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benmadeska.bsky.social
Ben Madeska
@benmadeska.bsky.social
120 followers 270 following 300 posts
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benmadeska.bsky.social
Ben Madeska @benmadeska.bsky.social · Nov 12
I'm primarily an oil painter, making paintings like these of steaks, fish, oysters, and fruit
Oil painting of a ribeye steak Oil painting of a filet of salmon Oil painting of an oyster Oil painting of a plate of cherries
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Reposted by Ben Madeska
hollyanderson.bsky.social
Holly Anderson 🍇 @hollyanderson.bsky.social · 4h
you fucked around and now the Episcopalians are doing memes. are you happy now. are you
Screenshot of a Facebook post featuring three of the Portland protesters wearing inflatable frog costumes with the following text: Episcopalians on Facebook Elizabeth Rose Elrod • 22h • Exodus 8:2-6 "But if you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs... The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your officials."
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frydawolff.bsky.social
Fryda Wolff @frydawolff.bsky.social · 2h
Chicago Pope is pretty fun.
razzball.bsky.social
Razzball @razzball.bsky.social · 3h
Someone in the crowd: “Go Cubs!”

Pope Leo XIV: “Han perdido! They lost!”
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Reposted by Ben Madeska
govpritzker.illinois.gov
Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 19h
Greg Bovino, Kristi Noem, and DHS need to answer for their unchecked attacks on Chicago residents.

ICE is an out-of-control danger to our peaceful communities.

The images from the Sun-Times today speak for themselves.
An ICE agent throws a tear gas canister at protesters at East 105th Street and South Avenue N in East Side. Photo Credit: Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times Federal immigration enforcement agents detain a protester during a skirmish at East 105th Street and South Avenue N in East Side. Photo Credit: Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent points a crowd control weapon at a protester Tuesday at East 105th Street and South Avenue N in the East Side neighborhood. Photo Credit: Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times A Chicago Police Department officer washes his face after being exposed to tear gas during a protest at East 105th Street and South Avenue N in East Side. Photo Credit: Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
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chrislhayes.bsky.social
Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 1d
Unless and until some kind of compelling legal and moral argument is presented as to why this is a legitimate use of deadly force, this is just…mass murder.
amaramarasingam.bsky.social
Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 1d
The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...
U.S. Military Kills Another 6 People in 5th Caribbean Strike, Trump Says
www.nytimes.com
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ericmgarcia.bsky.social
Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 2d
Special education isn't a "nice thing to have." It isn't "charity" or doing something to make us feel better. It is a right. The right to a Free Appropriate Public Education is codified in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, signed by a Republican president.
crampell.bsky.social
Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 2d
U.S. Department of Education fired nearly everyone in the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in a wave of new layoffs that began Friday, according to the union representing the agency's employees. www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...
Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says
The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
www.usatoday.com
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benmadeska.bsky.social
Ben Madeska @benmadeska.bsky.social · 2d
www.npr.org/2025/10/13/n...
Amid shutdown, Trump administration guts department overseeing special education
Multiple sources tell NPR that, as part of the Trump administration's latest reduction-in-force, the U.S. Department of Education has gutted the office that handles special education.
www.npr.org
Reposted by Ben Madeska
elisewang.bsky.social
Elise Wang @elisewang.bsky.social · 3d
For those not fluent in Catholic: refusing the Monstrance is not denying prisoners the Eucharist, it is refusing Christ himself, since Christ is present in the Monstrance.

If Portland’s blow up animals are the right language for Portland, this is the right language for Chicago.
richraho.bsky.social
Rich Raho @richraho.bsky.social · 3d
Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”
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chanda.blacksky.app
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 3d
Silverio Villegas Gonzalez

www.reuters.com/world/us/chi...
Chicago ICE crackdown's first casualty, a father of two, had built a quiet life in the US
An agent shot Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, father of two, during a massive immigration sweep.
www.reuters.com
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meganstielstra.bsky.social
Megan Stielstra @meganstielstra.bsky.social · 3d
"What holds this city together is not a frigid fear. What holds this city together is a million different kindnesses every day. That’s what makes Chicago.”
jrnelson.bsky.social
J.R. Nelson @jrnelson.bsky.social · 3d
So honored I got to know the legendary artist, actor and raconteur Tony Fitzpatrick a little bit over the years. May his memory be a blessing to his family and many, many friends blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/11/t...
Tony Fitzpatrick, Lauded, Eclectic Chicago Artist, Dies at 66
The artist, writer and actor recently published “The Sun at the End of the Road: Dispatches From an American Life," and had planned to star in a Steppenwolf show based on his new book.
blockclubchicago.org
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benmadeska.bsky.social
Ben Madeska @benmadeska.bsky.social · 3d
Tony Fitzpatrick, Lauded, Eclectic Chicago Artist, Dies at 66 blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/11/t...
Tony Fitzpatrick, Lauded, Eclectic Chicago Artist, Dies at 66
The artist, writer and actor recently published “The Sun at the End of the Road: Dispatches From an American Life," and had planned to star in a Steppenwolf show based on his new book.
blockclubchicago.org
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lollardfish.bsky.social
David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 3d
The end of federal enforcement of special ed laws. Some states - including MN - will likely be ok. But a lot of disabled kids in a lot of states are going to lose the education that federal law and decades of jurisprudence say they are owed.
Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says
The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.
www.usatoday.com
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reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 4d
My first thought was “wow I hope this guy didn’t give out his name because he could absolutely be charged” and yup, he is correct to stay anonymous.

This man’s account is shocking. His neighbors’ situation is shocking. The entire Chicago raid is shocking.
On the other side was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for his help. "I wasn't planning on letting her stay, but I didn't know what the hell was going on," the man said of his Venezuelan migrant neighbors. But he quickly relented. The little girl was inconsolable and hid under his bed. "I didn't want them to take her," said the man, who didn't want to be named because he fears he'll be targeted by federal authorities for his actions. "I gave her my bedroom, and I just told her, 'Just stay there. Don't open, don't, shh, just stay quiet," he recalled telling the mom and daughter as he choked back tears.
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cowtoolsdaily.bsky.social
cow tools daily @cowtoolsdaily.bsky.social · 5d
it's not FOR us
edited comic panel. Batman is breaking a lump-with-handle cow tool over his knee and saying "this is the tool of the cow. we do not understand it. we will not use it."
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chicago.suntimes.com
Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 5d
Judge’s order bars ‘federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois’ for at least 14 days.
trib.al/S3CAbjL
Federal judge hits Trump administration credibility in siding with city and state against National Guard deployment
Judge's order bars 'federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois' for at least 14 days.
trib.al
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benmadeska.bsky.social
Ben Madeska @benmadeska.bsky.social · 5d
We were very lucky to get support and assistance focused early intervention and therapy from the start. It made such a profound difference in our perspective and approach
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carnegro.bsky.social
Lucius Fox In The Box @carnegro.bsky.social · 6d
Pope Leo is spitting.

www.npr.org/2025/10/09/n...
Leo questioned a world where the wealth of the elite grows "exponentially" while many "millions of people die of hunger or survive in conditions unfit for human beings." He also criticized "ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation," with false promises "that a free-market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty." Leo described a "new tyranny," which shuns any kind of oversight and where the economy is structured "in such a way that sacrifices are demanded of the masses in order to serve the needs of the powerful." The poor, he wrote, are only allowed "drops that trickle down." The pope openly challenged "prosperity theology" and called Christians to the practice of giving charity. "It will not solve the problem of world poverty, yet it must still be carried out, with intelligence, diligence and social responsibility," he wrote. Popular movements that challenge "the empire of money," invite people to take on the cause to combat poverty alongside the poor, instead of on their behalf, and "make history," the pope said. It our duty, Leo said, to "make their voices heard, albeit in different ways, in order to point out and denounce such structural issues, even at the cost of appearing foolish or naïve."
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benmadeska.bsky.social
Ben Madeska @benmadeska.bsky.social · 6d
Book cover of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's The Autumn of the Patriarch
Reposted by Ben Madeska
govpritzker.illinois.gov
Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 7d
I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?
Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.
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keithwdickinson.bsky.social
Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 7d
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
theverge.com
The Verge @theverge.com · May 26
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry
Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.
buff.ly
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edsbs.bsky.social
BUM CHILLUPS AKA SPENCER HALL @edsbs.bsky.social · 7d
These guys are so vulnerable to defecting to Chicago
wesleymorgan.bsky.social
Wesley Morgan @wesleymorgan.bsky.social · 7d
Don’t think these Texas National Guard guys are going to be chasing any immigrants around Chicago on foot
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govpritzker.illinois.gov
Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 7d
BEST BIG CITY IN THE US 9 YEARS IN A ROW.

While critics try to paint Chicago as something to fear, the rest of the world knows the truth — this is the best big city in America.
Best Big City: Chicago Wins Award 9th Year in a Row
Learn why Chicago was voted the Best Big City for the 9th consecutive year by exploring our vibrant culture, welcoming inclusion, and so much more.
www.choosechicago.com
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colewehrle.bsky.social
Cole Wehrle @colewehrle.bsky.social · 9d
Alright, let's do it. Here's a little prospective reader's guide to every Thomas Pynchon novel. We'll take them in order of publication. This might be a long thread. Buckle up! 1/x
Image from the Simpsons of Pynchon with a bag over his head on a cell phone. He's standing in front of a house with a neon sign advertising it as his home.
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Reposted by Ben Madeska
jbf1755.bsky.social
Joanne Freeman @jbf1755.bsky.social · 7d
There are a lot of memorable photos of the current moment surfacing.

Here’s one from Portland now.
melissagiragrant.com
Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 7d
Incredible (via www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...)
A group of apparent armed agents assemble at the end of a street, as seen from the perspective of a person in inflatable frog costume, their frog’s eyes dominating the foreground. The Ice facility in downtown Portland on Monday. Photograph: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/AFP/Getty Images
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jackjenkins.me
Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 7d
Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.
(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray. “I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.” But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire. “We could hear them laughing,” Black said.
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benmadeska.bsky.social
Ben Madeska @benmadeska.bsky.social · 7d
Been enjoying the hell out of After the Party by The Menzingers lately
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