James Gleick

The story in a nutshell.

1. Qatar bribed Trump with a large aircraft.
2. Trump spent $400 million in taxpayer money to make it luxurious.
3. It is insecure for use as Air Force One.
4. He intends to keep it as his own when he leaves office.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/08/us/politics/trump-air-force-one-security.html?unlocked_article_code=1.wVA.p0tp.J3UTgl7i87OO&smid=url-share

1. Apologize to the people of Iran for the 1953 coup, the breaking of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and the 2026 war.
2. Commit the US to supporting democracy and self-determination henceforth.
3. Promise reparations and rebuilding.
4. Resign and surrender to the International Court of Justice.

Think about this. Having started a war with no planning, the US has discovered that it can't defend its own bases in the Middle East. So it is shifting troops to hotels and other residences where they are shielded by civilians. That's a war crime.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/us/politics/troops-iran-hotels.html?unlocked_article_code=1.X1A.zMhU.V-_4ydMQKLwy&smid=url-share

#Iran

I don't think this word means what you think it does.

1. Swallow the AI hype.
2. Fire your skilled humans.
3. Discover that the AI does inferior work.
4. Hire back the humans TO TRAIN THE AI.

Coming soon:

1. Fire the humans again.
2. Discover that the AI does inferior work.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgrkd41n2v9o

“Experts are dubious.”

Did the President of the United States really just announce, "NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”?

Yes. Yes, he did. We live in the dumbest possible timeline.

#FensterFreitag

RE: @newsguyusa@flipboard.social

Forbes providing a handy metric for how much the grifter-in-chief has stolen from the American people.

U.S. and Israeli weapons are precise enough to enable the assassination of Iranian leaders—yet they are targeting hospitals and schools, This is the beginning of what will surely be extensive documentation of war crimes.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/04/09/world/middleeast/us-israel-strikes-iran-structures-damage.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Z1A.jNTc.JZhppIRJ8_tY&smid=url-share

Here is a conspicuously clear and correct explainer of the state of the war against Iran. @Lana@beige.party @Lana@beige.party

Here is a shameless handout of taxpayer cash to Mike Flynn, Trump's crony and co-conspirator. Flynn was GUILTY. He pled guilty. Trump pardoned him.

Imagine if Biden had shifted $1.25 million to some crony of his.

The NY Times knows this, but they can't help themselves. They accept the transparently bogus framing: that this is a "settlement"; that it "puts to rest a lawsuit"; that it provides "legal relief."

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/us/politics/michael-flynn-doj-settlement-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WFA.5F5b.c4yW21bL2pNI&smid=url-share

Agents of the US government arrested this woman and this girl, Dr. Rubeliz Bolivar and her daughter, Milena.

Their crimes? None.

Dr. Bolivar, born in Venezuela, in an emergency-care physician in McAllen, Texas, an impoverished place desperate for doctors. She has lived in the US legally for 10 years. She has a valid work permit, good until 2030. She is applying for permanent residency.

Milena, age 5, is a US citizen.

The cruelty. The stupidity.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/us/second-venezuelan-doctor-detained-in-south-texas-by-immigration-agents.html?unlocked_article_code=1.aVA.ISnh.Nt1Lr7Y_lA4P&smid=url-share

Fidelity becomes the latest spineless example of Obeying in Advance.

We can all push back by donating to the SPLC.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/business/fidelity-southern-poverty-law-center.html?unlocked_article_code=1.elA.pxps.lgGr0xScgt2O&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Constitutional scholars across the generations failed to notice that the pardon clause was a loophole that would enable a tyrant to operate the entire government as a criminal enterprise. Trump figured that out, though.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/11/trump-mass-pardons-end-of-presidential-term

The NY Times has a blockbuster story here: Epstein got valuable inside information from the first Trump administration and fed it to a wealthy foreign customer of his sex-trafficking racket.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/04/world/asia/epstein-india-ambani.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YVA.83Co.UxeBjXa6EFjs&smid=url-share

RE: @petersuber@fediscience.org

Can you name two countries that members of the International Congress of Mathematicians consider too dangerous and repressive to host them? Hint: one is Russia …

And now, here is a “cover reveal” in People magazine.

https://people.com/james-gleick-the-telephone-cover-reveal-exclusive-11960455

I can't think of two people less qualified to conduct peace negotiations with Iran than Donald Trump's gormless son-in-law Jared and billionaire crony Steve, who tricked him into starting this war in the first place, but then I remind myself that the "negotiations" are fictional anyway.

The war on science reaches a new level.

https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-fires-nsf-s-oversight-board

Yet another Trump co-conspirator, investigated by the FBI but never charged, gets a $1.25 million payout for nothing. His meritless lawsuit was repeatedly thrown out by the courts, but Trump has reached into the taxpayers' pockets and paid him anyway.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/22/us/politics/trump-settles-carter-page-lawsuit.html?unlocked_article_code=1.dFA.j-zU.TIu0h8YQC4J7&smid=url-share

Guess who appointed the two appellate judges who shut down an inquiry into the Trump administration’s contemptuous violation of court orders and contemptuous lying to the court.

You have to read pretty far to find out. But you already know, don’t you?

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04/14/us/trump-news?unlocked_article_code=1.a1A.su8A.Xw39jFeDC5wh&smid=nytcore-ios-share

No need to attribute this to Abbas Araghchi. A blockade is, in point of fact, an act of war.

If its aim is to cause civilian suffering, it is also a war crime. (Cf. Cuba.)

The trail of misery left by this one monstrous person.

https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-family-deportations-ice-citizen-kids?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post

Alternate lede:

Tom Homan, the top White House border official, scrambled Sunday to carry out an impulsive order by Trump to use ICE agents at airports “to do security like no one has ever seen,” despite their lack of training for the work currently done by officers of the Transportation Security Administration.

He admitted he had no idea what the ICE agents would actually do.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/22/us/politics/ice-airports-homan-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.VFA.FktN.oBFmz5LzrhD5&smid=url-share

“Trump’s Escalating Erratic Conduct and Unhinged Threats of Mass Violence Require Urgent Assessment into POTUS’s Mental Fitness.”

Rep. Jamie Raskin has formally demanded that the White House physician report to Congress on Trump’s cognitive and neurological condition. It deserves more attention. It states for the record what all can see:

“We have indisputably entered the realm of profound medical difficulty and concern.”

https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ranking-member-raskin-demands-white-house-physician-immediately-evaluate-donald-trump-s-cognitive-fitness-amid-bipartisan-alarm-calls-to-invoke-25th-amendment

I don't believe for a second that Trump wants this libel suit to go to trial. If it did, the Wall Street Journal would be able to use the best of all possible defenses: Truth.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/13/business/media/trump-wall-street-journal-lawsuit-dismissed-epstein.html?unlocked_article_code=1.a1A._NbU.i5bM6D0yg_n_&smid=url-share

#libel #trump