E.A.R.

me hitting “send” on my silly little posts while the indescribable horrors continue all around

This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t George W. Bush may think that a war against Iraq is the solution to our problems, but the reality is, it will only serve to create far more.

This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t

Elite Doctors Served Jeffrey Epstein While Treating His ‘Girls’

NEW: I and colleagues reviewed 15,000 documents to illuminate how Jeffrey Epstein used VIP doctors to control and manipulate young women* — and how the doctors helped him, treating his needs as more important than the patients'. Gift link.

*see next post in thread

is this going to become a (taps sign) kind of thing

Two Los Angeles protesters convicted of stalking ICE agent Two protesters were convicted of stalking a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in a case that could test the limits of furious protests against the Trump administration's immigration raids...

BREAKING: Two Los Angeles protesters convicted of stalking ICE agent, in case some say could set ‘dangerous precedent’ about recording federal agents. Latest w/ @brittnymejia.bsky.social www.latimes.com/california/s...

Trump, famously motivated by (checks notes) the story of Purim

A joint American-Israeli strike has hit an elementary girls’ school in Minab, a city in #Iran's Hormozgan province, killing at least 51 people. Search and rescue continues. The civilian cost of Trump's war of choice is immediate and clear. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/...

How Kansas Republicans weaponized the law to target 300 trans driver's license holders SB 244 was put into effect virtually overnight, causing chaos, panic and fear in the trans community.

New — I spoke to eight trans people in Kansas about the new state law that invalidated their driver’s licenses overnight, what’s it’s like to live there right now, plus details of two DMV emails exclusively obtained by The Handbasket that shed light on the law’s chaotic and cruel rollout:

911 calls capture kids burning with fever, struggling to breathe at ICE detention center EMS crews were called to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas at least 11 times since September for children in medical distress, records show.

NEW: We obtained 911 audio from the Texas detention center housing hundreds of immigrant kids and their parents.

Since mid-September, EMS crews have been dispatched to Dilley at least 11 times to treat children in medical distress.

Burning fevers. Low oxygen. Seizures. A broken leg.

My report:

The Washington Post's description of the bodycam video of his arrest last year, and the translation of Mr. Shah Alam's comments, is gutting. Remember, he was entirely blind in one eye and could only see three feet in the other, and he spoke virtually no English.

He spent a year in jail for this.

Investigative Post obtained this video of Border Patrol abandoning Nurul Shah Alam, the nearly blind Burmese refugee who was found dead

www.investigativepost.org/2026/02/26/t...

Cartoon villain stuff

An official letter from the Kansas Division of Vehicles dated February 23, 2026, with a redacted recipient address. The letter notifies the recipient that due to the enactment of Senate Bill 244, all Kansas driver's licenses and IDs must reflect the holder's sex at birth. It states that the recipient's current credential will become invalid immediately upon the law's publication on February 26, 2026, with no grace period. The recipient is directed to surrender their current ID to receive a new one matching their sex assigned at birth. The document concludes with instructions on how to appeal the notice if received in error, along with contact information for the department.

Kansas is sending letters to trans people telling them that their licenses will be revoked as of tomorrow and that they risk arrest for driving on a suspended license.

This is pure cruelty.

www.erininthemorning.com/p/kansas-sen...

Blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol dies in Buffalo. A nearly blind refugee abandoned by Border Patrol miles from his home dies in Buffalo after having been missing for nearly a week.

"Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a nearly blind refugee from Burma who Border Patrol agents dropped off at a doughnut shop Thursday and left to find his way home, 5 miles away, has been found dead."

To read the words is to damn all involved, from Trump on down.

Border Patrol released Nurul Amin Shah Alam, a 56 yo man, nearly blind with serious medical conditions, at "an old address & his family had since moved" in Buffalo, NY in the winter. "His family was not initially notified." He was found dead. @news4buffalo.bsky.social

www.wivb.com/news/local-n...

As my colleague Andy Schneider explained there is a complex administrative process CMS has to follow to preemptively withhold or retrospectively disallow federal #Medicaid funding for a state like MN. It would be unlawful to just unilaterally halt federal funding: ccf.georgetown.edu/2026/01/16/c...

"Durable medical equipment" is a dull name for EXTREMELY important stuff

Aliya Rahman, woman who was dragged out of car by ICE in Minneapolis: "I've spent the last month learning the names of the tendons in my shoulder, because both of my shoulders are torn -- cartilage and tendons. But what I haven't learned is the names of the people who did this to me."

We have no idea what tear gas does to kids' health - MinnPost Chemical irritants can cause chest tightness, coughing and shortness of breath. For kids, there’s more potential for serious side effects.

“How is it, then, that it’s OK to use unregulated chemicals on a broad range of civilian populations, especially when these chemicals are banned in war?” via @19thnews.org

www.minnpost.com/health/2026/...

A Reddit post in r/LawSchool asking "Can someone explain Bush v. Gourd? I was not old enough to really keep up with this but I know its opinion is a bit of a bad one they say. Why is this?"

law school: where you can constantly feel extremely old

The hidden ICE blueprint that should horrify every American | Will Bunch An internal Department of Homeland Security document shows how ICE plans to cram thousands of detained human beings inside a Georgia warehouse.

What's more shocking than ICE's plan to cram as many 8,500 humans into massive, soul-crushing warehouses?

Seeing the actual DHS floor plan that echoes slavery ships and history's worst gulags with no rec space but a gun range for guards

My new column on the camps www.inquirer.com/opinion/ice-...

Trump Administration Will Collect Social Media Handles from Legal Immigrants and U.S. Citizens The new requirement poses serious threats to free speech and privacy rights.

The 3 million-plus people applying for immigration status changes will now be required to provide the government with their social media handles. This expansive new requirement poses a serious threat to constitutional rights.
bit.ly/4aE5uKa

ICE detained a Minnesota teen, labeled him an ‘unaccompanied minor,’ and lost him The Trump administration is apprehending and designating immigrant kids as “unaccompanied,” even as their parents in the U.S. search for them.

The Trump administration is apprehending and designating immigrant kids as “unaccompanied,” even as their parents in the U.S. search for them.

How We Tracked Reports to Police About Drug Use During Pregnancy How We Tracked Reports to Police About Drug Use During Pregnancy

We spent a year compiling and verifying data on law enforcement referrals. Our analysis shows that over a six-year period, child welfare agencies in 21 states referred parents to police or prosecutors more than 70,000 times over alleged substance use during pregnancy.

yes! and also parents and other family members of disabled people!

our shoddy support systems are built on the assumption that families (and disproportionately women) will plug in the gaps, and that can make it extremely difficult to hold a job

Decline in remote jobs risks shutting disabled people out of work, study finds Research project warns fall in homeworking roles could undermine efforts to reduce unemployment

Many disabled and chronically ill people are demonized for not working full-time jobs, when the truth is they can be forced out due to inaccessible policies. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

this is the most wholesome thing

The Pulitzer board sometimes issues special citations — eg for the videographer at the George Floyd murder, or for journalists covering Gaza and Ukraine.

They could do that this year, to ameliorate the error made years ago in not awarding Brown a Pulitzer Prize.

www.pulitzer.org/prize-winner...

Trump aides struggle with how to spend $500 billion more on military Some senior officials resisted the decision to approve the major military spending increase, people familiar with the matter say.

Reading this story—about how the Pentagon has been given so much extra money it's struggling to spend it all—while thinking about the formerly homeless tenants I've spoken with in recent weeks whose housing vouchers are being discontinued for "lack of funds."

He made a fake ICE deportation tip line. Then a kindergarten teacher called. A Nashville comedian’s deportation hotline, set up as a joke, has gone viral among viewers who say it shows the “banality of evil personified” in the U.S. immigration crackdown.

"One woman reported the new girlfriend of her ex-husband. Another person reported his neighbor for using his trash can."
www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...