Matt Novak
banner
paleofuture.bsky.social
Matt Novak
@paleofuture.bsky.social
Reporter at @Gizmodo.com.
I’ve been writing about the history of futurism at @Paleofuture.com since 2007.
Email: [email protected]
Signal: mattnovak.11
Pinned
I’m at the Otay Mesa concentration camp in San Diego, where protesters and community organizers gather every Sunday.
We murdered three more people in a boat today
February 14, 2026 at 12:36 AM
Reposted by Matt Novak
you: AI-upscaled and colorized Truman isn't real, he can't hurt you

me:
February 14, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Reposted by Matt Novak
⚠️ “The U.S. military is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if President Donald Trump orders an attack…in what could become a far more serious conflict than previously seen between the countries.”
Exclusive: US military preparing for potentially weeks-long Iran operations
The U.S. military is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations against Iran if Trump orders an attack, two U.S. officials told Reuters, in what could become a far more serious ...
www.reuters.com
February 14, 2026 at 12:25 AM
Reposted by Matt Novak
“People feel it in their guts, on the streets. Abolish them, because otherwise they will execute us.”
NEW — I spoke with Rep. Delia Ramirez (@ramirez.house.gov) about her calling DHS leaders "inheritors of the Klan hood and the slave patrol," the prospect of one day seeing them behind bars, and what it's like to see the public [finally] embrace her long-held dream to abolish ICE.

Our conversation:
"The day of accountability will come": Rep. Delia Ramirez on abolishing and prosecuting DHS
The Handbasket spoke with the congresswoman who called out ICE long before it was popular.
www.thehandbasket.co
February 13, 2026 at 11:42 PM
Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts
Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 11:29 PM
Pentagon Used Anthropic’s Claude in Maduro Venezuela Raid
Exclusive | Pentagon Used Anthropic’s Claude in Maduro Venezuela Raid
The use of the model through a contract with Palantir highlights the growing role of AI in the Pentagon.
www.wsj.com
February 13, 2026 at 11:12 PM
“Konstantin, 4, a sociable boy, is often frightened by loud noises and guards, his parents said. He once cried for hours after a small toy airplane was confiscated.”
This post is really taking off. I know the Thanksgiving detail is grabbing, but I would encourage everyone to also read the full article about this family’s struggle at Dilley.

They’ve been locked up for 130+ days.

I spent hours with them on Zoom this week, and their story deserves to be heard.
'Even in Russia, they don't treat children like this': A family's nightmare in ICE detention
A Russian couple and their children sought asylum in the U.S. In a Texas detention center, they say they endured worms in the food and hourslong waits for medicine.
www.nbcnews.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Does Ro Khanna not have staff that can research this stuff for him? Because this sloppiness undermines everything.
Four men in unredacted files named by Ro Khanna have no ties to Epstein
The men appeared in a photo lineup assembled by the southern district of New York and had no apparent connection to the late sex offender
www.theguardian.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
US Troops killed all the guards at Dachau for this kind of shit.
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.

The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.

But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
February 13, 2026 at 8:45 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
Getting my roommate to take out the kitchen trash by searching the depths of legal arguments not yet articulated or vetted
February 13, 2026 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
You’re laughing. He has searched the depths of Legal Arguments not yet articulated and you’re laughing.
“There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!”
February 13, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
I really don't care about anyone's "he can't do this because states run elections!" argument.

This is an explicit pledge to rule lawlessly by the commander-in-chief of the world's most powerful military, who is also currently constructing a nationwide system of detention camps.
“There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!”
February 13, 2026 at 9:55 PM
“There will be Voter I.D. for the Midterm Elections, whether approved by Congress or not!”
February 13, 2026 at 9:44 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
Police departments across the US are quietly leveraging school district security cameras to assist Donald Trump’s mass immigration enforcement campaign, an investigation by @the74.bsky.social reveals.
February 13, 2026 at 2:31 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
#NIH to deprioritize pandemic preparedness and biodefense research, @nature.com reports, saying director Jay Bhattacharya wants to focus on known diseases, not possible future threats.
What could possibly go wrong?
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
February 13, 2026 at 7:54 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.

The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.

But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
February 13, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
"'She is dead,'" Officer Auderer told Officer Solan, before bursting out laughing.

"'No, it’s a regular person,' Officer Auderer said, adding: 'Yeah, just write a check — $11,000. She was 26, anyway. She had limited value.'"
Seattle to Pay $29 Million to Family of Woman Fatally Struck by Police S.U.V.
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:56 AM
Replacing the pledge of allegiance with a performance of Sprout and the Bean in its entirety each morning
Yeah, I support Newsom. I appreciate the harp, and I think she and Andy Samberg are just such a power couple
February 13, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
Amalia, 18 months, "nearly died" at Dilley migrant family jail, a lawyer for her family said in a statement to @people.com: people.com/toddler-hosp...
Toddler, Hospitalized with Life-Threatening Respiratory Failure, Was Returned to ICE Detention and Denied Prescribed Meds
A toddler at an ICE detention center in Texas was rushed to the hospital with respiratory failure, pneumonia and more, and when the 18-month-old and her parents had to return to the center, ICE office...
people.com
February 13, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
Heading out to an undisclosed location (condition of attendance by DHS) for a press conference with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem that is alleged to be about elections.
Today already off to an interesting start.
February 13, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
KMBC: "A woman tried to set a fire at a South Kansas City warehouse that had been rumored as a possible ICE detention center. Earlier today, the company that owns the property confirmed it is no longer moving forward with a sale to the U.S. government."
February 13, 2026 at 4:50 AM
Brian Kilmeade: "Now that we have the description, it's not that disseminating... [sic] 5'9, 5'10, medium build. Where would you turn with that? What community do you go to? Couldn't police turn to homeless people, drug dealers, gang members in the area?"
February 13, 2026 at 3:51 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
"The White House Office of Management and Budget, which Vought leads, is allocating $15 million of what remains of USAID operating expenses to cover the costs of his protection" www.reuters.com/world/us/whi...
Exclusive: White House uses USAID funds for budget director Vought's security, documents show
The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's budget chief and an archit...
www.reuters.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Matt Novak
NEW: A federal tool meant to find noncitizens on voter rolls is consistently marking citizens as noncitizens, especially if they were born outside the U.S., causing chaos as election clerks try not to disenfranchise voters, @zachdespart.bsky.social and I found. 🧵 www.propublica.org/article/save...
“Not Ready for Prime Time.” A Federal Tool to Check Voter Citizenship Keeps Making Mistakes.
The Department of Homeland Security pushed out the revamped tool while it was still adding data. That led to widespread misidentification, particularly for citizens born outside the U.S.
www.propublica.org
February 13, 2026 at 1:21 PM