The Special K 💙

Seattle Spent Millions on Hotel Rooms to Shelter Unhoused People. Then It Stopped Filling Them. Early last year, the city signed a $2.7 million lease extension to continue using a hotel’s rooms as shelter space. Yet despite committing to pay the rent, the city stopped sending people there.

NEW: After paying for hotel rooms to shelter homeless people, Seattle deliberately left them vacant.

By the end of 2024, taxpayers were spending $4,200 a month per empty room at a time when thousands of residents were without a roof over their heads.

Trump to host UFC fight at White House on his 80th birthday Trump said the event that Conor McGregor has said he'll take part in will be held "at the White House on the grounds."

A gross display for a gross administration.
www.axios.com/2025/10/05/t...

Civil rights jobs have been cut. Those ex-workers warn of ICE detention violations After layoffs, it's unclear how many people are policing civil rights violations inside the Department of Homeland Security, even as the Trump administration ramps up ICE detention.

After layoffs, it's unclear how many people are policing civil rights violations inside the Department of Homeland Security, even as the Trump administration ramps up ICE detention.

We Found the ‘Enemy from Within’ He’s in the White House

The “enemy from within” is Trump. The “violent extremists” are Trump lackeys who have turned ICE into fascistic shock troops. In response to Trump’s brutal, racist, and unconstitutional campaign of terror the country must mobilize collectively.
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

TIME MAG - “The 69-year-old judge had received death threats in the weeks leading up to the fire…” (Stephen miller in particular has been lashing out at judges)

time.com/7323442/sout...

This is awesome! She is a fantastic economist who certainly knows her stuff, and I've always enjoyed their podcast appearances.

Just finished #BlackRabbit WOW, was it good!

'The FCC should look into the license': Trump threatens ABC and NBC over negative coverage President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the Federal Communications Commission should look into ABC and NBC's broadcast licenses, citing the coverage he gets on Al Sharpton's show, "PoliticsNation." "This is just one of the many reasons that the Federal Communications Commission should look into t...

President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the Federal Communications Commission should look into ABC and NBC's broadcast licenses, citing the coverage he gets on Al Sharpton's show, "PoliticsNation."

This evening, President Trump is ordering 400 members of the Texas National Guard for deployments to Illinois, Oregon, and other locations within the United States. No officials from the federal government called me directly to discuss or coordinate. We must now start calling this what it is: Trump's Invasion. It started with federal agents, it will soon include deploying federalized members of the Illinois National Guard against our wishes, and it will now involve sending in another state's military troops. I call on Governor Abbott to immediately withdraw any support for this decision and refuse to coordinate. There is no reason a President should send military troops into a sovereign state without their knowledge, consent, or cooperation. The brave men and women who serve in our national guards must not be used as political props. This is a moment where every American must speak up and help stop this madness.

Statement from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker

I really want one, but I can't justify spending $300 on it.

Awesome, been loving you as a guest on @thebulwark.com Look forward to your economics savvy on the pod.

She Wanted an Abortion. A Judge Said She Wasn’t Mature Enough to Make That Decision. As abortion access dwindles, America’s “parental-involvement” laws place further restrictions on teenagers — who may need to ask judges for permission to end their pregnancies.

The judge ultimately ruled that the teen was mature enough to raise two children, but not mature enough to decide if she was ready to be a mother.

(Published 2022 in partnership with The New York Times Magazine)

UPDATE: Hegseth today called up 400 members of the Texas National Guard, with Gov. Abbott's apparent permission, to be deployed "where needed, including in the cities of Portland and Chicago." www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

1. BREAKING

Judge Immergut, who was nominated by President Trump, has just granted a request by Oregon and California to block the deployment of National Guard troops from Texas and California to Portland.

They don't look like they're paying too close attention. Why should they, as he doesn't make sense anyway?

Trump will help pedophiles like Ghislaine Maxwell, not release the Epstein Files, and pardon violent insurrectionists, but he'll unleash ICE to terrorize innocent Americans.

Priorities.

He could’ve fought, but he faked bone spurs. So someone else had to go in his place - most likely a working class kid whose daddy couldn’t afford to bribe a doctor. Now he’s talking shit about how it should’ve been fought.

ICE Targets Unaccompanied Immigrant Children, Offering $2,500 Payment for Deportation ICE confirmed its plan to pay unaccompanied immigrant children in exchange for their agreement to be deported.

There is no bottom to these ghouls. Their plan is that they offer children money to get them to agree to be deported.

ICE Targets Unaccompanied Immigrant Children, Offering $2,500 Payment for Deportation
theintercept.com/2025/10/03/i...

Swear her in.

ICE agents raid South Shore apartments; Trump says Chicago could become military training ground ICE agents raided a South Shore apartment building overnight as the city braces for a possible military deployment.

"'They had the Black people in one van, and the immigrants in another van,' she said..."

abc7chicago.com/post/ice-chi...

What to expect as Syria holds first parliamentary elections since Assad's ouster Syria is holding parliamentary elections on Sunday for the first time since the fall of the country's longtime autocratic leader, Bashar Assad, who was unseated in a rebel offensive in December.

Syria is holding parliamentary elections on Sunday for the first time since the fall of the country's longtime autocratic leader, Bashar Assad, who was unseated in a rebel offensive in December.

I always feel so bad for the farmers, they truly are the back bone of our communities. However, folks vote poorly without honest reflection or worse, how their daddy always voted - the world has changed, and the 1% cares not. Wake up. FAFO.

Portland Trail Blazers Buyer Tom Dundon Built His Fortune on Subprime Loans In 2020, the state sued Santander Consumer USA for allegedly preying on Oregonians through high-interest car loans they couldn’t afford in a case involving more than 265,000 borrowers nationwide.

In 2020, Oregon sued Tom Dundon’s former company for allegedly preying on Oregonians through high-interest car loans they couldn’t afford in a case involving more than 265,000 borrowers nationwide.

With @opb.org

Thread. Heinous.

War Monger.

How apple cider vinegar cured everything — until it didn't A headline-grabbing study touting apple cider vinegar for weight loss has been retracted. Other claims for the internet-famous remedy are also under fire.

A headline-grabbing study touting apple cider vinegar for weight loss has been retracted. Other claims for the internet-famous remedy are also under fire. n.pr/46SAV1A

PEGGY NOONAN: “.. You know why people say something’s wrong with this guy? Because it appears something is wrong with this guy.”

@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/opinion/the-...

But for 26-year-old Emma Sonas, a childhood bout with whooping cough was so debilitating that she is still dealing with the consequences. Sonas, who was delivered in a home birth, said she did not receive a single vaccine growing up. When she was 13, Sonas, along with her mom and siblings, caught whooping cough, a highly contagious respiratory infection that leads to uncontrollable coughing fits as the person gasps for air. Sonas’s symptoms were so severe that she slept upright in her bed for months. Otherwise, she’d wake up and feel like she was drowning. “My respiratory system has never been the same,” she said. “The idea that a choice my parents made has resulted into something like this has been really hard to understand and deal with.”

What it's like to grow up unvaccinated, by Trisha Thadani.

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...

I read an article about this once, apparently there are many AI generated artists that folks follow on streaming platforms. This is wrong, and an insult to artists who genuinely work hard developing their works. The companies are the ones who reap 100% of the play profits from your plays. Sneaky.

Bankification Nation From tech giants to airlines to health care providers, every company is becoming a bank — and that’s bad news for the rest of us.

Why is every company now trying to be your bank?

Hint: It's not about making stuff "frictionless" for you, as they claim.

It's about squeezing profit out of you & putting you into permanent debt.

What stage of capitalism is this?

www.levernews.com/bankificatio...