Morons Morons are in charge www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/u...

New from me, at @vqr.bsky.social: a few years ago two people contacted me about a TEDx talk I once gave, “The Art of Haunting.” When I replied I’d never given a TEDx talk, things just got weirder. On AI, ghosts, what it means to tell a story, and what Italo Calvino saw coming 60 years ago. Enjoy!

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What is the narrative exactly ? A white house staffer who has unfettered access to the president’s account with no safeguards was casually watching videos in which the obamas are portrayed as apes, and then accidentally hit post?

The US immigrant population generated more in taxes than they received in benefits from all levels of government every year from 1994 to 2023. The Cato study provides the first-ever 30-year analysis of the fiscal effects of immigration on government budgets. https://ow.ly/jy8a50Y8kM3

Merry Christmas

Breaking: The special agent in charge of the FBI's Atlanta field office was forced out this month after questioning the Trump Justice Department's renewed push to probe Fulton County's role in the 2020 election, two people familiar with the matter told MS NOW. www.ms.now/news/atlanta...

I reached Lutnick on his cell phone today. He said he could not comment because he had not seen the documents, claimed that he had “spent zero time with” Epstein, and then hung up. 4/6 www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...

Hold on, did Stephen Miller demand that Kristi Noem shoot her dog in the face to prove her loyalty? She said everything she did was following his or Donald Trump's orders.

Why is Tulsi Gabbard at an FBI raid on an elections office in Fulton County?

Leaving this here...

People not in Minnesota: please read this excellent summary of what life is like in Minneapolis since the murderous scum ICE swarmed here. And more are on their way. By local reporter / writer / bike dude / legend @dbrauer.net .

This was murder. Trump is defending a murder, a murder committed on his behalf. America is not being made safe. It is becoming more dangerous each and every day because Donald Trump is a criminal who commands and encourages others to commit crimes on his behalf—as he has done for years.

The woman killed by ICE today was a poet. She won the 2020 Academy of American Poets, University & College Poetry Prize at Old Dominion University. (And this is Renee from confirmed socials- a photo of a different woman with red lipstick is going around, but that was a classmate.) /

Whatever happens now, we absolutely cannot allow Trump's refusal to seek Congressional authorization for what appears to be a large scale military attack on another country vanish from the media discussion, which already appears to be happening.

My one hope for 2026 is that Erika Kirk somehow pisses off 50 Cent.

Last month, I got a commission to write an open-source data project on the recent Radiohead tour for the BBC Verify live page (and plotted a speculative social media video). Yes I was. It didn’t work out… As the year closes, I thought you may like to read it. Merry Christmas. THREAD... 📷Alex Lake

It's not just Xbox: PlayStation and even Nintendo are seeing sales declines in 2025, marking the worst November for the console business in years. And it's going to get worse. www.windowscentral.com/gaming/no-it... 📉

If you speak german and can be bothered to spend 15 minutes doing me a favor, shoot me a message. Thanks in advance!

We're working to answer that question and others. If you or a loved one has first-hand experience with Trump's immigration enforcement apparatus – or if you're a lawyer or federal law enforcement official dealing with these "UAC" ("unaccompanied alien child") arrests – I'm on Signal at mattshuham.01

I'm looking for work. I have experience working in news, features, interviews and essays, and am able to do any of the above.

I thought about this overnight. I actually thing the best pick is this guy. Starred in some bangers, but gets you most Cohen brothers films, many Adam Sandler films, a bunch of voice credits, and a ton of other stuff. If you include TV, it's even better.

Happy Spider-Man Rimming Uncle Sam Day to all who celebrate

"Of course he knew about the girls." Check out our new billboards in New York's Times Square highlighting the recently released emails from Jeffrey Epstein about Donald Trump. They'll be in Times Square for the next two weeks.

My wife: you watching football tonight Me: yeah. What are you up to tonight Wife: I dunno. Might read. Might doomscroll Me: you could watch football Wife: who is playing Me: Jets/Patriots Wife: I'll doomscroll thanks for the offer

Good statement from the US conference of Catholic Bishops

If you see this, quote with a robot that isn't from "Star Wars", "Star Trek", "Doctor Who", or "Transformers".

#indiegame #rpg #dungeoncrawler #osr #retroRPG #oldschoolrpg #blackandwhiteart #dnd #dungeonsanddragons #fantasy

"I believe that Americans would agree that the government can’t just make people disappear without any process or explanation. Second, because I want to give the government a chance to admit that they were wrong. So far the government has not done so." newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/im-a-us-ci...

It is bad that Charlie Kirk was shot and killed.That does not make him a good man. You don’t have to make him into a martyr just because he was a victim.Painting Kirk as a role model for political discourse requires either a staggering ignorance or intentional neglect ofwhat he actually stood for.

EXCLUSIVE/BOMBSHELL: @bloomberg.com has obtained **18K** previously unreported emails from Jeffery Epstein's personal Yahoo account. The emails are disturbing & revelatory & reveal new details about Ghilaine Maxwell's role FREE to read www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

On Mother's Day, a man was driving to church w/ his wife, a citizen, their disabled 12-year-old daughter, & their baby Federal agents stopped them, smashed their window and shoved the dad to the ground. “All I could hear was kids crying,” witness said projects.propublica.org/trump-ice-sm...

1. Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel want everyone to think the so-called Steele Dossier was a major source for the 2017 intelligence assessment on Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. No, it wasn’t — an assessment of the “dossier” was included as an annex, which they haven’t released. Why?

JACKSONVILLE — TW ⚠️: Unarmed Black driver has his window smashed + face punched by a sheriff’s deputy after being pulled over for not having his headlights on… during the day. 🤔 Sheriff TK Waters says they’ve launched an “internal investigation”: www.firstcoastnews.com/article/news...

This story is about how we hold complexity for difficult truths and learn to see beyond pain and cultural stereotypes. By far, my most vulnerable and challenging piece yet. #writing #ptsd #adoption www.huffpost.com/entry/father...

*strolls in, whistling nonchalantly* *drops a video of Bluegrass Star Trek theme* *saunters off to cause chaos elsewhere* youtu.be/zbkruyjOx9Y

KTLA - Narciso Barranco, a father to three sons who are all US Marines, pepper-sprayed and punched in the face by alleged federal immigration officers while he was working as a landscaper at an IHOP. He was then forced into the back of an unmarked car in Santa Ana.

"These armed bounty hunters stormed a family's home in Huntington Beach no warrant, no ID, weapons drawn on kids. Do you recognize them? Help us identify them.

Kobie Boslough, a direct descendant of US Army war veterans Harvey Thompson and Bruce Boslough, found herself on the front lines yesterday of another battle to save our country. Like her ancestors, she knows that freedom isn't free. Americans have to stand up for those who can't defend themselves.

Especially if you're on the fence about it, protest today. Fascism is isolating and lonely. Its very goal is to make you feel like you're the only person unwilling to accept a cult of personality. On days like today you fully realize there are more of us than there are them. You will feel better.

Whittier Police Department still out of the DoubleTree Hotel. Unlawful assembly declared via helicopter, about 20 minutes away (I think?). Pro-immigration Protesters saying that federal immigration authorities are staying here but haven’t been able to confirm. Protesters forced onto the street.

Spokane, Washington tonight became the center of national attention after a peaceful protest outside an ICE facility was escalated by police.

Donald Trump commandeered 2,000 of our state’s National Guard members to deploy on our streets.  Illegally, and for no reason.

CTV HAS DECLARED A LIBERAL GOVERNMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love that Howell is getting right to the heart of the matter here and dispensing with the bullshit.

JFC, they really are at the bottom of the barrel here on lawyers the government has to defend these cases. That's going to play here on the incredibly numerous lawsuits the administration currently finds itself in. That number is only going to grow.

It never feels good sending money to the government but it has never felt as bad as it does today. I know I have paid to produce so much suffering I’m not an idiot but there was always a plausible deniability baked in. Like how they put blanks in one of the firing squad rifles.

This is going to be an interesting experiment. I've got this request up now on X, BlueSky and LinkedIN, and we'll see which produces the mystery doc first. If that doesn't work, I'm doing an investigative TikTok dance, which frankly we're all going to regret.

Waltz must resign. Hegseth must resign. There must be accountability for this Administration’s dangerous disregard for our national security.