Nero Redivivus

Americans have a habit of trying to compare all authoritarianism to Nazi Germany. I think in some ways i think it is comforting to view authoritarianism as a foreign ideology. If you want to understand our current authoritarian moment, you need to look to our own past, not to Europe 1/x

Since July, I've tracked at least 2,300 cases in which federal judges have ruled ICE has illegally detained people without bond or due process.

This is one that stands out:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Alex was disarmed, pinned, and then executed.

Distraught woman says ICE killed her wife in video after deadly Minneapolis shooting "They killed my wife," the distraught woman says, adding, "They shot her in the head." An ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman who was driving an SUV in Minneapolis on Wednesday. / Screenshot/@Breaking911

"They killed my wife. I don't know what to do," the woman says through sobs in the footage, with a damaged SUV visible in the distance behind her. "We stopped to videotape, and they shot her in the head," the woman cries. "We have a six-year-old at school," she says, almost unable to breathe, as a chaotic scene in which federal officers prevented at least one doctor who was on the scene from assisting the shot victim unfolds. "We're new here," the distraught woman says in despair.

You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today.

This could be you.

Exterior of Kennedy Center with addition of Trump’s name

“The revolution conquers the folk and public life, it stamps its mark on culture, the economy, politics, and private life. It would be naive to believe that art could be spared this …”

— Joseph Goebbels, 1933

Photo by Jacquelyn Martin

So Democrats get:

1. A CR that will prevent the GOP from facing the wrath of Americans for a shutdown over the holidays

2. A coupon for one (1) meaningless ACA vote that will fail

3. An end to the illegal RIF/SNAP moves that are already before the courts

Those all seem like wins for the GOP.

The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.

One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc

"Well, I don't think we're gonna necessarily ask for a declaration of war. I think we're just gonna kill people that are bringing drugs into our country. Okay? We're gonna kill them. You know, they're gonna be, like, dead. Okay? Yeah."

Trump has abandoned even the pretext of following the law.

That would be Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the nation's top diplomat, in the Oval Office for a meeting btwn the U.S. president and the NATO Secretary-General in the middle of a brutal war in Europe, staring at plans for a ballroom that will replace the now-demolished East Wing of the White House.

Over and over again, establishment journalists just refuse to describe Republican policies and beliefs in plain language to mislead the public. The GOP says it is purging liberals from academia and journalists reframe it as “rebuilding trust.” That is not journalism, it is regime propaganda.

Congratulations!

God, Slavery, and Early Christianity is out in the real world with @universitypress.cambridge.org!

I have some extra, so retweet this by the end of Oct. 19 if you’re interested in receiving a copy!

Book info here: www.cambridge.org/core/books/g...

New — Video shared with me shows ICE officers in DC detaining a man on Friday.

Bystander filming asks man for his name. ICE agent lies and says he’s not allowed to speak to him “by law” and another says “We’ve arrested American citizens for being too close…If he gets any closer, put him in cuffs.”

They're talking about killing leftist activists. They're talking about murdering people organizing in defense of immigrant communities, doing mutual aid work, and protesting their violence. They are talking about murdering people like me and my friends. We must do more than acknowledge it's fascism.

Alt text: Screenshot of a Harvard Crimson news headline that reads, "Harvard College Will Ignore Student Magazine Article Echoing Hitler Unless It Faces Complaints, Deming Says."

Conservatives at Harvard: "we need a diversity of views on campus."

The diversity of views in question:

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Texas AG Ken Paxton Announces Undercover Operations Into "Antifa," Citing "Transgenderism" The announcement comes after a flurry of reports that Trump would weaponize the FBI against groups supporting LGBTQ+ people.

1. AG Ken Paxton of Texas has announced undercover operations into left leaning groups, citing "transgenderism" and "antifa."

It is the latest in a series of moves that indicates LGBTQ+ people and left-leaning orgs may be targets for domestic surveillance.

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@govpritzker.illinois.gov

37 and Kedzie, East Garfield, Illinois.

This is assault.

Hi, I served in Afghanistan: this is an obscenity and a perversion against both Christianity and America. Fuck this shit forever. Thanks.

Brian Kilmeade endorses euthanizing homeless people: "Involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill them."

Opinion | Concentration camps are not just part of our past, but our present and future From David M. Perry: From Minnesota’s Fort Snelling to Japanese internment camps to Florida's Alligator Alcatraz, these camps have become an American tradition.

“Someday, I hope, we’re going to have a reckoning over the horrors of this moment, but I don’t think we can do it without a clearer understanding of how this fits into U.S. history. There’s a tendency to say, “This isn’t who we are,” and I get the impulse, but history is never that simple.”

Happening right in front of us

August 19, 2025 PA-2025-16 Policy Alert SUBJECT: Clarifying Discretionary Factors in Certain Immigration Benefit Requests Purpose U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is updating policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual regarding the factors that officers may consider in certain benefit requests where an exercise of discretion is required, including factors relating to aliens’ past requests for parole and any involvement in anti-American or terrorist organizations. Background For certain immigration benefit requests, such as adjustment of status, the alien bears the burden of proof to demonstrate that a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted.1 For these benefit requests, the discretionary analysis is a separate component of adjudicating the benefit request which occurs after an officer determines whether all threshold eligibility requirements have been met. The act of exercising discretion involves weighing positive and negative factors and considering the totality of the circumstances in each case. There are various factors officers may consider when conducting a discretionary analysis, including facts relating to an alien’s conduct, character, family ties, immigration history, and any humanitarian concerns. USCIS guidance provides that an alien’s compliance with immigration laws is a relevant factor when determining if a favorable exercise of discretion is warranted. USCIS is updating the Policy Manual to provide additional guidance for officers on the significant negative discretionary weight USCIS assigns in circumstances where an alien has endorsed, promoted, supported, or otherwise espoused the views of a terrorist organization or group, including those who support or promote anti-American ideologies or activities, antisemitic terrorism, antisemitic terrorist organizations, and antisemitic ideologies, in any case involving an exercise of discretion.2 In cases where the alien has engaged in such activities, USCIS will enforce all relevant …

NEW: McCarthyism returns to immigration law, as @USCIS announces that it will begin screening applicants for immigration benefits for "Anti-America ideologies or activities." The term has no prior precedent in immigration law and its definition is entirely up to the Trump admin.

300,000 Black women have been pushed out of their employment in the last three months. This resegregation isn't just racial, it's also heavily gendered.

"He walked 8 km to get there. No shoes. Probably hadn't eaten in days... he set down his bags and he put his hands on my face and he kissed me... he left and the IDF opened up with machine gun fire... There were dead Palestinians. He was one of them."

A five-year-old child.

Philosophy Professor Reportedly Assaulted & Abducted During ICE Raid on Farm - Daily Nous Jonathan Caravello, a lecturer in philosophy at California State University Channel Islands, was reportedly "piled on by multiple agents all at once" as "he tried to help a man in a wheelchair" who wa...

"Jonathan Caravello...was reportedly “piled on by multiple agents all at once” as “he tried to help a man in a wheelchair” who was having difficulty moving after...[ICE] agents threw canisters of tear gas"

our colleague is still missing as of the last info I got

dailynous.com/2025/07/12/p...

On July 5, as floodwaters were starting to recede, FEMA received 3,027 calls from disaster survivors and answered 3,018, or roughly 99.7 percent, the documents show. Contractors with four call center companies answered the vast majority of the calls. That evening, however, Ms. Noem did not renew the contracts with the four companies and hundreds of contractors were fired, according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter. The next day, July 6, FEMA received 2,363 calls and answered 846, or roughly 35.8 percent, according to the documents. And on Monday, July 7, the agency fielded 16,419 calls and answered 2,613, or around 15.9 percent, the documents sho

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...

No one in this country—documented, undocumented—should be taken this way. That they snatched a disabled military veteran who’s a citizen gives up the whole game: they took a young man for fitting their color profile, not because he was any of the categories of people they claim they’re looking for.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Notices Temporary Protected Status: Designation of Honduras; Termination Filed on: 07/07/2025 at 8:45 am Scheduled Pub. Date: 07/08/2025 FR Document: 2025-12621 PDF 11 Pages (120 KB) Permalink Termination of the Designation of Nicaragua Filed on: 07/07/2025 at 8:45 am Scheduled Pub. Date: 07/08/2025 FR Document: 2025-12688 PDE 10 Pages (114 KB) Permalink

NEW: the Trump admin has moved to terminate TPS for Honduras and Nicaragua, covering over 50,000 people

Both of these designations date back to 1999, meaning Trump wants to strip legal status from people here legally who have had a background check every 18 months for the last 26 years.