Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialPavlos Roufos @proufos.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Back in March 2023, I had written a long thread for (awful) twitter on the question of police violence and mainstream liberal support for it. 1/ 12711
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialJane @jane.meangirls.online · 17/09/2026what do you think happens when a bunch of people see this ad over and over again that aren't already dedicated allies? even if it doesn't sway their vote because it's not the most salient issue for them it still has an effect on them. they're still going to internalize some of this. 135516
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialDavid Marcus @davidmarcus.bsky.social · 14/09/2026"The social contract is no longer working: Going to college does not ensure anything other than...often low-paying work." @alexnpress.bsky.social in Fall Books on @noamscheiber.bsky.social's new book and the making of the millennial working class www.thenation.com/article/soci...thenation.comThe Making of the Millennial Working ClassA new book follows a rising generation of labor organizers as they attempt to unionize their workplaces. 28926
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialrose @breadnrosie.bsky.social · 15/09/2026i think it should be more commented on that jacobin put out a 57 page report that basically says candidates need to moderate on social issues, in particular trans rights 381313229
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialcee @cee.wtf · 04/09/2026throng.cee.wtf i've invented a new way to browse bluesky 35482161910
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialJoel Pinckney @jpinckney.bsky.social · 01/09/2026New one today for @defector.com: in the wake of the most recent declaration of reading's demise, I was curious what booksellers, almost always ignored by the post-literate prognosticators, made of such claims. Here's what they told me:defector.comWhat Do Booksellers Make Of “The End Of Reading”? | DefectorIf you haven’t yet encountered the cover story for the August issue of The Atlantic, I have some bad news to share: “The End of Reading Is Here.” It’s an intentionally provocative headline for a sligh... 1023480
jtownsend.bsky.social @jtownsend.bsky.social · 31/08/2026I was going to make a joke about doing a Pentagon Wars (1998) spiel in August 2026 with a magically depoliticized worldview (because politics stop both 'at the water's edge,' and also 'at some point in time prior to 2016') but as it turns out this would be to undersell how weird the worldview is 000
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.social404 Media @404media.co · 17/08/2026SCOOP: 404 Media placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it. What did we find? It ended up at an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books. Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:404media.coWe Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training FacilityWe placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books. 15162283922
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialmichaelbarenboim.bsky.social @michaelbarenboim.bsky.social · 02/08/2026To be blunt: this language is not acceptable to be used about human beings, and the fact that the Tagesschau, Germany's main TV news outlet, sees fit to do so on their YouTube channel tells you basically everything you need to know about mainstream media in Germany @tagesschau.bsky.social 412332
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialJoseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 21/07/2026New from 404 Media: a company is selling tons of old books specifically to AI companies and says they have a strong NDA to never reveal which AI company bought all of the books. They don't want headlines of 'we scanned and destroyed millions of books for AI' www.404media.co/ai-companies...404media.coAI Companies Are Buying Tons of Old Books Because They're Free of AI SlopISBNdb, a company that sources printed books for AI companies to turn into training data, tells clients “the optics problem is real.” 17517316
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialMayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani @mayor.nyc.gov · 22/07/2026Benjamin Netanyahu is a war criminal. 20368812324829
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialRuwa Romman @ruwaromman.bsky.social · 10/07/2026I’ll share it, because I think this rampant anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry is not only accepted by a dying wing of our party but being used to win primaries (see Abdul). It’s on us to see it, shun it, and protect our coalition. 11552281081
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialCharlie Angus @charlieangus104.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Mark Carney sold out Cuba at the UN. If you are lobbyist for a pesticide company or an oil giant looking for a handout he's got your back but a nation being crushed by an illegal blockade? Well that's another story. Call your Liberal MP and ask why. canadiannetworkoncuba.ca/2026/07/07/c...canadiannetworkoncuba.caCNC Statement on Canada’s Abstention at the United Nations – Canadian network on cuba 30408172
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialJed Brown @jedbrown.org · 09/07/2026This sums up the frantic and coerced deployment of "AI" throughout public and private sectors. Results of even cursory audits are horrifying every time, invariably paired with forced adoption and retaliation for asserting professional norms. Colonialism is a cherry on top. 61012468
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialAvi Lewis @avilewis.ca · 08/07/2026PM Carney is once again supporting U.S. violence and impunity. Canada can’t control Trump’s chaos. But we can take a clear stand for lives, livelihoods, international law and global stability. New Democrats say: stop the war. www.cbc.ca/news/politic...cbc.caCarney backs latest U.S. strikes on Iran as Trump slams NATO allies | CBC NewsPrime Minister Mark Carney endorsed the latest U.S. strikes on Iran as a justified response to ceasefire violations, even as President Donald Trump declared the truce finished and accused NATO allies ... 52519186
jtownsend.bsky.social @jtownsend.bsky.social · 06/07/2026N. Kalman-Lamb was *right* to do a whole announced-long-in-advance anti-WC campaign. Didn't wait for the ref visa denial etc etc. I won't say people dragging him are showing bad conscience - too pat - but tbqh a letdown to see people apparently care more about "being a killjoy" than "being right" 100
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialunraveled @unraveledpress.com · 02/07/2026Earlier this week, Intelligencer ran a piece called "ICE Won." We definitely don't agree with the title, but its gist—that the normalization of federal police violence is accelerating—is proving accurate. ICE arrests roughly doubled in Chicagoland in June over May. Some more thoughts on that: 17751383
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialAvi Lewis @avilewis.ca · 18/06/20261/ Major Canadian experts in internet security and privacy - like @rondeibert.bsky.social, @openmedia.org and @cancivlib.bsky.social - are absolutely freaking out about Bill C-22. They’re sounding massive alarms, warning that it could: 7348164
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialThorsten Mense @mense.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Jubel, standing ovations und „Send them back!“-Rufe im EU-Parlament, nachdem dort heute Abschiebelager in Drittstaaten beschlossen wurden. Der rassistische Remigration-Mob feiert seinen Erfolg - den ihm die Konservativen verschafft haben. 713946
jtownsend.bsky.social @jtownsend.bsky.social · 03/06/2026@mark-carney.bsky.social I appreciate that Canada's negotiating strategy with the US consciously underreacts but if you don't PNG foreign diplomats who say things like this, after all that's come in this vein already, you're normalizing a would-be proconsul. They imagine themselves our masters. 000
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialAvi Lewis @avilewis.ca · 29/05/20262/ It’s a blatant violation of international law, a crime in progress. Canadians are connected to Cuba: we’ve been welcomed, had great holidays, heard incredible music, done business and made friends. 356557
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialAvi Lewis @avilewis.ca · 29/05/20261/ Cuba is out of fuel, strangled by the US fuel chokehold. People are dying, systems are breaking down. This is collective punishment against a people who have done absolutely nothing except live their lives under hard conditions imposed by the US blockade for decades. 272249836
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialRoland Meyer @bildoperationen.bsky.social · 18/05/2026I hear critical positions towards so-called «artificial intelligence» nowadays framed more and more as «rejectionism», and this is especially formulated as a critique of the left. The argument often goes something like this: Rather than seeing the potentials of AI, the left merely rejects it 1/ 3536196
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialKimmo Lahtinen @gimblll.com · 14/05/2026Sektori for Switch 2 is finally out TODAY! Enjoy! (or tear out your hear in frustration, either way!) 🌈 #indiegame #switch2 www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IQE...youtube.comSektori - Switch 2 TrailerYouTube video by Kimmo Lahtinen 37131
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialJoel @snufkinlib.bsky.social · 29/04/2026trying to play peekaboo with my child but he's a European diplomat: me: where'd daddy go? baby: we must articulate a post-daddy vision of strategic autonomy me: peekaboo! baby: my historic relationship with my father is stable despite recent troubles 1572471735
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialNate O @nateo.bsky.social · 30/04/2026I will hammer this point. It took five years for a High Court to determine exactly what I and dozens of others said was happening: this was a manufactured moral panic, based on flimsy (and, as it turns out, nonexistent!) evidence, to remove harassment policies protecting trans professors/students 2763252
jtownsend.bsky.social @jtownsend.bsky.social · 21/04/2026Article in LRT does a good job of outlining why the "Substack model" would be pretty unpromising - for writers or for "the public sphere" - even if it weren't for all of the Nazis in the cupboard, the A16z funding, etc. 100
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialSarah Brouillette @sarahbrouillette.bsky.social · 20/04/2026My brief contribution is about Substack. Many thanks to the incredible team at The Drift.thedriftmag.comA Confederacy of HatersSubstack describes its newsletters as solid “independent businesses.” The counter-public responds: we are gig workers excluded from most legacy media work. 02011
jtownsend.bsky.social @jtownsend.bsky.social · 18/04/2026Must preface this by admitting I find unironic usage of (and mental imaginaries inhabited by) "The Tankies" weirder than moderate/qualified ostalgia, but imo it mostly seems to track onto revolutions seen as least tainted/most inspiring, regimes most livable; DDR in that respect atypical. 121
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialJack Mirkinson @jackmirkinson.bsky.social · 07/04/2026let's be clear about what's happening: donald trump and benjamin netanyahu, whose countries have been committing genocide in gaza since 2023, unilaterally started a war with iran, and are now threatening genocide there. 122856709
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialPrem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 07/04/2026Can't tell you how many members of Congress who *at best* had nothing to say when I asked about the Minab girls school attack. There is a profanely cold detachment inside Capitol Hill, a mode completely unrecognizable to common human decency I wish I could properly convey to you. 10885402288
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialCUPW @cupwsttp.bsky.social · 01/04/2026Take Action: Stop Canada Post’s Sweeping Service Cuts! Canada Post has been given the green light by the Federal Government to move forward with sweeping service cuts to the public post office. Postal workers need your support! Take Action: www.cupw.ca/take-action 0911
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialAndrew Elrod @andrewelrod.bsky.social · 26/03/2026For @phenomenalworld.bsky.social, I spoke with Sam Gindin about the auto industry in Canada 163
jtownsend.bsky.social @jtownsend.bsky.social · 23/03/2026@garyalexander.bsky.social As silly as it feels to think about there really is some sort of go-team necessity, in sustaining the lib-to-the-bitter-end 2026 view in maintaining the sort of mental cordons that lead to "Oliver North was less harmful than Rosa Luxemburg"stuff 110
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialcait (and adonis) @cait.bsky.social · 06/03/2026would you like to see it 129718
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialBrian Goldstone @brian-goldstone.bsky.social · 03/03/2026Here in Georgia alone, if all the families and individuals excluded from the federal homeless census gathered at the Braves' stadium, they could fill it nearly three times over. An entire population has been written out of the story we tell ourselves about homelessness. They literally don't count. 214922
jtownsend.bsky.social @jtownsend.bsky.social · 28/02/2026Carney's statement of support for the US-Israeli attack on Iran is really unbelievable. I can't fathom any pragmatic, still less moral, justification for this stance in February 2026. Actively harmful on the world stage.thestar.comMark Carney backs U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, doesn’t expect Canada to get involved militarily"Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," the prime minister said in a statement Saturday. 010
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialNathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 20/02/2026Catastrophic higher education news in New Brunswick: the Liberal government of my MLA @susanholtnb.bsky.social is potentially going to cut 10% of the budget for universities—$50M across 4 schools when much *more* funding is needed, not less. The impact would be devastating. Please share, NBers. 414270
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialbort @crushbort.bsky.social · 05/02/2026I need people to understand that if you’ve dealt with ice, if you’ve had to worry about you or your kids or neighbors disappearing, if you see the govt giving nazis carte blanche to kill you, every “reform”’ from democrats who currently reject abolition sounds insane. and frankly fucking stupid 51678409
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialEric Wickham @ericwickham.ca · 27/01/2026New from me: More Than 100 Gazans Have Been Accepted to Canadian Universities. Canada Isn’t Letting Them In.pressprogress.caMore Than 100 Gazans Have Been Accepted to Canadian Universities. Canada Isn’t Letting Them In.See a map of the graduate programs they're planning to attend, if the government finally processes their visas 6276209
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialmichaelbarenboim.bsky.social @michaelbarenboim.bsky.social · 19/12/2025"Palestinians are now facing another winter without any of the things that anyone needs to survive. To reach the point we have, where Israel can weaponise starvation, you have to confront who enables that." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...theguardian.comI’m on hunger strike in a British prison. This is why | Amu GibOur demands are simple – and they start with stopping the flow of arms to Israel, says activist Amu Gib 02821
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialSophie Sherry @sophiesherry.bsky.social · 10/10/2025During a military-style raid on a building in Chicago’s South Shore, one resident heard a knock on his door. It wasn’t the feds — it was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for help. He let them hide in his unit for the next 3 days. chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...chicago.suntimes.comNeighbor shielded 7-year-old during South Shore federal raid: ‘I didn’t want them to take her’During the Sept. 30 raid one tenant protected a terrified girl and her mom. Remnants at the complex, including a detailed map of all the units, offer clues to what authorities may have known before th... 18774212329
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialPuff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 02/10/2025This explains a lot. For a moment, I wondered why they'd do something as ridiculous as drop agents on the roof of the apartment building from helicopters, but of course, they did it for this footage. The same reason they were marching in formation downtown and snatched a family in Millennium Park. 36784322
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialPuff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 02/10/2025We need a bigger national spotlight on this building raid, fam. Agents dropped from helicopters onto the roof. Citizens and non-citizens alike were dragged from their homes in the night. People who weren't kidnapped during the raid had their belongings seized after the fact. This is madness. 22786545399
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialCUPW @cupwsttp.bsky.social · 29/09/2025What We Are Fighting For www.cupw.ca/en/what-we-are-fighting #SupportCUPW #canlab #cdnpoli @CanadianLabourcupw.caWhat We Are Fighting ForLast Thursday's announcement from the Minister responsible for Canada Post, Joël Lightbound, was just the latest in a series of attacks from the Federal Government and Canada Post since bargaining started almost two years ago. It's clear: our fight is f... 0155
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialNathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 10/09/2025just “a small mob of extremists,” they said @seantucker.bsky.social 110826
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialNathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 26/08/2025Now this is a journalist who deserves respect. 2946281734
Reposted by @jtownsend.bsky.socialMohamad Bazzi @mbazzi.bsky.social · 26/08/2025“Israel is able to kill Palestinian journalists with impunity not just because of the unconditional military support it receives from the US, but also the failure of many western media organizations and journalists to stand up for their Palestinian colleagues” — my oped @theguardian.comtheguardian.comWestern journalists are failing to stand up for their colleagues in Gaza | Mohamad BazziThis hypocrisy of western media has been laid bare by Israel’s targeting of journalists since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack 218594
