Rafi
@rafil.bsky.social
Not a journalist anymore. Not big on bluesky. Nothing of note to say.
Reposted by Rafi
The Border Patrol agents lied. They always lie. And they lie to destroy other people's lives for fun.
www.huffpost.com/entry/border...
www.huffpost.com/entry/border...
Agents Who Shot Marimar Martinez Caught On Video Saying 'Do Something, Bitch'
Newly released body camera footage shows Border Patrol agents swerving their car into the Chicago woman before shooting her five times.
www.huffpost.com
February 13, 2026 at 4:49 AM
The Border Patrol agents lied. They always lie. And they lie to destroy other people's lives for fun.
www.huffpost.com/entry/border...
www.huffpost.com/entry/border...
It's obviously important that the Epstein scandal be handled with transparency and also it's been extremely clear from the beginning that this is where it was headed
Current state of things: One Fox News host casually declares that Epstein’s money comes from “Jewish billionaires” and a “Jewish banking family,” another responds that he was a “sex rabbi.” www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jes...
February 13, 2026 at 4:20 PM
It's obviously important that the Epstein scandal be handled with transparency and also it's been extremely clear from the beginning that this is where it was headed
Reposted by Rafi
Meta's plan for launching glasses that people can use to secretly identify strangers on the street is to do it "during a dynamic political environment" when people who care about why that's bad are "focused on other concerns."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Meta's plan for launching glasses that people can use to secretly identify strangers on the street is to do it "during a dynamic political environment" when people who care about why that's bad are "focused on other concerns."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
I am not a lawyer but found this document legible and jaw-dropping
This is a simply incredible decision from Judge Brasel. Stunning. In that you will be stunned.
She captures perfectly the experience of trying to locate and help clients disappeared by ICE.
And the stories of detainee’s experience while ICE plays hide-and-seek with their lawyers are soul crushing.
She captures perfectly the experience of trying to locate and help clients disappeared by ICE.
And the stories of detainee’s experience while ICE plays hide-and-seek with their lawyers are soul crushing.
Order on Motion for TRO – #95 in The Advocates for Human Rights v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (D. Minnesota, 0:26-cv-00749) – CourtListener.com
ORDER: Plaintiffs' Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (ECF No. 17 ) is GRANTED IN PART. See Order for specifics. Signed by Judge Nancy E. Brasel on 2/12/2026. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A) (RMM) ...
storage.courtlistener.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:59 PM
I am not a lawyer but found this document legible and jaw-dropping
Reposted by Rafi
“If you wanted to create a tool that would enable the destruction of institutions that prop up democratic life, you could not do better than AI. Authoritarian leaders & tech oligarchs are deploying AI systems to hollow out public institutions with an astonishing alacrity.”
February 12, 2026 at 1:36 PM
“If you wanted to create a tool that would enable the destruction of institutions that prop up democratic life, you could not do better than AI. Authoritarian leaders & tech oligarchs are deploying AI systems to hollow out public institutions with an astonishing alacrity.”
Reposted by Rafi
absolutely *incredible* scenes on vichy twitter
February 12, 2026 at 2:56 AM
absolutely *incredible* scenes on vichy twitter
Reposted by Rafi
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
February 11, 2026 at 9:56 PM
I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it.
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.”
1/
Reposted by Rafi
If you saw the creepy Ring Super Bowl commercial then you know they're manufacturing consent for a surveillance state (that serves ICE) by emotionally blackmailing us with our dogs' safety.
This flyer can be printed out and posted all over, or shared online. Get your $ back, fuck ICE.
This flyer can be printed out and posted all over, or shared online. Get your $ back, fuck ICE.
February 11, 2026 at 8:33 PM
If you saw the creepy Ring Super Bowl commercial then you know they're manufacturing consent for a surveillance state (that serves ICE) by emotionally blackmailing us with our dogs' safety.
This flyer can be printed out and posted all over, or shared online. Get your $ back, fuck ICE.
This flyer can be printed out and posted all over, or shared online. Get your $ back, fuck ICE.
Reposted by Rafi
This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.
February 11, 2026 at 4:46 PM
This is the aftermath of an ICE kidnapping a few blocks from my home in St. Paul—an hour ago. A quiet street full of broken glass and at least three wrecked cars. The target of the kidnapping was taken away by ambulance. He was on a stretcher and covered by a sheet, though a cop said he was alive.
this is an astonishing article. worth reading top to bottom
For decades, Texas let drillers spread staggering amounts of radioactive and PFAS-ridden waste on the fringes of the nation’s fourth largest metro area — while making it virtually impossible for the public to know where.
Absolutely fucking insane story from @saulelbein.bsky.social today
Absolutely fucking insane story from @saulelbein.bsky.social today
Whistleblower Says Radioactive Fracking Waste Site Melted His Jaw. Now There’s an Elementary School There.
Then an elementary school was built on top of it.
thebarbedwire.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:28 PM
this is an astonishing article. worth reading top to bottom
Reposted by Rafi
Reposted by Rafi
‘Mom, they’re kidnapping kids,’” “‘Why would anybody do that? Why would people treat each other like that? That just doesn’t make any sense. There’s no reason to.’
Alex Pretti’s parent’s lawyer is Steven Schleicher, special prosecutor in Derek Chauvin trial.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Alex Pretti’s parent’s lawyer is Steven Schleicher, special prosecutor in Derek Chauvin trial.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
‘No Reason He Should Have Died’: Alex Pretti’s Parents Open Up
www.nytimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 3:51 AM
‘Mom, they’re kidnapping kids,’” “‘Why would anybody do that? Why would people treat each other like that? That just doesn’t make any sense. There’s no reason to.’
Alex Pretti’s parent’s lawyer is Steven Schleicher, special prosecutor in Derek Chauvin trial.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Alex Pretti’s parent’s lawyer is Steven Schleicher, special prosecutor in Derek Chauvin trial.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...
Reposted by Rafi
Watch as a massive crack forms in the ice on Lake Erie.
An impressive view captured by GOES-19 earlier on Sunday.
An impressive view captured by GOES-19 earlier on Sunday.
February 9, 2026 at 7:07 AM
Watch as a massive crack forms in the ice on Lake Erie.
An impressive view captured by GOES-19 earlier on Sunday.
An impressive view captured by GOES-19 earlier on Sunday.
god
I would advise caution before clicking on this, and not only for the slur used to discredit an Epstein accuser. The sneering tone of disbelief and impatience, all on behalf of an Upper East Side monster presumed to be innocent
Amazingly, Jeffrey Epstein Sex Suit Gets Even More Insane
The <a href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/10242007/news/regionalnews/s_he__has_a_history.htm">news this morning</a> that Jeffrey Epstein accuser and tranny Maximilia Cordero filed a similar suit agains...
nymag.com
February 10, 2026 at 10:09 PM
god
Reposted by Rafi
Always a great sign for how things are going in your country when 21-year-olds are like “hey, I innovated a system to play bagpipes in tear gas”
Jack Duffy attaches a respirator to his bagpipes to play through tear gas. “I always play it whenever the police retreat because it's like, ‘You fucking ran while we stayed,’” he says.
The full story: lataco.com/protest-bagp...
By Julianne Le
The full story: lataco.com/protest-bagp...
By Julianne Le
February 10, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Always a great sign for how things are going in your country when 21-year-olds are like “hey, I innovated a system to play bagpipes in tear gas”
Reposted by Rafi
how cool would it be to have a lunar research station with a bunch of scientists doing cool shit. well this guy wants to put 1,000 Bitcoin losers there
Elon Musk's ambition to one day settle Mars appears to have taken a back seat for a rather nearer and more achievable goal – sending humans to live on the moon. https://cnn.it/46sbAMm
February 10, 2026 at 12:24 AM
how cool would it be to have a lunar research station with a bunch of scientists doing cool shit. well this guy wants to put 1,000 Bitcoin losers there
Reposted by Rafi
“Collection of Handwritten Letters from Children in Detention Center” sounds like an exhibit in the Holocaust Museum.
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 6:31 PM
“Collection of Handwritten Letters from Children in Detention Center” sounds like an exhibit in the Holocaust Museum.
Reposted by Rafi
Between the NYT’s ‘green grass’ and this, the cultural critcism chops of major papers seems to have fallen off a cliff
bsky.app/profile/wash...
bsky.app/profile/wash...
Analysis: Weeks before he set foot on the stage, Bad Bunny’s halftime performance had already become a media event.
But if you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was when he said “God bless America” in English.
But if you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was when he said “God bless America” in English.
Analysis | Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was expected to provoke. Did it?
The Bad Bunny Super Bowl show nodded to injustices in Puerto Rico but mostly evoked wholesome family values that meshed with the more sentimental commercials.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 9, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Between the NYT’s ‘green grass’ and this, the cultural critcism chops of major papers seems to have fallen off a cliff
bsky.app/profile/wash...
bsky.app/profile/wash...
Reposted by Rafi
Last year I traveled all the way to rural Vietnam to officiate a friend's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony that mixed cultures and language, and was a celebration of the best of humanity.
He just sent me this post and said "this is how you lost the war."
He just sent me this post and said "this is how you lost the war."
February 9, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Last year I traveled all the way to rural Vietnam to officiate a friend's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony that mixed cultures and language, and was a celebration of the best of humanity.
He just sent me this post and said "this is how you lost the war."
He just sent me this post and said "this is how you lost the war."
my groupchats all immediately lit up at that dumbass superbowl ad
February 9, 2026 at 12:59 AM
my groupchats all immediately lit up at that dumbass superbowl ad
Reposted by Rafi
This is just part of patrol. ICE threatens you, points guns at you, brutalizes or kills someone in front of you. Every day it's somebody new in our circle. We gather around them while they work through the stress and fear and then, to the person, they go back out.
My friends are so insanely brave.
My friends are so insanely brave.
Friend who's part of a neighborhood watch group says their car was just surrounded by ICE. Is fine but obviously rattled.
February 6, 2026 at 9:51 PM
This is just part of patrol. ICE threatens you, points guns at you, brutalizes or kills someone in front of you. Every day it's somebody new in our circle. We gather around them while they work through the stress and fear and then, to the person, they go back out.
My friends are so insanely brave.
My friends are so insanely brave.
there has to be accountability from dem governors and mayors for shit like this. ISP pulled the same shit at broadview and pritzker has experienced zero repercussions afaict
🚨BREAKING: Local Minneapolis police rush ICE protesters in front of federal building—violently arresting one woman as she screams. LIVE NOW ⬇️
February 7, 2026 at 9:42 PM
there has to be accountability from dem governors and mayors for shit like this. ISP pulled the same shit at broadview and pritzker has experienced zero repercussions afaict
Reposted by Rafi
Someone pointed out that influencers use serotonin/dopamine/cortisol/oxytocin like they’re the four humors and now I can’t stop seeing it
March 20, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Someone pointed out that influencers use serotonin/dopamine/cortisol/oxytocin like they’re the four humors and now I can’t stop seeing it