arknet
banner
arknet.bsky.social
arknet
@arknet.bsky.social
(Image credit: Marian Kamensky)

Identity & humanity are non-negotiable values--don't be manipulated.

President Biden said we're fighting for the soul of the nation. We are. We cannot lose that fight.

"We come in the age's most uncertain hour" Paul Simon
Pinned
Two family members got got this text today. I didn't, and can't find anything about it. I cut most of the content. Authoritarian style disinfo is obviously going to be rampant this election but I find it interesting they're already dumping so much money spreading slime in this race.
Begin 🧵
Reposted by arknet
the western alliance was born in the fires of the most catastrophic conflict in the history of the world. republicans are spitting on the graves of the dead. these men and women are human filth.
Genuinely insane we are living in a world where the Danish have to deploy a battlegroup to protect themselves against America. Makes my blood turn molten, honestly
January 20, 2026 at 10:32 PM
Democrats in the House and Senate need to start saying this every time they're near a mic so that people will know. Too much disinformation does not get corrected for the people who need to hear it, and media is simply not going to step up to that.
The Insurrection Act in no way whatsoever suspends, closes, or bypasses the courts. It is not a suspension of habeas corpus. It is not martial law. It does not authorize rule by decree. It allows using troops for law enforcement but that's it. It's not an instant dictatorship switch.
Trump on the Insurrection Act: "It does make life a lot easier. You don't through the court system. It's just a much easier thing to do."
January 21, 2026 at 5:02 AM
Reposted by arknet
I’ve been writing Popular Information for 8 years, and this is one of the most important stories I’ve ever published. This is a humanitarian crisis that has gone unreported.
ICE has stopped paying for detainee medical treatment
ICE halted payments in October, and the situation will persist for at least several more months
popular.info
January 20, 2026 at 1:47 PM
In midterms enthusiasm is big deal. There's a lot of passion against this administration right now, and that's with still heavily uninformed voters. It's on Democrats to get out there and have conversations and inform them.
Something to be said for the Truth Nuke on what to campaign on in Nov, but also u got to consider where trends are going to figure out what opinion will be then. We know most disengaged voters just care about prices, but possible abolish ICE is 55-45 by then. Maybe there's space to push before Nov?
People are waving around 50/50 polling on abolish ICE and in the same poll Trump’s is like 30 points under water on affordability. It’s not at all crazy for professional politicians to think there’s a bigger advantage in talking about the latter!
January 21, 2026 at 4:07 AM
Reposted by arknet
🎬 TOMORROW! Join us at the #InternetArchive for a red-carpet event celebraing newly #publicdomain works & screening winning films from the Public Domain Day Film Remix Contest!

📅 Weds Jan 21
🕕 6:00–10:00 PM PT
📍300 Funston Ave, SF
🎟️ $15 ⤵️
www.eventbrite.com/e/2026-publi...

#publicDomainDay
January 21, 2026 at 3:00 AM
Reposted by arknet
Unless a pundit picked Mamdani to win a year ago, I’m going to take their midterm prognostications with a big flake of salt.
January 21, 2026 at 2:40 AM
Reposted by arknet
I was present for the birth of the web, the explosion of personal sites, and the blogging revolution, and you know what we never had to do? Beg people to use our shit.
AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns
Big tech boss tells delegates at Davos that broader global use is essential if technology is to deliver lasting growth
www.irishtimes.com
January 21, 2026 at 12:19 AM
People even talking about it bugs me, tbh. We're in the middle of shit now. We don't need to be talking about what that crazy old man might be doing 3 years from now. That's what's kept us from dealing with the moment we're in, talking about what X nightmare might happen while smack in Y nightmare.
We are a quarter of the way through Trump’s 2nd Presidency.

In other words, by law, Trump must go in 3 years time and it’s unlikely he can change the constitution to allow a 3rd term, if he even makes it.

Thoughts?
January 21, 2026 at 1:40 AM
The governor's association probably is coming up with some kind of coordinated plan to support each other, but we all need to be networked and onboard to support each other state to state.
@natlgovsassoc.bsky.social
One of the most important dynamics in US politics this year will be the struggle of state/local governments to govern against the extraordinary harms Trump and his allies have done to the country. Events like this are happening now all across the country, and will, repeatedly, everywhere all year.
Illinois is standing up for working families against Trump's administration — we're fighting for what's owed to our people and spearheading the way to make life more affordable.

Today, I convened a roundtable to hear from Illinoisans on how his policies affected their lives.
January 21, 2026 at 1:34 AM
In particular cases like that, I think we need to look at it as all we want is their vote. If they're magas, bigots, whatever, I don't think we should campaign or compromise our values on it. But if you can talk to someone and convince them to vote for a Democrat over a Republican, do it.
People are saying you have to accept repentance and changed minds, but what does that mean, for someone like this? Do we need to accept someone who says “I realized I’m against his anti-Somali policy and looking for someone who likes Somalis but hates all the other people I hate”?
Incredible quote here from a Somali small business owner in Minneapolis who voted for Trump. minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/19/a...
January 21, 2026 at 1:26 AM
Reposted by arknet
Recently I've been spending some time with pro-democracy leaders from other countries organizing against national strongmen. Their stories of organizing against authoritarians are eerily familiar. Among the many clear takeaways: stand up to bullies and go on offense because defense doesn’t win.
January 20, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Reposted by arknet
Chuckling at the people in the U.S. who consistently shit on people who live in "red" states... Well according to others in the world, the entire US is now a "red" state. Not so easy to overthrow authoritarians, is it?
Important perspective from Greenland.
January 20, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by arknet
I have a piece on @lpeblog.bsky.social detailing how ICE & immigration judges are at war against federal courts.

100s of federal judges—and one nationwide class—have held ICE & IJs are breaking the law imposing blanket mandatory detention—yet they continue undeterred: lpeproject.org/blog/immigra...
Immigration Agencies Are Openly Defying Federal Courts
Federal courts have overwhelmingly rejected the Trump Administration's radical expansion of mandatory detention. Despite this, ICE continues to arrest and detain tens of thousands of people each month...
lpeproject.org
January 20, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Reposted by arknet
1. ICE has STOPPED PAYING for medical treatment for its 73,000 detainees

ICE has not paid its bills to 3rd party providers since OCTOBER and the situation will likely persist for MONTHS, a Popular Information investigation reveals

Meanwhile, critically ill ICE detainees are not receiving care

🧵
ICE has stopped paying for detainee medical treatment
ICE halted payments in October, and the situation will persist for at least several more months
popular.info
January 20, 2026 at 1:42 PM
I hope he's the next Democratic Senate leader, that's all I can say.
Chris Murphy might be the next President because he's one of the few Dems getting the majority of their opinion intel from bluesky, which is the same way Mamdani came from nowhere.
January 21, 2026 at 12:23 AM
Reposted by arknet
IMO PM Carney's opening speech is a must watch.
For ALL countries, not just Canada.
He lays out what is happening and the solutions.
"this is not sovereignty, it's the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination".
"Canada has taken the sign out of the window"
www.cpac.ca/headline-pol...
World Economic Forum: Special Address by PM Mark Carney
Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers remarks and participates in a discussion while attending a meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. Joining the prime minister are Laurenc...
www.cpac.ca
January 20, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Until all of us grasp this reality and share it with everyone we know, we see nothing.
ICE is a secret police force. No warrants. No courts. No lawyers. And no appeals. People vanish in the night, not because they broke the law, but because the law no longer means anything. The knock on the door is the sentence.
January 21, 2026 at 12:13 AM
Reposted by arknet
January 20, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Every democrat had better be a no or they will not hear the end of it until they're out of office, and that will happen as soon as humanly possible. @dscc.bsky.social @electdemocrats.bsky.social
Senator Chris Van Hollen is also a No on the DHS funding deal, his spox confirms to me.
My statement on funding DHS:
The proposed Appropriations bill for the Department of Homeland Security released today puts no meaningful constraints on the growing lawlessness of ICE, and increases funding for detention over the last Appropriations bill passed in 2024.
January 20, 2026 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by arknet
New— An American citizen boarding flight from Boston to Lisbon just now told me after showing boarding pass, every passenger stopped on jetway by two ICE agents demanding to take their photo. When passenger asked why, ICE threatened to detain them. If they said no photo, couldn't board/TBD detained.
January 20, 2026 at 11:13 PM
They're abusing people, and they don't want you to see it. If that's not the case, it's easy for them to prove otherwise.
I flew down to south Texas today to do my job - investigate why people are dying in ICE detention centers.

I was just illegally denied entry to Dilley Detention Center. Because they have something to hide.
January 20, 2026 at 11:39 PM
This is so incredibly important. If we don't address this as individuals and all have personal goals of how many we reach, we're not going to reverse this. Republicans are evil but they do the damn groundwork.
interesting that a single face-to-face contact turned this nonvoter into a voter
Incredible quote here from a Somali small business owner in Minneapolis who voted for Trump. minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/19/a...
January 20, 2026 at 11:35 PM
You can't do any of this kind of thing without getting people on board first before you even announce it.
Unfortunately one of the most consistent blind spots of local progressives is assuming all businesses are rolling in dough, and therefore able to endure any sacrifice for the cause, and consequently treating any objection as ideological and not practical. Many of these businesses are on the brink.
January 20, 2026 at 11:16 PM
His fifteen minutes are way closer to being up than he thinks.
Nick Fuentes urging Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota: "Bro, do it. Do something. Just stop chickening out. I'm just tired of the idle threats... Please pull the trigger. Please kill them, Mr. President. Please just kill them."

www.mediamatters.org/nick-fuentes...
Nick Fuentes: “Please pull the trigger. Please kill them, Mr. President. … I'm not actually wishing for violence, but please send in the military and restore order.”
www.mediamatters.org
January 20, 2026 at 11:06 PM