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KA SEMENOVA

@kasemenova.bsky.social
1.2K followers 2.2K following 2.6K posts

Writer, editor, lapsed Russianist That guy up there on the left is Vladimir, in Titicut Follies. He was my uncle. I’m writing abt him on Substack. substack.com/@kasemenova?utm_source…

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Reposted by KA SEMENOVA
Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Something unprecedented happened during my visit to the Gulf. For the first time in 20 years in Congress, I was denied entry to U.S. military facilities and even meetings with military leaders. An order from Hegseth - that applies to both parties - to hide the cost of the war.
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
D canvasser knocked on my door: 3rd time in just over a month. Ds clearly spending in Ohio. This is the most activity in any cycle since I moved back over a decade ago. Slightly concerned they think Kaptur is in trouble, tho IDK. I don't even know her opponent's name, so Rs seem weirdly absent.
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
united24media.com/war-in-ukrai...
united24media.com
AI-Powered Turret That Hunts Russian Missiles and Drones? Meet Sky Sentinel, Ukraine’s New Air Defense
Ukraine's Sky Sentinel: An AI-powered air defense turret that autonomously targets drones and missiles, protecting Ukrainian cities from Russian aerial threat.
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
"You're so much prettier when you smile" is now an AI prompt.
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Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Hi Nobel Prize! Hope you are doing well. Does Canada need to proactively close our border just in case, or are we good? Wink twice if we need to close.
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Matthew Gertz @mattgertz.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
They're holding up a major escalation in Iran and a crackdown on abortion until after the midterms to limit political damage. To the extent that the last two years have been a right-wing smash-and-grab operation, the next two will be worse.
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
If you're wondering why Trump called Canada the worst country in the world & Navarro told trade negotiators to get out of the country, I think this might help explain it. youtu.be/Qo5wGpN1nD4?...
youtu.be
How Canada’s tariffs were designed to hurt Trump
YouTube video by CNN
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CEO Johnny Cans @oldmatecans.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I think the only solution for this is Kessler Syndrome.
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Trump isn't the first potus in my lifetime to be obsessed with renaming things. GWB gave everyone nicknames. The press thought it hilarious but it really bugged me. I realized today it was same, if milder, version of Trump's belief that the world is his to name. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
en.wikipedia.org
List of nicknames used by George W. Bush - Wikipedia
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Ana Marie Cox @anamariecox.com · 29/09/2026
This period will go down as one of the greatest moments for Democrat attack ads in history. We're seeing LBJ "Daisy"-level spots daily.
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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
MacFarlane: The Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio has got the same issue. Last year, they paid $50,000 for diesel to transport their food. Now, they’re paying $150,000 for the diesel to transport their food.
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Excellent. Easier to tear it down.
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MTgeo @dhann.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
deanblundell.substack.com/p/breaking-t...
deanblundell.substack.com
BREAKING: Trump Tried to Punish Canada With Belarus Potash. Belarus Says It Doesn't Have Any.
He announced a massive deal to spite Canada. Hours later, Lukashenko said every tonne is already sold as Trump hit’s historic polling low of 29% approval. LOLZ.
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Josh Zingher @zingherpolisci.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
These people thought they could get rid of democracy and keep the economic benefits of democracy. It's a choice folks. If autocracy was good for business, the pattern of global productivity would be much different. www.cnbc.com/2026/09/20/t...
cnbc.com
‘It's awful’: How tariffs, soaring fuel costs and higher interest rates are squeezing American companies
Tariffs, fuel prices and interest rates are squeezing American companies, particularly manufacturers, auto suppliers, retailers and transportation businesses.
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Crypto is going to dump $30 million to sink Sherrod Brown, per: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/21/u...
nytimes.com
The Crypto Industry Targets Sherrod Brown of Ohio, a Top Democratic Senate Candidate
Angry after the defeat of a major crypto bill last week, the industry is planning to spend $30 million against Sherrod Brown in Ohio.
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Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Russia has imposed nighttime movement restrictions near the Narva Estonian border from September 16 to 26. According to the Federal Security Service, people and vehicles are prohibited from being outside populated areas during nighttime hours
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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Even if you think you know the whole Kennedy Center story, this is enlightening and enraging. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/u...
nytimes.com
How President Trump Broke the Kennedy Center (Gift Article)
Internal emails and documents demonstrate the political capture of the institution, including how officials once pursued a plan to unload much of the art collection.
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Adam Wellstead @amwellstead.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Former Harvard grad. www.youtube.com/shorts/yD088...
youtube.com
Carney appears to mock Trump with signature hand gesture during speech
YouTube video by Global News
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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Trump brand flak towers popping up all over Washington
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Aaron Fritschner @fritschner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The point of my post was the supporters of the bill were only engaging with the symbolism of the bill and not its substance. This post sounds to me like more of the same tbh. Fwiw I argued with references to the text that both substance and symbolism of the bill will ultimately be bad for Ukraine
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Service members leaking photos of damage at US bases. www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pho...
cbsnews.com
New photos show widespread damage at U.S. positions caused by Iranian missile, drone attacks
The images were sent to CBS News by active service members under condition of anonymity.
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The Kyiv Independent @kyivindependent.com · 15/09/2026
There's one massive problem with Trump's Ukraine diesel price theory A study by Ukraine’s KSE Institute, shared with the Financial Times, assessed the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran had a far bigger impact on global diesel and gasoil supplies than Ukrainian drone strikes.
kyivindependent.com
There's one massive problem with Trump's Ukraine diesel price theory
U.S. President Donald Trump has a very simple solution to the very real problem of rising diesel prices. "(President Volodymyr) Zelensky has to do one thing — he has to stop knocking out diesel fuel ...
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🗽LOLGOP🗽 @lolgop.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
One thing I'm BEGGING people to do as we approach the election is to take back their morning. We cannot let X or a billionaire algorithim rule our brains. As part of that, I'm trying to resurrect the mighty RSS feed with a Google Reader-ish view. It's preloaded with great independent journalism.
news-for-38-year-olds.onrender.com
SOURCE! — Take Back Your Morning
No billionaire algorithm. Tip your reporter.
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Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
A heartbreaking conversation between a little Ukrainian boy and his mom about the war. "What am I feeling right now? Anger. Anger about everything. That I can’t go to McDonald’s. That our people are dying. That we spend so much time sitting in the basement," little Lev cries.
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Rhys Kaminski-Jones @rhyskamjones.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
According to the FT, Orr is acting as a live-in-landlord-cum-cult-leader to Cambridge students including those under his own supervision, whilst receiving formal complaints about his behaviour, and boasting publicly how the university is a recruiting ground for the party he might be doing crime for
in North Cambridge, and a daughter. The
outbuildings and at least two other flats on the same road, which are owned by the family,
are home to a select group of postgraduate students from a range of faculties including
divinity. In a podcast interview in December 2024, Orr described having “10 students living
with us. They’re mainly PhD students or postdoctoral fellows.” He explained that they
always gather for Sunday lunch and often for dinner. “That’s amazingly stimulating,” he
said. “They’re . . . the cream of their generation in their respective subjects.”
The residents pay rent and do chores. Helen has fashioned a small chapel from a shipping
container, in which she holds morning prayers.The housing of students raises potential conflicts of interest. Over the past academic year, there were three divinity scholars lodging at the Orrs’ community, according to several
people familiar with the living arrangements. One is a postgraduate student who is directly
supervised by Orr. Cambridge’s staff and student relationship policy stipulated that its
employees are “strongly discouraged” from entering into close personal relationships with
students. Any relationship which involves “any form of dependence, whether emotional,
practical, financial or otherwise”, must be declared.Among the complaints upheld by the investigator are that Orr allegedly made belittling
remarks to the student, and had demanded an “excessive” and “unreasonable” amount of
written work in an effort to refine a thesis proposal. The report also criticised “at worst
inappropriate and at best thoughtless comments made [by Orr] in the equally
inappropriate context of [Orr’s] own home”. This was in reference to a dinner that the
student, who comes from a Christian, conservative background, had attended at Orr’s
house.While the society was established long before Orr had any formal role in Reform, it has
taken on new significance as his political activities gathered pace. Orr has described
Cambridge as a useful recruiting ground for Reform, boasting last autumn in an interview
with The Telegraph that he had met “hundreds” of highly able students he thought would
make suitable allies. He has also, according to The Spectator magazine, been tasked by the
party with “building a pipeline” to bring talent to staff a future Reform administration.
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WarTranslated (Dmitri) @wartranslated.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Trump envoys Witkoff and Kushner's planned September 5-6 trip to Moscow and Kyiv is now in doubt after Witkoff "got scared," per the Kyiv Independent. A source says Russia doesn't want them visiting Kyiv and Witkoff is sensitive to Russian pressure. kyivindependent.com/trump-envoys...
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Marie 🇨🇦 @pawbaby2.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
1/2 TEXAS: CHECK YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION NOW. More than 1.2 MILLION Texas voter registrations are suspended. Don’t wait until Election Day to find out yours is one of them. #USDemocracy #RisingBlue newrepublic.com/post/214832/... via @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com
Texas Has Suspended More Than 1 Million Voters Ahead of Senate Race
If you’re one of the people who had their voter registration suspended, there’s still time to fix it.
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Jørgen Heszlein @heszlein.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
New estimate of Elon Musk’s death toll just dropped www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Our AQI is 333. Dangerous. Temp around 90. Humidity high 60s. And for the third time today I've had to go get the dumb cat off the porch & make her come into the house, into the AC. She spends maybe an hour out there every day, after dinner usually. But smoky air is fascinating, I guess?
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
I've been wondering what happened with the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which is held on the mall every summer, around the 4th. (I worked for them in the 1990s, so I have no connections anymore to ask, but assumed it was bad.) But wow, according to a Twitter post, it's way worse than I imagined.
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Spotted on Reddit
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
"The more Russia weakens, the more Poland & Ukraine argue." Good piece about crisis in PL-Ukr relations. In Polish but browser translation is great. kulturaliberalna.pl/2026/06/23/p...
kulturaliberalna.pl
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Yep. Importantly, Mike DeWine, a Republican, has debunked Trump/Vance lies about Haitians, and many locals defended them as well. If Trump and Miller really go full paramilitary raids, it will further split the GOP coalition in a state with a big Senate race.
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𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕚𝕤𝕥🎃𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 ℙ💀𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕥 @thoc.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
Submitted to the “Pre-Emptive I Told You So” Hall Of Fame:
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UNITED24 Media @united24media.com · 18/06/2026
How's Moscow doing? 🤭
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Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net · 16/06/2026
honestly I think the best metaphor for this debacle is the Russo-Japanese war: -idiot ruler with delusions of grandeur -empire wants to show a middle power whos in charge -negotiators are idiots -imperial logistics are all fucked up -empire surrenders to middle power after defeat
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Tom Hearden @followtheh.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
holy metaphor alert Batman
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
HAYES on Albania protesting Kushner & Ivanka’s obscene corruption: “It is a land grab. A physical theft of a place so brazen and entitled it could only be done by colonial conquistadors or the family of Donald Trump.”
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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
❗❗❗❗
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Geopolitis Mionnet D @geopolitis.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
HEROES UA Ils sont incroyables ! 🙂
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Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
After the May 9 events, Putin gave a late-night interview to journalists at the Kremlin. Formally, he spoke about Ukraine and negotiations. But in reality, it was a broader political signal about how Russia sees the future order in Europe and across the post-Soviet space⤵️
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Gospodin Zelenskyy? Putin is now not only saying his name, he is using an honorific with it. Mr. Zelensky.
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Another oddity here is the reaction to what Putin is saying, ie, the body language & facial expressions of the journos. They seem deeply uncomfortable, at minimum. I don’t recall ever seeing anything quite like this before.
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
I learned a new German word today: Russchlept. I don't have German, beyond a handful of terms necessary for genealogy research. So I stared at it for a long minute & decided I must be hallucinating bc I was pretty sure I understood it. So I put it in Google translate. "Dragged off to Russia."
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
I saw six in just a few minutes of watching & my cat is very interested in the bird providing the soundtrack. They must sound different than the birds she hears outside our house?
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Magyar at a press conference a few minutes ago said Orban FM Péter Szijjártó, whose convos with Lavrov were recently leaked, has barricaded himself in his office & is shredding documents. He apparently disappeared yesterday afternoon & some thought he was on his way to Moscow, but guess not.
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KA SEMENOVA @kasemenova.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
Feels like a very George Costanza's dad tactic. You wanna blockade me? I will blockade you!
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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
It's hard not to think of Paxton's definition of fascism when considering the extent to which the federal government under Trump has been reduced to a) a rogue murder state outside the nation's boundaries and b) a rogue, ethnic cleansing/mass deportation operation *inside* the nation's boundaries.
Historian Robert Paxton's definition of "fascism" (2004)
"Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victimhood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion."
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