In Super Bowl LX's backyard, the DA is losing sleep, he tells me. Why? B/c he fears a physical fight b/w local police and ICE agents if the feds try to obstruct probes of killings, like in Minneapolis. "We don’t want a civil war here," DA Jeff Rosen says: www.mercurynews.com/2026/02/04/m...

Taves: Why the DA in Super Bowl LX’s backyard is losing sleep over ICE

Santa Clara County’s prosecutor fears violent clashes between local police and ICE agents if feds try to obstruct probes of killings.

mercurynews.com

TPUSA set a trap. Cal fell in, I argue @mercurynews.com Like Pavlov's dogs salivating before they saw Alpo in the bowl, protesters were vandalizing before TP's event began. What students didn't realize? They were unwitting accomplices in GOP content strategy: www.mercurynews.com/2025/11/07/e...

Editorial: Children in zip ties. Warrantless raids. Tear gas. Enough already.

Escalating immigration raids ensnare citizens; Bay Area leaders must stand firm in opposing administration’s overreach.

mercurynews.com

San Jose wants to be the Capital of AI. The problem? The president's war on universities and immigration are sabotaging San Jose's (and America's) ambitions. My column for @mercurynews.com explains why:

The Mercury News@mercurynews.com · 12mo ago

Suicidal policies jeopardize Silicon Valley’s AI dreams

Max Taves@maxtaves.bsky.social · 12mo ago

#nokings

#nokings

Max Taves@maxtaves.bsky.social · 12mo ago

San Jose says, “No kings!”

San Jose says, “No kings!”

Cal Fire, state’s fire agency is greenwashing its industrial logging side hustle, while raising carbon emissions — and fire risk, argues environmental scientists and ex-senior Lawrence Livermore Lab researchers at @mercurynews.com and @eastbaytimes.com. Read:

The Mercury News@mercurynews.com · last yr.

Opinion: Cal Fire’s forest management undermining California’s climate goals trib.al/J7dOIfJ

Donald Trump’s obsession with genes fits into long, ugly tradition of presidents who consider immigrants inherently inferior, argues Claremont McKenna U.S. history professor John J. Pitney, Jr. in an op-ed @mercurynews.com and @eastbaytimes.com today. Read how: www.mercurynews.com/2025/08/27/o...

Opinion: Bashing the bloodlines of migrants is an American presidential pastime

Trump’s obsession with genes fits into long, ugly tradition of presidents who consider immigrants inherently inferior.

mercurynews.com

Trump's "ongoing efforts to combine access to the sensitive and personal information of Americans into a single searchable system with the help of shady companies should terrify us – and should inspire us to fight back," argues @eff.org's Cindy Cohn in today's @mercurynews.com and @eastbaytimes.com.

Cohn: Trump is building ‘one interface to rule them all.’ It’s terrifying.

A single searchable database of all Americans’ sensitive information is the goal of the president and Palantir – and the dream of authoritarians.

mercurynews.com

Look past the jets, the mansions and billions in the bank. Zuckerberg, Bezos, Pichai and Cook are becoming Trump's high-paid hostages. Be afraid. Their companies' lucrative levers of surveillance and persuasion are at the disposal of a criminal president. Read my op-ed @mercurynews.com:

The Mercury News@mercurynews.com · last yr.

Taves: Silicon Valley tech CEOs becoming Trump’s hostages. Be afraid. https://trib.al/YLV1mGD

Silicon Valley has a hostage crisis, I argue in today's @mercurynews.com and @eastbaytimes.com. After Trump threatened Zuckerberg with a lifetime prison sentence last year, the heads of Meta, Alphabet, Amazon and Apple are starting to resemble high-paid hostages. Be afraid. Read why ⬇️:

The Mercury News@mercurynews.com · last yr.

Taves: Silicon Valley tech CEOs becoming Trump’s hostages. Be afraid. https://trib.al/YLV1mGD

Citizens aren't safe. "Late last month the Supreme Court dropped its second bombshell: as a practical matter, it said, the government is free to deport U.S. citizens too." -- Stanford University Law's Mark Lemley in op-ed @mercurynews.com & @eastbaytimes.com Read full story ⬇️

Opinion: As July 4 approaches, Supreme Court signs away American democracy

Stanford law professor says pivotal rulings last week removed the last defense against a lawless president.

mercurynews.com

Max Taves@maxtaves.bsky.social · last yr.

"American democracy died last week, just shy of this country’s 249th birthday," argues @marklemley.bsky.social in a @mercurynews.com & @eastbaytimes.com op-ed today. 2 recent decisions by SCOTUS have removed the last remaining bulwarks against a lawless POTUS. Please read Mark's full argument ⬇️

"American democracy died last week, just shy of this country’s 249th birthday," argues @marklemley.bsky.social in a @mercurynews.com & @eastbaytimes.com op-ed today. 2 recent decisions by SCOTUS have removed the last remaining bulwarks against a lawless POTUS. Please read Mark's full argument ⬇️

The Mercury News@mercurynews.com · last yr.

Opinion: As July 4 approaches, Supreme Court signs away American democracy https://trib.al/UI8IVqA

San Jose: “No kings in the USA!”

San Jose says, “No kings.”

For now, L.A. is satiating Trump's sadism, I argue in today's @mercurynews.com. But he needs to sow more chaos to continue pushing the boundaries of military power over domestic politics. And that's where the Bay Area comes in. The question is: Will San Jose, Oakland & SF bite his bait of bile?

The Mercury News@mercurynews.com · last yr.

Taves: L.A. took Trump’s bait. Will the Bay Area bite, too? https://trib.al/lRbK0EN

L.A. took Trump's bait. Will the Bay Area bite, too? For now, L.A. is satiating Trump's sadism & its chaos is helping justify expanding military power. But San Jose, Oakland & SF are in ICE's crosshairs, I argue @eastbaytimes.com and @mercurynews.com. www.mercurynews.com/2025/06/10/t...

Taves: L.A. took Trump’s bait. Will the Bay Area bite, too?

Violent protesters play into the president’s power-grab playbook to use military power to quell his domestic enemies.

mercurynews.com

“The wrong #ICE is melting.”

The Mercury News@mercurynews.com · last yr.

Hundreds gather in San Jose, Oakland to protest ICE https://trib.al/zvK2xPH

San Jose City Hall now: #iceprotests

@christiannaj.bsky.social did you ever do a follow-up to this piece? mashable.com/article/mark...

8 ways Mark Zuckerberg changed Meta ahead of Trump’s inauguration

A week of upheaval at Meta: DEI, hate speech, and politics.

mashable.com

This sad trend continues. A clearly sick (gray?) whale is fighting for survival rn onshore at Montara State Beach, 8m north of Half Moon Bay. As reported by @eastbaytimes.com & @mercurynews.com , a suspiciously high number of whales are dying in Bay Area. My drone footage from this PM:

“Tackling homelessness has pit California against itself,” I argue today’s @mercurynews.com. 
“Mayors blame other mayors, who blame county supervisors, who blame mayors and the governor, who, in turn, blames mayors and supervisors.” Gov. Newsom must take charge: www.mercurynews.com/2025/05/31/t...

Taves: No one’s in charge. Newsom must fill California’s homelessness leadership vacuum

Cities, counties, state keep shifting responsibility for encampments and shelters. Governor should impose accountability.

mercurynews.com

Bay Area universities used their autonomy and funding to make America great. U.S. military, economic and scientific hegemony was built by the minds trained at UC Berkeley and Stanford, I argue @mercurynews.com @eastbaytimes.com. But now, that's all at risk of falling apart...

Dan Borenstein@danborenstein.bsky.social · last yr.

"The Trump administration, under the guise of fighting antisemitism and DEI, is threatening the Bay Area’s world-renowned academic research centers and, in so doing, risks undermining the secret sauce of Silicon Valley." @mercurynews.com @eastbaytimes.com @maxtaves.bsky.social

Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is paving California's road to hell, I argue in my column in today's @mercurynews.com. The insurance market is trying to send a message to Californians: Stop building in the most predictably flammable areas. But we don't want to learn new lessons... Link below:

Dan Borenstein@danborenstein.bsky.social · last yr.

An excellent, smart debut column by Deputy Opinion Editor @maxtaves.bsky.social

Scenes (and signs) from today’s large, peaceful protest in downtown San Jose against Donald Trump and sending migrants without due process to Salvadoran gulags:

A large protest against Trump, particularly focused on the illegal deportation of migrants to Salvador’s gulag, is winding its way through downtown San Jose right now.

Republicans are waging war against colleges b/c education is an existential threat to their party & policies. Last year, in a syndicated column for McClatchy, I explained GOP’s higher ed hate. Please read to understand the sinister (but logical) reason underlying GOP higher ed hate:

Why do Republicans hate higher education? Here’s the sinister reason | Opinion

Instead of changing their policies to appeal to the educated, Republicans are changing education to make their policies appealing.

yahoo.com

#slavaukraini

Christmas came early this year for the criminals in the Kremlin: On her first day in office as Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi ended task force to seize assets of Putin’s inner circle, per Reuters. First day priority? Interesting. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Trump administration disbands taskforce targeting Russian oligarchs

US attorney general issues memo to break up effort started after 2022 Ukraine invasion to target those close to Kremlin

theguardian.com