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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella)

@rebeccagsf.bsky.social
61 followers 42 following 114 posts

Philosopher, knitter, spinner, newish weaver, 70s lesbian. Author of Mainstreaming Torture and American Nuremberg.

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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I don't see a paradox; Baldwin clearly disentangles any apparent contradiction here. The limit to tolerance is the intolerable denial of another person's dignity and humanity.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
That's a Jacquard loom, yes?
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
I've had a few: Packing boxes in an ice cream cone factory in 1975, working along women who'd been doing the same thing since the end of WWII; selling used ocean cargo containers to people using them for things like covered bridges and fallout shelters.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
This kind of force feeding is torture. It violates the international Convention Against Torture, whether the victims are suffragists, Guantánamo prisoners, or ICE detainees. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
theguardian.com
ICE given permission to force-feed Cuban hunger striker with gastric tube
Exclusive: court orders seen by Guardian show agency given approval to fit Texas detainee with tube without his consent
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
A remarkable essay, all the more remarkable because the NYT agreed to publish it. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/02/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | My Home Is Besieged By Israeli Settlers. This Flag Is My Only Protection.
As Israeli settlers encroach on his home, one Palestinian American man has hoisted the American flag.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
13's a good number for a coven. :)
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
NY Times didn't highlight this, but it's an important historic move for US military. Pentagon is taking a stake in Venezuelan oil. We see this in autocratic states like Egypt & Iran; a military becomes a powerful economic entity, independent of the rest of the govt. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/u...
nytimes.com
How the Pentagon Is Getting Into the Venezuelan Oil Business Under Trump (Gift Article)
The Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital, founded by the Biden administration to give loans to bolster the U.S. defense industry, is helping lead President Trump’s oil deal.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
As AI rapidly infiltrates so many domains of human life, here's a look at the state of play with lethal autonomous weapons. My latest from Tomdispatch, via The Intercept: theintercept.com/2026/08/26/a...
theintercept.com
It’s Time to Rein in Lethal AI Drones
Now that AI-guided drones are being deployed and tested in real wars, humans need to act, as AI agents scheme in the digital shadows.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
One more reason to love paper maps.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Yup. This one was outlined explicitly in the Project 2025 Mandate for Change.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
My brother was 1st Mate on the Clearwater and remains close to them. He let me know about this while it was happening. They were told they had to strike the banners even to return to their berth after the parade was over. Pretty ironic to suppress free speech during an event celebrating free speech.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
After almost a quarter century, Tomdispatch will stop publishing in a week or so. Here is my last story for Tom. www.juancole.com/.../torture-....
juancole.com
Torture, Racism, War and Male Chauvinism: Fighting Back
( Tomdispatch.com ) - This is my last article for To...
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
From my partner and her blog Happening-Here:
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Given that the California electorate chose to implement this stupid y'all come primary, I'm holding out until the last minute and then voting for whichever Dem is leading, regardless of how hard I have to pinch my nose. Curious about your reflections on Steyer. My union (CFT) endorsed him.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
I’ve got a new article out from Tomdispatch on how the US has exported gangs, climate change, and dictatorship to El Salvador: znetwork.org/znetarticle/...
znetwork.org
Gangs and Climate Change, Born in the USA
Recently, I had the opportunity to stand in a friend’s kitchen eating pupusas, the Salvadoran national food, while listening to an update on conditions in
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
You're wrong, @blopeep.bsky.social. Mint chocolate chip is the lesbian national ice cream, and therefore, by definition good.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
This is a response to Randi Weingarten, president of my union, the American Federation of Teachers. I have great respect for Randi, but she is wrong to have gotten AFT in bed with Microsoft on bringing AI to classrooms. We don't have "a seat at the table"; teachers (and students) are on the menu.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Exactly. Here's my piece on this from Tomdispatch.com: www.commondreams.org/opinion/trum...
tomdispatch.com
Home
TomDispatch.com is a web-based publication aimed at providing “a regular antidote to the mainstream media.”
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Are retired faculty eligible to teach?
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
Melania Trump wants to replace teachers with robots. @rweingarten.bsky.social "Both [first] lady and robot extolled the virtues of further integrating robots into the educational and social lives of children" at a meeting of "first ladies" of the world. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/u...
nytimes.com
Melania and the Robot
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
A new piece about Trump's concentration camps: www.commondreams.org/opinion/trum...
commondreams.org
The Dead and the Dying in Trump's American Gulag | Common Dreams
A system of concentration camps is being built and it's time the nation reckon with this monstrosity before any more people are killed.
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Reposted by Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella)
Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
It enrages me that the Iran fiasco had basically relegated Israel’s absolutely horrific assault on Lebanon to a sideshow which barely gets noticed. That alone should be a crisis that grips the urgent attention of the entire world and nobody even notices.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
The State Dept is considering withholding lifesaving assistance to people with H.I.V. in Zambia to force the government to give the US "more access to the country’s critical minerals." Because why should we provide meds that both cure and prevent transmission? www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/h...
nytimes.com
U.S. Considers Withholding H.I.V. Aid Unless Zambia Expands Minerals Access
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Even with a bunch of fruit in it?
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
Justice delayed, but granted now, at least until the inevitable appeal. This is what some of us have been hoping for for almost 20 years.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
This is how people die in concentration camps. #AmericanGulag
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
"When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen." True that.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
The bombing will continue until world peace is achieved.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
OK. That's all I can take.
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Reposted by Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella)
Andrea Pitzer @andreapitzer.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
This week @jamellebouie.net had some questions for me about where the US is at now and why the term "concentration camp" might be a useful way to think about the crisis. (He interviewed me eight years ago for Slate on a similar topic. Let's hope we don't end up having the same discussion in 2034.)
messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com
What exactly is a ‘concentration camp’?
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
@jamellebouie.net's interview with Andrea Pitzer captures what we face now: We are at an early stage of a concentration camp society. As I've written elsewhere, the interplay between visible violence and secrecy is how torture regimes work to repress resistance. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/21/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | What Exactly Is a ‘Concentration Camp’?
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Got a new piece out from Tomdispatch on the courage of refugees and other migrants and the sorrow of leaving home. #migration #refugees #ICE tomdispatch.com/on-seeking-a...
tomdispatch.com
On Seeking Asylum and Refuge
Today, during my slog through the Substack messages, newspaper headline notices, and podcast reminders that hit my inbox every morning, two stories drew my attention. Both had to do with the fact that...
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Her observations about South Africa resonate with me. My partner and I spent 3 months there at an anti-apartheid paper in 1990. It was the place most like the US of anywhere we'd been.
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Reposted by Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella)
Sarah Lazare @sarahlazare.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Unions and community orgs are calling for a Minnesota-wide shutdown in 10 days to protest the ferocious assault by federal immigration agents. They're saying on Jan 23, no work, no school, no shopping. SEIU Local 26, UNITE HERE Local 17, & others are supporting, w/ more to join. By me, Amie Stager
inthesetimes.com
“We Are Facing a Tsunami of Hate”: Amid ICE Crackdown, Unions and Community Groups Call for Minnesota Shutdown in 10 Days
Following the ICE murder of Renee Good and an assault on the state by federal immigration forces, a labor-community coalition is calling for residents to refuse to work, shop or go to school on Januar...
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
I've got a new piece from Tomdispatch up at Common Dreams: www.commondreams.org/opinion/lies...
commondreams.org
12 Years of Lies, Torture, Drones.... and Hope? | Common Dreams
I began writing for TomDispatch during Barack Obama’s somewhat disappointing second presidential term, observed with horror Trump’s first time around, slogged through the Biden years, and now find mys...
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Kinzer's own trajectory was an interesting one. For more on U.S. cold war failures, particularly of the CIA, check out Legacy of Ashes.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
What's still shocking is how quickly the work of decades (and in some cases centuries) has been dismantled since January 21, 2025.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 17/12/2025
If you want a good recent history and analysis of the destruction of Sudan, read this from Hammer and Hope: hammerandhope.org/article/suda...
hammerandhope.org
In Sudan, the People’s Revolution Versus the Elite’s Counterrevolution
Elites profit off war at the expense of one of the most powerful movements for emancipation in the 21st century.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Sudan, the other genocide, and its unexpected lessons for the U.S. resistance to Trump. My latest from Tomdispatch: www.laprogressive.com/foreign-poli...
laprogressive.com
Sudan, the Forgotten Genocide
While the Trump administration hasn’t exactly taken sides in Sudan’s civil war, that doesn’t mean there’s no blood on its hands.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
NYT's Savage & Barnes get the key point: "The focus on the second strike and the nuances of the law of armed conflict could end up being a favor to the Trump administration." Even without second strikes, these attacks on civilian boats amount to murder. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/04/u...
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
Clerical workers FTW! (*SS*ecretary Pete Hegseth. Very appropriate typo on his table tent at today's cabinet meeting.)
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
This is amazing news. Now get it to low-income country where women have less access to testing and treatment!
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Reposted by Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella)
Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
If you have to get permission to teach in your area of expertise from people who are definitionally not qualified to adjudicate your expertise then you are no longer working at a university. You’re working at a state propaganda factory.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
The Guardian has a horrifying article on conditions at a privately-run ICE detention center in California. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
theguardian.com
People held in ‘decrepit’ California ICE facility sue over ‘inhumane’ conditions
Lawsuit against US government alleges ‘life-threatening’ medical neglect and says residents frequently go hungry
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
WTF, Democrats? If you fold now, you -- we -- got nothing out of 40 days of defiance.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
Yeah, but Willie Nelson was fabulous in it.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 28/10/2025
New piece today from Tomdispatch.com on the incompetence -- inadvertent and strategic -- of the Trump administration: tomdispatch.com/trump-is-bad...
tomdispatch.com
Strategic Incompetence in the Age of Trump
I first heard the expression “strategic incompetence” in El Salvador in December 1993. Along with my partner and two friends, I’d been recruited to do some electoral training there. We were working wi...
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 26/10/2025
Huh. My students always checked their grades, as a first step to marshaling their arguments. Maybe if ChatGPT did your work, you actually don't care that much? To be fair, I also had wonderful, passionate, engaged students, and I miss them.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Snyder is right; this is a dangerous precedent.
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Rebecca Gordon (she/her/ella) @rebeccagsf.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
You should not ride your damned electric scooter on the sidewalk. It's dangerous.
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