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zhizhu.bsky.social
ZhiZhu
@zhizhu.bsky.social
"All mimsy were the borogoves..." Avid reader, occasional world traveler, raises chickens in Texas.
Interested in #Journalism #News #USPolitics #Books #SFF #Photography #Travel #Nature #Science #Ukraine, etc.
Also at @ZhiZhu@newsie.social in the Fediverse
Pinned
"Trump can pardon as many criminals as he wants, and can continue to threaten judges and sue and pressure the press, but the history of authoritarianism shows that justice eventually comes for the criminal-in-chief.

He cannot hide the truth forever."
- Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian of authoritarians
Reposted by ZhiZhu
Indiana Senate Republican Greg Walker “said he would have reported the alleged violation to federal authorities “if I thought that there was anyone of integrity in Washington that would follow through on my accusation ..”

@adamwren.bsky.social #redistrict
dailyjournal.net/2025/11/26/s...
November 29, 2025 at 12:22 PM
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To put a finer point on this whole thing: "Two people with direct knowledge of the operation" — presumably uniformed military leaders — are accusing the U.S. Secretary of Defense of personally ordering specific war crimes. That's a historic accusation.
Textbook war crime/extrajudicial killing

"Two survivors were clinging to the smoldering wreck. The Special Operations commander overseeing the Sept. 2 attack ... ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions."

Report by @alexhorton.bsky.social @ellenwapo.bsky.social o.bsky.social
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 11:48 PM
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Just to be clear: armed government agents are allowed to wear masks, balaclavas, and glasses that completely hide their identities as they disappear people off streets and out of public places, but students can't wear masks while protesting even in approved "time, manner, and place".
November 29, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Reposted by ZhiZhu
The legal, media, and academic institutions capitulating to an authoritarian ordering payments for favorable treatment are damning themselves to irrelevance. They are destroying their institutions. They will be — and should be — shunned for failing in their most basic purposes for existing.
BREAKING: Northwestern University has agreed to pay the U.S. Treasury $75 million, over the course of three years as part of an agreement with the federal government to restore funding and end investigations into the university

Full statement from NU below:
November 29, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Reposted by ZhiZhu
Every single congressional Democrat needs to be out there, right now, insisting that Pete Hegseth resign right now and announcing that he will be held accountable for committing war crimes.

If you do not demand accountability here and now, they will only become more emboldened.
Exclusive: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave an order to “kill everybody” in the first strike on suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. After two men survived, the mission commander ordered a second strike to comply with Hegseth’s instructions, according to two sources.
Hegseth order on first Caribbean boat strike, officials say: Kill them all
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order to kill all crew members in the Sept. 2 strike on a suspected drug boat. Navy SEALs fired a second missile.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 28, 2025 at 7:19 PM
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This is the second largest payout from a private university to the Trump admin yet, second only to Columbia’s $200m
November 29, 2025 at 12:52 AM
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Every claim in this paragraph is false, which cannot bode well for the rest of the post.
November 29, 2025 at 2:06 AM
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Hegseth wasn't chosen as merely a Fox News buffoon who then bumbles his way into war crimes out of machismo incompetence. He was chosen specifically because he is, and has been for a long time, a proud, open, and explicit advocate of war crimes as a good thing we should do.
A chapter in Hegseth’s book is literally titled “More Lethality, Less Lawyers.”

It’s almost as if there were signs!
November 29, 2025 at 5:15 AM
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I know you already know, but for other folks who don't, Goldsmith was previously head of OLC, is a genuinely brilliant mind on executive authority and separation of powers, and is usually very cautious about making claims this unqualified and direct. That he is saying it so starkly is v significant
November 29, 2025 at 5:54 AM
Reposted by ZhiZhu
Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith:

“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”

open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
November 29, 2025 at 4:25 AM
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November 27, 2025 at 5:25 PM
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It happened! The @nytimes.com profiled Paulina!

The Writer Who Dared Criticize Silicon Valley

Paulina Borsook’s “Cyberselfish,” which offered dire predictions about the tech world’s love for libertarianism, is finding fans. It only took 25 years.

Gift Link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/t...
November 27, 2025 at 4:39 PM
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This is like demanding that someone jump out of a plane before they’re given a parachute. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
US demands peace deal before security guarantees for Ukraine
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told European allies that President Donald Trump will negotiate long-term assurances for Ukraine’s safety.
www.politico.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:05 AM
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DAN RATHER: “most world leaders are laughing at the idea that 🇺🇸 is a reliable partner. The one-sided attempt to end the Russia-Ukraine war is an example of an administration that has lost its way and its reputation around the world.” open.substack.com/pub/steady/p...
November 27, 2025 at 2:07 AM
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November 26, 2025 at 5:00 PM
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So they bulldozed the East Wing and they don’t even know what they’re replacing it with? The idiocy never stops.
November 26, 2025 at 2:40 PM
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So Witkoff should register as a Russian agent.
November 25, 2025 at 8:18 PM
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EXCLUSIVE: US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff advised Russia on how to pitch Ukraine plans to Trump, in audio files reviewed by Bloomberg
Witkoff Advised Russia on How to Pitch Ukraine Plan to Trump
US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, fresh from the triumph of the Gaza peace deal, held a phone call last month with a senior Kremlin official to suggest they work together on a similar plan for Ukraine — and that Vladimir Putin should raise it with Donald Trump.
bloom.bg
November 25, 2025 at 7:52 PM
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This should be a major scandal. The Blaze falsely reported that a former U.S. Capitol Police officer was the Jan. 6th pipe bomber. But it wasn’t just another miss by conservative media promoting conspiracies.

Someone in US intel - at ODNI - was promoting it:

www.cbsnews.com/news/jan-6-p...
November 25, 2025 at 10:25 PM
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So the blaze called in the tip to ODNI, which wrote a memo about it which then was cited as “multiple intelligence sources say”. They are learning from their Russian friends.

Instead of “be the change you want to see in the world” it’s “be the source for the story you want to see in the world”
November 25, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Reposted by ZhiZhu
After 48 days, 3 pieces from the Houston Chronicle editorial board, requests for comment from others — like TBW — legal work by multiple attorneys and the advocacy organization FIEL, city council meetings, press conferences, and intercessions from Rep. Al Green, Garcia’s son was finally released.
November 24, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Reposted by ZhiZhu
Emmanuel, a 15-year-old with intellectual disabilities, wandered away from his mom’s fruit stand in October.

She reported him missing to Houston police. But instead of reuniting them, the city turned him over to ICE.

“They’re failing all of us,” his mom said.

thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/24/d...
A Disabled Child’s Mom Reported Him Missing. He Was Locked Away by Federal Immigration Authorities for 48 Days.
Emmanuel, a 15-year-old who has an intellectual disability, walked away from his mom’s fruit stand in October. Houston Police called ICE.
thebarbedwire.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:03 PM
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There needs to be a serious effort to find out who's behind this. This is election interference and needs to be prosecuted.
November 25, 2025 at 8:43 PM
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Skullduggery? 7th District mailers with no attribution or return address going out to Democratic Nashville voters, listing the incorrect date for Election Day.
November 25, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Reposted by ZhiZhu
Wow — Senators Van Hollen, Smith, Murphy, Sanders, Warren, Markey, Merkley, Heinrich have created an official internal "Fight Club."

They're challenging Schumer & Gillibrand's leadership, arguing the party is using an old, corporate-friendly playbook insufficient to take on Trump or win elections.
Chuck Schumer Faces Pushback From a ‘Fight Club’ of Senate Democrats
www.nytimes.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:39 AM