iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

The same Brendan Carr who wanted to investigate NBC because Kamala was on SNL? The same Brendan Carr who wanted to dismantle independent fact checking and accused them of being a “censorship cartel?” Periodic reminder that the corruption is a feature, not a bug.

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The US easing sanctions against Russia for releasing some political prisoners is insane. Negotiating w/ terrorists rarely works out. DJT rewards autocrats as it can directly enrich him. Ukraine after 4+ yrs of death & destruction isn't even allowed at the table. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

theatlantic.com

Trump’s Latest Appeal to Russia Could Outrage Even His Allies

Trump’s envoy wants to trade Russian political prisoners for U.S. sanctions relief, creating a path to business deals before the war in Ukraine ends.

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Most of us don't need a reminder of how truly evil Russia invasion of Ukraine is & has been, but it is important to remember what it means in reality. Russia lost the war it had envisioned over 4 years ago. Now all it can do is destroy what Putin can't have. Assholes www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/w...

nytimes.com

The Rescuers Keeping Two Ukrainian ‘Fortress Cities’ Alive (Gift Article)

Emergency workers have to move fast after Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine. Another could come at any moment.

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Wondering why the West struggles to meet demand for today's wars, read this. While informative, it skips many unanswered questions about why the US & EU have lost so much of their skilled labor force & is proof of Ukraine's bravery & ability to overcome such obstacles www.nytimes.com/2026/09/26/b...

nytimes.com

This Screw Is Needed for Missiles and Planes. Buying One Can Take Years. (Gift Article)

As the Trump administration scrambles to increase the production of munitions, these special screws are expensive and hard to source.

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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Every taxpayer, no matter your party, should be outraged by this. Your money is being used to fund campaign ads for Trump. It’s totally completely illegally. He’s stealing your money for his campaign. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/u...

nytimes.com

‘Love Me’ Ad Promotes Trump With Public Money Ahead of the Midterms

A disclaimer says the ad was paid for by the U.S. government, which could violate federal law.

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This was the 28th time #SCOTUS has granted emergency relief to the Trump administration since 1/20/25. That matches the total number of grants during the entirety of the first Trump administration. And both of those totals dwarf the *four* grants of relief (two each) during the Bush & Obama admins.

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

In competitive authoritarian regimes, the ruling party uses its control of the government to stack the deck against their opponents. We're not there (yet at least), but this is exactly the kind of thing you would see in such a regime.

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The article describes how Russia has evaded sanctions since invading Ukraine, but it's a laundry list of things making the world worse for most people - oligarchs; shell companies; cryptocurrency; ways to abuse AI & money laundering. Autocrats & their useful idiots. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/24/b...

nytimes.com

The ‘Monster’ Behind Russia’s Global Effort to Evade Western Sanctions (Gift Article)

A Moscow firm uses shell companies and cryptocurrency to launder money, and a custom app to forge trade records, to help Russia bypass sweeping financial restrictions.

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 23/09/2026

NEW: ProPublica revealed that the FBI was circling Sen. Collins over a defense contractor’s donations — until Trump gutted the unit in charge. Collins has since mustered a defense with a series of incorrect and misleading claims.

propublica.org

ProPublica Debunks Susan Collins’ Claims About FBI Anti-Corruption Probe

ProPublica revealed that the FBI was circling Sen. Collins over a defense contractor’s donations — until President Trump gutted the unit in charge. Collins has since mustered a defense with a series o...

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

(2/2) The president of the United States says things that are not only false and cruel but which only Russians could have instructed him to say, since there is no way he could have thought of them himself, and since they depend on knowledge that he does not have.

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Edward Luce @edwardluce.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Just to make it clear, Wapo still does some great reporting and still has David Ignatius and a handful of other great writers on its oped page. But its Bezos-pleasing editorial line is beyond parody.

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Norm Eisen @normeisen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Trump has raked in $2B since returning to the WH His high-volume of stock trades outpace all members of Congress Trump Inc. has a new Trump tower deal w/ a Putin ally And it's just Wednesday I'll get into it w/ @nicollewallace.bsky.social on @ms.now at 5:30👇 -TN

bloomberg.com

Trump Made 29,000 Securities Trades, More Than All of Congress

Donald Trump made nearly 29,000 securities trades in 17 months — more than every member of Congress combined. The stock-purchasing ban he’s pushing would leave him exempt

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 16/09/2026

Read Mikhal Zygar on Umar Kremlev, the oligarch who helped pay for Don Jr's wedding zygaro.substack.com/p/the-oligar...

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Unprecedented corruption

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Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 15/09/2026

Genuinely an insane paragraph from Sam Alito. “Voter fraud is real and scary and we have to stop it, so the fact that implementing Trump’s mail ballot rule will disenfranchise millions is legally irrelevant.” Brain melted. A right-wing podcaster in a robe. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

___, (slip op., at 9) (internal quotation marks omitted).
As for the equities, the Government has a strong interest
in enforcing the rule, and implementing it will also “en-
hance the visibility of Federal Ballot Mail” in order to better
detect election fraud. 91 Fed. Reg. 54972. On the other side
of the balance, the plaintiff States invoke the practical ef-
fects of implementing the rule close to the midterm elec-
tions. I take that problem very seriously, but it is not
enough to convince me to deny the application.
First, as the District Court acknowledged, the States dis-

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David A. Graham @dgraham.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

@rickhasen.bsky.social with the heater here: electionlawblog.org/2026/breakin...

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Anne Applebaum's latest gives an overview of how bad things are in the US & the damage the DJT admin is doing & has done to the planet. The US's power for good is being ended by an orgy of corruption enabled by Republicans, tech oligarchs and conservative media. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

theatlantic.com

MAGA Is Making the World Safe for Corruption

Far-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 14/09/2026

Your regular reminder: If the Russians stop fighting, the war ends. If the Ukrainians stop fighting, their land will be occupied, their leaders will be killed, their history and language will be erased, their children will be kidnapped to serve Russia.

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Jan Melvil Publishing @janmelvil.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Zeptali jsme se Broni Sobotky, nadšeného angličtináře z Brna, na jeho oblíbenou melvilovku a odpověď nás nepřekvapila: „Jednoznačně doporučuji Na volné noze. Je to bible freelancingu a freelancerů.“

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Frederick Deknatel @freddydeknatel.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

"Trump’s rise and nativist politics were inextricably linked to the war on terror." @vermontgmg.bsky.social on 9/11 legacy's of Islamophobia and "dishonorable bigotry, especially from some of the nation’s leaders," which propelled Trump into power. www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/09/o...

bostonglobe.com

Twenty-five years after 9/11, to be Muslim in America is to be suspect - The Boston Globe

President Bush warned against demonizing Islam. It didn’t take.

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Michael J. Stern @michaeljstern.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Now Trump is claiming two fireman lifted him from the rubble of a building near the twin towers on 9–11. It’s a lie. He’s pathological and it’s a lie. Nothing is sacred and everything that spews from Trump‘s mouth is designed to make him look good. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/u...

nytimes.com

At 9/11 Tribute, Trump Adds New Claim to His Disputed Role After Attack

President Trump has long sought to position himself close to the Sept. 11 recovery effort and has made a series of questionable and provocative statements to burnish his political brand.

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tunes to make you run away @whippoorwont.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

"people are anthropomorphizing LLMs because they are so astonishingly good at processing human thought and language" people will anthropomorphize a chair if you put the stitches in the right place.

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John Hudson @johnphudson.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

The U.N. backed a map that shows Africa true to size. The U.S. was sole objector. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Every Republican in Congress owns what Trump has done, is doing and is going to do. The vast majority of it would not have been possible without their collective acquiescence and enabling. He’s emboldened by the fact that Congress refuses to function as a separate branch of govt.

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Gabriel Malor @gabrielmalor.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

This is so basic. It is not USPS' job to decide whether ballots are eligible or not. That's the job of the state election officials. USPS' job is simply to ensure that the ballots get from election officials to the voters and then from the voters back to election officials. That's it.

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David Kurtz @davidkurtz.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The gig is up in the very first sentence of the Supreme Court's per curiam opinion on the Trump ballroom (emphasis added): "In October 2025, the *federal government* started a project to replace the East Wing of the White House." They've collapsed the legislative branch into the unitary executive.

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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

It’s weird how stays that benefit Trump are always kept in place and stays that stop him are always lifted. It’s almost as if there’s some of pattern behind legal procedure at work….

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Literally nobody, including MAGA, had any ideological commitment or pre-existing policy goal of picking a fight with Canada. This is all happening solely because the crazy old man randomly blurted it out. And that makes it worse. There's nothing to negotiate, no aim to satisfy. He's just insane.

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 22/08/2026

This is what the fake "free speech" advocates have built: an administration that harasses critics. Produce research showing the expensive National Guard deployments didn't lower crime? Get sued by Trump's lawyers www.nytimes.com/2026/08/21/u...

nytimes.com

Trump Threatens Defamation Suit Over National Guard Report, Aiming to Intimidate a Critic

It was the latest example of President Trump’s bid to use the legal system against those who voice unflattering facts and opinions generally protected by the First Amendment.

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

As soon as there‘s a Democrat in the White House again, John Roberts will discover all kinds of new limitations on their presidential powers, but for now, President Make-a-Wish gets whatever his little heart desires

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

The most corrupt administration in US history keeps finding ways to ensure that it can steal everything possible for as long as DJT is in power. The Republican party as a whole is just as guilty for enabling all of this to happen. There must be a reckoning & soon. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

theatlantic.com

A Green Light for Crooks

The Treasury has made the American economy a safe space for corruption.

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

As hard as it is to not get numb to the insane level of corruption DJT has normalized in the last two years, this article gives a pretty decent overview. Just the tip of the iceberg of corruption if you consider the rest of the family & his cabinet of clowns. www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

theatlantic.com

The Watchdogs Are Barking Themselves Hoarse

The scandals of the president’s first term now seem quaint.

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Andrew Weinstein @andrewjweinstein.com · 08/08/2026

Blanche’s confirmation underscores a simple truth: a handful of Republicans in Congress could stop this chaos tomorrow. They simply choose not to.

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Sadly predictable that the Republican senator responsible for Robert Kennedy getting confirmed has made it possible for Todd Blanche to officially become Attorney General. All this after DJT torpedoed his reelection. Not all doctors are smart, this one's an idiot. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/07/u...

nytimes.com

Bill Cassidy Will Back Todd Blanche as Attorney General, Salvaging His Confirmation (Gift Article)

The Louisiana senator said that, despite reservations, he would back President Trump’s pick for attorney general, giving Republicans enough votes for a majority.

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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

A first year above 2C in the mid-2030s now looks plausible. 0.5C was first passed in 1980, 1.0C in 2010 and 1.5C in 2024. The 15-year trend runs at 0.42C per decade. The 2026 and 2027 points for the current El Nino are estimates. We're not remotely ready!

Line chart titled "A first year above 2 C in the mid-2030s looks increasingly plausible". It shows global mean surface temperature from 1940 to 2050 as the annual anomaly against the 1850 to 1900 baseline, in degrees C. Data is ERA5 from Copernicus, running to 31 July 2026.

A thin gold line shows individual years, wobbling around a thick dark blue smoothed trend. Both sit near 0.2 C through the 1940s to the early 1970s, then climb steadily from the mid-1970s onward.

Three red dots mark the first year each threshold was passed. 0.5 C in 1980, 1.0 C in 2010 and 1.5 C in 2024. Labels beneath note the gap of 30 years between the first two and 14 years between the second and third. Everything above 1.5 C is shaded pink.

Two dashed lines run forward from 2025. A blue line follows the 15-year trend of 0.42 C per decade and reaches 2 C in 2037. A fainter grey line follows the 30-year trend of 0.27 C per decade and reaches 2 C in 2044.

Two orange circles mark estimates for the developing El Niño, at about 1.5 C for 2026 and about 1.7 C for 2027.

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Why would the Senate would confirm Blanche based on written assurances? The DJT admin has demonstrated repeatedly that they will lie, cheat & swindle shamelessly on orders from the Don. The most corrupt admin in US history can't be trusted to not do bad things. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/03/u...

nytimes.com

Blanche Gives G.O.P. Senators Written Assurances on Trump’s I.R.S. Deal (Gift Article)

Todd Blanche’s confirmation as attorney general has been held up over concerns about a planned $1.8 billion fund for Trump allies and the president’s immunity from tax scrutiny.

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Rep. Mike Levin @levin.house.gov · 02/08/2026

The President’s job is to help Americans in need, not punish them for voting against him. Trump has approved nearly 90% of disaster-aid requests from Republican-led states. But not one, not two, not three—FOUR Democratic-led states were denied assistance they needed and qualified for.

politico.com

Trump overrode his own agencies to deny 4 Democratic disaster requests

President Donald Trump cast aside bipartisan precedent when he rejected eligible disaster requests from four blue states.

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Rather that reporting this one time on a Friday afternoon during the summer, the NY Times & other major media outlets should follow up on this admission weekly, since there are clearly significant consequences to reveal over the next few months. Utterly un-American. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...

nytimes.com

Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him (Gift Article)

Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

The idea that DJT would be allowed to have secret side deals as part of any deal reviewed by Congress is beyond absurd. I know the Republicans have largely given up on defending the Constitution, but how much more of DJT's personal corruption will they stand for. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/21/u...

nytimes.com

Saudis Reach Deal With U.S. That Could Let Them Enrich Nuclear Fuel (Gift Article)

U.S. lawmakers and Israeli officials have expressed opposition to such a plan, to be announced Wednesday, fearing that the kingdom could use a civilian nuclear project to develop nuclear weapons.

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Scott Hudson @scotthudson4.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

It's unsurprising that the rampant abusive use of force by ICE hasn't been punished yet, but I look forward to the day when justice is served & those carrying out these illegal orders are put on trial. The DJT admin is an embarrassment & a disgrace. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/18/u...

nytimes.com

They Were Charged With Assaulting ICE Agents. The Cases Are Crumbling. (Gift Article)

The Trump administration has lost or abandoned hundreds of criminal cases against protesters and immigrants, a Times investigation found.

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Katie Mack @astrokatie.com · 17/07/2026

Probably more helpful to think of them not so much as “Canadian wildfires” but rather “climate change wildfires currently consuming Canada”

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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

The courage of his son in speaking with such simple clarity.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

A total violation of international law. Eswatini is imprisoning people from multiple countries no crime, based on no violation of law in that country, and with the direct knowledge and acquiescence of the United States.

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Tomáš Baránek @tombarys.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Everyone with kids should read this and act accordingly. There is a gap growing and time ticking. Stanford Economist: AI Is Replacing Young People, Not Their Bosses (That's New And Devastating) open.substack.com/pub/michaeld...

open.substack.com

Stanford Economist: AI Is Replacing Young People, Not Their Bosses (That's New And Devastating)

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Philip Gourevitch @pgourevitch.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

There is nothing funny - alive, dead, or otherwise - about Mitch McConnell, one of the most relentlessly destructive malignancies in American political life for decades.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Don't want to speak ill of the dead, so getting this Mitch McConnell take out now. He saw Trump with complete clarity, as a danger to America, but protected him anyway. Perhaps more than anyone, he had the power to end Trumpism, but chose party over country. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/jan-6-and-...

And yet…McConnell refused to vote to convict. Seven of his colleagues did, and with McConnell’s leadership, more would have done so, potentially enough to get to the supermajority needed. With conviction, the Senate could have also taken the vote to block Trump from running again. Doing so would have ended Trump as a political power. McConnell was clearly considering this option. In an oral history interview at the time the House was impeaching Trump, McConnell said

But apparently you can impeach somebody after they leave office, and if that happens, there’s a second vote in the Senate, which only has to pass by a simple majority, that prevents that person from seeking office again. So he could not only be impeached, but also eliminated from the possibility of a comeback for this office. So it is significant.

In the end, McConnell protected Trump from punishment. It was not just the refusal to vote to convict. After a swift House impeachment, he pushed to delay the Senate trial. He opposed the Senate joining in a Congressional investigation of Jan 6. He endorsed Trump in 2024, although this matters little except to further diminish McConnell’s dignity, as it was clear by this point that the Republican Party was Trump’s and McConnell’s time of influence was at an end.

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Eliot Higgins @eliothiggins.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The Censorship Industrial Complex is a free speech absolutist conspiracy theory that Republicans and tech bros weaponised to go after fact-checkers, so its really good to see this outcome.

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