Nathan Casebolt
@nwcasebolt.bsky.social
Senior software engineer. Bills fan. Huskers fan. History enthusiast. Dabbler in Greek philosophy. Amateur theologian. Often wrong, but with flair. Just trying to get through life without making anything worse. nwcasebolt.substack.com
Pinned
Now that we're in the Age of Trump, I feel Janeway's energy.
This a good antidote to the despair that sneaks in through a cascade of cruel, insane headlines. The Trumpists are already losing, and there is nothing they can plausibly do to stop it.
the question to ask about this is, okay, he wants to cancel the midterms. how does he get the VA state board of elections to cancel the midterms? how does he get the georgia board of elections to do it? how does he convince republican house members to quit their jobs and give up their paychecks?
Trump says a lot of deranged shit, but, per this Reuters article — and the threats of invoking the Insurrection Act in Minnesota this morning — he is very clearly exploring how to cancel the midterms.
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
January 15, 2026 at 6:06 PM
This a good antidote to the despair that sneaks in through a cascade of cruel, insane headlines. The Trumpists are already losing, and there is nothing they can plausibly do to stop it.
Agents Nasr and Youssef investigate a haunted tram in Clark's slow but thematically rich entry in the "Dead Djinn Universe" series. Explores how freedom and progress empower the marginalized to solve the problems that come with progress. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/the-haunti...
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Dead Djinn Universe #0.3)
P. Djèlí Clark
nwcasebolt.substack.com
January 14, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Agents Nasr and Youssef investigate a haunted tram in Clark's slow but thematically rich entry in the "Dead Djinn Universe" series. Explores how freedom and progress empower the marginalized to solve the problems that come with progress. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/the-haunti...
Aliaa seeks a miracle from an enigmatic angel in Clark's intimate tale set in Cairo's Khan el-Khalili bazaar. Quieter than the first entry, it deepens the mystery of angels and their hidden purposes. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/the-angel-...
The Angel of Khan el-Khalili (Dead Djinn Universe #0.2)
P. Djèlí Clark
nwcasebolt.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 6:31 PM
Aliaa seeks a miracle from an enigmatic angel in Clark's intimate tale set in Cairo's Khan el-Khalili bazaar. Quieter than the first entry, it deepens the mystery of angels and their hidden purposes. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/the-angel-...
Fatma el-Sha'arawi investigates a murdered djinn in Clark's steampunk 1912 Cairo where magic replaced colonialism. Detective noir meets mythic fantasy in this inventive, fun novelette. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/a-dead-dji...
A Dead Djinn in Cairo (Dead Djinn Universe #0.1)
P. Djèlí Clark
nwcasebolt.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 11:20 AM
Fatma el-Sha'arawi investigates a murdered djinn in Clark's steampunk 1912 Cairo where magic replaced colonialism. Detective noir meets mythic fantasy in this inventive, fun novelette. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/a-dead-dji...
Trofimov’s novel traces twenty years in the life of a Jewish-Ukrainian woman and a people ground down by famine, terror, war, and lies, showing how trauma shapes identity and survival substitutes for love in a country repeatedly broken by history. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/no-country...
No Country for Love
Yaroslav Trofimov
nwcasebolt.substack.com
January 9, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Trofimov’s novel traces twenty years in the life of a Jewish-Ukrainian woman and a people ground down by famine, terror, war, and lies, showing how trauma shapes identity and survival substitutes for love in a country repeatedly broken by history. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/no-country...
Worthwhile thread for cold, hard legal reasoning.
My initial take on the criminal law governing the ICE shooting in MN:
609.066 of the MN Code controls a self-defense claim for a "peace officer" under state law. I'm not going to consider federal law given the capture of the DOJ by the Trump administration. 1/
609.066 of the MN Code controls a self-defense claim for a "peace officer" under state law. I'm not going to consider federal law given the capture of the DOJ by the Trump administration. 1/
January 7, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Worthwhile thread for cold, hard legal reasoning.
Matthew’s Bible repackaged Tyndale’s banned work for authorized use in 16th-century English churches, shaping English Scripture and reflecting Reformation polemics. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/matthews-b...
Matthew's Bible: 1537 Edition
William Tyndale, Myles Coverdale, and John Rogers
nwcasebolt.substack.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Matthew’s Bible repackaged Tyndale’s banned work for authorized use in 16th-century English churches, shaping English Scripture and reflecting Reformation polemics. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/matthews-b...
Dense, dry, and confusing, Volume II of Marx's "Capital" charts capital’s ceaseless circulation, overproduction shocks, and labor exploitation, yet never grapples with the problem of power. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/capital-vo...
Capital: Volume II: A Critique of Political Economy: The Process of Circulation of Capital
Karl Marx
nwcasebolt.substack.com
December 30, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Dense, dry, and confusing, Volume II of Marx's "Capital" charts capital’s ceaseless circulation, overproduction shocks, and labor exploitation, yet never grapples with the problem of power. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/capital-vo...
Reposted by Nathan Casebolt
I am supposed to be a 'words' guy, yet I find that I lack the words to fully express the sense of rage and betrayal that I feel, having been raised to believe in the beauty of the United States as an - imperfect - pluralistic republic, to see these quislings try to turn it into a boring ethnostate.
December 28, 2025 at 3:57 AM
I am supposed to be a 'words' guy, yet I find that I lack the words to fully express the sense of rage and betrayal that I feel, having been raised to believe in the beauty of the United States as an - imperfect - pluralistic republic, to see these quislings try to turn it into a boring ethnostate.
Reposted by Nathan Casebolt
The other day I experienced an inhuman assault on Christmas – an AI carol. The machine's inability to understand the carol's message of love made it eerie. Basic cultural forms like holiday ritual and music are weakened under the assault of algorithms.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-inhuma...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-inhuma...
The inhuman assault on Christmas
On Christmas Carols, 1/2
snyder.substack.com
December 24, 2025 at 5:29 PM
The other day I experienced an inhuman assault on Christmas – an AI carol. The machine's inability to understand the carol's message of love made it eerie. Basic cultural forms like holiday ritual and music are weakened under the assault of algorithms.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-inhuma...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-inhuma...
Geralt holds to honor in a cruel, contemptuous world, making this Witcher entry a powerful story of integrity under siege. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/the-time-o...
The Time of Contempt (The Witcher #4)
Andrzej Sapkowsi
nwcasebolt.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:53 PM
Geralt holds to honor in a cruel, contemptuous world, making this Witcher entry a powerful story of integrity under siege. Full review: nwcasebolt.substack.com/p/the-time-o...
Reposted by Nathan Casebolt
Lots of strands of modern atheism that are just Calvinism with the serial numbers filed off
December 21, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Lots of strands of modern atheism that are just Calvinism with the serial numbers filed off
I worked myself up to give the last full measure of devotion for this last great hope of earth. Instead, they’re just stepping on rakes and slipping on banana peels. I’m embarrassed to have enemies like these.
Part of me is grateful for their incompetence, and part of me is insulted by it.
December 21, 2025 at 3:12 AM
I worked myself up to give the last full measure of devotion for this last great hope of earth. Instead, they’re just stepping on rakes and slipping on banana peels. I’m embarrassed to have enemies like these.
Reposted by Nathan Casebolt
Greenland, be afraid. Iceland, be afraid. Venezuela, be afraid. Canada, be afraid. Mexico, be afraid. He’s a cruel, ignorant, lawless madman. And his approval #’s are way down. He needs a fucking distraction. He’s probably gonna declare war on some country. Hey world, heads up.
December 16, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Greenland, be afraid. Iceland, be afraid. Venezuela, be afraid. Canada, be afraid. Mexico, be afraid. He’s a cruel, ignorant, lawless madman. And his approval #’s are way down. He needs a fucking distraction. He’s probably gonna declare war on some country. Hey world, heads up.
The volume of self-congratulations among my MAGA friends will be so gleeful that they won’t even notice how small the island’s getting.
OAN’s Chief Pentagon Correspondent with an update on the latest Trump admin gift to Democrats for the midterms.
December 16, 2025 at 12:50 AM
The volume of self-congratulations among my MAGA friends will be so gleeful that they won’t even notice how small the island’s getting.
Reposted by Nathan Casebolt
Monkeys haven’t gone for $2k since 2019, monkey inflation under Biden is an under appreciated factor in Trump getting reelected
December 15, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Monkeys haven’t gone for $2k since 2019, monkey inflation under Biden is an under appreciated factor in Trump getting reelected
This is why there will be parties when he dies. Not just gleeful or angry partisans sniping at each other online. Literal parties, in physical space, and well attended. His will be the most celebrated death in recent American history.
Trump doubles down on his Rob Reiner attack: "I wasn't a fan of his at all. He was a deranged person... He became like a deranged person, Trump Derangement Syndrome. So I was not a fan of Rob Reiner at all in any way, shape or form. I thought he was very bad for our country."
December 15, 2025 at 9:18 PM
This is why there will be parties when he dies. Not just gleeful or angry partisans sniping at each other online. Literal parties, in physical space, and well attended. His will be the most celebrated death in recent American history.
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
December 15, 2025 at 8:06 PM
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
A blessing for you: May you find as much joy today as a Cardassian capturing a Klingon Bird of Prey. 🙏
December 11, 2025 at 2:27 PM
A blessing for you: May you find as much joy today as a Cardassian capturing a Klingon Bird of Prey. 🙏
I donated.
Because I hate what MAGA is doing to our immigrant communities.
Because I hate Trump’s project to dim the light of Lady Liberty.
Because I hate feeling helpless.
Because I won’t feel helpless.
Will you donate?
Because I hate what MAGA is doing to our immigrant communities.
Because I hate Trump’s project to dim the light of Lady Liberty.
Because I hate feeling helpless.
Because I won’t feel helpless.
Will you donate?
The answer to ICE. And it involves all of us. Check it out. And become a part of it. Thanks.👇
open.substack.com/pub/socialco...
open.substack.com/pub/socialco...
When ICE Knocks, We Answer — Meet PAXIS
The answer to ICE is here
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 3:29 AM
I donated.
Because I hate what MAGA is doing to our immigrant communities.
Because I hate Trump’s project to dim the light of Lady Liberty.
Because I hate feeling helpless.
Because I won’t feel helpless.
Will you donate?
Because I hate what MAGA is doing to our immigrant communities.
Because I hate Trump’s project to dim the light of Lady Liberty.
Because I hate feeling helpless.
Because I won’t feel helpless.
Will you donate?
My dear cousins across the pond: these are the sorts of barking mad proposals that make right-wing madmen seem like lesser evils to your average voter. As an American with some experience in this, I implore you to find some normal politicians now.
December 8, 2025 at 3:46 PM
My dear cousins across the pond: these are the sorts of barking mad proposals that make right-wing madmen seem like lesser evils to your average voter. As an American with some experience in this, I implore you to find some normal politicians now.
Reposted by Nathan Casebolt
UPDATE: Another Chicago-area church has put up an immigration-themed Nativity scene.
A church member at Urban Village Church sent this one along, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are gone and replaced with a sign that reads: “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”
A church member at Urban Village Church sent this one along, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are gone and replaced with a sign that reads: “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”
December 7, 2025 at 10:31 PM
UPDATE: Another Chicago-area church has put up an immigration-themed Nativity scene.
A church member at Urban Village Church sent this one along, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are gone and replaced with a sign that reads: “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”
A church member at Urban Village Church sent this one along, where Mary, Joseph and Jesus are gone and replaced with a sign that reads: “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”
Reposted by Nathan Casebolt
i think to understand the meaning of the birthright citizenship clause to the framers of the 14th amendment, you have to understand significance of dred scott to the civil war republican party. dred scott wasn't just a bad ruling, it was understood as a rejection of the declaration itself.
December 6, 2025 at 6:03 PM
i think to understand the meaning of the birthright citizenship clause to the framers of the 14th amendment, you have to understand significance of dred scott to the civil war republican party. dred scott wasn't just a bad ruling, it was understood as a rejection of the declaration itself.