US managed a successful decapitation of the Iraqi state but made little plans for how to stabilize it afterward. We have a vaguely parallel situation in Venezuela, only the US hasn’t even overthrown the regime. It’s difficult to overstate how absurd this state of affairs is"
I understand why but this makes me sad.
Walz announces he's changed his mind and will no longer run for reelection next year
January 5, 2026 at 6:54 PM
I understand why but this makes me sad.
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
If Romania bombed a Miami building and killed innocent people while arresting Andrew Tate so he could stand trial in their country for child sex trafficking, the Trump administration would be having a collective fit. One, because it would be a war crime on US soil. Two, because they love pedophiles.
January 5, 2026 at 6:42 PM
If Romania bombed a Miami building and killed innocent people while arresting Andrew Tate so he could stand trial in their country for child sex trafficking, the Trump administration would be having a collective fit. One, because it would be a war crime on US soil. Two, because they love pedophiles.
A law enforcement operation in which we send in the military, "run" the country somehow, and seize all the oil?
Sure, Marco.
Sure, Marco.
marco rubio is calling this a law enforcement operation; not a congressional one.
January 5, 2026 at 2:03 PM
A law enforcement operation in which we send in the military, "run" the country somehow, and seize all the oil?
Sure, Marco.
Sure, Marco.
There is no legal basis to strike a sovereign state just because Trump doesn't get his way.
A former staffer said that U.S. officials would not be performing a formal occupation like in Iraq. “We’re going to tell them: ‘Hey, this is what you have to do in order for there not to be another strike. That’s what [Trump] sees as running the country.” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
Rubio takes on most challenging role yet: Viceroy of Venezuela
The top U.S. diplomat has pushed for regime change for over a decade. Now the hard part begins.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 4, 2026 at 3:16 PM
There is no legal basis to strike a sovereign state just because Trump doesn't get his way.
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
As the framers of the Constitution famously intended, a president’s “personal geopolitics.”
New euphemism for "bottomless corruption and naked abuses of power" just dropped
January 4, 2026 at 12:25 PM
As the framers of the Constitution famously intended, a president’s “personal geopolitics.”
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Imagine being the person brave enough to leak this in the hopes that media attention could stop it and then the media just……buries it.
NEW: Plans for secret U.S. raid to capture Maduro leaked to the Washington Post and New York Times before it happened, but both decided not to publish to protect U.S. troops - Semafor
January 4, 2026 at 4:36 AM
Imagine being the person brave enough to leak this in the hopes that media attention could stop it and then the media just……buries it.
Smart interview and worth reading in full. Here's the archived link for those of us without a New Yorker subscription:
January 4, 2026 at 2:38 AM
Smart interview and worth reading in full. Here's the archived link for those of us without a New Yorker subscription:
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
My whole life, advocating war has been fed to me as “the adult position,” akin to drinking your coffee black or reading the business section of the newspaper. Let’s be very clear — war is the childish nonsense of impulsive destructive idiots playing baby-brained video games with real human lives.
January 4, 2026 at 2:02 AM
My whole life, advocating war has been fed to me as “the adult position,” akin to drinking your coffee black or reading the business section of the newspaper. Let’s be very clear — war is the childish nonsense of impulsive destructive idiots playing baby-brained video games with real human lives.
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
This right here:
“Not introducing articles of impeachment is a message that Trump hasn't committed impeachable offenses.”
“Not introducing articles of impeachment is a message that Trump hasn't committed impeachable offenses.”
How are voters meant to understand how serious things are if in lieu of shouting fire AND going into building with hoses, you're simply posting fire safety suggestions on social media?
Not introducing articles of impeachment is a message that Trump hasn't committed impeachable offenses.
Not introducing articles of impeachment is a message that Trump hasn't committed impeachable offenses.
January 4, 2026 at 1:28 AM
This right here:
“Not introducing articles of impeachment is a message that Trump hasn't committed impeachable offenses.”
“Not introducing articles of impeachment is a message that Trump hasn't committed impeachable offenses.”
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Trump is trying to force US oil companies to rebuild Venezuelan oil fields that are too expensive to invest in at current crude prices while a full blown energy revolution is happening with cheap solar and electrification growing exponentially.
This is a dying empire shit.
This is a dying empire shit.
a lot of interesting revelations between the lines of this story www.politico.com/news/2026/01...
January 4, 2026 at 1:34 AM
Trump is trying to force US oil companies to rebuild Venezuelan oil fields that are too expensive to invest in at current crude prices while a full blown energy revolution is happening with cheap solar and electrification growing exponentially.
This is a dying empire shit.
This is a dying empire shit.
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
We have seen no official death toll but the New York Times is reporting at least 40 people were killed in last night's attack on Venezuela with reports of civilian structures directly targeted.
Celebrating this is disgusting.
Celebrating this is disgusting.
January 4, 2026 at 2:07 AM
We have seen no official death toll but the New York Times is reporting at least 40 people were killed in last night's attack on Venezuela with reports of civilian structures directly targeted.
Celebrating this is disgusting.
Celebrating this is disgusting.
Reposted by Erika Wittekind
Friendly reminder that W's Iraq invasion had 65% bipartisan approval when it started, even with debate about whether or not Saddam Hussein actually had WMDs. So the fact that this can't even crack 60% within the GOP is telling. 60% own-party support would typically kill a policy immediately.
Jan 3 poll of 1,902 U.S. adults (+/-2.8 points)
% who support | oppose the U.S. running Venezuela following the U.S. military's capture of President Nicolás Maduro
U.S. adults 34% | 41%
Democrats 16% | 64%
Independents 26% | 43%
Republicans 60% | 16%
today.yougov.com/topics/polit...
% who support | oppose the U.S. running Venezuela following the U.S. military's capture of President Nicolás Maduro
U.S. adults 34% | 41%
Democrats 16% | 64%
Independents 26% | 43%
Republicans 60% | 16%
today.yougov.com/topics/polit...
January 4, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Friendly reminder that W's Iraq invasion had 65% bipartisan approval when it started, even with debate about whether or not Saddam Hussein actually had WMDs. So the fact that this can't even crack 60% within the GOP is telling. 60% own-party support would typically kill a policy immediately.