Algernon D’Ammassa
@algernonwrites.bsky.social
Journalist in southern New Mexico, writer, retired stage actor, citizen. ABQJournal.com DesertSageNM.substack.com Signal: Algernon.26
Gift link. Really worth reading how this weirdness rolled out. At times I had to check to make sure I wasn’t reading The Onion. The verbal slip and correction calling Hegseth the “defense secretary” instead of war secretary is included.
Pentagon upbraids mainstream media in briefing with pro-Trump press corps
DOD press secretary excoriates “legacy media.” especially The Washington Post, at a news conference solely for the Pentagon’s new, largely right-wing outlets.
wapo.st
December 3, 2025 at 3:59 AM
Gift link. Really worth reading how this weirdness rolled out. At times I had to check to make sure I wasn’t reading The Onion. The verbal slip and correction calling Hegseth the “defense secretary” instead of war secretary is included.
Olivier Uyttebrouck reports: The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking a federal judge to order the state to turn over an electronic copy of New Mexico's voter registration list, including names, dates of birth, addresses and other data.
Trump administration files suit demanding New Mexico turn over personal voter data
New Mexico has joined the growing list of states facing legal action by the Trump administration for failing to turn over personal voter information.
www.abqjournal.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Olivier Uyttebrouck reports: The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Tuesday asking a federal judge to order the state to turn over an electronic copy of New Mexico's voter registration list, including names, dates of birth, addresses and other data.
Well, he ain’t woke.
Trump dozes while Marco Rubio speaks to him directly next to him. Just insane optics.
December 3, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Well, he ain’t woke.
Interesting, isn’t it?
Remember 6 weeks ago when Admiral Alvin Holsey, head of the U.S. military’s southern command, abruptly decided to retire?
Makes me think at least one top-ranking officer knows what a war crime is.
Makes me think at least one top-ranking officer knows what a war crime is.
US admiral to retire amid military strikes in Caribbean and tensions with Venezuela
Alvin Holsey just took over the US southern command late last year for a position that normally lasts three years
www.theguardian.com
December 2, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Interesting, isn’t it?
Two fatal crashes involving vehicles and pedestrians in the course of a week prompted calls for focused attention from city councilors Monday.
Back-to-back pedestrian deaths in Las Cruces prompt road safety talk
LAS CRUCES — Two fatal crashes involving vehicles and pedestrians in the course of a week prompted calls for focused attention from city councilors Monday.
www.abqjournal.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Two fatal crashes involving vehicles and pedestrians in the course of a week prompted calls for focused attention from city councilors Monday.
Reposted by Algernon D’Ammassa
Not great that we’ve created a system where the best job opportunities for working class men involve either overseeing other working class people in prison, or working as masked secret police violently hunting down working class immigrants targeted for deportation despite having committed no crimes.
“We’re broken and we’re being poached by ICE,” one official with the prison workers union told ProPublica. “It’s unbelievable. People are leaving in droves.”
By @keribla.bsky.social
By @keribla.bsky.social
As Federal Prisons Run Low on Food and Toilet Paper, Corrections Officers Leave in Droves for ICE
Many of the problems the agency is facing now are not new, but staff and prisoners fear an exodus of officers could make life behind bars even worse.
www.propublica.org
November 30, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Not great that we’ve created a system where the best job opportunities for working class men involve either overseeing other working class people in prison, or working as masked secret police violently hunting down working class immigrants targeted for deportation despite having committed no crimes.
“We’ve been receiving requests from the developers,” Deputy City Manager Marco Grajeda said in an interview before the commissioners’ meeting. “It hasn’t been the city actively trying to expand the territory.”
County commissioners threaten litigation over Sunland Park expansion
SUNLAND PARK – Doña Ana County commissioners pushed back against a new proposed annexation in Sunland Park Tuesday, weeks after expressing concerns about the city expanding its boundaries to encompass
www.abqjournal.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:37 AM
“We’ve been receiving requests from the developers,” Deputy City Manager Marco Grajeda said in an interview before the commissioners’ meeting. “It hasn’t been the city actively trying to expand the territory.”
Henry Kissinger died on this day (Nov. 29) in 2023, outliving Anthony Bourdain by five and a half years. Tony never got to throw his punch.
F*** Henry Kissinger! Rest In Piss. #AnthonyBourdain Is Sorely Missed!
YouTube video by The Great Amida
youtu.be
November 29, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Henry Kissinger died on this day (Nov. 29) in 2023, outliving Anthony Bourdain by five and a half years. Tony never got to throw his punch.
“…Terms can create myths and misconceptions that lead to unrealistic and even dangerous expectations about the technology.”
Stop saying AI hallucinates - it doesn't. And the mischaracterization is dangerous
The language we use to describe AI is pivotal to how humans see AI - so we'd better get it right.
www.zdnet.com
November 29, 2025 at 7:03 PM
“…Terms can create myths and misconceptions that lead to unrealistic and even dangerous expectations about the technology.”
On internet projects benefiting Hidalgo and Luna counties.
State grants bring high-speed internet to Lordsburg and Columbus
Hundreds of students attending the Lordsburg Municipal Schools will soon have greater access to high-speed internet thanks to a new grant from the New Mexico Office of Broadband Access and
www.abqjournal.com
November 29, 2025 at 2:22 AM
On internet projects benefiting Hidalgo and Luna counties.
“When I have a little money, I buy books,” wrote Erasmus in a letter, “and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.”
Nothing Better Than a Whole Lot of Books: In Praise of Bibliomania
Desiderius Erasmus lived his happiest months from late 1507 into 1508 at the Venetian print-shop of Aldus Manutius. A peripatetic scholar, the Dutch scholar had lived in Rotterdam and London, Basel…
lithub.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:58 AM
“When I have a little money, I buy books,” wrote Erasmus in a letter, “and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes.”
Reposted by Algernon D’Ammassa
Commentary: As Trump threatens Colorado's Rep. Crow with death, recall the Army captain who refused orders in 1864 and today is remembered with reverence for his defiance.
From Big Pivots
From Big Pivots
An Army captain who refused orders in 1864 today is remembered with reverence for his defiance | Colorado Newsline
The Sand Creek Massacre comes to mind in reading about U.S. Rep. Jason Crow's call for members of the U.S. military to refuse illegal orders.
coloradonewsline.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Commentary: As Trump threatens Colorado's Rep. Crow with death, recall the Army captain who refused orders in 1864 and today is remembered with reverence for his defiance.
From Big Pivots
From Big Pivots
$165 billion in industrial revenue bonds and other public incentives authorized by Doña Ana County commissioners supporting the project are facing legal challenges and criticism from a government transparency watchdog group.
Legal challenges to Project Jupiter funding meet headwinds
LAS CRUCES — In Santa Teresa, construction is rapidly moving forward at the site of a planned data center campus supporting AI technology.
www.abqjournal.com
November 26, 2025 at 1:43 AM
$165 billion in industrial revenue bonds and other public incentives authorized by Doña Ana County commissioners supporting the project are facing legal challenges and criticism from a government transparency watchdog group.
A book review by Becca Rothfeld, and the sort of writing from the Post that I’m going to miss when my subscription clicks off soon.
Review | A conservative argues we need to value ‘women as women.’ But what does that mean?
Leah Libresco Sargeant argues that we need to better acknowledge human need and vulnerability, and that valuing women “as women” is a start
www.washingtonpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:40 PM
A book review by Becca Rothfeld, and the sort of writing from the Post that I’m going to miss when my subscription clicks off soon.
Reposted by Algernon D’Ammassa
We wanted to understand how regular Americans feel about the Trump administration. So we talked to three Russia-funded content farmers at a tea house in Islamabad.
November 24, 2025 at 8:54 PM
We wanted to understand how regular Americans feel about the Trump administration. So we talked to three Russia-funded content farmers at a tea house in Islamabad.
Curious story about a research paper suggesting historians have been misled for centuries about how the Black Death spread after a fictional work worked its way into the historical record.
A Medieval Poem Misled Historians About the Black Death for Centuries—Scholars Now Reveal the "Spider's Web" of Plague Myths
A new study in the Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies shows that a widely accepted belief about the Black Death’s rapid spread from Central Asia to the Mediterranean is not based on records or eyew...
thedebrief.org
November 23, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Curious story about a research paper suggesting historians have been misled for centuries about how the Black Death spread after a fictional work worked its way into the historical record.
Reposted by Algernon D’Ammassa
The @sltrib.com has been a beacon for large daily newspapers since going nonprofit. Now it's getting ready to drop its paywall. www.sltrib.com/news/2025/11...
The Salt Lake Tribune will drop its paywall next year, CEO tells donors at NewsMakers gala
After years of requiring people to pay for online news content, The Tribune announced an upcoming change during its 2025 annual NewsMakers Gala.
www.sltrib.com
November 22, 2025 at 5:40 PM
The @sltrib.com has been a beacon for large daily newspapers since going nonprofit. Now it's getting ready to drop its paywall. www.sltrib.com/news/2025/11...
It is a routine part of ordinary travel in southern New Mexico: Traffic filtered through Border Patrol checkpoints with surveillance equipment including license plate readers and facial ID and x-rays of the car. Motorists may be passed along or directed to secondary inspection of the vehicle.
New Mexico has been dealing with this for decades, even through Democratic administrations...
Border Patrol is spying on citizens who drive in the US and pulling over anyone they deem suspicious. They are desperately trying to hide it from the public.
Reports @apnews.com
Border Patrol is spying on citizens who drive in the US and pulling over anyone they deem suspicious. They are desperately trying to hide it from the public.
Reports @apnews.com
Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns
The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.
apnews.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:04 PM
It is a routine part of ordinary travel in southern New Mexico: Traffic filtered through Border Patrol checkpoints with surveillance equipment including license plate readers and facial ID and x-rays of the car. Motorists may be passed along or directed to secondary inspection of the vehicle.
The dueling Lizza and Nuzzi tell-alls are most striking for how dull it all is straight down to their writing. Sex with sources (seemingly vanilla, lights on or off?), oh no what about our book deal, adolescent heaving love notes negligently left around, overwrought metaphors of wildfire and bamboo.
November 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
The dueling Lizza and Nuzzi tell-alls are most striking for how dull it all is straight down to their writing. Sex with sources (seemingly vanilla, lights on or off?), oh no what about our book deal, adolescent heaving love notes negligently left around, overwrought metaphors of wildfire and bamboo.
The closest I ever came to a president was across a runway at Kirtland AFB. For a journalist, the pressure is enormous to behave appropriately and also do the job and file copy.
But I sincerely hope if I were present and POTUS called a female colleague "piggy" and stuck a finger in her face
1/3
But I sincerely hope if I were present and POTUS called a female colleague "piggy" and stuck a finger in her face
1/3
November 19, 2025 at 3:45 PM
The closest I ever came to a president was across a runway at Kirtland AFB. For a journalist, the pressure is enormous to behave appropriately and also do the job and file copy.
But I sincerely hope if I were present and POTUS called a female colleague "piggy" and stuck a finger in her face
1/3
But I sincerely hope if I were present and POTUS called a female colleague "piggy" and stuck a finger in her face
1/3
In Las Cruces, you can now rent an electric vehicle for $5 an hour. But be advised: The fleet consists of two cars, and it takes a few days to get approved to use the app. You even have to watch a video and take a test! But it sounds like a cool service once you jump through the hoops.
Electric vehicle car share debuts in Las Cruces
LAS CRUCES — Two Chevrolet Bolts comprise the fleet of a pilot electric vehicle car share service unveiled in downtown Las Cruces on Tuesday.
www.abqjournal.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:42 AM
In Las Cruces, you can now rent an electric vehicle for $5 an hour. But be advised: The fleet consists of two cars, and it takes a few days to get approved to use the app. You even have to watch a video and take a test! But it sounds like a cool service once you jump through the hoops.
Reposted by Algernon D’Ammassa
NEW: When Andrew Tate landed in the US, Customs & Border Protection seized his electronic devices. But @propublica.org found that a White House official told DHS to return the devices, emphasizing that the request came from the White House.
By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation
Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.
www.propublica.org
November 18, 2025 at 11:31 AM
NEW: When Andrew Tate landed in the US, Customs & Border Protection seized his electronic devices. But @propublica.org found that a White House official told DHS to return the devices, emphasizing that the request came from the White House.
By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
By @robert-faturechi.bsky.social & Avi Asher-Schapiro
Reposted by Algernon D’Ammassa
It's profoundly different to cover a U.S. president than state or local officials, and too, much harder to vent publicly if you're female. But if in my reporting days, if anyone from a police sergeant to the mayor of Baltimore told me, "Quiet, piggy," I'd immediately insist he go fuck himself.
November 18, 2025 at 5:32 PM
It's profoundly different to cover a U.S. president than state or local officials, and too, much harder to vent publicly if you're female. But if in my reporting days, if anyone from a police sergeant to the mayor of Baltimore told me, "Quiet, piggy," I'd immediately insist he go fuck himself.
Two weeks after Sunland Park city councilors voted to annex 534 acres adjacent to the Pete V. Domenici Highway, Doña Ana County commissioners found themselves discussing a new, larger expansion sought by the city…
Doña Ana County exasperated by Sunland Park annexations
LAS CRUCES — Two weeks after Sunland Park city councilors voted to annex 534 acres adjacent to the Pete V. Domenici Highway, Doña Ana County commissioners found themselves discussing a
www.abqjournal.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Two weeks after Sunland Park city councilors voted to annex 534 acres adjacent to the Pete V. Domenici Highway, Doña Ana County commissioners found themselves discussing a new, larger expansion sought by the city…
Reposted by Algernon D’Ammassa
I know everyone is fed up with the state of the world but what if you didn’t take it out on people you have mild disagreements with on social media
November 18, 2025 at 12:08 AM
I know everyone is fed up with the state of the world but what if you didn’t take it out on people you have mild disagreements with on social media