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sascha benjamin cohen

@saschaben.bsky.social

640 followers 930 following 5.5K posts

"'In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant.' Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me." - Elwood P. Dowd Baker of Bread. Brewer of Beer. Altogether awkward but not entirely unpleasant person.

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sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · Oct 21

Poetry, you say? Odd short fiction, you say? Snarky humor, you say? Serious work on religious and biblical narrative, you say?

Why yes, I've written some stuff like that...

www.amazon.com/stores/Sasch...

Sascha Benjamin Cohen: books, biography, latest update

Follow Sascha Benjamin Cohen and explore their bibliography from Amazon.com's Sascha Benjamin Cohen Author Page.

www.amazon.com

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 5h

A large social crisis of the past decade or so has been caused by people conflating "My speech should be free of legal attempts to restrict it" with "My speech should bear no social consequences."

Kurtbert Barlowko @albertburneko.bsky.social · 5h

"disliking me is persecution" describes so incredibly many people's entire outlook these days defector.com/free-press-r...

Free Press Reporter Discovers That Being An Amoral Dickhead Can Cost You Friends | Defector

It can be hard to maintain friendships as an adult. People move to new cities, start families, and experience all sorts of other life events that make it difficult to keep in touch. Sometimes, you end...

defector.com

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 5h

“the constitution forbids race conscious remedies” would be news to the people who wrote the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments

Michael Li (李之樸) @mcpli.bsky.social · 5h

Griem goes there, arguing in response to Justice Jackson that there can be no race-conscious remedy absent a finding of intentional discrimination.

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 7h

Almost like we founded the entire country on opposing this exact sentence.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7h

Bessent: "No kings equals no paychecks"

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 6h

A foundational truth of this republic is it has no king.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6h

Johnson: "We call it the Hate America Rally that will happen Saturday. Let's see who shows up for that. I bet you you'll see Hamas supporters, I bet you'll see antifa types, I bet you'll see Marxists on full display, people who don't want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic"

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Spencer Ackerman @attackerman.bsky.social · 9h

New from me @thenation.com: the farce at Sharm El-Sheikh displays the delusion that led to October 7 and the genocide Israel pursued after it — that the U.S. regional coalition can pursue normalization over the heads of the Palestinians, who are supposed to accept permanent subjugation.

Sharm El-Sheikh Shows That the US Has Learned Nothing From Gaza

Palestinans are expected to accept the same deal that led to October 7: permanent subjugation under the guise of “prosperity.”

www.thenation.com

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GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE @golikehellmachine.com · 20h

activists are doing a lot of good work to try to help the people being brutalized but the biggest and most important thing that needs to be done is to break the regime, by any means necessary, and absurdist mockery is proving to be an extremely effective part of the arsenal

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sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 22h

one or two minor quibbles, but basically a solid grade statement. This news media consumer (cough cough junkie cough cough) approves of this message.

Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 1d

If we write off all news media, we’re playing into Trump’s hands. Some outlets are doing well while others stink.
In this installment of my free Stop the Presses newsletter, I give letter grades to major media outlets. See if you agree.

I’m handing out pro-democracy grades to the media

The Guardian gets an A, the NY Times gets a C, CBS gets an F

www.stopthepresses.news

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 23h

Good. Even if this doesn’t work, it’s time to go on offense.

www.newsweek.com/jb-pritzker-...

JB Pritzker looking at prosecuting ICE agents in Chicago

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has suggested that state prosecutors might examine the conduct of ICE agents.

www.newsweek.com

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sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 23h

Adam Lashinsky gets it exactly right here, to my mind.

adamlashinsky.bsky.social @adamlashinsky.bsky.social · 1d

The case against Prop 50 — and why I’m voting for it anyway sfstandard.com/opinion/2025...

The case against Prop 50 — and why I’m voting for it anyway

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s gerrymandering effort is an abomination. But it illustrates just how dire the situation in this country has become.

sfstandard.com

sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 23h

Obama is right; Schwarzenegger is wrong.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Sometimes that means holding your nose to allow a stinky but necessary corrective to be applied.

Obama backs California’s Proposition 50 to counter Texas redistricting

Former president urges support for the ballot measure Democrats say could add up to five US House seats

www.theguardian.com

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sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

I'm sorry. I have no sympathy for Hamas - none - but Israel's actions here are tailor made to collapse whatever hope the ceasefire has of moving us toward a real cessation of violence.

sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

After turning Gaza into piles of rubble, and removing all the tools to empower searching or excavating that rubble, Netanyahu's govt now sees Hamas as delaying the return of the bodies Israel's bombardment's have made incredibly difficult to find, let alone retrieve.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · 1d

BREAKING: Israel plans to halve aid into Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating ceasefire with slow release of dead hostages, AP sources say.

Israel plans to halve aid into Gaza over slow return of dead hostages, a test for the Gaza ceasefire

The tenuous ceasefire in the two-year Israel-Hamas war is being tested as complex issues remain a day after widespread jubilation over the return to Israel of the last 20 living hostages held in Gaza and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange.

bit.ly

sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

I make an effort to keep my hands out of the gears of the outrage machine, but sometimes reality really does become...outrageous.

sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

all the poems are gone
like dreams in the morning light
fading, failing, lost

#haiku
#poetry

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Emily Tamkin @emilyctamkin.bsky.social · 4d

I’ve seen some accuse those who protested for a ceasefire as being disingenuous by not celebrating this one so for @forward.com I wrote about the difference between relief and joy and what the ceasefire can’t do

forward.com/opinion/7754...

I know exactly why leftists aren't celebrating this ceasefire

Why not celebrate the ceasefire? Because, while it's a relief, it won't undo all the suffering and death of the past two years.

forward.com

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St0ney of Henge @stonehenge.bsky.social · 6d

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sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

for no reason at all, thinking about janus words, or contronyms.

sanction.
cleave.
hew.
splice.
trim.

my spirit is a janus spirit tonight, both this and that, driving opposite directions at once, facing different directions

sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

Isn't "filling it all in" always the dinnertime challenge?

sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

For the record: I've been brewing since 1984, have connections in *actual* craft beer industry, and while some valid points are made in the piece (too much mid product, high costs mediated through packaging), it reads a lot like "misguided ill-informed hick irritated that the local is out of PBR."

sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

When you dip your toe into an industry, then five years later write about your surface impressions without any investigation of the industry more broadly or what may have changed in the interval, you probably write this piece:

Opinion | Wacky Labels and Silly Names are Killing Craft Beer

www.nytimes.com

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sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

The kind of person who currently holds executive power in this country, I'm afraid.

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sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

Was thinking this (and other ancillary thoughts) earlier today. Then reinforced them by diving into the comments section of a prestigious and well-thought of (on bsky) substack blog...

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Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 1d

Every Discourse on this site is evidence of how it's not good to treat K-12 history education the way this country has.

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sascha benjamin cohen @saschaben.bsky.social · 1d

The utter cynicism and unnecessary loss of life and further suffering exposed in this article is horrific, even if predictable.

Sir Rants Alot @robvo.bsky.social · 5d

Joe Biden and Netanyahu were offered same Gaza deal a year ago, says negotiator

But the Israelis had no intention of striking any agreement before a change of administration in Washington.

They wanted to give The Felon the credit.
www.thetimes.com/world/middle...

Joe Biden and Netanyahu were offered Gaza deal a year ago, says negotiator

Gershon Baskin says he got the plan on to the president’s desk but then learnt the Israelis were waiting for a change of administration in Washington

www.thetimes.com

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The Onion @theonion.com · 1d

Nation’s Indigenous People Confirm They Don’t Need Special Holiday, Just Large Swaths Of Land Returned Immediately https://theonion.com/nation-s-indigenous-people-confirm-they-don-t-need-spec-1839033177/

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