Suzanne Conklin Akbari
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sakbari.bsky.social
Suzanne Conklin Akbari
@sakbari.bsky.social

Living on Lunaapahkiing, faculty at IAS, servant of two cats and sometimes one dog.

Suzanne Conklin Akbari is a medievalist, recognised for her global and comparative approach to medieval literary history. She was a Professor in English and Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto from 1995 until 2019, when she joined the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. .. more

History 44%
Political science 18%
alexa ai ad: we'll fucking kill you lmao
The nice commercial about helping kids find their lost pets was the scariest thing I've seen in my life
Did Ring just advertise their surveillance state technology
#BadBunny's performers continued to dance and party outside the stadium after the #SuperBowl #HalftimeShow
Did he give the Grammy to Liam??
Happy Superb Owl day to all who celebrate.
Kent Monkman, Bull in a China Shop (2015), Gardiner Museum, Toronto. A playful take on Picasso and the collision of Indigenous & European. Kent knows bison bones were used in the making of china, and his floral border is derived from Meissen's onion pattern (introduced in 1733) #c18th #c18 #18thc
Concentration camps:

“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."
Exclusive: Detention Center Captives Are Throwing Lotion Bottles Wrapped With Notes to Organizers Outside Otay Mesa Facility ~ L.A. TACO
“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh," an Otay Mesa captive communicated through handwritten note. "We are all in one big room with no doors...
lataco.com
ICE told nurses this Minneapolis man “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall.”

What actually happened is that they pulled him from a car, beat him so viciously with a steel baton that he had 8 skull fractures, 5 life-threatening brain hemorrhages, and couldn’t remember he had a daughter.
Really important piece in today's @nytimes.com about possible, disastrous next target of MAGA wrecking ball:

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/a...

H/t to my friend @timothynoah.bsky.social for pioneering on this story: newrepublic.com/article/2010...
It’s Been Called the ‘Sistine Chapel of the New Deal.’ Don’t Destroy It.
www.nytimes.com
People are mad at @samuelmoyn.bsky.social but this is a good piece from him and @ryandoerfler.bsky.social on need to accept that SCOTUS has become functionally illegitimate. Key point is legitimacy does require the public to think the court operates in good faith:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
It’s time to accept that the US supreme court is illegitimate and must be replaced | Ryan Doerfler and Samuel Moyn
We need to remake the US high court so Americans don’t suffer future decades of oligarchy-facilitating rule
www.theguardian.com
Republicans are moving quickly to pass a bill requiring voters to show proof of citizenship both to register and at the polls ahead of the 2026 midterm elections — a move that experts warn could disenfranchise millions of Americans. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
GOP fast tracks monster voter suppression bill that could disenfranchise millions by requiring proof of citizenship at polls
In the past few weeks, passing the legislation has been a unifying rally cry for Republicans, a welcome distraction from the party’s cratering public opinion polls.
www.democracydocket.com
Toussaint L'Ouverture by François Cauvin, 2009
I cannot sufficiently underline how despicable it is that the IOC has required Haitian Olympic athletes to remove an image representing the leader of the Haitian Revolution (against SLAVERY) from their uniforms.
“I would rather you vote for what is morally correct,” Davidson said.

“Don’t talk to me about my own morality,” DeLauro shot back.

“Don’t tell your constituents what they can and can’t talk to you about,” replied Rev. Nathan Empsall. “What you are voting for is not moral.”
DeLauro to pressing clergy: 'I will not vote to abolish ICE'
The Connecticut U.S. representative found herself at odds with faith leaders.
www.ctpublic.org
This is Maria, a 6-year-old detained by ICE last year.

She began to unravel soon after arriving at a detention center in Texas, wetting the bed after years without accidents, crying through the night and begging to breastfeed again.

Most of all, she wanted to be reunited with her cat, Milo. 1/
Reviewing video from Fulton County elections raid.

Taken aback by the dismissive & sneering attitude from FBI agents toward the cop politely asking to see the warrant.

Looked him up: He's an immigrant w/ a doctorate in philosophy. His thesis? "Force by police officers toward African Americans."

ooh lovely
all these reputation defenders really being unable to make much progress because of Wikipedia editors and journalists is a very good reminder of why we have to defend them at all costs
paragraph 48: "In Mr. Trump’s second term, Ms. Britt has voted in line with the president 100 percent of the time."
the Epstein files are really devastating because they remind me of how many girls and women miss out on professional opportunities, mentorship and careers because of how many powerful, rich and influential men only view girls and women — and interactions with them — through the lens of sex
Christi Belcourt, contemporary Métis visual artist known for her paintings which depict floral patterns inspired by Métis and First Nations historical beadwork art #WomensArt
President Donald Trump is taking steps toward installing near the White House a replica of a Christopher Columbus statue that had been tossed into Baltimore’s harbor during his first term amid protests against institutional racism.
Trump taking steps toward installing a Columbus statue near the White House
President Donald Trump is taking steps toward installing a statue of Christopher Columbus near the White House.
bit.ly
If Jeff Bezos could afford to spend $75 million on the Melania movie & $500 million for a yacht to sail off to his $55 million wedding to give his wife a $5 million ring, please don't tell me he needed to fire one-third of the Washington Post staff.

Democracy dies in oligarchy.
NEW: Abigail Spanberger this afternoon ordered that all state agencies leave ICE's 287(g) program.

This means that the state police (and some other agencies) will no longer be empowered to detain and arrest people for ICE.

Big, big move by the governor within weeks of coming into office.
Virginia’s New Governor Ends ICE Program. Local Contracts Remain, For Now. - Bolts
Abigail Spanberger left the 287(g) program, which empowered state law enforcement to detain immigrants. Will Democrats also bar local police and sheriffs from the program?
boltsmag.org
again we do not really do a good job of explaining how wealthy people like Jeff Bezos are

his net worth is $253.2 billion.
so he could take one million dollars, and just light it on fire
and then do it again tomorrow
and again the day after that
and then do it every day for 693 years and 8 months
Some people are asking what I want Schumer to do. He should be screaming over medical care and access to facilities. He should be going to detention facilities himself and putting his body on the line, as he did at the border in 2019. He should lean into stories about New Yorkers in detention. [1/4]
New from 404 Media: the FBI has been unable to get into the iPhone of raided Washington Post journalist because the phone had Lockdown Mode enabled. Apple markets Lockdown Mode mostly to stop spyware like NSO. Here, a real world example of it stopping access too www.404media.co/fbi-couldnt-...
FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled
Lockdown Mode is a sometimes overlooked feature of Apple devices that broadly make them harder to hack. A court record indicates the feature might be effective at stopping third parties unlocking some...
www.404media.co

“We are all responsible for what happens in our community”
This is tremendous. Take the time to watch it.
Highlighting the speaker who stood in front of the Surprise mayor and told him to consider what the Mayor of Ohrdruf must’ve thought before he died by suicide: “He might have thought ‘how is this my fault I had no jurisdiction over this’ maybe he said ‘this site was not subject to local zoning.’”