Marine Le Pen barred from running for French presidency in 2027 Far-right leader found guilty of embezzlement of European funds and immediately barred from running for office

France’s institutions defended its democracy, upholding the law.

South Korea’s institutions defended its democracy, upholding the law.

Brazil’s institutions defended its democracy, upholding the law.

Only America’s decided a criminal must be allowed to break its laws and destroy its democracy.

* CHINESE STATE MEDIA: CHINA, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA REACH A CONSENSUS THAT THREE SIDES WILL JOINTLY RESPOND TO THE U.S. TARIFFS

@reuters.com

U.S. sent Venezuelan man with pending political asylum case to El Salvador mega prison Frengel Reyes Mota was supposed to be dealing with his ongoing asylum case as he fought for his chance to stay in the United States. Suddenly, he instead found himself locked up in a mega prison thousands of miles away.

Frengel Reyes Mota was supposed to be dealing with his ongoing asylum case as he fought for his chance to stay in the United States. Suddenly, he instead found himself locked up in a mega prison thousands of miles away.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/24/n...

Journalists among more than 1,100 arrested in Turkey crackdown Authorities ask X to block accounts as tens of thousands take to streets in largest anti-government protests in years

Journalists and photographers among more than 1,100 arrested in Turkey crackdown by @ruthmichaelson.com www.theguardian.com/world/2025/m...

What the Venezuelans Deported to El Salvador Experienced Exclusive photos of the arrival of Venezuelan detainees deported from the U.S.

time.com/7269604/el-s...

Hang in there - you're not alone! And the world wants your writing...

Fiction really did not prepare me for how stupid the real life villains would be.

For four Venezuelan friends, Alien Enemies Act cuts short an American dream President Donald Trump used the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members. Relatives of men sent to El Salvador deny the allegation.

www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...

Opinion | There’s a Name for What Trump Is Doing to Trans People: Denationalizing The message is that we are a threat to the nation. The subtext is that we are not of this nation.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/o...

When America Tried to Deport Its Radicals A hundred years ago, the Palmer Raids imperilled thousands of immigrants. Then a wily official got in the way.

www.newyorker.com/magazine/201...

Brown University Professor and Doctor Is Deported to Lebanon Despite a Judge’s Order Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a kidney transplant specialist and Brown University professor who had a valid visa, was expelled in apparent defiance of a court order.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/u...

YouTube video by LussieOnly Blues from The Simpsons - s01e06 Moaning Lisa

Not enough has been written about how this episode was one of the greatest moments in TV history...that ending with Marge's speech to Lisa made me flat out tear up: youtu.be/V86xXwaqPOU?...

Six books you didn’t know were propaganda Governments influence a surprising amount of literature. Some of it pretty good

www.economist.com/the-economis...

During Ramadan, the Yemeni Coffee Shop Is Jumping These coffeehouses are meeting demand for late-night spaces that decenter alcohol. During Ramadan, some are packed until 3 a.m.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/d...

Why Corporate DEI Is Such a Perfect Target for Trump It’s an attack on labor. But he can frame it as something else.

"The fact is, the battle over “DEI” has always been a fight about labor, work, and who has access to the jobs and political institutions that build and protect wealth. If we ever forgot that, we’re learning it again now."

me for @slate.bsky.social

slate.com/news-and-pol...

The Path to American Authoritarianism What comes after democratic breakdown.

"competition is real but unfair." www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

Mentions of trans kids scrubbed from national child safety clearinghouse website NCMEC was reportedly threatened by the government.

I poked around NCMEC's website after @marisakabas.bsky.social reported the DOJ threatened to cut off funding unless it removed references to queer and trans kids. It appears to have done so, including taking down guides for stopping sex trafficking.

There will be moments when you wonder if it's pointless to do the right and ethical thing; to still care about justice and helping others when it seems like the worst people are getting to rob everyone else without consequences.

Little actions still matter. Ethics still matter. Keep helping others.

Video: ‘Nickel Boys’ | Anatomy of a Scene The director RaMell Ross narrates a sequence from his film, which has been nominated for best picture.

It's okay to feel depressed enough about "content" these days and then you watch Nickel Boys and realize that art and history and literature do matter and that's how you get through what needs to be gotten through: www.nytimes.com/video/movies...

File this under how I learned about MERITTV

The Supreme Court UPHOLDS the TikTok ban with no noted dissents, turning away a First Amendment challenge: www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...

An excerpt from the story: “He’s the kind of poet who sees all the lines in his head, rearranging them or replacing one word with another without a single keystroke, keeping in memory each poem’s various versions. He has this kind of mind only for his compositions. For everything else, his recollection is a sometimes overwhelming welter. Some days, he understands that “daydreaming” is a kind word for what drinking did to his brain. He has not written anything in going on three years.”

Read the rest of “Ming,” a new short story by Han Ong.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Network is very underrated...

Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni and a Smear Campaign After ‘It Ends With Us’ (Gift Article) Private messages detail an alleged campaign to smear Blake Lively after she accused Justin Baldoni of misconduct on the set of “It Ends With Us.”

Pro tip: if you are a publicist - or really, in any line of work - do not write “You know we can bury anyone” in an email to your clients. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/21/b...

Text: The story of one Mississippi county shows how private schools are exacerbating segregation. Image: Nighttime views of two Amite County, Mississippi high school football fields in close proximity.

#ICYMI: ProPublica identified 155 counties in the Deep South with private schools that opened as likely segregation academies.

One in Amite County, Mississippi, has never — over nearly 30 years of surveys — reported enrolling more than one Black student.

Read more: https://propub.li/4iNVpxl

Literally everyone on Bluesky going into 2025.

Matt: If bad polls put you in legal jeopardy, there wouldn't be a newspaper left in America, which might be the goal. There is something truly diabolical, but also very smart, about trying to spend the media into sabmission at this moment. It's un-American, but it might also work.

Good lord. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

“The explanation for my world cannot possibly be so crude,” but it is.

I think one reason why a lot of women resist feminist insights about the extent and vehemence of men’s misogyny is that they can’t accept how stupid it is.