Internal documents show ICE's DNA collection has skyrocketed in the second Trump administration. Now, the genetic information of hundreds of thousands of people never convicted of a crime–including children–are held in an FBI criminal database forever.

ICE Collected Nearly 1 Million People’s DNA Last Year—Including Young Children

Internal documents show ICE's DNA collection has skyrocketed in the second Trump administration. Now hundreds of thousands of people never convicted of a crime are in an FBI criminal database forever.

wired.com

take your pto off you got it folks.

If you are an expert on air quality and have 10-15 minutes to talk to me today or tomorrow about important things journalists should know while reporting on wildfires and smoke, my DMs are open, or you can email me at karen at OpenNews dot org.

also a good time to support non-transphobic news orgs started by queer and trans people 😉

COYOTE@coyotemedia.org · 6d ago

It’s a good time to support indie news in the Bay Area that won’t salivate over billionaires or throw AI slop all over articles! An annual subscription to COYOTE is 25% til Aug 8 with the code HOTDOG. www.coyotemedia.org/summer-2026-...

🚨NEW: Pres. Trump's belligerent use of policing and prosecutions has already left its mark on the federal system. Over the last two years, federal incarceration and detention have grown by 12%, with immigration detention and prosecution being a main driver. 🧵

A guiding principle for my life has been "become the role model I wish I had when I was younger" and a person cannot really do that while compromising morals and ethics. Maybe I would have more money, but I have also seen how rich people are not necessarily happier with it either.

Lemme tell you about the angel of history being blown backwards into the future: The shackles these people have been put in are Hiatt brand, same company founded in 1780 to mass produce shackles for slaver ships.

Joel S.@joelhs.bsky.social · 2w ago

The use of extremely online memetic aesthetics to support far-right political goals is like something out of Walter Benjamin’s nightmares.

I'm amazed at the "companies" that older folks encounter when they're being scammed and ask me for tech support. This one literally answers "why was I charged?" in their FAQs. And it includes this gem of an explanation for "Why Refunds Are Better Than Chargebacks."

This young man was valedictorian of his high school. He came to the U.S. when he was three. ICE held him for a month. Then they shipped him to El Salvador. www.dallasnews.com/news/immigra...

Texas Christian University student deported to El Salvador

Luis Andrade Garcia came to the United States from El Salvador around age 3. ICE deported him this week following an arrest in Arlington.

dallasnews.com

Also the video is wonderful, real Tim Robinson vibes but its own thing tidal.com/video/543054...

Protomartyr - Sounds We Cannot Hear

Watch Sounds We Cannot Hear on TIDAL

tidal.com

pixelatedboat aka “mr bluesky”@pixelatedboat.bsky.social · 2w ago

new Protomartyr single 👍👍👍

Adding to my list of favorite AI hallucinations: The 1951 potato-throwing incident at the Tour de France.

The risk of another smoke event is not high, “but it’s not zero,” Canada Wildfire’s Brian Wiens tells Planet Detroit. https://planetdetroit.org/2026/07/wildfire-smoke-forecast-detroit/

Are you a reporter who covers wildfires, smoke, climate and/or the environment? Do you have 10-15 minutes to talk to me for an OpenNews case study on personal protective equipment and newsroom best practices on covering wildfires and smoke? Email karen at opennews.org, DM, or Signal at karenkho.45.

The way AI keeps being pushed in certain circles without context, like from this NYT piece, unmoors me. It feels trite to ask, but how is it not a bait & switch silver bullet? Trickle-down newsroom revenue strategies tied to AI also means the traffic cannibalism machine will keep feasting, too. 🫠

Google Is Building an A.I. Fence Around the Internet It Once Championed (Gift Article)

As Google incorporates more artificial intelligence into search, people are spending more time on Google. Some website operators are crying foul.

nytimes.com

YOU CANNOT GRIND THE BONES OF YOUR ENEMIES INTO DUST TOMORROW IF YOU DO NOT DO YOUR STRETCHES.

I'm seeing really ugly stuff in the replies on how she chose this and I want you to take a beat to understand how the military disproportionately targets certain communities, including and especially in Texas, for recruitment.

Molly Ploofkins@mollyploofkins.bsky.social · 2w ago

This is 19-year-old Pvt. Isabella Gonzales. The North Texas resident was one of three U.S. service members killed in action during an Iranian retaliatory attack on a base in Jordan.

just give shakira the world cup

if you're ever doing time travel and you notice i'm starting to fade from a photograph, don't worry about it

Hi! For reporting I'm doing at @motherjones.com, I'm looking to connect with people on how workplace accommodations has helped their mental health when it comes to changing in function due to Long Covid. Please reach out at jmetraux@motherjones.com. Reposts appreciated.

That’s my good hatchet and I don’t know you. Here, use this one instead

I love how this makes it seem like they stopped monitoring RFK Jr

Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 4w ago

CDC stopped monitoring parasite now causing explosive diarrhea across the country

I just noticed we're $225 away from hitting our $1,500 fundraising goal for OpenNews' 15th birthday. Coincidentally, that means fifteen $15 donations would get us there. That's lots of fifteens. Maybe not a coincidence after all? Get me to 15 shares. We'll see.

OpenNews turns 15! 🥳

Help us connect more journalists to peers, support and community.Your gift helps sustain a community where journalists and technologists learn from one…

zeffy.com

I just noticed we're $225 away from hitting our $1,500 fundraising goal for OpenNews' 15th birthday. Coincidentally, that means fifteen $15 donations would get us there. That's lots of fifteens. Maybe not a coincidence after all? Get me to 15 shares. We'll see.

OpenNews turns 15! 🥳

Help us connect more journalists to peers, support and community.Your gift helps sustain a community where journalists and technologists learn from one…

zeffy.com

According to The Atlantic, the end of literacy is nigh, though you already know that if you read The Baffler—we devoted an entire issue to the subject last fall. thebaffler.com/issues/no-81

We're all trying to find the guy who did this.

OpenNews @ SRCCON 2026! 🥳@opennews.bsky.social · 4w ago

OpenNews is 15 and feeling feisty! So, we threw a party for everyone at #SRCCON with pizzas, piñatas, dancing, ice cream cake, a photo booth and t-shirt printing! But now, in the cold light of day, we have to pay the bills (i.e. do more nice things for journalists). Help us out with a $15 gift!

ICE is engaged in a very large escalation nationwide, with the agency claiming to be hitting record arrest numbers amid the return of quotas. This has gotten very little attention from the media because ICE learned lessons from the chaotic disasters of Kristi Noem’s tenure. Keep a watch.

WA Whistles@wawhistles.bsky.social · 4w ago

ICE is surging in the Seattle area. (Map shows activity in the last week) Do you have your whistle with you?

Don't worry, folks. We took care of the candy curious st SRCCON with three piñatas from wonderful Minneapolis shop, Fiesta Mexicana y Mas. Go support them! Win, win, win: support a local business, we all got tons of goodies and I bought my Halloween candy early this year.

Karen K. Ho@karenho.bsky.social · 4w ago

People are intrigued by my small backpack full of Canadian candy at SRCCON.

Kansas City always manages to shine when I come through. 🇨🇴