Derek B. Johnson

on the upcoming episode of neon liberalism, @jamellebouie.net argues that the basic strategy of Trump II was speed: move fast, consolidate power, and give america a fait accompli. instead we've seen friction, backlash, and now--big players starting to realize that trump won't be president forever

What the Pentagon is doing is obscene but also legally extremely dubious. Anthropic will sue, a court will enjoin the government, and I think everyone (including the government) understands this.

This is also going to be a major brand building series of lawsuits for Anthropic, because how they can position themselves as “the ethical AI company” to try to defang all of the ethical complaints about the company.

Washington Post:

"Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency."

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Press critic @froomkin.bsky.social:

“Extremists urge Trump to claim election power based on fictitious national emergency.”

presswatchers.org/2026/02/at-t...

Across party lines and industry, the verdict is the same: CISA is in trouble One year into the second Trump administration, CISA faces a 33% loss in personnel and shuttered divisions. Experts warn of "decimated" capabilities and a leadership vacuum as the agency struggles to m...

Seeing the lengthy list of changes/cutbacks to CISA catalogued in this one piece makes it clear there is little left of it. The agency is less than a decade old and struggled for years to find its footing before it started to make progress. But all advances it made have been gutted in last 12 months

Idk perhaps constraints on chips? DeepSeek has indicated as much in the past, that compute is one of their biggest challenges. Maybe that changes over time as NVIDIA chips flow into China and Beijing sets up its own supply chain?

Actually some of the reports submitted by the Chinese law enforcement agency do mention the use of local Chinese AI models, including DeepSeek and Qwen. It seems like every threat actor is using multiple LLMs for their operations.

As in every other aspect of his life, Trump is writing checks right now with the federal government that others will have to cash in the future. He's always done this through bankruptcy and Trump University seminars where he frequently pitched marks on how to leverage OPM, or "Other People's Money."

We now know the kinds of foot soldiers and leaders and private institutions that would submit or even happily collaborate with running not just the American run Abu Ghraib but the Saddam run Abu ghraib.

Perhaps a dumb question but what is the driver for UK voters going to Green over Lib Dems?

I do believe over the long term these big outlets will fade in importance. It's already happened in many respects.

And we should look at the failures of CBS News as reflective how little market there is among news consumers for a bootlicking pivot. They're permanently destroying their brands.

the consolidation of major media institutions by the president’s oligarch friends is obviously bad, but i do wonder about the ultimate impact. it is clear that trump and his allies believe that you can buy up media and pull an orban or a putin. but…

How America Chose Not to Hold the Powerful to Account Our national project of elite impunity

After the arrests of powerful men across the world, you might be asking why the US has so much trouble holding its leaders accountable for lawbreaking. Since Nixon, all three branches of government have worked hard to ensure they can break the law with impunity www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Yeah I clarified further down in the thread. Too many Tkachuks.

Brady*

Brady Tkachuk miffed over White House AI-doctored video Brady Tkachuk said he didn't appreciate the AI-doctored video released by the White House that made it appear he was disparaging Canadians.

The White House appears to have posted an AI deepfake video on TikTok where USA Hockey Team member Matthew Tkachuk says "They booed our national anthem, so I had to come out and teach those maple syrup eating fucks a lesson."

Tkachuk is not happy about it.

www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/...

Bad news, folks: Trump obtained the Staff of Disenfranchisement from the Crypt of Ben Tillman. Now he can cast Election Control as a free action once he reaches level 20.

Shout out to fellow finalists @mattbracken.bsky.social, @brandivincent.bsky.social, @mirandanazzaro.bsky.social, @colinwood.me and @madialder.bsky.social

2026 Neal Awards Finalists - Neals

Pleased to be one of several Scoop News Group journalists named as a finalist for the Jesse Neal Awards this year. My story was part of a package of reporting we did across publications on the Trump administration's AI Action Plan that was nominated for Best News Coverage.

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

no clarity here about what the legal arguments are other than Vibes (that's because there aren't any) www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

Where is the paragraph saying this is a preposterous claim, there is no such emergency, it would be quickly struck down by the courts, and the obvious, malicious goal of these nuts is to spread doubt about election results and suppress voting? Did I miss that?
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

why are they saying "unlock" like it's an icon on trump's skill tree and not something completely made up

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

What a gift such a clearly unconstitutional executive order would be! Though divorced from legal and factual reality, it would enable the courts to invalidate this power grab well in advance of the election, and confirm the clear limits to fed'l interference in elections.

wapo.st/3N5cpEn

Actually, the left is winning the AI debate But it does need to get organized.

The left is not "missing out" on AI. It's winning the argument. Americans worry about AI and dislike tech CEOs. They're mobilizing against data centers. They support regulation, even refusal.

Calls for the left to embrace AI are an effort to change the terms of the debate in Silicon Valley's favor.

Interview of me about recent authoritarian threats to privacy

there are times when the most wearying thing is the cruelty, but most of the time for me it is just the transparent bullshit, insanity, and greasiness. not just political, but also in business and culture as well. the "you're a sucker if you don't cheat" age

I exposed NJ's Jewish invasion Inside Canada's Indian invasion

watching a guy with 8.8M subscribers put out this propaganda: there's a transnational far-right power grab and you're not ready for it

bsky.app/profile/kate...

A metro station of brutal concrete blocks and jagged black obelisks.

“You finished those DC metro stations?”
“Sure thing boss, beautiful, moodily lit and oddly unsettling, just like you asked.”
“What?”