Karin Gitchel
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kgitch.bsky.social
Karin Gitchel
@kgitch.bsky.social
680 followers 760 following 29 posts
M.Ed. Writer of memories. Reader of mysteries. Quilter of rainbows. LGBTQ+ ally. Art as healing. Words as connectors. Cat wrangler. Obsessed w/ sparkling water. 🐈‍⬛🧵🎨📚
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
nycsouthpaw.bsky.social
Will never not be jarring to see armed goons demanding people’s papers on the street in the United States of America like it’s Nazi Germany. Fuckin nightmare scenes.
gaykwon.bsky.social Street Sharks Explained 🇨🇺🇵🇸 @gaykwon.bsky.social · 4d
This woman is harder than goddamn steel dealing with these goddamn thugs. I want her to be my neighbor.
January 13, 2026 at 5:16 AM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
maddow.bsky.social
August 20, 1939

Cartoonist Clifford Berryman

"It's a good act but it's hard on the spectators..."
January 15, 2026 at 4:53 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
elizabethjacobs.bsky.social
Remember that exploitative and unethical clinical trial of HepB vaccine in Guinea-Bissau that RFK Jr. funded?

It’s been cancelled.
Controversial US study on hepatitis B vaccines in Africa is cancelled
$1.6m project drew outrage over ethical questions about withholding vaccines proven to prevent disease
www.theguardian.com
January 15, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
davmicrot.bsky.social
Trump's Plan: send in paramilitary, breed resentment & organized violence of Democratic & minorities populations through continuous terror. Then, with public backing, fully invade & occupy

What Trump Did: swarmed city with violent lunatics, murdered people, claimed false mandate to invade & occupy
January 15, 2026 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
robertgarcia.house.gov
Everyone in America wants the Epstein files released except Trump and his administration.

What are they hiding? It’s long past time we got the truth. Release the files NOW.
January 14, 2026 at 11:11 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
anamariecox.bsky.social
I know people on Bsky know this but I hope it filters out: The feds are OCCUPYING the Twin Cities. This is a blockade, a siege. They are shutting down economic and civic activity. They are conducting "papers please" stops. They are criminalizing being a bystander/witness.

You could be next.
January 14, 2026 at 4:25 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
crampell.bsky.social
I don't understand how this is legal...? www.semafor.com/article/01/1...
Exclusive: US gets first $500 million Venezuelan oil deal, holding some proceeds in Qatar
The details shared with Semafor mark an initial milestone in the administration’s plan following the ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
www.semafor.com
January 14, 2026 at 10:29 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
jennycohn.bsky.social
A new Trump program “will fast-track construction of new & untested reactor designs built by private firms, with an explicit goal of having at least 3 nuclear test reactors up & running by…July 4.” Critics worry that the tight deadline & “lack of transparency” are “compromising safety.” 12/17/25…1/
Trump’s rush to build nuclear reactors across the U.S. raises safety worries
A new program at the Department of Energy is pushing the development of nearly a dozen new reactor designs at breakneck speed.
www.opb.org
January 14, 2026 at 6:27 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
chrismurphyct.bsky.social
I want to talk about a dystopian world we are entering - where every moment, event, and crisis just become commodities.

Life stops being something we live, but something we sell and trade. It will breed both corruption & emptiness.

1/ A 🧵on why our politics can't ignore this.
January 14, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
jennycohn.bsky.social
3/ bsky.app/profile/jenn...
jennycohn.bsky.social Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 2d
A new Trump program “will fast-track construction of new & untested reactor designs built by private firms, with an explicit goal of having at least 3 nuclear test reactors up & running by…July 4.” Critics worry that the tight deadline & “lack of transparency” are “compromising safety.” 12/17/25…1/
Trump’s rush to build nuclear reactors across the U.S. raises safety worries
A new program at the Department of Energy is pushing the development of nearly a dozen new reactor designs at breakneck speed.
www.opb.org
January 14, 2026 at 11:19 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
portersqbooks.bsky.social
Your friendly independent bookstore breaking into your timeline to tell you to take a couple hours this weekend, put your phone in like, a box, or something & read a book. All of this <waves hand> will be here when you come back.
January 9, 2026 at 11:30 PM
kgitch.bsky.social
Winter Solstice: "May this solstice bless you with the courage to rest, the wisdom to trust what is quietly forming in the dark,
& the gentleness to know that nothing essential is ever hurried. May the returning light find you rooted, replenished,
& at home in your own becoming." ~ Camilla Sanderson
December 21, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
rollingstone.com
Melissa Hortman Died in a Shocking Act of Political Violence. This Is the Story of Her Life

The Minnesota Speaker’s closest friends and family open up for the first time.

Read @stephenrodrick.bsky.social's exclusive: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
December 18, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
cascadiadaily.com
Just in time for spring break, Bellinghamsters can book non-stop flights to Portland, OR, from Bellingham International Airport starting mid-March. The airline made the route expansion announcement today.
Alaska Airlines adding new daily flight between Bellingham, Portland | Cascadia Daily News
The flights will begin in March 2026
www.cascadiadaily.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
colindickey.com
Normal People Don’t Want This Shit is running away with the vote tonight
November 5, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
timothysnyder.bsky.social
The whole Third Term Project isn’t actually about Trump. The people behind it know he will likely be dead or enfeebled by 2029. It is about them, the vastly unpopular group around Trump, wanting to grift us forever without elections.
October 29, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
governorferguson.bsky.social
Today I announced an agreement between Washington state, Oregon, and British Columbia to renew and strengthen our partnership.

Together, the Cascadia region will address housing affordability, invest in clean energy, and create the conditions for long-term economic growth.
Bob giving thumbs up seated in chair next to Rachel Smith, president of Washington Roundtable. Flags in background from Oregon, Canada, USA, Washington state
October 30, 2025 at 12:15 AM
kgitch.bsky.social
Quilts are math and project management with perseverance! This Jelly Roll Quilt in a Weekend took a lot of weekends - I took it apart three times before the lines matched up. Then, I hated the binding so I took that apart and redid it. Now, it drapes on my chair and I love it so much.
Scarlett Steps quilt draped to view binding and backing from Jelly Roll Quilts in a Weekend pattern book. My sweet Bentley snuggled in the quilt as I start tearing the binding off. The Scarlett Steps quilt with a new binding. Scarlett Steps quilt draped to view the striped pattern from Jelly Roll Quilts in a Weekend pattern book.
October 29, 2025 at 5:26 AM
kgitch.bsky.social
A few weeks ago, I made this cute bag. 🐝 It is wonky, has flaws, but it was my first attempt at sewing different weights of felt. I need to practice creative stitches, buy better stabilizer, and keep trying!
A turquoise and white felt bag that has embroidered bee and flower with blue patterns lines.
October 29, 2025 at 5:18 AM
kgitch.bsky.social
This was a two year process to finish this Kaffetastic Rainbow Star quilt. This quilt is pure joy! So many errors, so may crooked lines - so much learning for a first quilt. 🌈🩷
Quilter author holding up the finished Kaffetastic Rainbow Star quilt. Diamond shapes in rows from red to purple alternating with black and white polka dot patterns. The red, orange, yellow and green rows and corner of the Kaffetastic Rainbow quilt displayed over a couch. The blue and purple corners of the Kaffetastic Rainbow Quilt draped over couch.
October 29, 2025 at 5:16 AM
kgitch.bsky.social
I’m obsessed with quilted bags and rainbows. A fun, small bag that I made in summer 2023. Pattern from @thelittlegreenbean (her reels and videos are helpful!)
Small handmade quilted bag with rainbow stripes and a flower sewed on the side. Creative stitching around edges. Tilted close up of a small handmade quilted bag with rainbow stripes and a flower sewed on the side. Creative stitching around edges. Tilted close up of a small handmade quilted bag with rainbow stripes and a flower sewed on the side. Creative stitching around edges. Posed in front of Singer sewing machine.
October 29, 2025 at 5:08 AM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
radleybalko.bsky.social
I know it’s too much to expect them to know their history, but if the American Revolution had a motto, it definitely would not have been “immigrants go home.”

It would have been “get your fucking soldiers out of our cities.”
craigipedia.bsky.social Craig Harrington @craigipedia.bsky.social · Oct 28
America... boy, I dunno.
October 28, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
This heartfelt and meaningful statement by Portland resident and author Cristina Breshears on another social media platform bears reposting here. I don't think the intent is to idealize Portland but to remind all of us what is important and why. (Posted here with permission.)
For nine nights now, the steady thrum of Black Hawk helicopters has circled over Portland. The sound is constant, invasive; a low mechanical beating above our homes. It’s expensive. It’s intimidating. And it’s unnecessary. Our protests have been largely peaceful. There is no insurrection here. Yet this federalized military presence makes us feel like we are living in a war zone (the very kind of chaos this administration claims to be protecting us from). The irony is painful: it is only this occupation that makes Portland feel unsafe. Each hour of helicopter flight costs taxpayers between $2,000 and $4,000, depending on crew, fuel, and maintenance. Multiply that by multiple aircraft over multiple nights, and you’re looking at hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars burned into the sky. Meanwhile, the Woodstock Food Pantry at All Saints Episcopal Church — which feeds working families, elders, and people with disabilities — has seen its federal funding slashed by 75%. How can we justify pouring public money into intimidation while cutting aid to those who simply need to eat? This is waste, fraud, and abuse in plain sight: * Waste of public resources on military theatrics. * Fraud in the name of “public safety.” * Abuse of the communities that federal agencies claim to protect. Portland is a Sanctuary City. A sanctuary city is not a fortress. It’s a promise — a living vow that a community will protect the dignity and safety of everyone who calls it home. It means that local governments and ordinary people alike will refuse to criminalize survival. That schools, clinics, churches, and shelters will remain safe spaces no matter who you are or where you were born. But the term reaches far beyond policy. It’s an ethic of belonging; a refusal to criminalize need, difference, or desperation. Sanctuary isn’t weakness. It’s courage. It takes moral strength to meet suffering with care instead of punishment, to believe that our neighbors’ safety is bound up in our own, to insist that safety is not achieved through force but through community, inclusion, and trust. It is living Matthew 25:40 out loud and in deed. It is an act of moral imagination and moral defiance. To hold sanctuary is to say: you belong here. When we hold space for the most vulnerable — refugees, the unhoused, the undocumented, the disabled, the working poor, the displaced — we become something larger than a collection of individuals. We become a moral body. We do more than offer charity. We offer witness. We declare that the measure of a nation is found not in its towers or tanks, but in its tenderness. Sanctuary cities are not lawless; they are soulful. They represent the conscience of the nation, a place where the laws of empathy still apply. To make sanctuary is to affirm that the United States is not merely a geographic territory, but a moral experiment: a republic that must constantly choose between fear and compassion, between domination and democracy. A nation’s soul is measured not by the might of its military, but by the mercy of its people. When helicopters circle our skies in the name of order, while food pantries struggle to feed the hungry, we are forced to ask: What are we defending, and from whom? The soul of a nation survives only when we make sanctuary for one another. Not through walls or weapons, but through compassion and collective will. If we allow intimidation to replace compassion, we will have traded our conscience for control. Please know that despite the hum of war machines overhead, the conscience of our city — whimsical, creative, stubbornly kind — can still be heard. Portland is not the problem. Portland is the reminder. A reminder that a city can still choose to be sanctuary. That a people can still choose to be human.
October 12, 2025 at 1:02 AM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
thebulwark.com
You're gonna need a bigger tent
What a Bigger-Tent Democratic Party Could Look Like
Elected officials and operatives are rethinking old litmus tests.
www.thebulwark.com
September 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Reposted by Karin Gitchel
tlecaque.bsky.social
"How bad slavery was" is worse. Much worse. Much worse than you think, much worse than you're taught, much worse than museums depict. Worse.
August 19, 2025 at 7:42 PM