Ok - Now what
@ok-now-what.bsky.social
Avoiding the horrors by reading horror. I like comics and movies and books and history. I don't like politics but it's happening to me anyway. Warning: bad at social media.
“The worst place ever I’ve been in my life," Sakariye Abdi Mohamed, a Somali asylum seeker, told me over the phone from Guantanamo Bay last week. Sakariye is one of 7 or 8 Somalis who are being held at Gitmo. They say guards tell them the order to keep Somalis at the facility comes from DC.
The Trump administration is imprisoning Somali immigrants in Gitmo
“Nobody tell us that we’re going to Guantanamo Bay.”
motherjones.com
ICE has been very active on Chicago’s Northwest Side and near north suburbs today. Most recently around Avondale ~1:30 P.M.
Dave Byrnes@djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 19h agoICE still active on Chicago's northwest side and in Lincolnwood. Multiple ICE vehicles seen between Foster and Lawrence and between California and Cicero as of 12:10 p.m. today
OK properly shocked that Macklemore’s current - not peak - Spotify monthly listeners are 34 million Acts who have apparently never reached this level include: Metallica Backstreet Boys Outkast Nickelback 2Pac The Rolling Stones Foo Fighters Amy Winehouse Carly Rae Jepsen Kylie
so Universal wants to block global distribution of the "MUSK" documentary, and the Ellisons seem likely to try to block the streaming release on HBO early next year if their takeover is approved in time... we all better plan on making the US theatrical release an absolute blowout event!
It's really disturbing how corruption of youth / things intended for kids has become a cultural motif lately.
Ian Miles Schlong@tedcruznipples.com · 2d agoThis is some societal decay shit for sure
“More and more D.C. residents are in the same boat, according to a report from Capital Area Food Bank that came out today. The 2026 Hunger Report showed that food insecurity in the D.C. region is worse than it’s been in five years — worse even than around the height of the pandemic.”
Food insecurity in the DC area hits a new high
Cuts to SNAP, surging costs, and federal layoffs are making it difficult for District residents to put food on the table.
51st.news
New: Before Renée and Alex, ICE fatally shot Mexican immigrant Silverio Villegas González last fall outside Chicago in suburban Franklin Park. One year later, @domguan.bsky.social spent some time with the group of local women tending to his memorial. His family is still demanding answers:
Growing Where He Died: Silverio Villegas González, One Year Later
One year on from the killing of Silverio Villegas González, a community of Franklin Park women continue the fight to keep his memory alive–through art, flowers, and “a culture of celebrating life.”
unraveledpress.com
ICE should keep doing this. The military loves it when random federal agents attack their soldiers.
The New Republic@newrepublic.com · 4d agoThe ICE agents reportedly said they didn’t care after being told the two teenagers were citizens. trib.al/gtavhxd
These conditions are appalling under any circumstances. But it's also vital to remember that ICE confined is CIVIL, not criminal. The people held in these concentration camps have not been charged with a crime, bc overstaying a visa is NOT A CRIME (it's a civil issue).
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 4d agoNEW: DHS's Inspector General releases a scathing report about the Everglades detention camp known as "Alligator Alcatraz." The OIG finds that the now-closed camp, violated multiple ICE standards. The OIG also confirms detainees were punished with placement in a metal cage in the Florida heat.🧵
Wrote about documenting ICE arrests during a surge in southwest Florida -- and how no one wanted any of the footage.
ICE is Still Surging
Dispatch from an immigration surge in southwest Florida
turtlediaries.net
Kind of insane that you can just... abolish traffic deaths. Like, people dying in car crashes is a policy choice.
Brent Toderian@brenttoderian.bsky.social · last yr.“Helsinki has not recorded a single traffic fatality in the past 12 months, city and police officials confirmed this week.” City engineer credits lower speed limits and smart design. I agree. #Helsinki #VisionZero
A good, measured take. To be a little less measured, Chicago is VERY lucky we didn't have a Trump-aligned mayor during Midway Blitz. Also, there has definitely been some real, noticeable investment on the West Side.
Meredith Shiner@meredithshiner.com · 5d agoLook everybody has an opinion on Chicago but not only do I actually live here but I also am probably in the 1% of people who can name their alder, state rep and state senator so you can take my take with that grain of salt. I think there’s a lot happening here that’s shaping perceptions and outcomes
After Pretti was killed, Savageford, who is Asian-American, said she was taken to a warehouse near the Whipple detention center where immigrants were being detained. She was strip-searched, including by male agents who Cook told HuffPost on Friday were “touching her privates.”
Brandi Buchman@brandibuchman.bsky.social · 7d agoNEW from me: Lawyers for a witness to the killing of Alex Pretti confirmed she has given an interview to the feds. Full details inside. Warning: Disturbing content. www.huffpost.com/entry/she-wa...
Happening now in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park: Community members have gathered to commemorate the 1-year anniversary of the death of local resident Silverio Villegas González, whom an as-yet unidentified ICE agent shot and killed on this block at the start of "Operation Midway Blitz."
It feels like we tripped into hell world on 9/11/01 and every day since has gotten worse. Just a horrifying downward spiral that, at this point, comprises most of my adult life, with the main signposts being events that used to belong only to dystopian fiction.
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. n.pr/4xPdcvp
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.
n.pr
We're overdue for a new Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Sophia_Nyx 🐰@sophianyx.bsky.social · last wk.Name a film you'd like to remake.
The last few days is like a DDOS attack from these companies 🙄 I just finished drafting an op-ed and then see another OMG Machine god is going to kill everyone 😱 post Ok walk me through the step by step action this super intelligent chatbot takes to render everyone us extinct?
once again, all that shit about how these AI companies are going to flip on the doomsday switch tomorrow was an attempt to boost Open AI’s IPO price and market their services. pls try to remember this the next time someone tells you the apocalypse is happening tomorrow for the 43rd time
Politico@politico.com · last wk.EXCLUSIVE: Sam Altman met with top power utilities to discuss ways to secure the electrical grid. He also offered one possible solution to the cybersecurity risks: OpenAI’s own cyber services.
Isn't this literally the plot of The Muppet Movie? Tbh the real obstacle here is the lack of weirdo underground comics and character actors.
DiscussingFilm@discussingfilm.net · last wk.There are currently no active conversations for a full ‘MUPPET SHOW’ series revival. Disney, The Muppets Studio and Point Grey Pictures have had difficulties with deciding on a premise for the series that they can all agree on. (Source: Deadline)
"In August, Hijas del Pueblo was able to get a permanent memorial approved at the site." "Balvaneda said a bench and a plaque will be installed next to the vigil later this month." “It’s a space that makes it known that we will not tolerate federal violence in our town,” Balvaneda said."
A Year After ICE Killed A Father Outside Chicago, FBI Won't Release Any Info About Investigation
Silverio Villegas González was killed during a traffic stop in Franklin Park. His family is working with lawyers and the Mexican Consulate to file a wrongful death claim against the federal government...
blockclubchicago.org
Here's a gift link to my 9/11 essay in the NYT. Civil libertarians long warned that before giving government new powers, we should consider how an administration with authoritarian ambition might abuse them. We were told that America was too exceptional to elect such a person. Well here we are.
Opinion | Civil Libertarians Knew This Would Happen. We Should Have Listened. (Gift Article)
The civil libertarians’ warnings have come true.
nytimes.com
Wild that we've gotten to a place in American politics where elected official can just go "lmao fuck my voters, what are you going to do about it?"
Axios@axios.com · last wk.EXCLUSIVE: Sen. John Fetterman is preparing to make a bombshell appearance tonight at the GOP convention in a video praising President Trump and Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Dave McCormick
CBS has all but erased long time anchor and reporter Scott Pelley but he was a key part of the network's 9/11 coverage so here he is...
60 Minutes@60minutes.bsky.social · 2w agoAfter 9/11, the World Trade Center site was a pile of 1.5 million tons of wreckage, with nearly 3,000 people buried beneath it. In May 2002, 60 Minutes returned to Ground Zero, then a gaping hole covering 16 acres and reaching 70 feet deep. cbsn.ws/4zV15yd
NEW: In one of the most horrifying stories I've ever reported, I found that Facebook is hosting huge quantities of AI-generated videos of violent child abuse -- kids being beaten, burned, and far more But the genuinely shocking thing was how little Meta seems to care futurism.com/artificial-i...
People need to stop feeling bad for Imperial Germany, a colonial power that committed one of the first modern genocides in Africa.
"On Dec. 22, an immigration judge in Michigan ordered Padilla Mora to be removed from the country, according to his lawyer, Enrique Espinoza. The judge said his children would adapt to life without their father." ✍🏽 @franciagarciah.bsky.social Madison Savedra blockclubchicago.org/2026/09/09/a...
A Year After Operation Midway Blitz, Chicagoans Are Still Picking Up The Pieces
Operation Midway Blitz saw the arrest of thousands of immigrants and violent clashes between agents and neighbors. From a family separated by deportation to a street vendor slowly getting back to work, many are adjusting to a new normal.
blockclubchicago.org
