Michelle Shephard

“A Transportation Department spokesman did not respond to inquiries about whether a party balloon had been fired upon this week.”

Border Officials Are Said to Have Caused El Paso Closure by Firing Anti-Drone Laser

“C.B.P. officials thought they were firing on a cartel drone, the people said, but it turned out to be a party balloon. Defense Department officials were present during the incident, one person said.”

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...

And … now ban is lifted?

Not since 9/11 … ???

Michelle Shephard Podcast Episode · What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books · 02/09/2026 · 30m

"I thought, 'Oh, my God. How am I going to write like this guy?' We are opposite in every way. I'm this lefty Canadian agnostic. I don't even like cops."

Author and journalist @michelleshephard.bsky.social on her initial reaction to being chosen to co-write a book with former FBI agent Scott Payne.

How the Murdoch Family Built an Empire—and Remade the News Today, the name represents a story of profit and power unlike any other. But tracing the genealogy of Murdoch sleaze requires a long memory.

Rupert Murdoch is now 94 and worth $23 billion. His empire continues to gaslight the world—but he’ll leave even his own kingdom darker than he found it. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

The Murder of The Washington Post Today’s layoffs are the latest attempt to kill what makes the paper special.

We’ve had three cats .. Woody, Bernie and DT (Woodward, Bernstein and uh, Deep Throat.) THAT’S the @washingtonpost.com legacy when you’re a journalism couple.

But now, it’s this. (To @leloveluck.bsky.social & Lizzie Johnson ++ 💔 )

www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Ohio Church Swells With Support for Haitians Amid Deportation Fears

It was an amazing show of support in Springfield, Ohio, for the Haitian residents who make up so much of that town.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

The U.S. Assistant Secretary Dept. of Homeland Security .. responds ..

Nearly every sentence of U.S. District Court Judge Ana C. Reyes' 83-page ruling is an indictment of the Trump administration's attempt to end a visa program for 350,000+ Haitians legally living in the U.S.

But these last paragraphs ...

Your Leaders Were Lying. Now The People Are Driving The depravity of ICE, the enthusiasm of Republicans and the cowardice of Democrats is breaking through hypernormalization

The political/governing systems in Minnesota have failed so profoundly that ordinary people are strengthening their own communities against a predatory official force. Perhaps it's time to think beyond the political compact known as the "United States of America." New at FOREVER WARS:

When Liuzzo acquired this knowledge, when she got Woke, she was transfigured into a traitor to her race and a menace to The Homeland. For being a menace, for being Woke, she was killed—as was Renee Good. (As was Alex Pretti.) But revelations have their blessings, too. In this case, a life, however brief, that is clean, and does not depend on the oppression and debasement of others. The revelation of deep human ties, a belief that we are all equally chosen, doomed Liuzzo, Good, and Pretti, as revelation so often does. But it also immortalized them.

Ta-Nehisi on Minnesota, and Culture War as war www.vanityfair.com/news/story/t...

White House Warns CBS: Air Trump Interview in Full, or ‘We’ll Sue’ In previously unreported remarks, the White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News that Mr. Trump would “sue” the news outlet if it did not air an interview unedited.

The White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told CBS News on Tuesday that President Trump would sue the news outlet if it did not air an interview with him in full.

Richard Warnica: I spent the week in Minnesota. The only thing I’m sure of now is that more people are going to die As confrontations between ICE and protesters and activists grow more common, the tension only rises.

"They went to the Midwest to fight a phantom war against imaginary enemies. They ended up, within days, as an occupying force. In his first address as president, in 2017, Trump spoke of 'American carnage.' In Minnesota, in 2026, the carnage is finally here."

#Opinion from @rwarnica.bsky.social

Why the legacy of ‘carding’ is now a massive class action lawsuit — and why this man wants Toronto police to ‘leave me alone, please’ Dale James is “the man Toronto police won’t stop stopping.” Even after “carding” was abolished, he says he’s still regularly being stopped.

“The man Toronto police won’t stop stopping.”

@jleerankin.bsky.social on a proposed class-action lawsuit over historic and racially skewed police practice of “carding” in @thestar.com

www.thestar.com/news/gta/why...

Read the Indictment Against Nicolás Maduro The Venezuelan president was accused of narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine, among other charges. His wife, Cilia Flores, was also charged.

Read the indictment against Nicolás Maduro here.

#TalkAboutSudan: “Having lost almost everything, their stories are what they have left.”

Michelle Shephard recently returned from the Chad-Sudan border, where she met MSF teams and heard from Sudanese refugees fleeing violence.

Listen on CBC/Radio-Canada's The Current: https://ow.ly/BmbE50XHtuy

Pentagon abruptly calls a press conference for 11 am. Or, since hard-pass holders are now right-wing orgs & influencers, something orchestrated but flavored like a press conference: "For in-person attendance, this briefing is limited to invited press only. There is no Zoom call dial-in available."

I Urge you to read #Journalist @markmackinnon.bsky.social superb in depth reporting from #Syria. In this "new media" world of sound bites_this is a truly comprehensive report full of rich detail one yr after the fall of murderous #Assad

Is it time to make it illegal for politicians to lie to us? That’s the question currently on the table in Wales, which has just released a draft of the “globally pioneering” sanctions for politicians.

I wrote about a novel approach to tackling misinformation currently being discussed in Wales--and which some say Canada should try, too. What if we made a rule so politicians couldn't lie? www.thestar.com/politics/fed...

Grateful for the support from @msf.ca & @thewalrus.ca, allowing me report on the war in #Sudan.

Please give a listen to today's CBC Front Burner episode (and thank you Jayme Poisson and Matt Amha).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtNa...

More stories to come:

Grateful for chance to shed light on the war in #Sudan with support from @msf.ca & @thewalrus.ca … stories coming soon.

Terror Returns to Darfur Only American pressure can stop the killing in Sudan.

"However terrible the war and its consequent famine in Sudan is today, it can still get much worse"

From Alex de Waal, who knows Sudan better than anyone

www.foreignaffairs.com/guest-pass/r...

A woman with tattoos and pink hair stands in front of green foliage. A headline reads: "She Despised Charlie Kirk. A Former Mayor Resolved to Make People Like Her Pay." Photo by Desiree Rios for The New York Times

Hundreds of people have been doxxed, fired or threatened for social media posts that were seen as callous or celebratory after Charlie Kirk’s assassination. In a Texas town, people flooded online feeds with attacks that spilled into the real world for a paramedic. nyti.ms/4n7CSND

Criminal A Podcast About Crime

Thank you Criminal Podcast, for such a thoughtful episode.

Appreciate the interview and care Phoebe Judge & @jackiesojico.bsky.social

thisiscriminal.com

“I know that’s not as interesting as muzzling a comedian, but it’s so important to have a free press and it is nuts that we aren’t paying more attention.” 🙏🏻 @jimmykimmel.com …

Good piece by Allan Woods @thestar.com (And I hope he’s right ..)

Journalists should not face such harassment or threats for doing their job. Informed reporting or analysis is part of free expression and a cornerstone of democracy. #journalismisnotacrime

Pardoned insurrectionists are using Charlie Kirk’s death to call for civil war “Charlie Kirk's assassination pulled me out of retirement. More work must be done.”

J6ers and militia leaders are newly energized in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. “I’m going to be rebuilding Oath Keepers,” vowed Stewart Rhodes, leader of the militia group. www.motherjones.com/politics/202... by @juliannemcshane.bsky.social and me

“(T)he President doesn’t care one bit about all those sanctimonious calls for healing,” writes @sbg1.bsky.social. “It is not a dialogue about the crisis of political violence in America that he wants right now but an aggressive new policy of political vengeance.”

BREAKING: Canada has now joined a coalition of 27 other governments in calling on Israel to allow immediate foreign media access to Gaza and to protect journalists.