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Virgil Starkwell

@jfagan45.bsky.social
306 followers 47 following 2.1K posts

My dog loves jazz.

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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 6h
The Art of the Deal updated.
nytimes.com
Trump Hands Victories to Putin, Who Offers More War in Return
Russia has reaped a diesel deal and an increase in U.S. pressure on Ukraine as President Trump’s political needs align with his longstanding inclinations toward Russia.
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Pat G🇨🇦 🍁🏳️‍🌈🍉 @pguist.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Trump just made a deal with Putin. He’s going to buy Russian oil instead of ours. And these Alberta idiots think they want to be American.Trump will take all he can from Alberta and leave them for dead 💀 ~ Never 51 (FB)
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Grant Stern @grantstern.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Donald Trump’s plan to buy diesel and gas from Russia is just as insane roar as his plan from the Treason Summit in Helsinki to turn over America’s cyber defenses to Putin. He’s the first American President to be a vassal of another country’s dictator.
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Mark Sumner 🌒 @devilstower.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
The deal doesn’t just align the United States against Ukraine, it positions us in opposition to every democratic government on the planet, to every institution of international law, and our own commitments and signed agreements. It is abominable.
washingtonpost.com
Trump announces diesel deal with Russia in bid to lower prices
The amount is small compared with U.S. demand, but the deal aligns the U.S. with Russia and against Ukraine’s efforts to bomb Russian refineries.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Didn't know JDV was so smooth!
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
I read these stories and wonder how Republicans can play so fast and loose with people's lives. And how anyone with a below median income would vote for them. Religion? Race? Rage?
nytimes.com
Private Medicare Plans Are Raising Costs And Forcing Millions To Find New Insurance
As enrollment for Medicare Advantage begins this month, older Americans are confronting fewer options because insurers are discontinuing coverage in many areas.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Foley Square demonstration tomorrow?
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Devastating 💔 Abolish ice www.instagram.com/reel/DePkMcN...
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
ICE's recruitment of thugs, paper thin training, and absence of discipline produced this violence. A massive demonstration in front of 26 Fed Plaza needs to happen. The endangerment of the child is criminal, and typical of ICE.
nytimes.com
ICE Agent Shoots Man in New York City
The person who was shot had been taken to a nearby hospital and was conscious and receiving medical attention, according to the New York Police Department, which said it was not involved in the shooti...
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Richard, Toad the Just, Earl of Sausagetoad 🇬🇧 🇺🇸🌊 @richardlordtoad.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
They all knew, but sucked-up anyway...
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
No words.
newrepublic.com
Naked Trump Statute Goes on Display in European Parliament
The golden statue, named The Orange Plague, is now at the European Parliament.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Why is Trump speaking in a state and place where he and his party have no hope of winning any election, from dog catcher up to govet? Repeatedly playing a game that you know you can't win is one of the signs of psychopathy.
newrepublic.com
Trump Bans Dem Governor From Speaking at Rally in His Home State
Maryland Governor Wes Moore says he helped put together the deal that Trump is about to take all the credit for.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Trump has such contempt for the voters of South Carolina that he elevated someone utterly unqualified for senate who knows absolutely nothing about anything connected to the job who reads scripts given to her by MAGA handlers while calling the qualified Democrat names and slurs.
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MJ 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 @ambientheat.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Hate and divisiveness are his campaign strategy.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Exit = retreat.
nytimes.com
Potential Iranian Drone Attack Led to Exit of U.S. Aircraft From British Air Base
According to U.S. and British officials, 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from R.A.F. Fairford air base were withdrawn because of the risk of a drone attack ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps...
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4fuxake @blueheartedly1.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
You really didn't need a study 👇
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Why is 🇺🇸 media not reporting on this 128 day Albanian protest of Kushner and Ivanka’s insane corruption?
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Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
👀
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
But I thought that Trump loved Arkansas .... Zero tolerance for dissent.
nytimes.com
Trump Urges People to Call Senator Tom Cotton Over Daylight Saving Bill
The president urged people to call Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and accused him of blocking a bill to cement daylight saving time.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Trump's chutzpah is infinite. He craps all over Europe and Canad and then begs them to release diesel, taking the political pressure off him for now. What were Macron and the rest, including Carney, thinking while they debased themselves?
newrepublic.com
Trump Begs Europe to Help Him Bring Down Diesel Costs He Drove Up
France proposed to release some of its diesel stockpiles after an emergency G7 meeting.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
It's now foreseeable that an execution will result in extreme pain and disfigurement. It's barbaric and serves no legitimate purpose under law as applied. Legal challenges can build on the facts of botched state killings to declare the death penalty unconstitutional.
theguardian.com
Tennessee woman on death row taken to hospital after surviving two lethal injections
Christa Pike, sentenced to death over 1995 murder, was heard snoring after lethal doses administered, say witnesses
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Charlie Warzel @cwarzel.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
There is a moment at the very very end of Abdul El-Sayed's podcast with Ezra Klein (book recommendation section) where he talks about the idea of "speaking truth to pain" and this will be staying with me for an extremely long time. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/25/o...
But there’s also something about truth to pain. We talk a lot about truth to power, but I think it’s actually a lot harder to speak truth to pain. I say that as someone who went to medical school, realizing that in a lot of our politics right now, we’ve got to get a lot better at speaking truth to pain if we’re going to get through some of these challenges that we have.

What does “truth to pain” mean?

It’s one thing to look power in the eye and say: You’re wrong about this. But there’s a way in which pain is very difficult to reason with. Because when somebody is in their pain, they’re in their trauma. They see that pain, and they may not see what’s causing it.

I remember just very explicitly being in a trauma ward with a gunshot wound patient and watching this big guy with his hand on his gunshot wound. All the folks are trying to pull his hand off his pain, that point of his gunshot wound, this clear vulnerability.

And this emergency room doctor had the presence of mind to be like: Everyone, stop. And she looks him in the eyes, and she’s like: I get that really hurts, and I’m so sorry that you’re here. You don’t want to be here. We don’t want you to be here. But if you don’t let us fix this, you could die. So I’m going to take your hand, and I’m going to move it off, OK? Because I need to get there so that you can live.

She was speaking truth to pain. He understands he’s at the hospital, he needs care, but he also doesn’t want anybody to touch the wound. Which is a natural thing. And I think it is a really great metaphor for how we think about a lot of these challenges we talked about today.
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 30/09/2026
Trump: "We have the best economy anywhere in the world. There's no economy like this economy. The only thing we don't have is good public relations. We don't seem to be able to get the word across."
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Trump thought of this all by himself? Unlikely. I suspect he's getting a cut of the action on the slick new tool.
theguardian.com
Trump touts new AI tool he claims will streamline government information access – US politics live
President says he will ‘never stifle’ AI development while unveiling sweeping tool to access federal government sites
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Habeas petition should be in process. Suppression of evidence is but one of many forms of prosecutorial misconduct in this case. theintercept.com/2026/09/27/p...
theintercept.com
What the Prairieland Jury Never Got to Hear
An anti-ICE Prairieland protester tried to argue his shot was a ricochet. It was squashed by gaps in the evidence and a judge’s ruling.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Stephens II deserves multi-game suspension if not ban. Agg Assault 1. Not surprising that he's a Lincoln Riley player. x.com/CamMellor/st...
x.com
Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) on X
Dudes down on the ground motionless. Just an awful look to ‘celebrate’ like this after that man.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Ethnic cleansing graduates to racial and religious murder. Turning the West Bank into the Warsaw Ghetto. apnews.com/article/isra...
apnews.com
Far-right settlers divert West Bank spring water as Israel backs heritage site takeovers
Israeli settlers have intensified efforts to seize natural springs and heritage sites in the occupied West Bank.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
In Pike's case, the science that informed Roper line at 18 has come into sharper focus and confirmation in science. This is a matter that the TN and other state legislatures can act on, including a retroactive provision acknowledging the scientific consensus in Roper and later cases.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Brain Science Shows Why 18 Is Too Young for the Death Penalty
Our brains don’t finish developing until we’re well into our 20s. That matters when deciding who gets the death penalty.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
When is the PA recall election on Fetterman?
theguardian.com
Senate Republicans block Democratic effort to end US war with Iran
GOP stymies House-passed war powers resolution as conflict passes 200-day mark with 19 US service members killed
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Most people have no idea how much international students are the lifeblood of higher education. But they’re about to learn. Sigh.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
POS. Spain should serve that ICC warrant on him, he belongs in a penal colony.
theguardian.com
Netanyahu condemns media and Mamdani while praising Trump at UN in New York – as it happened
Israeli prime minister hails IDF as ‘most moral army in the world’
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Rubio condemned Putin before he loved him when Trump took office. Lil Marco has a steel spin and platinum convictions.
nytimes.com
Trump Invites Putin to Attend Group of 20 Summit in Miami
Many leaders are unlikely to welcome the Russian leader’s presence at the event because of his country’s war against Ukraine.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
They couldn’t find them because they had filed no claims? Those are the people a sane and smart person would want in their pool. Bloody idjit Republicans.
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Pascal Sabino @pascalsabino.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Voters nationwide have used initiatives to protect abortion rights, legalize weed & raise the minimum wage. In response, GOP politicians have attacked the people's initiative & referendum powers. So voters in MT & MO are now aiming to safeguard that power by declaring a right to direct democracy:
boltsmag.org
To Protect Direct Democracy, Two States Mull a New Approach: Name It As a Right - Bolts
After years of attacks on voters’ power to take matters into their own hands, democracy advocates are going on the offensive in Montana and Missouri. They’ve placed constitutional amendments on... Rea...
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
But he’s really just doing it all for you because he loves you, Mr. & Ms. MAGA.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Minnesota and California! Not exactly a random sample
nytimes.com
Trump Officials Eject 750,000 From Obamacare Markets, Claiming Fraud
Vice President JD Vance said the measure would save the government $2.2 billion.
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The Greenland 'deal' reads like an adoption and acquisition. It's now an American territory. Colonialism by another name.
theguardian.com
Trump defends actions in Iran and Venezuela in UN General Assembly address amid rising tensions with allies – live
Trump threatens to ‘annihilate’ Iran and ‘drive them into Hell’ if there isn’t a deal, while also underscoring US policy on Cuba, Mexico, Greenland and AI
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
👇🏽 #AbolishICE
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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
This is not great
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Christ, these people are monsters. Just monsters. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Oy
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“We are fed up with ICE & DHS telling us lies… NO MORE TRAFFIC STOPS BY ICE.” Wilber’s lawyer says he was sideswiped and shot by ICE without any clue who they even were — and ICE then immediately lied about what happened (again)
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Art of the Deal is buying fertilizer from a Putin-aligned repressive dictator and paying to ship it 6,000 miles from his landlocked and sanctioned country so you can teach Canada a lesson.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 22/09/2026
huh, this piece nailed the AI bros like a decade ago
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I’m SOL in the Heritage lottery: Ellis Islanders. Getting a C was unacceptable in my family, and a low status grade here. Maybe I’ll try Canada.
nytimes.com
Opinion | Vance Has a Twisted Idea of What It Means to Be American
I am a “heritage American,” too. How should that guide my life?
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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“Briefly detained” = beat half to death
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
He is not wrong. "There are reasonable grounds to believe that the reported 68 attacks that killed 223 people constituted crimes against humanity of murder under customary international law" - United Nations Special Rapporteur on U.S. Killing “Narco-Terrorists” at Sea www.ohchr.org/sites/defaul...
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Virgil Starkwell @jfagan45.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
And no state grand jury convened. It isTexas, after all. 
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Bolts @boltsmag.org · 20/09/2026
CalMatters reports on advocacy groups pushing Governor Gavin Newsom to commute the death sentences of hundreds of Californians:
calmatters.org
California has one-quarter of all the nation’s death sentences. Will Newsom commute them all?
More than 560 people still face death sentences in California, despite a longstanding moratorium on executions.
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