Aleksei I. Valentín (he/they) ✡️♿🏳️‍🌈

Hello new followers! I'm Aleksei (he/they) and I'm the other half/cavalier primary of @thelionmachine.bsky.social I'm a PhD student working on German Catholic immigrants and yellow fever in 19th c New Orleans. I write spec lit, dabble in art, and generally nerd around.

I fucking hate "special needs kid" or whatever. They attacked a disabled child. This is disgusting. Fascism is a disability justice issue. Most people murdered by cops are disabled. ICE are cops. Fuck them all.

A piece of 19th century brick dropped out of the coffee shop wall and into a cup of water on my table. I'm not sure what the gods mean by that one, really.

About once a week, I encounter or hear Random Tuba on the street. Just grooving, playing little tuba ditties, living in the moment. Random Tuba is New Orleans culture.

The ANC (and Mandela) were very violent and would not have gotten to where they were without it. The Good Friday agreement came about due to violence. There is no meaningful change that occurs without it throughout history. The violence of protestors is a direct response to the violence of the state

We acknowledge that no one has the bandwidth for this, but if it helps: -It’s ‘sleight of hand’ -It’s ‘bated breath’ -It’s ‘lo and behold’ -It's 'buck naked' -It’s ‘brass tacks’ -It’s ‘free rein’ -It’s ‘toe the line'

🚨NEW STORY🚨 Farmer Jamie Davis is closing the gap as he bids to be Louisiana’s first Black U.S. Senator since Reconstruction, leaving Julia Letlow without the sure victory Republicans had hoped for. "This is not going to be a slam dunk," a pollster warns. thelensnola.org/2026/10/23/j...

The sillies from Review Nation's Coloring with the Cast video! #trop #theringsofpower #ringsofpower

American Jews should demand that our synagogues, Hillels, Federations and other communal institutions sign a pledge promising not to discipline rabbis and other employees for expressing criticism of Israel and solidarity with Palestinians. And we should withhold dues and other support if they refuse

RFK Jr. likes to claim that the current measles outbreak isn’t his fault. Nobody here will be surprised to hear that he is lying again. Under his “leadership”, the CDC didn’t respond to a request to validate a test that could diagnose cases faster. They said they had other priorities.

"The Jews who went to Mississippi didn't take selfies and post tweets." Okay, but honestly, if tweets had been a thing in 1961, many of them probably would have done.

wait a democrat is polling +3 in montana’s congressional race and he is a smokejumper that looks like this? why has no one told the thirsty masses?

BREAKING: Electronic Arts is cutting 400 jobs and shutting down BioWare, the legendary development studio behind Dragon Age and Mass Effect. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Today I am going to the aquarium as my birthday event. I have early signs of a migraine but I WANT TO PET THE MANTAS so I'm putting up with it anyway.

The 1862 smallpox epidemic devastated B.C.'s Indigenous population, killing an estimated 20,000 people. Historical accounts now suggest the death toll was much higher – and spread intentionally. APTN Investigates: Weapon of Genocide by Rob Smith – Airing October 24, 2026

There remains a scant 37% to go till my top surgery is funded, after a year of delays, denials, and unforeseen circumstances. I'm working to line up both my caregiver's schedule and the surgeon's availability so that I can get it scheduled. With your help, I will make this happen! buff.ly/fu79SjW

nightjar doing impression of pile of leaves >>>

Who else could I possibly pick?

I would like to scream inside my heart now.

Hello. I have a serious matter to discuss with you: It is Manul Monday.

This is really not the time for universities that can afford business schools and sports franchises to treat humanities as a luxury and humanities teaching as a hobby It’s also not the time to shrink graduate cohorts to sizes too small to support actual classes, but I repeat myself

historiography now banned from historiography class in Texas

Sam Bentley has some good news: 🔊 #AGoodPlace

“Don’t use real-world locations,” ChatGPT told the shooter, later adding: “You can still be twisted. Just be clever about it.” Our investigation uncovers how OpenAI's chatbot fed a school shooter’s violent fantasies and planning for a massacre

Got up early this morning to go to an estate sale (very interesting stuff), and now, I've had 2 meals and theres still a whole afternoon and evening in which to do stuff. I'm realising I'm turning into an old man who likes mornings.

Katie Zacharia Reassigned to Previous Role of Posting Racist Conspiracy Theories on Social Media

As of today, there's a scant 37% to go till my top surgery is funded. I'm working to line up both my caregiver's schedule and the surgeon's availability so that I can get it scheduled. With your help, I will make this happen! buff.ly/fu79SjW

This attempt to tie El-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood due to tangential family ties parallels the reason given for not allowing eastern European Jews into the US pre-WWII. So many Jews were in socialist parties that every one could be made to seem two degrees of family separation from a Communist.