Alejandro A. Riera
@alejandroariera.bsky.social
Writer, editor, critic, movie lover, Doctor Who fan, proud to be a boricua, a cubano and a gallego. Curmudgeon extraordinaire. You can find my writing here https://alejandroariera.substack.com and at times at outlets like the Chicago Reader.
November 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
(I regularly run into people here in the States who are nostalgic for the mid-1970s. Either they weren’t born until 10 years later, or they were five and have no memory of ANYTHING before they were 10. Or they have the long-term memory of a mayfly from 1980s drugs.)
November 14, 2025 at 10:15 AM
(I regularly run into people here in the States who are nostalgic for the mid-1970s. Either they weren’t born until 10 years later, or they were five and have no memory of ANYTHING before they were 10. Or they have the long-term memory of a mayfly from 1980s drugs.)
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
Bovino seems like he’s getting closer to admitting their entire premise is a lie, it has nothing to do with the law, and his mission is really about ethnic cleaning and terror.
Bovino: "Whether they were criminals or individuals that were taking jobs from Americans -- you name it, that's what they were doing. And I'll tell you what's gonna happen. We're gonna go even harder on the streets. If he releases those 650, we're gonna apprehend 1,650 on the streets of Chicago."
November 13, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Bovino seems like he’s getting closer to admitting their entire premise is a lie, it has nothing to do with the law, and his mission is really about ethnic cleaning and terror.
And the Dow is now down 475 points.
November 13, 2025 at 5:50 PM
And the Dow is now down 475 points.
Pleeeeeeease! Someone this happen.
Suspending all political and Epstein posting to say: Please, please, please, somebody pick this up! We need more Poker Face! deadline.com/2025/11/peac...
Mike Fleming Jr: Peacock Folds On ‘Poker Face’ Season 3; Rian Johnson Wants 2-Season Deal With Peter Dinklage As Lie Detector Sleuth Charlie Cale
Peacock Folds 'Poker Face' Season 3; Rian Johnson Wants A New Deal, Two Seasons With Peter Dinklage As Lie Detector Sleuth
deadline.com
November 13, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Pleeeeeeease! Someone this happen.
I hope he gets his comeuppance.
Here's the Young Republican POS who called in ICE on my local car wash, where they hauled off 9 people *with work permits*. Get his ass.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/13/m...
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/13/m...
November 13, 2025 at 5:22 PM
I hope he gets his comeuppance.
Yep. And the first few months after that (been using the darn thing for nearly ten months now).
November 13, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Yep. And the first few months after that (been using the darn thing for nearly ten months now).
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
More in Chicago ICE legal news today: District Judge Jeremy Daniel has ordered the govt to provide Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano, whom ICE agents dragged out of a Rayito Del Sol daycare on Chicago's north side last Wednesday, with a bond hearing "on or before" Nov. 18.
November 12, 2025 at 8:46 PM
More in Chicago ICE legal news today: District Judge Jeremy Daniel has ordered the govt to provide Diana Patricia Santillana Galeano, whom ICE agents dragged out of a Rayito Del Sol daycare on Chicago's north side last Wednesday, with a bond hearing "on or before" Nov. 18.
Miguel Zenón and Luis Perdomo are coming back to Chicago December 4 to perform tracks from their EL ARTE DEL BOLERO albums!
wl.eventim.us/event/miguel...
wl.eventim.us/event/miguel...
Buy tickets to Miguel Zenón & Luis Perdomo in Chicago on December 4, 2025
8:30pm. ADV $30 / DOS $35Miguel Zenón (Alto Saxophone)Luis Perdomo (Piano)Grammy Winner, Doris Duke Artist and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón represents a select group of musicians who h
wl.eventim.us
November 12, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Miguel Zenón and Luis Perdomo are coming back to Chicago December 4 to perform tracks from their EL ARTE DEL BOLERO albums!
wl.eventim.us/event/miguel...
wl.eventim.us/event/miguel...
So, it's true, they got scared of Chicago winters.
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin insists “we aren’t leaving Chicago,” but the feds’ immigration campaign is expected to begin winding down. One DHS source said 1000 agents could return in the spring up from 250.
U.S. Border Patrol boss Greg Bovino, fellow agents to soon leave Chicago but could be back four-fold in March
chicago.suntimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 12:28 AM
So, it's true, they got scared of Chicago winters.
JAY KELLY: It ain't no SENTIMENTAL VALUE.
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 PM
JAY KELLY: It ain't no SENTIMENTAL VALUE.
New eating options in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood!
Restaurants Restaurants Restaurants!
Last night saw the removal of paper from the windows at the upcoming Las Pinatas on Wilson (1313 W. Wilson) along with testing of their sna...
www.uptownupdate.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:19 PM
New eating options in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood!
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
Michael Shannon cooking with gas here:
November 11, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Michael Shannon cooking with gas here:
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
It's been rumored for a bit they would leave mid-November. It's not the weather, just the natural lifespan of a ~225 person operation.
Before Border Patrol arrived, ICE was still here. They were smashing cars to pull people out of them, taking people from court and check-in appointments, etc.
Before Border Patrol arrived, ICE was still here. They were smashing cars to pull people out of them, taking people from court and check-in appointments, etc.
Bovino left LA to come to Chicago and it's not like LA saw immigration operations stop - just less showboating from his crew. So even if these circulating rumors over the last week turn out real, I'm pessimistic about how much change to expect on the ground.
November 11, 2025 at 4:49 PM
It's been rumored for a bit they would leave mid-November. It's not the weather, just the natural lifespan of a ~225 person operation.
Before Border Patrol arrived, ICE was still here. They were smashing cars to pull people out of them, taking people from court and check-in appointments, etc.
Before Border Patrol arrived, ICE was still here. They were smashing cars to pull people out of them, taking people from court and check-in appointments, etc.
Aaron Cohen doing God's work.
No school today because of the Veterans Day holiday, but I talked to my class yesterday about the heroic all-Puerto Rican 65th Infantry Regiment (The Borinqueneers) who bravely served in both World Wars and in Korea—only to be wrongfully maligned by the military's top brass.
November 11, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Aaron Cohen doing God's work.
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
Never has there been a case of more "good fucking riddance," but it's not unamusing that they're hightailing it right after the first snow storm hit. Chicago has a built-in defense against unserious jagoffs and it's called winter.
News: Feds are said to be on their way out of Chicago in the near future. Via @jmetr22b.bsky.social and me www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/10/f...
Federal Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino and agents said to be leaving Chicago, sources say
Cmdr. Gregory Bovino was expected to depart Chicago within days, while most Border Patrol agents under this command would soon be redeployed elsewhere, three sources told the Tribune Monday.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Never has there been a case of more "good fucking riddance," but it's not unamusing that they're hightailing it right after the first snow storm hit. Chicago has a built-in defense against unserious jagoffs and it's called winter.
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
Fair.
I'll get back to "party unity" as soon as the Senate Minority Leader tells us if he voted for the Democratic party nominee for mayor of his city.
I'm tired of party unity only ever running one way.
I'm tired of party unity only ever running one way.
November 10, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Fair.
I go for lying....
This isn't "internal recriminations." It's voters expressing overwhelming opposition to what the people they elected to represent them are doing, and anyone--either in journalism or politics--who characterizes it as infighting is either not seeing and hearing what's right in front of them or lying.
The sooner we get past internal recriminations and back to fighting united, the better off we all are — the likelier our victory next November.
November 10, 2025 at 11:24 PM
I go for lying....
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
I fear we are seeing in the UK what has become abundantly clear in the US: for all their power and privilege, elites and institutions are absolute cowards in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Weak, weak, weak, as Tony Blair once said
November 10, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I fear we are seeing in the UK what has become abundantly clear in the US: for all their power and privilege, elites and institutions are absolute cowards in the face of right-wing authoritarianism. Weak, weak, weak, as Tony Blair once said
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
I keep seeing regular Americans taking more risks every day to fight tyranny, want, and cynicism than I see from the opposition party, and I imagine many of those regular Americans are asking themselves what the value proposition of such an opposition party is, really
November 10, 2025 at 4:31 AM
I keep seeing regular Americans taking more risks every day to fight tyranny, want, and cynicism than I see from the opposition party, and I imagine many of those regular Americans are asking themselves what the value proposition of such an opposition party is, really
The Gerontocracy in action.
literally “we tried nothing and we’re all out of ideas”
Sen. Angus King: "Standing up to Donald Trump didn't work"
November 10, 2025 at 2:21 PM
The Gerontocracy in action.
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
Please don’t think this beltway game of having retiring Dem senators vote yes while everyone else votes no is going to shield leadership from the end result. We see what is happening and can’t be fooled by those games.
November 10, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Please don’t think this beltway game of having retiring Dem senators vote yes while everyone else votes no is going to shield leadership from the end result. We see what is happening and can’t be fooled by those games.
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
An exclusive look at the deal to reopen the government:
a cartoon girl in a blue dress is kneeling in a field holding a bag
Alt: lucy pulling the football away from charlie brown
media.tenor.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:15 PM
An exclusive look at the deal to reopen the government:
Reposted by Alejandro A. Riera
This is not a deal — it's an empty promise.
Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families.
Time for Democrats to stand tall for affordable healthcare. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families.
Time for Democrats to stand tall for affordable healthcare. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Senate reaches deal on ending the shutdown
Democrats are coalescing around a bipartisan agreement to fund the government.
www.politico.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:50 AM
This is not a deal — it's an empty promise.
Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families.
Time for Democrats to stand tall for affordable healthcare. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Trump and his Republican Congress are making healthcare more expensive for the middle class and ending it for working families.
Time for Democrats to stand tall for affordable healthcare. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...