This is what’s left of the historic town of Bint Jbeil, Lebanon after Israel passed through it

Coachella is trying to wipe all of the footage of The Strokes protest set so I’m gonna post it here. The last images on the screen made me cry.

Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt is the 17th Reported ICE Detention Death of 2026 Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt, a 27-year-old man from Cuba, died on April 12, one day after the 16th death of the year. The pace of detention deaths holds at an average of 1 every 6 days.

Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt is the 17th Reported ICE Detention Death of 2026

A 27-year-old man from Cuba died on April 12, one day after the 16th death of the year. The pace of detention deaths holds at an average of 1 every 6 days.

austinkocher.substack.com/p/aled-damie...

If you were outraged when Trump tried to silence Jimmy Kimmel, you should be outraged by what they're doing to students who spoke out against the war in Gaza.

Now they're firing immigration "judges" who refuse to go along with their illegal scheme.

Defend free speech! ⬇️

On this third year anniversary of the war in Sudan we woke up to the devastating news that our friend and comrade Muzan Al Neel has passed away. She was a brilliant revolutionary thinker, writer and organizer and a wonderful human.

Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un

Israel is using Caterpillar D9 bulldozers to destroy homes in Lebanon and Palestine right now. Our tax dollars pay for all of it.

The Senate will vote this week to block Trump’s $295 million giveaway of these bulldozers to Israel.

Call your senators now: imeupolicy.org/noweapons

🚨 Record high of 40 Senators have just voted to block $300M of bulldozers to Israel.

Blumenthal, Coons, Cortez Masto, Fetterman, Gillibrand, Rosen, Schumer voted w/ Republicans.

Along with demolishing Palestinian homes, Israel used a bulldozer to kill 23-year-old American Rachel Corrie.

The persons include women and children. The trawler had departed from the border town of Teknaf in southern Bangladesh and was on its way to Malaysia.

Read more: scroll.in/latest/10921...

Lost an ovary in 2024 after ending up in the ED with a mango-sized cyst I didn't know I had growing inside me.

For weeks I thought I had food poisoning, spent many nights on my cold bathroom floor with ovarian torsion praying for death.

This woman has to be in unimaginable pain by now. My god.

You know what's really embarrassing about this conflict? Iran has a 90 percent literacy rate while 50 per cent of the US reads at the 6th grade level or below. Iran sent Phds to the ceasefire talks. The US sent realtors.

The whisper network that caught up to Eric Swalwell Warnings about the lawmaker had long circulated privately. Then a handful of women and online creators pushed them into public view, forcing California’s political establishment to reckon with how far...

Remarkable, must-read story about how @mrs-frazzled.bsky.social and @cheyennehunt.bsky.social brought down the despicable Eric Swalwell. This didn't happen overnight.
www.politico.com/news/2026/04...

Disappointed, though not surprised, I began to describe various life- saving components of USAID’s global health portfolio, highlighting how we prepare for and respond to emerging pandemic threats; support the diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis, malaria, and HIV; and immunize millions of children from the deadliest childhood diseases. I spoke for about five minutes, focusing primarily on our infectious diseases work and hoping to keep the attention of people who seemed to have no experience—or interest—in global health. When I finished, the room was silent, the political appointees looking at one another in what appeared to be disbelief. The silence was broken by Ken Jackson, who chuckled softly and shook his head. “Wow, there really is so much that USAID does that we never knew,” he said. “This is the story that needs to get out there.” Joel, also smiling, chimed in next, echoing Jackson’s amazement. “I had no idea you did all this,” he said. “As a Republican, when I think of what USAID does in global health, I assumed it was just, you know, abortions.”

This is NUTS

www.thehandbasket.co/p/trump-usai...

NYT article on Mrs. Bezos and this in screenshot: ‪More Perfect Union‬ ‪@moreperfectunion.bsky.social‬ · 21m A worker died at an Amazon warehouse in Oregon last week. For more than an hour, workers were instructed to continue working as the man lay dead. One worker wanted to help, but a manager told them to “Just turn around and not look. Let’s get back to work," according to @thewesternedge.bsky.social .

Your post about the World's Longest Press Release appeared like this in my feed.

Is that a Gundam in the sky?

A letter signed by more than 50 former staffers of Rep. Eric Swalwell described recent allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against him as “serious” and “credible,” while demanding he resign from Congress and drop his bid for California governor. https://cnn.it/47Vxjx2

Israeli soldiers used a tank to ram the vehicles of U.N. peacekeepers in Lebanon twice on Sunday, the peacekeeping force said in a statement. The force, known as UNIFIL, said the soldiers had blocked a road used to access peacekeeper positions in southern Lebanon and that they had “continually blocked peacekeepers’ movements” there in recent days.

Wtaf

no one is doing it like jd vance, a loser across three continents in a single weekend

New Gaza aid flotilla sets sail from Spain, trying again to break Israeli blockade Leaving Barcelona, Global Sumud Flotilla says it 'aims to open a humanitarian corridor' to the Strip; last several attempts have all been intercepted by Israel

New Gaza aid flotilla sets sail from Spain, trying again to break Israeli blockade www.timesofisrael.com/new-gaza-aid-flotilla-se...

historic rejection of JD Vance

(strategically) nice try mom, I'M sending ME to my room!

There are a lot of writers I would like to read more of, but the moment I see "Substack" I'm like, er, well that's too bad.

If you are on Substack and wondering why, here's a primer, with some options for other platforms.
leavesubstack.com

US President Donald Trump says the US Navy would immediately start blockading the Strait of ⁠Hormuz and would also interdict every vessel in international waters that had ⁠paid a toll to Iran. https://aje.news/x545rk

We have entered the “you can’t kill me if I commit suicide” phase of American Decline

In Bruges scene where Colin Farrell is pointing a gun at his head and Brendon Gleeson is also pointing a gun at Colin Farrell's head

Current status of the Strait of Hormuz dispute

How did I not take the opportunity to remind everyone that I'm literally giving classes on Lebanese politics and history

Next one is in May. Sign up here thefirethesetimes.com/lebanonclass/

support Elia for his constant brilliance-- do it, do it now! it takes seconds.

If Swalwell made you or someone you know sign an NDA or settlement agreement, email mrs.frazzled@gmail.com

We have a lawyer for you. You will be anonymous. You are not the only one.

JD Vance come to the UK and tell everyone you love Farage bsky.app/profile/carl...

He had grown up in a country run by politicians who sent the pilots to man the bombers to kill the babies to make the world safe for children to grow up in.

“I saw my daughter’s head here,” said Hussein Saleh, a Lebanese man from Tyre who described the moment he returned home to find his family killed in an Israeli air strike on March 6.

Speaking to The National News, he said that he lost his wife, who was pregnant, their daughter Sarah, his uncle