American Samoans, unique among *everyone* born in US states or territories, are denied US citizenship. That means they are banned from voting. That's made some a target of vicious GOP prosecution for fraud; even if they were told incorrect info from public officials. A. New. Must. Read.

In TTRPG terms we call Ice Agents Murder Hobos

A friend in Minneapolis just sent me this video. Looks like thousands have come together for a vigil after an ICE agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. This was my neighborhood for several years before coming to Portland.

🚨 Special counsel Jack Smith: “President Trump was by a large measure the most culpable and most responsible person in this conspiracy. These crimes were committed for his benefit. The attack that happened at the Capitol…does not happen without him”

ICE is gunning down and killing protesters. (Gifted) www.nytimes.com/live/2026/01...

From the JFC files

Pew Research Center just posted a brand new opening for a Data Archivist! This is a 2-year, grant-funded position housed within the methods team (the best team obv). Check out the link below for a full description and to apply! #openscience

You have your orders

Savage Dragon can do things like have ICE acting like ICE and being horrible because it's not owned by something working closely with the CIA, the FBI, or the Army. Or, Warner Bros and Disney. A lot of indie comics could, really, but props to Erik Larsen for doing it.

A Minnesota hotel operator says it is working to accommodate federal law enforcement officers after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security accused Hilton Hotels of carrying out a “coordinated campaign” to refuse them rooms in Minneapolis.

The destruction doesn't make for a photo-op like tearing down the East Wing of the White House or bulldozing the Rose Garden, but it's every bit as bad. Generations of American children learned to spell and count, learned the Preamble to the Constitution, from watching shows produced by the CPB.

Literally a publication for eight-year olds 40 years ago

A really sad follow-up to this story — Alexis Erlinmeyer, one of the trans federal intelligence workers who was fired, has died of a pulmonary embolism. She was 31. Her family is burying her under her deadname, so friends are fundraising for an accurate memorial: www.gofundme.com/f/in-memory-...

Now that Republicans finally released the video and transcript of Jack Smith’s deposition (hidden on New Year’s Eve), it’s time to grant Smith’s request to testify in a public hearing like every other Special Counsel has done. The American people deserve to hear the truth live.

If the concern were about drug deaths they'd be reinforcing treatment and interventions in the US

uh holy SHIT?

This is the kind of great work that @boltsmag.org does. Follow them. Support them. You can’t fight for power if you don’t understand where it sits. Include Bolts in your citizenship toolkit.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly shaping who police stop, how reports are written, where officers patrol and how evidence is analyzed www.axios.com/2026/01/02/a... #ai #crime

Iran is offering to sell advanced weapons systems including ballistic missiles, drones and warships to foreign governments for cryptocurrency, in a bid to use digital assets to bypass western financial controls. Iran’s Min of Defence Export Center, known as Mindex, says it is prepared to negotiate

We leave 2025 with heavy hearts and weary spirits. We will always carry you with us Bear and you will NEVER be forgotten.

Made a web version. Just make a copy and fill in your predictions!

New, from me: The NYT reporter who specializes in profiles of beleaguered right-wingers on campus went to New College...and found out that things were going ok! So let me explain some pretty massive errors of omission: 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-nyt-re...

Seems there is yet another app using the ICEBlock logo and charging people for access. It’s called ICEBlocker and it is not us. DO NOT DOWNLOAD or pay. Best we can tell is it’s Russian. We would never ask for money.

Gold is now over $4500/ounce, and the oversimplified but still correct reason is that investors don’t trust the US dollar or American assets and debt instruments anymore. It’s ominous in terms of the US economic picture—but the good news might be the eventual withdrawal of capital support for MAGA.

This is called pillaging.

Lawmakers in about two dozen states passed new child care programs this year, often backed by business leaders concerned with recruiting and retaining workers. See which states help subsidize child care:

As a Jew, it’s fun watching the administration post Christian nationalist messages while also saying they are doing everything they can to curb antisemitism.

Does this warship make me look insecure?

Column: With fewer than 40 bills signed into law as of Monday, the House and Senate set a modern record for lowest legislative output in the first year of a new presidency, according to data maintained by C-SPAN and Purdue University.

The self-proclaimed head of USAGM, Kari Lake, who this year destroyed nearly all of the Voice of America, tells the agency's few remaining journalists the White House National Security Strategy will "guide our interview subjects, story selection, and coverage going forward."

Received my advance copies of Spawn: the Dark Ages #2! Nice early Xmas present! I absolutely love Ryan Brown’s variant cover!

Well this was a complete surprise! Lovely that it's now considered a bit of a classic! :-)

Christmas Eve Kidney Stone Yay!

A federal judge has blocked Trump administration efforts to reallocate Department of Homeland Security counterterrorism and security grants away from states that won't cooperate on the president's immigration enforcement policies.

The Trump administration has imposed visa restrictions on 5 Europeans the State Department accused of leading "efforts to coerce American platforms to censor" or "suppress" U.S. viewpoints they oppose.

I miss the days when everyone could agree Nazis and Pedophiles were a toxic evil and not a political base.

How to know when you are the bad guy in the scenario. This is of course the day after the Tangerine Palpatine demanded that the International Criminal Court not charge him or anyone in his administration with and crimes. This bodes well, right?

We want to highlight the incredible science reporting being done at the local and regional level. Please submit your work for the Victor McElheny Award, which comes with a $10,000 prize. ksj.mit.edu/mcelheny-awa...

Tripwire A Look Back At 2025…And A Look Forward To 2026 tripwiremagazine.co.uk/headlines/a-... @marklondon.bsky.social @urbanbarbarian.bsky.social @george-pratt.bsky.social