ICYMI: On Monday I toured what will become the largest immigration detention facility in the U.S., built on Fort Bliss military installation property, and operated by a private contractor. Here's what I saw and some takeaways 🧵

Reposting this and a few other things for no particular reason today. Maybe I’ll do it tomorrow and the next day, too.

So. You want to celebrate my 48th birthday? Pick stuff from the lists below to do with me, for me, or just tag me in a picture you took, showing me you did it! You have 30 days to “catch me killing the game.” #AdiaFirst48

FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from their 100-year flood map in Texas in response to appeals

This has been the golden rule for fascists and racists since time began: Identify the parts of your nation that are crumbling (on your watch) and blame it on people who don’t look like you. What is rare (and uniquely dangerous) is to find these people running the government.

the times is reporting that fema let call center operator contracts expire on july 5, the day after the texas flood, and calls answered went from 99.7% that day to 36% the next to 16% the next www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/c...

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz after touring "Alligator Alcatraz": "These detainees are living in cages. The pictures you've seen don't do it just. They are essentially packed into cages. 34 detainees per cage...they get their drinking water & they brush their teeth where they poop, in the same unit"

‘Sinners’ on Max Will Include a Black American Sign Language Version

Loss of federal funding looks different at each library system 💔 Across the nation, libraries are laying off library workers, closing on weekends or entirely, stopping the ordering of new materials, eliminating summer reading programs ❤️‍🩹 🧵 1/2

Not taking anything away from Senator Padilla because he was treated atrociously But I JUST want to remind everyone that the Congresswoman LaMonica McIver, a Black woman, was just indicted for just asking questions at an ICE detention center in her state Keep that same energy of support for her

I told you we’d be back

Remember this image every time someone tells you that protesters are "hurting their cause." Those people are the red bars. In 40 years, we'll look back at them the same way.

“We came to the United States for protection because of what we encountered in Russia,” he said. “It seems that we are encountering here what we fled.” -- Russian asylum seeker who was detained and, he says, beaten by ICE agents. www.wsj.com/us-news/prot...

Our use of language can be problematic, in regard to political nuance and social movements. Please exercise caution, as extreme language can completely distort reality… American mythology, which we refer to as history, is an indicator of past linguistic errors we let fly.

very fun to read frederick douglass accurately describe the problem with the pardon power in 1867

A recent study found that for every $1 invested in the National Weather Service, it produces $73 in value to Americans. Not only is the NWS a life-saving government resource, it's actually quite efficient.

Actually, yes, this and a fantastic set of encyclopedias

Yes.

Yo… “in sync?”

I gave my AP Modern World students a chance to give a TED Talk, instead of a final. These were some of the topics:

McGovern: "This is not a governing philosophy. It is a scam. I wasn't sent here to vote for trash. I can't understand why you'd choose a career of public service to do this -- to rip away the healthcare & food assistance of working & middle class Americans. Is that really what you came here to do?"

HASSAN: What is habeas corpus? NOEM: Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country HASSAN: That's incorrect

It’s almost time to be “outside.” Any 50 year-old men in Louisville trying to meet me? I also don’t mind being “flexed out.” 🤪

A pair of U.K. scholars discovered the mislabeled document in Harvard Law School's digital archives. The university bought it for just $27.50 in 1946. It turned out to be an authentic copy dating to 1300.

The state of Georgia is keeping a deceased Black woman’s corpse hooked up to machines against her family’s wishes because she was 9 weeks pregnant and they cannot let them shut off the machines b/c it violates their anti-abortion laws “ITS TORTURE,” says her family www.11alive.com/article/news...

Civics classes need to teach applied constitutional knowledge. Political science classes need to emphasize how identity shapes constitutional application. Democracy works when we’re not apathetic and we become apathetic when we don’t see a reflection of ourselves in our founding documents/history!

Not a mama, but raising children all the same. Happy Mother’s Day to those committed to being part of the village!

Free link www.nytimes.com/2025/04/30/n...

Speaking to NPR in his first media interview since his detention, lawful permanent U.S. resident Mohsen Mahdawi finds peace in meditation and hopes "America will fulfill its promise."

"On Tyranny" is a #1 NYT bestseller again. I wish the moment were different. But I’m glad the book is useful. And grateful for all the kind words about putting the 20 lessons to work. snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

If we make it through this dark period with democracy intact, it may be because the administration's incompetence was greater than its depravity.

38 of the 43. "38 of 43 experts cut last month from boards that review science and research in NIH laboratories are female, Black or Hispanic. "The scientists typically serve five-year terms and were not given a reason for their dismissal..." www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

Oh dear you’re going to want to read this. Looks like DOGErs were caught exfiltrating NLRB data, likely on unions, for private (seemingly Elony) use. This is must read. What we’ve all suspected. But now details. www.npr.org/2025/04/15/n...

If imprisoning citizens abroad is new to you, read Benjamin Weber’s American Purgatory: Prison Imperialism and the Rise of Mass Incarceration. James Monroe and Thomas Jefferson wrote about the concept on January 15 and November 24, 1801.

You will know when you’ve challenged the status quo. Yesterday was cute and a great first step in exercising privilege. It will not stop fascism. It was good, but nowhere near “good trouble.” 1/3

One of the greatest comebacks in NCAA basketball history was led last night by Kelvin Sampson, a member of the Lumbee, an Indigenous and Black North Carolina tribe. His father helped fight off the Klan in the Battle of Hayes Pond. He’s the first Native coach to ever go to Final Four. DEI, baby! ✊🏽

Be like Rosemary #HandsOff #April5

So proud of American Resisters today! #Handsoff

THIS IS TERRIFYING‼️ Dr. Peter Marks, former head of vaccines at the FDA, just had his last day—forced to resign or be fired because he wouldn’t lie about vaccines. He gives a chilling warning: the U.S. is unprepared for biowarfare—because the response team has been gutted.

My basement flooded AGAIN, due to record-breaking weather, AGAIN.

Red Wave

So eager to dig in! Thank you @beliso-dejesus.bsky.social for this incredible work. www.dukeupress.edu/excited-deli...