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jklaurie.bsky.social
@jklaurie.bsky.social
1.3K followers 310 following 0 posts
News nerd from the North Star state
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted
mprnews.org
Federal immigration officers are pulling out of a Louisiana crackdown and heading to Minneapolis in an abrupt pivot from an operation that drew protests around New Orleans and aimed to make thousands of arrests, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Federal officers are leaving Louisiana immigration crackdown for Minneapolis, documents show
Documents obtained by The Associated Press show that federal border agents are pulling out of a Louisiana immigration crackdown and heading to Minneapolis.
www.mprnews.org
January 9, 2026 at 9:17 PM
Reposted
chadbourn.bsky.social
The US Department of Agriculture suspends all federal funding to Minnesota, effective immediately.
January 9, 2026 THE HONORABLE TIM WALZ Governor of Minesota 130 State Capitol 75 Rev Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bivd. St. Paul, MN 55155 THE HONORABLE JACOB FREY Mayor of the City of Minneapolis City Hail 350S. Fifth St., Room 330 Minneapolis, MN 55415 Dear Governor Walz and Mayor Frey, It is my responsibility as Secretary of Agriculture to ensure sound stewardship of taxpayer dollars by climinating fraud, waste and abuse in all programs funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The widespread and systemic fraud associated with federal benefit programs in the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis demonstrate an inability to handle federal resources without additional oversight and accountability measures in place. During your tenures as Governor of Minnesota and Mayor of Minneapolis, numerous non-profits and businesses have defrauded the federal government in what a federal prosecutor in Minnesota called "a staggering, industrial-scale fraud".! Most notably, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit— Feeding Our Future defrauded U.S. taxpayers of nearly $250 million in federal funds given to them by the Minnesota Department of Education.? This fraud scheme involved USDA funding provided to the State of Minnesota to feed hungry children under the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) and the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). As of late November, 78 defendants had been charged in what the Department of Justice characterized as the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the country? Other recent examples of'alleged fraud in Minnesota include exploitation of the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program", a scheme to defraud the Housing Stabilization 1-Whut te know about Minnesoca' "industrial-scale fraad" scandal, as more charges are fled and Trump weighs in, "CES Nows (Dic. 19, 3025) available at ht:/www.cbsnews.com/news/atas-do-know-alonesota-frawf-candal were-changes-fled- tump-water. /Federal Jury Finds Feeding Our Future Masternind and Co-D… Services Program", and alleged fraud in daycare centers*, Your Administrations have refused additional accountability and oversight, claiming that criticism of rampant fraud and abuse is "racist." While the full extent of fraud in Minnesota is not yet known, it is clear that, under your leadership- or lack thereof fraudsters can take advantage of federal funds and the American taxpayer with impunity. This necessitates federal action to protect taxpayer dollars until adequate safeguards can be established. Despite a staggering, wide-reaching fraud scandal, your Administrations refuse to provide basic information or take common sense mcasures to stop fraud. In fact, rather than conlin your SNAP rolls are accurate to prevent continuing fraud, you asked the courts to block USDA's directive to recertify the State's SNAP recipients. Recent news reports also emerged that the Minnesota Department of Human Services repeatedly reported incorrect information about SNAP to the federal government.? The Trump administration refuses to allow such fraud to continuc. Therefore, because of your failed Icadership and abysmal financial management oversight, 1 am notifying you that, effective immediately, I am suspending payments on all active awards and any future awards from USDA to the State of Minnesota and the City of Minneapolis, currently totaling over $129.18 million. Within 30 days, you shall provide USDA with payment justifications for all federal dollar expenditures from January 20, 2025, to the present. Going forward, all transactions on awards to the State of Minnesota or the City of Minneapolis will require such payment justification. If those payment justifications are not received, awards will remain suspended. While your Administrations have turned a blind eye to documented fraud, the Trump Administration has made clear that fraud, waste, and abuse are unacceptable. The American people deserve to know that their taxpayer dollars are helping those in need-not criminals. …
January 9, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Reposted
the-independent.com
Top Democrats decline to say if they would rein in ICE after Minnesota shooting
Top Democrats decline to say if they would rein in ICE after Minnesota shooting
Top Democrats decline to say if they would rein in ICE after Minnesota shooting
www.independent.co.uk
January 8, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Reposted
decoherence.media
BREAKING: X’s chatbot Grok isn’t just making AI porn deepfakes, it’s now making Nazi AI porn deepfakes, undressing women and showing them wearing “swastika bikinis”. Many of these women are Jewish, including a recently deceased Holocaust survivor.
Elon Musk’s “Grok” is undressing women and showing them in swastika bikinis
One woman targeted is a Jewish Holocaust survivor
decoherence.media
January 7, 2026 at 7:27 AM
Reposted
phillewis.bsky.social
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has been dissolved, ending its 58 years as the primary funder for PBS, NPR and local TV and radio stations
Corporation For Public Broadcasting Is Dissolved After 58 Years Of Service
www.huffpost.com
January 5, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Reposted
josephcox.bsky.social
The Hilton Hotel that refused reservations from DHS officials has now backpedalled and said it will accommodate them. Came after DHS X account posted emails. For years the right coalesced around businesses being able to refuse customers of certain demographics

www.404media.co/hilton-hotel...
Hilton Hotel That Refused DHS Reservations Backpedals
The hotel told 404 Media in a statement “We are in touch with the impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated.”
www.404media.co
January 5, 2026 at 11:14 PM
Reposted
atrupar.com
Trump: "Cuba is ready to fall. Cuba looks like it's ready to fall. I don't know if they're gonna hold out."
January 5, 2026 at 1:13 AM
Reposted
atrupar.com
Trump: "We need Greenland from a national security situation. It's so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security. And Denmark is not gonna be able to do it ... the EU needs us to have it"
January 5, 2026 at 1:11 AM
Reposted
elizabethjacobs.bsky.social
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), run by Oz and his boss, RFK Jr., will no longer require physicians to report vaccination rates.

Instead, they plan to start having doctors report if they’ve discussed “alternative” vaccine schedules.
CMS to stop requiring states to report childhood vaccination levels
www.cidrap.umn.edu
January 4, 2026 at 10:37 PM
Reposted
apnews.com
BREAKING: The U.S. won’t govern Venezuela, but will press changes through an oil blockade, Rubio says, after Trump claims of running the country.
Venezuela live updates: Uncertainty and legal questions remain after US captures Maduro
The Trump administration’s capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and claims that it will “run” the country are raising stark new questions about the legality of the U.S. actions and its future operations in the South American nation.
bit.ly
January 4, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Reposted
phillewis.bsky.social
Wegmans in New York City has begun collecting biometric data on shoppers' eyes, voices and faces from anyone who enters its supermarkets
NYC Wegmans is storing biometric data on shoppers' eyes, voices and faces
The supermarket chain says it’s a move to ensure shopper safety. Surveillance experts warn of privacy risks.
gothamist.com
January 3, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Reposted
atrupar.com
Trump: "We're going to have our very large United States oil companies go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure and start making money for the country. And we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so."
January 3, 2026 at 4:49 PM
Reposted
mharrisondupre.bsky.social
NEW: People are using Elon Musk's chatbot, Grok, to alter images to depict real women being sexually abused, humiliated, hurt, and even killed.

futurism.com/future-socie...
Grok Is Being Used to Depict Horrific Violence Against Real Women
People are asking Elon Musk's Grok chatbot to alter images to depict women being sexually abused, humiliated, and even killed.
futurism.com
January 2, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Reposted
jonathancohn.bsky.social
MTV is officially ending all of its music channels.

In honor of that, what's your favorite music video?
December 31, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted
atrupar.com
"Men are men. Men can never become women. Women are women. Women can never become men."
December 18, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted
jonathancohn.bsky.social
7 Dems joined House Republicans in voting for a bill that would enable ICE agents to strip search 12-year-olds.

Henry Cuellar (TX-28)
Don Davis (NC-01)
Laura Gillen (NY-04)
Jared Golden (ME-02)
Vicente Gonzalez (TX-34)
Adam Gray (CA-13)
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03)
December 17, 2025 at 4:26 AM
Reposted
marcelias.bsky.social
🚨BREAKING: The Trump administration escalated its effort to punish a sitting U.S. senator for protected political speech Monday, formally converting the Pentagon’s review of Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) into an official Command Investigation under military law. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
Trump Admin Intensifies Military Probe Against Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, Launches Command Investigation
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
December 16, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Reposted
phillewis.bsky.social
Trump just posted about Rob Reiner's death:
A very sad thing happened last night in Hollywood. Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS. He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace!
December 15, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted
haleaziz.bsky.social
SCOOP: The Trump administration is providing the names of all travelers passing through U.S. airports to immigration officials in search of people with deportation orders, a substantial expansion of government efforts to draw on data to hunt down immigrants.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...
Immigration Agents Are Using Air Passenger Data for Deportation Effort
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Reposted
mprnews.org
The agent, who’s assigned to another HSI office and is in Minnesota on “temporary detail for an operation,” is unfamiliar with the Twin Cities, did not know where they were going, and “was in fear that he was being abducted.”
FBI: Man, woman drive to police station with Homeland Security agent trapped in vehicle
A man and a woman are facing charges of assaulting a federal officer after Homeland Security Investigations agents tried to arrest the man Wednesday for overstaying his student visa. The pair drove to...
www.mprnews.org
December 12, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Reposted
walkerbragman.bsky.social
SCOOP: Academy Award-nominee Liam Neeson narrated a recent anti-vaccine documentary that glorifies RFK Jr.’s rise to power.

In the film, Neeson—a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador—calls the COVID-19 vaccines “dangerous experiments.”

www.importantcontext.news/p/liam-neeso...
Liam Neeson Narrates Anti-Vax, Pro-RFK Documentary
The Taken actor can be heard calling mRNA COVID vaccines “dangerous experiments.”
www.importantcontext.news
December 11, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted
phillewis.bsky.social
Disney and OpenAI sign a deal to bring 200+ Disney characters to Sora

Disney makes $1 billion investment in OpenAI and will become a "major" OpenAI customer

openai.com/index/disney...
As part of this three-year licensing agreement, Sora will be able to generate short, user-prompted social videos that can be viewed and shared by fans, drawing on more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars characters. Agreement will make a selection of these fan-inspired Sora short form videos available to stream on Disney+. Disney and OpenAI affirm a shared commitment to responsible use of AI that protects the safety of users and the rights of creators. Alongside the licensing agreement, Disney will become a major customer of OpenAI, using its APIs to build new products, tools, and experiences, including for Disney+, and deploying ChatGPT for its employees. As part of the agreement, Disney will make a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI, and receive warrants to purchase additional equity.
December 11, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Reposted
maxtani.bsky.social
The Washington Post is launching a personalized AI podcast, saying users will be able to "shape their own briefing, select their topics, set their lengths, pick their hosts and soon even ask questions using our Ask The Post AI technology."
All, Today, we’re introducing our latest customer audio offering: “Your Personal Podcast,” a personalized, AI podcast experience only available in The Washington Post app. App users will be able to shape their own briefing, select their topics, set their lengths, pick their hosts and soon even ask questions using our Ask The Post AI technology. This is a conversational, digestible format completely personalized to the user's individual preferences – All based on our best-in-class Washington Post journalism. Here’s how it works: On our Washington Post app, subscribers and registered users will find access to “Your Personal Podcast” via their habit tile, and our “Listen” tab. Users can then personalize their podcast experience by choosing their preferred topics, selecting the AI hosts, and setting the duration. (Currently, our beta version limits the duration to a maximum of 8 minutes.) Once a user begins listening, they soon will be able to ask follow-up questions to explore topics in greater depth. In line with our mission and plan, “Your Personal Podcast” is the ultimate intersection across our critical initiatives of premium experiences, customer choice and AI platform and products. It also reinforces our audience segmentation work, which has revealed our target audience is excited to be offered new ways to access our journalism. More specifically, they are busy and on the go with a growing appetite for audio and video news. “Your Personal Podcast” is another way for us to meet these customer needs. The product is in beta, which means we will continue to improve it based on user feedback. A big thank you to the many teams who collaborated with us across the company to get us to this exciting stage. Listen to a podcast that listens to you and try this out today. Vineet and Bailey
December 10, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Reposted
truthout.org
A new investigation has revealed that grocery delivery service Instacart is using a covert, AI-powered dynamic pricing scheme to charge customers different prices for the same items — potentially costing households over $1,000 more a year.
Instacart Reportedly Using Secret AI-Powered Dynamic Pricing to Jack Up Prices
In an experiment, investigators found that the same grocery basket at a Seattle store cost between $114 and $124.
truthout.org
December 9, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted
atrupar.com
Trump: "Ilhan Omar, whatever the hell her name is. With her little turban. I love her. She comes in, does nothing but bitch ... we ought to get her the hell out ... she's here illegally."

The crowd in Pennsylvania then starts chanting "send her back!"
December 10, 2025 at 12:43 AM