Emily Arnold-Fernández

Key words: "mass" surveillance -- bet they argue targeted surveillance (eg against all Trump critics) isn't "mass". And "human responsibility" for autonomous weapons, which probably means "here's who an injured person could take to court if killed by autonomous weapons". Assuming courts still work

Florida lawmakers advance domestic terrorism designation bill despite constitutional concerns It would allow the state to designate certain groups as domestic terrorist organizations. Supporters cite public safety, and critics say it’s unconstitutional.

Legislation allowing the Florida Governor to label organizations as domestic terrorists without any prior criminal conviction of the group, its leaders, or members continues to advance. Bills are HB 1472 and SB 1632. Call the office of House Speaker Danny Perez at 8507175000 to express opposition.

A Federalism Bottleneck? The Subnational Levers Constraining ICE

New from @splawinski.bsky.social at Can We Still Govern: To stymie ICE, look at the sources of its power.

That includes money but also co-operative 287(g) agreements with state and local govts.

Blocking and reversing those agreements weakens ICE capacity. 🧵
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/a-federali...

In addition to their concerns about the conditions in which ICE detainees would be held, local leaders warned that an ICE warehouse in their town of about 30,000 residents could place a heavy burden on emergency services and tarnish the community’s public image while reducing property tax revenues.

for better or worse, this will probably be the most successful and compelling argument by communities against ICE concentration camps being built:

(from this piece: archive.is/eGsQf)

KABAS: So many comparisons have made between the current state of US immigration terror and Nazi Germany in the 1930s, and I've seen some say that kind of seeks to absolve this country of its own history of racial terror and genocide. In the hearings this week with ICE and CBP and USCIS, you said you have “no respect for inheritors of the Klan hood and the slave patrol.” How did it feel to publicly and explicitly draw that connection? REP. RAMIREZ: I knew that I was going to make them very uncomfortable. I'm not talking about just the DHS directors there—I meant my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. And I say this often, ‘Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s the willingness to act despite the fear.’ I'm a little scared [in that moment], because if I'm being blunt with you, every time I speak there's a death threat. And yet I thought it was so important, as a daughter of immigrants, as a proud representative of Illinois-3, as someone who has been calling out what they do, to be able to look evil in the eye and call them what they are.

Delia Ramirez is a real one

www.thehandbasket.co/p/rep-delia-...

MAGA propagandists: "We represent the silent majority"
The silent majority:

List of Every Republican Who Voted to Make Obamacare More Expensive Here is the full list of Republicans who don’t care that health insurance costs are about to skyrocket for millions of Americans.

The bill needed 60 votes to pass, but only four Republicans broke with their party and voted to extend the subsidies that millions rely on: Josh Hawley, Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan, and Susan Collins, resulting in a total of just 51 votes in favor. trib.al/09Q1dxK

Mark Zuckerberg is building a data center in Louisiana that will use 3x more electricity than all of New Orleans.

Oligarchs want YOU to pay for these data centers with higher water & electric bills.

Americans must fight back against billionaires who put profits over people.

Mostly I don't share unpublished #poems here...but I'm in New York as the #UNGA (#UN General Assembly) meeting happens and my country's president makes unhinged critiques of cooperation between countries and individual people's rights. The words just emerged.

#poetry #politics #humanrights

From ‘Black and white and red all over’ by Emily Arnold-Fernández @emilyaf47.bsky.social

Read the full poem at www.echepoetry.co.uk/one

Emily Arnold-Fernandez @emilyaf47.bsky.social (she/they) is a poet from California who resides in Scotland. Inspiration for 'After the Rescue' comes from a childhood love of the song 'Puff the Magic Dragon' to fairytales to the performances of femininity demanded of women. Read in #ShadowsOnTheStage

Thanks to the amazing poets … @mrirwin.bsky.social @garretandbasement.bsky.social @writeangled.bsky.social @lenaozge.bsky.social @wordsmithwitch.bsky.social @emilyaf47.bsky.social @simonmaddrell.bsky.social @navkiranmann.bsky.social @nblascsok.bsky.social @bornonadarkmoon.bsky.social

One of the biggest problems right now is people don't understand the scope of the Administration's actions.

We make handouts about specific topics to help people understand what's happening. Please hand them out, share them online, and use our QR codes on stickers and signs.

freedombell.us

A handout that begins "America's Weather Service Is Being Shut Down. What Happens When the Next Deadly Storm Hits?"

Lives and livelihoods depend on the Federal Government's weather forecasting agencies. Why is the Trump Administration shutting down critical systems?

freedombell.us/weather

The Greens now have nearly 200 more councillors than Reform.

This is not something you'd be likely to guess from all the copiously salivating media coverage of Farage & his crew of billionaire-backed far-right chancers.

I have gotten confirmation from sources inside the Coast Guard that this is in fact true and happened in Key West.

ICE went into military housing and took the spouse of a USCG member who is currently out to sea.

Please spread the word about this bot to folks who use screen readers and/or rely on alt text for understanding images of text. Please do not use the bot when it isn't needed. It isn't expensive to maintain the service, but it does cost money. You can report issues to @holden.bsky.social. Thank you!

If you accept that non-citizens have no right to due process, you are accepting that citizens have no right to due process. All the government has to do is claim that you are not a citizen; without due process you have no chance to prove the contrary.

Today, I am calling on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and other top officials in the Trump administration to resign immediately due to their reckless and unlawful disclosure of national security secrets. Their actions have put our country at risk, and immediate accountability is necessary

Pinterest updated their terms of use and they're going to use all of the content you saved to train their AI.
Go to options > your privacy rights > disable GenAI
Please do it 🫠

Hearing that the Coast Guard is being told to deprioritize and de-emphasize the Search and Rescue mission.

That’s right, you know, one of the main missions of the service since the very beginning?

There are more than 3,500 lives saved per year by the CG.

💥 BREAKING: At John Deere's annual shareholders meeting today, shareholders overwhelmingly rejected an anti-DEI proposal brought by the same group that targeted Costco and Apple. An anti-DEI proposal from the NCPPR received less than 1 percent of votes.

Deere shareholders: DEI is in. Bigots are out

Who Is the Anonymous Data Expert Telling Elon Which Cuts to Make? Conservatives cite her account to spread misinformation about federal agencies. DataRepublican has worked at a tech firm that’s battled the CFPB.

SCOOP: Elon's favorite anon data expert, who's been appearing on NewsNation in sunglasses, isn't a govt. spending expert but rather a senior employee at an AI lending firm that's battled the CFPB for years.

Me at @rollingstone.com

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

On the HHS Leadership call today: 1 employee from CMS (Center for Medicare/Medicaid Service) and 2 employees from SSA (Social Security Administration) have died by suicide after their firing.

We'll be opening submissions for the 2025 Literary Awards Program, judged by the ever wonderful @deeshaphilyaw.bsky.social, on March 1st. We can't wait to read those manuscripts!

Learn more about our Literary Awards Program right here: https://buff.ly/4gUhp7J

New Report Exposes How Elon Musk Made U.S. Government His Cash Cow Elon Musk is a greedy welfare billionaire.

As Musk rails against government fraud and waste (and gets it wrong), he would do well to remember how much he has benefited from taxpayer funds.

Top Social Security official exits after clash with Musk’s DOGE over data Yet another top career staffer is leaving the administration amid a disagreement over a request by Elon Musk’s team for sensitive government information.

🚨 SCOOP 🚨

The acting Social Security commissioner has left the agency after a clash over providing DOGE access to sensitive data

It follows our reporting that DOGE is seeking access to personal financial data at the IRS for every taxpayer, business and nonprofit.

Thousands Gather on Presidents’ Day to Call Trump a Tyrant Protesters opposing broad swaths of President Trump’s agenda took the streets across the country, including outside the U.S. Capitol.

Lots of protests on No Kings Day (Presidents' Day).

Google's top links to news about it are Rolling Stone and Al-Jazeera. NYT coverage doesn't appear until p 3.

Let's make visible the extent of these protests. We don't want a King Trump or an Emperor Musk!

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/17/u...

Fascinating how many liberals want to accept the unproved premise that we are less happy and justify it.

I reject even the premise. Self-reporting is not a reliable measure.

Considering how conservatives *act* like bitter, angry people, I'd think they aren't as happy as they say.

Knowledge is power…