@petesands.bsky.social
Professor, writer, non-practicing attorney. Utopianist. Team hope.
Reposted
”This is a world of compensations; and he who would *be* no slave, must consent to *have* no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.”
February 16, 2026 at 5:11 PM
”This is a world of compensations; and he who would *be* no slave, must consent to *have* no slave. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it.”
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Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
February 15, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.
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I had an email exchange with a guy yesterday who insisted I was making a mistake not outsourcing my writing to an LLM. He said, "It knows more than you do." He couldn't understand that this was impossible because the work of writing is figuring out what "I" think.
February 13, 2026 at 2:29 PM
I had an email exchange with a guy yesterday who insisted I was making a mistake not outsourcing my writing to an LLM. He said, "It knows more than you do." He couldn't understand that this was impossible because the work of writing is figuring out what "I" think.
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I called up one of the White House's "special government employees" involved in the Fulton County FBI raid.
I ended up on the phone for almost two hours hearing about the "deep state" "cabal," "Satanists," poison soda, and the "pure evil" of "gay pride." talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-th...
I ended up on the phone for almost two hours hearing about the "deep state" "cabal," "Satanists," poison soda, and the "pure evil" of "gay pride." talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-th...
February 11, 2026 at 11:53 PM
I called up one of the White House's "special government employees" involved in the Fulton County FBI raid.
I ended up on the phone for almost two hours hearing about the "deep state" "cabal," "Satanists," poison soda, and the "pure evil" of "gay pride." talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-th...
I ended up on the phone for almost two hours hearing about the "deep state" "cabal," "Satanists," poison soda, and the "pure evil" of "gay pride." talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-th...
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"It is a sign of a fatally limited imagination to assume that we can only ever desire the pittance to which we are currently reconciled." www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
The End of Books Coverage at the Washington Post
Becca Rothfeld, a former critic at the Washington Post, on the death of the paper’s books section.
www.newyorker.com
February 10, 2026 at 5:40 PM
"It is a sign of a fatally limited imagination to assume that we can only ever desire the pittance to which we are currently reconciled." www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
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NEW BOOK!
I'm very happy to say that my new book, Utopia, co-written with Douglas Mao, has been published on-line
academic.oup.com/book/62279
I'm very happy to say that my new book, Utopia, co-written with Douglas Mao, has been published on-line
academic.oup.com/book/62279
Utopia
Abstract. Ideal societies, better worlds, more just and peaceful ways of living: these have long been the stuff of human beings’ social dreaming. In this c
academic.oup.com
February 3, 2026 at 4:30 PM
NEW BOOK!
I'm very happy to say that my new book, Utopia, co-written with Douglas Mao, has been published on-line
academic.oup.com/book/62279
I'm very happy to say that my new book, Utopia, co-written with Douglas Mao, has been published on-line
academic.oup.com/book/62279
Reposted
Amber Glenn won Olympic gold on Sunday. That same day, she left social media because of death threats. Her offense: she'd told reporters the queer community is going through "a hard time." The headline called it "backlash." www.readtpa.com/p/the-thresh...
The Threshold
The right used to attack athletes who protested. Now they attack athletes who express feelings at all.
www.readtpa.com
February 10, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Amber Glenn won Olympic gold on Sunday. That same day, she left social media because of death threats. Her offense: she'd told reporters the queer community is going through "a hard time." The headline called it "backlash." www.readtpa.com/p/the-thresh...
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“I’m mad I can’t understand Bad Bunny’s lyrics because they’re not in English”
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
February 9, 2026 at 5:46 AM
“I’m mad I can’t understand Bad Bunny’s lyrics because they’re not in English”
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
my brother millions of metalheads around the world have been happily listening to incomprehensible Finnish shrieks and Japanese death grunts since we were teens, you’re just boring and racist
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Monday greetings, friends. Take a moment to breathe, unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, and remember how f*cking amazing you are.
February 9, 2026 at 10:29 AM
Monday greetings, friends. Take a moment to breathe, unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, and remember how f*cking amazing you are.
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So many folks who thought Born in the USA was a pro-America song are suddenly worried about not understanding lyrics.
February 9, 2026 at 2:29 AM
So many folks who thought Born in the USA was a pro-America song are suddenly worried about not understanding lyrics.
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Benito is a threat b/c he makes art so alluring and enjoyable you want to understand everything about it and then you end up learning about sugar and slavery and colonialism and the Taínos and Hawaii and then you probably have some thoughts of your own, and that's why art is powerful and dangerous
February 9, 2026 at 1:38 AM
Benito is a threat b/c he makes art so alluring and enjoyable you want to understand everything about it and then you end up learning about sugar and slavery and colonialism and the Taínos and Hawaii and then you probably have some thoughts of your own, and that's why art is powerful and dangerous
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Terrified Conservatives Lose Ability To Speak English After Exposure To Bad Bunny Performance https://theonion.com/terrified-conservatives-lose-ability-to-speak-english-after-exposure-to-bad-bunny-performance-dios-mio-cry-millions-of-panicking-republicans/
February 9, 2026 at 1:35 AM
Terrified Conservatives Lose Ability To Speak English After Exposure To Bad Bunny Performance https://theonion.com/terrified-conservatives-lose-ability-to-speak-english-after-exposure-to-bad-bunny-performance-dios-mio-cry-millions-of-panicking-republicans/
Reposted
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
February 7, 2026 at 5:01 AM
GM: Charisma check.
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Mamdani: [rolls natural 20]
GM: that’s a d6 how did you
Mamdani: [direct to camera] Did you know you can check out board games at your local public library? 😊
Reposted
1. It was not an accident.
2. It was not a staffer.
3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia.
4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares.
5. His base agrees with him.
6. He will do it again.
7. No one in power will hold him accountable.
2. It was not a staffer.
3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia.
4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares.
5. His base agrees with him.
6. He will do it again.
7. No one in power will hold him accountable.
February 6, 2026 at 5:42 PM
1. It was not an accident.
2. It was not a staffer.
3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia.
4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares.
5. His base agrees with him.
6. He will do it again.
7. No one in power will hold him accountable.
2. It was not a staffer.
3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia.
4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares.
5. His base agrees with him.
6. He will do it again.
7. No one in power will hold him accountable.
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Mamdani: "I speak of Renee Good, whose final words to the man who murdered her were, 'I'm not mad at you.' I speak of Alex Pretti who died as he lived, caring for the stranger. ICE shot him bc he did something they could never fathom ... let us offer a new path: one of defiance through compassion."
February 6, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Mamdani: "I speak of Renee Good, whose final words to the man who murdered her were, 'I'm not mad at you.' I speak of Alex Pretti who died as he lived, caring for the stranger. ICE shot him bc he did something they could never fathom ... let us offer a new path: one of defiance through compassion."
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for those following AI & labour news, I was just reading about the Washington Post and: "The layoffs come as Will Lewis, the Post’s publisher and CEO, continues to push a new strategy centered on subscriptions, events, and heavier use of AI."
February 4, 2026 at 11:26 PM
for those following AI & labour news, I was just reading about the Washington Post and: "The layoffs come as Will Lewis, the Post’s publisher and CEO, continues to push a new strategy centered on subscriptions, events, and heavier use of AI."
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It should be noted this drops the number of ICE agents in Minnesota from 3000 to a still alarming 2300. There were 80 in the state before the surge.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...
Trump Administration Live Updates: Border Czar Plans to Pull 700 Agents From Minnesota
www.nytimes.com
February 4, 2026 at 3:41 PM
It should be noted this drops the number of ICE agents in Minnesota from 3000 to a still alarming 2300. There were 80 in the state before the surge.
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...
www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...
Reposted
10/10 ICE protest sign
January 31, 2026 at 10:20 PM
10/10 ICE protest sign
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feel gross self-promoting when ICE is murdering people so I keep reposting & then immediately un-reposting, but it's awards season & I'm proud of this story. anyway fuck AI, the baby food of fascism.
New story from me @lightspeedmagazine.com, maybe the bleakest I've ever written. It's about:
-AI’s effect on teaching literature
-what literature can (& can't) actually teach us
-trans fatherhood
-the road to hell being paved with white saviorism
www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/tell...
-AI’s effect on teaching literature
-what literature can (& can't) actually teach us
-trans fatherhood
-the road to hell being paved with white saviorism
www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/tell...
Tell Them a Story to Teach Them Kindness - Lightspeed Magazine
USER: this is a message for Milwaukee Elementary’s curator Jude Towers, I hope this is the right address. anyway thanks for the story you had RIGHTR generate for my 10th graders’ Empathy Week. it was ...
www.lightspeedmagazine.com
January 26, 2026 at 4:43 PM
feel gross self-promoting when ICE is murdering people so I keep reposting & then immediately un-reposting, but it's awards season & I'm proud of this story. anyway fuck AI, the baby food of fascism.
Reposted
meanwhile people are going hungry, unhoused, and uninsured. america is a sick country
Congressional Budget Office: “Federal troop deployments to US cities cost a total of $496 million in 2025, CBO estimates. Continuing current deployments will cost $93 million a month; 1,000 Guard personnel deployed to a city will cost at least $18 million a month.” www.cbo.gov/publication/...
www.cbo.gov
January 29, 2026 at 12:08 AM
meanwhile people are going hungry, unhoused, and uninsured. america is a sick country
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Maybe because some of us care about other people, which is pretty inconceivable to a lot of empathy-free right-wingers? Though a lot of us aren't exactly mad; we're resolute in our commitment because it's not just one white woman being murdered; it's millions of BIPOC people being terrorized.
I don't know, Heritage Foundation-tied publication, maybe white liberal women are mad because a federal immigration official shot and killed one of them. And then called her a "bitch"? You know, on camera? www.dailysignal.com/2026/01/27/w...
The Unhinged Rage of White Liberal Women, Explained
Why are white liberal women lashing out against ICE? Is there an underlying rage that we fellas have missed?
www.dailysignal.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:50 PM
Maybe because some of us care about other people, which is pretty inconceivable to a lot of empathy-free right-wingers? Though a lot of us aren't exactly mad; we're resolute in our commitment because it's not just one white woman being murdered; it's millions of BIPOC people being terrorized.
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It pisses me off so much that a lot of people think that acting or anything art related isn’t a realistic career choice, like what the fuck are you talking about??? how else do you think movies get made??
January 28, 2026 at 12:19 AM
It pisses me off so much that a lot of people think that acting or anything art related isn’t a realistic career choice, like what the fuck are you talking about??? how else do you think movies get made??
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I’m so tired of the right’s “if you don’t like it, leave.” First, that’s one step away from understanding immigration. Second, no. When your house is falling apart you don’t walk out. You fix it. Imagine what this country could do if everything didn’t have to be a me vs you brawl
January 28, 2026 at 6:50 PM
I’m so tired of the right’s “if you don’t like it, leave.” First, that’s one step away from understanding immigration. Second, no. When your house is falling apart you don’t walk out. You fix it. Imagine what this country could do if everything didn’t have to be a me vs you brawl
Reposted
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free