Brendan McQuade
@bmcquade.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Criminology at University of Southern Maine: https://usm.maine.edu/directories/people/brendan-mcquade/ Anti-security collective member: https://www.anti-security.org/ Your go-to fusion center critic: https://www.ucpress.edu/books/p
It's so great that college presidents & administrators played into these politics for decades, forgot what liberals arts was abt & emphasized job training for students & external funding for professors. So great newrepublic.com/post/213446/...
Trump Moves to Cut Off Student Loans for Tons of Degrees
Under a new rule, if your degree doesn’t make enough money, you won’t be able to get a student loan.
newrepublic.com
"A concentration camp, in its most basic definition, is a place where a targeted civilian population, not necessarily accused of a crime, is detained and at least some of their basic rights are suspended," writes @jwashing.bsky.social. "That’s precisely what’s happening in the United States today."
Don’t call them ICE detention centers. Call them camps | John Washington
I’ve spent a decade reporting on immigration enforcement. The word ‘camp’ best captures the political function of these facilities
theguardian.com
Happy Bastille Day. Which prison are you burning down today?
I am not scared of the people on the other side of the border, I am scared of the people who are demonizing them.
I never donated to or campaigned for Platner. He was tapped by out of state consultants & came from out of nowhere. A lot of movement people I know in ME were lukewarm abt him bc he was largely an unknown. There was a lot of debate abt him from day one.
1,954 active 287(g) agreements now deputize state and local police for immigration enforcement, up from 134 at the start of 2025. The profiling-prone task force model is back. See the data here: austinkocher.substack.com/p/this-week-...
Southerners Against Surveillance Systems and Infrastructure and Muslim Justice League is holding a discussion abt fusion centers based on a @makcapitalism.bsky.social ep with MJL's Fatema Ahmed & me. Check out the podcast & see the sign up for the discussion below www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_ES...
I am begging people to realize that police do not use this technology is not a "jumping off point" or an "investigative lead"--the computer spits out a name and police arrest that person without follow up. How many people have to spend months in jail "by accident" before we consider the danger?
A Flock license plate reader linked a San Diego man to a violent crime. He was five miles away.
A San Diego man spent one month in jail for a crime he didn't commit, after San Diego Police misinterpreted a hit from a license plate reader.
timesofsandiego.com
This FT story & the NYT one below from yesterday remind me of the OG steampunk novel "Difference Engine," where advances in communications tech allowed the hegemon (in that fictional world Britain) to maintain power & undermine rival giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
New AI espionage powers trigger Putin camera scare
Russia paused surveillance system after killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader exposed how AI can be used on CCTV data to target enemies
giftarticle.ft.com
jon ben-menachem@jbenmenachem.com · 2mo agoWhat a story.
“.. The U.S. is now spending more on data center construction than on public transportation infrastructure, according to new Census Bureau figures out today.” @bloomberg.com www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Corporations spend more than $1.5 billion a year on union-busting. That’s $1.5 billion they could have spent on higher wages, better benefits, and improving workplace safety. Remember: if they weren’t so scared of worker power, they wouldn’t fight so hard against unions.
US employers spend more than $1.5bn a year to fight labor unions, report finds
Critics say employers spend money hiring union-avoidance consultants and lawyers while not investing in workers
theguardian.com
I think that many people advocate for others to do things that they will never do themselves. It's ridiculous and a waste of everyone's time. You are not organizing your own workplace.
New York's legislature has passed a bill banning 287(g) agreements with ICE, @nysfocus.com reports: nysfocus.com/2026/05/22/h... If the bill is adopted, New York would be the 11th state with a 287(g) ban, and the 5th (NJ, MD, NM, ME) to enact a ban this year alone. @boltsmag.org map for reference:
Public goods, held in common, distributed to everyone is good.
Activists are suing the LA Police Department over its partnership with surveillance company Flock Safety, accusing the department of hiding public records tied to the camera network. Various organizations gathered outside LAPD headquarters demanding more transparency.
"The biggest pain point for the automotive industry has been aluminium, whose price on the London Metal Exchange has risen as much as 16 per cent since the outbreak of the war. The metal is widely used in vehicles from body panels, engines and doors." www.ft.com/content/a24a...
Detroit carmakers warn of $5bn commodities shock due to Iran war
Sector faces rising prices for supplies from aluminium to plastics and paint
ft.com
“All you had to do was pay us enough to live. All you had to do was pay us enough to f—— live … There goes your inventory.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Worker who allegedly set fire to California warehouse compares self to Luigi Mangione
Chamel Abdulkarim was charged with felony and state arson counts after allegedly destroying property worth nearly $600m
theguardian.com
"The message is clear: Defendants are tracking those who observe or record them and will retaliate against those that they are able to identify.” www.pressherald.com/2026/04/29/s...
South Portland couple says DHS called after they took videos of ICE activity
The couple joined a lawsuit filed against the Department of Homeland Security, alleging agents illegally collected data from Mainers who were observing immigration enforcement in January.
pressherald.com
"Identity politics without substance will noy save us...I don’t feel like a very good feminist with my tax dollars already killing women and girls overseas. I’d feel like an even worse one if I voted for Mills, Collins or any other candidate funded by AIPAC." www.pressherald.com/2026/04/24/i...
I personally am more saddened and incensed about how US states have in the past twenty years legalized a small cosmos of anonymous havens for untold billions in wealth stolen from around the planet than I am about shoplifting
giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... “AI is going to increase inequality between labour and capital. That is almost for sure. I would say it is setting us up for a . . . shitshow.” - Daron Acemoglu, Nobel laureate in economics and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
High earners race ahead on AI as workplace divide widens
FT-Focaldata poll offers early evidence on how the technology is reshaping work and reinforcing gender and pay gaps
giftarticle.ft.com
On this Earth Day, I am holding in my mind the American Sociological Association, which will burn about 3,250 metric tons of CO2 to “disrupt” absolutely nothing other than the lives of New Yorkers.
U.S. military’s secretive Special Operations Command is creating its first-ever center for AI-driven missions including targeted assassinations.
Death by A.I.
New "Autonomous Warfare Center" will automate targeted killings
kenklippenstein.com
Hampshire College is closing, and hundreds of staff & faculty are facing sudden job loss without severance. Donate to the community-led Emergency Relief Fund to provide direct financial assistance for laid off workers' immediate needs, including housing, food, and other essentials ⬇️
Help Hampshire Workers | Support Hampshire Workers Today
Support Hampshire College staff and faculty facing job loss with emergency relief funds for essential needs. Contributions and support help provide immediate assistance during this critical time.
helphampshireworkers.com
Or prevents you from developing in the first place if you use it to avoid the hard work of developing skills
Nina Metz@ninametz.bsky.social · 4mo agoLetting AI Do Your Work Erodes Your Confidence
Senator Slotkin says new NSPM-7 Joint Mission Center likely includes CIA and NSA, for "looking at...people who may just take a very different view on the world than the president."
