Rick Duke

The Tariff Exemption Behind the AI Boom Data Centers get Tariff-Free Imports. Why Shouldn't we All?

NEW from me:

In his 2nd term, Trump has pursued the largest trade war in modern US history—with 1 glaring omission. Computer imports are almost entirely exempt from tariffs

It's a special carveout that AI companies are now reliant on for their data center buildout🧵
www.apricitas.io/p/the-tariff...

Chicago priest Father Michael Pfleger: "The state of emergency is in AMERICA, not Chicago. It's birthed from this president and his admin's reign of terror."

( ht: @mikenellis.bsky.social )

Last month Judge Diane Goodstein blocked SC from giving DOJ voter data.

Last week Harmeet Dhillon of the DOJ condemned Goodstein's ruling.

Yesterday Stephen Miller called "left wing judges & lawyers" as "terrorists requiring force."

Today Judge Goodstein's home is on fire, investigated for arson.

Can't really say this while propping up coal plants nobody asked for

www.utilitydive.com/news/doe-man...

“There’s a baby!”

Guns drawn. Windows smashed. With a 1 month old in the car. (They did this as he was coming home from an immigration court appointment— which is illegal in Colorado: coloradosun.com/2025/10/01/i...)

Here’s an idea for a reporter:

Gather some retired cops or MPs together and show them how ICE handles hecklers and protesters.

I guarantee you’ll get some amazing copy. Especially if your outlet lets you reprint profanity.

Would you open the door to men who approached you like this?

Marjorie Taylor Greene Criticizes Senate Republicans for Government Shutdown

Love to see it

MTG “far-right Georgia Republican who has grown increasingly disillusioned with the G.O.P. and President Trump, said…own party was at least partly to blame for the government shutdown, and that it had the power to unilaterally reopen the government.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

The White House Can’t Decide: Is the Shutdown Bad or Good?

“Ms. Leavitt’s explanation that these unfortunate firings must be carried out was about as puzzling as her saying that no one at the White House was enjoying what was happening even as they were posting online, seeming very much to enjoy what was happening.”

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

ICE says I cause assaults on ICE by reciting facts about ICE’s recent shooting but refuses to link to the thread. Only posting a picture. ICE lies and ICE hides. You can read the facts for yourselves

This by @katmabu.bsky.social is the best speech I've heard yet by any politician about what ICE/Trump/Noem is doing and it's not close.

Trump and Republicans spread lies and scapegoat immigrants to distract you from how they are picking your pockets.

Do not be fooled.

Proud to be a long time active supporter os Senator Slotkin. Scared to be under the threat to all of us posed by this unhinged SecDef. Listen to the end.

Shutdown dramas are dynamic and unpredictable. But here’s something to note. Most DC press is portraying the Dems as having their backs to the wall. But just this morning WaPo released a poll showing that a substantial but no means overwhelming percentage of Americans blame Trump and the GOP.

ICE Agents Rappel from Helicopter in Overnight Chicago Raid, Dragging Kids from Beds to U-Hauls Overnight on Tuesday, Sept. 30, federal agents from different agencies raided an apartment building on the South Side of Chicago, pulling men, women and children — some of them allegedly naked — from ...

I always pay attention to what stories People Magazine and other consumer media outlets cover. That's how you can tell that something has broken through the usual political and news bubbles. This horrific Chicago story has broken through. people.com/ice-agents-o...

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador.

Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

ER doc here! This is a lie. Wait times are up because the American healthcare system is an unsustainable business model and a for-profit national healthcare system just doesn’t work. These problems will continue to get worse until we change that system. It literally has nothing to do with immigrants

STEPHANOPOULOS: The Democratic proposal is designed to prevent millions of Americans from losing their health insurance, losing Medicaid coverage, or paying higher healthcare premiums. Why are you against that?

MIKE JOHNSON: That's an absurd statement

STEPHANOPOULOS: It's a factual statement

STEPHANOPOULOS: Hold on a second. Answer the question. As Speaker, do you believe it's appropriate to use American cities as training grounds for the military, calling those people 'the enemy within'?

JOHNSON: I'm not comment on your characterization of what the president said.

S: Those are quotes

Trump mandates all federal agencies send email blaming Dems for potential gov’t shutdown Workers call the partisan email "a vile slap in the face."

SCOOP — The White House instructed all federal agency leadership on Tuesday to send out a mandatory message to workers blaming the impending potential government shutdown on House Democrats, The Handbasket was first to learn. Absolutely no modifications to the email were permitted.

My story:

Now that Trump has shut down the government, Democrats need to be loud and confident in our argument.

No 75% premium increases. No lawlessness.

That’s what we are fighting for. The people will be with us. But only if we show strength.

Institute for Justice a pretty conservative-libertarian sort of outfit (and a highly respected one, for good reasons). They've done some anti-qualified immunity police stuff before, but most of their portfolio is pretty right-coded libertarian issues. It is noteworthy they're suing ICE now.

1/ DEVELOPING: A journalist was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Hospital following another incident with an ICE agent at 26 Federal Plaza, an immigration court in NYC. The last I heard, he was getting X-rays for his lower back.

Opinion | Autism Has Always Existed. We Haven’t Always Called It Autism.

"What matters most to Isabel isn’t finding someone to blame, since she likes herself the way she is. What matters to her is continuing to build a meaningful life with the social supports and opportunities that were unavailable to people with autism in the past."

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...

New China 2035 NDC 7-10% below peak a lost opportunity for China to lead in Paris Agreement it helped craft. Far short of pace to deliver China’s net zero 2060 goal. Implies slashing renewables pace in half. Good that it includes methane and other non-CO2 per 2023 Sunnylands Statement with US.

New China 2035 NDC 7-10% below peak a lost opportunity for China to lead in Paris Agreement it helped craft. Far short of pace to deliver China’s net zero 2060 goal. Implies slashing renewables pace in half. Good that it includes methane and other non-CO2 per 2023 Sunnylands Statement with US.

Only an administration intent on committing war crimes in the present and future would stoop to calling Wounded Knee a "battle" rather than what it truly was: a massacre of over 250 Lakotas, mainly women, children, and the elderly. 1/

Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM/NSPM-7 MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE                THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Uhhh, folks? This is real bad.

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

It’s amazing that she thinks anyone is buying this

I often emphasize that there are rarely "silver bullets" that magically solve problems but vaccines are one of the closest things we have and it's mind-boggling and enraging to watch this "debate" unfold during my lifetime