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karin

@karinswriting.bsky.social
1.2K followers 1K following 255 posts

Longtime writing prof, now retired. Progressive Dem writing letters and postcards and reading avidly. Happily married to my cycling partner. Banner/profile photos from the 70s - Dad (sideburns wow) at the VW loaded with bikes and kayaks; me on the beach.

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Reposted by karin
Seth Kahn (he/him) @badpacifist.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I don't know @lilymasonphd.bsky.social (who I just followed), but this is the most THANK [DEITY/ICON OF YOUR CHOICE] SOMEBODY SAID THIS BECAUSE IT CLICKS ALL THE THINGS piece I've read in years. If you need pull quotes to convince you to read it, @bakerdphd.bsky.social has already done that too.
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Sean Casten @seancasten.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Some morning musings on AI. We need to stop talking about this as technology issue. It's an ethics & law enforcement issue. Thread:
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Today in the news that we didn't quite get: we almost started a serious conflict with China based on a chatbot. You didn't hear that story at the time? Me neither. WTF are we even doing. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Forget ‘superintelligence’: error-prone AI nearly sparked world war three this month | Timnit Gebru and Emily M Bender
The risks of AI aren’t what we think they are, as a recent security incident between China and the United States reveals
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 01/10/2026
🚨 BREAKING: The family of Renee Good and her partner, Rebecca Good, have filed two federal lawsuits over Good’s January killing by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis. 1/
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
#TeamRhetoric Vy is one of our own. Please boost this message. Any ideas on how to pressure Aetna?
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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
What about her future? What about how hard she worked to be there? What is to become of her life now? What process of justice could possibly right these wrongs? And how much more will she lose in the process of trying to get it? How much more of this are we all supposed to tolerate?
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
How can I tag Aetna health insurance company with this horrifying story of how they are denying my friend a surgery she needs to literally save her life? tinyurl.com/2k3w6ubw
tinyurl.com
Aetna Denies Life-Saving, Physician-Recommended Surgery, Surprising Exactly No One
A few weeks ago, I shared that, after an exhausting 3 years of searching for a diagnosis during which my quality of life and capacities rapidly deteriorated, I was finally diagnosed with bilateral int...
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Help us Survive the War(om jameel) chuffed.org/project/1839...
chuffed.org
Help us Survive the War(om jameel)
northern Gaza, in the yellow zone under occupation.
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Charles Keener @charleskeener.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
We cannot allow Congress to ignore millions more families going hungry. Tell your Senators: Reverse the SNAP cuts and restore food assistance for families. share.nwmd.social/s/OwnyfCbp
share.nwmd.social
Tell The Senate: Reverse SNAP Cuts, Restore Food Assistance for Families
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
I'm gonna hop on the Indivisible event, “General Election Kickoff Call” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/indivisible/...
mobilize.us
General Election Kickoff Call · Indivisible
Join Indivisibles and activists across the country to learn about Indivisible National’s General Election program! We’ll kick things off with Indivisible’s Ezra Levin as we celebrate all that we acco...
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Penelope Wang @pennywriter.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
After being forced out of the military, many trans service members have yet to receive tens of thousands of dollars in severance pay they are owed, leaving them destitute and homeless. (gift link) wapo.st/4qN0TNq
wapo.st
A trans veteran became homeless after the military didn’t pay her severance
Chloe Shapiro is one of a dozen former service members identified by The Washington Post who have waited months for full payments.
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Emily L. Hauser (she/her) ❌👑 @emilylhauser.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
This thing where normie Dems are like "stop talking about trans stuff," like it's a thought experiment, is so infuriating, bc this is what we're talking about. Real people, real lives, real targeting, real suffering of the sort that Serwer was talking about when he said "the cruelty is the point."
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
We cannot allow Congress to ignore millions more families going hungry. Tell your Senators: Reverse the SNAP cuts and restore food assistance for families. share.nwmd.social/s/hbIWp6H1
share.nwmd.social
Tell The Senate: Reverse SNAP Cuts, Restore Food Assistance for Families
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Chantal James @chantalalive.blacksky.app · 23/08/2026
Elias needs desperate help for his vision problem the threatens the loss of his sight, while he also needs care for being seriously wounded falling from rubble because of this. Help him out with boosts & donations, because this sweet child really needs us.
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
As it's back-to-school season, do you know who is supporting trans kids in your state or local area? In Illinois we have Trans Up Front IL which has launched a program to help trans kids thrive in their schools. Please, support trans people out loud and in public. givebutter.com/Showup4TUF
givebutter.com
Show up for Trans up Front
Bringing support and advocacy to trans and gender non-conforming individuals and their families.
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Basic Income Action ↗️ @basicincomeaction.org · 14/08/2026
Post this. Or just say it: "BASIC INCOME NOW!!"
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
What I like best about the current political moment is seeing candidates win who do NOT represent The-Dems-As-Usual. Fingers crossed, and fingers textbanking, for Peggy Flanagan in MN Dem primary tomorrow. Let's win another one.
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Urge Your Senators to Oppose and Stop Trump's Crypto Corruption act.indivisible.org/sign/urge-de...
act.indivisible.org
Urge Your Senators to Oppose and Stop Trump's Crypto Corruption
Last year, the House passed the CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633), a bill disguised as “crypto regulation” that actually serves the billionaires and bad actors at the center of today’s crypto chaos. This bill d...
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jessamyn @librarian.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful
An aircraft passenger oxygen mask: a drop down passenger mask with air bag and yellow plastic mouth and nose cover, oxygen tube has been cut; Demonstration model used by flight attendant crew for passenger instruction. Has text on the side indicating that it's non-functional.
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
For me the best way to read here is to keep diving into the levels of posts and quote-posts. Scrolling skimming ain't it. Dig thru the convo, find out what's going on, realize who's saying what from which point of view. What's your best bluesky reading strategy?
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Charles Keener @charleskeener.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
truthout.org/articles/doc...
truthout.org
Documents Show TSA Shares Passengers’ Personal Information With ICE
This contradicts testimony from a TSA official who said the data wasn’t being collected for immigration enforcement.
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white @trashmnk.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I always see them helping others on my timeline—let's see if we can be their support in their time of need. If you're like me and you can't help financially right now, consider reposting to increase visibility. Let's complete the circle.
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Been following Brandi Morin's blog about indigenous people's fights against capitalists' efforts to wreck their homelands. Today's post is riveting. Highly recommend. open.substack.com/pub/indigeno...
open.substack.com
Canada Just Cleared the Way to Bulldoze the Amazon for Gold
A Toronto-listed miner just beat an Indigenous lawsuit on a technicality — days after Ottawa gutted its own corporate watchdog.
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Scott Dworkin @dworkin.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
The SAVE Act could block millions of eligible Americans from voting—married women, students, anyone whose paperwork doesn’t perfectly match. Tell Congress to vote NO. Then share this so it reaches someone it would hurt 👇 actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...
actionnetwork.org
Tell Your Senators: Protect our Democracy, Vote NO on the SAVE Act
Contact Congress today!
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Tell Congress: Stop Trump’s Illegal Plan to Destroy the US Forest Service Write a letter here: actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...
actionnetwork.org
Tell Congress: Stop Trump’s Illegal Plan to Destroy the US Forest Service
Contact Congress today!
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I just signed this petition on OrganizeFor with @ColorOfChange. Will you join me? #O4 campaigns.organizefor.org/petitions/pr...
campaigns.organizefor.org
Prosecute the ICE Agent Who Killed #KeithPorter
It is outrageous that the County’s prosecutor takes a “tough on crime” position when it comes to righteous protest, youth offenses, and “crimes” of property, but the greenlight to crime, violence, and...
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Hey @amyactonoh.bsky.social if you are really on the side of the people of Ohio, be on the side of trans people too. You're gonna lose votes this way.
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Shame on Amy Acton, Dem candidate for OH Gov. DO BETTER, AMY. www.erininthemorning.com/p/dem-ohio-g...
erininthemorning.com
Dem Ohio Governor Candidate Amy Acton Endorses Trans Sports Ban, Igniting Intra-Party Firestorm
The statement has left several Ohio Democrats in uproar.
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Lisa Nakamura @lnakamura.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Here's the link to the free pdf of my new book The Inattention Economy: How Women of Color Built the Internet. Access is so important and I'm grateful that the press is platforming it as one file that is easy to download. www.upress.umn.edu/978081669906...
upress.umn.edu
The Inattention Economy
Revealing the unheralded contributions of women of color to the foundation and development of the digital economyThe Inattention Economy challenges the wides...
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Anne Kosseff-Jones @annekosseffjones.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
On another dark day, our ICE-impacted Minneapolis neighbors could use a hand with their very-much ongoing recovery. We've received a large donation toward Aug rents, but the need is great and we'd really like to be able to meet a greater percentage of each ask from our school families.
gofundme.com
Donate to Support Families at a South Minneapolis Public School, organized by Anne Kosseff
We are a Title 1 neighborhood community school in south Minneapolis… Anne Kosseff needs your support for Support Families at a South Minneapolis Public School
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Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
It's conference season, so I wanted to share the AI refusal statement I put at the end of my presentations and book talks. Feel free to use it!
AI Refusal Statement
I did not use generative AI at any point in the production of this book or presentation, including the literature review, writing, editing, translation, organization, or any other task (e.g. brainstorming). To the extent that it is possible to know, I did not cite any studies that used generative AI.
Justification: GenAI technology is based on stolen labor, anti-solidarity between workers, class exploitation, structural racism, misogyny, environmental injustice, and climate destabilization.
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Scott Dworkin @dworkin.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
🚨 BREAK THROUGH THE REGIME’S PROPAGANDA! 🚨 They want you to ignore Trump's glaring medical and mental unfitness. Refuse to stay quiet. Tap this link right now to demand an independent 25th Amendment check: 👉 actionnetwork.org/letters/tell...
actionnetwork.org
Tell Congress: Pass Raskin’s Bill to Create 25th Amendment Commission
Contact Congress today!
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Remove Trump’s Ludicrously Unqualified & Massively Dangerous National Intelligence Director act.indivisible.org/sign/remove-...
act.indivisible.org
Remove Trump’s Ludicrously Unqualified & Massively Dangerous National Intelligence Director
Trump just appointed his political attack dog, Bill Pulte, as acting Director of National Intelligence. Pulte has absolutely no experience in national intelligence, and was clearly offered the job bas...
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
An extraordinary rebuke of Todd Blanche and his Justice Department. Federal judge dismisses the indictment of Abrego Garcia (an exceedingly rare outcome in a criminal case). Finding of vindictive prosecution and "an abuse of prosecuting power." The opinion name checks Blanche nearly 30 times.
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Sarah J. Jackson @sjjphd.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Like every Mother's Day today I am asking that you consider a donation to @nationalbailout.bsky.social to help free mamas who are separated from their families by the injustices of pretrial detention systems. secure.actblue.com/donate/freeb...
secure.actblue.com
Donate to #FreeBlackMamas
With your generous support we are able to continue to bail out community members, provide life-changing supportive services and resource groups who are organizing to transform the criminal justice sys...
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Mother's Day is performative bullshit. Bite me.
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American Oversight @americanoversight.org · 21/04/2026
At least 181 people have died in the Trump admin’s boat strikes in the Eastern Pacific and Caribbean. Last year, we sued to get the legal justifications for these strikes. The administration still hasn’t provided them — and the death toll keeps climbing. americanoversight.org/american-ove...
americanoversight.org
American Oversight Sues for Hegseth “Kill Everybody” Boat-Strike Records - American Oversight
The defense secretary displays a pattern of reckless disregard for proper security protocols and rules of engagement.
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Meredith Shiner @meredithshiner.com · 13/04/2026
Cool resign from Congress next
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Kat Tenbarge @kattenbarge.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
When people say the Swalwell allegations are a distraction from Trump/Epstein (they are all part of the same bigger picture), I have to wonder why these people even supposedly care about Trump and Epstein. Do you care about sexual violence or don’t you? Why do you only care about some of it?
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Katie Porter @katieporterca.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
In light of the allegations of sexual assault, Eric Swalwell should resign from Congress and end his campaign for public office. But those decisions do not absolve him of taking responsibility for his misconduct, especially when he has attempted to silence and retaliate against these victims. (1/3)
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Time for Eric Swallwell @ericswalwell.bsky.social to drop out of the CA Gov race and endorse Katie Porter @katieporterca.bsky.social We are soooo tired of sexual abusers denying, persisting, lying, and taking up space. Go away, Eric, and right your wrongs quietly.
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Paul Gowder @gowder.io · 07/04/2026
For your citing purposes, U.S. law incorporation of the prohibition against genocide: 18 U.S.C § 1091; U.S. law incorporation of the prohibition against wantonly destroying infrastructure 18 U.S.C § 2441 which incorporates by reference Geneva Convention IV art. 147.
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Celeste Pewter @celestepewter.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Script.
YOU: Hi my name is [name]. I’m calling from [ZIP CODE].

YOU: Today, President Trump said that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not meet his deadline to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That rhetoric is extreme, dangerous, and disqualifying.  

FOR THOSE W/ DEM ELECTEDS: I’m asking [ELECTED OFFICIAL] to publicly condemn this rhetoric and use every available procedural tool to stop further escalation, including support for impeachment and urgent public pressure on congressional leadership.

FOR THOSE W/ GOP ELECTEDS: I’m asking [ELECTED OFFICIAL] to publicly condemn this rhetoric, press the administration and cabinet to treat this as disqualifying conduct. 

YOU: Calling this what it is matters. Even if removal is difficult, elected officials should treat rhetoric like this as unfit and dangerous.

YOU: [OPTIONAL COMMENTS]
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Puff the Magic Hater @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
You have more in common with the people of Iran than you do with anyone in this administration, any member of the technocracy, anyone who is profiting from this war, or any billionaire. When you see Iranians forming human chains outside key infrastructure sites, you should feel a sense of kinship.
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
War crimes are morally and legally wrong. But they also don’t win wars or get us beyond politics. Insofar as there is a logic to this it is to provoke the Iranians and then act shocked and go for a coup domestically. See my essay "The Next Coup Attempt" snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-c...
snyder.substack.com
The Next Coup Attempt
And How to Stop It
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Anne Lutz Fernandez @lutzfernandez.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Chatbots are going to turn us all into Trump
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Indivisible ❌👑 @indivisible.org · 01/04/2026
If you enjoyed making history on No Kings Day, we hope you will join the national day of economic disruption on May Day: www.nokings.org/whats-next
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karin @karinswriting.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
Watching the After No Kings 3 mass call with the incomparable, irresistible @ashdashlee.bsky.social Hop on!! be inspired, get information, go to NOKINGS dot ORG / WHATS-NEXT
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Mark Copelovitch @mcopelov.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
<Everything else> on issue ____ follows from fixing our broken institutions & having multiparty majoritarian democracy. A Democratic trifecta in 2029 that doesn't lead with the institutional reforms is going to fail again. And everyone will be disillusioned again. And we'll get more fascism again.
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