@ottavia.bsky.social
American living in Berlin. No follows, likes, or skeets so that my feed doesn't get so interesting/entertaining that I spend too much time on here. Reposts reflect what I'm about. Profile pic is Sam Gilliam (FAN CRAZE, 1973).
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I can't trust politicians who are anti-trans. Not because I'm "only searching for perfection" which is what centrists will be accusing me of for the rest of my life, it's because if you're not pro-trans you'll be garbage on lots of other issues too. Being anti-trans NEVER exists in a vacuum.
January 17, 2026 at 9:42 AM
I can't trust politicians who are anti-trans. Not because I'm "only searching for perfection" which is what centrists will be accusing me of for the rest of my life, it's because if you're not pro-trans you'll be garbage on lots of other issues too. Being anti-trans NEVER exists in a vacuum.
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it's genuinely incredible how nobody batted an eye at trump threatening imperialistic wars of expansion against mexico, iran, venezuela, nigeria, and colombia but the one that actually got people to be serious about the warmongering is denmark. parodic, even
January 15, 2026 at 1:13 PM
it's genuinely incredible how nobody batted an eye at trump threatening imperialistic wars of expansion against mexico, iran, venezuela, nigeria, and colombia but the one that actually got people to be serious about the warmongering is denmark. parodic, even
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“This is another Tuskegee” is not hyperbole. good reporting from IM
We have the CDC-funded Hepatitis Vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau protocol.
It’s worse than you thought.
Check it out, first in Inside Medicine…
with @pauloffit.bsky.social David Boulware and others.
insidemedicine.substack.com/p/scoop-the-...
It’s worse than you thought.
Check it out, first in Inside Medicine…
with @pauloffit.bsky.social David Boulware and others.
insidemedicine.substack.com/p/scoop-the-...
Scoop: The leaked protocol of the CDC-funded Hepatitis B vaccine trial in Guinea-Bissau. “This is another Tuskegee.”
The protocol reveals that the trial will withhold the Hepatitis B birth dose from thousands—without placebos, without universal maternal screening, and with endpoints critics call indefensible.
insidemedicine.substack.com
January 15, 2026 at 11:22 AM
“This is another Tuskegee” is not hyperbole. good reporting from IM
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It is impossible to properly calculate the depth and breadth of the courage and sacrifice of those prepared to confront white supremacy and assert their right to full citizenship.
We - and by that I mean ALL Americans - owe them a great debt. Rest in Peace & Power Claudette Colvin.
We - and by that I mean ALL Americans - owe them a great debt. Rest in Peace & Power Claudette Colvin.
"I knew then and I know now, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can't sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, 'This is not right.' And I did."
Rest in power, Ms. Claudette Colvin.
The fight for equality continues.
❤️
Rest in power, Ms. Claudette Colvin.
The fight for equality continues.
❤️
January 13, 2026 at 11:21 PM
It is impossible to properly calculate the depth and breadth of the courage and sacrifice of those prepared to confront white supremacy and assert their right to full citizenship.
We - and by that I mean ALL Americans - owe them a great debt. Rest in Peace & Power Claudette Colvin.
We - and by that I mean ALL Americans - owe them a great debt. Rest in Peace & Power Claudette Colvin.
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This isn't just a casual observation. Fascism scholars have long made this point. It's why calling them "weird" was a more effective strategy than talking about the prices of eggs. Fascism is an aesthetic political movement - you need to make people feel embarassed and horrified by it.
one of the most effective weapons we have against fascism is mockery, especially when its really funny
It occurs to me all the yelling at ICE in MPLS isn't merely funny. Getting made fun of like this is awful for morale. ICE is losing field officers faster than it can wave them through training, and a big part of it is how little of this these little weasels can take.
January 12, 2026 at 5:54 PM
This isn't just a casual observation. Fascism scholars have long made this point. It's why calling them "weird" was a more effective strategy than talking about the prices of eggs. Fascism is an aesthetic political movement - you need to make people feel embarassed and horrified by it.
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The case against Graeberism and for Mamdanism dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
January 12, 2026 at 6:04 PM
The case against Graeberism and for Mamdanism dissentmagazine.org/article/the-...
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The national media, the ADL, corporate leaders, etc. are not revisiting their decisions about Musk now afaict. Musk is just allowed to be a very public Nazi accelerationist as well as a CSAM publisher without any mainstream scrutiny.
Every week is overwhelming evidence of what we saw with our own eyes, but which our credulous media was afraid to print: the Nazi salute was a Nazi salute
Yesterday Elon Musk retweeted "white solidarity is the only way to survive". In our numb overwhelmed media environment it barely made headlines that the world's richest man endorsed blood-curdling white nationalism. My brief writeup for @religiondispatches.org
religiondispatches.org/elon-musk-ju...
religiondispatches.org/elon-musk-ju...
January 12, 2026 at 2:24 PM
The national media, the ADL, corporate leaders, etc. are not revisiting their decisions about Musk now afaict. Musk is just allowed to be a very public Nazi accelerationist as well as a CSAM publisher without any mainstream scrutiny.
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In case anyone didn’t believe in the literacy crisis among the kids, my eighth graders loudly complained about being given a six page story and it took many of them about an hour and a half to read it. And then lots of them said they didn’t get very basic things in the story. And I’m so tired.
January 10, 2026 at 10:08 PM
In case anyone didn’t believe in the literacy crisis among the kids, my eighth graders loudly complained about being given a six page story and it took many of them about an hour and a half to read it. And then lots of them said they didn’t get very basic things in the story. And I’m so tired.
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Trump is doing to politics what biz schools taught future CEOs to do: break the social contract (e.g., the one btw mgmt & labor that once ensured steady jobs) & extract all the value stored inside.
This will have the same effect on politics as it did on the labor mkt: instability & immiseration.
This will have the same effect on politics as it did on the labor mkt: instability & immiseration.
If I was the commander in chief of the Imperial hegemon I would simply not dismantle the network of military and diplomatic alliances, favourable trade deals, and broad cultural paramountcy that had made my nation the most wealthy and powerful the world has ever seen.
January 11, 2026 at 11:28 AM
Trump is doing to politics what biz schools taught future CEOs to do: break the social contract (e.g., the one btw mgmt & labor that once ensured steady jobs) & extract all the value stored inside.
This will have the same effect on politics as it did on the labor mkt: instability & immiseration.
This will have the same effect on politics as it did on the labor mkt: instability & immiseration.
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Anyway, there is a time and a place to have civility discourse. The free and open exchange of ideas is important and civility is a key lubricant in that.
But we're not talking about discourse, civil or otherwise, but *violence* by the state against its own citizens. We're talking about murder.
But we're not talking about discourse, civil or otherwise, but *violence* by the state against its own citizens. We're talking about murder.
January 10, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Anyway, there is a time and a place to have civility discourse. The free and open exchange of ideas is important and civility is a key lubricant in that.
But we're not talking about discourse, civil or otherwise, but *violence* by the state against its own citizens. We're talking about murder.
But we're not talking about discourse, civil or otherwise, but *violence* by the state against its own citizens. We're talking about murder.
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“If you want to be considered as an actual person you have to let people dehumanize you,” is a silly ass proposition way too many people buy into.
January 10, 2026 at 3:39 PM
“If you want to be considered as an actual person you have to let people dehumanize you,” is a silly ass proposition way too many people buy into.
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“They need better training” is just the liberal way of wanting nothing to change but also wanting to feel good about nothing changing
January 10, 2026 at 2:13 PM
“They need better training” is just the liberal way of wanting nothing to change but also wanting to feel good about nothing changing
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It’s wild that this is empirically true but not part of any political narrative.
every republican president destroys the economy
2025 is now, officially, the worst year for job creation outside of recession since 2003.
@byheatherlong.bsky.social
@byheatherlong.bsky.social
January 9, 2026 at 2:15 PM
It’s wild that this is empirically true but not part of any political narrative.
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A reader followed up with about the books I mention therein. Sharing:
January 9, 2026 at 2:43 PM
A reader followed up with about the books I mention therein. Sharing:
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One reason we are losing is that Republicans angry that they can’t teach the Bible as public school curriculum are hard at work proudly abolishing the Department of Education, but outright kidnapping and murder are not enough to get Democratic leadership to say “Abolish ICE”
January 7, 2026 at 11:43 PM
One reason we are losing is that Republicans angry that they can’t teach the Bible as public school curriculum are hard at work proudly abolishing the Department of Education, but outright kidnapping and murder are not enough to get Democratic leadership to say “Abolish ICE”
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Fascists won't be explained away to a public that is heavily conservative, uneducated, and propagandized. Playing by the fake rules of objectivity aids the construction of deeper authoritarianism. They know you'll stay fenced in your self-constructed losing box that they can outmaneuver every time.
January 8, 2026 at 4:15 PM
Fascists won't be explained away to a public that is heavily conservative, uneducated, and propagandized. Playing by the fake rules of objectivity aids the construction of deeper authoritarianism. They know you'll stay fenced in your self-constructed losing box that they can outmaneuver every time.
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There are no short cuts. I'm sorry. There is only long term, consistent, and disciplined organizing.
January 8, 2026 at 5:59 PM
There are no short cuts. I'm sorry. There is only long term, consistent, and disciplined organizing.
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agree. in politics, delulu really is the solulu.
the Mamdani campaign explicitly focused their early events on convincing supporters they could win.
Greens talk about "being here to replace labour"
from @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social its "we regret to inform you, we are going to win"
the Mamdani campaign explicitly focused their early events on convincing supporters they could win.
Greens talk about "being here to replace labour"
from @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social its "we regret to inform you, we are going to win"
I don't mean to be Polyanna-ish, but history is littered with examples of change being collectively forced on rulers who think themselves omnipotent, often starting from things that seem small, and examples of strongmen overreaching towards their doom. In fact that *is* the paradigm, on the whole.
January 8, 2026 at 1:22 PM
agree. in politics, delulu really is the solulu.
the Mamdani campaign explicitly focused their early events on convincing supporters they could win.
Greens talk about "being here to replace labour"
from @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social its "we regret to inform you, we are going to win"
the Mamdani campaign explicitly focused their early events on convincing supporters they could win.
Greens talk about "being here to replace labour"
from @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social its "we regret to inform you, we are going to win"
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You’re describing life under occupation, which is what living in cities like Chicago or Minneapolis increasingly feels like to many Americans, including people who don’t typically experience police occupation.
Today taps into the core problem much older than ICE. There's the obvious visceral fear of being hurt by agents of the state---but it's also having to live daily life alongside and in total deference to armed people who could kill you, lie to justify it, get away with it, and be celebrated for it.
January 8, 2026 at 1:43 AM
You’re describing life under occupation, which is what living in cities like Chicago or Minneapolis increasingly feels like to many Americans, including people who don’t typically experience police occupation.
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"Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” her mother said. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.” www.startribune.com/she-was-an-a...
‘She was an amazing human being:’ Mother identifies woman shot, killed by ICE agent
Renee Nicole Good, 37, lived in the Twin Cities with her partner.
www.startribune.com
January 7, 2026 at 9:57 PM
"Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” her mother said. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.” www.startribune.com/she-was-an-a...
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masked, unidentified goons who assault and murder with impunity. a literal gestapo.
This is the ICE agent who murdered a woman by shooting her multiple times in the face.
January 7, 2026 at 7:36 PM
masked, unidentified goons who assault and murder with impunity. a literal gestapo.
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> every domain expert when non-domain-experts balk at how much work it is to have an undergraduate understanding of their domain
A lot of you suffer from skill issues
January 7, 2026 at 4:31 PM
> every domain expert when non-domain-experts balk at how much work it is to have an undergraduate understanding of their domain
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I will happily run a crash course on military history and theory for liberal policy people.
It is not hard stuff, but it is important stuff.
It is not hard stuff, but it is important stuff.
this is where i am at: THERE IS NO ONE ELSE. do you want to outsource your military policy to steven miller? no? how about the dc blob? also no? THEN LEARN WHAT THE FUCK HOW TO MILITARY
www.breakingbeijing.com/p/there-is-n...
www.breakingbeijing.com/p/there-is-n...
January 7, 2026 at 12:17 AM
I will happily run a crash course on military history and theory for liberal policy people.
It is not hard stuff, but it is important stuff.
It is not hard stuff, but it is important stuff.
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yeah this is very connected to my general "suffering is not a political credential and we shouldn't expect it to be" ministry - it's a lot to ask of a hungry person that they couch their feelings about their hunger in a broad critique of the food system (and, in any case, confused imo)
January 4, 2026 at 10:49 PM
yeah this is very connected to my general "suffering is not a political credential and we shouldn't expect it to be" ministry - it's a lot to ask of a hungry person that they couch their feelings about their hunger in a broad critique of the food system (and, in any case, confused imo)
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I am so conflicted about this. On the one hand, I can't blame anyone oppressed for prioritizing the end to their oppression any more than I can blame someone starving for eating. On the other hand, if it's short of universalism, it isn't what we need in a political party (let alone an actual party)
January 4, 2026 at 10:46 PM
I am so conflicted about this. On the one hand, I can't blame anyone oppressed for prioritizing the end to their oppression any more than I can blame someone starving for eating. On the other hand, if it's short of universalism, it isn't what we need in a political party (let alone an actual party)