“This, too, is antisemitism” A Free Press editorial

The ineligible in-group consists of people who share the prima facie qualifications of in-group membership (e.g., White skin) but who are at risk of being expelled from the in-group due to their dissent, which is usually associated with out-group contamination. From my diss:

Online hate and disinformation do not have easy solutions. But the Trump administration’s lies about European regulation are not about free speech. They are about power – preserving its own, promoting its far-right allies in Europe, and protecting its partners in Big Tech, writes David Kaye.

Really, this is just further evidence of the need to move agencies with pure formal-like, adjudicatory functions outside of the executive branch.

But that is what they're doing. Spending down unearned wealth and power.

There will be a lot of big stories in 2026 regarding US democracy, but the biggest IMO will be the effort to reshape the electoral system

This is why I continue to believe we have to keep our hearts closed to evil

I almost never open Instagram, but every time I do now I get served different fake videos of NYPD arresting ICE officers. The quality is very high, and the only reason I know they're fake is that it's something I'd already know about if it happened

Excellent piece by @robertshrimsley.bsky.social Wish it weren't so, but alas

In Cyberpunk 2077 (which is very much a Gibson-ish world), there's very little thought/time given to information consumption and the overload of information that people swim in

Since I saw some debate about Mamdani's remarks regarding civility, this is exactly the kind of stuff he was referring to

It’s wild that this is empirically true but not part of any political narrative.

🚨: In the midst of the Grok scandal, Polish president Karol Nawrocki has just decided to veto the bill implementing the Digital Services Act into national law

At first glance, there is not much new in Hakan Fidan's remarks yesterday about the SDF efforts to build a "parallel state" in coordination with Israel. Still, the part on the SDF's refusal to take a step back despite Ocalan's letters to this direction is noteworthy for reflection.

Banning X would have loads of upsides and really not many downsides for the government. The argument for shutting it down (distribution of CSAM) is incontrovertible, the people who are its most avid users hate the government anyway, and it would address threats to social cohesion and public order.

Decision for signature of the agreement adopted against the votes of France, Poland, Ireland, Austria...and Hungary. An incredible feat.

Here's the full moment of silence including a fan yelling "Go home, ICE"

NEW: Data released by ICE shows that virtually the entire growth of detention in the last few months has been among people with no criminal record at all - no prior convictions (no matter how minor) and no pending criminal charges.

Timberwolves hold a moment of silence for Renee Nicole Good

Hard to overstate how much US foreign policy has switched from “we want to discourage grand corruption” to “we want you to bribe us” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/w...

Here’s what the helicopters were for it seems abc7ny.com/post/brookly...

Brooklyn helicopter status currently: 3️⃣

I've been pessimistic about whether the cycle of masss protests in Iran will ever break through into something else, but the images now... it makes you wonder if this could be the one.

<Stares in American>

Reportedly, this is Tehran right now

(Which is really a fourth term, because this is actually his third term as president, but the opposition decided not to make that an issue because Erdogan controls the courts and they were sure they would lose)

In pro-government Turkish circles, no one is hiding the fact that the recent transfers of opposition MPs to the AKP have one goal: to enable the ruling party to reach the threshold needed to call early general elections and allow Erdogan to run for a third term. www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/abd...

This stuff all takes time but the result is the US gets poorer and weaker

Canada’s PM Carney frames his upcoming visit to China as part of a push to diversify trade away from US www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news...

Minnesota Star Tribune reports it has identified the agent who killed Renee Good

But the US doesn't have oversight or control of Venezuela

Eating choreg with spicy lime curd like a rootless cosmopolitan

“He described (Renee Good) as a devoted Christian who took part in youth mission trips to Northern Ireland when she was younger.” www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...

Excited to teach a new course on Authoritarianism through Film, in which we explore what narrative films say about how authoritarianism is lived/experienced. Up first: Brazil (1985), which reminds us that an innocent-seeming typo can prove deadly in authoritarian bureaucracies.

Yesss

ICE as the RUC circa 1969

"lham Ahmed, co-chair of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s External Relations Department, said on Thursday that there is ongoing communication with Washington, Paris, and Ankara regarding recent developments in Aleppo" npasyria.com/en/134345/

Adam Delimkhanov, a State Duma member from Chechnya, has claimed that work was being carried out outside the republic to focus on the ‘spiritual and moral upbringing’ of young Chechens residing outside the republic.

So I'm hearing about this often in various institutional settings, where people (who are often not the authors) are using AI for the really annoying endgame editorial stuff like footnotes or copy-edits, and it is messing things up.

The covering-their-faces thing really hits home when they kill someone

So, Enisa, the cybersecurity agency of the EU, releases a yearly Threat Landscape. In the 2025 edition, they've used AI. And the AI introcuded loads of errors. Five percent of all the links end up 404 www.derstandard.at/story/300000...

Rents in Austin have declined for almost 2 years now www.texastribune.org/2025/01/22/a.... You can actually build your way out of a shortage.

Where is the Broadway production of The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui when we need it

Also in this analogy, the burglar said he isn't interested in freeing the starving child

LFG

Gov. Hochul, Mayor Mamdani announce push for free child care for NYC 2-year-olds https://gothamist.com/news/gov-hochul-mayor-mamdani-announce-push-for-free-child-care-for-nyc-2-year-olds

He’s gonna get hired by Palantir

Anyone know an immigration lawyer that specializes in trans clients and their passports?