Lydia Kiesling
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lydiakiesling.bsky.social
Lydia Kiesling
@lydiakiesling.bsky.social
4.6K followers 2.4K following 460 posts
Author of The Golden State (2018) and Mobility (2023). www.lydiakiesling.com
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Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
wilsonxcassie.bsky.social
Testify to stop the sweeps before Wednesday!!

> Scroll to item 8
> Testify on this item
> Submit written testimony
> Support with changes
> Write a comment supporting Councilor Morillo’s amendment to defund sweeps and fund social services

www.portland.gov/council/agenda
City Council | Portland.gov
City Council holds regular meetings at 9:30 a.m. on the first, second, fourth and fifth Wednesday and 6:00 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month. If there is sufficient business, additional meetin...
www.portland.gov
November 11, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
wilsonxcassie.bsky.social
Ugh it is so sad to see people so confused and scared by the misinformation the mayor and some councilors are spreading. Just so gross to deliberately lie
November 11, 2025 at 6:06 AM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
hayao.lol
incredibly funny that Joyce Carol Oates owned Musk so hard he's started trying to post like a regular person with normal interests
November 10, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
koriander.bsky.social
I don’t think people understand how organized pro-sweep turnout will be to wednesdays council meeting.

Register for item 8 ASAP. If you can’t make it, testify in writing:

www.portland.gov/council/agenda
NWDA Emergency Meeting Inbox Todd Zarnitz 2:23 PM to me When the Mayor unilaterally decided to build mass shelters in our neighborhood, a lot of the support was driven by a compassionate argument: "Would you rather have people in shelters or on the street." My concern was simple: "We're going to end up with both." That reality is now rapidly becoming City policy... as Portland City Council will vote on Wednesday to strip funding from the "Impact Reduction Program," the initiative that cleans up dangerous, illegal, violent and criminal camping. As far as I can tell, we have a large group of City Councilors who need to see continued suffering, slow street deaths, and chaos on our streets in order to bolster an adolescent socialist housing plan, instead of the idea succeeding or failing on its own merits. Defunding a program to clean-up and maintain a safe and livable neighborhood is completely unacceptable... but the effort to do that is now an appalling reality, with full-throated support from at least one of our District 4 Councilors.
November 10, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
jwjpdx.bsky.social
Portland City Councilor Angelita Morillo proposes reallocating $4.3 million from sweeps to support rent assistance, food access, & immigrant and refugee services.✔️

Testify in support of the Morillo 1 amendment here, to re-balance the budget toward proven solutions: www.portland.gov/council/docu...
portlandmercury.com Portland Mercury @portlandmercury.com · 3d
Portland City Council will consider an amendment next week to redirect $4.3 million from the city program that sweeps homeless encampments. If passed, the budget adjustment will instead invest $2 million in rent and food assistance, and support for immigrants and refugees.
City Council Mulling $4.3 Million Cut From Homeless Sweeps Budget
“We’re in a position right now, where people are going to end up being unhoused for the long-term, and we have to take action,” City Councilor Angelita Morillo said, explaining a proposal to divert fu...
www.portlandmercury.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
jenee.bsky.social
Hi writers! I’m looking to assign a couple of features for Slate before the end of the year. If you have anything in mind that you think would be a fit please send me a pitch! Jenée.Desmond- harris@slate.com or dm me.

RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!
November 10, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
johannawinant.bsky.social
look, when the legendary City Lights asks to record a conversation about close reading, you respond “yes, I’ll hide upstairs in a room in my parents‘ house, put on a clean shirt, and talk a lot with my hands!!!”

join @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social , Yael Segalovitz, @samantharhill.bsky.social, and me!
dan-sinnamon.bsky.social Dan Sinykin @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social · 19h
City Lights has long been a beacon of bookishness for me. It was a thrill to do CITY LIGHTS LIVE!: a conversation about close reading with Yael Segalovitz and my co-editor on Close Reading for the 21C, @johannawinant.bsky.social moderated by @samantharhill.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehZ0...
CITY LIGHTS LIVE! Close Reading Today - Celebrating University Press Week 2025
YouTube video by CityLightsBooks
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
councilormorillo.bsky.social
Our amendment doesn’t cut those things.

Mayor Wilson could’ve called me to clarify and ask questions before blasting us in a newsletter, but of course he has to find a scapegoat when he doesn’t magically end homelessness on 12/1 by warehousing people.

Looking forward to clarifying this tomorrow.
garbanzomelon.bsky.social garbanzomelon.bsky.social @garbanzomelon.bsky.social · 1d
The Impact Reduction Program also provides trash abatement, which is essential in maintaining clean, walkable sidewalks for all Portlanders. We shouldn‘t cut their budget.
November 10, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
paleofuture.bsky.social
None of these Democrats should enjoy a moment's peace.

Cortez Masto (NV)
Durbin (IL)
Fetterman (PA)
Gillibrand (NY)
Hassan (NH)
Peters (MI)
Schatz (HI)
Schumer (NY)
Shaheen (NH)

They've effectively just voted for Donald Trump's agenda without putting up a fight. Never let them hear the end of it.
March 14, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
jessiejessup.bsky.social
I thought my new health insurance premium was going to be $350 per month until I got this letter informing me that it would be $1,228.28 PER MONTH. I CURRENTLY PAY $50. Is my math mathing? Is that.... a 2,356.42% increase?

2256.42%????

TWO THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED FIFTY SIX POINT FORTY TWO PERCENT😩
November 9, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
alexanderchee.bsky.social
God the number of times I have been through this with the same damned bus of clowns in the senate. They need to go.
November 10, 2025 at 12:52 AM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
Nuremburg trials is the moderate position
lyndab08.bsky.social Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 4d
He said that the agents would throw food at them to eat. The agents threatened to withhold food for a week and to beat him up if he didn't sign deportation papers. He said he saw others refuse and get beaten/receive no food. He signed because he was afraid.
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
wilsonxcassie.bsky.social
It should be illegal for the mayor to piss me off on a delightful Sunday morning but here he is being a massive pos content.govdelivery.com/accounts/ORP...
Your Neighborhood Livability At Risk - Council Vote Coming Wednesday
content.govdelivery.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
grace8ming.bsky.social
folks at the OR dept of human services worked through the night to ensure recipients got their benefits ASAP. because they understood the existential urgency of EATING. so yeah...
dlthings.bsky.social Matthew🔜Dreamstate SoCal @dlthings.bsky.social · 1d
Props to Oregon for loading full SNAP benefits for November on my EBT card. I'm gonna use language R's usually reserve for gun ownership about gov't efforts to take it away. #ComeAndTakeIt
koin6.bsky.social KOIN 6 News @koin6.bsky.social · 1d
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has instructed states - including Oregon - to “immediately undo” actions they’ve taken to send out full SNAP benefits, according to multiple reports.
November 9, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
atrubek.bsky.social
I havent read such a banger of an essay in a very long time. This is so well-written!
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
condeunion.bsky.social
Breaking News: Late last night Conde Nast illegally fired 4 union organizers who asked company execs to explain the downsizing of Teen Vogue and continued layoffs. We’ve filed a grievance.
Statement from The NewsGuild of New York and Condé United on illegal firing of four union leaders who demanded answers about this week’s layoffs at Teen Vogue, other brands Late Wednesday night, Condé Nast’s VP of Labor Relations notified the Guild that the Company was immediately terminating four Condé United leaders for engaging in the protected concerted activity of gathering in their 1 World Trade Center office to demand answers on this week’s abrupt layoffs at multiple brands including WIRED and the consolidation at Teen Vogue. These egregious terminations are a flagrant breach of the Just Cause terms of our contract and an unprecedented violation of their federally protected rights as union members to participate in a collective action. Through these illegal terminations, Condé Nast management is attempting to intimidate and silence our members' advocacy for the courageous cultural and political journalism of Teen Vogue, as well as diverting attention away from the obvious lack of corporate leadership at the company. Condé United members illegally fired are: Alma Avalle: Writer, digital producer at Bon Appetit; NewsGuild of New York first vice president, trans activist, and union leader Jake Lahut: Wired senior reporter covering the Trump White House Jasper Lo: Senior fact checker at The New Yorker and US Army veteran: outgoing first vice chair of The New Yorker Union Ben Dewey: Videographer at Condé Nast Entertainment, former vice chair of the CNE unit “Management’s attempt at union-busting, using intimidation and grossly illegal tactics to try to suppress protected union activity, will not stand,” said Susan DeCarava, president of The NewsGuild of New York. “The NewsGuild of New York has zero tolerance for bad bosses who harass, target and disrespect our fellow Guild members. We represent nearly 6,000 media workers across the tri-state area and we stand firmly in solidarity, ready to fight for the rights of our members illegally fired from their jobs at …
November 6, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
ecosozialismus.bsky.social
“I think it’s important to remember that human beings are complex,” Yan said. “All of the things that are happening are so nuanced … people can be pro Israel & pro Palestine. That is perfectly OK."

You can be lots of things, but I don't trust your judgment or ethics if you say something like this.
November 6, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
ghyfhc.bsky.social
Hello, I’m from Gaza.
We’re living through hell
homes destroyed,memories erased,loved ones gone. Even the innocence of our children has been shattered.
Every bit of help—even a small donation—could save a life or rekindle a flicker of hope.
👉 gofund.me/0fa0750c
Thank you for remembering Gaza 😢🙏
October 28, 2025 at 9:53 AM
lydiakiesling.bsky.social
I was listening to the audiobook of Mood Machine by @lizpelly.bsky.social and was so absorbed by how shitty Spotify is I took my cat's thyroid medicine instead of my Wellbutrin
November 6, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
councilorgreen.bsky.social
I oppose the resumption of sweeps beginning tomorrow. They are costly, ineffective and cruel. At a time when our Federal government is literally starving our most vulnerable neighbors, we add to that by violently taking from them what little they have? My statement attached.
Councilor Mitch Green Portland City Council, District 4 1221 SW 4th Ave. # 240, Portland, OR, 97204 Media Contact: Maria Sipin, Chief of Staff maria.sipin2@portlandoregon.gov FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Councilor Mitch Green’s Statement on November 1st Camping Ban Enforcement Policy October 30, 2025 “We have seen ICE and the National Guard perform homeless sweeps in other cities where they've been deployed, and we’ve heard Trump calling for increased sweeps and even disappearance of unhoused people. It is a bad, cruel, and failed policy when the Trump administration does it, and it is a bad, cruel, and failed policy when the city of Portland does it. As we face the very real possibility of federal troops being deployed to our streets to target one group of vulnerable people, we absolutely cannot start using our own police to do their work for them by targeting another. Some will argue that sweeps are about safety and compassion, but the evidence is clear and overwhelming. Sweeps kill people. For far too long, Portland has pursued a failed policy of criminalizing poverty. As a result, we’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars only to see the problem grow, and deaths among our homeless neighbors quadruple between 2019 and 2023. It’s time to change direction. We need to protect ALL Portlanders. We need to focus on programs that move people closer to housing and stability, not policies that punish and further destabilize. Programs like low-barrier jobs programs, direct rental assistance, food aid, and day shelters that provide hygiene, clothing, and case management. Programs like these are humane, cost-effective, and they work. They address the issue of visible poverty that neighbors and businesses are concerned about, but they do so by offering dignity, not displacement. They break the cycle of disappointment and depression—where people spend all day waiting in lines, worrying about their belongings, with no meaningful work. They are a hand up, not a sweep away. But at the end of the day, the only real, lasting solution to homelessness is to provide deeply affordable housing for all. Unless we stop the flow of folks onto the streets, we’re never going to make real progress. That is why we need to move aggressively towards a Social Housing model— high quality, permanently affordable housing that will serve the vast majority of Portlanders, from the unhoused to the middle class. The choice before us is clear. We can either align ourselves with the politics of division, of sweeps, of cages, and of death, or we can choose the politics of solidarity, of housing, of healthcare, and of life.”
October 31, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
lasrina.bsky.social
Reposting because, and I say this with love, some of you are going to see this and go “oh shit, I need to check my bottle” and then immediately forget about it so if this could affect you, go check right now before you even scroll to the next post, I mean it.
November 5, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
"Others will take time in catching up to that." whew
"There’s no question in my mind that I’m Indian. And there’s no question in my mind that I’m a New Yorker. And I’m all of these things, yet in each of these places I’ve been made to feel that it’s not actually my home to call– in Uganda, I’m told this guy is actually Indian, in India, I’m told this guy is actually Muslim, and in New York I’m everything but a New Yorker. But I’m realizing that it’s not a determination I should be outsourcing to others. It’s something that if I know and feel, then I need to become comfortable in asserting. Others will take time in catching up to that. It also helps to understand that if you’re part of any diaspora you have to live in multiple worlds at once, and have multiple sets of cultural references and histories–so that if you were to describe yourself in one singular term, it doesn’t really capture the different ways in which you think about the world."
November 5, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
mjhaugen.bsky.social
Wow it turns out the entire country is not permanently reactionary because Trump won an election by 1.5%
November 5, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Reposted by Lydia Kiesling
portlanddsa.bsky.social
It’s a great night to be a socialist!

It’s a great night if you believe in the power of the working class!

It’s a great night to commit yourself to the project of building a city that works for the many and not the few!

Join us: portlanddsa.org/join-us/
Join America's Largest Socialist Organization - Portland DSA
Becoming a Member The Democratic Socialists of America is funded by our membership—not corporations or wealthy donors. This ensures that DSA members are in full control of the organization. By paying ...
portlanddsa.org
November 5, 2025 at 5:37 AM