The brilliance of Orwell was to never reveal whether The Brotherhood in ‘1984’ was real or a fabrication. That ambiguity served its purpose for the state to do whatever it wanted to define it as it pleased and to do what was “necessary” to wipe out the “threat.”

I will say it again, the lack of a private setting in the @bsky.app means it is not suitable for this environment: www.wired.com/story/inside...

It was taken down by Reddit mod, so here is the YouTube version of the explainer by @cybelecanterel.bsky.social about always online Gr*yper meme extremism which has been outside the view of the vast majority of people until now. Best explainer I have seen on this: youtu.be/Wcw02sEslog?...

This thought-provoking explainer of the conflict between Christian nationalists, who want to take control of institutions, and blackpilled memetic nihilists, is what a lot of mainstream writers should watch before doing a Steve Buscemi. www.reddit.com/r/TikTokCrin...

After 2020, especially, the right moved to private messaging, such as Telegram and Discord. Since last week, people’s public social media posts are being used to attack them and their livelihoods. In this environment, that a private setting is *impossible* renders @bsky.app fundamentally flawed.

With all else going on, this incident will likely receive little traction but it does call into question the “run/hide/fight” approach to active shooters. A sheltering midshipman apparently mistook a law enforcement officer as a threat and ended up being shot. www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/u...

Hello to the future from Korematsu II Day

This chart in the 2024 WICHE annual report on college enrollment projections on state by state high school graduation projections, should put to bed any delusions about saving House seats in Blue states. NY, CA and IL won’t save Democrats. This also explains the purpose of stifling immigration

The relentless dishonesty is revealing. This was a meeting of the *academic advisory council* of the Chicago Fed. Think: Nerds around a conference table. No, academics don't set rates. No, the Chicago Fed doesn't set rates. No, the Chicago Fed President didn't even vote on rates that year.

Follow @unraveledpress.com for the clearest real-time reporting on what is happening in the streets of Chicago.

“What one man’s 45-year-old case tells us about the ‘Jim Crow juries’ haunting Louisiana” - 19-year-old Lloyd Gray, a Black man, was sentenced to prison for life even though the only two Black jurors had voted not guilty. @propublica.org www.propublica.org/article/lloy...

Consumers are even more skeptical about AI than a year ago, yet enterprise and public sector adoption is accelerating without that valuable public/worker input or visibility into potential impact. www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/...

A truly remarkable achievement. Chicago has seen the fewest homicides for June, July and August in 60 years. Overall violent crime remains near its lowest point in more than four decades. www.wbez.org/news/2025/09...

What works to reduce homelessness? Housing first policies and harm reduction programs. What does the July executive order specifically prohibit? Federal funding to cities that have housing first and harm reduction programs. gothamist.com/news/a-new-t...

From a a source in the Texas governor's office: "I'm not sure where the Governor got his information but it is not accurate." @wttw.bsky.social

Unemployment among Black people is at the highest level since 2021 and up significantly for college-educated Black workers. DOGE cuts disproportionately hit Black federal staff. Add nonprofit cuts caused by grant cancellations, attacks on diversity and there you have it. www.wsj.com/economy/jobs...

Among cops in LA there is a longstanding joke that CHP stands for Can’t Handle Policework. “They know how do a traffic stop but not much else.”

They're openly calling to lock up every trans person by force. We need every ally to speak out forcefully against this because trans folks cannot do this on our own.

It happened before 2022. The rapid rise in violence in 2020 continued into 2021. Journalists had a hard time understanding that COVID-related factors drove it and the easy answer was to blame George Floyd protests that either emboldened criminals or demoralized cops - which evidence doesn’t support.

“It turns out ‘states’ rights’ was never about principle—it was just about who had the whip hand. Funny how ‘federal tyranny’ became ‘law and order’ the moment their guy was holding the federal badge.”

This is absolutely true. I’ve been away from Chicago since 2020 but I’m still in regular contact with funders, community service providers, funders, and more. There is such a deep commitment to make a difference in under-resourced neighborhoods that see too much gun violence.

The full text of Gov Prtizker’s remarks yesterday are a must-read. Not enough has been said until now on the glaring hypocrisy behind the false claims that the military is needed www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

What’s unnerving is the hybrid of traditional and compulsory visibility- Foucault: “Traditionally, power was what was seen, what was shown, and what was manifested. Disciplinary power… is exercised through its invisibility… it imposes on those whom it subjects a principle of compulsory visibility.”

Currently reading - Hallucination, Perception, and the Limits of Knowledge: “Whether in neuronal circuits or neural networks, the feeling of plausibility is unreliable, always vulnerable to error or bias.”

Immigration officials’ primary objection to releasing Mario Guevara on bond as he awaits the outcome of deportation proceedings, according to court records, is rooted in how he reports on law enforcement. — @samatl.bsky.social

“trust declined among many white Americans after the 2020 election when President Trump began to blame his loss on voter fraud among Black Americans, majority-Black cities, and immigrant communities.” Notice how claims of mortgage fraud are now being waged against high profile Black women.

The subhed: “The remark, made as the president has ordered a wide-ranging review of museum exhibits, added to his pattern of minimizing Black history.” “Minimizing” is the exact verb I was looking for too. /s www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/u...

OMG, this photo. I have walked out of Union Station dozens of times after arriving from NYC and I never saw any need whatsoever for the National Guard at the rideshare pickup island. This is a colossal waste that deserves nothing but derision. www.publicnotice.co/p/democratic...

A lot of people who are, at best, visitors to New York, have a lot to say about Mamdani. In the city itself, I hear much more measured nuance. www.wired.com/story/tech-e...

First they came for the immigrants and I said nothing. Then they came for the homeless and I said nothing.

The piece focuses on leaving summit planning documents in the printer. The bigger risk was the 🤡 who used a public printer in the first place! Assume that whoever connected to it now has malware from other countries’s spy agencies on their laptop. Amateurs! 😡

The reality: www.thecity.nyc/2025/08/15/f...

Let’s be clear about the facts: The steep rise in crime was in 2020. The upward trend peaked in ‘21. At same time, PDs were losing officers. From 21-24, funding was drastically increased for community violence intervention programs. Now crime has fallen to levels not seen in decades.

As we‘ve seen for 8 months now, the “it’s stupidity or authoritarian” arguments are not altering policy in any way. Why? The frames here are all wrong. Crime is down, so WTH with the National Guard? Because for their audience, crime stats are fake and crime is worse than ever. Ergo. More force.

It’s really worth the larger ⚡️ bill so I can ask a LLM chatbot how many Bs are in blueberry

Big city policing is frequently an affair for immigrants or first generation Americans. So, if the door to immigration is shut, what happens to departments in a decade? More unintended downsizing! gothamist.com/news/nypd-co...

one of the most infuriating parts of the Epstein story is over the same years that young women went to police and reported assault, and were ignored, law enforcement is pushing this idea that they need massive grants and manpower to rescue thousands of girls they say don’t even know they’re victims

The go to mantra is, “hire more cops.” Personnel costs are about 90% of a gov’t agency budget and in a PD, cops cost much more than civilians. But, here it is finally in writing what I saw firsthand — there is no relationship between falling or rising officer headcount, and crime rates.

This is another attempt to circumvent the law and aggrandize personal power. Trump is trying to politicize grants by using “discretion” to change priorities. The problem is not just this includes unconstitutionally vague language and viewpoint discrimination. It also misunderstands discretion. (1/5)

Lately, I’m hearing Toto’s “Africa”everywhere I go. Even the band now thinks the lyrics are problematic. Can music programmers please choose another yacht rock anthem?

I spoke to Time Magazine’s @andrewchow.bsky.social about the lack of safeguards and validation in the use of AI in the criminal legal system:

In Chicago, ballot petition scrutiny is a take no prisoners cagematch where rival campaigns pore over each signature and submit challenges all the time. Apparently, in New York it’s “whatever.” gothamist.com/news/forged-...

If you ride New York City subways, you have seen the bizarre So Yummy’s fast-paced “cooking” videos and likely thought, “this must be how they eat at home in Williamsburg.” @hellgatenyc.com does a huge public service by diving headfirst into the monstrosity. hellgatenyc.com/tried-gross-...

What an utter disaster. It is a dark day for knowledge and the arts.

Rodney Taylor, who was detained by Ice in Georgia, was put in solitary confinement after complaining about flooding in his cell that he said was potentially dangerous for his electronic prosthetic legs.

Sad that this is a completely unsurprising result. A couple years ago I spoke to TV station new directors about their coverage of gun violence at a convening. They said they wanted to be less exploitive but the pressure for ratings was constant.

What happened Monday was an absolute tragedy. I don’t know anything that anyone in NYC could have done to prevent it. Eyes should be on Nevada’s mental health and gun policies. I am curious whether gambling was influential. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/07...

This was not a proof of concept by Mayor Johnson. One Summer Chicago was launched under Mayor Richard M Daley and was a centerpiece of every Mayor’s summer safety program since. It is one of the most proven youth programs in the country and it is great to see its expansion under this mayor

“This isn't just an issue for people who rent cars; look at it as a sign of things to come, as companies — and governments — around the world start using AI to replace human labor, even when the tech isn't remotely ready for primetime.” And we know that humans frequently defer to AI’s “accuracy.”