@miekeeerkens
American-Dutch dual citizen writer & educator living in Amsterdam. MFA U of Iowa. @theatlantic.com @Catapult.co @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social etc Book with Picador (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250117809/allshipsfollowme)
I started a Substack and I wrote a post reflecting on the Palisades fires, which happened a year ago.
substack.com/@miekeeerken...
They are trying to change the definition and confuse the public to argue that strikes on alleged drug traffickers' boats using the military are lawful. They aren't. The Coast Guard and L.E. deal with drug traffickers, not the military. Drug dealers are not terrorists attacking the U.S.
FYI, there is no such thing as a "narco-terrorist." Terrorism is "the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political or ideological aims." Drug traffickers are not terrorists. They have no ideological or political aims. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
As MAGA starts scrubbing textbooks, libraries, & websites to rewrite history (aka propaganda), these are some books to have in your home to educate yourself and your kids (@jeffsharlet.bsky.social I think yours is one of them.) Follow Monte Mader, a former Christian nationalist. She knows things.
Last week at WCLF we celebrated the publication of an essay collection Nothing Compares To You: What Sinéad O'Connor Means To Us, with contributors @marthabayne.bsky.social @miekeeerkens.bsky.social & Allyson McCabe. Delighted to see double-page spread @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/world/irelan...
Alison Cuddy on NOTHING COMPARES TO YOU for @wbez.org ❤️@sonyahuber.bsky.social @zoezolbrod.bsky.social @meganstielstra.bsky.social @miekeeerkens.bsky.social @sineadgleeson.bsky.social @onesignal.bsky.social
No money to feed babies, or give them medicine, or literally save their lives for 12 cents a day w USAID, bc that had to be urgently cut by "DOGE" to save the United States, along with environmental protections and a ton of jobs. But there is money for this sh*t.
edition.cnn.com/2025/06/09/p...
They need to stop saying "The Government" when they mean TRUMP. "The Government" didn't screw them. Trump's government, Trump's tariffs, screwed them.
100%
This Is RFK Jr.'s fantasy and Trump def doesn't respect science, but money rules Washington & Trump, the most transactional man on the planet. The multi billion dollar pharmaceutical industry is not going to give up their bestsellers, & they're in the pocket of every Congressmember in Washington.
Don't worry. Trump & Co. are more than willing to F people over, but not at the expense of corporate profits, & the pharmaceutical industry has our government locked down. Multiple lobbyists PER Congressperson, millions in campaign contributions. No way will they let Trump take away their cash cow.
Elon Musk: "race mixing is bad. Italy for Italians!"
*woman next to him moves as far away as possible*
Same. Except I am guessing Trump still wants our taxes. He just doesn't want to give any of it back. I'm pretty ready for secession at this point. Tired of subsidizing idiots while they F us over. It feels like an abusive relationship.
At a certain point his policies will either harm his followers so much that they abandon him or he will die, & that currency will be valued at 0 and won't be accepted as payment anywhere. And all his dumb followers who were duped into buying it will be left with a worthless icon on their computers.
The incarcerated firefighters don't work for nothing. They are paid a low wage.
He wrote above that this most likely means people who were sentenced/incarcerated when they were juveniles, but now are over 18.
Do you think public service as a sentence should also be abolished? I think the US penal system is gross & punitive, but don't see giving back to the community as part of one's sentence as punitive, unlike the rest. I see it as more rehabilitative. It allows inmates to learn & shift self perception.
Exactly, and that's why this program is such a point of light. It is one of the few things in our penal system that is actually focused on rehabilitation rather than punishment. We need MORE of these types of programs, not less!
Thank you for your service. I am grateful for the incarcerated inmates giving back to their community in this way. It's work they can be proud of.
This thread is a must read re incarcerated firefighters. This is why I object to calling them slaves. Inmates have to apply for this program, and most are proud of it as an accomplishment. Reducing them to slaves dismisses their contribution to society as involuntary. #incarceratedfirefighters
My entire childhood town has burned. My high school, my childhood home are gone... Sending love to Pali friends in the same boat. Surreal that all the landmarks of my youth are gone. This vid is a few doors up from our former house. #PalisadesFire #PacificPalisades www.youtube.com/shorts/g-0CA...
What a fun surprise to see Narratively reprint an old essay of mine (originally titled "Seep" in Creative Nonfiction magazine) about a personal experience witnessing the immediate aftermath of the Cosco Busan oil spill. You can read it at the link below. #CNF www.narratively.com/p/the-horror...
Name and shame them. Admiration for Gisele Pelicot's courage. And for men yelling #NotAllMen, 50+ men actively participated in the r*pe of an unconscious, drugged women, & hundreds watched the videos over a decade. Not a single one felt bothered enough to go to police. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Hegseth once said that we can't hold soldiers responsible for killing innocent people, since we turn them into killing machines.
The inimitable @kristenradtke.bsky.social with another beautiful graphic essay.
THIS. 100%
He does not.
