shawn

Sama just posted that OpenAI got the contract:

The Chicago real estate firm leasing an empty prison to ICE Highlands Real Estate Investment Trust looks to profit from President Trump's anti-immigrant agenda.

new: highlands reit, a small chicago-based real estate firm, is renting an empty prison it owns in colorado to ice and private prison giant geo group.

highlands is part of a network of private contractors hoping to get a cut of the $45 billion allocated to warehouse immigrants through 2029.

Fake spring part 2 was nice. If you haven't stepped outside at least for a bit, Chicago. Get on it. It’s still practically shorts weather.

Screenshot of a spreadsheet tracking independent expenditure spending reports from Elect Chicago Women (or ECW for short). A few spreadsheet lines are highlighted green to indicate they are newly reported as of today. The spending totals are listed to the right: $2,845,686.08 spent supporting Laura Fine, $814,738.58 opposing Daniel Biss.

Another day, another batch of Elect Chicago Women spending in IL-09. The AIPAC-backed super PAC added another $52k supporting Laura Fine w/ media production and phone messages, and another $131k opposing Daniel Biss w/ direct mail and phone messages. Updated totals: $2.85mm pro-Fine, $815k anti-Biss

two senior ice officials joke about awarding contracts for nine privately run immigration jails ahead of schedule in an email exchange from march 2025.

“you’re such an overachiever,” writes susan dunbar.

“I'm a people pleaser...it's a curse,” replies albert dainton, ice’s head of contracting.

the constitutional right to bear ai

and that’s why it’s so important we don’t get desensitized to it ourselves. we’ve seen so. much. violence. in the past year. i mean literally seen it with our own two eyes. experienced it. it’s really fucking hard to sit with. and it should be. no one should be ok with this.

so much this

Text of the introductory allegations of the indictment against 39 alleged Cities Church protestors

Text of the introductory allegations of the indictment against 39 alleged Cities Church protestors

Text enumerating the first count all 39 defendants face; "Conspiracy against right of religious freedom at place of worship"

Text listing the sharing of a flyer advertising the Cities Church protest as constituting "overt acts" of the alleged conspiracy.

New: per an indictment unsealed today, 39 people are facing federal conspiracy charges stemming from a Jan. 18 protest against an ICE-affiliated pastor at Cities Church in St. Paul, MN.

5 people sharing flyers advertising the protest on social media are listed as "overt acts" of the conspiracy.

Revisit Kerry Cardoza's reporting on Loyola University’s development plans and the lack of communication that has set Rogers Park residents on edge for years: chicagoreader.com/arts-culture...

"One of the key questions I asked at the beginning was, are people supposed to read this?" says designer Micheal Bierut, who typeset the lettering with a team at Pentagram, led by designer Britt Cobb. "Is legibility the primary goal here? Do we want people to be able to stand on the ground, look up at this tower, and read those words? And that was discussed on the client end, and the answer came back, 'No, it should have the promise of meaning, it should be decipherable, everything should be spelled right and it should make sense.'

A photo of an upper corner of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago which is covered in mostly indecipherable prose

How the text on the Obama library was typeset

lolololol

www.yellopolitics.com/p/how-the-te...

Mark Weyermuller post in "Wilmette Connection" facebook group: "I would like to get a Chili's in Wilmette, maybe on Green Bay Road or Skokie Boulevard. I recommend it." with a selfie of mark looking stunning in front of a chilis

the groundwork for this was laid, at least in part, by democrats in atlanta who baselessly prosecuted cop city protesters

Hudson prison’s Alaskan inmates set to go home The Alaskan prisoners housed in the Hudson Correctional Facility in southeast Weld County will soon be on their way home, and that could leave upward of 1,200 empty prison beds and 200 jobs lost. T…

yeah, alaska briefly rented hudson correctional facility while it built a new prison. the new prison in alaska opened in september 2013, so the state ended its contract and hudson has sat empty ever since.

icarly looking incredibly uncomfortable after seeing something cringe on her computer

but also i would never say that to my boss bc i'm not that cringe

that exchange really stuck with me—the complete detachment from the incredible atrocities they're orchestrating. this could've been an exchange between me and my boss. they're so casual about something so heinous.

two senior ice officials joke about awarding contracts for nine privately run immigration jails ahead of schedule in an email exchange from march 2025.

“you’re such an overachiever,” writes susan dunbar.

“I'm a people pleaser...it's a curse,” replies albert dainton, ice’s head of contracting.

All, The following instructions pertain to the passing of SB 244 regarding gender reclassifications. I've attached the letter that was sent to the individuals who need to return to our office and have their credential updated with their gender at birth. A flag will show on record indicating SB244 NOTICE for anyone who has been sent a letter. The individuals will be charged as normal for their reissuance. Should these customers arrive at the office without an appointment you are to make certain to get them processed as soon as possible, getting them in and out of the office. When issuing these credentials, you MUST reach out to the DL Helpdesk at KDOR_Photostop@ks.gov with the individuals K# and name indicating SB 244 update. For your ISSUANCE NOTE please include the following information: "Subject"=REISSUED PER SB 244 "Note"=GENDER CHANGED FROM MALE TO FEMALE (or whatever the situation) - Along with regular credential issuance notes

Little scoop before publishing a full story on the situation later — I've obtained the email sent to all Kansas DMV employees by Kent Selk, Driver Services Manager for the Kansas Department of Revenue on how to handle the compulsory gender marker change for trans people.

Full text of Selk's note:

This is a type of ICE "ruse," and is a tactic the agency has deployed for decades.

In 2015, ICE went to my former client's house posing as cops and convinced his 16-year-old US citizen niece to call him home from work with a fake story (the "identity theft ruse" explained below), then arrested him.

dude peaked in elementary school and is still riding the high of everyone pretending to like him bc he brought fun dip valentines

Lawmakers Demand DHS Define ‘Domestic Terrorist’ As It Uses Vast Array of Surveillance Tools Rep. Bennie G. Thompson and a host of other Democrats made the demand in a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. “Your actions are abhorrent, blatantly unconstitutional, and corrosive to the functionin...

A group of more than a dozen Democratic lawmakers are demanding DHS hand over its definition of "domestic terrorist", after the agency repeatedly used the term against Renée Good and Alex Pretti, and has deployed a vast array of surveillance tech against critics www.404media.co/lawmakers-de...

federal agents arrested more people in connection with the cities church (led by an ICE agent) protest in st paul this morning. another independent journalist was arrested - brixton hughes. chauntyll allen's wife satara strong-allen was also arrested, both named in nekima levy armstrong's post

“The 17 cleared defendants spent a combined 150 days in federal custody, records show. That doesn’t include 35 days, and counting, that Juan Espinoza Martinez has been held by immigration authorities since he was acquitted for allegedly placing a hit on Gregory Bovino…”

Cops understand that the process *is* punishment. So beating the rap is nice, but it fucks you up, though theoretically you’re not being punished unless and until you’re convicted.

there is no hell hot enough

The person running this company, Robert Lange, is a former Skadden attorney and UChicago Law alum.