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Benjamin D Lane

@slowtalking.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.7K following 2.2K posts

Internationalist WHO (Retired) Health Systems Governance and Emergencies Public Economics. Worked : AT/CH/KH/PH/SB/YE Novels: Pale Fire / Der Zauberberg Political philosophy: The Devil’s Dictionary Play: Chopin

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Benjamin D Lane @slowtalking.bsky.social · 7h
“Officers from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania make frequent trips to Ukraine. I asked Sadauskas if he was adapting lessons from Americans too. He said, “I don’t know what they have to teach me.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
The Baltic States Prepare for War
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia are readying themselves to fend off a Russian attack—with the help of the United States, or without it.
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American Historical Association @historians.org · 13h
The AHA endorses the Smithsonian Integrity and Historical Independence Act of 2026, legislation that would codify the Smithsonian’s independence and protect the institution from political interference.
historians.org
AHA Endorses Legislation to Protect the Independence of the Smithsonian Institution
The AHA endorses the Smithsonian Integrity and Historical Independence Act of 2026, introduced by Reps. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), and Kweisi Mfume (MD-07) in response to ong...
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Norm Eisen @normeisen.bsky.social · 18h
BREAKING: Davey Hearn reflecting pool prosecution dismissed WITH PREJUDICE That means the case cannot be brought again  Huge victory for Davey, for us at @democracydefendersfund.org & our legal team colleagues Washington Litigation Group and Steptoe--& for rule of law More to follow!
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Benjamin D Lane @slowtalking.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Any organization that claims to care about human wellbeing should stop engaging with states that insist on indulging in the barbarism of putting people to death.
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Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01) @repstansbury.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
As a graduate alumna of Cornell University, I am disgusted and appalled by the rape and sexual assault allegations by Jane Doe, and stand with her and every student on campus demanding true accountability, justice, and a safe campus.
As a graduate alumna of Cornell University, I am disgusted and appalled by the rape and sexual assault allegations by Jane Doe, and stand with her and every student on campus demanding true accountability, justice, and a safe campus.

Institutional failures like those at Cornell and other universities—and those of the justice system in the Epstein case—are what perpetuate a culture of violence and exploitation of women and girls. Until we decide that the safety of survivors is more important than the comfort of the accused, there will be no safety for women and girls across this country. We stand with every survivor and demand accountability not just for Jane Doe, but for every victim of sexual violence.
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Cowboys past and present are: Black, Indigenous, Latino, immigrant, queer, trans, radical, female (and the ones in rodeos rely on rodeo clowns to keep them safe). And that pro-democracy pro-Constitution patriots despise this dimwitted pile of hatreds. I've met cowboys and you, sir, are no cowboy.
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Hendrik Klaassens #FBPE #BanX #NoAfD #FBR @aurorablogspot.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Trump attacked 2 countries and withdrew from 66 international organisations, including 31 UN entities. By doing so, he made clear that the UN no longer serves American interests. I believe the world should now move on without the US. Relocating the UN headquarters is therefore a logical step.
aljazeera.com
It is time for the world to move on without the United States
The US no longer wants to be the guarantor of the world order. It's time the rest of us take this responsibility.
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Ilhan Omar @ilhanmn.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Like so many women, I’ve experienced a miscarriage. Years ago, when my doctor couldn’t find a heartbeat, I was given medication to help me through it. I was grateful to have access to the care I needed during an incredibly difficult time.
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Nerdic Defence @nerdicdefence.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
"They're not really shooting at us."
Cartoon showing a Russian sailing ship firing broadsides into the bottom of a cliff holding up a EU-flagged castle.
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Edwy Plenel @edwyplenel.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Après nos révélations sur les écrits antisémites de Jordan Bardella, le Rassemblement national menace « Mediapart ». Notre émission spéciale avec les journalistes qui ont enquêté. En accès libre. www.mediapart.fr/journal/poli...
mediapart.fr
Émission spéciale : nos révélations sur Jordan Bardella
Après nos révélations sur les écrits antisémites de Jordan Bardella, le Rassemblement national menace « Mediapart ». Notre émission spéciale avec les journalistes qui ont enquêté.
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 29/09/2026
if the GOP runs a vance/schmitt ticket then they should just give up the pretense and make the party’s slogan the fourteen words www.axios.com/2026/09/29/e...
axios.com
Sen. Eric Schmitt is drawing buzz as a possible Vance VP in 2028
Vance views the Missouri senator as trustworthy.
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Rithy PANH @rpanh.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Au fond, ce sont toujours aux faibles que l'on fait la morale, tandis qu'on finit par blanchir les puissants. Simone Veil Une Vie
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Elodie Jauneau @elodiejauneau.fr · 28/09/2026
Ça alors… Jordan Badella antisémite ? Qui l’eut cru ? ••• Merci @mediapart.fr
Meme qui représente un homme incarnant Jordan Bardella, vise avec un pistolet par une femme représentant l’enquête de Mediapart, elle-même visée par une autre femme avec un pistolet représentant le démenti de Bardella, elle même dans le viseur d’un sniper qui représente la 2e enquête de Mediapart.
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Benjamin D Lane @slowtalking.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
www.lemonde.fr/article-offe...
lemonde.fr
« Mediapart » rapporte des propos antisémites de Jordan Bardella, qui dénonce des « faux grossiers »
Le président du Rassemblement national aurait tenu de manière répétée des propos antisémites et complotistes dans des conversations privées datant de ses débuts au Front national, en 2013, deux ans av...
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Matt Darling @besttrousers.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The resistance:
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Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Mrs. Tetiana plays the piano in the ruins of her destroyed home Ukraine, August 30, 2026 📹: Iryna Shev/Facebook
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Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01) @repstansbury.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I am officially back in the Burque and the river is flowing again after months of being dry!! Grateful for this rain, even as it’s brought challenges across the state. Was so excited, I had to go check it out for myself. We even saw a porcupine as we were out and about! 🙏
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Jennifer Shin - WTAF @jennifershin.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The hypocrisy is the glue that holds all of the hate, racism, misogyny, bigotry and dumb-fuckery together.
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Benjamin D Lane @slowtalking.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Nuevo México
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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A new trailer for Alex Gibney's documentary about Elon Musk was just released. gizmodo.com/elon-musk-do...
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Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
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ghost malone ergo propter bones @proptermalone.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
also potentially relevant to yr interests: i asked him about LDS outreach and he said that it was going great, he thinks Idaho LDS is on the centrist side of the Idaho MAGA/centrist divide and that's where he's making R inroads.
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Benjamin D Lane @slowtalking.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Happy Dolly Day!
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Maria Popova @popovaprof.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Elbridge Colby spent years insisting the US needs to throw Ukraine under the bus to decouple Russia from China but it turns out the more pressing policy need is to decouple Trump's lips from Xi's behind.
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Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 25/09/2026
Chinese media is having a blast.
China pulse • • @Eng_china5 • 11h
Trump was eagerly waiting for Xi Jinping's reaction to the military parade held especially for him. He couldn't hold back and asked: "What do you think?"
Xi Jinping replied that it was "great" and gave a thumbs-up
Then China's First Lady, Peng Liyuan, added: "It's amazing."
Trump looked visibly relieved, even touching the buttons on his suit in excitement over the praise.
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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
“Stop spreading fear, paranoia, & apathy where none is warranted. This behavior DOES actually persuades people to not bother to vote.” @sarahtaber.bsky.social is right, let’s be level headed, she’s written a fact based 🧵 with information Texas voters need to know. 👇🏼 #txlege
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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
A politician who in private has a short fuse and curses a lot, has a dark sense of humor, and sometimes has staffers do odd personal tasks? Oh no, how terrible. I've never encountered such a thing. What an inconceivable shocking revelation.
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 24/09/2026
@eggerdc.bsky.social reacts after Trump visibly flinched during a military flyover welcoming Xi Jinping to Washington while the Chinese leader barely reacted. "Xi was barely off that plane before we all got a good look at who the actual alpha is in that particular relationship."
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Alex Raufoglu @ralexdc.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
"Sergey, I know you're listening." At the UNSC, Poland’s Sikorski delivered a direct rebuke to an absent Lavrov: “Tell your boss: enough is enough." 👇
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Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
AP Stylebook warns against anthropomorphizing AI systems: “Avoid language that gives them human characteristics… Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.”
APStylebook @APStylebook
X.com
Artificial intelligence systems do not think, feel, want or understand. Avoid language that gives them human characteristics. This is called anthropomorphizing, when we ascribe human traits, emotions or behaviors to non-human things, such as animals or inanimate objects.
Instead, explain what a system does, how well it performs, who built it and who could be affected by it.
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Benjamin D Lane @slowtalking.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Mark Carney’s Balancing Act www.nytimes.com/2026/09/23/w...
nytimes.com
Mark Carney Interview: Canada’s Leader Lays Out Vision for Breaking Reliance on U.S. (Gift Article)
In a wide-ranging interview, the Canadian leader laid out a detailed vision for breaking his country’s dependency on the United States.
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 22/09/2026
"On Monday, I can take a Zoom call from a Mexico City Airbnb that used to be a family’s house, and on Tuesday, I can send an email from a short-term rental in Bali that was once a women’s shelter. I bill my employer for the time I spend on my Instagram." buff.ly/CsWhmEy
buff.ly
My Remote Job Gives Me the Freedom to Displace People All Over the World
“By working remotely, I break down boundaries. I’m a traveler and a worker, a learner, and a teacher. I’m a digital nomad and a real-life colonist.” 9/14/23 ...
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DIE ZEIT @zeit.de · 24/09/2026
Ein KI-Agent von OpenAI ist in eine australische Behördenseite eingedrungen und hat auf nicht öffentlichte Daten zugegriffen. Australien untersucht den Vorfall.
zeit.de
OpenAI: Australien meldet KI-Hack in regierungseigene Datenbank
Ein KI-Agent von OpenAI ist in eine australische Behördenseite eingedrungen und hat auf nicht öffentlichte Daten zugegriffen. Australien untersucht den Vorfall.
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
China’s strategy of impassively watching Trump shit the bed looking smart
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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Many in the SPD old guard and the CDU have really not thought through how an upwardly mobile Bürgertum across many diaspora communities will perceive matters if Elif Eralp is blocked from becoming mayor of Berlin even as Ulrich Siegmund becomes Ministerpräsident of Sachsen Anhalt
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André Loez & podcast Paroles d’histoire @andreloez.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Unpopular opinion Histoire de France : quelqu'un qui serait capable de réciter dans l'ordre tous les rois / présidents depuis les origines, mais sans connaître l'enquête linguistique de 1863 ou les réalités qu'elle illustre, ne connaît et ne comprend en fait rien à la trajectoire historique du pays
carte tirée du livre d'E Weber sur l'enquête linguistique de 1863 montrant un grand nombre de départements non francophones (sud, ouest, est)
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Benjamin D Lane @slowtalking.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Maria is very good news
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Colin Carlson @colincarlson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
What's behind this tidal wave of epidemics? In the largest study ever conducted on emerging infectious diseases, we show that the popular explanation - "our relationship with nature is out of balance" - doesn't hold up. Out now in Nature, after half a decade of work: www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
The anthropogenic fingerprint on emerging infectious diseases - Nature
Emerging infectious disease outbreak risks are ubiquitous worldwide, and highest in landscapes where people, livestock and fragmented natural ecosystems coexist, but detection and data ...
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EL PAÍS @elpais.com · 23/09/2026
📹 Vídeo | Sánchez habla de los Knicks y Mamdani cita a Lorca en su reunión en Nueva York
social.elpais.com
Sánchez y Mamdani reivindican juntos las políticas sociales españolas: “Los poderosos nos temen”
“España ha subido el SMI el 66%. Sánchez ha mandado el mensaje de que el trabajo y la dignidad importan”, lanza el neoyorquino. “La inmigración ha hecho fuerte a España”, dice el español
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Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Midweek update out (partly free). This is the week US weakness was brutally exposed. The US was too weak to fight the Houthis and Iran, will show its weakness during the President Xi's visit to America, and signed a humiliating deal with Denmark. phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/midweek-up...
phillipspobrien.substack.com
Midweek Update #29: The Week American Weakness Was Brutally Exposed
The US is too weak to fight the Houthis and Iran; The US has never been weaker vis a vis China; The New Greenland Deal Is Basically The Old Deal.
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Benjamin D Lane @slowtalking.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
This is fascinating re Ukraine and Iran but also Havana Syndrome, and Rep Hines is very good news.
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Benjamin D Lane @slowtalking.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Truly genius politics to be making an example of Florida just before the election.
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Tim White @twmcltd.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Andy Burnham's given his first speech at the UN and used it to announce the UK is to fight back against hybrid war. He says they have evidence Russia tried to interfere in the 2019 Gen Election, adding "The Kremlin spends around £1.3bn each year on manipulating information."
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paulpro @mariopro.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Trump speaks at the UN today His message: @tjeerdroyaards.com
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Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · 22/09/2026
74% of the world is under dictatorship. Most elected democratically.
How Democracies Die
The Deconstruction Model
1. Narrative Warfare
Lies spread faster than facts
2. Institutional Dismantling
Hollowed out from within
GATEKEEPERS SIDETRACKED
Press
Sued, defunded, discredi
Courts:
Packed, pressured, ignored
Congress
Corrupt, coerce, co-opt
3. Kleptocracy
Power used to steal
Philippines, 2016. Now, the world.
Accountability is possible. It is not inevitable.
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Benjamin D Lane @slowtalking.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
FWIW this flyer for a state legislator came in the mail. Very right wing republican (also total carpetbagger). Curiously no mention of party affiliation.
No party mentioned for some reason
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Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Jordanian King Abdullah's hard-hitting speech at UNGA: Israel is a regional threat. "No one in this assembly should assume its ambitions stop at Palestine." share.google/BlXQtOJGTbIv...
share.google
‘Terrifying impunity’: Israel is a regional threat, Jordan’s king tells UN General Assembly
‘Terrifying impunity’: Israel is a regional threat, Jordan’s king tells UN General Assembly
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Andrew Chakhoyan 🇺🇦 @andrewchak.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
In case you didn’t know, this year’s non-election in russia included a brand new party inconspicuously named “new faces” 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️ PS Meme first spotted in @mavkaslavka.bsky.social‘s feed
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John Sipher @johnsipher.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Fabulous
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Andrew Quemere @andrewqmr.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
A couple went on a Fox News podcast and claimed the state of #Massachusetts took away their teen because they won't help the teen transition. But it's actually because the father was charged with beating and threatening to kill the teen and the mother was charged with witness intimidation.
wbur.org
Mass. parents' story about child's gender transition complicated by court records
Joseph Kutzko was charged with assaulting the child in January 2025, not long before the child was removed from the family’s home. Mother Arlene Kutzko was charged with witness intimidation in connect...
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