Kate G.

Trump orders Pentagon to begin testing nuclear weapons “immediately”

Any headline with the words “Trump“ and “nuclear weapons“ gives me the chills.

Trump directs Pentagon to test nuclear weapons, just before meeting with China’s Xi The president said he wanted testing to occur “on an equal basis” with Russia and China, raising the pressure on Beijing as he prepared to meet his Chinese counterpart.

How idiotic is this? Trump directs Pentagon to test nuclear weapons, just before meeting with China’s Xi

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

Why the Trump administration’s comparison of antifa to violent terrorist groups doesn’t track Kristi Noem’s claim that antifa is like the Islamic State group blurs the line between protest and terrorism – a political move unsupported by evidence.

Kristi Noem claimed antifa is “just as dangerous” as Hamas and ISIS. But the facts don’t agree. Antifa isn’t an organization: it’s a loose movement with no membership or centralized funding. “Comparing these groups is like comparing apples and bricks,” says a social-movements expert.

More than 40 years after police killed Eleanor Bumpurs in her Bronx apartment, people still #sayhername The 1984 murder of a Black grandmother in her Bronx apartment sparked an ongoing movement against police brutality and neglect of the mentally ill.

#OTD 41 years ago, Eleanor Bumpurs, a Black woman with mental health challenges, was killed by the NYPD. Her death still drives calls for police accountability. Historian Ashley Farmer, Bumpurs’ former neighbor, explores why people continue to #SayHerName. buff.ly/j8S3oQP

Man deported to Laos despite court order blocking his removal, attorneys say U.S. immigration officials have deported a man to Laos despite a federal court order blocking his removal.

Source: AP News
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White House fires all members of independent federal agency overseeing Trump's building plans in Washington.

The Commission of Fine Arts was established by Congress in 1910 and is formed of architects and urban planners. It gives advice on design and preservation in Washington DC

u.afp.com/Seis

What happens if Antifa is labeled a foreign terrorist organization : Consider This from NPR In a public roundtable, President Trump asked his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to apply the designation to Antifa.NPR's Ryan Lucas reports that it could have enormous consequences, including makin...

Let's remember that the pronunciation is Anti Fa, ad is Anti fascist. What happens if Antifa is labeled a foreign terrorist organization : Consider This from NPR www.npr.org/2025/10/27/n...

Trump plans to install Border Patrol officials to lead a more aggressive migrant crackdown The White House has approved a list of ICE leaders to be replaced by Border Patrol officials in coming days amid disappointment with arrest numbers.

Well, heck. Source: NBC News
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Psssst! The Boston Public Library is presenting its first major exhibition in nearly a decade. Revolution! 250 Years of Art & Activism in Boston will open this Thursday, October 23!

If you know anyone with a Little Free Library, show them what this kind person did. #MomSky

Bill Melugin @BillMelugin_ BREAKING: Per four senior DHS & Trump admin sources, a mass removal of ICE leadership around the country is underway, with up to 12 ICE field office chiefs being removed & reassigned in an effort to increase deportation numbers. I'm told the move is spearheaded by Corey Lewandowski, and a handful of the ICE Chiefs will likely be replaced by Border Patrol & CBP officials, some of whom will be hand-picked by aggressive & controversial Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino. I'm told some of the ICE leadership removed from their positions include the ICE Field Office Directors in: - Los Angeles - Phoenix - Philadelphia - Denver - El Paso - San Diego - Seattle/Portland - New Orleans Border Patrol officials taking over ICE leadership positions would be extremely significant, as Border Patrol and ICE do different things, and I've done numerous ride-alongs/embeds with both.

Generally speaking, ICE typically conducts very targeted operations, largely going after criminal illegal aliens or those with deportation orders, but almost always knowing who they are targeting for arrest, often conducting surveillance to learn their schedules before and waiting hours before arresting them if needed. Border Patrol, under Trump 2.0, while sometimes doing their own targeted operations, has been extremely aggressive and has been at the forefront of some of the most controversial immigration enforcement operations we've seen so far, carrying out roving patrols in Los Angeles, Chicago, etc, often at Home Depot, car washes, flea markets etc, leading to a handful of federal judges around the country issuing injunctions against them. A majority of the viral videos you see online are Border Patrol agents, including the use of a Trojan horse style Penske moving truck at a Los Angeles Home Depot, an operation organized by Bovino. ICE often gets blamed for what Border Patrol does, as the media and activists often cannot tell the difference between federal agents, and everyone is called "ICE". I'm told there are growing concerns about the political and PR fallout associated with some of the roving patrols Border Patrol is conducting as lawsuits continue to stack up and mid-terms approach next year.

I'm told there is significant friction within different wings of DHS and the administration, with Border Czar Tom Homan & ICE Director Todd Lyons preferring to prioritize targeting criminal aliens & the "worst of the worst" or those with deportation orders, while DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski, and BP Commander Bovino prefer to use aggressive tactics to arrest anyone in the US illegally, including but not limited to criminals, to ramp up deportation numbers and achieve President Trump's promises of mass deportations. I am hearing from both sides of this friction. One senior DHS official tells me: "ICE started with the worst of the worst, knowing every target they are hitting, but since Border Patrol started in LA in June, we've (DHS) lost our focus, going too hard, too fast, with limited prioritization. It's getting numbers, but at what cost?". Border Patrol agents I've talked to defend their tactics, with one telling me: "What did everyone think mass deportations meant? Only the worst? Tom Homan has said it himself, anyone in the US illegally is on the table."

It's quite a situation, as both sides of this are on the same team, with the same end goals, but different perspectives on how to get there. Another DHS official confirmed the personnel changes to me on deep background, adding that the moves are based on performance and doing what is needed to achieve the best results. Official statement to @FoxNews via @TriciaOhio : "While we have no personnel changes to announce at this time, the Trump Administration remains laser focused on delivering results and removing violent criminal illegal aliens from this country." 7:57 PM · Oct 27, 2025 · 29.6K Views

🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style.

Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.

Yeah, I can see that

2 Illinois National Guard members speak out: "I won't turn against my neighbors" Staff Sgt. Demi Palecek and Capt. Dylan Blaha say they'll defy federal orders regarding Trump's immigration enforcement operation in Chicago.

The resistance is expanding. Source: CBS News
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I got drawn into the history of opium because I studied the effects of opium interdiction policies in SE Asia.

Loved the list of Drugs reading on Anti-Capitalist Resources. I strongly recommend Trocki's Opium, Empire and the Global Political Economy. Very important in showing the role of drug smuggling (and other addictive substances) in the growth of capitalism.

It's like they're saying hahahaha, we'll take ALL your labor!!! And today in Wisconsin, neighbors getting a new roof - and not a single solitary Latinx worker there. All middle-aged white dudes.

Federal Agents Target Chicago Street Vendors, Day Laborers During Trump Administration's Immigration Blitz The frequent arrests of people whose work unfolds out in the open are at odds with the Trump administration's vow to target the "worst of the worst criminal" undocumented immigrants.

For people who want to keep up with what's going on in Chicago, you can't go wrong with Block Club Chicago. Here's today's summary of ICE snatch-and-grabs in Chicago. Yup, totally targeting workers in White Yuppie parts of town right now. Interesting. blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/27/f...

Well, looks I've got some more reading to do ... Clearly I should have read this person's work before this!

Agamben used it a bit differently - a 'paradoxical' space in which normal rule of law is suspended and this suspension becomes the new normal. Oh, dear, we ARE in it.

Unlike a state of emergency, it based on transcending the rule of law. It gives the ruler autocratic rights, including to nullify legal orders.

Looked up different uses of the term 'state of exception.' Wikipedia tells me that it was a concept introduced in the 1920s by a German philosopher & later Nazi Party member.

I guess this one really made Trump angry so now he's threatening to levy another 10% tariff on Canadian goods. So very childish.

YouTube video by Block Club Chicago Lakeview Tear-Gassing

Video of the Lakeview snatch-and-grab. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz1t... When ICE couldn't get the gate unlocked, they dragged their victim over the spiked fence. These black spiked fences are common in Chicago because the 2nd Mayor Daley encouraged them. Those spikes are SHARP!!!

Lakeview Street Tear-Gassed By Agents Amid North Side Immigration Surge: 'It Hit Home' Friday's detentions and standoff marked the most high-profile federal activity in Lakeview and Lincoln Park yet, leaving some neighbors shaken.

ICE teargassed about 40 residents near a construction site in Lakeview; also wandered around West Town and Wicker Park to make random snatch-and-grabs. blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/24/l...

YouTube video by Block Club Chicago Federal Agents Deploy Tear Gas In Old Irving Park, Chicago.

In class, we're reading De Leon's Land of Open Graves. Today, we discussed his use of Agamben's state of exception - where the rule of law is suspended in order to bring the full force of the government onto people. These well-to-do white folks are now experiencing that. youtu.be/O24Vi04WZO0?...

A federal judge has ordered Bovino to her court on Tuesday (Oct 27) to explain why he is not following her order to provide warrants and to stop teargassing people with no warning.

Yes, that's true. In fact, I know of a number of Mexican-Americans from the Southwest who joined BPP

The Purge.

But Bovino has been ordered to appear before a federal judge on Tuesday October 27 to explain why he's ignoring her orders to follow the law.

That came up in the MSNBC discussion. One of the journalists pointed out that in her home state, a southern one, they would have been shot. Believe it or not, Chicago doesn't have that culture.