like, this is part of the story of the modern ultrawealthy, too — they have been able to very rapidly and very effectively transform the entire system into one which socializes risk and privatizes gain without, so far, any real penalty

“The decision … is not going to result in any more oil production; it’s not going to result in lower gas prices. It will result in real harm and the potential extinction of one or more species in the Gulf.”

NYT INVESTIGATION: As the Trump administration & Congress last year moved to repeal sanctions on Syria, the Qatar-based family that most stood to benefit was privately negotiating a real-estate partnership with Jared Kushner and proposing a Trump golf course in Syria www.nytimes.com/2026/04/19/u...

Every time mainstream news outlets quote the sitting president of the United States, they are introducing misinformation into Americans' news ecosystem. It's really as simple as that.

Some in the GOP eye a Muslim panic as strategy to win Texas.

It’s a telling indicator of media desensitization that the US government’s ongoing program of murder on the high seas—which according to the perpetrators has killed fourteen (14) people this week— is no longer a subject for much serious or sustained news coverage.

🎥 WATCH: ProPublica and FRONTLINE investigate the violence, protests and arrests stemming from the federal immigration sweeps across the country. "Caught in the Crackdown" premiered Tuesday, April 14 at 10 p.m. EDT/9 p.m. CDT on PBS and online. propub.li/4t9gZkF

Now in front of the paywall- me spiraling about how we have lots of useful interventions against misinformation but most of them don't work when tech isn't willing to implement them and the misinformation is coming from the people currently in charge of public health thebulletin.org/premium/2026...

New from @gaigedavila.bsky.social: “It’s not targeting criminals, it’s not targeting dangerous people, it’s targeting individuals who are members of our community, who have a lot to offer and continue to offer a lot of positive things for our entire country and our society.”

Over 1,100 Afghans—most having risked their lives by working with Americans, remain stranded in Qatar. Trump froze the visas, missed his own deadline, and now offers them cash to go home—where the Taliban will kill them. A signal to the world of how Trump regards those who actually put America first

Lauren Gutterman, a professor in American Studies and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, sees the consolidation as a part of a “right-wing political effort to censor teaching and learning on these topics.”

A powerful plea for compassion, written over 400 years ago. This manuscript in our collection is believed to contain the only surviving literary text in William Shakespeare’s handwriting. Its message still resonates today. Discover more here: link.bl.uk/tkr

Read the full story from me and @dougbockclark.bsky.social, with animations by Matt Rota and Henrike Lendowski. FULL STORY: www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Applications had been submitted for about 275,000 students as of late March. But just 25% percent were for students currently enrolled in public schools. (That amounts to about 1% of the state’s 5.5 million public school students.)

The United States effectively no longer has an asylum system. Our asylum system was created by our Congress, under the rule of law, and it is the duty of the Executive Branch to administer that system. It has instead disemboweled the system so that it no longer grants asylum.

Featured story: From trucks loaded with buoys driving through Southmost's pothole-ridden streets in Brownsville to shipments of steel border wall panels hauled down Valley highways, the rapid spending of taxpayer dollars is visible all around the region.

For years, scientists have projected that South Texas would grow hotter and drier—that droughts would lengthen, that rainfall would become less reliable, and water systems built for a wetter century would face conditions they were never designed to absorb. www.texasobserver.org/corpus-chris...

Thread

When the Trump administration and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele reached an agreement to imprison U.S. deportees at CECOT, what did Bukele stand to gain? A new documentary from FRONTLINE and El Faro investigates. Watch the opening scene now. https://to.pbs.org/4bXrcux

Let’s be crystal clear: This war never should have started, and Congress cannot allow Trump to continue on this horrifying path of escalation. While we’re relieved Trump has walked back his threats of genocidal war crimes from this morning, words are not enough. 🧵

Happily returned to finish this essay following today’s interruption of ‘genocidal threat of a madman 2.0’ Really good read

And now for the joyful time between hearing the announced terms and learning the actual terms.

This is already an indelible stain on our national history, culture, consciousness, influence, standing And EVERY SINGLE member of the group that could STOP THIS immediately—the Republican members of the House and Senate—stands there in the dock of history's judgment, like quislings of other eras

there are many horrors contained in the Trump admin's war in Iran. but one of the lesser ones is the way he has turned us into the audience for his reality TV show. will he or won't he? tune in at 7! grotesque voyeurism that implicates us all.

Getting dizzy listening to these yahoos complain that Iran is a hotbed of religious fanaticism and then turning right around and acting like religious fanatics themselves.

Another example of the deep degeneracy of the entire Trump administration and the kind of memelord/8chan aesthetic and mentality they've brought to the government.

Starting this weekend, episodes of "Texas Monthly Presents: The Story" will air on select PBS stations and nationwide on the PBS app and website. The series immerses viewers in a diverse lineup of stories from across Texas. Check your local listings, or find more information on how to watch here.

Constitutional lawyer here. I don't think it would violate the Constitution for the VP/Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment, but the intended constitutional remedy for this behavior is impeachment & removal. The fact that that remedy is politically impossible is a scandal and a crisis.

But shall this crazed old man be tamely suffered to drag a whole ship’s company down to doom with him?

Save Big Bend! NO AL MURO! NO WALL!

No Right Is Ever Safe – but Progress Is Possible The outrageous assault on birthright citizenship should prompt us to reflect on the fragility of democratic progress - and our own responsibility to defend it. Some thoughts from my new piece:

Just a reminder that fascists, authoritarians, dictators of all stripes destroy archives— books, museums, databases, &c— because those things provide windows onto a plurality of other ways we might organize the world. And so preserving, defending, and spreading that knowledge harms those regimes.

I'll say it again, as this is ramping up: if you gave access to the archives of goverment data and information, it is your moral responsibility to make sure that untouched versions get preserved, now. There are people worh archival expertise who can help you, if you don't have it yourself. Start now

“Don’t make me look at that!”

What makes Corpus Christi significant as a case is not that the drought was unpredictable. It is that the drought was predicted, and that the planning systems in place were calibrated to conditions that are no longer stable.

Here is my thread on Trump's budget request, which I'll update throughout the day. He calls to cut domestic discretionary funding to the lowest level in the modern era. Trump's budget reimagines Americans' relationship with our govt, and proposes a country that does less to help people get by.

I don't see this said enough: the widespread use of generative AI is not only making our jobs as educators harder logistically, but also emotionally. It is genuinely sad to be suspicious of students when you have spent so much time building a pedagogy based on trust and not being a cop. It sucks.

really can't be said enough that this case was decided by the same court that decided plessy v. ferguson. if they could have found a plausible rationale to limit birthright citizenship they would have done it. but there is none! the text is as clear as constitutional language can be.

Austin, TX #NoKings

Sad news www.kut.org/austin/2026-...

1/ It's not just that unilaterally paying TSA agents is illegal. It's that Trump has now repeatedly undermined the core of the congressional power of the purse. He's not spending money that has been appropriated by law (impoundments) and he's spending money that has not been appropriated.

Federal agents stalking voting lines at polling places will intimidate voters. Their presence might also attract protest; it would serve Trump’s goals to inflame tensions at voting stations in communities whose election results he intends to challenge.

Makes you wonder if Trump doesn’t care about the polls because he has other ideas.

The inevitable result of this would be the creation of a permanent underclass of exploitable people, who grew up in this country, know no other, and have no education so are more vulnerable than ever before; a serf class for the rich and powerful.

The US government collected over $1 billion in immigration fees then refused to process the applications. No denials. No refunds. Just silence. This is the largest fee fraud in the history of the American immigration system. Here's what's happening. 🧵

Strange situation where we await a statement from Iran to check whether there's any truth to what US president is saying.

✍️ In the aftermath of Mexico and the US' takedown of drug kingpin 'El Mencho', what should the government of MEX do to preempt the use of unilateral force on Mexican soil by the Trump Administration? Sharing my article for @foreignaffairs.com, published today www.foreignaffairs.com/mexico/can-m...

In addition to being demented and incoherent, Trump is simply a petty bully, and appeals only to bullies or suck-ups to bullies.