Sneaking out of a country in a catering container because you're afraid for your life is a little different than sneaking into a country to visit the troops...

Today in @thenation.com: a harrowing piece written from inside the Dilley ICE detention center by Maryam Tahmasebi, a green card holder who's been locked up along with her husband and son for months despite none of them committing any crime. www.thenation.com/article/soci...

One Woman’s Message From the Hell of ICE Detention

My husband, son, and I have been locked up for months—despite being permanent residents with no criminal record. It is an unendurable, unending nightmare.

thenation.com

Pleased to finally announce... Abdication, the last Southern Reach novel! "There will come the days of the watcher, the drowned woman and the shadow of a man who keeps falling apart with each step, but first comes the moment the birds appear at night from the gaps between the stars, far from home."

Of course, a pitcher and strainer is a fine way to make a larger batch of Longjing/Dragonwell green tea. I sometimes use a press pot (just don't use one you've used for coffee). Longjing/Dragonwell green tea from Bitterleaf teas. #GreenTea #LüCha #BitterleafTeas

One common way to drink Chinese green tea, especially Dragonwell/Longjing, is to simply put the dry tea leaves in a tall glass, add water, (typically 185F/85C), then wait for the buds to drop to the bottom of the glass. #GreenTea #LüCha #BitterleafTeas

42 US states still allow "Involuntary Servitude" for incarcerated individuals, seemingly also including non-citizens in DHS custody. Hypocritical for the US to punish other countries for "forced labor". On the other hand, as US citizens mostly pay the price of tariffs, it is a bit of a self-own.

"The US Department of Justice is attempting to prosecute an Atlanta resident in connection with the movement against the police training center known as Cop City because he had GrapheneOS on his phone..." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

US government targets Cop City protester over phone operating system

Concern over US effort to prosecute Sam Tunick, accused by authorities of wiping his phone using GrapheneOS

theguardian.com

We're going to share technology with Saudi Arabia that could allow them to enrich nuclear fuel to weapons grade. What could possibly go wrong with giving this tech to MBS? www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/u...

@kqedforum.bsky.social Seeing reports of police misuse of flock camera databases, any evidence of similar use of police drones. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Police keep losing their jobs for using Flock cameras to stalk people

Advocates say it's too easy to abuse automated license plate reader technology.

motherjones.com

“LLMs can't program  ❤︎  samir : coffee → nonsense” https://functional.computer/blog/llms-cant-program > And the code? The code is trash. Not even slightly trash; it’s beyond repair.

Woo! Last of the 2023 White2Tea greens! Mao Jian King, (despite Google autocorrect's insistence on calling it Mao "Joan" King,) is always a treat, even if it is a bit "vintage". #White2Tea #GreenTea #LüCha @white2tea.bsky.social

Hegseth announced they're gonna start screening for T and administering testosterone treatment for warriors found wanting

US seeks extradition of US citizen who financially supports humanitarian aid in Gaza, accused of aiding Hamas. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

Arrest of American who has given $1m in aid to Palestine prompts fears of ‘growing repression from Trump’

Extradition request for James ‘Fergie’ Chambers sparks concerns that US government is conflating humanitarian aid with terrorism

theguardian.com

Trump administration rule weakens protections for threatened species reut.rs/4bhI6TQ

Trump administration rule weakens protections for threatened species

The Trump administration finalized a major change on Friday to how threatened species are considered in ​agency actions, removing regulatory language aimed at preventing ‌damage to wildlife habitats.

reut.rs

Thought I should try some actual "Silver Needle", as a comparison to "Purple Silver". There are some similarities, but the actual Silver Needle is a bit more full bodied texturally. #TeaSky

Gaiwan brewing w2t's purple silver bud only green tea just for variety. (I don't usually brew green tea in a gaiwan.) But I figure, since it is almost more like a baihao yinzhen, why not? #TeaSky @white2tea.bsky.social

White2Tea's "Purple Silver" is technically a green tea, but it drinks a lot more like a bud only white tea from Fujian. Grain sweetness, low astringency, and no bitterness to speak of. #White2Tea #GreenTea #LüCha @white2tea.bsky.social

Hojicha with matcha chaser is kinda the tea equivalent of beer and a shot.

The basic premise of the Supreme Court’s “colorblind Constitution” is that racism is bad, sure, but that it is ALSO racist for the law to try and protect people from racism

Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas Think Police Abuse of Black People Is Kind of Overblown

The conservative justices’ vision of a “color-blind Constitution” is an effort to declare the law powerless to address real-world consequences of illegal discrimination.

ballsandstrikes.substack.com

🚨BREAKING: Postmaster General David Steiner told senators that, under a new proposed rule, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) will not deliver mail ballots unless states hand over their voter lists to the Trump administration www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Postmaster general says USPS won't deliver mail ballots if states don’t give Trump admin voter rolls

“You are going to make a decision that people cannot vote by mail. That’s unacceptable," one senator told the postmaster general.

democracydocket.com

Did they fill the reflecting pool with matcha for America 250?

I don't notice a huge difference between "light roast" and "classic" Hojicha from Hojicha.co, in either the color of the dry leaves or the flavor of the tea. Both are fine and delightful Hojicha. Tho, it could be that the slightly vintage nature of the tea (2023) has smoothed some edges. #TeaSky

Another bud only early spring green tea from White2Tea, 2023 Bamboo Green. Light in flavor, this is a refined Sichuan green tea, with sweet grain-like flavors. #GreenTea #LüCha #White2Tea @white2tea.bsky.social

Huh, saw my first driverless cybertaxi this AM in Daly City. Gold coupe, gold hubcaps, mfgr plates, no rear window. Weird.

A stray 25g bag of 2023 Ganlu green tea from White2Tea. Bud only early spring green tea. Fancy! #White2Tea #GreenTea #LüCha @white2tea.bsky.social

They finally got rid of Perlmutter at Marvel, but now DC will be owned by the Ellisons. Here's hoping they know enough to keep their hands off.

Frankly, pushing Hojicha to 4 steeps is a bit dubious. People always say ripe puerh tastes like fish, but Hojicha pushed to 4 steeps really tastes like seaweed in the later long steeps! (This is light roast Hojicha from hojicha.co). #HojiCha #HojichaDOTCo #TeaSky

Despite being a bit "vintage" for a green tea, White2Tea's 2023 cloud mist green is a very enjoyable. Don't immediately disregard well stored slightly old green teas! #GreenTea #LüCha #White2Tea @white2tea.bsky.social

Yeah, and my 93 year old father-in-law says he still water skis too...

Charging foreign leaders with murder seems a little ironic while our president has engaged and continues to engage in extra judicial unilateral actions against foreign nationals, often resulting in their death, aka murder. How many Venezuelans or Iranians has Trump murdered?