Stretch Ledford
@stretchledford.bsky.social
Multimedia Journalism prof, UIUC. Currently collaborating w students & faculty at Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone & the University of Birmingham in the UK, investigating grassroots solutions to global issues of women's health. #periodpoverty
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
“We had to kill the survivors in the water with a missile because they might flip the shards of the boat, continue to the US, and sell drugs” is not really any different than “We had to kill the entire village because the children might grow up and join the Vietcong,” except much less plausible
December 5, 2025 at 5:16 AM
“We had to kill the survivors in the water with a missile because they might flip the shards of the boat, continue to the US, and sell drugs” is not really any different than “We had to kill the entire village because the children might grow up and join the Vietcong,” except much less plausible
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
Can we get mythbusters to prove if two likely injured people can flip a boat with...
How many pounds of drugs in a boat that likely isn't even buoyant anymore due to the... Missile
How many pounds of drugs in a boat that likely isn't even buoyant anymore due to the... Missile
December 5, 2025 at 5:39 AM
Can we get mythbusters to prove if two likely injured people can flip a boat with...
How many pounds of drugs in a boat that likely isn't even buoyant anymore due to the... Missile
How many pounds of drugs in a boat that likely isn't even buoyant anymore due to the... Missile
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
The way to recreate shared reality — and this sounds a bit crazy but I am deadly serious — is to put Tom Cotton in prison for his crimes against the United States
there is no more shared reality. www.cnn.com/2025/12/04/p...
December 5, 2025 at 5:04 AM
The way to recreate shared reality — and this sounds a bit crazy but I am deadly serious — is to put Tom Cotton in prison for his crimes against the United States
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
Texas clearly did a racial gerrymander, which is illegal.
A district court found that Texas did a racial gerrymander, rejecting the new map because it is illegal.
But the Supreme Court reversed it.
Because? Must assume the gerrymanderers were acting in good faith (despite the evidence otherwise).
A district court found that Texas did a racial gerrymander, rejecting the new map because it is illegal.
But the Supreme Court reversed it.
Because? Must assume the gerrymanderers were acting in good faith (despite the evidence otherwise).
December 4, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Texas clearly did a racial gerrymander, which is illegal.
A district court found that Texas did a racial gerrymander, rejecting the new map because it is illegal.
But the Supreme Court reversed it.
Because? Must assume the gerrymanderers were acting in good faith (despite the evidence otherwise).
A district court found that Texas did a racial gerrymander, rejecting the new map because it is illegal.
But the Supreme Court reversed it.
Because? Must assume the gerrymanderers were acting in good faith (despite the evidence otherwise).
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
This is the head of the company that CNN just partnered with, insisting that prediction markets are a great way to cut through the noise and determine what’s true and what isn’t.
No, really, listen to him. It’s actually that stupid.
No, really, listen to him. It’s actually that stupid.
The co-founder of Kalshi says: " The long-term vision is to financialize everything and create a tradable asset out of any difference in opinion."
December 3, 2025 at 11:26 PM
This is the head of the company that CNN just partnered with, insisting that prediction markets are a great way to cut through the noise and determine what’s true and what isn’t.
No, really, listen to him. It’s actually that stupid.
No, really, listen to him. It’s actually that stupid.
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
December 3, 2025 at 10:18 PM
NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month.
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory!
Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...
Good stuff here.
Now that they’re trying to explain and rationalize what they did, they’re probably on a path to failure. lnk.thebulwark.com/4plrnnG
The Potemkin Pentagon Press
Stacking a briefing room with Trump stans might seem like good praxis for a guy like Pete Hegseth. But it can backfire, too.
lnk.thebulwark.com
December 4, 2025 at 5:26 AM
Good stuff here.
Great stuff.
"[Career military officials] understand what's at stake for the institution."
@pbump.com and the #Nightcap join @stephruhle.bsky.social on the important reporting being done, even as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has kicked most journalists out of the Pentagon.
@pbump.com and the #Nightcap join @stephruhle.bsky.social on the important reporting being done, even as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has kicked most journalists out of the Pentagon.
December 4, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Great stuff.
@radiofreetom.bsky.social You’re in the deepest pit of hell. Devil lets you choose to spend eternity listening to either Zeppelin or Lieutenant Kevin Riley singing I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen. What do you do?
December 4, 2025 at 4:56 AM
@radiofreetom.bsky.social You’re in the deepest pit of hell. Devil lets you choose to spend eternity listening to either Zeppelin or Lieutenant Kevin Riley singing I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen. What do you do?
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
Agents in Key Largo, Florida ripped this woman wearing medical scrubs out of her car as she screamed she is a US citizen. Agents cuffed her and put her in one of their cars.
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
December 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Agents in Key Largo, Florida ripped this woman wearing medical scrubs out of her car as she screamed she is a US citizen. Agents cuffed her and put her in one of their cars.
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
She was eventually let go, per David Goodhue of the Miami Herald, who also took this footage:
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
Alex Horton, one of the two Washington Post reporters who broke the story, has been a participant in more violent combat than Pete Hegseth by an order of magnitude.
It's not a coincidence that he got the scoop.
It's not a coincidence that he got the scoop.
Q: So you didn't see any survivors after that first strike?
HEGSETH: I did not personally see survivors. The thing was on fire. This is called the fog of war. This is what you in the press don't understand. You sit in your air conditioned offices and plant fake stories in the Washington Post
HEGSETH: I did not personally see survivors. The thing was on fire. This is called the fog of war. This is what you in the press don't understand. You sit in your air conditioned offices and plant fake stories in the Washington Post
December 2, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Alex Horton, one of the two Washington Post reporters who broke the story, has been a participant in more violent combat than Pete Hegseth by an order of magnitude.
It's not a coincidence that he got the scoop.
It's not a coincidence that he got the scoop.
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
IOW, the “deal”, unsurprisingly, isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. (Nor the pixels that render it on a screen.)
December 3, 2025 at 2:08 PM
IOW, the “deal”, unsurprisingly, isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. (Nor the pixels that render it on a screen.)
Happy birthday @anuncivilphd.bsky.social ! The world is fortunate to have you. 🤩
December 3, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Happy birthday @anuncivilphd.bsky.social ! The world is fortunate to have you. 🤩
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
CARTOON OF THE DAY
December 2, 2025 at 10:11 PM
CARTOON OF THE DAY
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
Illinois state officials have given national rental car companies official notice that ICE agents using their vehicles are not allowed to swap the rental’s assigned license plates for other plates to disguise the vehicles, and if they do, the rental car companies could be held liable.
Illinois officials warn rental car companies that it is illegal for immigration agents to swap license plates
The secretary of state sent a cease and desist letter to ICE head Todd Lyons, citing “multiple reports of federal ICE agents illegally swapping out the license plates displayed on vehicles.”
bit.ly
December 3, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Illinois state officials have given national rental car companies official notice that ICE agents using their vehicles are not allowed to swap the rental’s assigned license plates for other plates to disguise the vehicles, and if they do, the rental car companies could be held liable.
@chriscillizza.bsky.social rockin the Illini brand in his TN-7 live feed tonight. Great to have you on campus today, Chris. www.youtube.com/live/kxx_5B_...
December 3, 2025 at 1:16 AM
@chriscillizza.bsky.social rockin the Illini brand in his TN-7 live feed tonight. Great to have you on campus today, Chris. www.youtube.com/live/kxx_5B_...
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
can our journalism scientists create a form of news that Mike Johnson can read?
RAJU: If defenseless survivors were killed, would that constitute a violation of the laws of war?
MIKE JOHNSON: I'm not going to prejudge any of that. I was pretty busy yesterday. I didn't follow a lot of the news.
MIKE JOHNSON: I'm not going to prejudge any of that. I was pretty busy yesterday. I didn't follow a lot of the news.
December 2, 2025 at 4:05 PM
can our journalism scientists create a form of news that Mike Johnson can read?
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
Leading figures at NYT and other big media organizations are "are adamantly opposed to recognizing bad faith, so they let themselves be used, over and over, in an endless attempt to find reasonable common ground with political forces bent on division."
And they never address this critique. Ever.
And they never address this critique. Ever.
Ezra Klein Accidentally Shows How the Media Brought Us Trump
The prominent liberal pundit made up a fake version of Charlie Kirk to praise, laundering his reputation the way a lot of mainstream media launders MAGA
www.arcdigital.media
December 2, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Leading figures at NYT and other big media organizations are "are adamantly opposed to recognizing bad faith, so they let themselves be used, over and over, in an endless attempt to find reasonable common ground with political forces bent on division."
And they never address this critique. Ever.
And they never address this critique. Ever.
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
This person who openly advocates war crimes, who lobbied for pardons for war criminals, and repeatedly disdains the laws and ethics of war, the one we confirmed as Secretary of Defense, turns out to have done war crimes. Shocking!
(But hey, if they're finally coming around, better late than never.)
(But hey, if they're finally coming around, better late than never.)
GOP Senator Says Reporting on Hegseth’s Kill Order ‘Shocked Us All’
GOP Senator Says Reporting on Hegseth’s Kill Order ‘Shocked Us All’
"When you have two individuals that are literally floating in the water, a second order to kill them all is not something that we would consider within the rules of war"
The post GOP Senator Says Reporting on Hegseth’s Kill Order ‘Shocked Us All’ first appeared on Mediaite.
dlvr.it
December 2, 2025 at 4:42 PM
This person who openly advocates war crimes, who lobbied for pardons for war criminals, and repeatedly disdains the laws and ethics of war, the one we confirmed as Secretary of Defense, turns out to have done war crimes. Shocking!
(But hey, if they're finally coming around, better late than never.)
(But hey, if they're finally coming around, better late than never.)
Hegseth is not long for the SecDef’s seat in the Cabinet Room.
Rep. Mike Turner on the double strike to comply with Hegseth's orders: "If that occurred, that would be very serious and I agree that would be an illegal act…This is completely outside of anything that has been discussed with Congress and there is an ongoing investigation."
December 1, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Hegseth is not long for the SecDef’s seat in the Cabinet Room.
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
Incredibly corrupt, and also painfully ignorant on multiple subjects he spouts off about.
A quintessential example of both tech oligarchy and why it’s bad when a pick for an influential government position prompts the established professionals to go “who?” and the posters to go “oh yeah, that guy.”
A quintessential example of both tech oligarchy and why it’s bad when a pick for an influential government position prompts the established professionals to go “who?” and the posters to go “oh yeah, that guy.”
We just published a deep look into David Sacks, the White House's AI and Crypto czar. The story examines how he has been able keep hundreds of stakes in AI-related and crypto companies as he influences gov policy in those very industries.
Here's what we found:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
Here's what we found:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/t...
Silicon Valley’s Man in the White House Is Benefiting Himself and His Friends
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Incredibly corrupt, and also painfully ignorant on multiple subjects he spouts off about.
A quintessential example of both tech oligarchy and why it’s bad when a pick for an influential government position prompts the established professionals to go “who?” and the posters to go “oh yeah, that guy.”
A quintessential example of both tech oligarchy and why it’s bad when a pick for an influential government position prompts the established professionals to go “who?” and the posters to go “oh yeah, that guy.”
Reposted by Stretch Ledford
Welker: "DHS posted 'Remigration now!'…How, specifically, does the Trump administration define 'remigration'?"
Kristi Noem: *refuses to answer the question*
Kristi Noem: *refuses to answer the question*
November 30, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Welker: "DHS posted 'Remigration now!'…How, specifically, does the Trump administration define 'remigration'?"
Kristi Noem: *refuses to answer the question*
Kristi Noem: *refuses to answer the question*