Jon Frandsen
@jcfrandsen.bsky.social
Dismayed retired journalist/writer; dog walker; cat herder. Proud father, grandfather & partner. “Not long lines. Long tables!”—Chef and future Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Andres.
This is the perfect combination of Orwell & Heller’s Catch-22:
They weren’t helpless in the water because they managed to pull themselves to safety after being blown out of the water. They really think we’re stupid ... or don’t care how stupid they look when making absurd excuses.
They weren’t helpless in the water because they managed to pull themselves to safety after being blown out of the water. They really think we’re stupid ... or don’t care how stupid they look when making absurd excuses.
WELKER: Lawmakers say the 2 men appeared to raise their arms potentially to surrender. Why did Admiral Bradley interpret these actions as anything other than them trying to survive?
TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
December 7, 2025 at 4:59 PM
This is the perfect combination of Orwell & Heller’s Catch-22:
They weren’t helpless in the water because they managed to pull themselves to safety after being blown out of the water. They really think we’re stupid ... or don’t care how stupid they look when making absurd excuses.
They weren’t helpless in the water because they managed to pull themselves to safety after being blown out of the water. They really think we’re stupid ... or don’t care how stupid they look when making absurd excuses.
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
WELKER: Lawmakers say the 2 men appeared to raise their arms potentially to surrender. Why did Admiral Bradley interpret these actions as anything other than them trying to survive?
TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
December 7, 2025 at 3:14 PM
WELKER: Lawmakers say the 2 men appeared to raise their arms potentially to surrender. Why did Admiral Bradley interpret these actions as anything other than them trying to survive?
TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
Neo-royalist is a term we all need in our lexicons. It describes our circumstances perfectly.
1/As FIFA delivers Trump his peace prize there will be many uncomfortable chuckles and head scratches. But this is no joke. It is another peace in building a neo-royalist order based not on states but hyper elites. Orders use symbols for legitimation.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
www.cambridge.org
December 5, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Neo-royalist is a term we all need in our lexicons. It describes our circumstances perfectly.
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
1/As FIFA delivers Trump his peace prize there will be many uncomfortable chuckles and head scratches. But this is no joke. It is another peace in building a neo-royalist order based not on states but hyper elites. Orders use symbols for legitimation.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System | International Organization | Cambridge Core
Further Back to the Future: Neo-Royalism, the Trump Administration, and the Emerging International System - Volume 79 Issue S1
www.cambridge.org
December 5, 2025 at 6:03 PM
1/As FIFA delivers Trump his peace prize there will be many uncomfortable chuckles and head scratches. But this is no joke. It is another peace in building a neo-royalist order based not on states but hyper elites. Orders use symbols for legitimation.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
Wow
Senator Kelly is correct.
Plus a Public Service Announcement:
KEY section of Department of Defense's Law of War Manual is 18.3.2.1.
The VERY rule on the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders gives as its paradigmatic example of what is "clearly illegal:
"orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
Plus a Public Service Announcement:
KEY section of Department of Defense's Law of War Manual is 18.3.2.1.
The VERY rule on the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders gives as its paradigmatic example of what is "clearly illegal:
"orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
December 1, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Wow
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
NEW: ICE had initially planned a limited pilot program to hire bounty hunters and private investigators for immigrant tracking.
The agency has now scrapped that plan and is going all-in, removing the program’s spending cap and offering up to $280M to any given contractor.
From @dell.bsky.social
The agency has now scrapped that plan and is going all-in, removing the program’s spending cap and offering up to $280M to any given contractor.
From @dell.bsky.social
ICE Offers Up to $280 Million to Immigrant-Tracking ‘Bounty Hunter’ Firms
Immigration and Customs Enforcement lifted a $180 million cap on a proposed immigrant-tracking program while guaranteeing multimillion-dollar payouts for private surveillance firms.
www.wired.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:59 PM
NEW: ICE had initially planned a limited pilot program to hire bounty hunters and private investigators for immigrant tracking.
The agency has now scrapped that plan and is going all-in, removing the program’s spending cap and offering up to $280M to any given contractor.
From @dell.bsky.social
The agency has now scrapped that plan and is going all-in, removing the program’s spending cap and offering up to $280M to any given contractor.
From @dell.bsky.social
I’m having a very difficult time with the idea that shipping human beings to a torture prison hasn’t caused more outrage. There’s something deeply wrong with our country.
November 24, 2025 at 8:43 PM
I’m having a very difficult time with the idea that shipping human beings to a torture prison hasn’t caused more outrage. There’s something deeply wrong with our country.
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
In the end, it didn’t cut government spending, and there was no promised “savings.” In the end, DOGE destroyed countless lives, ravaged American soft power, killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world (soon millions), & stole your data.
Elon Musk should be on trial.
Elon Musk should be on trial.
November 24, 2025 at 2:46 PM
In the end, it didn’t cut government spending, and there was no promised “savings.” In the end, DOGE destroyed countless lives, ravaged American soft power, killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world (soon millions), & stole your data.
Elon Musk should be on trial.
Elon Musk should be on trial.
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
REMINDER: you can LISTEN instead. Just search "Letters from an American" on Substack or your favorite podcast platform.
November 20, 2025 at 12:17 PM
REMINDER: you can LISTEN instead. Just search "Letters from an American" on Substack or your favorite podcast platform.
All that madness, drama and polished torture porn video & hysteria from DHS … and not a single criminal charge. Nada. Zip. Bupkis. Grotesque abuse of power. 🤢
NEW: @propublica.org investigated the Chicago apartment raid where kids were zip-tied and citizens detained for hours. They find:
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
November 13, 2025 at 4:50 PM
All that madness, drama and polished torture porn video & hysteria from DHS … and not a single criminal charge. Nada. Zip. Bupkis. Grotesque abuse of power. 🤢
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
NEW: @propublica.org investigated the Chicago apartment raid where kids were zip-tied and citizens detained for hours. They find:
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
November 13, 2025 at 2:08 PM
NEW: @propublica.org investigated the Chicago apartment raid where kids were zip-tied and citizens detained for hours. They find:
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
- NONE of the arrested were criminally charged
- NO evidence the building was "filled with TdA terrorists."
- ZERO legitimate reason for DHS to rappel from a Blackhawk.
The only thing missing from this is the flying spittle and twitches. Utterly unhinged behavior and hatred. (And wow … no wonder he sees nothing wrong with Tucker Carlson platforming a Nazi.)
it's utterly wild how the Heritage Foundation president talks about other people
if you found a guy talking like this outside, you'd probably call the cops
if you found a guy talking like this outside, you'd probably call the cops
November 3, 2025 at 3:42 AM
The only thing missing from this is the flying spittle and twitches. Utterly unhinged behavior and hatred. (And wow … no wonder he sees nothing wrong with Tucker Carlson platforming a Nazi.)
Horrible, but utterly obvious racist stereotypes.
So there were some AI-generated videos that purported to show Black women ranting about SNAP benefits, and... Fox News is reporting on this like these are real people. They're not! They're AI!
This is truly insane. Total unreality. www.foxnews.com/media/snap-b...
This is truly insane. Total unreality. www.foxnews.com/media/snap-b...
November 1, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Horrible, but utterly obvious racist stereotypes.
This is horrifying enough. But add to this Homeland Security’s disgraceful “defend our culture” recruitment ads featuring idealized images of white people & you have nothing less than the government explicitly aspiring for a white ethnostate.
The Trump administration is going to restrict the number of refugees it admits into the United States next year to the token level of just 7,500 – and those spots will mostly be filled by white South Africans.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
US will limit number of refugees and give priority to white South Africans
The Trump administration is going to restrict the number of refugees it admits to just 7,500 next year
www.theguardian.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:28 PM
This is horrifying enough. But add to this Homeland Security’s disgraceful “defend our culture” recruitment ads featuring idealized images of white people & you have nothing less than the government explicitly aspiring for a white ethnostate.
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
Waiting for someone to explain why the announcement of a trade relationship that is worse than the one we had a year ago is received as a big success
October 30, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Waiting for someone to explain why the announcement of a trade relationship that is worse than the one we had a year ago is received as a big success
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
SNAP isn't about "people who don't work." It's about people who don't get paid enough to live.
Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:
* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled
* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages
Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:
* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled
* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages
October 27, 2025 at 12:48 AM
SNAP isn't about "people who don't work." It's about people who don't get paid enough to live.
Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:
* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled
* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages
Of the 40 or so million people who rely on food stamps:
* Two-thirds are children, seniors, or disabled
* Most working-age adults who receive SNAP are employed—but in jobs that pay poverty wages
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
Guillermo del Toro on wealth: "a wealthy man is a man who has enough, not a man that needs more. If you have enough to invite someone for a beer? You're rich. If you have a yacht, planes, islands, and you still need more? You're not rich."
October 27, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Guillermo del Toro on wealth: "a wealthy man is a man who has enough, not a man that needs more. If you have enough to invite someone for a beer? You're rich. If you have a yacht, planes, islands, and you still need more? You're not rich."
Succinct and effective. No government in US history has interfered with the lives of Americans as broadly and lawlessly as this one.
October 23, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Succinct and effective. No government in US history has interfered with the lives of Americans as broadly and lawlessly as this one.
This is crucially important. We have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot by pushing people out.
Folks demanding political / ideological purity fail to see that this is no longer a movement belonging to the left / liberals. This is an opposition against fascism. By definition it must be big tent. Failure to grasp this: see divided oppositions in Eastern Europe as your failed examples.
October 20, 2025 at 1:27 AM
This is crucially important. We have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot by pushing people out.
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
you fucked around and now the Episcopalians are doing memes. are you happy now. are you
October 15, 2025 at 4:10 PM
you fucked around and now the Episcopalians are doing memes. are you happy now. are you
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
Marco Rubio not just a liar. Accessory to mass murder of children.
The Americans starving these children wear crucifixes and call themselves “Christians.”
People are not what they tell you they are; they are how they behave.
apnews.com/article/myan...
People are not what they tell you they are; they are how they behave.
apnews.com/article/myan...
Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.
apnews.com
October 9, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Marco Rubio not just a liar. Accessory to mass murder of children.
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
Agree with this whole thread and particularly this.
I don’t want to have to defend my right to video record law enforcement in public with violence, or suffer violence. I don’t want my phone stolen. Our 1A rights are superior to whatever law enforcement reasons they have. And we need confirmation
I don’t want to have to defend my right to video record law enforcement in public with violence, or suffer violence. I don’t want my phone stolen. Our 1A rights are superior to whatever law enforcement reasons they have. And we need confirmation
Even aside from immigration, police "have been known to resort to informal methods of repression, threatening or roughing up persons they see using cameras, or demanding that they delete the footage or hand over their phones or tablets." We need explicit acknowledgement of a right to record. /7
October 8, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Agree with this whole thread and particularly this.
I don’t want to have to defend my right to video record law enforcement in public with violence, or suffer violence. I don’t want my phone stolen. Our 1A rights are superior to whatever law enforcement reasons they have. And we need confirmation
I don’t want to have to defend my right to video record law enforcement in public with violence, or suffer violence. I don’t want my phone stolen. Our 1A rights are superior to whatever law enforcement reasons they have. And we need confirmation
Reposted by Jon Frandsen
So so so much this.
i was invited to a gathering tonight and initially wasn’t gonna go because every extra thing feels like so much these days but i made myself go and i’m so glad i did because it turns out community is so fucking important right now
October 1, 2025 at 2:06 AM
So so so much this.