KA SEMENOVA
@kasemenova.bsky.social
Writer, editor, lapsed Russianist
That guy up there on the left is Vladimir, in Titicut Follies. He was my uncle. I’m writing abt him on Substack.
https://substack.com/@kasemenova?utm_source=byline
That guy up there on the left is Vladimir, in Titicut Follies. He was my uncle. I’m writing abt him on Substack.
https://substack.com/@kasemenova?utm_source=byline
Roman was 5 when he legally immigrated here, after his father died at Chernobyl.
He now has 2 young daughters, a wife, & runs a small business in Dallas. He is due to be deported today, for a crime committed 20 years ago & for which he served his sentence.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/16/u...
He now has 2 young daughters, a wife, & runs a small business in Dallas. He is due to be deported today, for a crime committed 20 years ago & for which he served his sentence.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/16/u...
Former Soviet Union refugee in the US has been detained and is facing deportation to Ukraine | CNN
Roman Surovtsev was prompt in picking up his two daughters from school every afternoon.
www.cnn.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Roman was 5 when he legally immigrated here, after his father died at Chernobyl.
He now has 2 young daughters, a wife, & runs a small business in Dallas. He is due to be deported today, for a crime committed 20 years ago & for which he served his sentence.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/16/u...
He now has 2 young daughters, a wife, & runs a small business in Dallas. He is due to be deported today, for a crime committed 20 years ago & for which he served his sentence.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/16/u...
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Ukrainian medics are reporting cases of gas gangrene, a condition once closely associated with the trenches of the First World War and long thought to have been all but eradicated in Europe.
November 11, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Ukrainian medics are reporting cases of gas gangrene, a condition once closely associated with the trenches of the First World War and long thought to have been all but eradicated in Europe.
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
Early Career Rescue Fellowship
www.uni-konstanz.de
November 11, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Three German universities offering post-docs for researchers "who cannot conduct or continue their work in the USA appropriately because of actual political pressure. "
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
www.uni-konstanz.de/zukunftskoll...
I thought I knew everything it was possible to know abt this song: I've been singing it since childhood (grew up in Ohio) & I've watched a documentary or two etc, & then I watched the Charismatic Voice ep on it. And wow, I developed my a new appreciation of Lightfoot's technique too.
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.
50 years ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 'rock star' ship, sank in Lake Superior
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.
n.pr
November 10, 2025 at 10:41 PM
I thought I knew everything it was possible to know abt this song: I've been singing it since childhood (grew up in Ohio) & I've watched a documentary or two etc, & then I watched the Charismatic Voice ep on it. And wow, I developed my a new appreciation of Lightfoot's technique too.
The Reddit foodstamp sub has a lot posts about this. Ppl had pending deposits disappear; others went to the store with a credit balance, only to find their ebt cards didn’t work.
The Trump admin is actively terrorizing hungry ppl.
The Trump admin is actively terrorizing hungry ppl.
This is an absolutely insane administrative process. Within the space of a week, states were told by judges/White House
*no SNAP benefits
*half benefits
*full benefits
*pause provision of benefits.
Result is chaos, uncertainty, and uneven access to benefits depending on where people live.
*no SNAP benefits
*half benefits
*full benefits
*pause provision of benefits.
Result is chaos, uncertainty, and uneven access to benefits depending on where people live.
NEW: The Trump admin told states it must immediately "undo" the work to provide full food stamp benefits, or face penalties. The feds sent this in a late-night memo, only adding to the chaos and confusion around SNAP. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/b...
November 9, 2025 at 2:53 PM
The Reddit foodstamp sub has a lot posts about this. Ppl had pending deposits disappear; others went to the store with a credit balance, only to find their ebt cards didn’t work.
The Trump admin is actively terrorizing hungry ppl.
The Trump admin is actively terrorizing hungry ppl.
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Petition is here: www.change.org/p/demand-the...
November 8, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Petition is here: www.change.org/p/demand-the...
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
I made another video.
November 6, 2025 at 7:30 PM
I made another video.
I am going through early 20thC Volhynia (Ukraine) vital records (church books) rn. The first time I hit the death records, it was a shock.
I expected a bunch of old ppl. Nope, majority are babies, whose birth records I'd seen the day before. Some of their moms. And toddlers, so many toddlers.
I expected a bunch of old ppl. Nope, majority are babies, whose birth records I'd seen the day before. Some of their moms. And toddlers, so many toddlers.
November 6, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I am going through early 20thC Volhynia (Ukraine) vital records (church books) rn. The first time I hit the death records, it was a shock.
I expected a bunch of old ppl. Nope, majority are babies, whose birth records I'd seen the day before. Some of their moms. And toddlers, so many toddlers.
I expected a bunch of old ppl. Nope, majority are babies, whose birth records I'd seen the day before. Some of their moms. And toddlers, so many toddlers.
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Beshear: Let me be clear. The president has both the funding and the authority to fund snap during a shutdown. In fact, every other president in every other shutdown has done so. People going hungry in this instance is a choice that this president has made.
November 5, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Beshear: Let me be clear. The president has both the funding and the authority to fund snap during a shutdown. In fact, every other president in every other shutdown has done so. People going hungry in this instance is a choice that this president has made.
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Brand new data:
Republicans blamed for the shutdown (+12) and for health care premiums going up (+28!!).
These are stunning numbers. Republicans aren't immune from the pressure this creates.
Time to press our advantage. Stand for what we believe in.
Republicans blamed for the shutdown (+12) and for health care premiums going up (+28!!).
These are stunning numbers. Republicans aren't immune from the pressure this creates.
Time to press our advantage. Stand for what we believe in.
November 5, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Brand new data:
Republicans blamed for the shutdown (+12) and for health care premiums going up (+28!!).
These are stunning numbers. Republicans aren't immune from the pressure this creates.
Time to press our advantage. Stand for what we believe in.
Republicans blamed for the shutdown (+12) and for health care premiums going up (+28!!).
These are stunning numbers. Republicans aren't immune from the pressure this creates.
Time to press our advantage. Stand for what we believe in.
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Remembering the Iraq war: How Knight Ridder dug up the truth about Dick Cheney's falsehoods. Now Cheney and McClatchy's DC bureau, the successor to Knight Ridder, have died the same week. New at Media Nation. dankennedy.net/2025/11/05/r...
Remembering the Iraq war: How Knight Ridder dug up the truth about Dick Cheney’s falsehoods
It was sadly ironic that the death of McClatchy’s Washington bureau was announced on the same day as that of former Vice President Dick Cheney. Because it was McClatchy — then known as Knight…
dankennedy.net
November 5, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Remembering the Iraq war: How Knight Ridder dug up the truth about Dick Cheney's falsehoods. Now Cheney and McClatchy's DC bureau, the successor to Knight Ridder, have died the same week. New at Media Nation. dankennedy.net/2025/11/05/r...
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Hey folks, an update on the battle to bring down prices!
October 31, 2025 at 7:03 PM
Hey folks, an update on the battle to bring down prices!
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
All I want is to live in a country where this story isn’t the 80th most alarming news story of the day
October 28, 2025 at 8:10 PM
All I want is to live in a country where this story isn’t the 80th most alarming news story of the day
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
October 28, 2025 at 12:27 AM
🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Ofelia Torres has spent almost every day of the past month at Lurie Children’s Hospital, where the 16-year-old Lake View High School student is fighting cancer. And now her father has just been arrested by ICE.
ICE arrests Chicago man whose teenage daughter is fighting cancer: ‘He belongs with her’
Ofelia Torres has spent almost every day of the past month at Lurie Children’s Hospital, where the 16-year-old Lake View High School student is fighting cancer.
trib.al
October 21, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Ofelia Torres has spent almost every day of the past month at Lurie Children’s Hospital, where the 16-year-old Lake View High School student is fighting cancer. And now her father has just been arrested by ICE.
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Washington Post editorial board, 2 days ago: "The idea that Trump is easily swayed by Putin, let alone manipulated or controlled by him, does not hold water."
Shouting match. Cursing.
And this ⤵️
Trump "adopted many of Putin’s talking points verbatim, even when they contradicted his own statements about Russia’s weaknesses..
"Trump told Zelenskyy that Putin had told him the conflict was a 'special operation, not even a war.'”
www.ft.com/content/7960...
And this ⤵️
Trump "adopted many of Putin’s talking points verbatim, even when they contradicted his own statements about Russia’s weaknesses..
"Trump told Zelenskyy that Putin had told him the conflict was a 'special operation, not even a war.'”
www.ft.com/content/7960...
October 19, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Washington Post editorial board, 2 days ago: "The idea that Trump is easily swayed by Putin, let alone manipulated or controlled by him, does not hold water."
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
I do not understand why the leader of the largest country on Earth needs a few more kilometers. This war is not about land, but about our independence, Zelensky said about Putin.
October 19, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I do not understand why the leader of the largest country on Earth needs a few more kilometers. This war is not about land, but about our independence, Zelensky said about Putin.
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Dutch intelligence suspends sharing arrangements with the US after concluding that high level intel was routinely being shared by the White House with their friends in the Kremlin. www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/n...
Nederlandse diensten delen minder informatie met de VS: ‘Soms vertellen we dingen niet meer’
Het aantal dreigingen dat op Nederland afkomt is groot, zien de hoofden van de AIVD en de MIVD elke dag: niet alleen Russische agressie, maar ook de opmars van China als digitale macht en binnenlands ...
www.volkskrant.nl
October 19, 2025 at 1:24 AM
Dutch intelligence suspends sharing arrangements with the US after concluding that high level intel was routinely being shared by the White House with their friends in the Kremlin. www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/n...
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
October 19, 2025 at 11:59 AM
Excellent 🧵
In social movement studies, we talk about how marches and protests expand the threshold of acceptable risk so that people take more and bigger social risks IN PUBLIC, EN MASSE. This is extremely important for the bourgeois white folks holding signs and building social rapport.
Not a shitpost: #NoKings is feel-good performative activism for comfortable mostly upper and upper middle class white folks and that’s good, actually. Millions of people in the streets protesting a fascist regime is good. It is good for the normie baseline to be massive displays of public dissent.
October 19, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Excellent 🧵
One of most encouraging signs yesterday, imo. Police depts are reactionary but Trumpists are so sloppy cops are regime targets too. Many big city depts were posting abt how there were no arrests, & crucially, highlighting their role in protecting the right to peaceful protest. That’s not nothing.
Oh I think they'll eventually lose, but how violently they do is the big unanswered risk.
In that context behaviour of cops in Chicago, New York and San Diego might be a good sign for the no kings movement
In that context behaviour of cops in Chicago, New York and San Diego might be a good sign for the no kings movement
October 19, 2025 at 11:01 AM
One of most encouraging signs yesterday, imo. Police depts are reactionary but Trumpists are so sloppy cops are regime targets too. Many big city depts were posting abt how there were no arrests, & crucially, highlighting their role in protecting the right to peaceful protest. That’s not nothing.
Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
WOW! Protesters created a HUGE human sign on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach reading “No Kings YES on 50” to support California’s Prop 50 and stand up against Donald Trump’s fascist regime
October 18, 2025 at 7:53 PM
WOW! Protesters created a HUGE human sign on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach reading “No Kings YES on 50” to support California’s Prop 50 and stand up against Donald Trump’s fascist regime