Posts by Ken Budd
Now that CNN and WBD are set to become state media in a sale to Paramount/Oracle/TikTok, it is especially important to support independent media.
Off the top of my head:
www.thehandbasket.co
404media.co
www.garbageday.email
Add your favorites in the replies. Fuck state-backed media monopolies.
“I miss my school and my friends I feel bad since when I came here to this Place, because I have been here too long,” wrote 9-year-old Susej, who said she had been held at Dilley detention center for more than 50 days.
"You now live in a country where volunteers deliver babies at home, in secret, off the books, because mothers fear that if they go to the hospital, they will be abducted by masked, armed agents of the state while giving birth. This is not a hypothetical."
one of those things you need to watch if for no other reason than the trump administration doesn't want you to:
ProPublica received eight handwritten letters from children who have been held at the detention center that 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was recently released from.
We'll let their words speak for themselves.
In Kenya, American funds had helped feed hundreds of thousands of refugees. When it was cut, children starved.
In South Sudan, U.S. aid had been helping to stave off a cholera epidemic. Then the disease came roaring back.
Tomorrow at 4 pm ET, join us for a discussion about the gutting of USAID:
“There was zero plan, except causing pain,” said one U.N. official about the Trump administration’s decision to stop funding the group with no notice or communication. “And that is not forgivable.”
(Published Dec. 2025)
Bezos wasn't like this during Trump's first term. Trump, at least not to this extent, wasn't either. The Post needs someone who can stand up to Trump in his second term.
The arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are a test for every MSM member with a platform. If you are not voicing your outrage at this blatant violation of the First Amendment, you are utterly discredited as a journalist.
Ossoff: "This is a seismic event. This should have people across the country absolutely shook. This is a huge deal. This is an FBI raid on the Fulton County Elections office ... This is a shot across the bow at the midterm elections. He tried to steal power when he lost it in 2020."
In Minneapolis and many other communities across the country, we're seeing people come together to peacefully protest and support their neighbors. If you're looking to get involved, here are some ways to help:
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara: "People have had enough. This is the third shooting in less than 3 weeks. The MPD went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn't shoot anyone ... this is not sustainable."
Alex Pretti was an American hero. He saved lives. He protected people. He cared deeply about his community, unlike the murderous thugs who killed him.
The very last thing he did was try to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed and violently shoved to the ground by ICE. 1/
New, from me: Defenders of police abuses will sometimes talk about “bad apples” spoiling the barrel.
This is the wrong metaphor for ICE and CBP. The barrel itself is rotten. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/past-the-b...
no matter how hard Greg Bovino tries to exude rugged masculinity he always comes off like Don Knotts in a Portlandia sketch
"The lies this administration is telling about Ms. Good aren’t those you deploy as part of a cover-up. They’re those you use when you want to show you can get away with anything."
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/o...
In the aftermath of 9/11, Denmark lost more soldiers per capita than the United States did in Afghanistan. @isaacstanleybecker.bsky.social introduces us to the mother of the first Danish woman ever to die in combat, and explains why Danes feel such a sense of betrayal. @theatlantic.com
Founded by corrections-officer-turned- restaurateur Teresa Goines, the Old Skool supper club steers youths away from a cycle of gangs and jail by teaching them job skills (and life skills), nurturing their talents, and building their self-esteem.
There are so many obvious constitutional violations in this story. It is enraging.
There is no war, there is no foreign invasion, there is nothing that justify it. This is a choice to create a military presence that will brutalize residents of cities that do not support the President.
EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.
Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇
Congratulations to @shubhasunder.bsky.social for winning the 8th Annual Institute for Immigration Research New American Voices Award for Optional Practical Training: A Novel, from @graywolfpress.bsky.social! Read more:
fallforthebook.org/shubhasunder...
The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.
If you like yelling about misuse of the passive voice, THIS IS IT.
Add me to the list. Cancelled Disney+ on Friday.
Exciting news: Ariel Lawhon will be headlining Fall for the Book on Wednesday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m.! Free tickets go live soon. Thank you to the Friends of the Reston Regional Library & Friends of the City of Fairfax Library for your support!
www.eventbrite.com/e/frozen-riv...
The president and his sons made $5 billion on paper as their cryptocurrency started trading — highlighting the extraordinary degree to which they are personally profiting from Trump's return to the Oval Office.
yup. I wrote something similar last week
christinapagel.substack.com/p/grand-desi...
"the very word “America” conjures up the celebrated ideal of “America the free”. But “America the free” are just words and they are rapidly losing all meaning."
New, from me:
America is no longer a functioning democracy. It is a competitive authoritarian system, hurtling rapidly toward authoritarianism.
This was a hard piece to write but we can't move forward if we don’t acknowledge where we are.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-author...