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Esther Kaplan

@estherbrooklyn.bsky.social
1.3K followers 591 following 269 posts

Journo. Oaklandside & Cityside, formerly Business Insider, Reveal, Type Investigations, The Nation.

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Reposted by Esther Kaplan
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Time for this classic again.
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Reposted by Esther Kaplan
Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
The Knesset barred today the only two Palestinian led parties from running in the coming election. According to an overwhelming majority in the Knesset, the constitutional meaning of a Jewish State is a state where Palestinian citizens cannot run for parliament.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The White House told Politico it had revoked its press passes bc the news org had violated standards by using anonymous sources — then cited an article based on a press call where reporters were told to cite an anonymous “senior administration official.” www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
washingtonpost.com
The White House banned Politico, citing anonymous sources. It provided the quotes.
In a letter defending its ban of Politico, the White House critiqued a report based on a press call it conducted, where reporters were told not to name the speaker.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
What’s the smallest number of civilians 40,000 one-ton bombs will kill? www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/u...
nytimes.com
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
This WSJ chart is so striking because it’s basically a list of red states and swing states. www.wsj.com/economy/trad...
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"A week and a half before October 7, 2023, UAE president Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed called Netanyahu and spoke with him for 45 minutes. In that conversation, MBZ warned that Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was planning a major operation against Israel." www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
haaretz.com
Netanyahu got an explicit warning before Oct. 7. He didn't brief security chiefs
In September '23, UAE President bin Zayed called Netanyahu to deliver a harsh warning. Netanyahu did nothing. An extensive investigation, conducted for a new book, reveals the PM's failures surroundin...
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
It’s all just been unleashed
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
An elementary school. A wedding.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Please don't miss this deep, authoritative, richly reported story by the great Eric K. Arnold on Oakland's hyphy movement, 20 years after the breakout hit "Tell Me When To Go." With iconic photos by D-Ray, some of them never previously published. oaklandside.org/2026/08/28/t...
oaklandside.org
The summer of hyphy, 20 years later
Ghost riding, turf dancing, stunna shades, and scraper bikes. In 2006, Oakland birthed a movement.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Oof, this is a bad loss. Just days ago Stars and Stripes was one of the first to break the USS Abraham Lincoln story
stripes.com
USS Abraham Lincoln families press Navy leaders over sailors’ mental health
Family members say the roughly 5,000 service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln have endured food and water shortages and little time off.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
This is a terrible development for transparency that will enable fraud and organized crime thehill.com/business/602...
thehill.com
Treasury Department repeals Biden-era reporting requirement for US businesses
The Treasury Department on Tuesday officially repealed a requirement for American companies and individuals to report beneficial ownership information to its Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, o…
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
This M. Gessen piece is so moving and so devastating www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | What’s Happening in Kansas Should Alarm Us All
Is Kansas just the beginning?
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
This photo.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Honestly, this perfectly encapsulates the administration’s level of awareness about the continent. Thanks to @emilybass.bsky.social “State Department Map Mislabels African Countries at AIDS Conference” www.nytimes.com/2026/07/30/u...
nytimes.com
State Department Map Mislabels African Countries at AIDS Conference
Nigeria, a coastal country in western Africa, was landlocked in the Sahara, among other errors. The department said it had been “hastily altered.”
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
I just have to say, as an Oakland public school parent, how much Stephen and Ayesha Curry deserve this award and how deeply their presence is felt in the district. youtu.be/v8n0X2JFK-s
youtu.be
Steph Curry receives Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award
YouTube video by ESPN
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Truly horrifying. How smart of AP to go looking for family court records.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
This is a fun one if you need a timeline cleanse. From the great @chroniclesofazu.bsky.social and @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social oaklandside.org/2026/07/16/c...
oaklandside.org
16 hours in an Oakland dive bar
Very few Oakland establishments open before noon. Club 2101 in Dimond is one of them. For patrons, it’s a second home.
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Reposted by Esther Kaplan
Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
"Activities such as speeding, walking a dog not on a leash, or fishing without a valid license may now serve as the basis for the government filing a civil denaturalization complaint in federal courts." From new TRAC report on rising denaturalizations. tracreports.org/reports/774/
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Our industry is in an existential crisis
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
“Marketers chose the ‘thwack’ slogan after consulting an AI tool for suggestions, Shinsegae Group said” — a highly insensitive AI-induced political bungle that has so far cost Starbucks at least $1.4 million. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
theguardian.com
Starbucks Korea to temporarily shut all stores for history lesson after bungled coffee promotion
The closures, so employees can watch a recorded lecture, will cost the company an estimated 2.1bn won ($1.4m) in sales
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Reposted by Esther Kaplan
Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
EXCLUSIVE: Top Pentagon Official Admits Boat Strike May Have Killed Victims of Human Trafficking If this boat was running drugs, why was it loaded with so many people? theintercept.com/2026/06/10/t...
theintercept.com
Top Pentagon Official Admits Boat Strike May Have Killed Victims of Human Trafficking
If this boat was running drugs, why was it loaded with so many people?
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Just making sure to go after every clause in the First Amendment, it seems
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Many more such votes to come, I suspect. www.latimes.com/environment/...
latimes.com
In a first for the country, voters in Monterey Park ban data centers
Residents of Monterey Park voted overwhelmingly to ban data centers, making the San Gabriel Valley city the first in the nation to do so by public vote.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
defector.com/punk-ass-los... The Defector, ladies and gentlemen: "Unremarkable dweeb Nick Bilton has been the executive producer of 60 Minutes for less than a week, and he has already written his name into the history books as one of the media industry's most pathetic bosses."
defector.com
Punk-Ass Loser Nick Bilton Fires Scott Pelley For Daring To Ask Him Questions | Defector
Unremarkable dweeb Nick Bilton has been the executive producer of 60 Minutes for less than a week, and he has already written his name into the history books as one of the media industry’s most pathet...
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
This is kind of amazing.
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Reposted by Esther Kaplan
L.A. TACO @lataco.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
We lend our voices to the 150 detainees, including hunger strikers at the Adelanto processing center and read their letter in the “Petition of Writ” that we received from @chu.house.gov. Here are their words. (2 parts) PART 1
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Reposted by Esther Kaplan
Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
Campos: While I want to thank CBS news for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Honestly I think we’re well past the point when we can successfully take this all in
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Reposted by Esther Kaplan
Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 18/05/2026
BREAKING: The judge in the $1.7B slush fund suit has dismissed the case, but she says THERE IS NO SETTLEMENT OF RECORD. As I said earlier, the media must stop reporting that this slush fund is a settlement. It's just plain THEFT. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
AI is smart enough, I guess, but have you ever tried putting a small seed in some soil, adding water, and then a few days later it somehow becomes a seedling?
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
@natalieorenstein.bsky.social and Eli Wolfe got their hands on these text messages and have been reporting them out for a few days. Now Oaklandʻs top-ranking official after the mayor has resigned. oaklandside.org/2026/05/17/j...
oaklandside.org
City Administrator resigns after crass texts about female employees
Mayor Barbara Lee announced Sunday that Jestin Johnson is stepping down after three years.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
This is a harrowing read, and so much more comprehensively documented than the NYT’s multi-bylined Dec. 2023 story about sexual assault by Hamas. Why are we reading this one on the opinion pages? www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
The Jim Crow Court.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Unacceptable.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
“What we’ve seen in the last year is the military repeatedly carrying out illegal orders. The attacks on the alleged drug boats in the Pacific, the raid to seize Maduro in Venezuela, the war on Iran, have all been illegal – yet the military carried them all out.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
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Reposted by Esther Kaplan
Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · 01/05/2026
It’s World Press Freedom Day this Sunday. Traditionally, that’s when we call out foreign regimes for targeting journalists. But this year, the call is coming from inside our own (White) house instead.
freedom.press
This World Press Freedom Day, American journalists are under attack
The U.S. government has declared open season on the news media. May 3 is a reminder to fight back
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
This is the first really thoughtful exploration of Cole Allen I’ve read. Thanks for this @kenklippenstein.bsky.social
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
I’m sorry, McClatchy is slapping human bylines onto machine content? That’s not only a betrayal of their reporters. It’s a betrayal of their readers
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
I’m struggling to understand the theory of the case. Everyone knew SPLC used infiltrators to expose extremists. This was arguably why their research had so much credibility — including in the eyes of their sometime law enforcement partners, the FBI. Impossible donors were unaware.
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Reposted by Esther Kaplan
Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Huge bomb just went off in CA gov race (sorry the @sfchronicle.com doesn’t seem to have gift link so far as I can find, but they’ve clearly been reporting this out for a long time) www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
So some things are still jaw dropping.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
The College Board has pushed AP expansion for decades, making APs standard on college apps. But the program is riven with racial bias. In Oakland, the racial disparities are so stark, many schools are turning to a college prep alternative. oaklandside.org/2026/04/02/o...
oaklandside.org
Skyline High School has 17 AP classes. Castlemont has 0. OUSD has a serious college prep gap
White and Asian students take AP classes at twice the rate of their Black and Latino peers. And while one Oakland school has 17 course options, many others have zero.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
This is the part called not war.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Community colleges get way less in per-pupil funding than public universities. But they're wildly successful engines of social mobility. 1/ oaklandside.org/2026/03/23/e...
oaklandside.org
The education of Marquitta Eddings
California community colleges get far less state funding than Universities of California or Cal States. Yet they’re powerful engines of economic mobility.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
So the concept is to suck up vast amounts of scarce water anduse so much energy that we accelerate climate change, in exchange for…um…this.
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Reposted by Esther Kaplan
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 17/03/2026
‘Trump is aiming for dictatorship’. That’s the verdict of the world’s most credible democracy watchdog | Martin Gelin
theguardian.com
‘Trump is aiming for dictatorship’. That’s the verdict of the world’s most credible democracy watchdog | Martin Gelin
Sweden’s V-Dem Institute warns that the US is no longer a liberal democracy. And autocracy is creeping across Europe too, says writer Martin Gelin
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
In the west, we somehow accept these visual gashes across our cities we call "freeways," clogged with traffic, that wall off communities, make walking and biking more difficult, and waste precious land. What if we didn't? oaklandside.org/2026/03/12/o...
oaklandside.org
How could Oakland raise billions in revenue? New report suggests removing freeways
The highway impact report found Oakland forgoes $23.9 billion in development and $181 million a year in property taxes thanks to urban land swallowed up by freeways.
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
“Every ‘miracle’ in computing would inevitably, eventually, become every woman’s nightmare.”
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
This honestly encapsulates the whole enforced consent AI regime
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Esther Kaplan @estherbrooklyn.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
Such a fun conversation with the brilliant cultural critic Jeff Chang about Bruce Lee's time in Oakland. oaklandside.org/2026/03/06/w...
oaklandside.org
Walking Bruce Lee’s Oakland with Jeff Chang
Chang, the hip hop historian and cultural critic, has written a vivid history of the martial arts legend and his worlds. He takes us on a tour of Lee’s days in Oakland.
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