Derek Mead

Read @mikaelthalen.bsky.social's first reporter looking for signals of crowd surveillance in Minneapolis: san.com/cc/minneapol...

Brooke Rollins' '$3 meal' comment was ridiculed, but she's right. Here's the math Trump's agriculture secretary is facing internet ridicule for saying a meal "can cost around $3." She's not wrong, though.

That whole $3 meal thing is really not nearly as deranged as the national media made it sound. Perhaps a symptom of where media is concentrated... san.com/cc/brooke-ro...

Why more doctors are billing their patients like it's the 1920s Cash-based clinics, or direct primary care, are becoming more popular as health care spending skyrockets and quality of care declines.

More and more doctors are moving to cash payment, bypassing insurance entirely. Here's why: san.com/cc/why-more-...

Four Oglala detainees located, three still in ICE custody - ICT The four Lakota detainees were reportedly sent to a former concentration camp used during the Dakota Wars

"The four Lakota detainees were reportedly sent to a former concentration camp used during the Dakota Wars" ictnews.org/news/north-c...

Can a state prosecute a federal agent? Answer divides state, federal officials In the wake of controversial shootings by federal immigration agents, legal and political battles have erupted over who has jurisdiction.

When pundits say "norms are being broken", what they're really talking about is the precarious nature of common law san.com/cc/can-a-sta...

I asked NORAD what they've learned from 70 years of tracking Santa. "He's a very special aviator," they said. san.com/cc/after-70-...

The military's new AI says 'hypothetical' boat strike scenario 'unambiguously illegal’ An AI chatbot unveiled by the Pentagon appears to have described airstrikes against suspected drug smugglers at sea as “illegal.”

The Pentagon's new AI (powered by Google!) told multiple users this week that the double-tap boat strike scenario is definitely illegal san.com/cc/the-milit...

I miss Ernie!

Panel recommends CDC end routine hepatitis B vaccinations for newborns The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices changed its recommendations for vaccinating infants against hepatitis B.

This is a seismic shift in US vaccine guidance, and potentially for policy to come san.com/cc/panel-rec...

Trump called her work ‘genius’. Now this artist documents his deportation push Courtroom sketch artist Isabelle Brourman is the only person documenting the daily drama unfolding in New York City's immigration courtrooms.

Renowned artist Isabel Brourman—who Trump once called a genius—has taken on a new project: documenting immigration court: san.com/cc/trump-cal...

HOPE Hacking Conference Banned From University Venue Over Apparent ‘Anti-Police Agenda’ "The lack of due process on its own is extremely disturbing," the conference said.

The legendary HOPE hacking conference has been banned from its venue at St. John's University over what the university seems to be calling an "anti-police agenda." Part of a broader crackdown on security research / hacking / open source: www.404media.co/hope-hacking...

Former federal health workers concerned about where RFK gets his information Former federal health workers shared their concerns with SAN over where HHS Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gets his information.

Former federal health workers in a wide variety of leadership roles say that RFK Jr. rarely attends briefings on health concerns from the various agencies under HHS. This is increasing risk we won't be prepared for the next health disaster: san.com/cc/former-fe...

SAN won best site redesign for the Editor & Publisher annual awards. Well-deserved, as our product team is really dang good www.eppyawards.com

Facing $50K in adoption fees, this Texas couple baked up a sweet side hustle Unable to conceive, a couple channeled their heartbreak into hope by selling baked goods at pop-up markets to fund a $50,000 adoption journey.

Adoption is unbelievably expensive in the US, and prospective parents are taking on additional jobs just to pay the fees san.com/cc/facing-50...

ICE is sending a chill through the construction industry The construction industry, where more than a quarter of workers are foreign-born, has long struggled to find enough workers. Now, industry officials say Trump's immigration crackdown is making it worse.

The construction industry, where more than a quarter of workers are foreign-born, has long struggled to find enough workers. Now, industry officials say Trump's immigration crackdown is making it worse. n.pr/4qLBoeQ

Crime ring used fentanyl-laced party drugs to rob victims. NYC charged them with murder. A New York City DA charged those involved in three deadly, fentanyl-related robberies with second-degree murder.

After allegedly using fentanyl-laced drugs to incapacitate and rob party goers, the people involved have been charged with murder: san.com/cc/crime-rin...

FBI Tries to Unmask Owner of Infamous Archive.is Site The FBI has subpoenaed the domain registrar of archive.today, demanding information about the owner.

New: The FBI filed a subpoena trying to unmask the person or people behind archive.is / archive.today, which have been running anonymously for 13 yrs. Site was widely used by GamerGate, and then to bypass paywalls but has become kind of core archiving infrastructure

www.404media.co/fbi-tries-to...

CBP Quietly Launches Face Scanning App for Local Cops To Do Immigration Enforcement The app, called Mobile Identify and available on the Google Play Store, is specifically for local and regional law enforcement agencies working with ICE on immigration enforcement.

New from 404 Media: CBP has quietly launched a facial recognition app for local cops to do immigration enforcement. Scans their face, tells cops whether to contact ICE about this person or not. A truly rapid expansion of ICE's facial recognition app to local cops
www.404media.co/cbp-quietly-...

Hackers Say They Have Personal Data of Thousands of NSA and Other Government Officials The same hackers who doxed hundreds of DHS, ICE, and FBI officials now say they have the personal data of tens of thousands of officials from the NSA, Air Force, Defense Intelligence Agency, and many ...

New from 404 Media: the same hackers who doxed hundreds of DHS, ICE, and FBI officials say they have personal data of tens of thousands more government officials, including thousands NSA, more in intel community. They sent me data from a dizzying list of agencies
www.404media.co/hackers-say-...

Mikael Thalen's video explainer is the best, simplest explanation that I've ever seen of how these somewhat obscure devices work. Well worth your 2 min. 24 secs.

Exclusive: Fake cellphone tower likely surveilled protesters at Portland ICE facility Law enforcement officials may have deployed a secretive cellphone surveillance technology last weekend at Portland’s ICE facility.

Yet more evidence, direct from @mikaelthalen.bsky.social, of blanket ICE cell phone surveillance at protests san.com/cc/exclusive...

This finding (from Axios' 2025 Annual Media Trends Report) is important to keep in mind as national storylines continue to shift towards starting social-first (rather than traditional news outlet-first).

App for outing Charlie Kirk’s critics leaked its users’ personal data An app for anonymously reporting individuals accused of speaking ill against conservative Charlie Kirk leaked personal data about its users.

The app Cancel the Hate was set up to let users report people who spoke negatively about Charlie Kirk after his assassination. But then the app leaked personal data about its users, per @mikaelthalen.bsky.social's investigation. san.com/cc/app-for-o...

Where’s Congress? Capitol Hill empty one week out from government shutdown The United States Senate was in session for a total of 29 seconds on Monday; that’s 29 seconds longer than the House of Representatives.

Where is everybody? "The United States Senate was in session for a total of 29 seconds on Monday; that’s 29 seconds longer than the House of Representatives." san.com/cc/wheres-co...

App for outing Charlie Kirk’s critics leaked its users’ personal data An app for anonymously reporting individuals accused of speaking ill against conservative Charlie Kirk leaked personal data about its users.

NEW: An app launched by Cancel the Hate, a website for anonymously reporting those accused of speaking ill against Charlie Kirk, was leaking user data.

Cancel the Hate declined to respond to my inquires & removed the app from its website shortly after.

san.com/cc/app-for-o...

Your health care data is for sale. Here's how Big Pharma is using it. Straight Arrow News investigates how both doctor and patient data are collected, sold and utilized through a little-known $9B industry.

SAN investigated the $9 billion industry of heathcare data reselling, in which Big Pharma buys doctor and patient data to target advertising and IRL sales pitches to doctors who don't prescribe their drugs. Few doctors even know how advanced this industry actually is: san.com/cc/health-in...

Americans think local government is boring. Social media could fix that. Fewer people are attending public meetings for local government nationwide. A social media push is trying to get more people involved.

Local governments are jazzing up their social presence to try to increase civic participation. Good marketing, but what can be done to actually increase access? san.com/cc/americans...

'Hollywood of the South' loses Marvel productions to UK Marvel Studios is moving production from Georgia to the U.K., a shift that highlights rising costs in the U.S. film industry.

We can’t afford massive film companies like Marvel abandoning the U.S. for cheaper options overseas.

Bringing back our greatest export is a bipartisan issue with bipartisan solutions.

'Hollywood of the South' loses Marvel productions to UK Marvel Studios is moving production from Georgia to the U.K., a shift that highlights rising costs in the U.S. film industry.

Marvel is leaving Atlanta and heading to the UK, citing rising costs.

Labor costs are less expensive in the U.K., and universal health care means studios wouldn’t have to subsidize workers’ medical expenses.

This move alone could cost Atlanta up to 20,000 jobs.

san.com/cc/hollywood...

‘Impressive island’: Ex-Israeli prime minister’s hacked emails reveal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein Emails hacked from the inbox of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak reveal discussions with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

New Epstein emails dropped: san.com/cc/impressiv...