Stephen Meserve
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smeserve.bsky.social
Stephen Meserve
@smeserve.bsky.social

Practicing political scientist, hiker, tabletop gamer, etc in Northern Arizona

Political science 52%
Computer science 14%
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. 🧵

Reposted by Stephen A. Meserve

New: the oversight body for DHS is investigating agencies', including ICE's, use of surveillance tech/data for immigration enforcement. Comes directly after our reporting on multiple tools and pressure from lawmakers

www.404media.co/inspector-ge...
Inspector General Investigating Whether ICE's Surveillance Tech Breaks the Law
DHS's inspector general is probing ICE's biometric and surveillance programs.
www.404media.co

Reposted by Stephen A. Meserve

I have been saying for years that I'm about the last generation of faculty to have a reasonable possibility of obtaining tenure. Going forward, it's going to be at the wealthiest institutions and for superstars.
New from 404 Media: the FBI has been unable to get into the iPhone of raided Washington Post journalist because the phone had Lockdown Mode enabled. Apple markets Lockdown Mode mostly to stop spyware like NSO. Here, a real world example of it stopping access too www.404media.co/fbi-couldnt-...
FBI Couldn’t Get into WaPo Reporter’s iPhone Because It Had Lockdown Mode Enabled
Lockdown Mode is a sometimes overlooked feature of Apple devices that broadly make them harder to hack. A court record indicates the feature might be effective at stopping third parties unlocking some...
www.404media.co
WaPo's Matt Murray told staff the paper is shuttering sports, moving remaining staff to features, shrinking foreign coverage, restructuring metro, closing books coverage, suspending Post Reports podcast

“Whole company now waiting for a live or die email” one staffer said

More in tonight’s Status

Reposted by Stephen A. Meserve

Okay folks, looking to crowdsource some ideas. Am putting together short (90min - 2hr) workshop on "recovering information from the past on the Web". Basically internet archeology for beginners. Plan is to hit some big, if basic, examples, "10k people a day" hits.

My ideas in reply. Yours welcome.
This is a disqualifying statement by House Speaker Mike Johnson and he should resign his position today.
Mike Johnson on Trump calling for Rs to "nationalize" elections: "We had 3 Republicans who were ahead on election day in last cycle & every time a new tranche of ballots came in they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost. It looks on its face to be fraudulent. Can I prove it? No"
Mike Johnson on Trump calling for Rs to "nationalize" elections: "We had 3 Republicans who were ahead on election day in last cycle & every time a new tranche of ballots came in they just magically whittled away until their leads were lost. It looks on its face to be fraudulent. Can I prove it? No"
Last fall, Heather Honey, a high-profile denier of Donald Trump’s loss in the 2020 election, was appointed to a senior position in the Department of Homeland Security to help oversee election security.

(Published Aug. 2025)
She Pushed to Overturn Trump’s Loss in the 2020 Election. Now She’ll Help Oversee U.S. Election Security.
Heather Honey has been appointed to a senior position in the Department of Homeland Security. State election officials and voting experts are concerned.
www.propublica.org
The Trump administration is no longer trying to get cash from Harvard as it seeks a settlement. At this point, the White House seems happy to get a signature on anything they can call a compact.
Trump Drops Demand for Cash From Harvard After Stiff Resistance
www.nytimes.com

He still wouldn't buy this kind of stuff.

Far from an intellectual, went to college on a basketball scholarship, but spent his life as a man of the land---farm advisor in the central valley. Literally drove around and looked at farmland for fun in his off time.

Reposted by Nathan P. Kalmoe

trying to imagine telling my now passed grandpa common sense public policy like this would be a Big Political statement
Measles case at UW Madison. Unvaccinated students being told to quarantine for two weeks.

Universities should require complete vaccinations (among healthy ppl) & bar admissions & hiring to anyone who can be but isn’t vaccinated.
Measles case at UW Madison. Unvaccinated students being told to quarantine for two weeks.

Universities should require complete vaccinations (among healthy ppl) & bar admissions & hiring to anyone who can be but isn’t vaccinated.
I wrote about how Trump’s debate stage lie of “they’re eating the pets”, a product of participatory propaganda, was mobilized into the policy that will strip the legal status away from many Haitian immigrants the week, and what that may mean for Springfield: katestarbird.substack.com/p/sensemakin...

Reposted by Stephen A. Meserve

the epstein stuff is disturbing not just morally but epistemically. how much of the random stuff that is happening now that seems kind bad is, in fact, the work of one rich pervert I'm going to find out about in 30 years?
congragulations
Doo do doo

Reposted by Stephen A. Meserve

Palantir has not responded to requests for comment. But after our first article, it published a blog post responding in part. Palantir said its for finding specific people with orders of removal. But the guide says, sometimes you need to turn that off. So which is it?
www.404media.co/here-is-the-...
New from 404 Media: here is the user guide for ELITE, the tool Palantir made for ICE. A map shows people on a map; ICE clicks them, brings up their dossier. ICE uses to find which neighborhoods to target. We obtained it, you can now read the document for yourself: www.404media.co/here-is-the-...
Here is the User Guide for ELITE, the Tool Palantir Made for ICE
404 Media is publishing a version of the user guide for ELITE, which lets ICE bring up dossiers on individual people and provides a “confidence score” of their address.
www.404media.co
A Minnesota woman observing ICE agents in her car was cornered on one-way streets. An agent approached, called her by name—citing facial recognition. Days later, her Global Entry and TSA privileges were revoked, with no explanation.
How ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are
www.nytimes.com
OH COME ON. Brooks knows fuck-all about "society at large".
On one hand, I get this point that I've seen made several times

OTOH, the issue w/ these long-term charts is that it implies that all other conditions in the US and world economy are constant. But they are not. 10-year Treasury yield was 1.5% in 2012, its 4.2% today, for example.

Reposted by Stephen A. Meserve

The German armaments industry
I once asked my late uncle what he thought ended the legal Jim Crow era. He immediately responded that the murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner in 1964 were the moment Jim Crow died. When I asked him why he said: “When White folks fight White folks, it changes everything. Enough was enough.”
Anthropic's philosopher, Amanda Askell, says she worries that AI might not 'feel that loved' and grow up feeling 'always judged.'
Anthropic's philosopher says we don't know for sure if AI can feel
Anthropic's philosopher, Amanda Askell, says she worries that AI might not 'feel that loved' and grow up feeling 'always judged.'
www.businessinsider.com
Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti.

"Please get the truth out about our son."
Attorney General Pam Bondi: "Our country was founded on law enforcement"
Bondi: "It's extremely organized. The signs they have are all matching, they're well written. And look at what's happening today. How did these people go out & get gas masks? These protesters. Would you know how to walk out on the street and buy a gas mask? Think about that. We're not gonna have it"
“If the person is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter.”

Justice Brett Kavanaugh

www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
BREAKING: Immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, a memo obtained by AP says.
Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge's warrant, memo says
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press reveals that the agency allows immigration officers to forcibly enter homes to make arrests without a judicial warrant.
bit.ly