Real Benisons
@realbenisons.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.8K following 12K posts
reading the morning newspaper is a realistic benediction of the day--Hegel
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grimely.bsky.social
"The executive has usurped the power of the purse to pay for a standing army" is something that the Founders very explicitly wanted to prevent from ever happening but, ah, well, nevertheless
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goldwagnathan.bsky.social
We are living through the most consequential shift in the constitutional government of the United States in over a hundred and fifty years and nobody seems to have even noticed yet.
mikeblack114.bsky.social
Congress no longer holds the power of the purse, the executive can just do whatever they want with federal monies
realbenisons.bsky.social
The shining brightness we once called glory (h/t Hannah Arendt) is available to you for free in Portland

Pick your favorite
realbenisons.bsky.social
The Human Condition
P 180
realbenisons.bsky.social
Doesn't Don Lemon recognize that the "shining brightness we once called glory" (h/t Arendt) is available to him for free in PDX?
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stephenjudkins.bsky.social
As a Portlander, it seems pretty clear that the black bloc street fight approach has been an unmitigated failure from the perspective of any political actors beside reactionaries and fascists eager for a fight
danlehner.bsky.social
“dressing up as animals is insulting, this is war” is kind of a particularly bad complaint for Portland because they’ve been doing black bloc streetfighting shit for like, years at this point and the feds clearly aren’t scared to come back. might as well give “embarrass them” a shot.
realbenisons.bsky.social
We have spare costumes all ready in pdx
realbenisons.bsky.social
Thanks

Liking the “crime” tag along with the picture (of a shark?)
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johnpfaff.bsky.social
Arguably, Trump 2.0 is all about stochastic authoritarianism.

He lacks the ability to punish multiple cities with an iron fist. He can't even really punish all of ONE with an iron fist. ICE and associated unnamed Fed LEOs roam Chicago, but only strike a limited number of places at a time.
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johnpfaff.bsky.social
Which is, of course, why ICE is trying to deputize local police to do their work for them: the notorious 287(g) agreements.

But if you have a good sense of what US pop density looks like, you'll see that outside of FL, LOTS of ppl live in green (terminated) or blank (never had a deal) areas.
Map of 287g agreements. Red and orange are hard to tell apart, and not a fan of circle size to distinguish things here, but it gets the point across. Source: https://www.ilrc.org/practitioners/national-map-287g-agreements
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johnpfaff.bsky.social
There's a reasons all our stories of horrible raids and abductions come mostly from Chicago and, now, Portland.

Bc, due to Federalism, the Feds simply lack man-power to deploy police-state tactics widely.

The article has ~10,000 new Fed LEOs being deployed for "immigration." US has ~650,000 cops.
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koin6.bsky.social
A clarinet player is apparently being held without bail on no specific charges at the Clark County Jail in Vancouver after her husband said she was arrested Sunday during a protest across the street from the ICE facility in South Portland. 
Clarinetist playing ‘Ghostbusters’ arrested at ICE facility
The woman’s husband — who asked KOIN 6 News not to identify either of them for safety reasons — said his wife was tackled by federal agents while she was playing her clarinet arou…
www.koin.com
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timdickinson.bsky.social
The Portland ICE protest camp literally has a rack full of inflatable costumes for demonstrators who want to try one on...
realbenisons.bsky.social
And a few bits of the city of Portland might be in Clackamas County?
realbenisons.bsky.social
I don’t know
But the border of Portland and Beaverton (or Washington county?) is opaque to me

i would really not like living in Baarle tho
Exclaves within enclaves
Or is it enclaves within exclaves? I think that’s it
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nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
Trump took office with a Israel-Hamas ceasefire in place, then announced a vision for Gaza as a US-owned resort, with most Palestinians living there gone. Israel restarted military ops in March and imposed famine. Thousands of dead Palestinians later, the Trump admin helped broker another ceasefire.
Opinion | Trump’s Nobel peace prize campaign is the least important part of the Gaza deal
If the ceasefire holds, the administration deserves much credit. But the fixation on Trump getting a prize distracts from things that actually matter.
www.msnbc.com
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paleofuture.bsky.social
"During the encounter, Greeley said they told her she 'doesn’t look like' a Greeley."

www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Chicago Tribune: Greeley, who was born at Illinois Masonic hospital and is adopted, carries a copy of her passport just in case she runs into federal agents.

“I am Latina and I am a service worker,” Greeley said. “I fit the description of what they’re looking for now.”

During the encounter, Greeley said they told her she “doesn’t look like” a Greeley.

“They said this isn’t real, they kept telling me I’m lying, I’m a liar,” Greeley recalled. “I told them to look in the rest of my wallet, I have my credit cards, my insurance.”
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ericerins.bsky.social
They’ve been repainting the Edgewater Beach Apartments and they’re looking pinker than ever
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ptdefiancezoo.bsky.social
Muskox Monday mood: activated. Willow and Pretzel are zooming into the week like pros! 💕 #MondayMotivation

📹: Curator Jen
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vanhollen.senate.gov
These are the same kind of weasels who would’ve called George Washington & America’s revolutionaries “terrorists.” They spend their days sucking up to King Trump & demonizing peaceful protest just as some in America sought to appease King George III. 

Looking forward to No Kings Day.
Johnson describes planned No Kings rally as ‘hate America,’ ‘pro-Hamas’ gathering
Organizers largely blew off the rhetoric, but some Democrats online criticized the tone.
www.politico.com
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50501movement.bsky.social
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.
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dandrezner.bsky.social
So, bases loaded. CF Frelick tipped the ball into the wall, making it in play and not an out. Frelick relayed to SS Joey Ortiz to catcher William Contreras, forcing out the runner at home. Contreras then ran the ball to third, forcing the runner there.

You know, a garden-variety double play.
cjzero.bsky.social
what in the hell just happened in Milwaukee
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jamalgreene.bsky.social
I wonder if ruling for an authoritarian president of your own party 18 straight times (or whatever it is now), often without any reasoning at all, gives any impressions that a Supreme Court justice should wish not to give.
atrupar.com
Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."
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japulver.bsky.social
Always appeal your medical denials, especially since more payers are using AI to make denial decisions (which are supposed to be made by a doctor.)

Always exhaust all appeal options. The squeaky wheel gets the grease in these situations. Trust me.

Appeal, appeal, appeal. Make them do extra work.
propublica.org
Few patients appeal a health insurance denial, but a little-known process that requires insurers and plans to seek an independent opinion can force insurers to pay for what can be lifesaving treatment.

Here’s what experts say you need to know.
How to Fight Your Health Insurance Denial with an External Appeal
When a health insurer refuses to pay for your treatment, you may have the right to have the denial reviewed — and potentially overturned — by an independent provider. Here are six steps experts sugges...
www.propublica.org