Travis Waldron

the USA built a system of higher education so good that smart/rich people from across the world came here, spending billions to learn here, subsidizing education for Americans while spending money to live in our cities and towns. our government arbitrarily decided we should stop doing that

I will say this again and again until the cap fetishists get it. There is a 1:1 correlation between "leagues that have broken their unions" and "leagues with a payroll cap." Let that be a clue as to who wins in a cap system.

what a year

Chloe Kelly rules.

Volkswagen kept a dark secret in the Amazon. Then a priest made a call. Poor laborers were lured to the automaker’s cattle ranch in the Amazon and promised a better life. Brazilian prosecutors say many were enslaved.

History forgot the horrors endured by laborers on Volkswagen's massive cattle ranch in the Brazilian Amazon. But a priest had recorded it all.

Absolutely outstanding reporting and storytelling here.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/intera...

Was a bit less specific than I should’ve been there in bid to save characters.

62% say they’re a unjustified, 50% agree they’re an attack on Brazil’s sovereignty, Lula’s specific argument. Latter is potentially affected by polarization around the Bolsonaro legal cases, I’d think?

Once the World’s ‘Most Popular Politician,’ Lula Is Losing His Way in Brazil High inflation and economic discontent are hammering Lula’s approval. Allies say the real problem is a 79-year-old president who’s stuck in the past.

Lula has struggled to arrest declining approval.

We did a big piece on his problems a month ago — with a wonder if Trump may help rejuvenate the leftist lion a la liberals in Canada and Australia.

Still a long way to 2026 election, but perhaps a shot in the arm. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Brazilians Back Lula Against Trump, Calling Tariffs Unjustified Most Brazilians see Donald Trump’s threat of a 50% tariff as unjustified meddling in internal affairs and believe President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s administration is responding appropriately, acco...

Trump Effect arrives in Brazil?

New Bloomberg/AtlasIntel survey shows approval of Brazil’s Lula nearing 50% amid Trump tariff fight, best levels of the year.

50% say tariffs are attack on Brazil. 63% of Brazilians now say they hold negative view of Trump.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Case 8:25-cv-00951-PX Document 211 Filed 07/02/25 Page 2 of 5 3. The proposed Amended Complaint details the Government's defiance of court orders after this Court granted preliminary injunctive relief. The Amended Complaint includes allegations that the Government made decisions to defy judicial mandates. These allegations are new to the Complaint, but have been cited in various filings in this Court as the case has developed. They are directly relevant to Plaintiffs' constitutional claims and outstanding requests for declaratory and prospective injunctive relief. 4. Plaintiffs also seek to incorporate evidence that emerged in a June 2025 whistleblower disclosure from former DOJ official Erez Reuveni, who was previously counsel for the Government in this case. The new allegations include government officials internally acknowledging that Abrego Garcia's removal was an "administrative error" while simultaneously working to prevent his return and to make post-hoc justifications. These revelations provide evidence of deliberate misconduct that was unavailable when the original Complaint was filed and directly support Plaintiffs' claims. 5. The proposed Amended Complaint also Includes Abrego Garcia's first-hand account of torture and mistreatment at CECOT, as well as developments regarding his return to the United States and the Government's stated plan to remove him again. These allegations identify the severe harm actually suffered and the threat of repeated unlawful removal that supports Plaintiffs' request for prospective injunctive relief. The inclusion of these facts, which could not have been pleaded at the time of the original filing, is essential to present a complete picture of the violations and ensure adequate relief. 6. Plaintiffs also propose to clarify that the relief sought includes restoring the status quo ante, which requires (among other things) the Government to return Abrego Garcia to 2

NEW: Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s lawyers seek permission to file an amended complaint in his civil case in Maryland.

Among other things, the amended complaint “includes Abrego Garcia's first-hand account of torture and mistreatment at CECOT…”

120. Upon arrival at CECOT, the detainees were greeted by a prison official who stated, "Welcome to CECOT. Whoever enters here doesn't leave." Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was then forced to strip, issued prison clothing, and subjected to physical abuse including being kicked in the legs with boots and struck on his head and arms to make him change clothes faster. His head was shaved with a zero razor, and he was frog-marched to cell 15, being struck with wooden batons along the way. By the following day, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia had visible bruises and lumps all over his body. 121. In Cell 15, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia and 20 other Salvadorans were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion. During this time, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was denied bathroom access and soiled himself The detainees were confined to metal bunks with no mattresses in an overcrowded cell with no windows, bright lights that remained on 24 hours a day, and minimal access to sanitation. 122. After approximately one week at CECOT, prison director Osiris Luna and other officials separated the 21 Salvadorans who had arrived together. Twelve individuals with visible gang-related tattoos were moved to another cell, while Plaintiff Abrego Garcia remained with eight others who, like him, upon information and belief had no gang affiliations or tattoos. 123. As reflected by his segregation, the Salvadoran authorities recognized that Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was not affiliated with any gang and, at around this time, prison officials explicitly acknowledged that Plaintiff Abrego Garcia's tattoos were not gang-related, telling him "your

“In Cell 15, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia and 20 other Salvadorans were forced to kneel from approximately 9:00 PM to 6:00 AM, with guards striking anyone who fell from exhaustion. During this time, Plaintiff Abrego Garcia was denied bathroom access and soiled himself…”

Here's a NYC public official and mayoral candidate being arrested by masked federal agents. They tell him they are arresting him for obstruction because he asked to see their warrant.

The US citizenship process is already ridiculously arduous and dehumanizing and the government wants to turn it up to 100. www.thedailybeast.com/kristi-noem-...

Chicago Pope's here

Given his reputation for caring for the poor and downtrodden, he is likely a White Sox fan.

Jadeveonus I

The AI Boom Is Draining Water From the Areas That Need It Most A Bloomberg News analysis finds that roughly two thirds of new data centers built or in development in the US since 2022 are in places with high levels of water stress.

Each time you ask an AI chatbot a question, it sends a request to a data center and strains an increasingly scarce resource: water.

A 🧵on our investigation into how the data centers that power AI are increasingly being built in highly water-stressed places:

www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...

Brazil Denies Plans for Red Soccer World Cup Jersey After Political Backlash Brazil’s iconic yellow soccer jersey has become such a potent conservative political symbol that many leftists refuse to wear it. Now, rumors the team might don a different color with deep association...

Brazil's football federation denied plans to wear red jerseys at the 2026 World Cup after a rash of political backlash.

The country's iconic yellow shirt is (and has been) a marker of right-wing politics. Red is of course the color of the left and Lula's party. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Trampled to death by a horse called Pivot to Video

BRICS Seeks to Fill Void Left by G-20 as Trump’s Trade War Rages Major emerging market nations are striving to turn the BRICS group into a global forum capable of addressing the economic and political chaos unleashed by Donald Trump’s trade war.

BRICS officials are meeting in Rio this week for the first time since Trump upended the global economy.

It’s a chance to seize influence with the G20 and UN faltering — if they can overcome divisions over how to approach the US as Trump’s trade war rages.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

13 years old, made the youth league basketball all-star team as a reserve to the reserves. Getting smoked by 30 by crosstown league, finally got in for last 2 minutes. Had a breakaway layup and got chase-down blocked Tayshaun-on-Reggie style — but with the force of an Olympic volleyball spike.

The very difficult problem here is American voters don't want people to cheat on the pathway to legal immigration and naturalization that they are fully convinced exists. But they also don't like when law abiding but illegal people are treated too harshly.

I don't think people realize that in important respects tariffs are now higher & more inflationary than what was announced on last Wednesday.

Since then we've gone from 54% to 125% on China, our 3rd largest trading partner. That outweighs delaying the increases on 70+ others.

Trump Gives China’s Xi a Chance to Win Over World Hit by Tariffs Donald Trump’s decision to boost tariffs on almost every country will deal a blow to China’s economy. But it’s also handing Xi Jinping a rare opening to deepen relationships across the board, includin...

Trump’s decision to boost tariffs on almost every country will deal a blow to China’s economy. But it’s also handing Xi Jinping a rare opening to deepen relationships across the board, including with key US allies in Asia and beyond. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

“The Ghost of Wayne Turner” is so good.

I’ve got at least six hours on why Wayne Turner is the most under-appreciated college basketball player of all-time.

Bolsonaro to Stand Trial on Coup Charges, Brazil’s Top Court Panel Rules Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial on allegations that he attempted a coup following his 2022 election defeat, after a Supreme Court panel unanimously voted to accept criminal cha...

Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro will stand trial on allegations that he attempted a coup following his 2022 election defeat, after a Supreme Court panel unanimously voted to accept criminal charges against him. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I Played 'The Boys Are Back in Town' on a Bar Jukebox Until I Got Kicked Out The boys were back in town, but I was out of the bar, because they asked me to leave.

happy 10th anniversary (!!) to the greatest blog that ever blogged

The Yearlong Standoff Between Five Prisoners in a Mansion and Maduro's Regime Members of Venezuela’s opposition are trapped in an Argentine embassy, living on rainwater and sardines, as government forces stand watch.

Five members of Venezuela's opposition have spent the past year trapped in an Argentine embassy, living on rainwater and sardines, as forces of the Maduro regime stand watch

Trump Tariffs and Trade Wars Leave Investors, Once Optimistic, Feeling Apprehensive On Tuesday, President Trump sent markets into another tailspin by announcing additional tariffs on Canada, suggesting a falling stock market is no longer the bulwark investors had hoped.

“Investors believed Mr. Trump would follow through on the parts of his agenda that they liked and scale back the more disruptive policies like tariffs if financial markets started to get spooked.

“It is increasingly clear they were wrong.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/11/b...

Seems likely the U.S. will get its third one soon enough.