Peter Bailey-Wells (he/him)

they were afraid of him

The last good day on the internet?

A case can be made that it was February 26th, 2015, when llamas on the loose and Buzzfeed's "The Dress" debate pulled the world into a trance.

So how did the internet get quite so bad?

“Where do you get your ideas from, Ms Le Guin?” From forgetting Dostoyevsky and reading road signs backwards, naturally. Where else?

This is how you live a life

East Boston man was ‘so angry’ about space savers that he shoveled neighborhood himself - The Boston Globe “If you’re looking around and wondering who’s going to help, you should probably look at yourself,” Sam McGillis said.

“If you’re looking around and wondering who’s going to help, you should probably look at yourself” www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/11/m...

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.

My latest investigation, and first in a series for @towcenter.bsky.social
: How ‘Pink Slime’ Publishers Are Weaponizing FOIA

In the past year, we found a news-appearing network called Metric Media filed more than nine thousand Freedom of Information Act requests across all fifty states.

Washington Post Sports Department Was Among Last of Its Kind

NEW: A eulogy for The Post's sports department, which transformed the press box forever and created some of the best sportswriters in America

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/b...

People’s Choice: Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 Organizers of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest are inviting the public to vote for their favorite images from this year’s competition.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year contest allows the public to vote for their favorite images from this year’s competition. See some of the entries:

Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post Cuts 30% of Staff, Laying Off More Than 300 Employees Including Amazon Beat Reporter The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is enacting layoffs that will eliminate "hundreds" of jobs.

"Those who were laid off include Caroline O’Donovan, the Post’s beat reporter covering Amazon"

That night when Toad went to bed he thought the biggest thoughts that he could think.

Fanatics Makes More Excuses Than Sellable Jerseys | Defector Like its more tangible products, Fanatics’ apologies are shoddy and practically worthless, yet Michael Rubin’s sports apparel company keeps issuing them anyway. In this latest instance, Fanatics is…

Fanatics makes more excuses than sellable jerseys:

they should make a movie series about how it’s irresponsible to use technology to mess with the natural order of things for profit

‘Fell the enemies:’ Illini Republicans support ICE amid killings - The Daily Illini In a post that included a graphic of a presumed officer holding a gun to someone's head, Illini Republicans stated that they “stand with ICE."

University of Illinois college republicans advocate for executing protesters as “traitors” with art that takes a disturbing killing and makes it even more extreme.
dailyillini.com/news-stories...

Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Live: U.S. opens civil rights investigation in Alex Pretti’s death President Trump labeled Pretti an “agitator” after new video showed the Minneapolis man clashing with federal agents.

A judge has ordered the release of Twin Cities independent journalist Georgia Fort this afternoon, rejecting the U.S. government’s claims that her allegations constitute a crime of violence that necessitate keeping her detained.

Support Independent Journalism | GF

Georgia Fort's is chilling, and it's being overshadowed by the equally chilling arrest of Don Lemon.

A GoFundMe is being set up for Fort. In the meantime, you can support her work directly – without paying massive fundraising platform fees – through her website:

www.georgiafort.com/support

Georgia Fort, an independent journalist and vice president of the Minnesota NABJ chapter, was also arrested by federal agents this morning

I was sent this video of agents at her door:

it is certainly true that Western media constantly cast doubt on the Gaza Health Ministry's death numbers, but seeing this today made me think of the Lancet study estimating total deaths in Gaza to be as high as over 186,000 that came out in *July 2024*

Opinion | Why Is My Son Being Left to Die on the Streets? We thought America would keep him safe.

In Opinion

“More than anything else I have ever wanted, I want to stop this revolving door,” Madeline Till writes about her son’s experiences with mental illness. “I want schizophrenia to be treated with the same urgency, seriousness and continuity as any other life-threatening illness.”

Frog and Toad gaze at their own reflections in a mirror. Toad holds in his hands a book titled "Fairy Tales." From "Dragons and Giants" In *Frog and Toad Together*

Frog and Toad looked into a mirror.

“We look brave,” said Frog.

“Yes, but are we?” asked Toad.

ICE watchers in Maine say they were threatened by federal agents Community members have been monitoring the activity of immigration agents in Greater Portland.

ICE is changing tactics in Maine: "Now, the volunteers in Maine say federal agents have started showing up at their homes and intimidating them or threatening arrest. Some of them, masked and wearing tactical gear, have issued stark warnings not to follow them." www.pressherald.com/2026/01/23/i...

Woman shot by Border Patrol in Chicago asks judge to let her release evidence Marimar Martinez is blocked from releasing evidence in her case by what's known as a "protective order." Though standard, her attorney says it's “become an albatross” around her neck and “keeps the en...

The woman who survived five gunshots from a Border Patrol agent in Chicago, only to be criminally charged and then cleared, now wants a judge’s permission to share records showing how the feds respond when agents use deadly force.

@chicago.suntimes.com story: chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

The Minneapolis Uprising A series of street-level clashes have snowballed into a larger fight against autocracy.

“At times, Minneapolis reminded me of what I saw during the Arab Spring in 2011, a series of street clashes between protesters and police that quickly swelled into a much larger struggle against autocracy,” Robert F. Worth reports.

Tomorrow's front page of the Minnesota Star Tribune: Jan. 26, 2026

Post Parting Depression Looming cuts at The Washington Post threaten to decimate key coverage areas as staffers question the motives and commitment of billionaire owner Jeff Bezos.

News: The Washington Post is preparing to slash upwards of 300 staffers, incl sports, metro and foreign desks @nataliekorach.bsky.social reports.

“The newsroom is being punished for absolute incompetence from the owner and publisher,” one staffer told @status.news
www.status.news/p/washington...

CONTRIBUTOR GREG BROCKMAN AMOUNT ELECTION TO DAT $25,000,000 $25,000,000

The largest Trump superPAC donor so far this cycle is the president of OpenAI

In our first SLR original of 2026, writer Boen Wang returns with a deeply personal and historical examination of the Chinatowns of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, the two cities that have shaped his life. Why did one thrive while the other barely survived?
sundaylongread.com/2026/01/23/p...

ICE attacked an observer after they tailed a group of clergy on a spiritual pilgrimage.

Our digital producer @sam.vp just so happened to be with the clergy on their journey. He spoke with the observer who was attacked and others who witnessed the assault.