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@birchbot.bsky.social
2.3K followers 771 following 1.3K posts

she/her. very bi very gay. Chicago I love you so much. Opinions are my own and not representative of my employer.

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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 7h
Its like the City sits down and says, lets do this thing that people have been clamoring for, but lets make it so specific that it kind of doesn't accomplish anything.
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 8h
This man is VERY GOOD at explaining policy to normal people.
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 8h
hooray! but, it needs to go past wacker. Why does this City always set the bar so low????
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Dr. Cara Berg Powers @clbergpowers.bsky.social · 11h
If we're serious about raising kids who speak up when something is wrong I think we have a lot of work to do to support them when they do and also help them navigate the challenges and big feelings that come with it. Being that kid is risky. How do we support them in that risk?
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 12h
This is a country of delusional people who believe they may one day be rich. The California Wealth Tax has less than 50% support right now. We have to tell the truth about the propagandized voting public. It's incredible.
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c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 15h
Omigod, this is the most heartwarming story possible! Backpack (bear 89) is the son of the 2019 winner of Fat Bear Week, Holly (bear 435). In 2007, he injured his foot & a practice of riding on momma's Holly's back had a new meaning: he was mobility-restricted while it healed. So Holly moved him.
From DISCVR blog's Facebook page, a momma bear & a yearling cub on her back in the shallow water.  I think the background has been swapped out, and I can't rule out some AI use there?  God, Facebook has become the social media for AI slop : (

The title of the article, which I link below, is "How Bear 89 earned the name Backpack"
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NITA Chicago @nitachicago.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
More frequent service. Safer, more accessible stations and stops. 🚇 Tell NITA which improvements would make the biggest difference in your transit experience. Your feedback will help shape regional budget priorities. 🗓️ Take the survey by Oct. 16: bit.ly/4AJCzRe
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shawn @mulchy.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“At the end of the month, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Morales said.
chicagotribune.com
About 9,300 immigrants in Illinois to lose Medicaid this week because of One Big Beautiful Bill
Immigrants including refugees, human trafficking survivors and people who’ve been granted asylum but don’t have green cards are slated to lose their Medicaid coverage after Sept. 30.
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Abdul El-Sayed @abdulelsayed.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
We're being told that if we sacrifice the rights of some people, then the rest of us get to keep our rights. We all know that's some BS.
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Amanda Litman @amandalitman.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I love the optimism about Dems winning in November - I share it! And: I'm a tiny bit nervous that winning will free folks of the urgency to fix deeper structural problems in our party that will fuck us in the long-haul if we don't grapple with them.
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
@the48thward.bsky.social we want this for clark st in andersonville PLEASEEEEEE
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Michael McLean @michaelmclean.me · 28/09/2026
Alderman La Spata is pro-business
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Solomon @solomonrmissouri.com · 27/09/2026
The men are down to the fan duel spending up the household money On the polymarket with the babies diaper money And you supposed to carry his baby and be his household servant???? If you don’t poison this man and get the life insurance money
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Candice Norwood @candicenorwood.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I've written a few stories for @19thnews.org recently about currently or formerly incarcerated women who described the harms they faced in U.S. jails and prisons, and have fought for new laws, policies and resources to improve conditions for others. I want to share their stories with you 🧵
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Joyce Park @troutgirl.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
I once knew a Federal bank examiner, and one time someone asked him why we had to KEEP inspecting banks over and over. He basically said every new batch of business school grads invents bank fraud from first principles.
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Sadly Rutschman @flannelgoddess.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Homer Simpson at a lesbian bar

Wait a minute,
There’s something bothering me about this place…..
I know! This lesbian bar doesn’t have revolutionary praxis
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CLAYFACE: CELEBRITY DIRT #3 out now @judedoyle.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I for one would like to introduce Queer Invisibility Day, so we can do things like share the masking lesbian bar fight article without straight people reading it and weighing in
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The sound on this trailer evokes a horror movie and that makes me very excited.
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Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 23/09/2026
The "bike bus" idea is simple: Once a week, a group of kids and parents bike to school together. It's an idea being embraced in neighborhoods around Chicago as a way to socialize and push back against car-centric culture, parents say.
chicago.suntimes.com
Instead of driving to school, more kids are taking the 'bike bus'
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquoi...
en.wikipedia.org
Iroquois Theatre fire - Wikipedia
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kyle tear down that highway lucas 🏳️‍🌈 @itskylelucas.com · 22/09/2026
Worth repeating that CTA is not the barrier to bus priority in Chicago, they are very much in favor. We need Mayor Johnson, CDOT, and alders to make it a priority!
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
that 20% of lesbians really fuckin stings
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Has anyone written about the gender at play here? If his co-parent, or a therapist, had provided this advice he surely would have dismissed it. But because a computer is telling him, then it is legitimate...
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MPR News @mprnews.org · 22/09/2026
Schools across the state started offering free breakfasts and lunches to all students in the fall of 2023. The number of students eating school lunch went up 15 percent the first year. The number of kids eating breakfast at school went up 40 percent.
mprnews.org
Fewer skipped meals, less stigma: New data on the impact of Minnesota’s universal school meals
A trio of new studies shows Minnesota’s universal school meals program is providing a sense of relief to Minnesota families and students who are no longer skipping lunch and worrying less about family...
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Alive in Chicago (municipal boundary) @mosermostly.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
As the greatest city on earth, Chicago is immune to Transplant discourse because the only thing we want to say to them is "I told you so"
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
according to the article, it took hours after the personal intervention of the mayor for his family to even get basic information about him. that information included that he had been transferred to ICE custody hours after being shot. no amnesty
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Christina Hayford @lvebakfietsmama.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Lakeview (Chicago) now has ✨six✨ weekly bike buses to the K-8 schools, and had *at least* 100 kids bike to school today between the Burley and Nettelhorst Bike Buses (& prob 75-100 more adults with them). That’s pretty rad!
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Rue Morgue Magazine @ruemorguemag.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The disturbing online commodification of Nikki Freeman and“OBSESSION”
ow.ly
THE DISTURBING ONLINE COMMODIFICATION OF NIKKI FREEMAN AND “OBSESSION”
Is the internet’s reaction to "OBSESSION" helpful or not? Well, it’s complicated…
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Stephanie Kollmann @slkollmann.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
If you are interested in calling in to WBEZ today at 10 to ask Qs of State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke but are not exactly sure what to say, yesterday's op-ed from @sharonemitchelljr.bsky.social might help you brainstorm (Read it even if you can't tune in!) chicago.suntimes.com/other-views/...
chicago.suntimes.com
State's attorney's proposed pretrial changes undermine justice
Requiring incarceration based on the charge alone would be both unconstitutional and disastrous.
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Em, midly @lefttheprairie.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This morning at 10. Get her ass!
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Imani Gandy @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 16/09/2026
Trans rights is inherently a bodily autonomy issue. Just like abortion rights is. We can't have gender equity or reproductive freedom without trans rights. Full stop. You can yell at me and make up shit that you claim I've said if it makes you feel better. I don't care. I'm right. And you know it.
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Reminder that the bravery of one person enables others to be brave as well.
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Digital Newberry @digitalnewberry.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
In honor of Widow’s Bay’s Emmy sweep—and Kate O’Flynn’s win for Patricia—we’re bringing this one back. 🔮🏆 The Newberry’s Book of Magical Charms knew all along.
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Papa Rides a Bike @paparidesabike.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Chicago mayoral poillitics Voter: Housing is too expensive Candidate: You're not safe from criminals on the street! V: Im going to have to move far from work because life is getting too expensive. C: YOU'RE NOT FUCKING SAFE! V: Isn't violent crime down? C: YOU'RE GOING TO BE CRIMED TO DEATH!
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The Center Holds @thecenterholds.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Kelsey's newsletter is such a little bright spot on my mondays!
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Tamoor Hussain @tamoorh.com · 14/09/2026
btw Kanye did a song Heil Hitler and no one stepped in to oppose his tour(s), which is ongoing. In fact, Kanye is scheduled to perform at one of the stadiums Macklemore has been stopped from being at.
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Ed Sheeran you cowardly bitch.
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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
New: Macklemore says Robert Kraft — who owns Gillette Stadium, where Macklemore & Ed Sheeran were to perform later this month — called Sheeran. Kraft rallied other owners together behind an ultimatum for Sheeran: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you won't be allowed in our venues.

I'm not sure how to start this. So I'm going to speak from the heart and share the truth. Ed Sheeran and his team have made the decision to remove me from The Loop tour.
But before I get into it, I want to say something that should be obvious. In this moment I think it matters. I am not a victim. Ed Sheeran is not a victim. Pink is not a victim. We have careers, money, opportunities, safety and audiences around the world. Whatever consequences any of us face for what we say, we get to go home to our families.

The victims are the Palestinian people. The men, women and children who have been killed, starved, displaced and forced to live through unimaginable violence. More than 20,000 children have been killed in Gaza alone. People are being killed today, and people will be killed tomorrow. I want to make sure that as I tell this story, we don't lose sight of that.

Ed is my friend. I've known him for 13 years. We've shared late nights, studio sessions and stages. He has this infectious magic about him that I've grown to love. I consider him a brother. And because of that, we've had some difficult conversations this past week. The type of talks rooted in love and respect for one another that still end in a place of fundamental disagreement. Nothing I'm writing here is out of spite or because I want to tear down his character. But as I told Ed multiple times on the phone, our friendship can't change my responsibility to tell the truth about what happened.

Last Monday, in the middle of all the media attention surrounding Pink and what I said at MetLife, Ed told me that Robert Kraft called him. We were scheduled to play Gillette Stadium later this month, which is owned by the Kraft Group. Ed told me that Kraft said I would not be allowed to perform in his stadium. Ed also told me that Kraft had rallied some of the other
stadium owners and collectively they gave him an ultimatum: if Macklemore stays on the tour, you will not be allowed to play in our venues.

Ed was in …What I said at MetLife I have been saying on stages around the world for almost three years. So why is it an issue now? Because now I'm sharing a stage with one of the biggest artists in the world, in some of the biggest stadiums in America. At a certain level of exposure, "Free Palestine" becomes too much of a risk. If I kept doing the shows, saying Free Palestine, with Ed implicitly supporting it, the crowd getting loud and showing undeniable support for Palestinian liberation, what artist might speak out next? The stage becomes resistance. Maybe that's why this time it became so important to silence me.

And one of the most effective ways to enforce that silence has been to weaponize the accusation of antisemitism. Antisemitism is real. And that is exactly why the word matters too much to be used as a shield against criticism of the Israeli state. When criticizing Israel, opposing Zionism or saying "Free Palestine" gets conflated with hatred of Jewish people, it doesn't protect Jewish people. It protects Israel from accountability.

I hope this isn't the end of my relationship with Ed.
Thirteen years of friendship doesn't disappear because of one painful disagreement. I hope we both continue listening, studying what is happening in Palestine and wrestling with what neutrality means in a moment like this. My door will always be open to continuing that conversation.

When my brother Omar was doing the subtitles for the video I posted from MetLife, I thanked him. He told me there's a phrase in Arabic:
لا شكر على واجب
"La shukra ala wajeb." There is no thanks for a duty.
That stayed with me. Because that's what this has become for me and millions of others around the world. A duty. Not something deserving of praise or gratitude. Not brave. Human.

Who is winning the internet, who is getting canceled, who gets to play the stadium and who doesn't, all of it becomes so small when held against what we are actually witnessing in Gaza and the West Bank. An entire people be…
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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 14/09/2026
You were probably out there saying "oh no we have to talk about how the border is a real problem, even though most of the shit they're talking about is made up" two years ago, when Democrats should have been fucking fighting as hard as they could on behalf of immigrants and our neighbors.
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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 14/09/2026
We are not going to get out of the fascism problem by accepting just enough fascism to turn the heads of the fascism-curious.
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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Public opinion is dynamic. It exists to BE SHAPED. And it is ONLY a resource. It does nothing on its own.
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
YESSSSSS Leni!!!!
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jae holzman @jael.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Schumer’s daughter just took a job doing policy for OpenAI btw
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Chad Loder @chadloder.dev · 11/09/2026
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
lol what the fuuuuuck
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Otto von Biz Markie @donachaidh.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Lol my buddy just sent me another angle and it's somehow even more ridiculous
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Read more books @birchbot.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
This is Public Service!!!
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Imani Gandy @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 10/09/2026
It's always a good time to share this.
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Dr. Merritt Rae Turetsky @queenofpeat.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Forget planting trees for a second. Let's talk about BOGS. Did you know that peatlands cover a tiny 3% of Earth’s land, but store MORE CARBON than all the world's forests combined?They are an ultimate MVP of our climate system and it’s time we start hyping them. Join me! 🧵 1/
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