The Supreme Court Lives in Fox News' America A Court that does not share a common factual world with the people it governs is untethered from democratic reality.

“A Supreme Court that does not share a common factual world with the people it governs is not merely conservative. It is untethered from democratic reality.”

Mexico, Spain and Brazil call for Cuba’s sovereignty to be protected The three countries pledge more aid to Cuba and say Cubans must decide their own future amid a US pressure campaign.

This is what we need from Canada, beyond aid and stated support for the humanitarian crisis. End the blockade.

www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/...

Jon Bois @jonbois.bsky.social holy shit. i was just watching the cavs-raptors game and the ball fell out of the bottom of the basket. it was with 4:04 left in the second quarter if you can get your hands on a replay. the guy shot the ball, it went through the hoop, and then it straight up fell out of the net and onto the floor 2:11 PM • Apr 18, 2026 Everybody can reply v 57 reposts 6 quotes 6 quotes 814 likes 4 saves

i'm deleting this post. since posting it i watched some more basketball and it turns out this is pretty much always what happens

The coming global food crisis Hunger and even famine are foreseeable consequences of the war on Iran. Now the world must act to shield the poorest from effects that will continue long after the fighting stops

The coming global food crisis www.ft.com/content/3634...

Trump, IRS In Talks To Settle U.S. President's $10 Billion Lawsuit Trump's adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization are also plaintiffs.

Trump is reported close to a "deal" with himself under which US taxpayers would pay him $10 billion.

I served in multiple communist and authoritarian dictatorships, but I never witnessed corruption on this scale or this blatant.

Getting ready to leave for #OAH2026! I'm really excited for my panel tomorrow (filled with @shafrhistorians.bsky.social friends)! www.oah.org/conferences/...

Stop Trump before he launches yet another war — this time against Cuba.

UK universities ‘foolish’ to bank on overseas student growth Foreign students no longer a magic bullet for cash-strapped universities as visa changes and pricing wars force leaders to reconsider growth strategies

www.timeshighereducation.com/news/uk-univ... yes, but ... if we were market stall holders.. you said we could only sell apples for 50p. and it didn't matter how much inflation was, 50p was the price. but you also said we could sell peaches for as much as we like, because the price of apples was.. 1.

Hundreds of asylum seekers moved from hotels to army barracks, Home Office announces Refugee Council criticises Labour’s decision, saying military sites are unsuitable and ‘more expensive than hotels’

UK Home Office moves hundreds of asylum seekers from hotels to army barracks

Refugee Council says UK govt’s spending watchdog found military sites not suitable, “more expensive than hotels, and they isolate people from local communities and essential services.” 
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Inside Trump’s Effort to “Take Over” the Midterm Elections When Trump tried to overturn the 2020 election, the institutional guardrails of American democracy held. But if faced with the same tests today, those barriers — and people who held the line — would l...

A @propublica.org investigation pinpointed at least 75 people across federal agencies who stood up to protect the integrity of the 2020 election.

Today, nearly all of those people are gone, having resigned, been fired, or been reassigned, esp. at DOJ and DHS.

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

This reality check by Rebecca Solnit grabs you right from the killer first sentence. Do yourself a favor & give it a read.

Breaking: Usha says she will skydive.

i hope the white house sends vance to campaign for Reform in britain

Blocking the Strait of Hormuz to unblock the Strait of Hormuz is peak Trump foreign policy.

Donald Trump Does Not Have a Plan He has dictatorial desires. But not everything is a brilliant distraction or part of a cunning masterplan. Incompetent agents of malice are not omnipotent supervillains.

Sunday reading - I wrote about the coherence fallacy:

The MAGA regime will continue to escalate because they are ideologically, temperamentally, and psycho-politically incapable of anything else.

But there is no strategic genius at work here.

Middle East crisis live: Trump says US will blockade the strait of Hormuz immediately President makes claim in lengthy Truth Social post after talks in Pakistan fail to reach a deal

Middle East crisis live: Trump says US will blockade the strait of Hormuz immediately

It is Election Day in Hungary.

Time to oust Orban!!

Fees for seas: a history of taxing waterways From Ottoman Sultans to Danish kings, Iran’s toll system for Strait of Hormuz revives an old maritime fight

Fees for seas: a history of taxing waterways ft.trib.al/slyUxhj

The historic Iranian palaces caught up in US-Israeli strikes World Heritage sites including Tehran’s Golestan Palace were damaged in bombings

The historic Iranian palaces caught up in US-Israeli strikes ft.trib.al/5m0cHEr

One of the most brazenly corrupt events in history will take place tomorrow when Jared Kushner represents the U.S. in critical negotiations with Iran to end the war while he accepts millions in fees (and billions in investments) from the Saudi gov’t which has been lobbying Trump to continue the war

Universities ‘threatened by spurious Home Office visa rejections’ New rules will punish institutions if study visas are rejected — but they say the official reasons given for refusals are often inaccurate

When I say that what used to be Britain's university 'system' is in complete chaos and enduring revolutionary upheaval, I really mean it. If anything I'm underplaying the whole thing.
www.thetimes.com/article/1644...

Universities ‘threatened by spurious Home Office visa rejections’ New rules will punish institutions if study visas are rejected — but they say the official reasons given for refusals are often inaccurate

This Times report suggests the Home Office is unable to reverse egregious mistakes, if it realises it has rejected university applicants on spurious grounds due to its own incompetence
www.thetimes.com/article/1644...

MA courses and entire departments are being closed, redundancies are sweeping the sector - and the UK Government is running a ‘Choose Canada’ marketing campaign

The UKVI rejected the application, explaining that they were not satisfied the applicant was genuine given they had quoted the wrong founding year. The university subsequently confirmed that the applicant had provided the correct year and the UKVI caseworker was incorrect, but the decision could not be reconsidered. In another case a foreign student was rejected from obtaining a visa to study at the University of East Anglia due to a dispute over whether the university was in Norfolk. The applicant asserted correctly that it was, but the UKVI caseworker appeared to confuse Norfolk with Norwich, which is the capital of the county, and rejected the application - believing the applicant was wrong.

I hope the new Permanent Secretary at the Home Office is going to be able to look at the UK Visas and Immigration’s practices
www.thetimes.com/article/1644...

Those who have followed me for a long time know that I can't pass up a chance to dunk on Huntington. Well, I did it again in my latest @wpr.bsky.social

www.worldpoliticsreview.com/trump-us-ira...

An 80-year-old woman from Wales arrested on suspicion of a terror offence says she will do it again even though she could end up in prison.

“The most common terrorist in the UK is now a pensioner holding a placard at a silent vigil.” - Raj Chada

www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-n...

In Turkey, an elderly man who earns his living by shining shoes is visited every morning at the same time by a cat that asks to have its fur brushed. The man never turns down this little friend.😍👍💙

Tonight in Budapest’s Heroes’ Square, a sea of young Hungarians—who’ve only ever known Orbán’s corrupt, suffocating regime—are packed together, singing, chanting, and daring to dream of freedom again.

Their hope is raw, their courage is real. The heart of Europe is beating in Budapest tonight. 🇭🇺❤️🇪🇺

Anti-Orban concert in Hungary with the audience chanting “Russians, go home”