I just love real America so much

Second, Hegseth was "pulled by his District of Columbia National Guard unit from guarding Joe Biden’s January 2021 inauguration" after he was flagged by unit members as being a potential "insider threat." It effectively ended his military career.

Did you know there is a Russian Orthodox cathedral (St Nicholas) in Tehran? Le Monde reports that the US or Israel targeted it with a missile, blowing out the windows and doors. This is “help is on the way”.

Twinning! Something important is going on this week that will have world-wide implications! Like an egg splitting in half, a tropical wave gives birth twin tropical #cyclones in the Equatorial Pacific. Notice how one spins clockwise I the Northern Hemisphere, the other counterclockwise SH… 1/

How ICE Is Assisting TSA theonion.com/how-ice-is-a... #TheOnion

#dementiadon #pedopresident #feloninchief

Everyone who touches tRump dies

French naval base, Camp de la Paix, struck in Port Zayed, Abu Dhabi as Israelis launch another raid on Tehran.

Per LeMonde, the Iranian Guardians of the Revolution say they have struck the carrier Abraham Lincoln with 4 ballistic missiles.

This war is costing airlines millions as flights are cancelled : Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad, EgyptAir, Air Algérie, Ethiopian, and Kenya Airways. Could be days, weeks or months before operations fully resume.

Per La Repubblica (Rome), Iran has announced closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Rigoletto is the Closing Ceremonies emcee

Was today years old when I learned that Herbert Hoover blamed Mexican-Americans for the Great Depression and deported up to 2 million of them, including plenty of US citizens

Progressive International is organizing Flotilla Nuestra América to bring humanitarian aid to Cuba. elpais.com/mexico/2026-...

BREAKING: The federal government has filed a motion seeking to end asylum claims for the family of Liam Conejo Ramos, according to the lawyer representing the family.

I know its standards are lower than the temperature in Ohio but still can’t quite believe that the New York Times published a piece telling Harry Potter fans to grow up, stop wanting the good guys to win, embrace the reign of Lord Voldemort, and stop doxxing dementors who are just enforcing the law.

Two global trading houses that brokered an opaque deal with the Trump admin this month to sell Venezuelan oil were previously prosecuted for bribery schemes involving oil sales elsewhere… A senior trader at Vitol donated $6 million to Trump’s 2024 election. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Cartoon by @mwuerker.bsky.social.

ICE at the Winter Olympics? Rubio and Vance want an ICE security detail at the opening ceremonies in Milan?? Will have to verify this on Tuesday.

this is so incredibly courageous

I am not a defamation or torts scholar, but boy do I have a good title for your next law review article: Government Defamation.

Jared and Ivanka spent $1.4 billion to buy the Albanian island of Sazan. www.repubblica.it/venerdi/2026...

I don’t know who added Liam Conejo Ramos to The Problem We All Live With, Norman Rockwell’s 1964 painting of Ruby Bridges. But bravo.

Good GARtuitous, north American sport fish blanket includes the Alligator Gar! @solomonrdavid.bsky.social

Below is our story about the skyrocketing number of kids detained by ICE. We cover the facility where Liam is now being held-- parents said food had worms and mold, and kids were so distressed they hit themselves in the face and wet themselves. www.themarshallproject.org/2025/12/17/c...

I guess all the guys who did the Syria maps in the 2010s will start checking out the greater Midwest just in case

Kinetic action coming…civilian airlines forewarned. www.lemonde.fr/internationa...

Trump’s pal Javier Milei cut firefighting funds so now Patagonia is on fire bsky.app/profile/lemo...

This is extraordinary. I can’t think of a single Fed statement this defiant — ever. The Fed works through open consensus building and when it must, quiet, patient resistance. I cannot stress how bad things are that Jay Powell is saying these things out loud.

Spot on!

A 3rd tanker is being boarded by the US off Venezuela, per Bloomberg. 22/

2/A similar thing is happening with the trade deals -- Japan and Korea pledge billions in investments that are then directed by Lutnick. This is not arms-length bureaucracy making decisions but small groups of clique insiders. www.wsj.com/tech/trump-s...

Recommended reading about the much criticized 2025 NSS graciously shared by Harry Farrell. bsky.app/profile/nils...

I wrote long today. danieldrezner.substack.com/p/so-how-is-...

Amazing and instructive thread on today’s UK pipeline to prime minister. Worth your time. bsky.app/profile/robe...

Yea for the kitty cats! #CatSky #CatsAreSmart

Here’s video of federal agents doing a drive by pepper spraying that hit a father and his one-year old on Saturday when the Feds were hitting Little Village and Cicero

Nice reporting from the Sun-Times on the Girl Scout aspect of my experience yesterday tinyurl.com/4azkbhjy

Good Morning. Per foreign press Marco Rubio has instructed all US embassies to reject residential visa applications from anyone who is obese as well as diabetics who do not have the cash for a lifetime supply of insulin

Sharks and Shark Cages

The USDA sent an email to grocery stores telling them they are prohibited from offering special discounts to customers affected by the SNAP funding lapse. I'm aware of at least 2 stores that had offered struggling customers a discount, then withdrew it after receiving this email

Just to put a smile on your face, let's remember when Senator Mark Kelly sent his twin Scott a gorilla suit on an ISS resupply (which blew up in 2015), then sent him a SECOND gorilla suit, which Scott used to scare the hell out of British astronaut Tim Peake. I admire the determination to a gag.

A little reminder of our #Hoosier duty, from Abraham Lincoln.

lol. lmao.

ok who did this? ☹️

Per BBC News program this morning, both Trump and Vance vacationed in Scotland in summer 2025 and have stiffed the UK government for the related expenses.

💯💯💯

From Colombia’s President regarding one of the illegal U.S. strikes in the Caribbean.

Coast Guard Buys Two Private Jets for Noem, Costing $172 Million www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/u...