Walter Olson

Keep seeing the misinformation that this was Liam on here--has been reported that it was not

Plato Understood Why Masking Would Turn ICE Agents Into Devils The Republic explained that social scrutiny was necessary for human virtue

"Plato Understood Why Masking Would Turn ICE Agents Into Devils." No names, no identifiability, no prospect of social consequences = setting the stage for humanity's worst instincts to run wild [@rosenzweigp.bsky.social]

United in Security: How Every State Protects Your Vote in 2026 • Bipartisan Policy Center In collaboration with the R Street Institute and the Institute for Responsive Government, we detail the security and integrity protections that make American elections strong, resilient, and trustwort...

Every U.S. state has extensive safeguards in place to bolster election integrity: bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/un...

Trump vs. Canada Former Alberta Premier Jason Kenney on annexation threats, the unraveling of U.S.-Canada relations, and how Trump is forcing allies to rethink democracy, defense, and immigration. Plus: the Trump fami...

Even if you don't stick around for the interview with former Alberta premier Jason Kenney, this @davidfrum.bsky.social podcast opens strongly with a discussion of the newly revealed Trump family/United Arab Emirates $$$ connection

American presidents shouldn't endorse foreign political candidates Trump's endorsements of Viktor Orbán and Sanae Takaichi, like Clinton's support for Boris Yeltsin or Obama's opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu, do not make America great.

Yet another norm worth reasserting if the nightmare ever ends: "American Presidents Shouldn't Endorse Foreign Political Candidates" [Welch, Reason]

The Ancient Roots of Doing Time The historical and archeological record upends the widespread belief that long-term incarceration belongs to the modern state.

Contra Foucault, the modern West did not invent long-term incarceration: Adam Gopnik in the @newyorker.com reviews a book by Matthew Larsen and Mark Letteney on prisons in the ancient Mediterranean

The staffer

Minnesota ICE Enforcement: Alleged Constitutional Violations The ACLU and partners sued over alleged racial profiling and unlawful arrests in Minnesota. Read sworn declarations and case details.

Proud to play a role in helping get this together for @justsecurity.org. It provides you with details from the sworn declarations filed in support of the ACLU's lawsuit in Minnesota, Hussen v. Noem. The details of abuses by federal agents across the 29 declarations we looked at are chilling.

I'm always happy to learn that there's still a significant portion of the country who wants the US to be the US.

How Americans See Immigration Officers’ Behaviors and Civilian Actions Americans overwhelmingly say it is acceptable to record immigration arrests. Most also say it’s unacceptable for ICE, CBP officers to hide their identities.

* "74% say it is acceptable for people to record video of immigration officers while they make arrests."

* "59% say it’s acceptable to share information about where officers are making arrests." /3, end

* "72% of Americans say it’s unacceptable for them to use people’s appearance or the language they speak as a reason to check their immigration status." /2

The Pew Research Center has published a new survey of Americans' opinions on immigration enforcement. Four highlights:

* "61% say it is unacceptable for officers to wear face coverings that hide their identities while working." /1

"If this had happened in the United States, they’d probably have sued the toy manufacturer claiming the dinosaur was defective in some way. Not that I want to give them any ideas."

"Missouri Attorney General Hanaway Files Suit Against U.S. Department of Commerce, Census Bureau To Cease Counting Illegal Aliens, Requests Census Recount" #ELB You can find Missouri’s AG’s press release here. The complaint is here. This is yet another attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants from the decennial apportionment. The first Trump administration ...

Missouri has filed a lawsuit seeking to exclude undocumented immigrants from the 2030 Census and apportionment. Remarkably, Missouri is also seeking a "redo" of the 2020 enumeration "if necessary." No idea how that would even be possible at this stage.

electionlawblog.org?p=154059

How One Arkansas Family Is Rewriting the Rules of Rice Farming In flooded fields amid a waterfowler’s paradise, the Isbells are reimagining how to use the land—and gaining the attention of sake brewers worldwide

"After three years of tinkering, Isbell sowed his first fields with Koshihikari, quite likely the first planting outside Japan." Deft account of how one family brought sushi rice culture to Arkansas, with detours into water stewardship and migratory fowl habitat [T. Edward Nickens, Garden & Gun]

They also never return to the status ante quo. They always require people to haul the jumper back up to the bridge.

A case for cautious optimism on the extent to which the federal courts are containing Trump's power grabs. I'll remember the bungee cord image, bearing in mind, as Goldsmith observes, that bungee cords put under great stress sometimes snap back and sometimes break.

Damn i remember some big lawsuits of broadcasters over editing of events showing WH figures

Federal Tobacco Subsidies Farm subsidies are unjust, unneeded, and unaffordable. Fraud is just one of the many reasons why they should be repealed.

Social services fraud isn't some kind of one-off. "Cheating on government benefits can become part of an area’s local culture... 'It went so far beyond farmers… It was tobacco buyers, tobacco company officials, bankers, check cashers, adjusters, and chemical salesmen. Kind of a giant, tangled web.'”

“.. It is an invisible barrier to startups and new market entrants,” said Scott Lincicome .. “Why would you ever want to enter a market that you know your chief competitor is backed by the U.S. government?”

@cnbc.com @scottlincicome.bsky.social
www.cnbc.com/2026/02/07/t...

Man pardoned in U.S. Capitol riot pleads guilty to threatening Hakeem Jeffries A New York man has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor harassment charge in connection with a death threat aimed at U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries

He committed a crime, Trump pardoned him, he committed a new crime. Law and order president? Lol.

abcnews.go.com/amp/US/wireS...

NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff

SCOOP: The NSA detected a phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump last spring.

Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

SEN. OSSOFF: “.. why are roving gangs of masked men — who look like they couldn’t pass the Army physical exam — dressed up like pretend Delta Force operators, on our streets, demanding papers, dragging people from their cars, and shooting people to death?”

@acyn.bsky.social

Opinion | ICE and Minnesota Have Pushed the U.S. Closer to Autocracy Measuring America’s slide toward democratic erosion.

The @nytimes.com autocracy index is good. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

The Fourth Circuit let the federal government indefinitely detain Duane Berry after charges were dismissed—an overreach that threatens liberty and constitutional limits. Cato has filed an amicus brief urging Supreme Court review. Learn more.

https://ow.ly/MmA350Yaqxu

J.D. Tuccille: Embarrassed Trump administration targets phone videos of ICE abuses Both the law and public sentiment support recording government officials

Trump administration is dead set letting the public take out phones and record ICE street actions. "That’s too bad. Both the U.S. Constitution and public sentiment firmly support independent efforts to publicize the conduct of government employees." [J.D. Tuccille, National Post (Canada)]

The Sordid Story of Trump, the Trump–Witkoff Family Business, and the UAE | National Review Even if crypto makes your head hurt, you’re going to be hearing a lot about this in the months to come.

Family money-raking: "You’d have to add two digits to the sum of Biden abuses of power, foreign entanglements, & corruption alleged in the report to get near what Trump has raked in just from the UAE." Andrew McCarthy kicks off 5-part NRO series on Trump-&-sheiks sleaze, should be worth following

Cast iron pan containing four browned chicken thighs surrounded by shredded light green.

Braised chicken thighs with chopped leeks and celery; other flavorings include white wine, anchovies and thyme. #foodsky #BlueskySupperClub

Annoyingly, this doesn’t specify what exactly is happening. But it sure seems like DHS filed a “motion to pretermit” the asylum application. Which it is doing in countless cases around the country.

There’s been a little reporting on this; there needs to be a bunch more. I’m working a piece myself.

Group chats about ICE whereabouts are protected speech. The FBI is investigating anyway. FBI Director Kash Patel pays lip service to the First and Second Amendments while casting suspicion on people who exercise their First or Second Amendment rights.

Signal group chats about ICE whereabouts are protected speech. The FBI is investigating anyway... reason.com/2026/01/29/g...