depavement

Cook County Board Reapproves Contract with ICE-Linked Data Firm as Raids Sweep Chicago Four years after first being warned that a contract risked exposing immigrant data to ICE, Cook County approved another renewal—this time with advocates commissioners voicing frustration that stronger...

I’ve been tracking this contract since 2023, and last week, Cook County quietly renewed it. As ICE raids continue across Chicago, the board approved another $1M deal with a data broker tied to ICE. My latest for @southsideweekly.bsky.social

Anyone who has Siri or Alexa or Gemini on should turn them off like yesterday.

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Protect yourself & your community. Don’t give into outrage. Don’t engage. Just block.

A Tragic Homecoming The casket of Silverio Villegas González rests inside his family’s modest home in Michoacán.

In her first interview since he was killed by federal agents, Silverio Villegas González's partner Blanca Mora talked about the impact his death has had on their family.

Be sure to read this moving piece by Alma Campos about Silverio's final journey back to Loma de Chupio, Michoacán.

block this shit

the actual story here, which the media never talks about, is that police in this country have become a discrete right-wing political operation. the story isn't about cops leaving (they're lying about that), it's about the police trying to exert influence over elections.

ICE, in Chicago, is functioning more or less like a guerilla force. They are moving like water, appearing from unmarked vehicles, striking, and disappearing back to their mountain base (Broadview), and then escalating. This requires a new tactic from us.

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated' The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

My god.

“Watson said she saw agents dragging residents, including kids, out of the building without any clothes on and into U-Haul vans. Kids were separated from their mothers…’It was heartbreaking to watch…seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.’”

More people need to understand that saying only “criminals” should be subjected to expanding state violence around us is what led to the broader public being targeted by it, too. Criminality is subjective, and power determines what it is or is not.

This idea that state-level law enforcement will break ranks and fight the feds is a complete fantasy that ignores everything we know about the politice. Nobody is coming to save us!

What the stronger democratic governors understand that their supporters don't is that most state troopers, county sheriffs, local police, etc. will defy orders to arrest ICE agents. Once that happens, things will accelerate dramatically. It’s an event horizon, with more bloodshed on the other side.

Update on this: The City of Evanston isn't waiting for Flock to take the cams down, and staff have covered them up with bags and tape. Writing up a quick story to post before I go do (another!) citywide site visit to confirm all are covered (Picture taken yesterday by @joergmetzner.bsky.social)

What happened to Silverio Villegas González Immigration agents shot and killed an unarmed 38-year-old father outside Chicago on Friday—and their initial narrative of events was quickly disproven by videos captured by witnesses.

Cops lie.

ICE shot and killed a man in the Chicago suburbs last week. In the days since, we've seen a laundry list of escalating violent behavior from the feds: reckless driving, destroyed property, dawn raids, intimidation and threats against reporters, witnesses assaulted and threatened with pepper spray.

Airlines Sell 5 Billion Plane Ticket Records to the Government For Warrantless Searching New documents obtained by 404 Media show how a data broker owned by American Airlines, United, Delta, and many other airlines is selling masses of passenger data to the U.S. government.

A data broker owned by major US airlines, including American Airlines, United, and Delta, is selling access to five billion plane ticketing records to the government for warrantless searching and monitoring of peoples’ movements, including by the FBI, Secret Service, ICE and other agencies

What happened to Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez Immigration agents shot and killed an unarmed 38-year-old father outside Chicago on Friday—and their initial narrative of events was quickly disproven by videos captured by witnesses.

New, w/ @mulchy.bsky.social & @djbyrnes1.bsky.social:

ICE shot & killed an immigrant in the Chicago suburbs yesterday.

Then they immediately gave a misleading account of events.

Chicago erupted in chaos and a father who lived here for decades is dead. This is what really happened:

[bombing half the planet] haw haw whatchagonnado about it, power flows from a gun

[watching one nazi get shot] please… not Violence

posting anything feels strange. nonetheless, my young toddler now has 50 spontaneous words and word approximations and takes herself to the couch with her books.

Every person who says "of course there are some uses for LLMs" should be forced to immediately list what those uses are, taking into account that:

a) they cannot be accurate and there is no way to make them accurate

b) they have been repeatedly shown to make users dumber and worse at their jobs

“Of all the troubling findings we revealed in the study, the one thing where humanity can really make a difference quickly is the decision to better manage groundwater and protect it for future generations,”

To Chicago comrades & anyone else facing possible federal occupation:

The National Guard is standing around for photo ops.

DHS, ICE, FBI, DEA, ATF, are working with local police to terrorize & kidnap our neighbors.

Organize accordingly.

Eyes on the heartland A vast network of new license plate cameras has exploded across Illinois in recent years—paid for by state grants to fight retail crime. With the federal government clamoring for more information on p...

NEW: In what appears to be one of the largest expansions of surveillance in IL history, we found hundreds of new Flock license plate readers—all paid for by AG Kwame Raoul's office in the last 3 years.

Issues with Flock Safety's data sharing practices are mounting. Will our sanctuary status hold?

😭😭😭 I’m weeping. this is so precious. Happy Daniversary!

Cook County Sheriff “Data Loophole” Lets ICE Access Immigrant Info A clause in the county’s contract lets an information system designed for crime victims funnel sensitive data to ICE-contracted LexisNexis.

A notification system used by Cook County to alert crime victims about offenders’ statuses may be allowing ICE to obtain personal data on thousands of immigrants. Alma Campos, our Immigration Project Editor, reported this story.

southsideweekly.com/cook-county-...

A large GMC pick up truck with a front bumper / hood that is almost 5 feet tall. The truck has a special license plate raising awareness for bicycle safety and sharing the road with cyclists. This is interesting because large trucks such as these are at least twice as deadly to cyclists and pedestrians as regular sedans

Curious Murder Machine x Share the Road Plate combo 🤨

some rare good news: a Georgia judge has dismissed the Cop City domestic terrorism charges against Jamie Mariscano in DeKalb County, noting that the "Attorney General's Office appears to have delayed this matter in order to gain a tactical advantage over the defense."

The Raging Gifford Fire, Like Many, Began Near a Highway

This is the first major outlet I've seen writing about the fact that wildfires are started by cars. Everybody screams and cries about power lines, but the biggest problem is cars. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/u...

AI Eroded Doctors’ Ability to Spot Cancer Within Months in Study Artificial intelligence, touted for its potential to transform medicine, led to some doctors losing skills after just a few months in a new study.

“The AI in the study probably prompted doctors to become over-reliant on its recommendations, ‘leading to clinicians becoming less motivated, less focused, and less responsible when making cognitive decisions without AI assistance,’ the scientists said in the paper.”

*because not besides !