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Thomas Beck

@tomfodw.bsky.social

Historian of 19th & 20th century Russia/Europe (mostly pre-1921); science fiction author & fan; lover of cats, dogs, chocolate, books, movies, television, baseball, soccer, ice hockey, cricket, Hawaii. Follow my Substack! https://thomasbeck.substack.com

created November 8, 2024

4,406 followers 2,154 following 7,213 posts

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Posts

Profile picture Peter McCandless (@mycandlesp.bsky.social) reposted

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson calls for early Christmas recess to prevent release of the Epstein files.

3/9/2025, 6:22:32 PM | 2 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

anti-trans, too

4/9/2025, 2:26:27 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

“There is no such thing as ‘society.’”—Margaret Thatcher iow, my right to sneeze outweighs your right not to be sneezed on.

4/9/2025, 2:16:10 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture NY Times Pitchbot (@nytpitchbot.bsky.social) reposted

No one knows exactly what was on the Venezuelan boat that was struck by the US military, but the fact that the strike was okayed by the president’s son suggests that there was no cocaine aboard.

4/9/2025, 1:34:24 AM | 2700 446 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

When I hear "Judeo-Christian," I want to reach for my revolver.

4/9/2025, 2:09:01 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture The Moscow Times (@themoscowtimes.com) reposted

#OpEd Washington's new deportation policy spells certain doom for dissident Russian asylum seekers, with no opportunity to escape the authorities, writes Ilya Matveev.

4/9/2025, 2:05:44 PM | 8 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

“to enchain syllables, and to lash the wind, are equally the undertakings of pride, unwilling to measure its desires by its strength.”—Samuel Johnson

4/9/2025, 2:05:31 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Glonzo Journalism (@scriban.bsky.social) reposted

Vladimir Putin is a war criminal, and it disappoints me to think that he will never face his victims in a court, and they will never see even a small measure of the justice they deserve.

4/9/2025, 1:41:25 PM | 28 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Jacqueline Antonovich (@jackiantonovich.bsky.social) reposted

"Pennsylvania is the latest state to adopt vaccine counsel from nongovernmental agencies in order to ensure access to COVID-19 shots this fall as health leaders with the Trump administration move to restrict or limit eligibility."

4/9/2025, 11:16:48 AM | 522 139 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

you go to war with the shrill psycho loony allies you have, not the shrill psycho loony allies you want.

4/9/2025, 11:44:46 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (@jich.bsky.social) reposted

Have a read of the recent book review by Chong Xu on 'History of the British Empire from Asian Perspectives' by Shigeru Akita, Springer, 2025: doi.org/10.1080/0308...

4/9/2025, 11:40:32 AM | 3 3 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Missing The Point (@missingthept.bsky.social) reposted

If President Trump can simply murder suspected drug traffickers then Don Jr. better watch out.

4/9/2025, 2:19:23 AM | 30 3 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

isn’t truth a defense against defamation? anyone who sues would be liable to being deposed, plus any evidence the women have would potentially come out.

4/9/2025, 2:25:46 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

she doesn’t have to worry about being called woke by centrist Villagers.

4/9/2025, 1:36:40 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social)

I bet that Venezuelan boat was smuggling the Epstein files.

4/9/2025, 1:32:20 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

i bet they were smuggling the Epstein files.

4/9/2025, 1:31:39 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

I recall those innocent days when we naively said the same thing about George W. Bush.

4/9/2025, 1:00:45 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

he should lose his license and be drummed out of the medical profession.

4/9/2025, 12:46:51 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

oh noes!

4/9/2025, 12:44:29 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture taylormade56.bsky.social (@taylormade56.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

image
4/9/2025, 12:39:49 AM | 1 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Anna O. Law (@unlawfulentries.bsky.social) reposted

The series is called "History of the Present" in which scholars take a current event and provide the historical context for it. Please join us and register now.

3/9/2025, 9:09:37 PM | 69 23 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Can states with sane governments require vaccine documentation before someone from Florida is permitted to enter?

4/9/2025, 12:35:01 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

That was caused in conjunction with the failure of the Tsarist government to deal with Petrograd bread shortages. So far there's no equivalent because Putin has been careful to try to shield the major metropolises from the effects of his debacle.

4/9/2025, 12:32:26 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

I'm surprised this kind of cynicism hasn't let to internal desertion.

4/9/2025, 12:30:48 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social)

Cynicism set in a long time ago. I'm surprised there hasn't been more of this kind of "internal desertion."

4/9/2025, 12:30:23 AM | 2 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

?

4/9/2025, 12:24:53 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

briefly he was more popular than Lincoln. very briefly.

4/9/2025, 12:16:56 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

without the eastern front, it’s hard to see Overlord succeeding—or, frankly, even being contemplated.

4/9/2025, 12:14:55 AM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

sorry, missed that. usually i’m not so literal.

3/9/2025, 11:56:50 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Anise K. Strong (@anisekstrong.bsky.social) reposted

If they last till the 23rd I can pretty much guarantee that the Texas National Guard has no idea of what Rosh Hashanah traffic is like on the North Side of Chicago.

2/9/2025, 11:11:21 PM | 10 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

depends if they care on conquering an intact Taiwan or don't mind bombing the shit out of the renegades.

3/9/2025, 11:48:24 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

won't help people who can't relocate--who will all too often be the poorest and most vulnerable. it's compassionate and not misguided, but it's also a bit of a surrender as if what DeSantis is doing is inevitable and unstoppable.

3/9/2025, 11:46:04 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

He is sick to death of your Vulcan logic. 🖖

3/9/2025, 11:40:37 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

they domesticated us, you know

3/9/2025, 11:38:57 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

stress, bullets. on the other hand, they had access to western medicine and medical technology, as well as the best local medical talent. and the best Soviet resorts.

3/9/2025, 11:06:37 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

“Dark Renaissance” by Stephen Greenblatt. “Clown Town” by Mick Herron “The Rose Field” by Philip Pullman all on hold at my local branch library waiting for them to be published.

3/9/2025, 10:36:13 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

What a self-injury--before today, at least 99.99% of Americans had never heard of him. Now at least a few thousand more know what a bastard he is.

3/9/2025, 10:16:07 PM | 3 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Cat TV

3/9/2025, 10:11:24 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social)

What do you think is the best "Doctor Who" episode, and why is it "City of Death"?

3/9/2025, 10:09:55 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

They train us. And why not? They domesticated us.

3/9/2025, 10:07:46 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Wish they'd tear into American dipshits like this. 99.99% of Americans have no idea who Farage is.

3/9/2025, 10:06:51 PM | 6 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

"That's crazy talk!" /satire

3/9/2025, 10:06:17 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

to be fair, how many media folk know who "Shylock" was? After all, he's the subplot.

3/9/2025, 10:05:41 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

MMGA: Making Measles Great Again. 😱

3/9/2025, 10:02:57 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Zeke Emanuel, MD, PhD (@zekeemanuel.bsky.social) reposted

Because of Florida's decision to phase out childhood vaccine mandates, many will die of preventable diseases like measles, chickenpox, tetanus, and diphtheria. This is regressive, bringing us back to the early 1950s when parents had to worry that their kids might die from diseases like polio.

3/9/2025, 9:58:05 PM | 7 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

He'd sell them.

3/9/2025, 10:01:27 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

MMGA: Make Measles Great Again. 😱

3/9/2025, 9:59:53 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Vomit all over him?

3/9/2025, 9:59:09 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

total self injury over here--99.99% of Americans never heard of him.

3/9/2025, 9:57:24 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Operation Frequent Manhood II.

3/9/2025, 9:56:35 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

If you mean, snobbish and old boy networky (when I was a grad student at Princeton, I noted many of the undergrads didn't want to go to Princeton--they wanted to have been to Princeton), sure. But expanded investment in excellent higher education, esp. opportunities--we need more not less.

3/9/2025, 9:55:15 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

youtu.be/Ug_pv5-r1js?...

3/9/2025, 9:44:30 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

MMGA: Making Measles Great Again.

3/9/2025, 9:15:50 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

MMGA: Making Measles Great Again.

3/9/2025, 9:14:47 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Don't we have enough homegrown liars? why do we need to import any?

3/9/2025, 9:02:32 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

"Property is theft."

3/9/2025, 9:00:39 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Renata Keller (@renatakeller.bsky.social) reposted

Just got my author copy of The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War!! It feels unreal to hold something in my hands that I've been working on for more than a decade 🗃️ #History

Photo of Renata Keller holding her author copy of The Fate of the Americas: The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Hemispheric Cold War
3/9/2025, 6:54:34 PM | 106 13 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

i can't eat that much.

3/9/2025, 8:45:00 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

more of him to love

3/9/2025, 8:44:18 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

originally the militia was seen as an alternative to a standing federal army.

3/9/2025, 8:43:34 PM | 6 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

🍿

3/9/2025, 8:42:39 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

99.99% of Americans have no idea who he is.

3/9/2025, 8:29:34 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social)

Theme song for the Epstein victims.

3/9/2025, 8:26:04 PM | 1 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

there is, however, a frequent subtext that it's okay for red states to be red but not for blue states to be blue. as if liberalism needs justification while conservatism just is. i misinterpreted your post as reflecting this bias. Sorry.

3/9/2025, 8:23:47 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

you're assuming they bothered to get one. or that they went through the usual chain of command (pres-->secdef-->secnav-->etc).

3/9/2025, 8:10:41 PM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

sorry, misunderstood your post.

3/9/2025, 8:08:33 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

He'll still lie, call the reporter nasty, and then lie again on social media.

3/9/2025, 7:49:33 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

why's he even there???

3/9/2025, 7:45:42 PM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

as a lifelong Giants fan, I'm frankly astonished there are any Jets fans.

3/9/2025, 7:44:36 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

too bad people will travel from Florida to the PNW.

3/9/2025, 7:43:19 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

what's wrong with being "inherent to the left"?

3/9/2025, 7:42:14 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

MMGA: Making Measles Great Again. 😱

3/9/2025, 7:26:10 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

"When all you've been used to is privilege, equality feels like oppression."

3/9/2025, 7:25:47 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

unfortunately. tragic, but there appears to be no other way.

3/9/2025, 7:21:10 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social)

Where is Wonko the Sane in our hour of greatest need?

3/9/2025, 7:18:36 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

where's Wonko the Sane in our hour of greatest need?

3/9/2025, 7:18:13 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

i remember having hair...i think

3/9/2025, 7:16:25 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) reposted

The counter to MAGA is unreserved advocacy of pluralism, rights, and mutual respect. Mealy-mouthed MAGA Lite, attempts to appease—or act like they have at least a partial point—misunderstands the movement, misreads the moment, and boosts instead of challenges a Trumpist approach to politics.

2/9/2025, 10:02:34 PM | 202 44 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Putin: "Are you crazy? That place is a war zone!"

3/9/2025, 6:38:32 PM | 6 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

MMGA: Make Measles Great Again. 😱

3/9/2025, 6:37:41 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

MMGA: Making Measles Great Again. 😱

3/9/2025, 6:34:52 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Quiet, he's on a roll.

3/9/2025, 6:34:20 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social)

Seems like we've already forgotten the Minnesota school shooting, along with the Minnesota political assassinations. Sorry, Minnesota, don't take it personally. This country forgets everything--like that guy in Memento.

3/9/2025, 6:32:17 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

MMGA: Making Measles Great Again. 😱

3/9/2025, 6:30:11 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

esp since it's not like AC or Las Vegas is all that much of a paradise on earth as it is. typical rapacious extractive (colonial) mentality.

3/9/2025, 6:26:09 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

As long as he continues hurts the people they desperately want to feel superior to, they won't care.

3/9/2025, 6:25:10 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

MMGA: Making Measles Great Again. 😱

3/9/2025, 6:24:18 PM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Anna O. Law (@unlawfulentries.bsky.social) reposted

Bad tuba and trombone players, you country needs you at the next peaceful public protest.

3/9/2025, 2:16:34 PM | 89 21 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

He's not doing the denying. Republicans in Congress are denying it. The press is denying it.

3/9/2025, 6:04:34 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Fine, as long as you realize that this will not result in any better legislative activity--the Democrats are already a kind of coalition party in themselves. PR will mean more parties, need to make overt coalitions. Countries that have this do not enjoy any better ideological cohesion than we do.

3/9/2025, 6:03:14 PM | 3 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

I have no idea what any NY Giant thinks of vaccines (or anything else). Go Giants.

3/9/2025, 6:00:27 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Your ideas are fascinating to me, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

3/9/2025, 5:59:29 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

the original "Invaders From Mars," plus the threat of nuclear war (I grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s). nothing really scares me that much now. too old to notice sh*t.

3/9/2025, 5:56:36 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Proving he knows less than nothing about either slavery or vaccines.

3/9/2025, 5:49:28 PM | 12 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Sure. Connecticut, Rhode Island, Delaware, Maryland too.

3/9/2025, 5:47:06 PM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

I will say it's relatively easy for him--independently wealthy, fairly safe political position. Same is true for Newsom, if perhaps less independently wealthy. Same is true, though, for many other Democrats (such as Hochul), without the same courage and leadership.

3/9/2025, 5:37:57 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

The real monsters are always the humans.

3/9/2025, 5:29:12 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Of course. But imagine if it happened the way I muse...

3/9/2025, 5:09:06 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture SF Encyclopedia (@sfencyclopedia.bsky.social) reposted

Frederik Pohl sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/pohl_f... died on this day, so here are some of the covers to books originally published in the 1950s, though most are later editions (Artist: Wayne Pagram, David Pelham, Adrian Chesterman and Richard Powers). 'Edson McCann' a Pohl/Lester del Rey pseudonym:

image image image image
2/9/2025, 9:13:34 PM | 24 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Thomas Beck (@tomfodw.bsky.social) reply parent

Well, if Ukraine did, and it came out that the people voted to stay in an independent, integral Ukraine, it'd give Putin an out to end the war...

3/9/2025, 4:37:52 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view