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Reposted by Gene Ha

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 13h

My first thought was “wow I hope this guy didn’t give out his name because he could absolutely be charged” and yup, he is correct to stay anonymous.

This man’s account is shocking. His neighbors’ situation is shocking. The entire Chicago raid is shocking.

On the other side was a mom and her 7-year-old daughter, pleading for his help.
"I wasn't planning on letting her stay, but I didn't know what the hell was going on," the man said of his Venezuelan migrant neighbors. But he quickly relented. The little girl was inconsolable and hid under his bed.
"I didn't want them to take her," said the man, who didn't want to be named because he fears he'll be targeted by federal authorities for his actions.
"I gave her my bedroom, and I just told her,
'Just stay there. Don't open, don't, shh, just stay quiet," he recalled telling the mom and daughter as he choked back tears.

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 10h

I casually scrolled past this thread and didn’t fully read it. Thought you were Team Brian re: The Life of Brian. Confused why you said Ricki went to space when it was Brian who did that… Read your posts properly now!

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 10h

WGN is owned by Nexstar, but it’s the Chicago CW affiliate. Not the Chicago ABC affiliate, WLS, which is directly owned by ABC national and never suspended Kimmel broadcasts.

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 11h

The WGN video producer who was shoved to the ground and arrested by ICE this morning was released, without charges, at 3pm. I'm hoping she and WGN sue ICE and win. And betting the federal judge who issued a restraining order last night blocking EXACTLY THIS is furious.

wgntv.com/news/operati...

Screenshot of the beginning of the WGN News article. You can just hit the link and read it?

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 19h

I want this to be the inspiration for the live action MCU new costumes for Captain Marvel, Wonder Man, and Photon/ Monica Rambeau. Or maybe a 70s retro alternate Earth?

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 19h

Specifically, ICE is prohibited from 1.a. arresting journalists for doing their jobs and observing officers, 1.h. pulling or shoving people to the ground unless necessary.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

storage.courtlistener.com

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 19h

Thursday's court order prohibiting this:

[Federal Agents]… are temporarily ENJOINED… from: a. Dispersing, arresting… or using physical force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a Journalist, unless [Federal Agents] have probable cause…https://is.gd/SXG01T/CtOrder

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Reposted by Gene Ha

Cheryl Lynn Eaton @cheryllynneaton.bsky.social · 22h

I will never release the superhero and the vigilante to bigots and fascists. To those who oppress. Not when they stole those symbols from the persecuted in the first place. If I have to give up corporate figureheads? Fine. But the subgenre itself? Never.

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 1d

This is my dance about how much transphobes suck.

(Scene from Matthew Bourne’s “Swan Lake” first staged in 1995)

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Reposted by Gene Ha

Terry Midnight tried to tell you! @docmidnight.bsky.social · 1d

You can't be a leftist hero politician fighting fascism, if you're selling out our trans brothers and sisters. You're just an opportunistic politician and you can eat a dick alongside the fascists.

You just want to be seen, and we see you just fine.

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 1d

Why is Chicago a GREAT town for comics creators? Concordia University (IL) student reporter Eric Perry asked me and (separately) Jazz musician Joe Clark, who’s done some comics writing on the side. A great tribute to our community in this time of travail.

spectator.cuchicago.edu/7046/showcas...

What Pulls Comics Writers and Artists to Chicago?

Chicago’s best-known nickname is The Second City. The moniker was coined by A.J. Liebling, a writer for The New Yorker magazine, who used the nickname to put down Chicago. However, if there is one are...

spectator.cuchicago.edu

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Piper @the-pied-piper.bsky.social · 1d

Thank goodness he lost this. The precedent would have basically been that rap battles are now illegal.

Imo the worst part of this lawsuit was not that he did something so embarrassing as file it, but that he was willing to imperil an entire genre of rap music’s legality to soothe his own ego.

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Reposted by Gene Ha

Erik Uebelacker @uebey.bsky.social · 1d

NEW: Drake loses his defamation case against Kendrick Lamar over the “Not Like Us” lyrics.

More coming @courthousenews.bsky.social

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 1d

ICE claimed Marimar Martinez rammed them and brandished a gun. According to her lawyer, ICE's own bodycam shows that ICE rammed her car. After stopping her car they shot the unarmed woman through her windshield. Martinez kept her licensed concealed weapon in her purse. is.gd/TO2lUG/reuters

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Reposted by Gene Ha

Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 1d

A 3rd day of hearings over a proposed temporary restraining order against federal agents in Chicago is about to begin.

Federal Judge Sara Ellis expects to enter the order today; unfortunately I won't be covering live as oral arguments over natl. guard deployment in IL are set to start in 30 mins.

Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 2d

Back in federal judge Sara Ellis' courtroom in Chicago for a second day of discussion on a proposed restraining order to rein in federal immigration agents' violent behavior.

Debate began on this issue on Monday, and ended without the court entering a formal order.

Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social · 4d

@unraveledpress.com & other press have been threatened, shot with less-lethals and arrested while reporting on federal immigration activities in Chicagoland and on the resulting protests at Broadview.

I'm now at a hearing asking the federal court to rein ICE & co in. I'll let you know how it goes.

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Reposted by Gene Ha

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 2d

A woman who was shot multiple times by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents did not ram them with her car and had her weapon stored in her purse at the time of the incident, according to her lawyer, contradicting accounts by the Department of Homeland Security.

www.reuters.com/world/us/bod...

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Reposted by Gene Ha

Craig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 1d

History is full of soft coups and revolutions in which the tyrant's most seemingly ardent supporters, intentionally or otherwise, destabilize him by saying "the king is wonderful, but he is being betrayed by corrupt advisors!" It used to be the ONLY way to pressure or force out a king.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Marjorie Taylor Greene on polls showing Republicans are getting blamed for the shutdown: "I'm not putting the blame on the president. I'm actually putting the the blame on the Speaker and Leader Thune in the Senate. This should not be happening ... we control the House & Senate & have the WH."

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 2d

ICE loses big in court. Federal judge Sara Ellis will issue a plain language restraining order against ICE across N Illinois to stop e.g. shooting pepper balls in the face of reporters reporting, and peaceful protesters like priests praying. Via Dave Byrnes reporting for @unraveledpress.com

Screenshot of part of David Byrnes’ Bsky thread:

Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social
Ellis shoots that down. Any restraining order she grants won't be limited to the Broadview ICE facility.

"Given the record before me... these issues are not limited to Broadview," she says.

Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social
Ellis rules that the plaintiffs have standing for their case. She cites the "ongoing and sustained record of conduct" by federal agents gathered over the last month.

She further finds the plaintiffs have plausibly shown feds have "frustrated" efforts to "protect journalist safety."

Dave Byrnes @djbyrnes1.bsky.social
Ellis highlights the attacks Reverend David Black has suffered at the Broadview facility, finding plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged that the feds' use of force against praying people "substantially burdens their excercise of religion."

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 2d

Also, Illinois. The S is silent.

Gene Ha @geneha.com · 2d

Huh, I would definitely have pronounced the L before the K!

I was curious so I looked up how it might be pronounced in the original Dutch... I have no idea if the Netherlander is pulling our leg or not. soundcloud.com/edwin-den-bo...

Schuylkill

How to pronounce the name of the Schuylkill River in the original Dutch. (Photo by Dough4872, license CC-BY-SA 4.0)

soundcloud.com

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 3d

The Kurzegesagt team recounts the 100s of hours they spent fact checking an astronomy vid, e.g. 2 astronomers. They tried AI tools and 20% was 100% BS.

Before they were done a copycat channel posted on the same subject, w the BS AI "facts" Kurz. had rejected...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zfN...

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Reposted by Gene Ha

Sinister Golden Bear 🎃 @sistergoldenbear.bsky.social · 3d

Ridicule works. It's hard to come off being a tough guy when you're staring down someone in an inflatable frog costume, especially when they're twerking at you.

Amy @lolennui.bsky.social · 3d

George Orwell’s Animal Crossing

Someone in a frog costume facing down a line of police in riot gear

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Reposted by Gene Ha

Melissa Sue Stanley 🌿✨🍄 IX Showcase, October @melissasuestanley.bsky.social · 3d

One more before I log off for the evening:

Just a reminder that the special price on the Artist Edition of Shackling ends tomorrow morning! So jump on that, lovers of doodled huts!

Kickstarter.com/projects/babayaga/shackling

Little graphite doodles on a white background. The doodles are all different shapes and sizes and styles of chicken-legged witch huts. They're pretty cute.

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Gene Ha @geneha.com · 3d

“The Rev. David Black of First Presbyterian Church recoils as a U.S. Customs and Border agents deploy tear gas and pepper balls Friday at the Broadview ICE facility outside Chicago. Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times”

Source: Chicago Sun-Times Sept 20, 2025 chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

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Reposted by Gene Ha

David Simon @audacityofdespair.bsky.social · 4d

As basic question from an ex-police reporter: Can some of our journalists detail the training regimen all these new federal agents receive? The lethal incompetence involving use of force and perameters of the 4A suggests they are just handed guns, masks and badges and told to go fuck people up.

John Pavlovitz @johnpavlovitz.bsky.social · 4d

ICE is made up of men who have failed the human test and have nothing of value to offer this nation.

Adults with decency and options and possibilities don’t do this shit.

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