David Sewell
@davidsewell.bsky.social
Native southern Californian, Swarthmore alum, former Tucsonan, retired from University of Virginia Press, living in Charlottesville. Interests include the greater Southwest, Lebanon/MENA (family members in Beirut); Quaker concerns.
Reposted by David Sewell
U.N. peacekeepers with UNIFIL patrolling southern Lebanon have faced a dramatic surge of “aggressive behavior” by Israeli forces over the last year, including drone-dropped grenades and machine-gun fire, according to an internal report seen by @apnews.com
apnews.com/article/isra...
apnews.com/article/isra...
UN peacekeepers in Lebanon allege surge in Israeli violence toward them
U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon say they have faced increased violence from Israeli forces over the past year.
apnews.com
February 6, 2026 at 10:18 PM
U.N. peacekeepers with UNIFIL patrolling southern Lebanon have faced a dramatic surge of “aggressive behavior” by Israeli forces over the last year, including drone-dropped grenades and machine-gun fire, according to an internal report seen by @apnews.com
apnews.com/article/isra...
apnews.com/article/isra...
With everything else going on in the country this may not get the media attention it deserves (where have you gone oh Washington Post?) but by rights it should be a major story.
*BREAKING: Rubio is out as acting Archivist, and has illegally named an ineligble political appointee to "to serve and perform the functions of archivist"—which he did not have the authority to do.
My reporting expands on @federalnewsnetwork.com's scoop:
🧵
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/rubio-out-...
My reporting expands on @federalnewsnetwork.com's scoop:
🧵
lastcampaign.substack.com/p/rubio-out-...
Rubio out at NARA; illegally names ineligble political appointee to serve as Archivist
Rubio has no authority to name anyone to serve as Archivist or perform those functions
lastcampaign.substack.com
February 5, 2026 at 12:05 AM
With everything else going on in the country this may not get the media attention it deserves (where have you gone oh Washington Post?) but by rights it should be a major story.
Reposted by David Sewell
February 4, 2026 at 10:54 PM
Reposted by David Sewell
A regime that genuinely just wanted to arrange to deport undocumented convicted murderers, drug lords, and rapists wouldn't be out every day crashing into random cars, shooting citizens in the streets, and tear-gassing preschools.
February 2, 2026 at 6:31 PM
A regime that genuinely just wanted to arrange to deport undocumented convicted murderers, drug lords, and rapists wouldn't be out every day crashing into random cars, shooting citizens in the streets, and tear-gassing preschools.
Where's Marco? Marco Rubio's name and photo are gone from the National Archives leadership page (www.archives.gov/about/organi...). Here's what the top of the page looked like before yesterday, showing Rubio as the acting Archivist:
January 31, 2026 at 9:56 PM
Where's Marco? Marco Rubio's name and photo are gone from the National Archives leadership page (www.archives.gov/about/organi...). Here's what the top of the page looked like before yesterday, showing Rubio as the acting Archivist:
Reposted by David Sewell
Hanover Board asks ICE to reconsider proposed facility
Hanover Board asks ICE to reconsider proposed facility
"It is clear this location is not an appropriate one," the Hanover County Board Chair said.
www.richmonder.org
January 28, 2026 at 11:14 PM
Hanover Board asks ICE to reconsider proposed facility
Replies disabled for this post, so having to quote-post to note that the scholars at Monticello say this quotation can't be attributed to Jefferson. Their "Spurious Quotation" page is the one to check before passing along things TJ might not really have said. www.monticello.org/encyclopedia...
January 28, 2026 at 1:34 AM
Replies disabled for this post, so having to quote-post to note that the scholars at Monticello say this quotation can't be attributed to Jefferson. Their "Spurious Quotation" page is the one to check before passing along things TJ might not really have said. www.monticello.org/encyclopedia...
Reposted by David Sewell
Friends in the storm's path, let's share tips about staying warm enough to survive, in all-electric homes, with no fireplaces & no back-up generator. Quote or reply.
**Latest update on this weekend's winter storm and its impact on central Virginia ⬇️⬇️⬇️
January 23, 2026 at 11:04 PM
Friends in the storm's path, let's share tips about staying warm enough to survive, in all-electric homes, with no fireplaces & no back-up generator. Quote or reply.
Reposted by David Sewell
Just saw Hamnet. Powerful. How so many people are willing to risk going back to a time when people regularly lost their children is beyond me.
January 22, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Just saw Hamnet. Powerful. How so many people are willing to risk going back to a time when people regularly lost their children is beyond me.
Having elected Trump twice is ipso facto evidence that as a country we are unreliable. Only sweeping regime change would alter that conclusion.
I picked a hell of a week to visit Europe, and Switzerland, at that.l I’ve spent three days at an international gathering, and, Americans: everybody else is deep into planning a post-US world. We are only worth considering as an opponent. New alliances are being formed. We are being left behind.
January 21, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Having elected Trump twice is ipso facto evidence that as a country we are unreliable. Only sweeping regime change would alter that conclusion.
Sign of the times. The other day I bought an old-school day planner. The first page is for recording personal information. It actually took me a good while to figure out that "(ice)" in this section was simply an abbreviation of "In Case of Emergency" and not—you know—the other ICE.
January 21, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Sign of the times. The other day I bought an old-school day planner. The first page is for recording personal information. It actually took me a good while to figure out that "(ice)" in this section was simply an abbreviation of "In Case of Emergency" and not—you know—the other ICE.
Don't tell me they are still playing college football?
January 20, 2026 at 12:07 AM
Don't tell me they are still playing college football?
Reposted by David Sewell
according to this map, the only business in charlottesville currently making millions off ICE contracts is govsmart, a company whose CEO also owns the local franchise of gracie jiu jitsu. interesting!
New: We built an interactive map of every ICE contractor working with the Trump administration.
readsludge.com/2026/01/16/t...
readsludge.com/2026/01/16/t...
The Companies Behind ICE
Sludge built an interactive map of every ICE contractor working with the Trump administration.
readsludge.com
January 16, 2026 at 9:37 PM
according to this map, the only business in charlottesville currently making millions off ICE contracts is govsmart, a company whose CEO also owns the local franchise of gracie jiu jitsu. interesting!
Reposted by David Sewell
Trump is using a very old play book: When the US seized TX and CA from Mexico in the 1840s, it claimed that it had to do so--otherwise Great Britain would gain control of these territories.
US claims it needs Greenland because of Chinese & Russian threats. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
US claims it needs Greenland because of Chinese & Russian threats. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
Trump Administration Live Updates: Denmark Has ‘Fundamental’ Differences With U.S. Over Greenland, Diplomat Says
www.nytimes.com
January 14, 2026 at 9:46 PM
Trump is using a very old play book: When the US seized TX and CA from Mexico in the 1840s, it claimed that it had to do so--otherwise Great Britain would gain control of these territories.
US claims it needs Greenland because of Chinese & Russian threats. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
US claims it needs Greenland because of Chinese & Russian threats. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...
You might not realize that you need to follow Jack Jenkins of the Religion News Service, but you do.
A thing to keep in mind here: This issue of ICE/DHS barring clergy from offering pastoral care or religious rites to detainees is triggering lawsuits, protests (with arrests of pastors) and blowback from *Pope Leo.*
NEW: My dispatch from *inside* Minnesota's Whipple building today (the facility where ICE has rooted its operations in the region), where a group of clergy attempted to offer pastoral care to immigrant detainees.
They were denied — an emerging national pattern. religionnews.com/2026/01/13/f...
They were denied — an emerging national pattern. religionnews.com/2026/01/13/f...
January 14, 2026 at 2:32 PM
You might not realize that you need to follow Jack Jenkins of the Religion News Service, but you do.
Absolutely worth reading no matter what you think of the Clintons.
The letter from Bill and Hillary Clinton to James Comer explaining their refusal to testify in his Epstein investigation is really remarkable, not like any letter of this genre I've seen. It's signed by them, not a lawyer, and the arguments are not legal ones. Reprinted from their X account:
January 14, 2026 at 3:01 AM
Absolutely worth reading no matter what you think of the Clintons.
Thanks to a news alert, I've just learned that my major retirement funder, the Virginia Retirement System, has been buying up stock in CoreCivic, the private prison and detention center company.
www.marketbeat.com/instant-aler...
www.marketbeat.com/instant-aler...
VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $1.20 Million in CoreCivic, Inc. $CXW
VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of CoreCivic, Inc. (NYSE:CXW - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Sec...
www.marketbeat.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Thanks to a news alert, I've just learned that my major retirement funder, the Virginia Retirement System, has been buying up stock in CoreCivic, the private prison and detention center company.
www.marketbeat.com/instant-aler...
www.marketbeat.com/instant-aler...
Reposted by David Sewell
A friend in Minneapolis just sent me this video. Looks like thousands have come together for a vigil after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. This was my neighborhood for several years before coming to Portland.
January 8, 2026 at 1:05 AM
A friend in Minneapolis just sent me this video. Looks like thousands have come together for a vigil after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. This was my neighborhood for several years before coming to Portland.
Reposted by David Sewell
The truth about this incident will emerge. Plenty of people took video; the shooting will be analyzed. A badge is not a license to shoot. Deadly force can’t be used unless an agent reasonably believes their life/the lives of other are at risk. Law enforcement’s job is to protect & serve.
A US citizen has apparently been shot by ICE agents in Minneapolis. I’m gathering information, but the situation on the ground is volatile.
ICE should leave now for everyone’s safety.
ICE should leave now for everyone’s safety.
January 7, 2026 at 6:20 PM
The truth about this incident will emerge. Plenty of people took video; the shooting will be analyzed. A badge is not a license to shoot. Deadly force can’t be used unless an agent reasonably believes their life/the lives of other are at risk. Law enforcement’s job is to protect & serve.
CNN's story about Trump's first vetoes fails to note that the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act was undoubtedly vetoed because it would have benefited the Miccosukee Tribe, which was a successful plaintiff in the suit against "Alligator Alcatraz". More retribution. www.cnn.com/2025/12/31/p...
Trump vetoes two bipartisan bills, marking first vetoes of second term | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump issued the first vetoes of his second term Tuesday, blocking two bipartisan, infrastructure-related bills.
www.cnn.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:23 PM
CNN's story about Trump's first vetoes fails to note that the Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act was undoubtedly vetoed because it would have benefited the Miccosukee Tribe, which was a successful plaintiff in the suit against "Alligator Alcatraz". More retribution. www.cnn.com/2025/12/31/p...
Lee also owns the local Charlottesville paper along with a dozen or so other Virginia newspapers. Based on an admittedly quick search I don't see that Hoffmann is notably partisan, though a few years ago the company he founded took a pro-gun-control position FWIW.
Florida-based billionaire David Hoffmann is leading a $50 million deal with Lee Enterprises, the Arizona Daily Star's owner, to buy a controlling stake in the company and become its chairman.
Entrepreneur Hoffmann leads deal to buy controlling stake in Lee Enterprises
Florida-based billionaire David Hoffmann is leading a $50 million deal with Lee Enterprises, the Arizona Daily Star's owner, to buy a controlling stake in the company and become its chairman.
tucson.com
December 30, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Lee also owns the local Charlottesville paper along with a dozen or so other Virginia newspapers. Based on an admittedly quick search I don't see that Hoffmann is notably partisan, though a few years ago the company he founded took a pro-gun-control position FWIW.
Reposted by David Sewell
I am reminded of Lincoln's famous letter to Joshua Speed in 1855
quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/li...
quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/li...
![Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except negroes." When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read "all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty-to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy [sic].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kok4aqdr3qnsj6ktfkq76kqz/bafkreibv56orcjfhjc2czd5kkydlzapnuem3xkzbhna4fia27pyajprzvq@jpeg)
December 17, 2025 at 12:40 PM
I am reminded of Lincoln's famous letter to Joshua Speed in 1855
quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/li...
quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/li...
Reposted by David Sewell
!! Here’s a link to full video of the 60 Minutes segment that Bari Weiss killed last minute, via @jasonparis.bsky.social:
is.gd/paU8Ko
(It was uploaded to the Global TV app in Canada, seemingly by accident, and has now been taken down)
is.gd/paU8Ko
(It was uploaded to the Global TV app in Canada, seemingly by accident, and has now been taken down)
December 22, 2025 at 10:39 PM
!! Here’s a link to full video of the 60 Minutes segment that Bari Weiss killed last minute, via @jasonparis.bsky.social:
is.gd/paU8Ko
(It was uploaded to the Global TV app in Canada, seemingly by accident, and has now been taken down)
is.gd/paU8Ko
(It was uploaded to the Global TV app in Canada, seemingly by accident, and has now been taken down)
Uber "received a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct in the United States almost every eight minutes on average from 2017 to 2024". This long NYT piece ends with a form people can use to submit feedback on their own experiences. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/b...
Uber Cleared Violent Felons to Drive. Passengers Accused Them of Rape.
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Uber "received a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct in the United States almost every eight minutes on average from 2017 to 2024". This long NYT piece ends with a form people can use to submit feedback on their own experiences. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/b...
Reposted by David Sewell
In the summer of 1950 most US newspapers ran an AP story about how race had become the main issue in the upcoming Georgia governor's race. Segregationist Herman Tallmadge, governor from '47 to '55 and then a Senator until 1981 made a name for himself by refusing to "apologize for being a white man."
December 21, 2025 at 10:57 PM
In the summer of 1950 most US newspapers ran an AP story about how race had become the main issue in the upcoming Georgia governor's race. Segregationist Herman Tallmadge, governor from '47 to '55 and then a Senator until 1981 made a name for himself by refusing to "apologize for being a white man."