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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 1h

Some thoughts on the freeing of Israeli hostages and on survivors of genocide in Gaza. 2/2 End

* If the ceasefire, indeed, holds, there are now several hundred thousand survivors of genocide in Gaza. Since it's estimated that as much as 80-90% of structures are either fully destroyed or damaged, there is little for survivors to return to (the same aid worker interviewed on NPR today talked about how people are in need of cleaning supplies as they try to clean up whatever parts of their homes may be standing, for those who find anything still standing). This had gone on for this long because of Netanyahu's attempt to stay in power, his and his coalition's desire to grind Gaza to dust, and because the majority of the Israeli public — even of those protesting against the war — have been concerned for the hostages while being uninterested in (or, more often, hostile) to the suffering of Palestinians. I fear that with all hostages now returned, there will be massive crackdown on the minority of the Israeli public that will continue to call for justice for genocide survivors because the war will now be deemed "over" and protesters will spoil the jubilant mood.

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 1h

Some thoughts on the freeing of Israeli hostages and on survivors of genocide in Gaza. 1/2

* It is amazing that all living Israeli hostages have been released -- just catching up on various images of family reunifications, it's wonderful after two years of horror;
* It is amazing that there is a ceasefire; and yet I am -- like so many people are -- worried that it will be violated by Israel, like previous ceasefires (most recently in March) after this first phase;
* I had a busy morning with the kiddo and got an update on the news only around 9 am Seattle time, listening to the radio in the car. They were interviewing someone from an aid organization beginning to be able to finally distribute food and other aid in Gaza. The person noted that about 55,000 children in Gaza are experiencing extreme malnutrition right now -- which is to say, he noted, facing death -- and that solving this won't be fixed by simply giving them a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (I'm quoting what I heard, PB&J wouldn’t have been my example, this man speaking with some sort of accent was clearly trying to “translate” what he was saying for the American listener) because their organs are malfunctioning and have begun to fail after months of starvation. And the first association that came to my mind was Elie Wiesel's "Night" when he writes about how he gorged on food right after liberation from the camps and the death marches, and then falling very ill because the bodies of survivors could not digest the food. I am not making this up, this is what I literally thought about -- maybe it wasn't even Wiesel, maybe I'm conflating several different Holocaust memoirs (scenes of getting ill after eating immediately after liberation are common in that literature) and I've read a bunch -- while hearing the news on the radio today.

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 2d

Trump is out to kill is all, it would seem.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 3d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Reposted by Sasha Senderovich 🌻

Dimitri Drekonja, MD, MS @dimitridrekonja.bsky.social · 2d

The people getting laid off are some of the highest-trained and most specialized people in healthcare. They don’t just get replaced by hiring some new people when a sane administration takes over. This is a huge loss for America.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 3d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 5d

Really excited for Seattle’s own Shelley Fairweather-Vega for being named, together with the Uzbek-language author Hamid Ismailov, a finalist for the 2025 National Book Awards (in the Translated Literature category). www.nationalbook.org/books/we-com... @nationalbook.bsky.social

We Computers: A Ghazal Novel - National Book Foundation

In the late 1980s, French poet and psychologist Jon‑Perse finds himself in possession of one of the most promising inventions of the century: a computer. Enchanted by snippets of Persian poetry he lea...

www.nationalbook.org

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 5d

Eli Valley on Bari Weiss’s appointment to lead the CBS newsroom. Looks about right. @elivalley.bsky.social @jewishcurrents.bsky.social jewishcurrents.org/bari-weiss-c...

https://jewishcurrents.org/bari-weiss-cbs-news-1964

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Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 6d

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 6d

Shaul Magid @theguardian.com, two years after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the ongoing war of revenge against Gaza and what many conclude to be an ongoing genocide, on the disappearance of the American Jewish consensus on Israel and Zionism. www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

The Zionist consensus among US Jews has collapsed. Something new is emerging | Shaul Magid

Two years after the 7 October massacre and the onset of Israel’s slaughter in Gaza, American Jewry has been profoundly transformed

www.theguardian.com

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 8d

That’s our timeline.

Andrea Junker @strandjunker.com · 9d

“Terrible things are happening outside. Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes. Families are torn apart. Men, women, and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.”

Diary of Anne Frank
January 13, 1943

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 8d

A right-wing hack with zero experience in reporting who rode the wave of grievance culture (on the backs of “concerned liberals” whose fears she successfully stoked) to power, that’s who Bari Weiss is.

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 10d

Headlines like this — "Morale is extremely low at CBS ahead of Bari Weiss taking over" — is, perversely, a key reason Paramount's leadership paid such a ridiculous premium for Free Press. The *point* is to break the real journalists. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Image from Mediagazer website with headline "Sources at CBS News say newsroom morale is extremely low ahead of Bari Weiss' imminent arrival, and employees worry about her lack of experience as layoffs loom "

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 8d

One would have to agree, I’m afraid.

Texas Paul @realtexaspaul.com · 9d

If you drive a 2025/2026 Tesla or still use X, there really isn't an excuse. You really are just an asshole that looks the other way.

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 8d

Whether a hysterical fascist of a plain regular fascist, he’s a fucking fascist.

David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 8d

Is hysteria an essential ingredient for fascism?

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Reposted by Sasha Senderovich 🌻

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 9d

BIG news here: the second judge to find at least some aspect of Trump’s deployment of the National Guard is unlawful. This comes as Governor Pritzker says Trump is going to federalize the Illinois National Guard.

Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 9d

BREAKING: A federal judge has granted a restraining order blocking President Trump's call-up of the National Guard in Portland.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 9d

Good for Dartmouth for being the first to set the example that one has to say “no” to this totalitarian bullshit quickly.

Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 9d

It appears that my employer, Dartmouth, one of the Trump 9, has said no to the compact. All the better given that our president is cited within it. But she’s saying no. Count the small victories when they come.

Office of the President
Dear Dartmouth community,

As many of you know, Dartmouth was one of nine universities asked by the White House to give feedback by Oct. 20 on a draft of its “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”

I am deeply committed to Dartmouth’s academic mission and values and will always defend our fierce independence.

You have often heard me say that higher education is not perfect and that we can do better. At the same time, we will never compromise our academic freedom and our ability to govern ourselves.

Best,
Sian Leah Beilock
President

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 10d

On the other hand, if you signed that Harper’s letter back in 2020, you can probably make a quick buck as a talking head on CBS!

Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 11d

In case it wasn’t clear, the anti-DEI crusade has never been about merit. Zero news experience. Never been a reporter. Elevated to Editor in Chief of CBS News, one of the most storied news institutions in the nation. www.mediaite.com/media/news/p...

Paramount Officially Acquiring The Free Press and Making Bari Weiss CBS News Editor in Chief: Report

Paramount Skydance will be officially acquiring The Free Press and hiring its founder Bari Weiss as editor in chief of its CBS News division, with the deal to be announced this coming Monday, accordin...

www.mediaite.com

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 11d

Failing upward, this one. Nothing but the culture of grievance and resentment. On the other hand, an excellent choice to run Pravda.

Ida Bae Wells @nhannahjones.bsky.social · 11d

In case it wasn’t clear, the anti-DEI crusade has never been about merit. Zero news experience. Never been a reporter. Elevated to Editor in Chief of CBS News, one of the most storied news institutions in the nation. www.mediaite.com/media/news/p...

Paramount Officially Acquiring The Free Press and Making Bari Weiss CBS News Editor in Chief: Report

Paramount Skydance will be officially acquiring The Free Press and hiring its founder Bari Weiss as editor in chief of its CBS News division, with the deal to be announced this coming Monday, accordin...

www.mediaite.com

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 11d

Re-watched "Battleship Potemkin" for tomorrow's class. The Odesa staircase sequence in these United States in 2025: it’s about the use of the military to suppress a peaceful urban protest, isn’t it?

Frame from Sergei Eisenstein’s “Battleship Potemkin” with Russian troops shooting at civilians in Odesa.

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Reposted by Sasha Senderovich 🌻

Miriam Posner @miriamposner.com · 13d

Once again, it is *faculty*—not administrators—who brought this case and won. Including UC Faculty Association chapters of the AAUP.

Court Rules in AAUP v Rubio: Trump Admin Violated First Amendment

The AAUP and partners sued to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members for ideological reasons.

www.aaup.org

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 14d

Good thing that Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the ADL, defended Musk’s Nazi salute on Trump’s inauguration day.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 14d

The ADL defended Elon Musk's "awkward gesture." Now he calls it a hate group.

The ADL Defended Elon Musk's 'Awkward Gesture.' Now He Calls It a Hate Group

gizmodo.com

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 14d

Pass the leadership to someone with more spine, please. As quickly as possible.

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 14d

Coates has this verbal tick, saying “you know what I mean?” frequently. But I was thinking about while listening to this conversation how if we take his question literally, Ezra Klein maybe actually has no idea what Coates means and what experience and historical memory he is speaking from. 3/3

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 14d

… naively thinks that liberals should adopt Kirk’s approach to preach some version of a modified gospel (which Coates tells him would require overlooking / ignoring / denying the humanity of many in the democratic polity) to get back to a “more effective” politics. 2/3

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 14d

In his interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates @ezraklein.bsky.social comes off as ignorant and extremely privileged, committed to some idea that Coates tells him again and again America never was. Coates is clear-eyed about the animating force that is the kind of hate practiced by C. Kirk while Klein
…1/3

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Sasha Senderovich 🌻 @returnstosender.bsky.social · 15d

Spot on.

Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 15d

This is a great discussion. What it makes clear to me is that Ezra Klein is lost right now in a way that TNC isn't, and I don't mean that as a dunk.

The past 9 mos, most of us have been navigating w/o magnetic north. Across a range of disciplines, heuristics we took for granted no longer apply.

Opinion | Ta-Nehisi Coates on Bridging Gaps vs. Drawing Lines

www.nytimes.com

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Brad Lander @bradlander.bsky.social · 18d

I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today, where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital. (🎥: Elias Eliahu)

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