Patrick Chovanec
@prchovanec.bsky.social
Private sector economist. Former professor at China's Tsinghua University and Columbia SIPA. Author of “Cleared for the Option: A Year Learning to Fly”, now available on Amazon. Visit me at http://patrickchovanec.com
Honestly, it doesn’t matter if the customers harassed you first.
1. The woman who was fired by Cinnabon for repeatedly using the N-word against Somali customers has had over $70k raised for her so far.
The woman, who was arrested in the past for child endangerment, claims the customers verbally harassed her first.
The woman, who was arrested in the past for child endangerment, claims the customers verbally harassed her first.
December 8, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Honestly, it doesn’t matter if the customers harassed you first.
The Trump Admin game plan has always been to put troops on the street, hope for violence, and use it as an excuse for even more radical measures. www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Immigration hawks push for new restrictions in wake of National Guard shooting
Members of Congress and Trump administration officials view the shooting as an opportunity for an aggressive effort to shore up screening of would-be migrants.
www.politico.com
December 7, 2025 at 11:40 PM
The Trump Admin game plan has always been to put troops on the street, hope for violence, and use it as an excuse for even more radical measures. www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
Reposted by Patrick Chovanec
It’s important to remember there are two scandals here:
1. The Administration has likely committed war crimes.
2. But the entire operation - which now includes two dozen attacks - is illegal. In our democracy, the President CANNOT wage war without the consent of the people.
1. The Administration has likely committed war crimes.
2. But the entire operation - which now includes two dozen attacks - is illegal. In our democracy, the President CANNOT wage war without the consent of the people.
BERMAN: Did you see any evidence of them trying to use a radio in the video you saw?
TOM COTTON: Well I saw lots of evidence of them standing on the boat that had been capsized
BERMAN: That wasn't my question. Did you see any evidence?
COTTON: No, I didn't
TOM COTTON: Well I saw lots of evidence of them standing on the boat that had been capsized
BERMAN: That wasn't my question. Did you see any evidence?
COTTON: No, I didn't
December 7, 2025 at 6:26 PM
It’s important to remember there are two scandals here:
1. The Administration has likely committed war crimes.
2. But the entire operation - which now includes two dozen attacks - is illegal. In our democracy, the President CANNOT wage war without the consent of the people.
1. The Administration has likely committed war crimes.
2. But the entire operation - which now includes two dozen attacks - is illegal. In our democracy, the President CANNOT wage war without the consent of the people.
Reposted by Patrick Chovanec
"It's not that they look Somali, but they act Somali whenever we look at them."
December 7, 2025 at 2:11 PM
"It's not that they look Somali, but they act Somali whenever we look at them."
"We wanted a bigot to lead us, and we got exactly that, but how dare you call me a bigot?"
CURTIS: All of us need to wake up every morning & say, 'what am I doing to make immigrants feel welcome' regardless of an individual says
BASH: But he's not just an individual. He's the president calling an entire community garbage
C: We knew very well what we were electing. We wanted a disrupter
BASH: But he's not just an individual. He's the president calling an entire community garbage
C: We knew very well what we were electing. We wanted a disrupter
December 7, 2025 at 2:56 PM
"We wanted a bigot to lead us, and we got exactly that, but how dare you call me a bigot?"
LOL.
“Mr. President, the Speaker and various of your cabinet members consistently claim, when asked for reaction to comments you’ve made, that they haven’t heard what you said. Do you think that Speaker Johnson and Tom Homan should stop ignoring you be paying more attention to you?”
December 7, 2025 at 2:53 PM
LOL.
Reposted by Patrick Chovanec
US may end support for Ukraine war effort, says Donald Trump Jr
US may end support for Ukraine war effort, says Donald Trump Jr
Eldest son of Donald Trump makes speculative comments during tirade against Volodymyr Zelenskyy and EU
Donald Trump may walk away from the Ukrainian war, the US president’s oldest son has said in comments to a Middle East conference.
In a lengthy tirade against the purpose of continued fighting in Ukraine, Donald Trump Jr also said Ukraine’s “corrupt” rich had fled their country leaving “what they believed to be the peasant class” to fight the war. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:56 PM
US may end support for Ukraine war effort, says Donald Trump Jr
"I wasn't aware of what the President said"
Then why are you on a Sunday news show, representing his Administration? Such claims of ignorance ring completely hollow.
Then why are you on a Sunday news show, representing his Administration? Such claims of ignorance ring completely hollow.
BASH: The president said very clearly this week he doesn't want Somali immigrants in America. He called them 'garbage.' Is that the real reason this operation is happening?
HOMAN: No. I think President Trump is referring to public safety threats & natl security threats
BASH: He didn't say that
HOMAN: No. I think President Trump is referring to public safety threats & natl security threats
BASH: He didn't say that
December 7, 2025 at 2:31 PM
"I wasn't aware of what the President said"
Then why are you on a Sunday news show, representing his Administration? Such claims of ignorance ring completely hollow.
Then why are you on a Sunday news show, representing his Administration? Such claims of ignorance ring completely hollow.
So small.
The small team running Trump’s foreign policy - POLITICO www.politico.com/news/2025/12...
The small team running Trump’s foreign policy
Trump calls this close coterie on a whim, meetings occur on an ad hoc basis and decisions are made fast, a White House official said.
www.politico.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:35 PM
So small.
Yup.
Elbridge Colby spent years shouting:
“Japan must be explicit about its Taiwan role!”
Japan: makes clearest statement in its history
China: furious
Trump administration:
enters monk-like vow of silence
That Nobel Prize for Strategic Self-Silencing?
Colby himself could present it.
“Japan must be explicit about its Taiwan role!”
Japan: makes clearest statement in its history
China: furious
Trump administration:
enters monk-like vow of silence
That Nobel Prize for Strategic Self-Silencing?
Colby himself could present it.
December 7, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Yup.
Reposted by Patrick Chovanec
“The cost of this, says Farid, is that it is almost impossible to know what’s actually going on in AI – for journalists, the public, and even experts in the field: “You have no chance, no chance as an average reader to try to understand what is going on...Your signal-to-noise ratio is basically one”
“Farid says that he now counsels students to not go into AI research, because of the “frenzy” in the field and the large volume of low-quality work being put out by people hoping to better their career prospects”
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Artificial intelligence research has a slop problem, academics say: ‘It’s a mess’
AI research in question as author claims to have written over 100 papers on AI that one expert calls a ‘disaster’
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:28 PM
“The cost of this, says Farid, is that it is almost impossible to know what’s actually going on in AI – for journalists, the public, and even experts in the field: “You have no chance, no chance as an average reader to try to understand what is going on...Your signal-to-noise ratio is basically one”
Reposted by Patrick Chovanec
Lawmakers warn Trump administration against heavily redacting ‘Epstein files’ on.ft.com/4iHLzxm
Lawmakers warn Trump administration against heavily redacting ‘Epstein files’
They fear justice department could seek to withhold sections of documents as deadline approaches
on.ft.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Lawmakers warn Trump administration against heavily redacting ‘Epstein files’ on.ft.com/4iHLzxm
Karp says he "pays the price" when he's wrong.
When Palantir's algorithm gets the wrong person arrested, is he arrested? When it gets the wrong person killed, is he killed?
So no, he doesn't pay the price. He pays a tiny, inconsequential fraction of the price.
When Palantir's algorithm gets the wrong person arrested, is he arrested? When it gets the wrong person killed, is he killed?
So no, he doesn't pay the price. He pays a tiny, inconsequential fraction of the price.
Holy smokes! If you acted like Palantir CEO Alex Karp in a corporate meeting, they would report you to HR. Just saying.
December 7, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Karp says he "pays the price" when he's wrong.
When Palantir's algorithm gets the wrong person arrested, is he arrested? When it gets the wrong person killed, is he killed?
So no, he doesn't pay the price. He pays a tiny, inconsequential fraction of the price.
When Palantir's algorithm gets the wrong person arrested, is he arrested? When it gets the wrong person killed, is he killed?
So no, he doesn't pay the price. He pays a tiny, inconsequential fraction of the price.
Karp looks and sounds in this video like Dennis Hopper's reporter in Apocalypse Now. Watch it with the sound off and imagine him saying "You can't go out into space, you know, without like, you know, with fractions! That's dialectic physics, okay?"
December 7, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Karp looks and sounds in this video like Dennis Hopper's reporter in Apocalypse Now. Watch it with the sound off and imagine him saying "You can't go out into space, you know, without like, you know, with fractions! That's dialectic physics, okay?"
He's just high on life.
December 7, 2025 at 6:57 AM
He's just high on life.
Bessent was supposed to be the grown-up.
December 7, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Bessent was supposed to be the grown-up.
Reposted by Patrick Chovanec
Todd Blanche is now warning lawyers who criticize Trump's Justice Department:
The DOJ's No. 2 official suggested that lawyers might have a harder time winning lenient treatment for corporate clients if they've publicly accused the Trump administration of being lax on white-collar crime.
The DOJ's No. 2 official suggested that lawyers might have a harder time winning lenient treatment for corporate clients if they've publicly accused the Trump administration of being lax on white-collar crime.
Blanche warns lawyers who criticize Justice Department
DOJ’s No. 2 official said says prosecutors see "inconsistency" in attorneys’ private pleas and public commentary.
www.politico.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Todd Blanche is now warning lawyers who criticize Trump's Justice Department:
The DOJ's No. 2 official suggested that lawyers might have a harder time winning lenient treatment for corporate clients if they've publicly accused the Trump administration of being lax on white-collar crime.
The DOJ's No. 2 official suggested that lawyers might have a harder time winning lenient treatment for corporate clients if they've publicly accused the Trump administration of being lax on white-collar crime.
Trump believes that all immigrants who aren't runway models are violent criminals. And people were complete fools to believe otherwise.
Trump said last year that he would focus on deporting immigrants who were violent criminals. But a study of arrests in major operations in DC, LA, Illinois and Massachusetts shows that the vast majority of those swept up by ICE have no criminal record.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
ICE Arrest Data Shows Many Immigrants With No Criminal Record
In high-profile operations, more than half of those arrested had no criminal record, an analysis shows.
www.nytimes.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:49 AM
Trump believes that all immigrants who aren't runway models are violent criminals. And people were complete fools to believe otherwise.
Reposted by Patrick Chovanec
All across Europe, as well as in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, US allies are reading Trump's national security strategy and realizing that it was authored by people who view them as enemies while idolizing Vladimir Putin and plagiarizing from his recent speeches.
December 6, 2025 at 4:49 PM
All across Europe, as well as in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, US allies are reading Trump's national security strategy and realizing that it was authored by people who view them as enemies while idolizing Vladimir Putin and plagiarizing from his recent speeches.
Reposted by Patrick Chovanec
You can hear Jose scream in excruciating pain as an ICE vehicle runs over his foot while he's being detained.
His family says Jose is a good man, with no criminal record, who works in roofing.
He needs to be released from detention to receive appropriate medical care.
His family says Jose is a good man, with no criminal record, who works in roofing.
He needs to be released from detention to receive appropriate medical care.
December 6, 2025 at 9:23 PM
You can hear Jose scream in excruciating pain as an ICE vehicle runs over his foot while he's being detained.
His family says Jose is a good man, with no criminal record, who works in roofing.
He needs to be released from detention to receive appropriate medical care.
His family says Jose is a good man, with no criminal record, who works in roofing.
He needs to be released from detention to receive appropriate medical care.
Trump keeps claiming that gasoline has fallen below $2 per gallon. Actually, it in recent days it has fallen slightly to just below $3 per gallon.
December 7, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Trump keeps claiming that gasoline has fallen below $2 per gallon. Actually, it in recent days it has fallen slightly to just below $3 per gallon.
Impossible to square this circle.
The doc is all about closing the US, yet it says that “openness” is what differentiates it internationally.
It wants to rebalance markets, criticises globalisation, yet says that “free market capitalism” will “continue to make us the global partner of first choice.”
It wants to rebalance markets, criticises globalisation, yet says that “free market capitalism” will “continue to make us the global partner of first choice.”
December 7, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Impossible to square this circle.
Exactly. And they will have no idea until we face a true test, and are surprised that we are utterly alone.
There is one striking incoherence in the text: the document is all about America first.
But the very same document lists America’s “network of alliances” & “unmatched softpower” as assets, and speaks about “collective defence”.
If the US does what it describes in the doc, it will lose all that.
But the very same document lists America’s “network of alliances” & “unmatched softpower” as assets, and speaks about “collective defence”.
If the US does what it describes in the doc, it will lose all that.
December 7, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Exactly. And they will have no idea until we face a true test, and are surprised that we are utterly alone.
Thread.
A few thoughts on the new US national security strategy that was released today.
🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
🧵
www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...
December 7, 2025 at 5:56 AM
Thread.
Reposted by Patrick Chovanec
Here's a better headline for Axios: "How Trump has normalized racism and racist slurs." Why can't some journalists just call a thing what it is? https://loom.ly/hiKWr58
How Trump flipped America's race conversation
Language that once was disqualifying is now a fixture of national political discourse.
www.axios.com
December 6, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Here's a better headline for Axios: "How Trump has normalized racism and racist slurs." Why can't some journalists just call a thing what it is? https://loom.ly/hiKWr58