Bryson Kisner

Those new settlers were mostly up around Natchez, not as much near New Orleans; the map's key conflates colonial control with colonist descent, examples appear not just in Louisiana, but it appears to in New Mexico, too

🧵“How do seemingly ordinary people become agents of state murder?” This is one of the guiding questions I ask students in my graduate class on genocide/state violence. With recent events, it is a question many Americans are asking.

I do not have a definitive answer, but here is a reading list: 1/

ICE KIDNAPPED four innocent children and trafficked them to a concentration camp in Texas.

These euphemisms have to die.

Yup

I think it boils down to a certain form of calvinism popularized by many evangelicals--grace by election because God likes you, not grace that entails being called out, and then acknowledging the wrongdoing, repenting, and doing better

"Was UATX a hard-right project from the start? Based on my reporting, I don’t think it was... from so many of the people with whom I spoke"; that means nothing if the capital & ultimate leadership, none of which talked to the author, had a particular project from the start

We've removed the paywall from this guide so everyone can access it. 👇 Stay safe.

Screenshot from the New York Times homepage, January 8, 2025. Headlines: Videos Contradict Trump Administration Account of ICE Shooting in Minneapolis: An analysis of footage from three camera angels shows that the vehicle appears to be turning away from a federal officer as he opened fire. What Trump Said About the ICE Shooting When Pressed Plus a photo of the officer at the side of the car he shot into, not in front of it.

Top of the New York Times homepage, January 8, 2026. Headlines: Trump Says U.S. Oversight of Venezuela Could Last for Years: In a wide-ranging interview with The Times, President Trump said "only time will tell" when it comes to how long the U.S. aims to control the country. Trump Sits Down With Times for Nearly Two-Hour Interview: Speaking with four reporters, the president discussed the Minneapolis ICE shooting, immigration and plans for more White House renovations. Plus a picture of Trump in the Oval Office

Best and worst of The NY Times on display.

Detailed analysis of ICE killing Renee Good in Minneapolis. Headline directly states that the evidence shows Trump officials are lying.

But that's not the top story. Top is Trump spoke to the Times! And said completely empty things! We're special, see?

Opinion | ICE's violence is no accident Alan Elrod: The killing of a woman by an immigration enforcement officer in Minneapolis was the raw application of Trumpist authoritarianism.

"ICE has waged a recruitment drive drenched in war metaphors and martial imagery. The type of person sought...is someone with a fervor for guns and an eagerness to apply violence."

Good work by @aselrod.bsky.social putting shooting in context of MAGA's violent ethos:
www.ms.now/opinion/ice-...

I need people to wrap their minds around the fact that here in Minneapolis, ICE broke the window of a vehicle yesterday, pepper sprayed the occupants, and arrested them, and shot another observer in the face today, and OBSERVERS ARE STILL GOING OUT TO PROTECT THEIR NEIGHBORS AT MASSIVE PERSONAL RISK

It’s not about drugs. If it was, Trump wouldn’t have pardoned one of the largest narco traffickers in the world last month.

It’s about oil and regime change.

And they need a trial now to pretend that it isn’t. Especially to distract from his sinking under Epstein and skyrocketing healthcare costs.

as an undergrad, I stumbled into a document signed by an ancestor while working on the research paper that eventually became a dissertation; also, I have a colleague who apparently found a first draft of a Stoppard play, which he thought he had destroyed and was irritated to find otherwise

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.

Do you think it's making people pivot toward Mamdani as opposed to just making them more enthusiastic, though?

Raising taxes on the wealthy, free buses, city-run grocery stores; Winston-Salem, NC

Firing all of your political journalism staff is a fantastic way to celebrate, sure you'll be able to keep up the quality journalism

I'll clarify the 2nd point; he said that if Democratic primary voters chose a left-of-center candidate (i.e. Mamdani), that candidate must have "played" them rather than represent voters' real left-of-center policy preferences or dissatisfaction with centrist party leadership or positions

Had an interaction on here with someone like that a few days ago, they insisted (1) Democratic Socialists were a distinct party and not a non-party political organization, and (2) the Democratic Party has room for conservatives and liberals, but not the left, primary voters be damned

YouTube video by Runa Miyoshida - Topic カントリー・ロード

Also, it's by no means the best cover--but it's one of the most bonkers: www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ru...

Lots of you have been asking for the syllabus for the lecture course -- "America at 250" -- that I'm teaching with David Blight and Beverly Gage.

Here you go:
president.yale.edu/sites/defaul...

Screenshot of text: unfuck google drive by shooting gemini Hey folks! Google is fucking you via sneaky enshittification again! Want the shit in your google drive to load instantly again, instead of taking for-fucking-ever? Open your gdrive (web OR app) Settings > Manage Apps Gemini was checked "use as default" (and i sure the fuck didn't set it that way, this was a silent push) Nuke that, and suddenly, folders that took up to a minute to populate and sort do so in a fraction of a second.

friend shared this, immediately updated my settings

YouTube video by Frank Watkinson On melancholy hill , Gorillaz cover ish.

Also Frank Watkinson "On Melancholy Hill": www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OvC...

YouTube video by WillieNelsonVEVO Willie Nelson - Just Breathe (Official Video)

Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson covering Eddie Vedder's "Just Breathe": www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow-C...

The LBJ comparison is very appropriate. But I maintain he didn't 'play' anyone--he joined the party, very honestly and in good faith made his case to shift the NYC party platform leftward, and has so far won approval from most NYC Dem voters.

You say 'took advantage'. I say that the US has a calcified 2 party system where a viable 3rd party is impossible; and that democratic socialists have therefore begun to come under, and make their pitch to others under, the big tent of the Democratic Party.

And you aren't a party leader like Jeffries, who has obligations to his party's candidates (save in the case of scandals or crises). You can also not endorse him and still recognize that he is a member of and candidate for the Democratic Party.

Yes, everyone listed by me and nearly everyone in that wikipedia list ran as democrats, in a primary, and many of them won those primaries and generals. Stop splitting hairs over who is and isn't a democrat. Voters define it, and their definitions can change over time and place.

AOC, Emily Gallagher, Greg Casar, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Democratic_Socialists_of_America_public_officeholders

You're splitting hairs on phrasing, and the Democratic Party's tent has included some socialists for a while now.

From the DSA website: "We are a political and activist organization, not a party". It is structured like a party in many ways, but doesn't function as one during election season except perhaps in a few select constituencies.