Dr. Samantha Montano

Greta Thunberg On Her Detention: I'm "Not The Story" — It's Israel Violating International Humanitarian Law “I could talk for a very, very long time about our mistreatment and abuses in our imprisonment. Trust me. But that is not the story.”

Greta--always a hero, and always eager to get the focus where it belongs
www.teenvogue.com/story/greta-...

Did not do any of the work on my to-do list today, but I did start a completely new project unexpectedly that I absolutely do not have time for, and no one asked for! Cheers!

Warning issued as entire state faces wildfire risk National Weather Service meteorologists have issued warnings for Maine amid dry, windy weather.

Thanks, I hate it.

"...the entire state of Maine was at an elevated risk of fire danger on Monday."

www.newsweek.com/wildfire-ris...

If I were a journalist one thing I would be asking is where they are going to get the money for this in the future because by my calculation they just gave all the funding to Florida.

Disasterology: September 2025 This newsletter is a compilation of recent disaster ~things~ that I think are cool, important, or otherwise of interest to people who are intrigued with disaster (broadly defined).

Finally, I continue to absolutely beg journalists to pay attention to how Guthrie and FDEM have positioned themselves as the implementer of DeSantis’ immigration agenda in Florida if only because it is quite likely to be replicated nationally.

disasterology.substack.com/p/disasterol...

Further I believe the use of that grant money to build concentration camps is illegal if only because disappearing people and holding people without due process is illegal. That’s what’s happening here.

Entwined with the political is the financial. As one democratic lawmaker said, this is “Gator Grift”. I assume you already understand this part because you have had almost 20 years to read “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” but let’s take a moment to follow the money. It turns out building a concentration camp in the middle of the wetlands is expensive -- even with the money you save on security. DHS estimates one year of camp operation will cost $450 million. That’s more than the entire country’s EMPG funding. At last count, $245 million has been spent. There seems to be a question of eligibility over whether the camp is temporary or permanent. There are also differing legal implications if this is a federally funded camp vs. a state funded camp. So which is it? There have been conflicting reports about who is funding -- and who will ultimately fund -- the camp. Some reporting has said FDEM is funding the camp. In documents reviewed by TPM, FDEM was listed as the purchaser on all camp contracts so they certainly are the ones spending the money. The money itself (as best as I can tell) though, does not come from FDEM’s budget but rather from a $500 million a year emergency fund (with very little oversight) that the state legislature gave to DeSantis to fund his immigration stunts, etc. (Florida also has a $15 billion rainy day fund to keep an eye on.)

At various points, both federal and state officials have said that FEMA will reimburse Florida for at least some of the expenses related to the camp. At times, it has been reported that this will be done through a Shelter and Services Grant. (You’ll remember this program from Helene last year and NYC this year. You know, the immigration funding that Republicans found to be an affront to the American taxpayer? Uh-huh. This damn program has become the bane of my existence.) Specifically, Noem told reporters in June that the Shelter and Services Grant program would largely fund the camp. In early July, the Miami Herald reported that Florida could apply for a grant from FEMA’s “Detention Support Grant Program,” which had $600 million available. I cannot figure out what this grant program is or even if it really exists. It seems to have been publicly announced on sam.gov this summer, but it is no longer posted. FEMA has not said anything publicly about it as far as I can see. I did check with the remarkably few people I know who still work at DHS/FEMA for the sake of due diligence, and none of them had any information. There might also be some bad reporting going on here, too, in terms of mixing up grant programs, etc? I simply do not have enough hours in the day to try and figure this out, but my guess is that if this program exists, the funding comes from CBP, and DHS has tasked FEMA with administering it.

While we might not fully understand where the money is coming from, we do have a pretty good sense of where it is going. This camp has been brought to you by a range of disaster contractors who are subjected to shockingly little oversight. I’ve long called these contractors our “Shadow Emergency Management System”. They are so intertwined with public emergency management that it can be hard, if not impossible, to tell where government emergency management agencies begin and the disaster contractors end. Very little investigation -- reporting, criminal, research, or otherwise -- has been done on these contractors as compared to the extent that they are responsible for emergency management in Florida and beyond. I recommend reading this Orlando Sentinel article, which shows how Florida Republicans funnel disaster funds to politically connected contractors. TLDR: private contracts are being given to businesses owned by Republican donors. This is an issue much bigger than the Florida Everglades Concentration Camp, but it’s very much present here too.

Both the federal and state government have been less than forthcoming about this funding at various points for some pretty obvious legal reasons which I noted over a month ago.

It is important to distinguish because the administration using DRF funding for this kind of bullshit means we’re in a whole new world of trouble.

To be clear, I strongly disagree with fema in anyway being involved in building concentration camps — even just the administration of a grant.

Critical to emphasize here that this money came from a pool of money Congress designated for migrant shelter services. This money did NOT come from the disaster relief fund (as reported here). There has been immense confusion/disinformation about this distinction during this administration &the last

Low on the priority list but have we considered putting a coffee shop into the Boston library that is not bad?

Isn’t that something!!

Irredeemable fucking behavior.

Many people speculating this is an AI issue. It was published in 2015. It does look like it was later corrected.

It was published in 2015

It was published on 2015.

See, this is why we have no shared pop culture references.

I don't want to alarm anyone but it's giving Civil War in a pretty big way.

This morning I'm sitting down to read through some *peer-reviewed articles*. The one I start with mentions Congress introduced a bill in ~2013~ to abolish FEMA.

"Huh??? No they didn't", I think to myself.

Reader, the author cited a satirical article from the Daily Currant.

Speechless.

Video taken one hour ago outside the Portland ICE facility of the violent insurrectionists in question

ICE admits that up to 50% of arrests in its Chicago raids are "collateral.” These aren't statistics. They are parents taken from their children, neighbors taken from our communities. When does a "collateral" U.S. citizen child's trauma matter? This isn't law enforcement; it's a campaign of terror.

In spite of storm Amy, an absolutely massive turnout for Palestine in Dublin today. As a two year genocide continues, the people of Ireland call upon the government & international community to sanction Isreal…

Here's more on EMPG specifically.

bsky.app/profile/saml...

I don't know where this revisionism has come from about the suffragettes - people saying "if the suffragettes were around today, they'd be considered terrorists."

The suffragettes were arrested and tortured, sexually assaulted and beaten by the state. They *were* considered terrorists!

Well, this will be part of my unit on emergency management coming up in a few weeks. 😡

Of course eliminating the preparedness grants is part of their agenda for FEMA as outlined in Project 2025.

FEMA Withholds $300 Million in Grants Until States Account for Deportations

The Trump administration’s racist, cruel, and illegal immigration agenda is making us all less safe.

The EMPG grant has been stopped again and is one of the single most important disaster funding sources for state and local governments.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/c...

82nd Airborne walks into Powell’s, gets too distracted, hours lost wandering the shelves, mission fails completely.

I extended my invitation: If you are involved in any kind of Left politics, I am more than willing to help you understand and message on this. Help me, Help you!

The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities

the usual story. rich guy wants to punish universities for not clamping down on pro-palestinian protests and for doing too much to recruit minorities. at base these guys want the top tier of american universities to become, once more, safe-spaces for their dunderheaded failsons

L.A.’s Entertainment Economy Is Looking Like a Disaster Movie Work is evaporating, businesses are closing, longtime residents are leaving, and Los Angeles’s creative middle class is hanging on by a thread.

Sharing primarily for the title, tbh.

www.wsj.com/business/med...