This clip from the documentary Art of the Surge gives some insight into how Trump's tweets are made. Trump can be seen dictating to his aide Natalie Harp. We also see the entire room brainstorming, with Matt Gaetz and Stephen Miller contributing ideas. gizmodo.com/does-preside...
There’s fresh evidence that the White House hatched a scheme to punish an American state because it didn’t free a convicted felon the president likes. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” a federal judge said. “I’ve never even imagined something like it.” Why isn't this a bigger scandal?
New evidence suggests White House took steps to punish Colorado over Tina Peters case
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” a federal district court judge said about a newly disclosed email. “I’ve never even imagined something like it.”
ms.now
"Republicans do it, too" is not an acceptable excuse. Everyone knows Republicans are the bad guys. Their base is people who like con artists. Democrats need *good people* to vote for them, not to stay at home. These emails make people stay home. data4democracy.substack.com/p/hook-and-s...
Hook and Squeeze
How Democratic consultants, committees, and party leaders built a fundraising spam pipeline that funnels money from a captive pool of elderly donors into their own operations.
data4democracy.substack.com
New: An "expert witness" in a $61 million lawsuit over an industrial explosion that killed three people and destroyed 200 homes used ChatGPT to write his report for the court. He prompted ChatGPT to "show how 3M is 0% at fault for the explosion at Watson Grinding" www.404media.co/show-how-3m-...
The act of typing out words is one part of the job of writing. Thinking and generating ideas and conceptualizing and editing are also aspects of the job of writing. So if you used AI for any of those you used AI to write your piece.
Luke O'Neil@lukeoneil47.bsky.social · 4mo agoHm futurism.com/artificial-i...
Writing an article or essay is so fucking easy. If it is hard for you or you dread it enough to use AI I suggest you remove from your to-do list “writing articles and essays.” I do not, for example, enter golf tourneys or work at a mechanic’s shop because I am not good at those and don’t like them.
YES! This is how you de-normalize Trump: You print the obvious truth. You talk to people who know what they're talking about. You don't both-sides the headline.
DrH@drhaup.bsky.social · 11h agoGift article: Trump's unprecedented retribution efforts against CO late 2025 were likely illegal. “This is so blatant & unprecedented. Almost hard to find the language to describe it.” CO AG Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit for sweeping retribution against Colorado. www.denverpost.com/2026/08/17/c...
Petra Molnar, a fellow at Tech Policy Press, argues that migrant deaths at automated borders "are not malfunctions or byproducts, but rather the system actually working as designed." This perspective is drawn from her new open-access book.
The Racial Necrotechnics That Lead to Death By Design at Automated Borders
Modern borders preserve a racial distribution of wealth and mobility that was built through centuries of imperialism and colonialism, writes Petra Molnar.
techpolicy.press
They’re going to try to make therapy illegal. They already talk about banning psychiatric meds. This was always going to end with Boomers trying to engineer a way to make it illegal not to talk to them.
Goldstein@goldstein.latinsky.app · 4w ago
There's not much in the news these days about Trump systematically looting Venezuela's oil. It's not top of mind for most Americans. But it's not an isolated crime. He's stealing from all of us in one way or another.
AP is planning on laying off 30 video and photo production staffers on August 21 so the company can build a new hub in India. Let’s be clear: Offshoring is not expansion.
the tundra when it melts #climatechange
Rick Thoman@alaskawx.bsky.social · 4d agoUtqiaġvik, Alaska up to 68F (20.0C) at 4pm AKDT Thursday. This is a new record high temperature for August 13, breaking the previous record of 66F (18.9C) set in 1991. Climate obs at Alaska’s northernmost community since 1920. #akwx #Arctic #Climate @climatologist49.bsky.social
NEW FROM ME: The US Air Force has done dozens of secret ICE flights to Honduras since early June, in the largest and most regular use of their aircraft in Trump's second term. Read it here now, or read it in NYT six months from now. gillianbrockell.com/the-air-forc...
The Air Force has been doing secret ICE flights to Honduras for months
At least some of the flights were third-country removals, human rights group says.
gillianbrockell.com
They read RFID chips. Those chips are in everything from your pet's microchip ID to tags in your clothing (see link in next post). Surveillance cameras should be banned. They're incompatible with a free society. www.sofx.com/license-plat...
License Plate Readers Move Beyond Plates to Track Phones, Wearables, and Pet Microchips
A new surveillance technology could allow law enforcement agencies to track not only vehicles, but also phones, smartwatches, wireless earbuds
sofx.com
A jaw-dropping report of weaponized political surveillance. The government grabbed years of sensitive records from major progressive groups and unions, baselessly claiming they were needed to address threats of "domestic terrorism" It's a near perfect mirror of the J Edgar Hoover COINTELPRO abuse
U.S. Investigated Left-Leaning Groups During Minnesota’s Immigration Crackdown
The government conducted expansive surveillance, infiltrated group chats and obtained financial records of organizations never accused of crimes.
nytimes.com
Normally I just appreciatively read @jamellebouie.net 's columns-sharable video content just isn't my bag. But this is a very, very, very trenchant piece of commentary that captures a lot of how I increasingly understand the disjunction between the commentary environment and on-the-ground politics.
The pundits have completely lost the plot
YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie
youtube.com
"nothing will be learned from it, as @sulliview.bsky.social says" Yet she'll still breathlessly defend the NYT despite revelations like this:
they can attack the first amendment, put your buddies on the front lines of danger, but if theyre nice to you behind closed doors the people at the height of american journalism will shill for you.
Eric Lipton NYT@ericlipton.nytimes.com · 5d agoOne you might find surprising. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt & members of her team have been extremely helpful in responding to questions I raise. Regardless of public facing commentary, privately they are willing to engage and address questions. And I have appreciated that. Thank you
It's honestly so crazy to me that we're facing a technological revolution that could displace millions of jobs in the middle of a housing affordability crisis and every day we talk about whether a trans woman is playing sports or if someone has a non-Anglo name.
Dear politicians (and political candidates): Sending repeated, unsolicited, urgent text messages asking for money for your campaign without ever saying what office you're running for, and where, is not doing you any favors.
I can't stress enough the importance of making shitty things. Shitty writing. Shitty art. Shitty paintings. Shitty films. Shitty songs. Shitty sculptures. Shitty is beautiful, because it's human. There's no glory without shitty. Get out there and shit things up.
Now is a good time to remind ourselves that immigration law violations are civil offenses.
Gillian Brockell@gillianbrockell.com · 6d agoJFC
The Air Force One catering truck scandal is deeper and darker than the media is portraying it — it’s a Russian nesting doll of corruption and national security threats: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-five-s...
The Five Scandals Within the "Air Force One" Scandal
Donald Trump, a Catering Truck, and the Qatari "Air Force One" represent a Russian Nesting Doll of Scandal and Corruption
doomsdayscenario.co
"[the press] is there, in part, for the security of the United States itself — to provide, if necessary, an independent and transparent proof of life and proof of presence in the event of a crisis or uncertainty about the president’s status."
Garrett M. Graff@vermontgmg.bsky.social · 6d agoThe Air Force One catering truck scandal is deeper and darker than the media is portraying it — it’s a Russian nesting doll of corruption and national security threats: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-five-s...
I’m learning that the people who gamified paragraphs are having trouble reading books. www.axios.com/2026/08/11/r...
I had missed in the daily craziness yesterday that Trump claimed Iran was responsible for the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. I know this because NPR just passed on his bullshit without comment. (Al Qaeda. It was Al Qaeda in Yemen.)
The Republicans are not our “political opponents.” They’re criminals who are trying to steal the safety and happiness of everyone we love. It’s not “just politics.” We need to turn their party into dust.
