“There now lives an American with more global followers than he has, and it happened in an instant.” Trump upstaged by Leo XIV @jonathanfreedland.bsky.social for @theguardian.com

A wishy-washy president

Not a racist or misogynist administration

“It’s hard to understand, because these people have everything. But what they want is beyond that. They want to not be accountable to anyone. Because what they want is absolutely everything.” A sharp, clear appraisal of our doomsday oligarchs by @naomiaklein.bsky.social

Francis’s First Miracle Putting Trump in his place

He has no empathy Or compassion For the weak, the poor, The downtrodden He is the opposite of meek He worships gold And money He hates immigrants Journalists, judges He’s mean and sometimes Even cruel He’s no Pope

To paraphrase Nixon: “Non-plausible deniability”

She understands that silence is complicity and acts in consequence. She understood how democracy can be overturned via the democratic process and reported in consequence. The broligarchy whispered in the Guardian’s ear to get rid of her and the Guardian complied. @carolecadwalla.bsky.social Read her

Laziness is the original sin of libertarians: Due process? Naa, too much work. Medicaid? Naa, too much work. Democracy? Naa, too much work. DEI? Naa, too much work. Thinking before posting a picture of yourself as Pope right after a beloved Pope dies? Naa, too much work.

You could the same about anything, shoplifting, tax dodgers, heart patients, vaccination programs, the millions of medical interventions. There’s nothing libertarians hate as much as work, they even hate the thought of somebody else working. Trials? Naaa. Medicaid? Naaa. Doing your taxes? Naaa.

“You are taking on an old Jewish woman, I’m not leaving” @emilyjaynef.bsky.social

“Putin’s biggest problem, though, won’t be solved by convincing women to carry their pregnancy to term. He’s created a society that Russians no longer want to bring children into. Getting them to reconsider will take more than government checks and pink banners.” Anna Nemtsova for @theatlantic.com

The White House proposes the US president for Pope Pope Donald the 1st?

“Putin’s quest for immortality stands revealed: he has not achieved Russia’s greatness, but only ruin – the destruction of countless Ukrainian, Russian, and other lives, sacrificed like the retinue of a dying pharaoh to accompany him toward his inevitable final death.” @shekhovtsov.substack.com

Artificial Intelligence

We are digging our own grave and jumping in it

We are digging our own grave and already jumping in it

“First with the disproportionate power of money and the wealthy who have it, then with attacks on the free press, the control of information, the weakening of checks and balances, suppression of dissent, surveillance of the population, and finally the normalization of repression.” @theatlantic.com

In Trumpsy-Turvy USA, the Civil Rights Office recast to persecute non-binary people, non-Christians and non-Conservatives.

ICE Agents Wait At Edge Of Delivery Table To Deport Newborn

"In one of her first acts, Dhillon changed the mission statements for many of the division’s sections to align with Trump Executive Orders with titles such as 'Ending Radical Indoctrination in K-12 Schooling,' 'Keeping Men Out of Woman’s Sports' and Eradicating Anti-Christain Bias.'"

Putin’s plan for the destruction of the US from the inside is working better than even he envisioned

‘The courts have not been as easily intimidated as Congress by Trump’s attempts to consolidate his presidency into an authoritarian regime unbound by the Constitution and the rule of law.’ @adamserwer.bsky.social for @theatlantic.com

Trump has set up a new club where CEOs, tech bros, and foreign oligarchs can pay $500,000 to join in order to get access to the Trump Cabinet who will all be there regularly. Just because the grift is all public doesn’t mean this isn’t the most corrupt White House in history.

For Trump, denial is not just a river in Egypt

Vance's Easter visit to Rome clogged its streets with a 40-vehicle entourage. He also demanded the Coliseum be closed so he and his family could tour it alone. Tourists who properly booked slots in advance got screwed. He's apparently the first to make that demand. Then he didn't bother to show up.

Exiled, expelled, banished, not “deported”, only foreigners can be “deported”, not US-born citizens.

“Fear is a very pervasive thing that changes a society, and changes the way people behave with each other, and changes you inside. Something breaks inside you.” @nytimes.com

“Mr. President, a plea: If you want to make America great again, let’s start by respecting the rule of law and ending the practice of disappearing people into distant dungeons.” @nickkristof.bsky.social for @nytimes.com

Jeffrey Epstein claims latest victim from beyond the grave

Hey @usatoday.com you can’t “deport” a US-born citizen. You can only exile, expel, banish or expatriate them.

Hey @nytimes.com you can’t “deport” a US citizen. You can only expel, exile, banish them.

Hey @aclu.org you can’t “deport” US citizens. You can only kidnap, disappear, expel them.

Trump wants to make salmonella great again

Freedom of the press guarantees revoked. US-born citizens start being deported. A judge is arrested. Lists of Jews. And they get upset if you call them fascists.

Don’t know which is more terrifying: 1) The gov’t asking Barnard for the cell phones of all its employees. 2) Barnard surrendering the numbers. 3) The gov’t drawing up lists of Jews. Nara Milanich, a Barnard history professor, said: “We’ve seen this movie before, and it ends with yellow stars.”

It’s really wild how there is no reason to deport anyone, let alone children and US citizens and LPRs and students and people undergoing cancer treatment etc. it’s all a fake solution to a made up problem enacted by violent racists who are stealing from you

“A bedrock principle of the United States is that all CITIZENS are treated equally under the law,” says the EO. Actually, the US Constitution states that “all MEN are created equal.” The Devil is in the Details.

‘This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.’

llinois @govpritzker.illinois.gov is asking his state’s pension funds and procurement agencies to examine investments with companies in El Salvador, the first step toward a possible boycott of the country for assisting Trump in defying court orders on the treatment of migrants.

Beyond words

“Anticipate increased questioning by border agents regarding political affiliations, work history, and coverage of sensitive topics.” CPJ advisory for journalists traveling to the US

‘Francis became an increasingly lonely voice in a world that has seemingly become ambivalent about many of his priorities. Now that he is gone, there is no obvious alternative to fill the void.’ Jason Horowitz for @nytimes.com

Every night Pope Francis phoned the only Catholic parish in the Gaza Strip. When asked what he told them, Francis answered: “Oh, I never tell them anything, I just listen.”

Hair-raising story! Whistleblower tells Congress how DOGE allegedly accessed NLRB data, covered up its tracks, and minutes laters hackers in Russia were using DOGE-created usernames and password to try to access the same data. @jennamclaughlin.bsky.social for @npr.org

“The fundamental weakness of Western Civilization is empathy” Elon Musk

This brief essay beautifuly captures the essence of Francis, service and love @timothysnyder.bsky.social

Any scholar or researcher who was worked on the slave trade knows the inestimable value of the SlaveVoyages site, which will now be permanently hosted at @harvard.edu

Recovering addict on the White House lawn

A new study models the impact of the implosion of U.S.-funded disease treatment and prevention in the developing world — and suggests that Elon Musk and Marco Rubio will go down as among history’s greatest monsters if funding and effective administration are not restored.