Iran going after Bsky is a genuinely funny waste of resources.

Power without accountability: The Palantir manifesto The problems with our tech philosopher kings

New, from me: Take the Palantir manifesto seriously, if not literally.
It reveals that our tech philosopher kings want public money, but without public accountability. This creates a dilemma for governments unaligned with its techno-fascist vision. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/palantir-w...

Omg — we used to get so many letters like this at the newspaper.

The ICE Detention Reengineering Initiative ($38 billion to convert commercial warehouses into a network of massive detention centers) is not being built primarily by GEO Group and CoreCivic. ICE is turning to a crop of relatively untested contractors. A look at who. 🧵

Political Notebook: Sen. Mark Kelly votes to block arms sale to Israel For Star subscribers: Sen. Mark Kelly, a Tucson Democrat, voted for the first time to block the sale of arms to Israel, in a sign of shifting public opinion. Also,

Political Notebook: Look at the polling -- you'll likely find a reason that Sen. Mark Kelly, the Tucson Democrat, voted against selling bulldozers and bombs to Israel. Also, why he's polling well as a possible candidate for president.
tucson.com/news/local/s...

Big Pasta is throwing things at the wall to see what sticks

‘That wasn’t me’: How facial recognition led to a woman being jailed for 6 months Kimberlee Williams, who lived in Oklahoma, was jailed after being accused of crimes in Maryland, a state she told investigators she had never visited.

Another one of these: Oklahoma woman jailed for 6 months in Maryland after a false match by facial recognition software. She had never set foot in Maryland her entire life. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...

Tim Steller's column: New Tucson police chief has familiar strategy For Star subscribers: Tucson Police Chief Monica Prieto is working to stabilize a department that was shaken for a few years, while advancing its treatment of employees and use of

Column: Tucson's new police chief, Monica Prieto, has much in common with the last one, in terms of her long local background and her vision. It may be enough to put Tucson police on a firmer footing and bring a better response to our persistent public-safety problems.
tucson.com/news/local/s...

Pete Hegseth Nailed It. No Really. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/pete-...

Corruption and authoritarianism aren't distinct problems, they're two sides of the same coin. Kleptocracy and autocracy go hand in hand, each dependent on the other to sustain itself.

The head of the FBI isn't supposed to be getting blackout drunk. He's supposed to be cross-dressing

I honestly don't think Gosar looks any worse than he did a few years ago.

Note that this post effectively admits that Trump and his entire admin have been lying for the last 7 weeks about Iran having been close to a nuclear bomb, with Trump reverting to the position he took just weeks before the war began that Iran's nuclear material had been effectively "obliterated."

Feds drop attempt to recoup $72 million from U of A The University of Arizona will be integrating the service centers and online marketing brand of its two online institutions, Arizona Online and University of Arizona Global Campus, saying it will

🚨: After years of controversy surrounding UAGC, UA's online body, the federal education department has now dropped efforts to recoup $72 million from the UA to cover student loan debt from those who were defrauded by the former Ashford University.

tucson.com/news/local/e...

Crypto is Mary Kay for Men 💄

i will vote for any candidate who offers up this slogan

Political Notebook: Who knew? RFK Jr. in Tucson area during Arizona swing Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was among two cabinet secretaries to visit the Tucson area this week. Plus: Ciscomani does a light interview, and more.

ICYMI, RFK Jr. was in Arizona, including a stop in the Tucson area, for around five days last week. Nobody in the general public or press was invited to his events except the last one at a tribal casino.
tucson.com/news/local/s...

So JD Vance traveled to Hungary to endorse a candidate who appears likely to lose and then went to Pakistan to fall on his face with the Iran negotiations. Truly an impressively terrible international trip.

Second wall planned across Arizona as Trump administration doubles down on border A map published by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reveals plans to add a second border wall along much of the U.S.-Mexico border, includng nearly all of Arizona's southern

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act pours so much money into wall-building, $47 billion, that CBP is now considering double-walling the entire U.S.-Mexico border. A few favored companies are getting rich off building pointless border walls that destroy natural systems.

tucson.com/news/local/s...

Tim Steller's column: Our priorities show as Tucsonans lose food aid Needy Tucsonans are surging to food banks as they lose food stamps due to changes in federal law. Meanwhile our overstuffed military's war effort is making it harder to be

Column: People are surging to Tucson food banks again as they are cut off from food stamps thanks to last year's One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Meanwhile, we're pouring ever more money into the gaping maw of the military-industrial complex. Priorities, priorities.
tucson.com/news/local/c...

- 'America has the military power to do whatever it wants anywhere in the world'
- immediately loses war to Iran.

You never miss professional diplomats until they're gone

ICE agents pepper spray observers in South Tucson A confrontation between ICE agents and observers in South Tucson ended with pepper spray being deployed according to witnesses.

I haven't heard much about ICE operations, outside of the airports, lately. But people tell me they're around every day. On Monday, there was a confrontation in a South Tucson parking lot in which an ICE agent pepper-sprayed observers, @emilybregel.bsky.social reports.
tucson.com/news/local/b...

For the humanity's sake, this must be a TACO Tuesday.

Back in Des Moines, eh?

Monsoon revives natural spring in west-side Tucson neighborhood For Star subscribers: It’s not a busted pipe filling the gutters along this street. It’s a spring that has bubbled back to life during our third wettest monsoon.

This happened in Tucson's incredible monsoon year of 2021.
tucson.com/news/local/s...

Tucson Water violates state rules for keeping track of its drinking supply Tucson Water violated state requirements for two straight years, limiting how much of its drinking water is lost or not properly accounted for after all of its deliveries were totaled

Colleague Tony Davis dug deeper into this issue of lost water in Tucson. He found Tucson Water has exceeded state standards for lost water over the last two years. This is a little surprising for a city that has prided itself on water conservation.
tucson.com/news/local/s...

Also, it’s a huge plant. They could have farm silos out there for all we know.

Coincidentally, this column discussing the ethics of missile making came out on the same day that Pres. Trump is threatening more war crimes in Iran. Tucson-made missiles would likely be used if he follows through on this.
apnews.com/article/iran...

Tim Steller's column: War makes some Tucson Raytheon employees, retirees question work A Tomahawk missile that was almost certainly assembled in Tucson struck a school in Iran. It's one of the triggers for some soul-searching among a few Raytheon employees and retirees.

Column: The missile that struck a school in Iran, killing scores of girls, was almost certainly made at Raytheon in Tucson. It raises the question: How can you ethically build missiles when the people deciding where to fire them have dismissed the idea of ethics in war?
tucson.com/news/local/c...