iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Only marginally related, but I noticed via digital billboards during Spain-USWNT soccer game last night that the U.S. Men’s soccer team is playing Haiti in Cincinnati next month. That caught my attention, giving the attacks on Haitian immigrants by this government.

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⬇️ Ukraine needs more drones.

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Also, by no means am I blind to racism throughout the rest of the country and world. Just saying that is a particularly virulent type, IMO.

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I think many people who haven’t spent time in the South don’t realize that way too many of the great-great-grandchildren of people who fought for the Confederacy still haven’t gotten over it. And it’s especially clear in the racism. And the Confederate flags.

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And without reversals of policies that don’t allow teachers to teach about race or gender biases, current or historical, or many other things that have happened and do happen in the U.S. and around the world, it will only get worse as educators with options leave and the better new ones don’t come.

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Peter Whitewood @pwhitewood.bsky.social · 14h

You simply can’t get a full and accurate education in Texas at this time, not through school anyway at the K-12 level or at public universities.

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Reposted by Kat O’Brien

On Facebook, this has 2400 laughing reactions and the comments are worse. A stark example of the dehumanisation of migrants

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So I saw baseball in every country I was in, excluding layovers, and it was all or part of the reason for two business trips. Spain and Italy advanced from this weekend’s tournament, and they will play in next year’s #Premier12 16-team qualifier for three remaining spots in the 2028 Olympics.

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Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 13h

Well, I didn’t see much baseball live this year, unlike in my baseball reporter days. However, I saw it in 4 countries on 3 continents 😅 One game between 🇰🇷 & 🇨🇿 in the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo 🇯🇵, academy games in 🇩🇴, a Padres-Diamondbacks game in San Diego 🇺🇸 and 🇪🇸 vs 🇩🇪 & 🇨🇴 in Barcelona 🇪🇸

Spain and Colombia line up for anthems before playing in baseball

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Without true reform to get most of the money out of elections (more difficult now with media consolidation and reach of social media) and also reshape Supreme Court, among many other things, it’ll always be a very uphill battle.

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Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 13h

Yeah CZ/Binance were the shadiest of the super big players, I was told by someone in the know. Now with Trump’s involvement, of course his own prob take that crown.

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 14h

I wish we could scoop up some of his funds in the meantime.

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Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 14h

The brilliant hero of the right-wing is so smart as to share his address publicly to the world, and so mature as to use an email “Incognito69420” - this is what genius looks like, people. [SARCASM FONT]

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Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 19h

I have a lot of disagreement with Dem leaders like Obama, Biden, Pelosi, Schumer, Jeffries— but they’re not out there calling for violence. I would decry them if they did. Donald Trump is a violent bloodthirsty racist misogynistic homophobic slug. He is the problem with political violence.

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Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 19h

Political violence is a serious issue. But it’s not a “both sides” issue. The leaders of the Democratic Party do not call for violence, do not elevate violent supporters, do not pardon violent thugs who attack our seat of government and our elections. America is under threat from the right.

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Phillips OBrien @phillipspobrien.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Free weekend out. The big story is that Donald Trump is now free to be what he always was--strong supporter of Vladimir Putin and an agent pushing for Russian victory. He no longer has to pretend he cares at all about Ukrainian dead or Russian War crimes. phillipspobrien.substack.com/p/weekend-up...

phillipspobrien.substack.com

Weekend Update #206: Trump Is Free To Be What He Has Always Been

Russian Strikes Against Civilians; Do Ukraine And Europe Understand What They Must Do?

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Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 16h

This ⬇️ And if you live overseas and have already mailed in your vote, or have done the same as absentee voter living in the U.S., check online to be sure your vote gets counted.

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Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Matt Lombardo @mattlombardo.bsky.social · 18h

It’s an NFL Sunday, which means it’s the perfect time to confirm your voter registration status. Or to register to vote. Or to request your mail in ballot. Then, vote early. Drop your ballot off in person. But, vote. Like your life depends on it. Because in so many ways, it does. 🗳️

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Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 16h

Muy lamentable. ¿Piensas que lo que está pasando actualmente podría forzar algún cambio? En el caso de los Clippers, pasó así en algún momento.

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Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 16h

Great article by Jordan Thomas in La Liga and Beyond on the Rayo Vallecano situation, and why it’s long past time something be done about the disastrous owner Martin Presa. jordthomas15.substack.com/p/presa-pape...

jordthomas15.substack.com

Presa, Paper Planes and the Fight for Rayo

Why Rayo fans have reached breaking point in their battle with Martín Presa

Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 18h

You can share when you have, that’s fine, thanks. No rush.

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Y en periódicos, la diferencia hoy entre 3 tabloides de NY (Newsday es de Long Island). El Diario, en español, tiene de portada las miles manifestando contra ICE. Newsday tiene un reportaje en el impacto de ICE en el East End de LI. El NY Post de Rupert Murdoch ataca al inmigrante que ICE fusiló.

ELDIARIO

'ICE vete de NY
GH
ICE
NEW YORK
IS FOR
>ALL+
OUT
OFUS
U
NYG
扣0Mau
ICE OUT
OF NY
ICE
OUT
OF NFE
END
ICE
♪！
NEW YORK
IS FOR
>ALL+
OF US
NY
CHO
manifestantes han salido a las calles a protestar.
La agencia federal está bajo fuego por disparar a un inmigrante dominicano que estaba con su hijo en el auto • DHS justifica el operativo por tratarse de una persona con antecedentes penales

Newsday
COVERING LONG ISLAND LIKE NO ONE ELSE CAN

- DEPORTED
ICE'S IMPACT ON EAST END
Generations of immigrants have come to Riverhead seeking work and a better life.
Here's what's changed.

Edgar Pocasangre, of Riverhead, moved from El Salvador when he was 12. He now often keeps his work documents with him.

New York Post

Illegal migrant gangbanger nabbed by
ICE terrorized former-neighbors with machete
MENACE TO SOCIETY

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How Trump's FCC aided Sinclair's expansion

Total. También muy importante y menos comentado es el control de Sinclair sobre muchos canales locales de TV (y por supuesto, hay cada vez más consolidación en pocas manos con los Ellisons etc): www.politico.com/story/2017/0... www.newyorker.com/magazine/201... fair.org/home/how-sin...

politico.com

Use of a regulatory loophole will allow Sinclair to reach 72 percent of U.S. households after buying Tribune’s stations.

Shiv Ramdas Mens Rice Activist @nameshiv.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Reposted by Kat O’Brien

modi has spent the last 12 years being the guy that Trump wishes he could be and gets about 1/300th as much attention as Orban who was lording it over a country maybe 1/35th the size

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ghost malone ergo propter bones @proptermalone.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

what the nearly monotonic trend says to me is that once you’re done you’re done forever, and I think the mechanism for that is that being done with Trump requires admitting that you got rooked

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Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Jeff Kassouf @jeffkassouf.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

#USWNT head coach Emma Hayes: "I'm frustrated. I'm disappointed. But I'm not deterred." "I think we're much closer to them than we were three years ago definitely." Hayes was happy with the chances her team created, but not the poor finishing. Players said the finer details were lacking early.

espn.com

USWNT 'frustrated' but 'not deterred' by loss to world champions Spain

USWNT coach Emma Hayes lamented her team's lack of goalscoring in a 2-0 loss to Spain on Saturday, but saw signs of progress ahead of next year's World Cup.

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Keith Law @keithlaw.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Honestly, that’s pretty awesome. Unless you’re a tried-and-true Dodgers fan, you’ve gotta root for some fan base getting their first World Series Championship!

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Reposted by Kat O’Brien

so the final four are * a team that has never won the World Series in its 28 seasons * a team that has never won the World Series in its 57 seasons * a team that hasn’t won the World Series in 77 seasons * Dodgers

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Reposted by Kat O’Brien

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Some ~personal~ news: After five years, I have been laid off from @the-independent.com. I am grateful for the time I have had there. With that in mind, I am absolutely looking for new work opportunities, especially ahead if the midterms. My email is EMGarcia2009@gmail.com. My signal is emgarcia.85

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Jessica Luther @jessicawluther.com · 11/10/2026

I’m very sorry to hear that. It’s really rough. Wishing you the best finding something great soon.

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Reposted by Kat O’Brien

The supporter groups encouraged people to wear black in protest of ICE. And minutes into the home match against Nashville, a bunch of supporters left including the band, La Murga, who normally play every minute of every game. They took their banners and their cheers and their songs.

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I don’t know - most of what I see there lately is clearly written by AI and with little that feels authentic.

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The U.S. has myriad problems, I talk about them ad nauseam. China is a far more repressive nation regarding free speech. Trump would love to make the U.S. as repressive as China or Russia, it’s a real danger, but he isn’t there yet.

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Yes, surveillance is omnipresent in the U.S. and UK and in much of the world. Arrests and punishment over what one says or criticism of the leader is much more repressive in hard authoritarian nations. The U.S. absolutely has an incarceration problem; that’s minimally to do with free speech though.

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A Reporter Returns to China to Find it Richer, but Also Highly Paranoid.

A really interesting read by a British-American journalist who returns to China on a 6-month assignment, having studied & worked there in the 1980s & 1990s. He discussed omnipresent surveillance and tight grip of authoritarian rule, along with impressive technology. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/11/w...

nytimes.com

Returning to China after decades away, a correspondent finds bullet trains, dazzling skylines — and a surveillance state more paranoid and pervasive than ever.

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Ezio Mauro in Italy’s La Repubblica is a must-read on Trump’s soft coup against Zelenskyy: “We are witnessing an unprecedented situation: America abandoning an allied nation that is under attack, invaded, and at war, and openly siding with the Russian aggressor.” www.repubblica.it/commenti/202...

But yesterday, the US government revealed the stakes—which are incredibly high—and the true heart of the agreement between the two presidents: the political demise of Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump has personally attacked him, accusing him of being the real obstacle to peace and pressuring him to step down—something Putin has long demanded.

“The time has come for Ukraine to have a new president,” Trump said, “a new leader who will strike a deal. For some reason, Zelensky never makes deals; he’s had plenty of opportunities, but he wants to cause trouble. He needs to stop hitting Russian refineries—it harms the world and our farmers.” We are witnessing an unprecedented situation: America abandoning an allied nation that is under attack, invaded, and at war, and openly siding with the Russian aggressor. This marks a dramatic shift in allegiance, occurring even while the Kremlin remains under sanctions from the Western and Atlantic alliance—a bloc that has spent four years supporting Ukraine and its president. Now, that president stands exposed and isolated, both at home and abroad; he cannot survive the combined onslaught of Putin’s missiles and Trump’s threats. In the span of a single day—as the two "emperors" coordinated their plan—his chief ally turned into his public accuser, adopting Putin’s criticisms and echoing his desires.

Thus, Trump’s true imperial strategy comes to fruition, resolving the American ambiguity that had seen the US president humiliate Zelensky before the eyes of the world during their first White House meeting, only to laboriously shift toward a reluctant support—one that was inherited rather than chosen, inevitable yet unwelcome, doled out sparingly and never wholeheartedly. Trump’s reservations regarding the Western strategy of aiding Ukraine were evident and constant, yet they had never gone so far as to demand a change in leadership—resulting in the inconceivable spectacle of the American president carrying out the Russian president’s strategy by ousting an ally and abruptly switching sides.

Now, all the negotiators involved in the Miami talks—including Witkoff, Kushner, envoys from Great Britain, France, and Germany, and representatives from NATO and the EU—will gaze at Zelensky’s empty chair, wondering who will speak for Ukraine, and with what strategy, alliances, and strength. We are witnessing a full-blown "soft coup" in real time, with Putin able to remain silent and wait for Trump to act on his behalf and in his interest, thereby finishing the job. Naturally, our own responsibilities—as Westerners, Europeans, and democrats—weigh heavily on this dramatic turn in the crisis. Our growing lukewarmness toward the Ukrainian resistance has undoubtedly contributed to weakening and isolating Zelensky, leaving him unsupported and stripping his leadership of its significance; meanwhile, a weariness regarding someone else’s war has grown within our societies—a sentiment ready to mistake the aggressor’s arguments for the cause of peace—while we have increasingly placed the burden of accepting the enemy’s terms on the shoulders of the weak rather than the strong.

In doing so, we have played our small part in the tragedy, setting the stage for the final act as supporting players unfaithful to our own duties and principles. That is why the alarm bell ringing in Kyiv today tolls for us as well, while the rationale behind the Nobel Prize confronts us like a stumbling block. Ultimately, “promoting peace and international law to ensure that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted—demonstrating that a world without the rule of law is unjust, reckless, and inhumane”—cannot apply only to Gaza; it must also apply to Ukraine, compelling all of us (and especially the Left, which champions the cause of democracy) not to turn a blind eye. That is the small measure of courage required to speak the truth.

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Thanks for the insight. I’m not on TikTok, so I’m sure that’s a reason I haven’t seen tons. Agreed, it’s strange how they obsess. A lot of establishment Dems are convinced centrism is the way to win, I think, and I disagree. It might be the way in a given district or state, but not everywhere.

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Sí, comprendo totalmente si solo tienen una pantalla. Pero algunos de estos tienen como 12 o 15 pantallas …

For many years - yes, I know this sounds sacrilegious - I followed Spanish teams in Champions League w/o having 1 favorite team. I would root for all Spanish teams to advance as far as possible, and if they played each other, root for best storyline or perhaps based on players I esp liked/disliked.

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I’m torn when it comes to women’s ⚽️. On men’s, I root for 🇪🇸 over everybody as I started watching men’s ⚽️ via studying in 🇪🇸. For women’s, I root for USA and Spain about equally so then I go back to the journalist in me and root for the best story. Which in this case I believe was Spain winning.