Zac Whittenburg
@trailerpilot.bsky.social
Chicagoan, Coloradan, cyclist, grantmaker, shutterbug, writer, and a few other things. Posts are mine alone, he / him, reskeet ≠ “I think”
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
One of the best cross-examinations I've heard started with: "Sir, can you describe what you're apologizing for?"
That seems appropriate here.
That seems appropriate here.
Larry Summers tells @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social
he’s stepping back from all public commitments in light of his messages with Epstein, saying he is “deeply ashamed” and hopes “to rebuild trust and repair relationships.”
He will continue teaching.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
he’s stepping back from all public commitments in light of his messages with Epstein, saying he is “deeply ashamed” and hopes “to rebuild trust and repair relationships.”
He will continue teaching.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
November 18, 2025 at 4:36 AM
One of the best cross-examinations I've heard started with: "Sir, can you describe what you're apologizing for?"
That seems appropriate here.
That seems appropriate here.
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
Trans air force members sue Trump administration over denied pension
Trans air force members sue Trump administration over denied pension
Complaint slams government’s actions as ‘unlawful and invalid’ after air force revoked early retirement benefits
A group of 17 transgender US air force members has sued the Trump administration for denying them early retirement pensions and benefits.
The complaint, submitted in federal court, describes the government’s move against them as “unlawful and invalid”. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Trans air force members sue Trump administration over denied pension
“…For the six conservative justices, there is no legal emergency quite as urgent as a lower court judge who has the gall to insinuate that the law applies to Donald Trump the same as it does to anyone else.” bit.ly/49iZozV
The Supreme Court’s Latest Shadow Docket Ruling Reeks of Ugly, Casual Transphobia
Once again, the six-justice conservative supermajority rides gallantly to the rescue of their very favorite president.
bit.ly
November 16, 2025 at 6:14 PM
“…For the six conservative justices, there is no legal emergency quite as urgent as a lower court judge who has the gall to insinuate that the law applies to Donald Trump the same as it does to anyone else.” bit.ly/49iZozV
“Once you get the FTC investigating, you become more careful” bit.ly/48i8aNu
Mamdani’s appointment of Lina Khan a warning to private equity, experts say
Ex-FTC chair was among first to go after practice of folding local firms into larger ones leading to higher prices
bit.ly
November 16, 2025 at 4:55 PM
“Once you get the FTC investigating, you become more careful” bit.ly/48i8aNu
TIL 270 Park Avenue’s “95,000 tons of structural steel works out to 60% more than can be found in the Empire State Building, which is taller and has greater square footage.” bit.ly/43xklU1
Jamie Dimon’s $4 Billion Fortress HQ Takes On the New York Skyline
JPMorgan’s new 270 Park Avenue tower is a domineering departure from other projects by architect Norman Foster.
bit.ly
November 16, 2025 at 4:34 PM
TIL 270 Park Avenue’s “95,000 tons of structural steel works out to 60% more than can be found in the Empire State Building, which is taller and has greater square footage.” bit.ly/43xklU1
“Um Trump, seinen Ballsaal und diesen Moment in den USA zu verstehen, muss man bedenken, dass sie sich alle auf einer Achse namens Ressentiment bewegen. Sie lehnen die Gegenwart ab und sehnen sich nach einer fiktiven Vergangenheit, an die sich keiner von ihnen erinnern kann.” bit.ly/49o3Ygf
Krieg gegen die Moderne: Welche Motive hinter Trumps Ballsaal-Plänen stehen
Die amerikanische Architekturkritikerin Kate Wagner über den Abriss des Ostflügels des Weißen Hauses und Donald Trumps Pläne für einen gigantischen Ballsaal
bit.ly
November 16, 2025 at 4:10 PM
“Um Trump, seinen Ballsaal und diesen Moment in den USA zu verstehen, muss man bedenken, dass sie sich alle auf einer Achse namens Ressentiment bewegen. Sie lehnen die Gegenwart ab und sehnen sich nach einer fiktiven Vergangenheit, an die sich keiner von ihnen erinnern kann.” bit.ly/49o3Ygf
“Under the legislation, France would become the only major market art center to impose a wealth tax on the mere possession of artworks.… France is the world’s fourth-largest art market, and accounts for more than half of the European Union’s market value, at $4.2 billion” bit.ly/4oMr9po
‘They Want to Kill Art’: The French Art World Is Up In Arms Over a Proposal to Impose New Taxes on Art
Two French politicians are proposing new taxes on the possession of art in the country's 2026 budget. A broad coalition opposes the new tax scheme.
bit.ly
November 16, 2025 at 3:52 PM
“Under the legislation, France would become the only major market art center to impose a wealth tax on the mere possession of artworks.… France is the world’s fourth-largest art market, and accounts for more than half of the European Union’s market value, at $4.2 billion” bit.ly/4oMr9po
Saw this film only once, not long after its release and, while I don’t recall a lot of the details, I do remember just being in awe of it
November 16, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Saw this film only once, not long after its release and, while I don’t recall a lot of the details, I do remember just being in awe of it
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:
November 14, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
"Sure, our plagiarism machine ingests enormous amounts of copyrighted material without anyone's permission, but it's the users of the machine who are the 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 criminals, your honor." 🙄🙄
Just unbelievable levels of chutzpah.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Just unbelievable levels of chutzpah.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
November 14, 2025 at 2:39 AM
"Sure, our plagiarism machine ingests enormous amounts of copyrighted material without anyone's permission, but it's the users of the machine who are the 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 criminals, your honor." 🙄🙄
Just unbelievable levels of chutzpah.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Just unbelievable levels of chutzpah.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
Paid a Colombian tea grower $1,500 for a shipment. Got billed $150 by the Trump administration at the border. *I* got billed. Not the tea growers. Not the Colombian government. Me. The American business owner. I paid the Trump tax.
November 12, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Paid a Colombian tea grower $1,500 for a shipment. Got billed $150 by the Trump administration at the border. *I* got billed. Not the tea growers. Not the Colombian government. Me. The American business owner. I paid the Trump tax.
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
“The most dramatic rollback of human rights for trans people in a generation will be covered by a mainstream corporate press that has purged queer journalists from its ranks in a stunningly transparent series of politicized moves over the past month.”
NEW: Firings of LGBTQ staff at NBC and Condé Nast have worsened an already dire picture for legacy news media when it comes to covering the trans community.
From @billiejsweeney.bsky.social, a close look at our increasingly degraded media environment.
www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
From @billiejsweeney.bsky.social, a close look at our increasingly degraded media environment.
www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...
Corporate Media’s Queer Purge — Assigned
It’s no coincidence that historic assaults on trans and queer people’s rights have been accompanied by the mainstream media’s widespread dismissal of LGBTQ+ journalists and the elimination of beats de...
www.assignedmedia.org
November 11, 2025 at 2:23 PM
“The most dramatic rollback of human rights for trans people in a generation will be covered by a mainstream corporate press that has purged queer journalists from its ranks in a stunningly transparent series of politicized moves over the past month.”
“The source said it is unusual for an office’s top prosecutor to convene such a gathering.” on.msnbc.com/4ozy0m7
U.S. Attorney investigating alleged grand ‘conspiracy’ calls unit-wide meeting after two prosecutors resign
Career prosecutors on “pins and needles” after flurry of subpoenas approved.
on.msnbc.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:50 PM
“The source said it is unusual for an office’s top prosecutor to convene such a gathering.” on.msnbc.com/4ozy0m7
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
Buried inside the deal to reopen government is a provision that would give Senators private right of action to sue for millions in damages over their phone records being analyzed by Jack Smith's team.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Shutdown Deal Would Let Senators Sue Over Jack Smith Searches
Senators whose phone records were sought by Special Counsel Jack Smith would gain authority to sue for millions in damages under a provision buried in the Senate-advanced deal to reopen the government...
news.bloomberglaw.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Buried inside the deal to reopen government is a provision that would give Senators private right of action to sue for millions in damages over their phone records being analyzed by Jack Smith's team.
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
“We're seeing a level of proliferation of bodies & body piles from space that's unlike anything I've ever seen…”
Human rights investigator Nathaniel Raymond explains how more people could be killed within a week in Sudan, compared to the past two years in Gaza.
🔗 zeteo.com/p/sudans-dea...
Human rights investigator Nathaniel Raymond explains how more people could be killed within a week in Sudan, compared to the past two years in Gaza.
🔗 zeteo.com/p/sudans-dea...
November 9, 2025 at 4:00 PM
“We're seeing a level of proliferation of bodies & body piles from space that's unlike anything I've ever seen…”
Human rights investigator Nathaniel Raymond explains how more people could be killed within a week in Sudan, compared to the past two years in Gaza.
🔗 zeteo.com/p/sudans-dea...
Human rights investigator Nathaniel Raymond explains how more people could be killed within a week in Sudan, compared to the past two years in Gaza.
🔗 zeteo.com/p/sudans-dea...
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
“We have rarely witnessed such brutality erupt into public view like it has in Chicago,” writes Michael Woolf, senior minister of Lake Street Church of Evanston. “For me, this is a spiritual emergency, and it means putting our bodies on the line in order to stop deportations.”
I’m One of the Clergy ICE Assaulted. They Treat Immigrants Worse
I learned the hard way that my clerical collar doesn’t offer much protection from ICE. But immigrants have no protection at all.
sojo.net
November 9, 2025 at 3:53 PM
“We have rarely witnessed such brutality erupt into public view like it has in Chicago,” writes Michael Woolf, senior minister of Lake Street Church of Evanston. “For me, this is a spiritual emergency, and it means putting our bodies on the line in order to stop deportations.”
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
I’ve had two conferences—one in the US and one international—change titles of panels or the entire gathering to avoid being targeted or make people’s lives more difficult.
It’s the exact kind of thing the US used to label totalitarian when foreign countries did this to their scholars.
It’s the exact kind of thing the US used to label totalitarian when foreign countries did this to their scholars.
Going to a research conference next week. One of my panels featured researchers coming from Asia, who decided to withdraw given the uncertainty about domestic travel with flight cancelations. Just one more reference point for how the US under Trump has become seen as a basket case country.
November 9, 2025 at 3:29 PM
I’ve had two conferences—one in the US and one international—change titles of panels or the entire gathering to avoid being targeted or make people’s lives more difficult.
It’s the exact kind of thing the US used to label totalitarian when foreign countries did this to their scholars.
It’s the exact kind of thing the US used to label totalitarian when foreign countries did this to their scholars.
“‘I like to be chic,’ he said. ‘I go to school like this.’” bit.ly/4ossD7X
Fedora man unmasked: Meet the teen behind the Louvre mystery photo
Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux has become an internet sensation after an Associated Press photo captured him outside the Louvre on the day of a crown jewels heist.
bit.ly
November 9, 2025 at 2:54 PM
“‘I like to be chic,’ he said. ‘I go to school like this.’” bit.ly/4ossD7X
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
"biological pronouns" is an insane phrase
BREAKING: The Sixth Circuit, in a 10-7 en banc decision, holds that an Ohio school district's anti-bullying policy that requires students to use children's preferred pronouns is likely unconstitutional on these facts.
Judge Murphy, a Trump appointee, writes the court's decision.
Judge Murphy, a Trump appointee, writes the court's decision.
November 7, 2025 at 4:22 AM
"biological pronouns" is an insane phrase
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
I was laid off from Teen Vogue this week, alongside multiple other phenomenal team members.
At our Summit, I was asked how it felt to be 1 of 2 Black women left and what that meant for representation. Now, there are no Black women at Teen Vogue and that is incredibly painful to think about.
At our Summit, I was asked how it felt to be 1 of 2 Black women left and what that meant for representation. Now, there are no Black women at Teen Vogue and that is incredibly painful to think about.
November 3, 2025 at 11:57 PM
I was laid off from Teen Vogue this week, alongside multiple other phenomenal team members.
At our Summit, I was asked how it felt to be 1 of 2 Black women left and what that meant for representation. Now, there are no Black women at Teen Vogue and that is incredibly painful to think about.
At our Summit, I was asked how it felt to be 1 of 2 Black women left and what that meant for representation. Now, there are no Black women at Teen Vogue and that is incredibly painful to think about.
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
What’s more Chicago right now than handing off 200 whistles in a Portillos bag.
November 6, 2025 at 1:54 AM
What’s more Chicago right now than handing off 200 whistles in a Portillos bag.
Delighted to announce that, as of this evening, I have been photographed on Scott Burton’s Two-Part Chaise (1986–89) in two buildings by Tadao Ando (Pulitzer Arts Foundation and Wrightwood 659) in two U.S. states (Missouri and Illinois)
November 6, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Delighted to announce that, as of this evening, I have been photographed on Scott Burton’s Two-Part Chaise (1986–89) in two buildings by Tadao Ando (Pulitzer Arts Foundation and Wrightwood 659) in two U.S. states (Missouri and Illinois)
Reposted by Zac Whittenburg
Now's a good time for Illinois residents to take advantage of a unique right we have to be removed from Clearview's database. Scroll down to IL opt-out here: www.clearview.ai/privacy-and-...
November 6, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Now's a good time for Illinois residents to take advantage of a unique right we have to be removed from Clearview's database. Scroll down to IL opt-out here: www.clearview.ai/privacy-and-...