Virginia Bans ICE Contracts, Unless the Feds Agree to Obey the Law. No One Expects Them to. A new law does not outright bar local contracts with ICE. But they can continue only if ICE accepts due process rules and state courts having power over its officers.

JUST IN: Virginia adopted a new law yesterday to forbid sheriffs & local police from contracting with ICE — if ICE doesn't say it'll follow state laws & agree to let its agents be prosecuted.

Everyone seems to agree ICE won't promise that, and that this spells the end of ICE contracts in Virginia.

Iran shows off its control over strait after collapse of peace talks Iran released video of its commandos storming a huge cargo ship, after the collapse of peace talks that Washington had hoped would open the world's most important shipping corridor.

He cannot win the war, but he cannot be seen losing it either.

It will grind on, to Iran's benefit, while the rest of us pay and pay and pay.

www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...

Page One.

@wsj.com #Redistrict
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

That’s pretty much the cult line. All he’s got left are people who will drink the kool-aid if the order was posted on Truth Social.

To Protect And Swerve: NYPD Cop Has 547 Speeding Tickets Yet Remains On The Force - Streetsblog New York City One of the city’s most-dangerous drivers is an officer with the NYPD, which does nothing to stop his reign of terror on Staten Island.

Staten Island traffic cameras have caught a white RAM 1500 pickup truck blasting through school zones or running red lights more than 547 times since 2022.

The truck belongs to James Giovansanti, who lives and works there as an NYPD officer. nyc.streetsblog.org/2026/04/23/t...

Team Trump figured out that if they bragged about their corruption, some people would think it must not be all that corrupt.

Our Shared Ethical Compass - Ethics and Journalism Keynote address of the Peter F. Collier Awards for Ethics in Journalism, April 15, 2026 delivered by Marty Baron, acclaimed former executive editor of The Washington Post and The Boston Globe.

“The new owner of CBS and the editor-in-chief of the news division set an explicit objective of appealing to the center right and the center left. That is a political goal. It is not a journalistic one.”

— Marty Baron, former top editor at the Washpost

ethicsandjournalism.org/2026/04/15/o...

This is happening all the time , in journalism, in academia :

Palantir’s Manifesto Promises a Dystopian Future The tech company’s CEO Alex Karp delivers a self-serving broadside that’s steeped in oligarchic hubris and authoritarian nihilism

I regret to inform you that the techno fascist billionaires are continuing to do dumb horrible things. As a result, I must keep writing about them. Alex Karp edition: www.thenation.com/article/soci...

"The task of modern liberal democracy is to find ways to immerse ourselves in our neighborhoods and local relationships while sustaining the conception of ourselves as members of a big, diverse, yet meaningful body politic."

@aselrod.bsky.social is thinking big on deeper roots of democratic crisis:

ICYMI, new piece from me:

What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign Donald Trump has pledged to scrap President Biden’s policies on electric vehicles and wind energy, and other initiatives opposed by the fossil fuel industry.

Is this anything

Trump, April 2026: I feel no pressure to end the Iran War, which is massively driving up gas prices.

Trump, May 2024: Hey oil barons, give me lots of your cash and I'll take care of you
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

“.. Developing Asia is already in a full-blown energy crisis. .. Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines are facing shortages, rationing and demand destruction. .. If the strait remains closed, this will develop, horribly, into a food crisis ..”

@robarmstrong.bsky.social
www.ft.com/content/b5e2...

Chemical leak at a West Virginia plant kills 2 people and sends 19 to hospital, officials say Authorities say a chemical leak at a West Virginia plant has killed two people and sent 19 others to the hospital, including one person in critical condition.

apnews.com/article/west... There was a time when this would be some of the biggest news of the day.

Former NASA astronauts launch new group to promote U.S. constitutional values More than 100 NASA astronauts have signed on to a nonpartisan effort to promote “the principles that have propelled our nation for 250 years”

"the rule of law, checks and balances and the peaceful transition of power..."

www.scientificamerican.com/article/ex-n...

New York City Is Beating the Postpandemic Shoplifting Scourge Plexiglass antitheft barriers have frustrated shoppers trying to buy everyday items, but signs of a turnaround are growing.

As you were warned: If you elect Mamdani, crime will skyrocket, and the city will become completely unlivable for law-abiding citizens

(Also: Retail theft is down over 20% in NYC for Q1 of 2026 compared to last year.)

www.wsj.com/us-news/new-...

This is a very good resource. I don't know how @taniel.bsky.social does this but he makes highly technical stuff like this very easy to follow and use:

Tesla just unlocked sales to 50,000+ government agencies It marks a significant step in expanding Tesla's presence in the public sector, where procurement processes have traditionally slowed electric vehicle adoption.

ah cool, more tax money going to prop up Tesla's falling sales

www.teslarati.com/tesla-just-u...

BENNET: Do you agree that 89% of children who died from flu were unvaccinated?

RFK Jr: I don't know the exact number

BENNET: That is the exact number, Secretary Kennedy

RFK Jr: *death growls*

BENNET: You took down the HHS communications promoting the flu vaccine. Do you regret that?

More than that, the FBI paid tons of informants who infiltrated the Klan.

For one famous example, Gary Thomas Rowe was a paid FBI informant who was present at the murder of Viola Liuzzo.

But there were so many more. By one estimate, in 1965 a full 15% of the Mississippi KKK were paid informants.

They think you're stupid.

Opinion | Trump Corrupts, and Absolute Trump Corrupts Absolutely The president is one of a kind.

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com

“To say that President Trump is corrupt is to somehow understate the size, scope and magnitude of his corruption,” our columnist Jamelle Bouie writes.

Good Lord.

📌A staggering 96% of the contributions spent on Virginia’s referendum vote Tuesday came from dark money.

Proof again that Citizens United has done more to wreck our democracy than anything before or since.

IT MUST GO.

There is a complete discord between US news and the rest of the world. 3 different international news agencies report that Iran will not entertain any negotiations until the blockade of Iranian ports is lifted.

Do not believe anything the regime in the US is telling you.

My hometown of Nashville -- a blue city which went about two-thirds for Harris-Walz in 2024 -- was gerrymandered by the TN GOP into three different districts all represented by Republicans now, so please get in line to complain about how unfair this all is, Virginia Republicans

Any mainstream media coverage of this? The depth of corruption is staggering.

open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

Virginia voters today to the felon squatting in the White House. Thank you!

AEG Owner Phil Anschutz Is Still Donating to Causes Promoting Anti-LGBTQ Beliefs AEG owner Philip Anschutz donated $1,020,000 to two organizations that made public statements against LGBTQ people -- Colorado Christian University and the Sky Ranch Christian camping organization.

The owner of Coachella is a right-wing nationalist and gives lots of money to anti-LGBT organizations.

www.billboard.com/pro/aeg-owne...

"They went door-to-door to tell their neighbors what the city had not told them: The data center would use twice as much electricity as all of Monterey Park."

The city’s notification in English reached only 40 people living within 500 feet. Activists worked in English, Chinese, Spanish & more!