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Victor Caston

@vcaston.bsky.social

1.2K followers 650 following 1.7K posts

Philosophy & Classical Studies, University of Michigan. In case anyone was in doubt, my opinions are my own.

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Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · Aug 1

Unbelievably, @nehgov.bsky.social funded our Summer Institute:

Aristotle and Contemporary Philosophy of Mind
Directors: Jose Bermudez, Victor Caston

At Texas A&M, first two weeks of June.

More details on applications to follow.

National Endowment for the Humanities @nehgov.bsky.social · Aug 1

NEH Announces $34.79 Million in Grants for 97 Humanities Projects tinyurl.com/ympbr56k

NEH Announces $34.79 Million for 97 Humanities Projects

tinyurl.com

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Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 2h

Be prepared!

No Kings: Protest Safety, Know Your Rights & De-Escalation Training 10/15

I'm attending this event - sign up now to join me!

act.aclu.org

Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 3h

Most interesting suggestion yet, but no!

Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 10h

"A widely shared video on social media shows a masked ICE agent advance on and knock over the elderly veteran during a protest …

Federal prosecutors claim Briggs committed assault when he “made physical contact with an agent’s arm while the agent attempted to extend the safety perimeter”."

Growing number of US veterans face arrest over Ice raid protests

Veterans are facing federal charges after protesting Ice sweeps and Trump’s national guard deployments. The justice department claims the veterans were violent

www.theguardian.com

Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 10h

Glorious

50501: The People’s Movement ❌👑 @50501movement.bsky.social · 13h

The Portland Frog army has now infiltrated Tulsa, OK and they’ve made an unlikely alliance with the T-Rex infantry and Sharks on Hoverboards mercenary forces.

This is truly terrifying.

Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 11h

This guy's got It

Kelly @broadwaybabyto.bsky.social · 11h

“We can demand a government that makes our lives better.

We can tell billionaires that this city doesn’t just belong to them.

We can tell Donald Trump that he cannot buy this election.

And we can tell Andrew Cuomo that New York City is not for sale!”

Mamdani crushed it tonight.

Reposted by Victor Caston

Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 13h

This is, of course, only the beginning.
Neither OpenAI nor Meta care what kind of damage their tech will do as long as they get clicks and shares.

David J. Hensley @david-j-hensley.bsky.social · 1d

I am in a Facebook group where people ridicule AI slop. Someone shared a Sora video in which Hitler was giving a TED Talk about how he was forced into World War II by the Poles & the Brits. I reported it & FB said it was not "hateful." Also, Sora apparently has no qualms producing vids with Hitler.

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Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 12h

Interesting hypothesis

Dante @abesentspectre.bsky.social · 5d

Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 12h

Crucial changes the Democrats are demanding in the shutdown, even if it's too in the weeds for messaging.

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 12h

To be clear - what Trump is doing is already illegal! But this is about adding some obstacles intended to make it harder to keep doing the illegal thing

Reposted by Victor Caston

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 12h

Unprecedented corruption

Michael Scherer @michaelscherer.bsky.social · 13h

Follow the money. A timely bet raises eyebrows amid record crypto selloff www.wsj.com/finance/curr...

A Historic Crypto Selloff Erased Over $19 Billion, but Two Accounts Made $160 Million

Ahead of the selloff, two accounts on Hyperliquid placed massive bets that bitcoin and ether would fall.

www.wsj.com

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Reposted by Victor Caston

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 12h

Late last month, a local CBS reporter said a masked ICE agent fired a pepper ball at her car, causing her to vomit for hours. The reporter, Asal Rezaei, said there was no protest happening at the time. Police are now investigating.

www.npr.org/2025/10/13/n...

Tackles, projectiles and gunfire: Many fear ICE tactics are growing more violent

Videos taken by eye witnesses of federal agent encounters with immigrants in Chicago and elsewhere have shown increasingly tense incidents. Immigrant advocates and observers say they're indicative of ...

www.npr.org

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Reposted by Victor Caston

Anat Shenker-Osorio @anatosaurus.bsky.social · 14h

A unifying color (and/or symbol) has been integral to movements against fascism across places and times. It allows us to know we are indeed a very big we. And to telegraph to others our beliefs in freedom and fairness, prosperity and peace. It makes us a team folks want to join.

Bright yellow background with No Kings written at the top left, below a crown Xed out in red. Below that the words: Saturday, October 18th. Wear yellow. Show up. Show out. nokings.org
Lower right a sign reading "Rejecting Kings Since 1776" and an arm holding it up on a stick.

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Reposted by Victor Caston

It's Going Down @igd.bsky.social · 13h

People organizing in #Chicago to protect children from violent ICE attacks.

"Armed with whistles and know-your-rights pamphlets, community volunteers call themselves “guardian angels.” Together, they secure...elementary, middle and high schools across the city." www.yahoo.com/news/article...

‘Angels’ step in after federal agents use tear gas near Chicago school

Mayor Brandon Johnson said the incident in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood sent students scrambling.

www.yahoo.com

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Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 13h

Too early!

Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 16h

👨‍🍳

Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 17h

on the nose

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 18h

Just in case the dramatically low Leni Riefenstahl-style angle was too subtle, they used a word from her most famous movie

Time magazine cover featuring a photo of Trump from a dramatically low angle

HIS
TRIUMPH
by ERIC CORTELLESSA
THE LEADER ISRAEL NEEDED
by EHUD BARAK
HOW GAZA HEALS

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Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 18h

Like King Canute, they cannot stop the waves:

“And then he spoke to the rising sea saying “You are part of my dominion, and the ground that I am seated upon is mine, nor has anyone disobeyed my orders with impunity.”
(Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum)

Michael Li (李之樸) @mcpli.bsky.social · 18h

Reports that a North Carolina congressional redraw is now going to happen, most likely targeting NC-01, the eastern North Carolina district of Black Democrat Don Davis.

Reposted by Victor Caston

Paul Cohen @paulecohen.bsky.social · 18h

I've devoted my whole life to the study of eschatology -- my own work on the Book of Revelations proves without doubt that when the top marginal income tax rate reaches 66.6% we will know that the Battle of Armageddon has begun

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 2d

Multi billionaire conducts months of historical and theological research into the Antichrist. Discovers, shockingly, that one thing the Antichrist would definitely do is tax billionaires. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Done
theguardian.com
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Jump to
He believes the Armageddon will be ushered in by an antichrist-type figure who cultivates a fear of existential threats such as climate change, Al and nuclear war to amass inordinate power. The idea is this figure will convince people to do everything they can to avoid something like a third world war, including accepting a one-world order charged with protecting everyone from the apocalypse that implements a complete restriction of technological progress. In his mind, this is already happening. Thiel said that international financial bodies, which make it more difficult for people to shelter their wealth in tax havens, are one sign the antichrist may be amassing power and hastening Armageddon, saying: "It's become quite difficult to hide one's money."

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Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 18h

WORD

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 14d

“Miller and the rest abhor the word ‘fascist’ because they know it fairly describes their politics and they worry that, as more Americans come to recognize that, the country might turn against the nationalist project.

As the saying goes: A hit dog will holler.”

thedispatch.com/newsletter/b...

The F-Word

A hit dog will holler.

thedispatch.com

Reposted by Victor Caston

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 20h

I read Caleb Nelson's piece on the removal power and I was taken with a reference he makes in the conclusion.

When the First Congress confronted the same ambiguities, more than one member warned against interpreting the Constitution in the expectation that all Presidents would have the sterling character of George Washington. The current Supreme Court may likewise see itself as interpreting the Constitution for the ages, and perhaps some of the Justices take comfort in the idea that future Presidents will not all have the character of Donald Trump. But the future is not guaranteed; a President bent on vengeful, destructive, and lawless behavior can do lasting damage to our norms and institutions. As one member of Congress argued in 1789, we should not gravitate toward interpretations of the Constitution that “legaliz[e] the full exertion of a tyrannical disposition.”

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Reposted by Victor Caston

Stephen West @stephenwest.bsky.social · 19h

How W. E. B. Du Bois responded to government policing of "anti-American" sentiment during the 1910s:

"I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, 'We are seeking to have the Constitution of the United States thoroughly and completely enforced.' ”

Federal agents invaded even the offices of The Crisis and the National Association for the advancement of colored people and asked searching questions: " just what, after all, were our objects and activities?” I took great satisfaction in being able to sit back in my chair and answer blandly, “We are seeking to have the constitution of the United states thoroughly and completely enforced.” It took some ingenuity, even for Southerners, to make treason out of that.

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Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 19h

What a lead

Victor Caston @vcaston.bsky.social · 19h

They should have a projector and the video clip right there: "Here, I'll show you the video. Let's get your reaction."

Reposted by Victor Caston

C. E. Aubin @ceaubin.bsky.social · 23h

You can arrest us or pepper spray us or whatever, but we will make you look stupid and feel silly doing it because wanting to assert control is stupid. You want to assert control? Do it to an inflatable frog!
So, it’s not just a meme thing, it’s a Portland cultural thing.

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Reposted by Victor Caston

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 21h

For various reasons I think this one will be longer standing but this is also 100% true.

Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 22h

There were at least two ceasefires under Biden! In which more than five times as many living Israeli hostages were released in exchange for 240 Palestinians! Has everyone forgotten this?

Coffee Indiana @coffeeindiana.bsky.social · 22h

Also, ceasefires have happened under prior Presidents! The day he gets Palestine their own country he can be told he's the most special boy deserving of a shiny prize.

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Reposted by Victor Caston

Asawin Suebsaeng @swin24.bsky.social · 1d

For my piece today at @zeteo.com i wanted to truly underscore how punishingly stupid american fascism is now. Like, my original proposed headline for this was:

Our Democracy Is Imperiled Because One Old Man Won’t Stop ‘Yelling’ At His TV. zeteo.com/p/trump-addi...

Trump’s Addiction to Watching Fox Is Killing American Democracy

Our country is falling apart because one old man, Trump advisers and former administration officials say, won’t stop ‘yelling’ at his TV.

zeteo.com

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