what do you MEAN the French spelling of (Vladimir) Putin is Poutine ?????
Phoebe Petrovic
@phoebepetrovic.bsky.social
now: researcher chronicling threats to democracy @ Documented. then: investigative reporter @ Wisconsin Watch & ProPublica fellow. send me tips about the anti-LGBTQ movement or authoritarianism on signal: phoebe.411
A US-linked network of fake websites is promoting Alberta separatism to AI chatbots. Amazing investigative work by @nationalobserver.com's @rorywh.bsky.social. Please read: www.nationalobserver.com/2026/09/04/i...
A US-linked network of fake websites is promoting Alberta separatism to AI chatbots
The websites present crude, AI-generated slop disguised as the voice of real Albertans. But they're made in Florida — and they're not even targeting Albertans directly.
nationalobserver.com
This is stochastic terrorism. Ted Cruz is an extremist encouraging violence.
In less than a week, Elon Musk’s super PAC has pushed out dozens of ads vilifying trans people and accusing Democratic Senate candidates of backing a “radical trans agenda.” In at least two of the ads, the people portrayed as trans women don’t even appear to be real. 19thnews.org/2026/09/elon...
Political ads with made-up trans people are being used to bash Democrats
Elon Musk’s super PAC dropped dozens of ads this week in key Senate races, and the majority of them focus on trans people.
19thnews.org
Thousands of the workers who helped in 9/11 recovery are undocumented. "They were all exposed to toxic debris, and psychological trauma.” Now they’re also living in fear of Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s anti-immigrant purge. www.npr.org/2026/09/11/n...
They cleaned up ground zero. Now many are hiding from ICE
After 9/11, thousands of rescue and cleanup crews went to work at ground zero. They were exposed to toxic debris and experienced psychological trauma. Today, many say they live in fear of deportation.
npr.org
The Trump administration is investigating the Utah lieutenant governor because she didn’t hand over sensitive voter data. She says other election officials told her they’re being investigated too. www.sltrib.com/news/politic...
Trump’s DOJ is investigating Utah’s election chief for refusing to hand over voter data, it says in letter
The Justice Department has warned Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson that she is under investigation for not complying with the Trump administration's demands for voter information. Meanwhile, Henderson has we...
sltrib.com
The neo-Nazi party made huge gains in the German elections thanks to the backing of the world‘s biggest billionaire and most prominent publicizer of white nationalist conspiracies on the planet. Good thing there’s no comparable relationship in the US for our media to explore.
Bill Kristol@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 2y agoI think this should be kind of a big deal: Elon Musk tweeting at 1:03am, “Only the AfD can save Germany.” The AfD is Germany’s neo-Nazi party.
"What makes the AfD’s rise especially shocking is that it is much more extreme than other European far-right parties… [becoming] more radical over time, deepening its ties to neo-Nazis & promising to repatriate migrants. As it has done so, it has grown more popular." www.nytimes.com/2026/09/04/o...
Opinion | Something Alarming Is About to Happen in Germany
The government is seemingly incapable of stopping the far right.
nytimes.com
NO THREAT TO LIFE SAFETY at UW Whitewater as of 11:37am, per website.
Phoebe Petrovic@phoebepetrovic.bsky.social · 2w agoUW Whitewater has issued two emergency alerts since 11am CT. The first indicates an “active threat to life safety” on campus, “RUN, HIDE, FIGHT!” 8 minutes later they said “This is not a drill” and said to shelter in place. emergency.uww.edu
It’s the first day of classes at UW Whitewater. Just hours in, the campus is on lockdown due to a “threat to life safety.” #WIpol
Phoebe Petrovic@phoebepetrovic.bsky.social · 2w agoUW Whitewater has issued two emergency alerts since 11am CT. The first indicates an “active threat to life safety” on campus, “RUN, HIDE, FIGHT!” 8 minutes later they said “This is not a drill” and said to shelter in place. emergency.uww.edu
UW Whitewater has issued two emergency alerts since 11am CT. The first indicates an “active threat to life safety” on campus, “RUN, HIDE, FIGHT!” 8 minutes later they said “This is not a drill” and said to shelter in place. emergency.uww.edu
NEW: We obtained recordings of 160+ emergency calls made from or about an immigration detention center where three people died within six weeks. “They will not give them medical treatment,” one caller said, seeking help for a detainee with kidney stones.
Listen to 911 Calls From Inside an Immigration Detention Center: “We Just Need to Take Him to the Hospital”
Reporters don’t have access to Camp East Montana, one of the largest immigration detention centers in the country. Emergency calls from the Texas facility offer a glimpse of unfolding crises faced by ...
propublica.org
The official U.S. Department of Education Twitter account posted, then deleted, a video positively comparing Trump to Hitler. Captioned “No one does it like us” with a tiger emoji, the video opens with a scene from Darkest Hour wherein Winston Churchill refers to Hitler as a tiger.
If you're a trans person who isn't a journalist and you see a big, scary claim from a small independent publication, it's always worth taking a closer look at how that publication verified the claims, what evidence they provide, and how they describe uncertainty. trustingnews.org/what-informa...
What information from independent creators can you trust? This checklist will help - Trusting News
With more influencers and news sources emerging each day, it’s becoming harder and harder to tell what's true.
trustingnews.org
Aleksandra Vaca@transiticsnews.com · last mo.1. Recent reporting has sparked fears that the Trump admin is beginning to revoke trans people's passports by declaring us 'national security risks.' But is it true? As per Transitics' investigation, no. There is no evidence to suggest that trans people’s passports are being revoked. Here's why.
Hundreds rally in Fishers, Indiana to support immigrants and oppose a nearby ‘mass deportation’ event.
Hundreds rally in Fishers to support immigrants and oppose nearby 'mass deportation' event - Indianapolis Recorder
Two groups with opposing views on immigration hosted events Saturday in Central Indiana. One was a private rally in support of mass ...
indianapolisrecorder.com
SCOOP: 404 Media has obtained a coaching guide that Flock surveillance gives to police about “how to speak to city councils about public safety technology.” It encourages police to “own the narrative before someone else does” by championing the technology before citizens can oppose it.
‘Own the Narrative’: Leaked Flock Guide Shows How It Teaches Cops to Promote Its Tech
"This document shows a coordinated effort from Flock Safety to compel law enforcement agencies to convince our elected leaders to represent their interests as a company rather than the interests of co...
404media.co
I'm just going to keep screaming this until I'm hoarse, but until Trump the norm -- for 50 years -- was that sitting presidents had their taxes audited by the IRS and released to the public to show they were clean. But Trump refused repeatedly, and sued when his return was leaked, and now ... this
Kyle Griffin@kylegriffin1.bsky.social · last mo.FLAG: Trump gets to keep tax immunity for himself, his sons, and the Trump Organization under the new 'deal' struck by Todd Blanche. The new order also reaffirms that Trump won't have to pay any taxes he might have owed the IRS.
My latest story has some intrigue. FCC finally released Chairman Brendan Carr’s financial report for 2025 late Friday. The report states Paramount gave him tickets to the gala worth $12,390. But he and his wife sat in skybox seats that sold for $125,000 a piece. www.propublica.org/article/fcc-...
FCC Commissioners Face Ethics Complaints for Taking Luxury Gifts From Paramount
Citing a ProPublica report on Paramount providing luxury Kennedy Center gala tickets to FCC officials, the complaints note that commissioners accepted the gifts while the FCC was reviewing or about to...
propublica.org
President Trump is banning students majoring in degrees that don’t make enough money from taking out college loans. Degrees for social work, art, religious studies, teaching aides, and music will be hit the hardest. trib.al/aaAEu6v
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.
trib.al
Important history lesson: Fascism rose partly as a result of the 1918 pandemic.
NEW: ICE Has One Weird Trick (taking advantage of the US legal system’s glacial pace) for Keeping State Inspectors Out of Detention Centers @dell.bsky.social w/ the scoop: www.wired.com/story/ices-n...
ICE’s New Detention Center Contracts Declare State Laws ‘Shall Not Apply’
One day after a federal judge ordered an ICE detention center opened to state health inspectors, the agency posted new contract terms that would void state oversight at four facilities.
wired.com
Big scoop: The solar permitting freeze is so bad a renewables developer — Clearway — asked Trump if they can swap an unpermitted solar farm in Nevada for a data center and gas power plant instead. My latest for @heatmap.news
Scoop: Clearway Asks Trump to Swap Solar Farm for Data Center and Gas Plant
The large renewables developer changes tack “in response to federal energy objectives.”
heatmap.news
The DOJ just agreed to a seven-figure settlement with an anti-abortion activist who was convicted in 2024 of violating the FACE Act. Larger arc: The DOJ sure has been quite generous lately, agreeing to lucrative, taxpayer-financed settlements with plaintiffs aligned with the White House.
Anti-abortion activist agrees to 7-figure settlement with Trump DOJ
In response to dubious civil suits, the DOJ has been quite generous lately, agreeing to lucrative settlements with plaintiffs aligned with the White House.
ms.now
The man, who was deported after his ICE arrest, and his wife, who self deported from the U.S. to join him in Guatemala, were found bound and shot to death in a sugarcane field. "Their 14-month-old daughter, Giovanni, was found crying beside her mother’s body..." www.stlpr.org/law-order/20...
Overland couple shot dead in Guatemala after local ICE stop led to deportations
The couple’s 14-month-old daughter was found crying beside her mother’s body in a sugarcane field last week, according to Guatemalan authorities and media.
stlpr.org
‘Pretty sure he’s wet:’ Immigration agents used racial slurs during LA sweeps, court records show. “Yeah, just plug us in wherever you see some tonks and we’ll jump out.” “tonks everywhere selling food.” W/ @wendyfry.bsky.social calmatters.org/justice/2026...
‘Pretty sure he’s wet:’ Immigration agents used racial slurs during LA sweeps, court records show
Records released as part of a lawsuit challenging racial profiling show that immigration agents used slurs to refer to Latino targets.
calmatters.org
How did a false allegation lead to Pete Buttigieg's separation from his kids? Our exclusive reporting shows how authorities did not take steps to vet the caller who left her contact. We found the caller who said she wanted to thwart his White House ambitions. Gift link: wapo.st/45ok5XP
Source of false Buttigieg allegation appeared ‘mentally unstable,’ records show
The Michigan attorney general’s office is investigating how the accusation that prompted the ex-Cabinet secretary's separation from his 4-year-old twins was handled.
washingtonpost.com
The New York Times ran 153 stories on Kyle Rittenhouse's trial. Eight protesters facing a combined 450 years got buried on page A14.
Corporate Media Failed the Prairieland Test
The ominously harsh sentencing of eight anti-ICE protestors in Texas was woefully underreported by national outlets—and all but ignored by broadcast media.
truthdig.com
Are we comfortably numb with police violence? The brutal cop killing of Corey Ruiz in Madison, Wisc. sparked local protest but only muted outrage on the national level. Despite falling crime, cops gun down more Americans than ever Where's the outrage? My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/core...
Corey Ruiz police killing reveals an America numb to violence | Will Bunch
Police killings like the death of Madison’s Corey Ruiz, caught on gruesome video, are rising, but public outrage is not.
inquirer.com