Joseph O'Sullivan

war (wags the) dogs Protests continue in rural Washington and elsewhere; my week without heat.

just scribbled a little on this one: olympiajoe.substack.com/p/war-wags-t...

Growing more complex by the day: How should journalists govern use of AI in their products? Journalists at the investigative outlet ProPublica have pledged to strike if negotiations for a contract don't take a turn — in what is believed would be the first such job action in the news industry where a dispute over how to deal with artificial intelligence is the chief sticking point.

Journalists at the investigative outlet ProPublica have pledged to strike if negotiations for a contract don't take a turn — in what is believed would be the first such job action in the news industry.

Spokane police went the entirety of 2025 without shooting and killing someone. The last time was 17 years ago It had been almost two decades since Spokane police officers went a year without shooting and killing someone.

Spokane Police went the entirety of 2025 without killing someone.

The last time that happened? 2008.

Here’s more: www.spokesman.com/stories/2026...

Secretive ICE arrests in Salt Lake City courthouse have caught local authorities offguard Federal immigration agents are making more arrests at a Salt Lake City courthouse without telling court security, Salt Lake County’s sheriff says.

Federal immigration agents are making more arrests at a Salt Lake City courthouse without telling court security, Salt Lake County’s sheriff says.

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency Activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a draft executive order that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

'Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution assigns power to regulate elections to state legislatures and Congress, with no role for the president.'

wapo.st/3N5cpEn

Objective facts tend to be impolitic.

And if you’ve ever lived in a city or state that is not rich - there are many of them - this is just a basic observation.

Also strange that the notion of rich people decamping is considered impolitic and by default bad.

For my latest story I reviewed over 100 cases where immigrants challenged their ICE detention in federal court in Washington. In most of those cases, judges determined ICE was holding people illegally.

People are telling me lots of activity in Belfair & Port Orchard too. I hope to keep getting farther out as the year goes

About 150 here today in Shelton WA for a protest against the administration.

A high-speed car chase involving a federal agent in St. Paul ended with a multi-vehicle crash and injuries to the fleeing driver, who was taken away in an ambulance. bit.ly/4kvJo0M

📸: Leila Navidi

It's wild to me that the metros that style themselves uber progressive (Seattle, San Fran, NYC etc) gladly host the behemoth corporations/billionaires dismantling journalism and the rest of democracy.

Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post Cuts 30% of Staff, Laying Off More Than 300 Employees Including Amazon Beat Reporter The Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is enacting layoffs that will eliminate "hundreds" of jobs.

"Those who were laid off include Caroline O’Donovan, the Post’s beat reporter covering Amazon"

Donate to Washington Post 2026 layoff fund, organized by Rachel Siegel On Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, The Washington Post laid off hundreds of journalists. We ar… Rachel Siegel needs your support for Washington Post 2026 layoff fund

We at the @postguild.bsky.social are raising money for the hundreds of journalists the Post just laid off. This goes to the people who are hurting, not the Post. Or if you'd rather, go subscribe to an independent journalist. Support is hugely appreciated.

www.gofundme.com/f/standing-t...

lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · 49m I was just laid off by The Washington Post in the middle of a warzone. I have no words. I'm devastated. Quote lizzie johnson @lizziejohnsonnn · Jan 25 Waking up without power, heat, or running water. (Again.) But the work here in Kyiv continues. Warming up in the car, writing in pencil — pen ink freezes — by headlamp.

INBOX: Washington Post Ukraine Correspondent Lizzie Johnson announces that she has been laid off in the middle of a below-freezing war zone without power, heat, or running water.

Incredible. They destroyed a great newspaper because they hated the people who actually paid for it and read it so much that they'd rather scrap the paper if they couldn't get Tucker Carlson's audience bsky.app/profile/maxt...

sticker of a guy made out of books that says 'bring me the head of jeff bezos'

anyway

City of Seattle should evict amazon.

Bezos is scum

VII. CONCLUSION There is an old adage among lawyers. If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts. If you have the law on your side, pound the law. If you have neither, pound the table. Secretary Noem, the record to-date shows, does not have the facts on her side or at least has ignored them. Does not have the law on her side or at least has ignored it. Having neither and bringing the adage into the 21st century, she pounds X (f/k/a Twitter). Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants. Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the APA to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to-date shows she has yet to do that. By accompanying Order, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705. Ara C. Regr

Haiti’s TPS continues for now!!!!! And zowie: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.283214/gov.uscourts.dcd.283214.124.0_1.pdf

Judge Reyes starts with a comparison: George Washington versus Kristi Noem.

My favorite description of refuge-seeking behavior in journalism comes from a former reporter for the Washington Post, Paul Taylor, in his 1990 book about election coverage. I have quoted it many times. 11/

Jay's third key distinction: truth-seeking vs. refuge-seeking behavior in journalism.

Truth-seeking needs no definition. It is finding out what actually happened— and telling us.

Refuge-seeking involves telling the story in a way that protects against anticipated attacks... 10/

Media, journalism, and the press are not interchangeable terms. Yet they are bound up with one another.

Media is the attention industry
Journalism is a social practice
The press is a key institution in a democracy

Put it all together: Journalists who work in the media carry forward "the press." 9/

The journalists arrested for covering a protest in Minnesota reminds me of how Duterte, former President in the Philippines, routinely suppressed independent press. To deter journalists from criticizing leadership, he especially focused on public harassment and criminal charges against Maria Ressa.

I’d say there’s about a 1000 people here today, give or take.

Rally started at noon. I’ll try for a crowd count when it’s done filling.

No counter-demonstrators so far, no visible law
enforcement.