“Trump has reportedly been pushing for U.S. direct action against drug labs and traffickers in Mexico since his first term,” @bcfinucane.bsky.social told @theintercept.com “In his second term, he now has some officials in his administration eager to do a ‘Sicario..."
theintercept.com/2026/04/21/c...
This is monstrous. Just profoundly shameful behavior by our government.
www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/w...
Berkeley raises bar for historic site status as preservation battles rage www.sfchronicle.com/eastbay/arti...
I have some questions about readiness
Here's what a senior homeland official told me about their development of ICE smart glasses: "It might be portrayed as seeking to identify illegal aliens...but the reality is that a push in this direction affects all Americans, particularly protesters."
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/exclusive-...
Tesla saved $400 million on its federal taxes by shifting billions of its U.S. profits to countries with lower tax rates.
Yes: While you paid your taxes in full, giant corporations maneuvered to pay as little as possible — and it’s all perfectly legal for them.
The system is rigged.
As Trump's war on Iran continues, reminder that his own son-in-law Jared Kushner — who is leading negotiations with Iran — stands to profit from lucrative contracts with its regional rivals.
War gives dictators like Trump (and his family) more power and more wealth.
A clip from The New York Times reads: "But only the entities that officially paid the tariffs are eligible to recover that money. That means that the fuller universe of people affected by Mr. Trump’s policies — including millions of Americans who paid higher prices for the products they bought — are not able to apply for direct relief. The extent to which consumers realize any gain hinges on whether businesses share the proceeds, something that few have publicly committed to do. Some have started to band together in class-action lawsuits in the hopes of receiving a payout."
The average American family paid $1,700 in tariffs last year, according to the bipartisan Congressional Joint Economic Committee. Few will ever see any of that money back. The refunds will go to companies, if doled out at all. What a joke.
Fuck yea
"The average IQ in Somalia hovers around 70, and that's the threshold for mentally handicapped ... they're a net drain on the society" -- even by MAGA standards, the unvarnished racism of this interview of Rep. Brandon Gill by Benny Johnson is breathtaking
Articles about Jared Kushner's diplomatic role with Iran that mention Kushner has received billions from the Saudi government (2/28-4/19):
NYT: 5 of 58
WashPost: 1 of 43
WSJ: 0 of 40
AP: 0 of 26
CNN Wire: 0 of 18
NY Post: 0 of 17
Chicago Tribune: 0 of 4
LA Times: 0 of 4
Boston Globe: 0 of 2
Trump continues to crater. New NBC poll has his approval down to 37-63, which is 26 points underwater.
Crucially, 50% disapprove *strongly.* Has any other president had half the country strongly disapproving?
www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...
Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex X.com #ArtificialIntelligence systems increasingly shape and permeate our mentality and social environments. Like every great historical transformation, this too calls not only for technical competence, but also for a humanistic formation capable of making visible the logic behind economics, embedded biases and forms of power that shape our perception of reality. 1:31 PM • 4/17/26 • 91K Views
Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex X.com Within digital environments — structured to persuade — interaction is optimized to the point of rendering a real encounter superfluous; the otherness of persons in the flesh is neutralized, and relationships are reduced to functional responses. Dear friends, you, however, are real persons! Creation itself has a body, a breath, a life to be listened to and safeguarded. 1:31 PM • 4/17/26 • 209K Views
Pope Leo XIV @Pontifex X.com When simulation becomes the norm, it weakens the human capacity for discernment. As a result, our social bonds close in upon themselves, forming self-referential circuits that no longer expose us to reality. We thus come to live within bubbles, impermeable to one another. Feeling threatened by anyone who is different, we grow unaccustomed to encounter and dialogue. In this way, polarization, conflict, fear and violence spread. What is at stake is not merely the risk of error, but a transformation in our very relationship with truth. 1:31 PM • 4/17/26 • 696K Views
Pope Leo on AI:
“Within digital environments — structured to persuade — interaction is optimized to the point of rendering a real encounter superfluous; the otherness of persons in the flesh is neutralized, and relationships are reduced to functional responses.”
This short thread is worth reading:
"She’s been a court interpreter for over 20 years, the only one licensed in Texas for Hindi, Punjabi, or Urdu. Her language skills are requested nationwide..."
"One of her children recently enlisted in the military...
www.texasobserver.org/immigration-...
it is, among other things, incredibly striking to see that roberts was so solicitous of the burden the clean power plan might put on fossil fuel executives, when, a decade later, he is indifferent to the way trump’s moves have thrown hundreds of thousands of lives into turmoil.
New euphemism for "pure, unadulterated horseshit" just dropped
Good take, tbh
A federal judge in Illinois today ruled that the Trump administration improperly coerced Facebook and Apple to remove ICE-tracking apps in violation of the First Amendment. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The Catechism of the Catholic Church on Just War Doctrine All citizens and all governments are obliged to work for the avoidance of war. However, "as long as the danger of war persists and there is no international authority with the necessary competence and power, governments cannot be denied the right of lawful self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed." (CCC, no. no.2308) The strict conditions for legitimate defense by military force require rigorous consideration. The gravity of such a decision makes it subject to rigorous conditions of moral legitimacy. At one and the same time: 1 The damage inflicted by the aggressor on the nation or community of nations must be lasting, grave, and certain; 3 There must be serious prospects of success; 2 All other means of putting an end to it must have been shown to be impractical or ineffective; 4 The use of arms must not produce evils and disorders graver than the evil to be eliminated. The power of modern means of destruction These are the traditional elements enumerated in what is called the weighs very heavily in evaluating "just war" doctrine. The evaluation of this condition. these conditions for moral legitimacy belongs to the prudential judgment of those who have responsibility for the common good. (CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, NO. 2309) The Church and human reason both assert the permanent validity of the moral law during armed conflict. "The mere fact that war has regrettably broken out does not mean that everything becomes licit between the warring parties." (CCC, no. 2312) PRAY FOR PEACE.
Bishops doubling down
The FBI responded with a statement, attributed to Patel: “Print it, all false, I’ll see you in court—bring your checkbook.”
The @theatlantic.com story:
www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...
Whoooooah some really good journalism here
Last week, a 20 year-old man threw a molotov cocktail at Sam Altman's mansion; two days later, people fired a gun at it. Earlier that week, someone fired gunshots into an city councilman's house who approved a data center.
Why the AI backlash has turned violent:
Rümeysa Öztürk. Text on the card reads: “Rümeysa Öztürk, Tufts grad arrested by ICE agents last year, returns to Turkey”
Breaking news: Tufts University graduate Rümeysa Öztürk, who was arrested by masked immigration agents last year, has returned to her home country of Turkey, citing the "state-imposed violence and hostility" she said she experienced in the United States. trib.al/7GKyEiz
Also, @raheemfh.bsky.social et. al investigated a Republican sheriff’s ballot seizure; and
@annievain.bsky.social wrote about a onetime baseball star and White House staffer accidentally shooting his girlfriend through the wall of his apartment
...
Support local journalism etc etc
Insane 3 weeks at the Chron:
- The subject of investigation hit with 17 felonies -- @michaelbarba.bsky.social
- Swalwell exposed and resigns - @sophiabollag.bsky.social
- Altman's home (almost) firebombed
- Top 100 restaurants
- @kolyncheang.bsky.social and I pubbed ICE deaths investigation
Wait did this actually happen
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