K Christie, little free library enthusiast

Kash Patel, the FBI's agent of chaos The biggest little scandal in Washington right now is how bad Patel is at being FBI director.

It's hard to overstate what a disaster Kash Patel is. See the many disturbing details here, from @vermontgmg.bsky.social, an expert on the FBI. "The longer this chaos continues," he writes, "the more likely we’re going to face a catastrophic intelligence failure." www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Health Insurance Claim Denied? See What Insurers Said Behind the Scenes Learn how to request your health insurance claim file, which can include details about what your insurer is saying about you and your case.

When an insurance company is deciding whether to pay for your medical treatment, it generates a file, which should contain all records associated with your case, including documents explaining why the claim was denied.

You have a right to see this file.

(Published May 2023)

The Data Center Resistance Has Arrived A new report finds that local opposition to data centers skyrocketed in the second quarter of this year.

If I had to predict a high-impact story that is flying under the radar now but will play a big role in next year's major federal and state elections in the U.S., it'll be electricity prices and data centers. Easy-to-understand affordability and corruption story.

If they win, Democrats will have to use their newfound authority to rethink, even dismantle, agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. They may need to walk back the Bush-era decision to consolidate those agencies and others under a single department, given the wild abuses perpetrated under this administration and its predecessors. It will need to give serious thought to major political and social reform, including D.C. statehood, a federal ban on partisan gerrymandering, a new voting rights act and federal protections for reproductive rights and bodily autonomy, including the rights of gender and sexual minorities. Democrats will also need to embrace the legislature’s constitutional authority to structure the executive branch and the judiciary, up to and including Supreme Court reform. If they win next year, Democrats will need to treat the next Congress not as a return to the status quo ante but as the beginning of a new era in which the principal task is to roll back the president’s effort to create and consolidate a personalist dictatorship. They’ll need to fortify the American political system against future attempts to play dictator and lay out a project of genuine democratic renewal. None of this is possible without a willingness to use power rather than just hold it. What we’ve seen this week is that there are still too many Democrats whose instinct is to retreat to normalcy rather than face the conflict at hand.

Jamelle was cooking.

Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/12/o...

What Is Take Back The Classroom?: Book Censorship News, November 14, 2025 With the closure of BookLooks, we've seen the rise of Take Back the Classroom. But what is this website and how do their book "reviews" work?

What is Take Back The Classroom? A deep dive into the project making its way into right-wing circles, aiding in book bans nationwide. Who is behind it? How does it work? How are they recruiting new cult members?

Know before it reaches your library.

bookriot.com/what-is-take...

How Elon Musk’s Changes to X Made Our Discourse Far Stupider We don’t know the minute when X started throttling links to news,...

Read @daveweigel.bsky.social on the widespread societal consequences of Elon's link suppression:

talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e...

D201 High School Students Break Silence Amid Ongoing Local ICE Raids — Cicero Independiente Nearly 100 people attended the D201 school board meeting in October, including students, parents, and community members frustrated that the district hasn’t implemented policies to protect student safe...

Cicero Independiente wrote about the October District 201 school board meeting in Cicero where students shared their frustration with the school district not doing enough to address the ongoing ICE raids. Some powerful student testimonies.

spoke with the executive director of my local food bank today and got this really incredible line: "if you donate 1 can of green beans, we can give away 1 can of green beans. but if you donate a dollar, we can give away 6 cans of green beans"

Moderating With Humans, For Humans

Hopefully I've done this correctly in terms of the leaflet setup this time. Here's a first post in a series on T&S on Bluesky.

Axios tried to bust James Talarico for following adult content creators on Instagram and I'm genuinely impressed by his campaign's response

Shots fired at immigration agents in Little Village as residents confront Bovino, Border Patrol, authorities say Community members once again confronted a convoy of Border Patrol agents led by Cmdr. Gregory Bovino as it moved through Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods.

Federal immigration agents pepper-sprayed an infant today.

Story by @ckubzansky.bsky.social and @lauranrodriguez.bsky.social

From neighborhood ‘beefs’ to public health crisis: As culture of violence shifts, nonviolence work must reach further - The Boston Globe Television, music, social media, and video games have shifted the culture of violence, writes the director of the Nonviolence Institute in Providence.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/07/m...

Social Security Employees Grill Management During Tense Shutdown Meeting WIRED obtained notes from a Social Security Administration management meeting, where employees pressed leadership on plans for the agency.

NEW: We obtained notes from a Social Security Administration management meeting, where employees grilled leadership on plans for the agency during the shutdown + shared really upsetting stories from employees unable to get to work bc they can't afford gas.

from me and @zoeschiffer.bsky.social:

Lawsuit Alleges Inhumane Conditions at Broadview ICE Facility Federal authorities moved two plaintiffs in the suit out of state; a judge has ordered they be returned Monday.

This account also feels in line with some of what other people that have been in Broadview have shared.

The DOJ has been firing judges with immigrant defense backgrounds NPR's data analysis shows that the DOJ has tended to fire judges with immigrant defense backgrounds in its recent rounds

The Trump regime has fired an estimated 70 immigration judges since February. Nearly half previously defended immigrants in court.

Remember: it was never about legal immigration. It was always about cruelty.
https://www.npr.org/2025/11/06/g-s1-96437/trump-immigration-judges-fired

photos of Trump sleeping through yesterday's Oval Office event via Andrew Harnik of Getty

Defendants' Position: Defendants report the following regarding their efforts to comply with the TRO. Defendants shall provide all persons detained at Broadview ("Detainee" or "Detainees") overnight in any hold room, cell, or other space (collectively referred to as a "Hold Room") with a clean bedding mat and bedding with sufficient space to sleep; Status: All bedding and mattresses have been ordered. It will take 3-5 business days for delivery, assuming no delays in delivery service. Defendants may need clarification as to what constitutes an "overnight" stay. For example, if the detainee is scheduled to depart at 2:00 a.m., bedding would not seem to be required for that detainee.

Defendants shall provide each Detainee with at least three full meals per day that meet the U.S. recommended dietary allowances; Status: Defendants are working on securing a food vendor contract, which entails soliciting vendors and identifying a vendor that meets the requirements of the court's order in accordance with federal acquisition regulations. The Statement of Work and Request for Information for solicitation of vendors will be finalized November 7, 2025. In the interim, defendants are supplementing the meals provided to detainees with side items, such as fruit, chips, and cookies.

To show how bad things are — and, no, I am not even saying this is new, but — here is the latest from the Trump admin on conditions at the Broadview ICE facility outside Chicago.

A humane govt would be addressing bedding and food before starting detentions — not needing time after a TRO to do so.

Starbucks unionized workers say they'll strike on Nov. 13 if coffee giant doesn't finalize contract Union members say they are ready to strike on the chain's Red Cup Day if Starbucks doesn't finalize a contract with their union by then.

BREAKING: After months of stonewalling by Starbucks, unionized baristas just voted 92% to authorize a ULP strike unless Starbucks finalizes fair contracts & stops union busting.

If forced, our baristas will strike in dozens of cities on November 13 – the company's busiest sales day of the year.

It's the deadliest year for people in ICE custody in decades; next year could be worse There have been at least 20 deaths in ICE custody in 2025, the deadliest year since 2004. As the agency is ramping up hiring and increasing detentions, concerns remain about how to stop the trend.

At least 20 people have died in ICE custody in 2025, making this year the deadliest in decades. With increases to ICE’s funding, workforce, and detention space, the system riddled with abuse and neglect will undoubtedly be more life-threatening in 2026.

www.npr.org/2025/10/23/n...

More Young People Will Go Hungry Without SNAP “We’re trying to make it, but it’s been hard.”

It feels a bit weird to post right now in light of what has happened to @teenvogue.com and so much of the incredible team there. What sources shared here is important, & I’m grateful I got to work on this. I reported on how young people are being impacted by delays to SNAP: “It’s about survival.”

When Storytelling Is Called ‘Terrorism’: How My Friend and Fellow Journalist Was Targeted by ICE As a DACA recipient, Ya'akub Ira Vijandre’s arrest holds drastic implications for the state of free speech in America.

A photojournalist was arrested by ICE at gunpoint — and his DACA status revoked.

“Ya’akub isn’t being accused of breaking immigration law — his DACA protection doesn’t expire until May 2026. In fact Ya’akub’s lawyers say he hasn’t been accused of any crime.”

thebarbedwire.com/2025/11/04/h...

What we know, final edition of the night:
[Now in 3 parts]

—Prop 50 wins
—VA Dems flip Gov, LG, AG
—Dems gain leg seats in VA, NJ, & MS
—Dems defend NJ-Gov
—Dems win NJ+VA trifectas
—Mamdani wins
—PA Dems win state supreme court
—ME anti-mail voting measure loses
—GA Dems flip 2 statewide offices

Ask any of your favorite Black women writers from a decade ago why their bylines stopped appearing, and you’ll likely hear the same response: There is no place for us in media. In TV. In publishing or academia. For the majority of us, there’s no place but gone.

YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie Does Mike Johnson Know...Anything? Anything At All?

no evidence whatsoever that mike johnson knows a single thing youtu.be/YR2WiILR6XE

The Firewall Against Nick Fuentes Is Crumbling The white-supremacist influencer is entering the MAGA mainstream.

America has no idea what's about to hit them. "Young Republicans" are fully steeped in neo-Nazi edge lord talking points. Fuentes is the present and future of the GOP. After Trump, this is the new form of MAGA. The establishment isn't built for this fight.

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

What the Air You Breathe May Be Doing to Your Brain

Essential research shows that particulate pollution—generated from motor fuels exhaust, tire wear, wildfires, factories, etc—is associated with dementia. More evidence that it is in the interest of public health to reduce pollution. (Gift link)

How Incarcerated Parents Are Losing Their Children Forever Being stripped of parental rights while in prison, even for minor crimes, is “the family separation crisis that no one knows about,” one advocate said.

Being stripped of parental rights while in prison, even for minor crimes, is “the family separation crisis that no one knows about,” an advocate says.

Technology is radically restructuring so many elements of social life, from development and education to dating and politics.

Watch what happens to dating around 2007...

More than 170 US citizens have been held by immigration agents ProPublica uncovered that Americans have been kicked, dragged, and detained for days.

During a press conference, Kristi Noem claimed that ICE has not detained or arrested any US citizens. This isn't true.

The reality is that at least 170 citizens have been held by immigration agents, including two kids with cancer.