The people-filtered news at feditrends is very helpful in getting a sense of what matters most to people each day in the news. It's what's trending on Mastodon and open-source federated* social media. feditrends.com * An archipelago of servers, each trading messages with most of the others.

www.rferl.org/a/teen-kickb... SIE ist auf DEM Helm: Karina Bakhur! Eine erfolgreiche 17jährige Kickboxerin. Das war ihr Leben. Schaut euch den kleinen Film an und hört, wie stolz ihr Vater ist, dass sie nicht vergessen ist. Dass die Erinnerung an Karina weiterlebt. /Ch @rferl.org.web.brid.gy

11/12 Through Musk's DOGE and his own firms, Thiel is effectively privatizing the American government. He wants to replace public institutions with private algorithms that he owns. It is a corporate takeover of a nation, by foreign-born oligarchs

10/12 The paradoxes are staggering. He is a gay man who funds movements that target LGBTQ rights. He is an immigrant who builds "ImmigrationOS" for ICE to track and deport others. He uses the fruits of liberalism to plant the seeds of its destruction

8/12 In 2016, after learning of Thiel's secret funding to destroy Gawker Media, Epstein emailed him to offer to share the legal costs. They were not just associates. They were two men who shared a vision for a world where billionaires are above the law

7/12 The 2026 Epstein files have finally pulled back the curtain. Records show Thiel personally cultivated Jeffrey Epstein as a business partner for years. Epstein was a limited partner in Thiel's Valar Ventures and even facilitated meetings with Russian figures

6/12 Then there is Palantir, his mass surveillance empire. Named after a "seeing stone" from Tolkien, it harvests global data for the state. He pushes for total tracking of citizens while hiding his own moves behind a wall of corporate secrecy

5/12 The network of "Thiel Men" is everywhere. He has placed loyalists like Blake Masters and Joe Lonsdale in key positions. He even counts former Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz as a global strategist. From David Sacks to General Flynn, the web is massive

4/12 Thiel does not just fund politicians. He manufactures them. JD Vance is his ultimate creation, a former Thiel employee moved from Silicon Valley into the White House. Vance is the vessel for a billionaire agenda to replace democracy with a techno-autocracy

2/12 The hypocrisy is absolute. Thiel is a gay, foreign-born billionaire who built his fortune from liberal California. He benefited from every protection a democracy provides, yet he now spends his resources trying to dismantle that system for everyone else

Totally agree, you can watch it here though :- youtu.be/oiTJ7Pz_59A

Status of right-wing radio in 1964:

Zappa predict this youtu.be/bjkp48XohbE?...

Ben Smith: I don’t know if Stephen Miller resigns before the midterms, resigns after the midterms, or sticks around. But this feels like that moment when a president puts a lot of confidence in one adviser to steer national policy in a direction that turns out to be politically disastrous.

Key happenings and insights in this ep.

Stephen Colbert says CBS lawyers pulled James Talarico interview as early voting begins in Texas apnews.com/article/step... Talarico spoke about the dangers of Christian Nationalism and mixing church with state. www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiTJ...

We’ve spent the last two decades learning that an information stream designed exclusively for the purpose of validating and reinforcing your priors makes people delusional and unhinged. This is just the ultimate expression of that.

Meanwhile, in Germany, the public weighs in on what they think of the Epstein Administration. #BrutalButAccurate

It’s the billionaire version of gang members getting tattoos advertising they’ve done murders.

Done! LA Taco rules. And if you like them, also check out @mississippifreepress.org

Especially grocers right now, everyone hates them for raising prices (even when they have legitimate reasons that are beyond their control). You're going into that environment with a strategy of "let's set up a system that lets us charge you, personally, even more"?

Nobody who isn't begging to believe this line from Kroger will believe it. "The company will only use dynamic pricing to act in your best interests, not to make themselves more money, the thing they are explicitly organized to do" I think these companies are betting too much on this not backfiring

Few things grind my gears quite as much as these fucking illiterates invoking “Western Civilization,” of which they are obviously and comically ignorant, as a euphemism for white supremacy.

My case for anti-doomerism about the midterms. But I want to break down a particular thing people keep floating: the idea that targeting only a small number of precincts in a small handful of districts would be enough, and they have the resources and manpower do that. Let's talk numbers. 🧵:

A very detailed explanation of how FBI bamboozled a magistrate into authorizing a raid on Fulton County’s election offices by omitting critical information that would have totally undermined any probable cause claim. Pretty clear-cut case of calculated deception of the courts.

The spirit gripped me today and moved me to write this essay on "good old fashioned artificial intelligence," which I position as opposite to the ethically compromised Machine Learning-based AI of today. I don't think people will like what I have to say. blog.wellssanto.com/revisiting-g...

I wrote a bit about why cameras were built for white (women!) and how the tech was patched by them to work for folks like me - and some other stuff here a while ago:

Right-wing Heritage Foundation’s own data shows fewer than 100 noncitizens voted since 1982 (!!!) This is not a real problem. “The SAVE ACT is a Trojan horse to nationalize elections”: open.substack.com/pub/thiswill...

Minnesota Legislature gavels in, honors Melissa Hortman, absent for first time in 20 years.

Leaders in the #Florida Senate want to crack down on a scheme used by some large developers to lock homebuyers into legally murky “forever fees.” jasongarcia.substack.com/p/florida-se... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social

The Florida Senate just removed the provision discussed in the below story – which would make it easier for the sugar industry to sue critics for defamation – from its version of the so-called "Farm Bill" (SB 290). But the provision is still in the House bill (HB 433).

Turns out Sig Sauer also gave $25K to Sen. Tom Leek, a Republican from Ormond Beach who debated in favor of the bill.

The Florida Senate wants to spend at least $2.75 million putting Donald Trump's name all over the Palm Beach County International Airport. I dunno, maybe the billionaire could pay for that instead of taxpayers?

Misleading #Florida Farm Bill would let the state auction off preserve land such as the Florida Wildlife Corridor to farmers to use. jasongarcia.substack.com/p/farm-bill-... via @jasongarcia.bsky.social

Via @stateline.org: ICE’s plans to convert industrial buildings — often warehouses — into new detention facilities have faced fierce opposition over humanitarian and economic concerns. From Utah to Texas to Georgia, local governments have sought to block these massive facilities.. buff.ly/9GLBsVI

In-depth reports like this take a lot of time and hard work, and I need your help to keep doing them. If you’re able, make a donation by clicking here: haussamen.com/support-loca... Even a few bucks makes a difference! Thank you! /3

With officials considering action, I decided to dig deep into the tension between safety and privacy. This is a long read, but it’s important. I urge you to make time to read or listen to it. /2

Police surveillance cameras are literally all around us. Privacy advocates are increasingly concerned about how license plate readers could be used for immigration enforcement and in other ways that conflict with our state’s laws and values. /1

State receives first monthly payment for ICE detainees

Regardless of party, everyone should be alarmed that the government can now dictate what guests a tv talk show can or cannot host. ( And the network complied) This would not happen in any free country- but it has just happened in America . A first in my lifetime.

Women and transgender folk leaving in droves. Immigrants fleeing. International students changing to EU universities. Pretty soon it even affects the landlords. Just like Nosferatu said.

Great time for Microsoft to obsolete all the computers running Windows 10 by forcing Win 11 upgrades. That's going to leave a mark.

I read a post earlier on X that speaks to this:

2026 will be the year of Linux because no one will be able to buy a new pc to use the fucking windows 11.

BURNING DOWN THE PLANET for the THEORY of FREE LABOR This is an Extinction Level Event

When this bubble bursts the tech bros better not run to the taxpayers for a bailout.

It's really great that an industry that can't figure out how to make substantial revenue, let alone make a profit, is ruining literally everything else.