Renee Nicole Good's wife gave her first public comments to MPR News: "We were raising our son to believe that no matter where you come from or what you look like, all of us deserve compassion and kindness."

I agree that listening to others is good but the thing is it's difficult to listen across difference when masked agents are terrorizing and literally killing people, and a journalist who pretends otherwise isn't doing his job

“It should be crystal clear to everyone that the real threat to community safety is the ICE agents harassing, targeting, detaining — and in some tragic cases — killing our neighbors. This violence is unacceptable, it is criminal, and it is against the constitution of the United States.”

I foresee a lot of people writing "the transformation/moderation of Marjorie Taylor Greene" takes this year who'll forget that's she's arguably the most ubiquitous anti-semite in American life at the moment

I think it's bad for any state, including the US, to kill its protesters, a position that sadly the president does not appear to share www.bbc.com/news/article...

Okay but if that inspired him to shoot and kill someone it means that he should not have been working with a gun on the street, not that it's fine he shot and killed someone?

Why is every new AI announcement a solution you don't want to a problem you don't have

I just keep typing out and deleting little posts reflecting on the president saying that the only check on his powers is his own mind www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/u...

For those keeping score, Bellingcat, The New York Times Visual Investigation Team, & Washington Post's Visual Forensic team have all published analysis showing the ICE shooter wasn't in the path of Renee Nicole Good’s vehicle when he shot her, contradicting statements by the President & his cronies

Walz calls out Kristi Noem as “judge, jury, and executioner yesterday.”

It’s not funny at all but I did laugh at the implied end of the sentence “ICE agents have the right to defend themselves” being “against progressive white women”

Wrote a short thing about people in power lying badly open.substack.com/pub/emilycta...

“You have a right to flee for your safety, and so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that’s their fault for impinging on you.” - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, June 2025

“Put them all in jail, no questions,” is not actually a serious plan for reasons that become clear if you think about it for a few minutes; “do nothing and hope it will work out” is also not a serious plan

the question of what to do with a violent organized group after you’ve decommissioned them is a serious one that a lot of policy and scholarly work explores, and we can’t treat the question as illegitimate. If your call to dismantle ICE is serious then it also implies that plan made seriously.

For @forward.com, I wrote about how *not* to assess whether Mamdani is serious about tackling antisemitism forward.com/opinion/7955...

"Renee was one of the kindest people I’ve ever known,” her mother said. “She was extremely compassionate. She’s taken care of people all her life. She was loving, forgiving and affectionate. She was an amazing human being.” www.startribune.com/she-was-an-a...

This is what our government has sent into cities across the country to arrest normal, nonviolent working people. Insanity.

Given news that ICE shot and killed an observer in Minneapolis, here is a pattern we've seen before: *DHS say officers were under threat. This justifies to use deadly force. *Subsequent reporting shows such claims simply don't hold up. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whos-threa...

Czechia will keep its ammunition initiative for Ukraine alive despite months of domestic political attacks, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš confirmed on Wednesday, marking a sharp reversal from his pre-election stance. euractiv.com/news/babis-u...

Many times personal experience is great and adds context to a problem, but it can also just distract and derail into egotism.

Incredible piece

Excellent from Osita Nwanevu ositanwanevu.substack.com/p/hello-agai...

"We love America" is one of the mantras of Bari Weiss' CBS News. "Unapologetically patriotic" is the term the Washington Post's newly right-wing editorial board uses for its ethos. But "America" isn't billionaires/Trump and good journalism isn't always patriotic. newrepublic.com/article/2049...

Excellent piece by @stephenkb.bsky.social. UK citizenship is a right for those who qualify, not a privilege. If you have it, you are entitled to the full protection of the British state - at home and abroad. What you believe and what you say are entirely irrelevant. Anything else is despotism.

For the first time, the Palestinian-led United Arab List (Ra’am) party in Israel says it will allow Jewish candidates to run on the list. www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

"He reupped those calls hours after the US captured Venezuela's leader" oh, okay www.usatoday.com/story/news/p...

ha - NYT has now changed this sentence, managing only to amplify the absurdity and offense of the original: "Both Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Maduro describe themselves as socialists, though the policies Mr. Maduro presided over in Venezuela differ starkly from those Mr. Mamdani has vowed to pursue."

"He said the raid was strategic" ah well then

The count and Grover are also Sesame Street’s two canonically Jewish residents

I know this isn't really what's going on today but we are listening to Sesame Street music and I can already tell I'm going to spend too much time thinking about Count von Count's whole deal.

Very good read, found the comparison points with Noriega helpful

The logic that "we can do what we want in our backyards" is also China's and Russia's justification for territorial expansion. It is based on no principle other than the most powerful countries can do what they want.

Veteran New York Times national security reporter David Sanger says what Trump is describing in Venezuela is an "American occupation."

you don't need to add caveats agreeing that the head of state abducted is a bad guy before opposing abduction of a head of state by military force. If the rule was any head of government is fair game then the entire world would be a series of decapitation strikes and show trials in foreign courts.

Also - it is 2026. Everyone has already said and tried a version of this. There are many problems in the media today, but that the Average American TM isn't covered is not one of them.

Relatedly, IHRA is a tool. Like any tool, it can be useful sometimes! Sometimes you want a hammer! But when it is the only tool you're allowed to use and you're legally required to use it, you end up hammering holes in your wall.

Israel? It’s Emily. forward.com/opinion/7320...

Here is the editor of Tablet agreeably reposting someone calling nonwhite NYC immigrants "worthless biotrash." It's astonishing how quickly this stuff has escaped containment

Duke Health has had to restrict visitors as it contends with a doubling of flu hospitalizations in the past week. Y’all get your flu shots immediately if you haven’t already.

Some very good posts about Mamdani's inauguration today.

Some new stuff for the new year open.substack.com/pub/emilycta...

it’s their day

This year gave me more than any year has given me and taken from me more than any year has taken and I have done all I can do, which is to say that, to borrow from Kipling (who yes I know is bad!!!), I have met with Triumph and Disaster and tried to treat those two imposters just the same ✌️🧿

I like this because the implication that there wouldn't be 4000 daycares in an area with a population of roughly 2 million people

Was singing Monster in the Mirror to our baby and thought “‘do nothing that you would not like to see him do/cause the monster in the mirror, it just might be you’ is basically Hillel the Elder.” My poor son.

I did this because I'm retiring the feature and also didn't want to try to find someone during the holidays but on reflection it's is the most narcissistic thing I've done? I interviewed myself???? Lol!!!!

Proud of my close personal friends!!!