It used to be that the United States would use Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to transmit truth across the borders of repressive regimes. Now the work of American reporters, having been censored, is being smuggled across the border to reach Americans.

Watching the spiked 60 Minutes episode on YouTube, thanks to @phillewis.bsky.social. It's not like the Trump admin didn't have its say. At about 4:15 mark, there is footage of Trump saying CECOT was "great facilities, very strong facilities" www.youtube.com/watch?v=lenF...

"Get the principals on camera" is such a telling phrase here, because it tells us that for Weiss there's no world in which the victims of these horrific actions can actually be seen as the subjects of the story: They're background noise, and the people who matter are the ones sending them.

State attorneys general sue Trump administration over efforts to shutter CFPB

WOW. Trump's approval rating is now 36%. And I don't remember ever seeing him underwater with white people.

Seems bad for Bari's memo about how 'Alien Enemies Act' wasn't the legal theory

High-fat diets can cause liver cells to revert to a stem-cell-like state, increasing their vulnerability to cancerous mutations and altering normal liver function over time. doi.org/hbgj6t

Rather than take the L handed to it by a judge two weeks ago who voided its ban on wind power, the White House has employed the only move it knows: doubling down — in this case through the invention of “national security concerns.”

The New York Times investigated 346 people who donated at least $250,000 to Trump and found that more than half of them (197) have received pardons, jobs, government contracts, special treatment, or favors.

Holy shit practically the entire Heritage legal center resigned www.nationalreview.com/news/exclusi...

These cameras were not just watching cars or even license plates. They were zooming in on people's faces on the sidewalk, tracking people in parks, watching what they were looking at on their phone screens: www.404media.co/flock-expose...

For years, people have lodged complaints about Tesla’s doors. With no official statistics, Bloomberg did its own analysis on the number of fatal crashes in the US in which door functionality played a role. Read more: bloom.bg/49tm0fF 📷️: Getty Images

The story is insane. The acting head of cyber security, a Noem crony, repeatedly demanded to see highly classified information he didn’t need access to, and when staff set up a lie detector test as a condition to grant him access, he failed it. So DHS suspended the staffers.

fascinating

Now seems like a swell time to point out that Frontline just released this excellent 11-minute mini-documentary about what happened inside CECOT.

This spring, @repdangoldman.bsky.social went to work and “saw a dozen masked ICE agents in the lobby” of his office building.  He has since turned that office into the headquarters for a legal operation that has secured the release of nine ICE detainees. talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/how-...

Valley with Ploughman Seen from Above - December 1889 https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/3109386

All of these links went to promotion of this story earlier today. All these links are dead now — that's how thoroughly they've scrubbed this.

Indistinguishable from a Grand Wizard addressing a large Klan rally

Waymo? I'll walk, thanks.

This is the core problem with having a house as primary investment and nest egg -

Trump Announces New ‘Dodger Dividend’ For Anyone Who Avoided Military Service

Lawmakers from both sides of the political aisle have turned on Attorney General Pam Bondi and have reportedly begun drafting articles of impeachment following the heavily opaque release of the Epstein files.

endorse

Powerful photo from the NY Times article

The Abundance movement often points to environmental groups as the obstacles to building. But who actually files the lawsuits blocking projects? It’s not environmental groups. It’s been lawyered-up HOAs protecting property values all along. Regulation by litigation is the problem.

Built with U.S. technology, China’s surveillance empire now reaches Nepal. An AP investigation finds how this was used to crush the ‘Free Tibet’ movement in the Himalayan kingdom.

Tapper: This is one of the documents the DOJ released. It’s 100 pages. It’s all black. That’s the transparency we’re getting.

Today the the MTA debuted a new style of fare gates it expects to install in 150 stations over the next five years. A few minutes before the demo, a woman got her neck caught in the door, and a man brazenly pushed the doors open to prove it can be gamed. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/n...

Interesting to consider that if you were to go and deface the Kennedy center by removing Trump’s name, you’d be arrested and charged with a crime, but your act would be no more unlawful than what they’re doing right now.

Good! Colorado Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper objected to moving forward with the minibus spending package, which would have funded 85 to 90% of the federal government through September 2026, because of the Trump regime's plan to dismantle NCAR.

Awesome - never seen a Cezanne like this - my dude

the main reward you are likely to get for total loyalty to trump is the destruction of your career and your reputation www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/n...

I mean, clearly people are taking to heart the president and RFK's messages about rejecting commercialism & are boycotting shopping to stick it to the man

Since our investigation, Nigerian authorities have shut down factories that have recycled lead sold to battery manufacturers in US. With @willfitzgibbon.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/w...

"FRL’s approach contrasts with that of tech giants such as OpenAI... which are leaning toward generalist agents" Instead, they are building task specializers w/high rates of effectiveness. 1,000 AIs were left to build their own village| BBC Science Focus Magazine share.google/UwR3iTVNLKoK...

Ladies and gentlemen, the people running our economy:

Muting a Black woman to claim the vote was unanimous is so incredibly on the nose

BREAKING: The DC Circuit Court of Appeals denied DOGE's effort to prevent turning over much needed—and long overdue—information to CREW on its structure and operations. This is a huge win for transparency and accountability!

Today, AG Letitia James of New York responded to the Trump administration's new rule attempting to ban trans youth care in hospitals nationwide. "I will not let the administration come for you." Read the latest from our writer, S. Baum here. www.erininthemorning.com/p/i-will-not...

Sharing this great post @3streamsblog.bsky.social from @kevintmorris.bsky.social and Miller from their new @thejop.bsky.social article medium.com/3streams/how...

Make that an $11b deficit to keep subsidized housing production at current levels if the Council gets its way today — bsky.app/profile/ndha...

The early reviews for #CPI are rough. @wsj.com @nicktimiraos.bsky.social

Omg - saw the headlines and market moves about lower CPI but it’s basically No Data Collected, not a real report

"Meta calculated that about 19% of that money – more than $3 billion – was coming from ads for scams, illegal gambling, pornography and other banned content, according to internal Meta documents reviewed by Reuters." www.reuters.com/investigatio...

This was posted on X by the Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commn. It’s not that we talk about “identity” & “race” too much. It’s that they wanted to hijack the language,legitimacy & infrastructure we created to vindicate the rights of Black people & women for THEIR race & identity.

ATTN MILITARY: That $1776 you’re getting? He’s taking it out of your already approved BHA and putting his name on it. www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/...

Surveys of Mediterranean sea caves reveal high concentrations of plastic debris, highlighting these habitats as overlooked pollution hotspots and raising concerns for endangered monk seal populations.