Pinned
Reposted by basal wrathbone
No federal judge has the power or authority to make DOJ comply with the mandatory provisions of the Epstein Act, says Pam Bondi. It's unenforceable and meaningless. Essentially, DOJ is a lawless if not criminal enterprise, not a law enforcement agency, at this point.
January 17, 2026 at 2:36 PM
No federal judge has the power or authority to make DOJ comply with the mandatory provisions of the Epstein Act, says Pam Bondi. It's unenforceable and meaningless. Essentially, DOJ is a lawless if not criminal enterprise, not a law enforcement agency, at this point.
Reposted by basal wrathbone
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
January 17, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
People knew this would happen; this was expected. Seems the real goal isn’t to improve quality or efficiency or customer experience, it’s to cut costs. Yet here it isn’t even doing that. Is the real agenda to remove humans?
Or are the people in charge vastly overestimating their own abilities too?
Or are the people in charge vastly overestimating their own abilities too?
January 17, 2026 at 3:56 PM
People knew this would happen; this was expected. Seems the real goal isn’t to improve quality or efficiency or customer experience, it’s to cut costs. Yet here it isn’t even doing that. Is the real agenda to remove humans?
Or are the people in charge vastly overestimating their own abilities too?
Or are the people in charge vastly overestimating their own abilities too?
Reposted by basal wrathbone
At a deep theoretical level, Stephen Miller and JD Vance think their view that immigrants threaten social solidarity is widely shared. But what's now happening is MAGA is driving native-born Americans to show solidarity with immigrants. Now Miller is trying to break that up w/coercion and violence.
Terror is essential to Miller's project. It's designed to dissuade us from showing solidarity with the immigrants getting removed. Stand in the way of ethnic cleansing and you risk violence yourself.
(h/t @whstancil.bsky.social and @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com)
newrepublic.com/article/2053...
(h/t @whstancil.bsky.social and @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com)
newrepublic.com/article/2053...
January 17, 2026 at 2:32 PM
At a deep theoretical level, Stephen Miller and JD Vance think their view that immigrants threaten social solidarity is widely shared. But what's now happening is MAGA is driving native-born Americans to show solidarity with immigrants. Now Miller is trying to break that up w/coercion and violence.
Reposted by basal wrathbone
When the racist meme becomes national policy
January 17, 2026 at 4:53 AM
When the racist meme becomes national policy
Reposted by basal wrathbone
Here's the message:
Trump is terrorizing our communities with a campaign of inhumane un-American ICE brutality - and he's paying for it by raising health premiums on 20 million Americans.
Effective because it's 💯 true.
Trump is terrorizing our communities with a campaign of inhumane un-American ICE brutality - and he's paying for it by raising health premiums on 20 million Americans.
Effective because it's 💯 true.
January 16, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Here's the message:
Trump is terrorizing our communities with a campaign of inhumane un-American ICE brutality - and he's paying for it by raising health premiums on 20 million Americans.
Effective because it's 💯 true.
Trump is terrorizing our communities with a campaign of inhumane un-American ICE brutality - and he's paying for it by raising health premiums on 20 million Americans.
Effective because it's 💯 true.
I imagine the pitch to form this *ahem* university went something like this:
“Hey what if we all got together and made Hillsdale College look credible in comparison?”
“Hey what if we all got together and made Hillsdale College look credible in comparison?”
There's a picture of it, actually.
January 16, 2026 at 8:17 PM
I imagine the pitch to form this *ahem* university went something like this:
“Hey what if we all got together and made Hillsdale College look credible in comparison?”
“Hey what if we all got together and made Hillsdale College look credible in comparison?”
Reposted by basal wrathbone
David Lynch passed a year ago today. I hope we all can absorb just a little bit of the energy he put out in his lifetime.
January 16, 2026 at 6:47 PM
David Lynch passed a year ago today. I hope we all can absorb just a little bit of the energy he put out in his lifetime.
This breakdown is an effective proxy for all American politics. There is a cancerous lump of irredeemable intransigents. We simply need to ensure they never get to wield the levers of power again, because doing so is to yield to arbitrary rule
Some decent percentage of Americans will naturally view ICE’s behavior with revulsion. Another decent percentage can be persuaded eventually of ICE’s indecency. The remainder is irredeemable but hopefully can be curb-stomped electorally.
these are some pretty catastrophic approval numbers for ICE mom-murderers
they will not improve
they will not improve
January 16, 2026 at 5:50 PM
This breakdown is an effective proxy for all American politics. There is a cancerous lump of irredeemable intransigents. We simply need to ensure they never get to wield the levers of power again, because doing so is to yield to arbitrary rule
Reposted by basal wrathbone
What ICE is doing is literally the definition of terrorism. They are terrorizing cities and neighborhoods so immigrants will self-deport out of misery or fear. This shouldn’t be controversial. The Trump administration boasts about it.
big strong savvy gavin newsom apparently doesn’t even have the wherewithal to stand up to ben “i have never satisfied a woman in my life” shapiro
Only 15 days in and we have a strong contender for most embarrassing headline of the year.
Ben. Shapiro. The guy who can't get his wife wet. The guy who needs an old person to open the pickle jar for him.
Ben. Shapiro. The guy who can't get his wife wet. The guy who needs an old person to open the pickle jar for him.
January 16, 2026 at 2:26 PM
What ICE is doing is literally the definition of terrorism. They are terrorizing cities and neighborhoods so immigrants will self-deport out of misery or fear. This shouldn’t be controversial. The Trump administration boasts about it.
Reposted by basal wrathbone
This is your reminder that Hungarian-Jewish scientist George de Hevesy dissolved two Nobel Prizes in aqua regia to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis.
He then left the dissolved solution on his shelf and fled to Sweden.
(After the war he un-dissolved the gold and the prizes were re-cast.)
He then left the dissolved solution on his shelf and fled to Sweden.
(After the war he un-dissolved the gold and the prizes were re-cast.)
January 16, 2026 at 4:14 AM
This is your reminder that Hungarian-Jewish scientist George de Hevesy dissolved two Nobel Prizes in aqua regia to keep them out of the hands of the Nazis.
He then left the dissolved solution on his shelf and fled to Sweden.
(After the war he un-dissolved the gold and the prizes were re-cast.)
He then left the dissolved solution on his shelf and fled to Sweden.
(After the war he un-dissolved the gold and the prizes were re-cast.)
Reposted by basal wrathbone
"ICE is out of control and beyond reform. We must fundamentally change the way we approach immigration: it’s time to abolish ICE."
See, Dems? You can actually say it, and even draft legislation about it! It's possible to do!
See, Dems? You can actually say it, and even draft legislation about it! It's possible to do!
Michigan U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar Introduces Bill to Abolish ICE
Detroit area Congressman Shri Thanedar has introduced legislation in Congress that would abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The proposal, called the ‘Abolish ICE Act’, would dismantle t...
themetrodetroitnews.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:30 PM
"ICE is out of control and beyond reform. We must fundamentally change the way we approach immigration: it’s time to abolish ICE."
See, Dems? You can actually say it, and even draft legislation about it! It's possible to do!
See, Dems? You can actually say it, and even draft legislation about it! It's possible to do!
Like the scene in Come and See, where the terrified villagers in Perekhody serve food to their invaders
January 16, 2026 at 2:53 AM
Like the scene in Come and See, where the terrified villagers in Perekhody serve food to their invaders
Reposted by basal wrathbone
I've seen some folks giving into doomerism by citing the US's history of paramilitary violence shutting down fair elections in the South, and I want to add some historical context to support Jamelle here (as an historian of Reconstruction paramilitary violence)
the question to ask about this is, okay, he wants to cancel the midterms. how does he get the VA state board of elections to cancel the midterms? how does he get the georgia board of elections to do it? how does he convince republican house members to quit their jobs and give up their paychecks?
Trump says a lot of deranged shit, but, per this Reuters article — and the threats of invoking the Insurrection Act in Minnesota this morning — he is very clearly exploring how to cancel the midterms.
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
January 15, 2026 at 8:22 PM
I've seen some folks giving into doomerism by citing the US's history of paramilitary violence shutting down fair elections in the South, and I want to add some historical context to support Jamelle here (as an historian of Reconstruction paramilitary violence)
Why else restrict public speech?
To underline the point that a lot of Americans have a cartoon understanding of dictatorships, consider that even Hitler had to worry about public opinion and in fact one of the key functions of the gestapo was assessing the mood of the country.
January 15, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Why else restrict public speech?
Reposted by basal wrathbone
The core truth of the Trump era, and the one that journalism is forbidden from stating out loud, is that Trump has gathered around him a constituency of the country's worst people.
That's what most distinguishes them -- not economic status, age, where they live, anything else. It's shittiness.
That's what most distinguishes them -- not economic status, age, where they live, anything else. It's shittiness.
January 15, 2026 at 7:57 PM
The core truth of the Trump era, and the one that journalism is forbidden from stating out loud, is that Trump has gathered around him a constituency of the country's worst people.
That's what most distinguishes them -- not economic status, age, where they live, anything else. It's shittiness.
That's what most distinguishes them -- not economic status, age, where they live, anything else. It's shittiness.
Reposted by basal wrathbone
Reposted by basal wrathbone
Holy hell, what an obituary
Renfrew Christie Dies at 76; Sabotaged Racist Regime’s Nuclear Program
www.nytimes.com
January 15, 2026 at 4:57 PM
Holy hell, what an obituary
Also - is 1,000 simulations supposed to be a lot?
I'd be willing to bet a pretty good bottle of scotch that "we've run over 1,000 simulations" means "we entered a prompt into Grok."
Brooke Rollins: "We've run over 1,000 simulations. It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, corn tortilla, and one other thing. So there is a way to do this that actually will save the average American consumer money."
January 15, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Also - is 1,000 simulations supposed to be a lot?
Reposted by basal wrathbone
ICE must be abolished. It has become a lawless, rogue agency. Federal law enforcement agencies must follow the law, if they're going to have any credibility enforcing it.
We are demanding justice for Renee Good and the prosecution of ICE agent Jonathan Ross for her murder.
We are demanding justice for Renee Good and the prosecution of ICE agent Jonathan Ross for her murder.
January 15, 2026 at 4:47 PM
ICE must be abolished. It has become a lawless, rogue agency. Federal law enforcement agencies must follow the law, if they're going to have any credibility enforcing it.
We are demanding justice for Renee Good and the prosecution of ICE agent Jonathan Ross for her murder.
We are demanding justice for Renee Good and the prosecution of ICE agent Jonathan Ross for her murder.
Reposted by basal wrathbone
Reposted by basal wrathbone
Getting a lot of messages. A lot are like "Can I come help?" (appreciated, but unless you know the area very well, probably not THAT useful) or "Can I send money?" (not to me, please).
But the best ones are like "I want to build what you guys have back in my home city." YES, DO THAT. DO IT NOW.
But the best ones are like "I want to build what you guys have back in my home city." YES, DO THAT. DO IT NOW.
January 15, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Getting a lot of messages. A lot are like "Can I come help?" (appreciated, but unless you know the area very well, probably not THAT useful) or "Can I send money?" (not to me, please).
But the best ones are like "I want to build what you guys have back in my home city." YES, DO THAT. DO IT NOW.
But the best ones are like "I want to build what you guys have back in my home city." YES, DO THAT. DO IT NOW.
Reposted by basal wrathbone
Trump says a lot of deranged shit, but, per this Reuters article — and the threats of invoking the Insurrection Act in Minnesota this morning — he is very clearly exploring how to cancel the midterms.
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
January 15, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Trump says a lot of deranged shit, but, per this Reuters article — and the threats of invoking the Insurrection Act in Minnesota this morning — he is very clearly exploring how to cancel the midterms.
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
www.reuters.com/world/us/fiv...
🎯
I’ve started using the term “ethnic cleansing campaign” to describe the ICE occupation here in Minnesota. This is deliberate because the reality on the ground is that, at a given moment, any non-white person can be kidnapped by masked federal paramilitaries regardless of their constitutional rights.
January 15, 2026 at 3:40 PM
🎯
Enemy of my enemy something something. Still not a good look
January 15, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Enemy of my enemy something something. Still not a good look