Jesse F Ballenger
@jfballenger.bsky.social
History of medicine, health humanities, bioethics, critical dementia studies.
Self, Senility and Alzheimer's in Modern America. http://bit.ly/3fVOrrU.
Chilephile 🇨🇱, climate, cycling, Philly, board games, music, & sundry
Self, Senility and Alzheimer's in Modern America. http://bit.ly/3fVOrrU.
Chilephile 🇨🇱, climate, cycling, Philly, board games, music, & sundry
Pinned
All Saints 25th Edition Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time
Check out All Saints 25th Edition Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time - This praised and best-selling daily reader presentsshort, comprehensive biographies of 365 saintsa...
bookshop.org
To preserve my moral orientation in this terrible time, I'm reading each day's entry in @robertellsberg.bsky.social's beautiful devotional. It's a diverse cloud of witnesses - all affirming the reality of a life greater than the ignorance, cruelty, and oppression this regime seeks to impose.
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
February 7, 2026 at 5:01 AM
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
Interesting religious subtext: Mamdani made this announcement while speaking at NYC's annual Interfaith Breakfast, which is why you hear him referring to the "stranger" — a reference to Christian and Jewish scripture and principles, he says, in other faiths.
(More @rns.org coverage of this soon.)
(More @rns.org coverage of this soon.)
Mamdani announces a new executive order protecting New Yorkers from "abusive immigration enforcement," including requiring ICE to have a judicial warrant to enter NYC property
February 6, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Interesting religious subtext: Mamdani made this announcement while speaking at NYC's annual Interfaith Breakfast, which is why you hear him referring to the "stranger" — a reference to Christian and Jewish scripture and principles, he says, in other faiths.
(More @rns.org coverage of this soon.)
(More @rns.org coverage of this soon.)
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
Mamdani: "I speak of Renee Good, whose final words to the man who murdered her were, 'I'm not mad at you.' I speak of Alex Pretti who died as he lived, caring for the stranger. ICE shot him bc he did something they could never fathom ... let us offer a new path: one of defiance through compassion."
February 6, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Mamdani: "I speak of Renee Good, whose final words to the man who murdered her were, 'I'm not mad at you.' I speak of Alex Pretti who died as he lived, caring for the stranger. ICE shot him bc he did something they could never fathom ... let us offer a new path: one of defiance through compassion."
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
Starbucks Workers United baristas are escalating their fight for a fair contract.
I urge you to keep boycotting Starbucks — and delete its app from your phone.
Workers are fed up with low pay, chaotic scheduling, understaffing, and illegal union busting.
Let's keep fighting corporate greed.
I urge you to keep boycotting Starbucks — and delete its app from your phone.
Workers are fed up with low pay, chaotic scheduling, understaffing, and illegal union busting.
Let's keep fighting corporate greed.
February 5, 2026 at 8:45 PM
Starbucks Workers United baristas are escalating their fight for a fair contract.
I urge you to keep boycotting Starbucks — and delete its app from your phone.
Workers are fed up with low pay, chaotic scheduling, understaffing, and illegal union busting.
Let's keep fighting corporate greed.
I urge you to keep boycotting Starbucks — and delete its app from your phone.
Workers are fed up with low pay, chaotic scheduling, understaffing, and illegal union busting.
Let's keep fighting corporate greed.
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
"In my few days in Minnesota, I’ve been witness to countless scenes that remind me of moments I’ve seen during previous trips covering conflicts around the world," photojournalist @cengizyar.com writes. "The wars we’ve carried out as a nation abroad have come home."
More: https://propub.li/4acxEeY
More: https://propub.li/4acxEeY
February 3, 2026 at 2:00 PM
"In my few days in Minnesota, I’ve been witness to countless scenes that remind me of moments I’ve seen during previous trips covering conflicts around the world," photojournalist @cengizyar.com writes. "The wars we’ve carried out as a nation abroad have come home."
More: https://propub.li/4acxEeY
More: https://propub.li/4acxEeY
Pretty much nothing makes me feel better these days than granting extensions to anxious students. Yes, you can absolutely have more time on that assignment!
February 4, 2026 at 5:00 AM
Pretty much nothing makes me feel better these days than granting extensions to anxious students. Yes, you can absolutely have more time on that assignment!
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.
February 3, 2026 at 4:19 PM
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
If you're rich you get a tax cut, if you're not you have to work longer and harder. Populism! bsky.app/profile/atru...
Dr Oz: "If we could get the average American to start working a year earlier, right out of high school, or a year later -- not retire -- or work better during their lifetime because they're healthy, it would generate about $3 trillion to the US economy. That would more than remove the debt."
February 3, 2026 at 11:12 AM
If you're rich you get a tax cut, if you're not you have to work longer and harder. Populism! bsky.app/profile/atru...
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
dark times ahead. but we are going to win
Meeting in solidarity with Haitians in Springfield, Ohio now - over 600 people and still growing.
February 2, 2026 at 2:20 PM
dark times ahead. but we are going to win
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
Remember that the pretext for invading MN was fraud committed by Somalis (on a scale smaller than some of the fraud Trump has pardoned and/or committed).
Now, BECAUSE of the abuse arising out of the invasion has led ~14 AUSAs to quit, plus ~6 in Civil Rights.
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
Now, BECAUSE of the abuse arising out of the invasion has led ~14 AUSAs to quit, plus ~6 in Civil Rights.
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
February 2, 2026 at 11:22 PM
Remember that the pretext for invading MN was fraud committed by Somalis (on a scale smaller than some of the fraud Trump has pardoned and/or committed).
Now, BECAUSE of the abuse arising out of the invasion has led ~14 AUSAs to quit, plus ~6 in Civil Rights.
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
Now, BECAUSE of the abuse arising out of the invasion has led ~14 AUSAs to quit, plus ~6 in Civil Rights.
www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
Bad Bunny at the Grammys: "Before I say thanks to God, I want to say ICE out. We're not savage, we're not animals, we're not aliens, we are humans, and we are Americans."
February 2, 2026 at 2:18 AM
Bad Bunny at the Grammys: "Before I say thanks to God, I want to say ICE out. We're not savage, we're not animals, we're not aliens, we are humans, and we are Americans."
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
Homan's message: When we kill you, you have to be especially nice to us. Or else we will keep killing you.
Homan: "I begged for the last two months on TV for the rhetoric to stop. I said in March -- if the rhetoric doesn't stop, there is gonna be bloodshed. And there has been. I wish I wasn't right. I don't want to see anybody die."
January 31, 2026 at 5:05 PM
Homan's message: When we kill you, you have to be especially nice to us. Or else we will keep killing you.
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
I was always told that one of the central lessons of the Shoah is that legal, juridical regimes can still be immoral. The claim that Anne Frank was in Amsterdam "legally" is false, but more than that, the question "Was Anne Frank an illegal?" is so grossly missing the point of Holocaust remembrance.
To avoid the possibility Holocaust remembrance might lead to empathy for migrants, Trump's antisemitism envoy claims Anne Frank "was in Amsterdam legally."
In reality, Margot Frank received a summons to go to a labor camp on July 5, 1942. After ignoring this call, they were in Amsterdam illegally.
In reality, Margot Frank received a summons to go to a labor camp on July 5, 1942. After ignoring this call, they were in Amsterdam illegally.
January 27, 2026 at 3:37 PM
I was always told that one of the central lessons of the Shoah is that legal, juridical regimes can still be immoral. The claim that Anne Frank was in Amsterdam "legally" is false, but more than that, the question "Was Anne Frank an illegal?" is so grossly missing the point of Holocaust remembrance.
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
BREAKING: Democrat Christian Menefee wins special election for Texas U.S. House seat, narrowing GOP's slim majority.
Democrat Christian Menefee wins election for US House, narrowing GOP's slim majority
Democrat Christian Menefee has won a Texas U.S. House seat in a special election that will narrow Republicans’ already-slim majority.
bit.ly
February 1, 2026 at 4:06 AM
BREAKING: Democrat Christian Menefee wins special election for Texas U.S. House seat, narrowing GOP's slim majority.
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
Federal judge has ordered the release of Liam Ramos (the bunny hat boy) and his father. A brief and rather remarkable order. Clearly written to be shared widely, so please do. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
January 31, 2026 at 8:42 PM
Federal judge has ordered the release of Liam Ramos (the bunny hat boy) and his father. A brief and rather remarkable order. Clearly written to be shared widely, so please do. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
I don't like to talk about stories before they are fully reported, but I am writing on ICE in a Minnesota town that isn't Minneapolis. However bad you think it is, it is worse. It is a campaign of pure terror whose only strategic goal is more terror. There is no strategy other than to break people.
January 31, 2026 at 9:03 PM
I don't like to talk about stories before they are fully reported, but I am writing on ICE in a Minnesota town that isn't Minneapolis. However bad you think it is, it is worse. It is a campaign of pure terror whose only strategic goal is more terror. There is no strategy other than to break people.
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
straight up Gestapo shit
January 31, 2026 at 8:54 PM
straight up Gestapo shit
They use tear gas and pepper spray
Against our whistles and our phones
But in this city of heroes
We will protect our home
When they dragged people from their cars
I got in their face
When they took families from their homes
I got in their face
Against our whistles and our phones
But in this city of heroes
We will protect our home
When they dragged people from their cars
I got in their face
When they took families from their homes
I got in their face
BILLY BRAGG - CITY OF HEROES
YouTube video by Billy Bragg
www.youtube.com
January 31, 2026 at 7:44 PM
They use tear gas and pepper spray
Against our whistles and our phones
But in this city of heroes
We will protect our home
When they dragged people from their cars
I got in their face
When they took families from their homes
I got in their face
Against our whistles and our phones
But in this city of heroes
We will protect our home
When they dragged people from their cars
I got in their face
When they took families from their homes
I got in their face
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
This is just insane. It’s only a matter of time before DHS kills another innocent person here.
(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)
(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)
January 31, 2026 at 6:13 PM
This is just insane. It’s only a matter of time before DHS kills another innocent person here.
(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)
(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
Texas A&M ends its women's & gender studies program while hundreds of syllabi remain flagged and censored under top-down review policies.
“I have never seen anything like this.”
— Dr. Leonard Bright, @tamu-aaup.bsky.social President
@texasaft.org
@texasaaup.bsky.social
@cwa-tseu.bsky.social
“I have never seen anything like this.”
— Dr. Leonard Bright, @tamu-aaup.bsky.social President
@texasaft.org
@texasaaup.bsky.social
@cwa-tseu.bsky.social
Texas A&M Ends Women’s Studies and Overhauls Classes Over Race and Gender
www.nytimes.com
January 30, 2026 at 7:20 PM
Texas A&M ends its women's & gender studies program while hundreds of syllabi remain flagged and censored under top-down review policies.
“I have never seen anything like this.”
— Dr. Leonard Bright, @tamu-aaup.bsky.social President
@texasaft.org
@texasaaup.bsky.social
@cwa-tseu.bsky.social
“I have never seen anything like this.”
— Dr. Leonard Bright, @tamu-aaup.bsky.social President
@texasaft.org
@texasaaup.bsky.social
@cwa-tseu.bsky.social
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
The arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are a test for every MSM member with a platform. If you are not voicing your outrage at this blatant violation of the First Amendment, you are utterly discredited as a journalist.
January 30, 2026 at 4:44 PM
The arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are a test for every MSM member with a platform. If you are not voicing your outrage at this blatant violation of the First Amendment, you are utterly discredited as a journalist.
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
I get tired of saying it, but I’ll say it again: the nature of oppression in America is that they workshop it first on Black, Latino, Asian & Native people.
But it is always, in the end, coming for everyone.
But it is always, in the end, coming for everyone.
The arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are a test for every MSM member with a platform. If you are not voicing your outrage at this blatant violation of the First Amendment, you are utterly discredited as a journalist.
January 30, 2026 at 4:46 PM
I get tired of saying it, but I’ll say it again: the nature of oppression in America is that they workshop it first on Black, Latino, Asian & Native people.
But it is always, in the end, coming for everyone.
But it is always, in the end, coming for everyone.
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
"As a member of the press, I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago and now I'm being arrested for that," Indipendent journalist Georgia Fort said. "It's hard to understand how we have a Constitution, Constitutional rights, when we can just be arrested for being a member of the press."
Journalists Don Lemon, Georgia Fort arrested in connection with church protest against ICE
Lemon's attorney said he was taken into custody by federal officers Thursday night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy Awards.
www.kare11.com
January 30, 2026 at 1:51 PM
"As a member of the press, I filmed the church protest a few weeks ago and now I'm being arrested for that," Indipendent journalist Georgia Fort said. "It's hard to understand how we have a Constitution, Constitutional rights, when we can just be arrested for being a member of the press."
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
Arresting journalists doing their jobs, sending the DNI to raid election offices in GA, unleashing fed agents that kill Americans & then cover it up.
Trump’s authoritarian takeover is quickening. We must respond like the people of Minneapolis —peacefully but with fierce urgency.
Trump’s authoritarian takeover is quickening. We must respond like the people of Minneapolis —peacefully but with fierce urgency.
Don Lemon arrested over Minnesota church protest after judge previously rejected charge
The chief federal judge in Minneapolis said he saw no probable cause to arrest the longtime journalist.
www.politico.com
January 30, 2026 at 3:57 PM
Arresting journalists doing their jobs, sending the DNI to raid election offices in GA, unleashing fed agents that kill Americans & then cover it up.
Trump’s authoritarian takeover is quickening. We must respond like the people of Minneapolis —peacefully but with fierce urgency.
Trump’s authoritarian takeover is quickening. We must respond like the people of Minneapolis —peacefully but with fierce urgency.
Reposted by Jesse F Ballenger
Breaking on MS NOW:
Career DOJ prosecutors in both Minnesota and Los Angeles refused to be involved in charging Don Lemon and the other journalists who covered the Minneapolis church protests.
The prosecutors believe the evidence does not support the charges, per @carolleonnig.bsky.social.
Career DOJ prosecutors in both Minnesota and Los Angeles refused to be involved in charging Don Lemon and the other journalists who covered the Minneapolis church protests.
The prosecutors believe the evidence does not support the charges, per @carolleonnig.bsky.social.
January 30, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Breaking on MS NOW:
Career DOJ prosecutors in both Minnesota and Los Angeles refused to be involved in charging Don Lemon and the other journalists who covered the Minneapolis church protests.
The prosecutors believe the evidence does not support the charges, per @carolleonnig.bsky.social.
Career DOJ prosecutors in both Minnesota and Los Angeles refused to be involved in charging Don Lemon and the other journalists who covered the Minneapolis church protests.
The prosecutors believe the evidence does not support the charges, per @carolleonnig.bsky.social.