@benfranklinsaid.bsky.social
The Founders are appalled.
Loves checks and balances, functional markets, boring banks, anticorruption and Lina Khan.
Loves checks and balances, functional markets, boring banks, anticorruption and Lina Khan.
Reposted
Gonna ask Meryl Streep to give me one of her Oscars
January 16, 2026 at 3:18 AM
Gonna ask Meryl Streep to give me one of her Oscars
Reposted
Adam Douglas Thompson, The New Yorker
January 16, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Adam Douglas Thompson, The New Yorker
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President Donald Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, convicted of creating the largest online black market for illegal drugs
He has granted clemency to Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover, Baltimore drug kingpin Garnett Gilbert Smith and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández:
He has granted clemency to Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover, Baltimore drug kingpin Garnett Gilbert Smith and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández:
December 8, 2025 at 9:25 PM
President Donald Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, convicted of creating the largest online black market for illegal drugs
He has granted clemency to Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover, Baltimore drug kingpin Garnett Gilbert Smith and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández:
He has granted clemency to Chicago gang leader Larry Hoover, Baltimore drug kingpin Garnett Gilbert Smith and former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández:
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For 99 years, it’s been illegal under federal law to use the U.S. Postal Service to send concealable firearms through the mail.
Trump’s Justice Department now wants to see this law struck down — among other “reforms” to the nation’s gun policies. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
Trump’s Justice Department now wants to see this law struck down — among other “reforms” to the nation’s gun policies. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
Trump’s Justice Department rejects federal ban on mailing concealable firearms
One of the biggest differences between the president’s first term and his second is on gun policy.
www.ms.now
January 16, 2026 at 7:02 PM
For 99 years, it’s been illegal under federal law to use the U.S. Postal Service to send concealable firearms through the mail.
Trump’s Justice Department now wants to see this law struck down — among other “reforms” to the nation’s gun policies. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
Trump’s Justice Department now wants to see this law struck down — among other “reforms” to the nation’s gun policies. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
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🎉 New for 2026: Oxford University Voltaire (OV) from the Voltaire Foundation.
Gain access to the leading scholarly edition of Voltaire's complete works in one digital resource, designed for researchers and built for libraries.
Find out more ➡️ bit.ly/LUP-OV
@voltaire.ox.ac.uk
Gain access to the leading scholarly edition of Voltaire's complete works in one digital resource, designed for researchers and built for libraries.
Find out more ➡️ bit.ly/LUP-OV
@voltaire.ox.ac.uk
January 7, 2026 at 2:45 PM
🎉 New for 2026: Oxford University Voltaire (OV) from the Voltaire Foundation.
Gain access to the leading scholarly edition of Voltaire's complete works in one digital resource, designed for researchers and built for libraries.
Find out more ➡️ bit.ly/LUP-OV
@voltaire.ox.ac.uk
Gain access to the leading scholarly edition of Voltaire's complete works in one digital resource, designed for researchers and built for libraries.
Find out more ➡️ bit.ly/LUP-OV
@voltaire.ox.ac.uk
Reposted
of course
The deal has kick-started the president’s controversial plan to sell up to 50mn barrels of Venezuelan oil, with more sales expected in the ‘coming days and weeks’. ft.trib.al/a2pf6om
January 16, 2026 at 8:12 AM
of course
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NEW @publiccitizen.bsky.social report:
Trump canceled or froze 159 enforcement actions vs 166 alleged corporate lawbreakers over the past year.
1/3 of the corps have Trump admin ties such as ballroom donations.
They avoided paying $3.1B in penalties.
Full report: www.citizen.org/article/canc...
Trump canceled or froze 159 enforcement actions vs 166 alleged corporate lawbreakers over the past year.
1/3 of the corps have Trump admin ties such as ballroom donations.
They avoided paying $3.1B in penalties.
Full report: www.citizen.org/article/canc...
January 15, 2026 at 5:12 PM
NEW @publiccitizen.bsky.social report:
Trump canceled or froze 159 enforcement actions vs 166 alleged corporate lawbreakers over the past year.
1/3 of the corps have Trump admin ties such as ballroom donations.
They avoided paying $3.1B in penalties.
Full report: www.citizen.org/article/canc...
Trump canceled or froze 159 enforcement actions vs 166 alleged corporate lawbreakers over the past year.
1/3 of the corps have Trump admin ties such as ballroom donations.
They avoided paying $3.1B in penalties.
Full report: www.citizen.org/article/canc...
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Just so people outside of MN know - a lot of the US citizens getting “arrested” by ICE never get processed at Whipple. They are roughed up during the arrest and then often dropped off miles from where they were picked up. It means we don’t know the true scale of what ICE is doing based on ICE stats
January 15, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Just so people outside of MN know - a lot of the US citizens getting “arrested” by ICE never get processed at Whipple. They are roughed up during the arrest and then often dropped off miles from where they were picked up. It means we don’t know the true scale of what ICE is doing based on ICE stats
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One gets a sense that the leaders of MAGA hate academia because deep down, they know the truest antifa supersoldiers look like this.
January 15, 2026 at 6:43 PM
One gets a sense that the leaders of MAGA hate academia because deep down, they know the truest antifa supersoldiers look like this.
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ICE keeps saying the people protesting it are being paid without any evidence, but we have receipts showing that the people *defending* ICE are absolutely being paid.
And yet we only hear lies about the former on cable news.
And yet we only hear lies about the former on cable news.
relevant to the debate over whether we should keep funding DHS without reforms and accountability for how out of control their spending is
January 15, 2026 at 4:28 PM
ICE keeps saying the people protesting it are being paid without any evidence, but we have receipts showing that the people *defending* ICE are absolutely being paid.
And yet we only hear lies about the former on cable news.
And yet we only hear lies about the former on cable news.
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People really reacting to this without all the details. I am sure there are good and legitimate reasons why President Trump is taking the oil revenue ransom he extorted from Venezuela and is putting into a Middle Eastern bank account that Congress cannot control.
The main bank account holding revenue from the Venezuelan oil sales is located in Qatar.
“There is no basis in law for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls so that he can sell assets seized by the American military,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
www.semafor.com/article/01/1...
“There is no basis in law for a president to set up an offshore account that he controls so that he can sell assets seized by the American military,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
www.semafor.com/article/01/1...
Exclusive: US gets first $500 million Venezuelan oil deal, holding some proceeds in Qatar
The details shared with Semafor mark an initial milestone in the administration’s plan following the ouster of Nicolás Maduro.
www.semafor.com
January 15, 2026 at 2:13 PM
People really reacting to this without all the details. I am sure there are good and legitimate reasons why President Trump is taking the oil revenue ransom he extorted from Venezuela and is putting into a Middle Eastern bank account that Congress cannot control.
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If you're a Republican, fraud and corruption is encouraged. That's the game.
Trump Admin Went Easy On A Red State After Punishing Blue States For The Same Exact Thing
Mississippi caught a break on an embezzlement scandal that funneled money to Brett Favre and others.
www.huffpost.com
January 15, 2026 at 3:58 PM
If you're a Republican, fraud and corruption is encouraged. That's the game.
Reposted
Trump on the midterms:
"When you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election."
"When you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election."
January 15, 2026 at 5:12 PM
Trump on the midterms:
"When you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election."
"When you think of it, we shouldn't even have an election."
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Then when ICE zooms in on a specific person, it brings up their dossier. Name and most importantly, address. ELITE gives an address "confidence score" based on where the data came from. ELITE gets data from Department of Health, other sources www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
January 15, 2026 at 2:40 PM
Then when ICE zooms in on a specific person, it brings up their dossier. Name and most importantly, address. ELITE gives an address "confidence score" based on where the data came from. ELITE gets data from Department of Health, other sources www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
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Elon Musk's DOGE was not a failure - for the people behind Elon. Sure, it cut no costs and ruined Elon's reputation, but it exfiltrated data from every federal agency and delivered it to Peter Thiel's Palantir, which then created the app ICE agents are using to target immigrant neighborhoods. 1/
“It’s basically a map of the United States. It’s kind of like Google Maps.” This is how an ICE agent described the app Palantir worked on for finding neighborhoods to raid.
I've seen the interface, it does look exactly like that www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
I've seen the interface, it does look exactly like that www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
January 15, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Elon Musk's DOGE was not a failure - for the people behind Elon. Sure, it cut no costs and ruined Elon's reputation, but it exfiltrated data from every federal agency and delivered it to Peter Thiel's Palantir, which then created the app ICE agents are using to target immigrant neighborhoods. 1/
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Protester: This is nuts. What the fuck is going on, dude? This is insane. They tell you it's immigrants, only immigrants. It's fucking anybody. I have friends that got detained and all they were doing was fucking driving home from work. What the fuck?
January 15, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Protester: This is nuts. What the fuck is going on, dude? This is insane. They tell you it's immigrants, only immigrants. It's fucking anybody. I have friends that got detained and all they were doing was fucking driving home from work. What the fuck?
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Congratulations to Brett Kavanaugh bsky.app/profile/ajco...
"“They specifically asked me if I knew where the Hmong families lived on my street & in the neighborhood.” Lugert-Thom responded, “I don’t know anything about that” & she said they then asked, “Well, what about the Asian families?”"
"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
"“I was a bit shaken & a bit shocked of what I was asked to do.”"
A St. Paul resident says federal officers knocked on her door and asked her to identify Hmong and Asian households in her North End neighborhood last week.
January 14, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Congratulations to Brett Kavanaugh bsky.app/profile/ajco...
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this is all to say that should democrats win the house and senate this november, they should hold similarly dramatic — which is to say televised and highly publicized — hearings on the conduct of ICE and CBP, with testimony from victims. we want as much of *this* as possible in the record. (3/?)
ICE detained Arlit Maria Martinez on her way to work. 2 days later, her 15 yo son died of cancer. They wouldn't let her out to say goodbye. The family had planned to move back to Mexico prior to the cancer diagnosis but stayed for his treatment. Now, Mr Martinez has lost his wife to ICE & his son.
Teen dies of cancer days after mother arrested by ICE: ‘She’s never gonna see him’
The mother's family pleaded with federal officers for her release from custody to say her final goodbyes to her son, but their requests went unanswered.
www.wsaz.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:09 AM
this is all to say that should democrats win the house and senate this november, they should hold similarly dramatic — which is to say televised and highly publicized — hearings on the conduct of ICE and CBP, with testimony from victims. we want as much of *this* as possible in the record. (3/?)
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I love Hank Green. His Crash Course series on anatomy and physiology helped me get As in those classes.
He also just had the same type of cancer I did 24 years ago. He’s not afraid of using his platform to call out the regime’s lying.
youtu.be/FyStPztM7eo?...
He also just had the same type of cancer I did 24 years ago. He’s not afraid of using his platform to call out the regime’s lying.
youtu.be/FyStPztM7eo?...
Truth
YouTube video by Hank Green
youtu.be
January 14, 2026 at 12:51 AM
I love Hank Green. His Crash Course series on anatomy and physiology helped me get As in those classes.
He also just had the same type of cancer I did 24 years ago. He’s not afraid of using his platform to call out the regime’s lying.
youtu.be/FyStPztM7eo?...
He also just had the same type of cancer I did 24 years ago. He’s not afraid of using his platform to call out the regime’s lying.
youtu.be/FyStPztM7eo?...
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Yes, immigration agents not only took Arnoldo's phone, the 10th grader had to use Find My Phone to locate it — in a vending machine for used electronics, close to an ICE detention center.
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
January 14, 2026 at 12:47 AM
Yes, immigration agents not only took Arnoldo's phone, the 10th grader had to use Find My Phone to locate it — in a vending machine for used electronics, close to an ICE detention center.
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
Read the full story here:
www.propublica.org/article/vide...
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Thanks for sharing my reporting, @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social.
Much appreciated if you'd include a link, though.
That way, your followers can get more information and, yes, my employer can get more traffic, which supports reporting like this.
Much appreciated if you'd include a link, though.
That way, your followers can get more information and, yes, my employer can get more traffic, which supports reporting like this.
Trump Vineyard Seeks To Hire Foreign Workers At Lower Wages
Records show the Trump Organization has requested over 2,000 foreign workers since 2008. Its latest request seeks a $13.90 hourly wage—the lowest the winery has offered since 2021.
www.forbes.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:46 PM
Thanks for sharing my reporting, @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social.
Much appreciated if you'd include a link, though.
That way, your followers can get more information and, yes, my employer can get more traffic, which supports reporting like this.
Much appreciated if you'd include a link, though.
That way, your followers can get more information and, yes, my employer can get more traffic, which supports reporting like this.
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Daniel Dale’s “Trump fact-checks” have reached parody level.
This is today’s. 🤡
@ddale8.bsky.social @cnn.com
www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/p...
This is today’s. 🤡
@ddale8.bsky.social @cnn.com
www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/p...
January 13, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Daniel Dale’s “Trump fact-checks” have reached parody level.
This is today’s. 🤡
@ddale8.bsky.social @cnn.com
www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/p...
This is today’s. 🤡
@ddale8.bsky.social @cnn.com
www.cnn.com/2026/01/13/p...
🚨 Vance wants to investigate and prosecute entire opposition movements at scale. He announced a new prosecutorial team modeled on the special counsel framework but with a critical difference: the prosecutions will “be run out of the White House” under Vance and Trump’s personal “supervision”👇
My latest👇
Vance almost certainly appreciates the power and opportunity captured in Lavrentiy Beria’s famous admonition to Stalin: “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.” www.democracydocket.com/opinion/jd-v...
Vance almost certainly appreciates the power and opportunity captured in Lavrentiy Beria’s famous admonition to Stalin: “Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.” www.democracydocket.com/opinion/jd-v...
JD Vance’s prosecutorial state
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
January 14, 2026 at 12:32 AM
🚨 Vance wants to investigate and prosecute entire opposition movements at scale. He announced a new prosecutorial team modeled on the special counsel framework but with a critical difference: the prosecutions will “be run out of the White House” under Vance and Trump’s personal “supervision”👇
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A friend who doesn't know who her Congressperson is, is now walking children home from school to the apartment that their mother doesn't dare leave.
I’ve never seen mostly apolitical nice aunties get so radicalized so fast in my life.
Not that these are Trump voters. They aren’t. But they went from soft disapprovers to people who would crawl over broken glass to get rid of all these people.
Not that these are Trump voters. They aren’t. But they went from soft disapprovers to people who would crawl over broken glass to get rid of all these people.
January 13, 2026 at 9:17 PM
A friend who doesn't know who her Congressperson is, is now walking children home from school to the apartment that their mother doesn't dare leave.