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J. L. Bell

@boston1775.bsky.social
3.5K followers 774 following 1.8K posts

History, analysis & unabashed gossip about Revolutionary New England.

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Reposted by J. L. Bell
Sean Kelleher @historiantosara.bsky.social · 7m
On Oct. 17, 1777, nearly 6,000 British and German troops surrendered their arms at Saratoga. Britain's Northern Campaign had collapsed. The consequences reached France and changed the American Revolution. Read the Substack article: buff.ly/RUMWk3r #Saratoga250
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 16m
OSSOFF: At a rally, the president egged on supporters who assaulted a woman demanding the release of the Epstein files. Because if you can count on one thing about this White House, it's their tireless commitments to war, inflation, and covering up sex trafficking.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13m
Ossoff: "He said he would rename Hormuz the 'Trump Strait.' The draft-dodging president tells jokes while 21 Americans are dead and hundreds wounded ... they've drained our stockpiles to achieve nothing while the crook commander in chief builds a monument to himself."
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The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 2h
More people showed up to No Kings rallies than today's Trump rally in Kentucky
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7m
Ossoff: "The crisis we must meet is deeper than this presidency. Trump's rise is proof that business as usual has failed, that our politics, sickened by corruption, is failing the American public and compromising our national integrity. And that the hour is late to fix what's broken."
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Antifa H.R. Manager on Blueskee @starfinder.bsky.social · 8h
It looks like they didn't follow some really basic rules regarding search and seizure... I look forward to following the upcoming motions in court...
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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 9h
Lawyers for Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) accused federal authorities of ignoring key restrictions that a judge placed on the search of the lawmaker’s residence and demanded the immediate return of all property seized from the home.
washingtonpost.com
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s lawyers say authorities ignored judge’s restrictions on home search
In a letter obtained by The Washington Post, attorneys for the Minnesota Democrat condemned a Justice Department inquiry into her immigration history as a politically motivated attack.
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Ezra Levin ❌👑 @ezralevin.bsky.social · 3h
As we try to restore access to the No Kings instagram today, this is what I am thinking about.
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 8h
One of the Republican party's most prominent voter-registration activists has paid multiple people with criminal records to run get-out-the-vote operations in Pennsylvania since 2024. Want to meet them? ICYMI Brendan Hartnett:
lnk.thebulwark.com
GOP’s Top GOTV Operative Employed an Organizer Convicted of Strangulation
And that’s not the only person with a criminal history who we found on his PAC’s payroll.
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Revolutionary War 250 @revwar250.bsky.social · 4h
17 OCTOBER 1776, HARLEM, NEW YORK: Washington orders the Continental Army to cross Kingsbridge into Westchester County (now the Bronx) to stop the British army trapping them on Manhattan. He leaves behind a garrison of several thousand at Fort Washington (Washington Heights).
George Washington, painted in 1776 by Charles Willson Peale
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Sarah Wise @misssarahwise.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
On #Halloween please join me @citylit.bsky.social for my study day 'Bodysnatching and Anatomy in London, c.1780-c.1845', 10am-4pm. We’ll explore the resurrection men, their working and social lives; the surgeons they supplied; and when grave-robbery turned to murder. Details: shorturl.at/GaOZU
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 4h
I remain merely a small-town international relations professor, but I think it should be an immediate presidency-ending scandal that the President of the 🇺🇸 admits to violating the UN Charter by invading another UN member-state, kidnapping its leader, & seizing its assets. www.un.org/en/about-us/...
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Kate Astbury @100days1815.bsky.social · 4h
The plaque’s theft has also deflected attention from schools’ contributions to the 230th anniversary commemoration: seagulls in the castle with messages to the prisoners of war from pupils in St Lucia & St Vincent who have been learning how their national history intersects with Portchester’s
A cardboard seagull decorated with the Hibiscus of St Lucia with the message ‘remembering all the men, women and children captured on St Lucia and taken far from home
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I support Somali-Americans @adamrothman.bsky.social · 11h
"Police confirmed they had responded to a report of "criminal mischief involving a robot"" is something I never imagined would happen in real life
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Laura Ansley @lmansley.bsky.social · 21h
Oh hey, the AHA was in court today, trying to ensure these ding-dongs follow the law.
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 06/10/2026
I’m glad more people are pointing this out. I talked about it it a few weeks ago w/ @janus.bsky.social Companies are attempting a sleight of hand where they capture data but argue because of how it’s processed it’s not “recording” and is thus private. They are still surveillance devices!
theverge.com
We can’t just change the definition of ‘recording’
Soon, asking “Does this device have a camera?” won’t be good enough.
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Jon Passantino @passantino.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
This is an actual reason why Bari Weiss’ CBS foreign editor told staff that they could not include reporting on Netanyahu receiving advance warning of a Hamas attack before Oct 7. The astonishing tirade in @status.news www.status.news/p/bari-weiss...
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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 17/10/2026
New — Mike Huckabee's family company is offering $5800+ trips to Israel, so tourists can meet "top Israeli officials," even while he is the Ambassador to Israel. Plus: he promised his Huck PAC would go "dormant" if he became ambassador. That didn't happen. Over the past 2 years, it's raised $4.5M.
zeteo.com
‘The Israel Experience with Mike Huckabee’: The Ambassador’s Family Sells Trips to Israel
Mike Huckabee’s family is offering trips to Israel so tourists can ‘hear from top officials,’ even though he’s the ambassador. Meanwhile, he’s done little for U.S. victims of Israeli violence.
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The Questionable Authority @questauthority.bsky.social · 21h
I swear to god, where the hell does the "lawyer and attorney are different" thing come from? All three major models are regurgitating the claim, but there aren't any sources that really back it up. Even the ones the AI's cite when pushed don't really stand for that proposition.
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Snopes @snopes.com · 19h
✅ Yes, the Department of Homeland Security waived New Mexico water laws so the federal government could keep accessing the state's water wells while constructing its border wall. To verify, we contacted DHS: www.snopes.com/fact-check/n...
snopes.com
Did DHS waive New Mexico water laws to access wells for border wall construction?
People claimed the waiver removed the state's ownership of water wells during a lawsuit against the federal government.
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Michael E. Carter @deckofcarterhist.bsky.social · 19h
The President just compromised European security, the lives of our allies, and American national security because he thinks Putin is going to magically save his ass in the mid-term elections.
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Raider @iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
ICE kidnapped a man in front of a High School in Moreno Valley California this morning. Multiple video recordings from community members show the masked goons pulling the man from his vehicle in front of families and children while parents were taking their kids to school.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
(NYT) - The United States budget deficit approached $2 trillion in the 2026 fiscal year, its highest level since the pandemic .. @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/10/16/b...
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Jim Wald @citizenwald.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
It's Noah Webster's birthday (16 October 1758)--thus National #Dictionary Day thx 2 his role as the people's lexicographer. His Blue Back Speller languagemuseum.org/e.... & 1828 dictionary webstersdictionary18... were intended to create a distinctly American democratic English
languagemuseum.org
Blue-Backed Speller – The National Museum of Language
The Blue-Backed Speller The most popular American book of its time Along with his groundbreaking work in Lexicography, Noah Webster also had tremendous influence on the development of American English through the series of books that are today called Spellers. Webster through the books should be simple and he gave an orderly presentation of words […]
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Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine @asimovssfmag.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
An update from our publisher on our artist contracts:
Our artists and writers are the heart and soul of our magazines. We sincerely apologize for adopting a contract that caused frustration and alarm in the community surrounding our recent illustration agreement. We are grateful to everyone who spoke up and gave  feedback to help create a better contract solution. 


Our number one priority is being good shepherds to these legacy magazines and good community members. 


We assessed our art contracts and have a new procedure for commissioned covers and interiors.


The revised art contracts address community concerns by retiring work-for-hire terms, retaining artist copyright, and removing moral rights waivers to align with our fiction agreements. We appreciate the community holding us to high standards as we work to honor the creators who make these magazines possible.
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Joe Walsh @walshfreedom.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Donald Trump’s greatest legacy is the destruction of truth.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16/10/2026
Trump claims he has already talked to Google about changing the name of the Atlantic Ocean to the "Trump Ocean"
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Norm Eisen @normeisen.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
BREAKING: Trump DOJ sued CA with an unconstitutional & illegal demand to start throwing out mail in ballots weeks before the election We @democracydefendersfund.org & @campaignlegal.org are intervening, repping the NAACP & @lulacorg.bsky.social to shut down this unkosher baloney It will not stand!
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
How did we skip the step where we made this illegal?
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David Kurtz @davidkurtz.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
The number of alleged noncitizen voters that the Trump DOJ is claiming (20,000) isn't anywhere near large enough to have either a significant or predictably pro-GOP effect on election outcomes in California. So what does that leave as its plausible goals? talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo...
talkingpointsmemo.com
Trump DOJ Takes Election Interference to Next Level
Do You Get Morning Memo Via Email? Beginning next week, we’re going...
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neil guthrie @nguthrie.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Pair of French royalist candlesticks (late #c18 #c18th #18thc or early 19th) which cast a shadow of Queen Marie-Antoinette (executed 16 October 1793) in profile. With Antiques de Laval, Tréguier (Côtes d'Armor-Bretagne) #OTD
Dealer's description:
Rare paire de bougeoirs dits "séditieux" en bronze argenté, binet ciselé monté sur un fût fuselé et sur un socle rond orné de frises de palmettes et de frises à la grecque, à décor royaliste caché dans le binet présentant en ombre portée le profil de la défunte reine Marie-Antoinette, d'époque post révolutionnaire/ Empire fin XVIIIème-début XIXème siècles.Closer view of one of the candlesticks casting Marie-Antoinette’s profile as a shadow
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Benjamin L. Carp 🎏 @bencarp.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Whenever I'm trying to accentuate the pastness of the past to students, I'll sometimes say, "these people lived in a world where coping with the death of a child was a common experience." It actually makes me wonder whether "Hamilton" was offbase in calling the death of an adult son "unimaginable."
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
The next White House Press Secretary will be the woman on the right speaking through a Donald Trump doll.
A 70s album entitled Amen! by Beverly Messagee and her puppet, Erick.
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Johnson's Dictionary Online @sjdictionary.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
The centerpiece of the exhibit at the entrance is the large version of Samuel Johnson’s “A Dictionary of the English Language,” published in 1786, an artifact that was rebound and donated to Trinity’s Special Collections & Archives by Elizabeth Coates Maddux. trinitonian.com/2026/10/07/j...
trinitonian.com
Jane Austen at 250: Trinity students curate literary history
Students in English professor Betsy Tontiplaphol’s Jane Austen seminar helped curate an exhibit of rare Austen editions in Elizabeth Huth Coates Library’s Special Collections & Archives. This was in…
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Sean Padilla (He/They) Will Write a Good Song About Anything @seanpadilla.blacksky.app · 15/10/2026
A lot of people won’t want to hear it because it isn’t true Omar said on record that she was voting for Biden in 2024, even despite her state’s “Uncommitted” faction, and she formally endorsed Harris once the candidacy was transferred
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James O’Brien @mrjamesob.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Sad. But at least she can go back to not being a lawyer.
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lucaswaldron.bsky.social @lucaswaldron.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
New maps! "How Judges Eviscerated Trump’s DOJ Voter Data Lawsuits" for @propublica.org One judge (appointed by W Bush) said: "Clearly, this demand is devoid of any factual basis." projects.propublica.org/trump-doj-vo...
projects.propublica.org
How Judges Eviscerated Trump’s DOJ Voter Data Lawsuits — ProPublica
Over the past year, the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has sued 30 states and Washington, D.C., to demand their unredacted voter rolls. The vast majority of cases have been thrown out.
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Jef Czekaj @jefczekaj.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Hey, my poster made it to the final round of voting for @brattletheatre.bsky.social poster contest! Over the next week or so, I'll be digging a little deeper into the directors pictured, but, for now: PLEASE VOTE & GIVE MY POSTER 5 STARS!!! LINK IS THERE: pollunit.com/en/polls/LVK... Thanks!!!
A cartoony image of independent film directors sitting in a theater with the text "Your Favorite Directors Are At The Brattle. Film Lives."
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Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 16/10/2026
Wall Street executives helped finance Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes for years. The Trump Administration has failed to hold them accountable. If it won’t, Congress will.
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Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
“Answer my Letters at your Leisure. Give yourself no concern. I write as for a refuge and protection against Ennui.” -John Adams, writing a long, rambly letter on Christmas Day, 1813
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Kat Abughazaleh @katmabu.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Saw ANOTHER person say my indictment was the best thing to happen to my campaign. Let me be clear: It severely limited what I could say, where I could go, and what I could do. I had to worry about prison AND legal fees for myself AND my (amazing) field director. Political prosecutions aren’t fun.
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Molly White @molly.wiki · 16/10/2026
Newsletter: A Trump crypto adviser’s firm took millions from Tether while he shaped stablecoin rules in their favor, a Senate probe targets Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s not-so-former firm, and crypto’s biggest super PAC plays it safe. www.citationneeded.news/issue-111/
citationneeded.news
Issue 111 – Back the winners
A Trump crypto adviser’s firm took millions from Tether while he shaped stablecoin rules in their favor, a Senate probe targets Lutnick’s not-so-former firm, and crypto’s biggest super PAC plays it sa...
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Mark Chadbourn @chadbourn.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
The US is seeking to release up to 17 million barrels of oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help curb fuel prices driven up by the war on Iran, Reuters reports. NB: the US uses 20 million barrels a day The strategic reserve only has 283 million barrels left, the lowest level since 1982
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J. L. Bell @boston1775.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
static.klipy.com
Buzz Lightyear: Falling With Style
ALT: Buzz Lightyear: Falling With Style
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Hello, it's Dan McDaid @danmcdaid.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
That's not a flying car, that's a falling car
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
“.. extraordinary measures — including martial law — if they believe the midterm elections are ‘rigged.’” @axios.com www.axios.com/2026/10/16/t...
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Norm Eisen @normeisen.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
BREAKING: The FBI made a video trashing Democrats & hyping Kash Patel, then posted it during early voting Spending your tax dollars to campaign or to hype the director is illegal -- This video did BOTH We want watchdogs to find out who signed off Our @democracydefendersfund.org letter👇 -TN
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Stand Up for Yale @standupforyale.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
Scathing (and funny) letter from James Goodale, a 93 year old Yale grad and former general counsel of the New York Times, about why the university should NEVER settle with Trump. Spectacular quotes. yaledailynews.com/articles/nev...
The rule in a dispute with Donald Trump has long been simple: Never settle. This is the mantra adopted by virtually every lawyer in New York City, where Trump had his rise. It was the price of doing business with Trump. You had to pay legal fees since he always sued and you never lost. 

Generally speaking, there wasn’t much to his lawsuits. They were just a form of harassment. I can remember being involved in one when Time Magazine alleged he was not a billionaire. He sued because he said he was a billionaire. Time won but paid legal fees (thankfully, to my firm).
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Tom Joscelyn @tomjoscelyn.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
In early 2025, I assumed the Trump regime would delete the Department of Justice’s press releases and other statements related to more than 1,000 Jan. 6 cases. So I downloaded them. We’ve now made them available to the public with a search tool. They can’t erase history. jan6memoryproject.org
jan6memoryproject.org
The January 6 Memory Project
A public archive of Department of Justice news releases and related court filings concerning prosecutions from the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
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James Downie @jamescdownie.bsky.social · 16/10/2026
The slop party: "More than 80 percent of the [AI-generated] ads were produced by Republican campaigns or Republican-aligned political action committees."
nytimes.com
$137 Million in A.I.-Generated Ads Flood the Midterms (Gift Article)
Republicans have used A.I.-generated content more often than Democrats, ranging from subtle enhancements to convincing deepfakes.
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