@robertswartz.bsky.social
Born in the Mon Valley. Studied architecture, still love it. Work in advertising, live in Brooklyn. Pragmatic Progressive who knows we'll get there someday. Moonlight as servant to Gracie the cat.
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aside from this awful person who has the energy of zombie roadkill, imagine saying this about Minneapolis. Lots of things I associate with Minneapolis. Prince, the Twins, lo-fi social democracy, city closest to Hibbing. AKs in the car windows and gangland murder & rioting just isn't one of them.
Kristi Noem: "When we did these operations in other cities across the country, we didn't see this kind of violence. We didn't see organized, funded protesters come in to conduct acts of violence against our law enforcement officers like we're seeing in Minneapolis."
January 18, 2026 at 7:17 PM
aside from this awful person who has the energy of zombie roadkill, imagine saying this about Minneapolis. Lots of things I associate with Minneapolis. Prince, the Twins, lo-fi social democracy, city closest to Hibbing. AKs in the car windows and gangland murder & rioting just isn't one of them.
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This is a very good point. The November 2025 US National Security Strategy never mentions the Arctic at all. The idea that it's a genuine security priority for the Trump administration is not credible.
January 18, 2026 at 6:07 PM
This is a very good point. The November 2025 US National Security Strategy never mentions the Arctic at all. The idea that it's a genuine security priority for the Trump administration is not credible.
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A “peace board” where nations must pay $1B for a seat isn’t diplomacy — it’s extortion dressed up as foreign policy. Turning global stability into a pay‑to‑play scheme is reckless, corrupt, and dangerous.
Trump wants nations to pay $1 billion to stay on his peace board, report says
The Trump administration wants nations to pay $1 billion to stay on his peace board, Bloomberg News reported on Saturday, citing a draft charter.
www.reuters.com
January 18, 2026 at 12:55 AM
A “peace board” where nations must pay $1B for a seat isn’t diplomacy — it’s extortion dressed up as foreign policy. Turning global stability into a pay‑to‑play scheme is reckless, corrupt, and dangerous.
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6/ Same Isaiah Taylor. bsky.app/profile/jenn...
😳 Isaiah Taylor of Valar Atomics—which somehow scored a DOE contract to build a nuclear reactor by July 4—claimed that “a person cld hold the spent nuclear fuel from [Valar’s] reactor in their hand & get the same amount of radiation as one would expect from a hospital CT scan.”
About that… 1/
About that… 1/
January 18, 2026 at 7:26 PM
6/ Same Isaiah Taylor. bsky.app/profile/jenn...
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A separate video shows Nick Fuentes, Tristan Tate, Sneako, and Clavicular rolling up to the club in a party van singing along to "Heil Hitler" and doing sieg heils.
January 18, 2026 at 5:22 PM
A separate video shows Nick Fuentes, Tristan Tate, Sneako, and Clavicular rolling up to the club in a party van singing along to "Heil Hitler" and doing sieg heils.
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Thanks. We have folks in our community giving vulnerable students rides to school, and a teacher shared that they were putting small stuffed animals on their dashboards to help kids identify safe cars. ICE picked up on it and started doing the same. Horrifying.
January 16, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Thanks. We have folks in our community giving vulnerable students rides to school, and a teacher shared that they were putting small stuffed animals on their dashboards to help kids identify safe cars. ICE picked up on it and started doing the same. Horrifying.
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Haven’t seen much mention of this, but in this clip of DHS agents from last week, an observer tells a DHS agent he has seen officers run red lights and says they aren’t “above the law.”
In response, you can hear the agent say (twice): “We are the law.”
www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/...
In response, you can hear the agent say (twice): “We are the law.”
www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/...
From the minnesota community on Reddit: They Know The Truth
Explore this post and more from the minnesota community
www.reddit.com
January 18, 2026 at 7:31 PM
Haven’t seen much mention of this, but in this clip of DHS agents from last week, an observer tells a DHS agent he has seen officers run red lights and says they aren’t “above the law.”
In response, you can hear the agent say (twice): “We are the law.”
www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/...
In response, you can hear the agent say (twice): “We are the law.”
www.reddit.com/r/minnesota/...
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Nasra Ahmed, 23, was walking through the parking lot of her aunt’s St. Paul apartment complex when she found herself surrounded by 12 agents. Ahmed, born in the USA, says she showed them her I.D. She was forcefully detained and jailed anyway for more than 2 days. www.twincities.com/2026/01/18/s...
St. Paul woman, a U.S. citizen, recounts her two days in detention
Nasra Ahmed, 23, said she was taken to the hospital for an MRI with hands and legs shackled
www.twincities.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:28 PM
Nasra Ahmed, 23, was walking through the parking lot of her aunt’s St. Paul apartment complex when she found herself surrounded by 12 agents. Ahmed, born in the USA, says she showed them her I.D. She was forcefully detained and jailed anyway for more than 2 days. www.twincities.com/2026/01/18/s...
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A quick note to all the media covering Minneapolis right now, the Reich called my grandfather and great uncle "protesters" when all they were doing was stopping SS from disappearing their neighbors. So maybe don't be like the Nazi Press unless you are the Nazi Press.
Killed my grandfather and my great uncle for speaking out against the Reich. Took over my grandmother's house with my mom living there as a child. And they were not Jewish. Nazis are not an abstract concept.
There's a lot of abstract talk about nazis right now and I just want to bring it back to concrete reality for a second:
Those motherfuckers tried to murder MY GRANDPARENTS.
Those motherfuckers tried to murder MY GRANDPARENTS.
January 18, 2026 at 6:59 PM
A quick note to all the media covering Minneapolis right now, the Reich called my grandfather and great uncle "protesters" when all they were doing was stopping SS from disappearing their neighbors. So maybe don't be like the Nazi Press unless you are the Nazi Press.
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"outside agitators" accusation always an effort to delegitimize organic, grassroots community self-defense, a way of convincing you things aren't that bad, that people's grievances aren't valid, & that this militant resistance taking shape — perhaps inspiring something in you — isn't even *real*
Every time the Trump regime uses the words "funded protesters" and "outside agitators" news outlets need to cut to this photo from last week.
ICE has invaded these communities. Outside agitators don't show up in their fucking bathrobes.
ICE has invaded these communities. Outside agitators don't show up in their fucking bathrobes.
January 18, 2026 at 7:36 PM
"outside agitators" accusation always an effort to delegitimize organic, grassroots community self-defense, a way of convincing you things aren't that bad, that people's grievances aren't valid, & that this militant resistance taking shape — perhaps inspiring something in you — isn't even *real*
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This is important & revealing. Gallego is from AZ. He ran to the right of Dems in 2024 on immigration. The fact he's saying this speaks volumes. He sees where the public is on ICE. Tear it down. Build another non-police-state-freak-show immigration enforcement agency.
Arizona’s @gallego.senate.gov : "I think ICE needs to be totally torn down… People want immigration enforcement that goes after criminals, not the goon squad that has come from Stephen Miller and Trump."
January 18, 2026 at 5:25 PM
This is important & revealing. Gallego is from AZ. He ran to the right of Dems in 2024 on immigration. The fact he's saying this speaks volumes. He sees where the public is on ICE. Tear it down. Build another non-police-state-freak-show immigration enforcement agency.
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I think I would’ve expected them to at least pretend.
BREAM: Is the FBI investigating the ICE agent who shot Renee Good?
BLANCHE: What happened has been reviewed by millions of Americans bc it was recorded. We investigate when it's appropriate. That is not the case here. We are not going to bow to pressure. So no, we are not investigating.
BLANCHE: What happened has been reviewed by millions of Americans bc it was recorded. We investigate when it's appropriate. That is not the case here. We are not going to bow to pressure. So no, we are not investigating.
January 18, 2026 at 5:37 PM
I think I would’ve expected them to at least pretend.
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“Garcia said that as he was being driven to the Whipple Building in Minneapolis, officers told him in response to his question that he was picked up because he looked like someone who committed a crime. “When I asked what crime, I was told, ‘we’ll figure it out,’” he said.”
Immigration officers around Minneapolis are approaching people and demanding proof that they’re U.S. citizens
U.S. citizens who are out walking or standing in public are not required to provide documentation or provide identification, one legal expert says. - www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
U.S. citizens who are out walking or standing in public are not required to provide documentation or provide identification, one legal expert says. - www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Immigration officers around Minneapolis are approaching people and demanding proof that they’re U.S. citizens
U.S. citizens who are out walking or standing in public are not required to provide documentation or provide identification, one legal expert says.
www.nbcnews.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:39 AM
“Garcia said that as he was being driven to the Whipple Building in Minneapolis, officers told him in response to his question that he was picked up because he looked like someone who committed a crime. “When I asked what crime, I was told, ‘we’ll figure it out,’” he said.”
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But they never succeeded, and my reading of that piece is that the whole thing just became Joe Lonsdale's vanity project.
I've been involved once or twice in an intellectual venture that is really a rich guy's vanity project, and it never ends well.
I've been involved once or twice in an intellectual venture that is really a rich guy's vanity project, and it never ends well.
January 18, 2026 at 5:24 AM
But they never succeeded, and my reading of that piece is that the whole thing just became Joe Lonsdale's vanity project.
I've been involved once or twice in an intellectual venture that is really a rich guy's vanity project, and it never ends well.
I've been involved once or twice in an intellectual venture that is really a rich guy's vanity project, and it never ends well.
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Senator Cory Booker seems far behind his party's rank-and-file on how to handle ICE. However, recent changes in New Jersey's ballot access laws point a way to make the House side more responsive.
Here, how ballot slogans can overcome the party establishment: samwang.substack.com/p/changing-p...
Here, how ballot slogans can overcome the party establishment: samwang.substack.com/p/changing-p...
Changing party politics in New Jersey
Abolish ICE. Prosecute crimes. No kings.
samwang.substack.com
January 18, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Senator Cory Booker seems far behind his party's rank-and-file on how to handle ICE. However, recent changes in New Jersey's ballot access laws point a way to make the House side more responsive.
Here, how ballot slogans can overcome the party establishment: samwang.substack.com/p/changing-p...
Here, how ballot slogans can overcome the party establishment: samwang.substack.com/p/changing-p...
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“We’ll be greeted as liberators” will always be their failing.
ICE and MAGA really did bet the farm on all of Minneapolis’s white people going “oh yes, please take away our disgusting, evil non-white-foreigner neighbors, oh thank you so much.”
it’s beautiful that they’ve been proven incredibly wrong about that - may the rest of the country do the same.
it’s beautiful that they’ve been proven incredibly wrong about that - may the rest of the country do the same.
January 18, 2026 at 5:42 AM
“We’ll be greeted as liberators” will always be their failing.
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Also, if he's getting shivved by Trump anyway, why not return the favor and become one of the small group of Senators who can stop this nonsense.
Cassidy sentenced countless children to death, knowingly, by confirming RFK
and Trump stabs him in the back anyway
I hope it eats at him every miserable day of the rest of his life
and Trump stabs him in the back anyway
I hope it eats at him every miserable day of the rest of his life
Trump throws a dagger into the Louisiana Senate race, pushing Rep. Julia Letlow to challenge Sen. Bill Cassidy, who has worked hard to stay on Trump’s good side.
Trump: “Should she decide to enter this Race, Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!”
Trump: “Should she decide to enter this Race, Julia Letlow has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, JULIA, RUN!!!”
January 18, 2026 at 5:01 AM
Also, if he's getting shivved by Trump anyway, why not return the favor and become one of the small group of Senators who can stop this nonsense.
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This made me laugh out loud.
January 17, 2026 at 10:59 PM
This made me laugh out loud.
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The amount of "anti-war" mileage Republicans can get in certain quarters for opposing the Iraq War 15 years after supporting it is very revealing
It's funny that Vance said he opposed the Iraq war because he assuredly did not at the time. Absolutely no millennial republican did.
NEW: JD Vance supported US strikes on Iran this week and reasoned that Trump had to enforce his own red line, per sources. It was a surprise role reversal for a politician who built his identity on opposing Middle East wars with a loose connection to core US interests
January 18, 2026 at 1:46 AM
The amount of "anti-war" mileage Republicans can get in certain quarters for opposing the Iraq War 15 years after supporting it is very revealing
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Can you believe it? Trump lied to them.
January 18, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Can you believe it? Trump lied to them.
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She is an expert on authoritarian regimes, in case you're wondering whether peaceful protests matter.
January 18, 2026 at 1:53 AM
She is an expert on authoritarian regimes, in case you're wondering whether peaceful protests matter.
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Typically, in law school, students are introduced to Judge Richard Posner’s idea that litigation is (or should be) economically efficient, and is a sensible free-market mechanism to discourage bad behavior, without needing a big bureaucracy
But then Republicans always try to ban litigation too
But then Republicans always try to ban litigation too
Some safety experts want California to stop the cutting of quartz countertops saying it can't be done safely. Lawmakers, meanwhile, contemplate a ban on workers' lawsuits against quartz manufacturers.
Kitchen countertop workers are dying. Some lawmakers want to ban their lawsuits
Some safety experts want California to stop the cutting of quartz countertops saying it can't be done safely. Lawmakers, meanwhile, contemplate a ban on workers' lawsuits against quartz manufacturers.
n.pr
January 18, 2026 at 1:54 AM
Typically, in law school, students are introduced to Judge Richard Posner’s idea that litigation is (or should be) economically efficient, and is a sensible free-market mechanism to discourage bad behavior, without needing a big bureaucracy
But then Republicans always try to ban litigation too
But then Republicans always try to ban litigation too
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The more I think about this, the angrier I get. It takes a particularly virulent strain of sociopathy to sit and let hard-working people serve you a meal knowing that you plan to arrest them and send them off for deportation once they're off of work.
Really depraved shit.
Really depraved shit.
A few days ago, Fox News was whining about ICE agents getting heckled at a Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis.
Meanwhile, in the town of Willmar, ICE agents had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, waited until it closed, then confronted and arrested three workers as they left.
Meanwhile, in the town of Willmar, ICE agents had lunch at a Mexican restaurant, waited until it closed, then confronted and arrested three workers as they left.
ICE agents ate at a Minnesota Mexican restaurant before arresting staff
Immigration law enforcement agents reportedly followed employees out of the restaurant after they closed for the evening
www.independent.co.uk
January 18, 2026 at 12:13 AM
The more I think about this, the angrier I get. It takes a particularly virulent strain of sociopathy to sit and let hard-working people serve you a meal knowing that you plan to arrest them and send them off for deportation once they're off of work.
Really depraved shit.
Really depraved shit.