James Gleick
@around.com
Author. Chaos, The Information, Time Travel.
Other work can be found at https://around.com.
On the open social web I'm gleick@mas.to.
Other work can be found at https://around.com.
On the open social web I'm gleick@mas.to.
Readers of the New York Times might think this is a picture of Trump announcing an attack in Nigeria. Actually, Trump didn't bother to get out of bed. His “announcement” was an incoherent social media post.
This is a file picture (Trump announcing an imaginary warship that will never be built).
This is a file picture (Trump announcing an imaginary warship that will never be built).
December 26, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Readers of the New York Times might think this is a picture of Trump announcing an attack in Nigeria. Actually, Trump didn't bother to get out of bed. His “announcement” was an incoherent social media post.
This is a file picture (Trump announcing an imaginary warship that will never be built).
This is a file picture (Trump announcing an imaginary warship that will never be built).
Today crazy gramps says “I want to play admiral!” So all the other inmates dress up and make pictures and put on a little party. What will crazy gramps want to play tomorrow?
December 23, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Today crazy gramps says “I want to play admiral!” So all the other inmates dress up and make pictures and put on a little party. What will crazy gramps want to play tomorrow?
It is fitting that the new gold-plated Epstein class warships are being announced at Mar-a-Lago. What a mighty Navy we shall have.
December 22, 2025 at 10:15 PM
It is fitting that the new gold-plated Epstein class warships are being announced at Mar-a-Lago. What a mighty Navy we shall have.
Vance …
☑ Embraced extremists and conspiracy theorists.
☑ Promised to "fight alongside" antisemites.
☑ Spoke up for "being white.”
☑ Attacked black immigrants and officials.
☑ Called the US “a Christian nation.”
NY Times: “Vance Refuses to Takes Sides" on bigotry.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/u...
☑ Embraced extremists and conspiracy theorists.
☑ Promised to "fight alongside" antisemites.
☑ Spoke up for "being white.”
☑ Attacked black immigrants and officials.
☑ Called the US “a Christian nation.”
NY Times: “Vance Refuses to Takes Sides" on bigotry.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/u...
Vance Refuses to Take Sides in G.O.P. Fight Over Bigotry
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 9:36 AM
Vance …
☑ Embraced extremists and conspiracy theorists.
☑ Promised to "fight alongside" antisemites.
☑ Spoke up for "being white.”
☑ Attacked black immigrants and officials.
☑ Called the US “a Christian nation.”
NY Times: “Vance Refuses to Takes Sides" on bigotry.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/u...
☑ Embraced extremists and conspiracy theorists.
☑ Promised to "fight alongside" antisemites.
☑ Spoke up for "being white.”
☑ Attacked black immigrants and officials.
☑ Called the US “a Christian nation.”
NY Times: “Vance Refuses to Takes Sides" on bigotry.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/u...
Epstein-Trump photos "disappear." It's a mystery! Whatever could have happened?
Or:
Justice Department Flouts Law,
Suppresses Evidence
Of Trump-Epstein Collusion
Or:
Justice Department Flouts Law,
Suppresses Evidence
Of Trump-Epstein Collusion
December 21, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Epstein-Trump photos "disappear." It's a mystery! Whatever could have happened?
Or:
Justice Department Flouts Law,
Suppresses Evidence
Of Trump-Epstein Collusion
Or:
Justice Department Flouts Law,
Suppresses Evidence
Of Trump-Epstein Collusion
“We’re rolling at full speed into what we what we might call North Korean aesthetics of power with triumphal arches that will soon enough be dusty, half-broken relics, renaming everything after the Maximum Leader. It’s all weird.”
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump...
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump...
Trump in Winter … Drift, Fragmentation and Just Low Energy
I’ve been under the weather. That partly explains missing two days of...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 19, 2025 at 6:14 PM
“We’re rolling at full speed into what we what we might call North Korean aesthetics of power with triumphal arches that will soon enough be dusty, half-broken relics, renaming everything after the Maximum Leader. It’s all weird.”
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump...
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trump...
These are workers removing the signage for Adolf Hitler street in 1945. This seems like a good day to remember.
December 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
These are workers removing the signage for Adolf Hitler street in 1945. This seems like a good day to remember.
“Whatever you do, do not let her around any of these men, and especially my husband. Protect her.”
—Marla Maples to the mother of a 14-year-old girl at one of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago bacchanals.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
—Marla Maples to the mother of a 14-year-old girl at one of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago bacchanals.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
‘Don’s Best Friend’: How Epstein and Trump Bonded Over the Pursuit of Women
www.nytimes.com
December 18, 2025 at 5:41 PM
“Whatever you do, do not let her around any of these men, and especially my husband. Protect her.”
—Marla Maples to the mother of a 14-year-old girl at one of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago bacchanals.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
—Marla Maples to the mother of a 14-year-old girl at one of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago bacchanals.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/u...
I first visited this magnificent citadel of science in 1984. NCAR has saved countless lives and pays for itself many times over. It's something the United States can be proud of.
And now the deranged zealots who have hijacked our government will destroy it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/c...
And now the deranged zealots who have hijacked our government will destroy it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/c...
Trump Administration Plans to Break Up Premier Weather and Climate Research Center
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:02 PM
I first visited this magnificent citadel of science in 1984. NCAR has saved countless lives and pays for itself many times over. It's something the United States can be proud of.
And now the deranged zealots who have hijacked our government will destroy it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/c...
And now the deranged zealots who have hijacked our government will destroy it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/c...
The worst person in the world.
December 15, 2025 at 5:55 PM
The worst person in the world.
Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for daring to report bad news, so now the BLS is fudging the numbers to report job GAINS when in fact they are LOSSES.
Who says? The chair of the Fed.
Someone should investigate.
www.yahoo.com/news/article... www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Who says? The chair of the Fed.
Someone should investigate.
www.yahoo.com/news/article... www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Fed Chair Warns Trump Admin May Be Seriously Exaggerating Jobs Numbers
Jerome Powell says the economy probably isn’t as good as the U.S. government claims.
www.yahoo.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Trump fired the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics for daring to report bad news, so now the BLS is fudging the numbers to report job GAINS when in fact they are LOSSES.
Who says? The chair of the Fed.
Someone should investigate.
www.yahoo.com/news/article... www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Who says? The chair of the Fed.
Someone should investigate.
www.yahoo.com/news/article... www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Today in the Kleptocracy: the "Trump" gold and platinum cards.
Can someone explain how Trump claims the authority to waive US taxes for the benefit of foreign oligarchs and money launderers?
They will happily pay a "gift" of $5 million to avoid paying hundreds of millions in taxes.
Can someone explain how Trump claims the authority to waive US taxes for the benefit of foreign oligarchs and money launderers?
They will happily pay a "gift" of $5 million to avoid paying hundreds of millions in taxes.
December 10, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Today in the Kleptocracy: the "Trump" gold and platinum cards.
Can someone explain how Trump claims the authority to waive US taxes for the benefit of foreign oligarchs and money launderers?
They will happily pay a "gift" of $5 million to avoid paying hundreds of millions in taxes.
Can someone explain how Trump claims the authority to waive US taxes for the benefit of foreign oligarchs and money launderers?
They will happily pay a "gift" of $5 million to avoid paying hundreds of millions in taxes.
Putin installed his agent in the White House and the entire Republican Party went along. I wonder what the shade of John McCain is thinking.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
Trump Calls Europe ‘Decaying’ and Suggests ‘Size Will Win’ in Ukraine War
www.nytimes.com
December 9, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Putin installed his agent in the White House and the entire Republican Party went along. I wonder what the shade of John McCain is thinking.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/09/u...
If the formerly great American newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post) were really doing their jobs, it would look like this:
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/life...
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/life...
Life Inside the Undocumented Underground
During President Donald Trump’s second term, dramatic raids staged by the Immigration...
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:05 PM
If the formerly great American newspapers (New York Times, Washington Post) were really doing their jobs, it would look like this:
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/life...
talkingpointsmemo.com/feature/life...
It's December 2025, the Trump regime is engaged in a vicious and lawless pogrom, destroying the lives of immigrants and children of immigrants, creating a reign of terror and cruelty, and the New York Times assails ...
Biden. For not being tough enough on immigrants.
I won't link to it.
Biden. For not being tough enough on immigrants.
I won't link to it.
December 7, 2025 at 8:56 PM
It's December 2025, the Trump regime is engaged in a vicious and lawless pogrom, destroying the lives of immigrants and children of immigrants, creating a reign of terror and cruelty, and the New York Times assails ...
Biden. For not being tough enough on immigrants.
I won't link to it.
Biden. For not being tough enough on immigrants.
I won't link to it.
Essential, informative thread by @casten.house.gov on the dangerous corruption of our banking system by the crypto fraudsters and money launderers. mastodon.social/@SeanCasten/...
Sean Casten (@SeanCasten@mastodon.social)
When the House and Senate marked up stablecoin legislation, we raised all of these concerns - their anonymity, their nearly perfect design for money laundering. All the barn doors were left wide open...
mastodon.social
December 7, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Essential, informative thread by @casten.house.gov on the dangerous corruption of our banking system by the crypto fraudsters and money launderers. mastodon.social/@SeanCasten/...
I imagine Judge Currie gnashing her teeth at this framing in the NY Times. She ruled with utter clarity that Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed as US Attorney and “has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025.”
December 5, 2025 at 10:56 PM
I imagine Judge Currie gnashing her teeth at this framing in the NY Times. She ruled with utter clarity that Lindsey Halligan was unlawfully appointed as US Attorney and “has been unlawfully serving in that role since September 22, 2025.”
Doesn't Four Seasons Total Landscaping award a Peace Prize?
some shots of Trump from today's FIFA event (in 2 of them you can see that the back of his right hand is still bandaged up)
all photos via Getty
all photos via Getty
December 5, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Doesn't Four Seasons Total Landscaping award a Peace Prize?
Officially, the US has Immigration Courts and immigration judges.
Trump has fired the immigration judges and explicitly turned them into deportation centers staffed by "deportation judges.”
talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/trump-h...
Trump has fired the immigration judges and explicitly turned them into deportation centers staffed by "deportation judges.”
talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/trump-h...
Trump Has Never Been Clearer About What an Immigration Judge’s Real Job Is
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis....
talkingpointsmemo.com
December 4, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Officially, the US has Immigration Courts and immigration judges.
Trump has fired the immigration judges and explicitly turned them into deportation centers staffed by "deportation judges.”
talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/trump-h...
Trump has fired the immigration judges and explicitly turned them into deportation centers staffed by "deportation judges.”
talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/trump-h...
They can't use the word, but this is a $14 billion tax fraud—theft from Americans who actually DO pay taxes—by our untouchable oligarch Elon Musk.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...
Elon Musk’s Foundation Grows to $14 Billion, but Gives Little to Outsiders
www.nytimes.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:33 PM
They can't use the word, but this is a $14 billion tax fraud—theft from Americans who actually DO pay taxes—by our untouchable oligarch Elon Musk.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/u...
Pardoned by Trump: Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of drug trafficking and weapons charges, responsible for flooding the US with cocaine.
Seized, shackled, and deported by Trump: Lucia López Belloza, college freshman, longtime Texan, charged with no crime.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
Seized, shackled, and deported by Trump: Lucia López Belloza, college freshman, longtime Texan, charged with no crime.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
College Student Is Deported During Trip Home for Thanksgiving
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Pardoned by Trump: Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of drug trafficking and weapons charges, responsible for flooding the US with cocaine.
Seized, shackled, and deported by Trump: Lucia López Belloza, college freshman, longtime Texan, charged with no crime.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
Seized, shackled, and deported by Trump: Lucia López Belloza, college freshman, longtime Texan, charged with no crime.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/u...
Reposted by James Gleick
"But software doesn’t eat anything. Tech companies do, when they gain the power to use the levers of the information economy to consolidate and dominate." @around.com on "How the Web Was Lost" for @nybooks.com: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
How the Web Was Lost | James Gleick
The Internet was not meant to suck.
www.nybooks.com
November 25, 2025 at 11:05 AM
"But software doesn’t eat anything. Tech companies do, when they gain the power to use the levers of the information economy to consolidate and dominate." @around.com on "How the Web Was Lost" for @nybooks.com: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent advised American consumers concerned about inflation to “move from a blue state to a red state.”
(That's the lede, isn't it, NYT?)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/b...
(That's the lede, isn't it, NYT?)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/b...
As Prices Pinch, Bessent Looks for Ways to Mollify Wary Consumers
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent advised American consumers concerned about inflation to “move from a blue state to a red state.”
(That's the lede, isn't it, NYT?)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/b...
(That's the lede, isn't it, NYT?)
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/b...
Future trivia question: Which US president put hundreds of convicted violent criminals back on the streets because they were his personal supporters?
And what happened then?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
And what happened then?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
January 6 rioter who was pardoned by Trump arrested for child sexual abuse
Andrew Paul Johnson, 44, faces multiple charges in Florida and has pleaded not guilty to the crimes, authorities say
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:39 PM
Future trivia question: Which US president put hundreds of convicted violent criminals back on the streets because they were his personal supporters?
And what happened then?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
And what happened then?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Alternative headline:
Trump Takes Billions in Saudi Bribes
To Corrupt US Foreign Policy
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/w...
Trump Takes Billions in Saudi Bribes
To Corrupt US Foreign Policy
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/w...
Trump Family’s Business Ties to Saudi Arabia Raise Ethics Worries
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Alternative headline:
Trump Takes Billions in Saudi Bribes
To Corrupt US Foreign Policy
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/w...
Trump Takes Billions in Saudi Bribes
To Corrupt US Foreign Policy
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/18/w...