NEW: We filed a motion in South Carolina to keep the state's primary elections open to all registered voters. Forcing state residents to register with a political party to vote in the primaries threatens to silence independent voters.
Discontented Idealist 🇺🇸
@discoidealist.bsky.social
Professional Dilettante. Actual Patriot. Fuck Trump.
Wisconsin is making national news because so many police officers have been charged or convicted with using the Flock surveillance network to stalk people. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/08/02/how-police-officers-used-vast-network-cameras-spy-their-exes/
How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking
Flock’s array of license-plate cameras was built to fight crime. But at least 50 law enforcement officers were charged with or accused of misusing it and other systems.
washingtonpost.com
A new investigation reveals that at least 50 police officers from all over the U.S. have been caught abusing their access to Flock's automatic license plate reader database, including to stalk women. This is just one of the many reasons to get these creepy cameras off our streets.
ACLU of Wisconsin@acluofwi.bsky.social · yesterdayWisconsin is making national news because so many police officers have been charged or convicted with using the Flock surveillance network to stalk people. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/08/02/how-police-officers-used-vast-network-cameras-spy-their-exes/
The Trump regime is so far away from a solution to its illegal war with Iran that it isn't even focused on the nuclear issue that supposedly led to hostilities in the first place. Instead, the regime is focused on the Strait of Hormuz, which wasn't even an issue until Trump started the war.
NEW: A court ruled that Big Tech companies like Amazon can't use an anti-hacking law to go after users and developers of digital tools, like Perplexity AI, that people use to improve their online experience. This is the right call.
Hundreds of Haitian immigrants who have had Temporary Protected Status are being told by DHS to appear at ICE offices to be fitted with ankle monitors or face deportation. Haitian immigrants, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for over a decade, deserve a pathway to citizenship — not deportation.
Some Haitian immigrants in Ohio told to report to ICE and given ankle monitors
Hundreds of Haitian immigrants in Ohio who had Temporary Protected Status have been summoned by the ICE for in-person "check-ins," immigration advocates say.
abcnews.com
The U.S. Attorney believes that a "public rebuke" and an internal review are sufficient for egregious prosecutorial misconduct that put my family through hell. My seven-year-old is still having nightmares and panic attacks related to this case. Justice requires transparency and accountability.
Jon Seidel@jonseidel.bsky.social · 8h agoChicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros acknowledges 'mistakes' in 'Broadview 6' case but says sanctions, special counsel aren't needed. From @schuba.bsky.social: chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2026/0...
This is concerning for a zillion reasons but, a dispensary in Michigan went viral for blocking a Flock camera in its parking lot designed to create a record of every car that goes there. Easy to imagine this being used in abortion, gender affirming care cases
![It is not difficult to imagine police in one state using Flock to track a resident of their state cross state lines to, for example, obtain an abortion that is legal in one state but not in another. Last year, 404 Media reported on police in Texas who searched more than 80,000 cameras across Flock’s nationwide network for a woman who had a self-administered abortion.
The case is also particularly concerning considering that Flock cameras have popped up outside of weed dispensaries in Michigan. The JARS Cannabis dispensary in Madison Heights, Michigan, went viral this week for putting a “No Flock Zone” sign in front of a Flock camera in the dispensary’s parking lot. “We share our community’s concerns about increased surveillance, which is why we placed the No Flock Zone sign in front of the camera to block its ability to record,” the dispensary said in a public statement. “JARS does not control the camera or have access to any of the data it collects … after we installed our No Flock Zone sign, the city issued a demand letter warning of sanctions if we did not remove it within 48 hours.” But that Flock camera exists specifically to monitor the license plates of people who come and go to the dispensary. It was required by Madison Heights as one of the conditions for giving a dispensary license to JARS: “[The dispensary] must place a FLOCK license plate scanning camera system at the entrance of the customer parking lot prior to commencement of retail sales, and it will give the Madison Heights Police Department unhindered live access to the FLOCK camera, camera footage, and any and all data, which must remain operational at all times.”](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cjfcz3t36f6nrprarkhkycxo/bafkreid622omkygkpo7nucauweh23yk2gaffcgf7vztawfyyjb7n2qbhze)
This is @jasonkoebler.bsky.social showing you how the Flock cameras were accessed and used to track this man over state lines. Read now: www.404media.co/cops-used-fl...
NEW: Police in Wisconsin used Flock to determine that a man “travels to Michigan frequently,” where marijuana is legal, then back to Wisconsin, where it is illegal. They then used his travel across state lines as tracked by Flock as part of the probable cause justification to search his car.
Cops Used Flock to Track a Man Across State Lines to Create Pretext to Search His Car for Weed
"The vehicle travels to Michigan frequently which is a known source state for marijuana as it is legal there," a probable cause justification reads.
404media.co
Maybe we need an app that changes “Trump says” to “Trump lies about….”
Mark Jacob@markjacob.bsky.social · 9h agoIs there an app that would screen out all stories that start with “Trump says”?
We're in federal court today to stop the nation’s first religious public charter school from being established in Oklahoma. Charter schools are public schools and must serve students of all religions.
The stock market seems like a reverse indicator of over-all national financial health: The worse things get for regular people, the better it looks for the connected few.
More than half of Minnesota Paid Leave applicants earn less than $78,000 a year — workers who historically had the least access to paid leave and the least cushion to fall back on. Commentary: Paid Leave is helping workers — and businesses like mine minnesotareformer.com/2026/08/05/p...
Paid Leave is helping workers — and businesses like mine • Minnesota Reformer
For small businesses like mine, the Paid Leave program saves me money while providing a safety net that my employees deserve.
minnesotareformer.com
Meet Genetec Cloudrunner - Same shit, different PR team. #Flock #DeFlock #Axon #Surveillance #AxonAxoff www.genetec.com/resources/fe...
President Trump's Justice Department can't erase disabled people's right to live integrated lives in our communities, rather than being warehoused in institutions. Federal law and decades of Supreme Court precedent protect this right.
People with disabilities fear service cuts as Trump's DOJ questions legal protections
The Department of Justice in June issued a legal opinion saying states aren't required to provide services that help people with disabilities remain in their homes.
cbsnews.com
That’s right. We train students to become corporate drones and/or prisoners but we do not prepare them for life.
ACLU@aclu.org · 6h agoA new @acluofiowa.bsky.social report found students with disabilities were referred or arrested by school resource officers at more than 2x the rate of other students, and Black students were arrested at 3.7x the rate of other students. Young people deserve an education, not criminalization.
The New Republic’s Matt Ford on Trump selling early looks at his social posts, which often move markets: “The scheme is functionally no different than if he asked for giant burlap sacks of cash from Wall Street executives in exchange for reading his executive orders the day before they are issued.”
Is Trump the GOAT of Presidential Corruption?
The president’s gluttony for graft is the only truly remarkable thing about his political career.
newrepublic.com
Every single Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota (including Mike Lindell!) makes clear that if Trump tried another Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, they would support his efforts to brutalize residents
Leading Minnesota Republicans want to help the feds terrorize the residents of their state.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 6h agoEvery single Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota (including Mike Lindell!) makes clear that if Trump tried another Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, they would support his efforts to brutalize residents
Man arrested after dressing as Grim Reaper on hospital roof and staring at patients
Man arrested after dressing as Grim Reaper on hospital roof and staring at patients
The 26-year-old man was fined £200 by Llandudno magistrates
independent.co.uk
It's a fallacy to think that the Trump regime is pro-military. it's pro-violence and pro-stealing-from-foreign-countries, but it's anti-military-families. As Trump has demonstrated, he thinks soldiers are "suckers" and "losers."
AP Exclusive: Trump's immigration crackdown has detained more than 50 military spouses and parents
An Associated Press investigation reveals that President Donald Trump’s administration has detained dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops.
apnews.com
How Trumpism is like Stalinism. A thread. 🧵🧵🧵 Many people make valid comparisons of Trumpism to Nazism. But I think MAGA authoritarianism bears more similarities to Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union – ruthless, paranoid, dishonest and determined to climb into every aspect of the lives of his people.
As Republicans try desperately to make the public think democracy defenders are "communists," I thought I'd re-up this thread of mine from last year.
Mark Jacob@markjacob.bsky.social · 12mo agoHow Trumpism is like Stalinism. A thread. 🧵🧵🧵 Many people make valid comparisons of Trumpism to Nazism. But I think MAGA authoritarianism bears more similarities to Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union – ruthless, paranoid, dishonest and determined to climb into every aspect of the lives of his people.
AG nominee tells faith leaders he will take action to restrict abortion drug access minnesotareformer.com/2026/08/04/r...
AG nominee tells faith leaders he will take action to restrict abortion drug access • Minnesota Reformer
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche is one step closer to confirmation after the Republican Judiciary Committee voted to advance his appointment on a party-line vote on Tuesday, and based on pro...
minnesotareformer.com
If you're having a bad day, please realize that you're having a much better day than Max Miller's comms team.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterday🤯 Rep. Max Miller's interview with Jake Tapper was one of the most self-destructive things I've ever witnessed on cable news. Here's the whole thing:
Susan Collins is the Queen of the Meaningless Vote.
Charlotte Clymer@charlotteclymer.bsky.social · yesterdaySusan Collins announcing she'll vote against a controversial nominee is basically the moment it becomes clear that nominee will be confirmed. It means Thune has enough votes to confirm, and thus, Collins gets a pass to look independent.
When a news outlet claims to have the "inside" story and its report makes a certain person look good, you can guess who served as an anonymous source. I'd wager it was Jeanine Pirro – or one of her aides, in order to give Pirro deniability.
Inside the Oval Office Showdown Between Trump and Jeanine Pirro (Gift Article)
Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told President Trump that his interior secretary, Doug Burgum, had misled him with a self-serving cover story for his own mistakes.
nytimes.com
We are deciding whether we want to be a country of ethnic cleansing and concentration camps.
Indivisible ❌👑@indivisible.org · 2d agoBREAKING — Another person died at Delaney Hall. The family of Edwin Lopez Cornejo (age 39) said he was not receiving the medications required to treat his diabetes, and blames his death on the lack of medical care (via USA Today). www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...