David Ambaras
@borderlander62.bsky.social
Historian. Author, Japan's Imperial Underworlds: Intimate Encounters At the Borders of Empire (2018), Bad Youth: Juvenile Delinquency and the Politics of Everyday Life in Modern Japan (2006). Co-director, https://bodiesandstructures.org. Also shitposts.
Pinned
Reposted by David Ambaras
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 14, 2025 at 11:55 PM
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
Reposted by David Ambaras
WE WON. I am *begging* you to take note of who did this. *Not* UCLA admin—they’re still scuttling around behind closed doors, attempting to appease—but FACULTY AND STAFF, led by AAUP.
BREAKING: In AAUP et al v. Trump (wall-to-wall union lawsuit challenging the administration’s unlawful use of TItle VI to reshape the University of California system), the faculty and staff of the UC system WON!!!
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
We were granted our preliminary injunction! @aaup.org
November 15, 2025 at 12:01 AM
WE WON. I am *begging* you to take note of who did this. *Not* UCLA admin—they’re still scuttling around behind closed doors, attempting to appease—but FACULTY AND STAFF, led by AAUP.
Reposted by David Ambaras
"Our actions are working, and they are not enough.
Nothing we do is sufficient, and everything we do matters.
We must be strategic, and we must operate on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Time is of the essence, and we have to act for the long haul.
This is how change happens." Dan Berger
Nothing we do is sufficient, and everything we do matters.
We must be strategic, and we must operate on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Time is of the essence, and we have to act for the long haul.
This is how change happens." Dan Berger
November 14, 2025 at 10:45 PM
"Our actions are working, and they are not enough.
Nothing we do is sufficient, and everything we do matters.
We must be strategic, and we must operate on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Time is of the essence, and we have to act for the long haul.
This is how change happens." Dan Berger
Nothing we do is sufficient, and everything we do matters.
We must be strategic, and we must operate on multiple fronts simultaneously.
Time is of the essence, and we have to act for the long haul.
This is how change happens." Dan Berger
These two developments strike me as connected. Get your own god slop, make your own art slop.
November 15, 2025 at 1:25 AM
These two developments strike me as connected. Get your own god slop, make your own art slop.
Mike Johnson doing his best to become a real boy
Mike Johnson: "The president has ended 8 wars around the globe. All that in 9 months!"
November 14, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Mike Johnson doing his best to become a real boy
They would have released the DoorDash numbers but the delivery driver was deported
The White House has said last month’s jobs report and inflation data would “likely never” be released.
White House Will Release October’s Jobs Report—After Saying Data Would ‘Likely Never’ Publish
The White House has said last month’s jobs report and inflation data would “likely never” be released.
www.forbes.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:09 PM
They would have released the DoorDash numbers but the delivery driver was deported
Reposted by David Ambaras
Awful: Trump's boat bombings are now being justified by a new legal memo that relies on WH's own determinations as evidence. Memo also says people can't be prosecuted for the killings. But that reveals WH knows there's legal vulnerability here, Ds tell me.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
Trump Boat Bombings Darken as Secret Memo Reveals Holes in Legal Case
A new White House memo argues that those carrying out the boat attacks can’t be prosecuted. Why? Because the White House says so!
newrepublic.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Awful: Trump's boat bombings are now being justified by a new legal memo that relies on WH's own determinations as evidence. Memo also says people can't be prosecuted for the killings. But that reveals WH knows there's legal vulnerability here, Ds tell me.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
Circe's island retreat - when you want to get back to nature
Procrustes bed and breakfast - for the last leg of your journey.
Sisypheus hauling services. You’ll keep calling us back.
November 14, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Circe's island retreat - when you want to get back to nature
Time to update my lecture on the 1925 Japanese Peace Preservation Law
Trump slaps Antifa with its first-ever foreign terror label, in move that explicitly cites NSPM-7.
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trump-slap...
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trump-slap...
Trump Slaps Antifa With First-Ever Foreign Terror Label
Move cites NSPM-7, saying four European Antifa groups espoused "anti-Christianity," "anti-capitalism," and "anti-Americanism"
www.kenklippenstein.com
November 14, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Time to update my lecture on the 1925 Japanese Peace Preservation Law
Reposted by David Ambaras
The copy here is an all-time example of NY Times passive voice. Matt Gaetz has no agency here.
Even in the image, look at the phrase "left vulnerable to exploitation." Who exploited her?
Even in the image, look at the phrase "left vulnerable to exploitation." Who exploited her?
A teenager in Florida with a homeless parent wanted money for braces and ended up having sex for money with powerful men, setting off a chain of events that would have a dramatic impact on her life and help upend the political career of Representative Matt Gaetz. nyti.ms/49PSkL9
November 14, 2025 at 12:29 AM
The copy here is an all-time example of NY Times passive voice. Matt Gaetz has no agency here.
Even in the image, look at the phrase "left vulnerable to exploitation." Who exploited her?
Even in the image, look at the phrase "left vulnerable to exploitation." Who exploited her?
Reposted by David Ambaras
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M adopts policy requiring professors to get OK from school president to discuss certain race and gender issues.
November 13, 2025 at 11:15 PM
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — Texas A&M adopts policy requiring professors to get OK from school president to discuss certain race and gender issues.
The guard dog ate my handiwork
An interesting tidbit in the joint status report filed in the Broadview ICE facility case today:
ICE says video from inside the facility "between October 19, 2025, and October 31, 2025, has been irretrievably destroyed" and can't be produced in discovery.
www.courtlistener.com/docket/71832...
ICE says video from inside the facility "between October 19, 2025, and October 31, 2025, has been irretrievably destroyed" and can't be produced in discovery.
www.courtlistener.com/docket/71832...
November 13, 2025 at 7:06 PM
The guard dog ate my handiwork
John Fetterman has federal health coverage and an open hospital in his area.
John Fetterman was taken to the hospital after suffering from a “ventricular fibrillation flare-up” and falling near his home
John Fetterman Hospitalized After Fall
www.huffpost.com
November 13, 2025 at 6:24 PM
John Fetterman has federal health coverage and an open hospital in his area.
Reposted by David Ambaras
A BU College GOP leader bragged about calling ICE “for months” and took credit for a raid that detained nine car-wash workers who all had valid work permits, then called them “criminals.” What a garbage human Zac Segal is and an embarrassment to Boston.
November 13, 2025 at 6:17 PM
A BU College GOP leader bragged about calling ICE “for months” and took credit for a raid that detained nine car-wash workers who all had valid work permits, then called them “criminals.” What a garbage human Zac Segal is and an embarrassment to Boston.
All emails matter
Me, wisely: "But *his* emails"
November 13, 2025 at 5:40 PM
All emails matter
Music notes: Roy Estrada, the original bassist for the Mothers of Invention and then Little Feat, is a thrice-convicted child sexual abuser who is currently serving a 35 year sentence with no chance of parole. Posting this for no apparent reason
November 13, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Music notes: Roy Estrada, the original bassist for the Mothers of Invention and then Little Feat, is a thrice-convicted child sexual abuser who is currently serving a 35 year sentence with no chance of parole. Posting this for no apparent reason
“In short, left futures once seen cannot be unseen. The task of the radical scholar is perhaps to help trace and gather the scatter of those visions, and ask how we can use them to vitalize and interrupt the present, to build futures anew.” Layli Uddin, "Kagmari Festival, 1957" (2021)
November 13, 2025 at 5:33 PM
“In short, left futures once seen cannot be unseen. The task of the radical scholar is perhaps to help trace and gather the scatter of those visions, and ask how we can use them to vitalize and interrupt the present, to build futures anew.” Layli Uddin, "Kagmari Festival, 1957" (2021)
Reposted by David Ambaras
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
November 13, 2025 at 11:33 AM
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Reposted by David Ambaras
Jeffrey Epstein advised Steve Bannon that the lawyers representing Brett Kavanaugh in his confirmation hearing should accuse Christine Blasey Ford of being on medications that cause false memories or memory loss.
November 12, 2025 at 10:50 PM
Jeffrey Epstein advised Steve Bannon that the lawyers representing Brett Kavanaugh in his confirmation hearing should accuse Christine Blasey Ford of being on medications that cause false memories or memory loss.
Reposted by David Ambaras
along with the heinous literal crimes i think a lot about how there's a kind of moral, national crime in subjecting all of us to this, to this consuming our politics, committed against us by a number of powerful and connected people up to and including the president
November 12, 2025 at 9:42 PM
along with the heinous literal crimes i think a lot about how there's a kind of moral, national crime in subjecting all of us to this, to this consuming our politics, committed against us by a number of powerful and connected people up to and including the president
Oh man
youtu.be/2Gdw7lFYdCw?...
youtu.be/2Gdw7lFYdCw?...
Cheaper Than Cheep: Live Concert Film (1974)
YouTube video by Frank Zappa
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Oh man
youtu.be/2Gdw7lFYdCw?...
youtu.be/2Gdw7lFYdCw?...
What if you order them via DoorDash
Oof
*OCTOBER CPI AND JOBS DATA LIKELY WON'T BE RELEASED: WHITE HOUSE
*OCTOBER CPI AND JOBS DATA LIKELY WON'T BE RELEASED: WHITE HOUSE
November 12, 2025 at 10:53 PM
What if you order them via DoorDash
Reposted by David Ambaras
It’s the all caps that convince me.
November 12, 2025 at 4:47 AM
It’s the all caps that convince me.
Reposted by David Ambaras
The value of reading history is you know that in 1860 there were abolitionists who were so demoralized that they thought chattel slavery would be permanent. 5 years later those still alive had lived to see its end.
November 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The value of reading history is you know that in 1860 there were abolitionists who were so demoralized that they thought chattel slavery would be permanent. 5 years later those still alive had lived to see its end.
Reposted by David Ambaras
Under the Big Ugly Bill, Alphabet gets $17.9B in tax breaks. That could pay for SNAP benefits for 7.5 million Americans.
Amazon gets $15.7B. That could lower ACA premiums for 2.4 million people.
Microsoft gets $12.5B. That could cover Medicaid for 3.8 million children.
Amazon gets $15.7B. That could lower ACA premiums for 2.4 million people.
Microsoft gets $12.5B. That could cover Medicaid for 3.8 million children.
November 12, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Under the Big Ugly Bill, Alphabet gets $17.9B in tax breaks. That could pay for SNAP benefits for 7.5 million Americans.
Amazon gets $15.7B. That could lower ACA premiums for 2.4 million people.
Microsoft gets $12.5B. That could cover Medicaid for 3.8 million children.
Amazon gets $15.7B. That could lower ACA premiums for 2.4 million people.
Microsoft gets $12.5B. That could cover Medicaid for 3.8 million children.