Keri Blakinger

This seems not great

Federal court blocks new Texas congressional map for 2026 The decision is a major blow for Republicans, in Texas and nationally, who pushed through this unusual mid-decade redistricting at the behest of President Donald Trump.

Breaking: Federal court blocks Texas from using new congressional gerrymander in 2026 midterms.

The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.

NEW: When Andrew Tate landed in the US, Customs & Border Protection seized his electronic devices. But @propublica.org found that a White House official told DHS to return the devices, emphasizing that the request came from the White House.

By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro

oh man i owe you a text back i just remembered

BOP announced a prisoner death at FDC Miami today.

In addition to the cyberstalking case mentioned here, he had also been convicted of hiring a hit man to kill a federal prosecutor and an FBI agent.

No indication here as to how he died.

A Tale of Two Terms: How Powerful Figures Were Prosecuted in Trump’s First Term, Then Pardoned in His Second We found that Donald Trump has granted clemency in at least a dozen criminal cases that originated during his first term. No other president has used clemency to erase his own appointees’ actions on s...

NEW: Using his clemency power, Trump has undone prosecutions made by his own DOJ during his first term.

Experts say the actions show a broad contempt for the justice system: “He’s rejecting ... the work of people he appointed but didn’t fully control.”

By @jeremykohler.bsky.social

Federal prison guards are suing the federal prison system -- for unilaterally cancelling their union's collective bargaining agreement and thus "unlawfully stripping employees" of their bargained rights:

These Federal Prison Guards Are Desperate for Trump to Lose Unlike many law enforcement unions that endorsed the president, Bureau of Prisons staff argue he's anti-union.

I assume many did, but generally he's had less support than I expected within BOP because they understood after his first term that he was anti-union. www.themarshallproject.org/2020/11/05/t...

BOP response:

This week a federal prison CO died in a crash on the way back from work.

According to both prisoners & staff I have talked to, he'd just finished working 16 hours, half of which was mandated overtime because the agency is understaffed. thewynneprogress.com/one-killed-i...

Arrived in NY to find it is SNOW weather here and I am glad i brought appropriate socks because fuck that

Oh my

Please don’t tell me why I am excited, I like the mystery.

As much as I try to avoid knowing anything about sportsball yes can confirm football things have happened tonight. I am on a plane between two people who were watching it most of the flight. They both seemed excited enough that I am kind of excited for them but idk why we are excited exactly.

lolwut

This is just the disciplinary filing from lasd so if he was criminally charged that would be an LADA matter -- i haven't put in a records request for any declination memos, though I don't remember seeing any press releases about charges or anything

An LA sheriff's deputy was caught on camera *choking a handcuffed inmate* because he got mad that the inmate was eating a burrito and refused to stop eating and put it in his pocket (???)

According to a 1421 file posted on the LASD site this week, the deputy got a 30 day suspension.

The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.

One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc

👀https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/texas-elections-republicans-democrats-2026-21129181.php

I mean, technically it's e-messaging not true email -- but most prison systems have some kind of monitored e-messaging system through 3rd-party vendors like Securus or ViaPath. Often it means the companies provide free tablets and prisoners pay to use them.

LOLLL prison email is the best

Tech Billionaire Marc Andreessen Bet Big on Trump. It’s Paying Off for Silicon Valley. The Trump administration’s gutting of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been good for venture capitalists like Andreessen, who previously accused the agency of “terrorizing” fintech startup...

Since Trump took office, virtually all CFPB investigations have ground to a halt, including three probes into Andreessen-backed companies, according to the records and the people familiar with the cases. www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Zohran Mamdani says on NY1 he didn't get a congratulatory call from either Andrew Cuomo or Eric Adams last night.

He says he got a congratulatory call from Curtis Sliwa, though.

Sentence of the moment:
www.techdirt.com/2025/11/03/6...

How Gun Blasts From Indoor Shooting May Cause Brain Injuries The Times tested the blast waves of several popular civilian guns at an indoor range and found that repeated firing could add up to potentially harmful exposure.

Between this and the lead found in most protein powders, you gotta wonder how much of what the country is going through can be linked to brain damage: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Saskatchewan might force people into drug treatment. But will it work? | CBC News Political leaders across Canada are considering placing people into forced drug treatment programs. Alberta is funding the creation of two of centres for that purpose and Saskatchewan is considering f...

Holy shit I didn’t know that was happening - so I googled and read this story on it and as described here it seems like a v counterproductive approach to addiction. Like wtf were they thinking www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Wow, just saw this posted on a subreddit for federal employee news:

JUST IN: Judge Immergut renews her block on President Trump’s National Guard deployment to Portland, saying her three-day trial showed there was no credible evidence justify Trump/Hegseth’s incursion on Oregon’s sovereignty. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Best Halloween costume spotted in weho last night