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Tucker Jones

@tuckerjones.bsky.social

1.3K followers 1.1K following 360 posts

Formerly in international development and in local government. Now in Bonn, Germany. Learning German, also following news from Europe and especially the Balkans in BCMS, Turkish, English.

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Tucker Jones @tuckerjones.bsky.social · Sep 4

I'm moving to Bonn, Germany in a few weeks! My wife got into a master's program there, and I'll focus on intensive study of the German language for the first year. If you are in the area or know anyone I should meet there, please let me know!

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Guardian Australia @australia.theguardian.com · 12h

You won’t believe what degrading practice the Pope just condemned

Communication must be freed from clickbait and misguided thinking, head of Catholic church tells journalists The Pope has condemned clickbait as a “degrading” part of journalism, at a private audience with global newswires. Australian media representatives were among those to hear directly from Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Thursday with about 150 members of newswire alliance MINDS International. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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ProPublica @propublica.org · 9h

Kristi Noem, while governor of South Dakota, supplemented her roughly $130,000 salary by secretly accepting $80,000 donated to a political nonprofit she was affiliated with, records show.

She never disclosed this income on federal ethics forms.

(Published June)

Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations

A dark money group paid $80,000 to Noem’s personal company when she was governor of South Dakota. She did not include this income on her federal disclosure forms, a likely violation of ethics requirem...

www.propublica.org

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 14h

NEW: A federal judge hands win to clergy (and others) who say ICE agents violated their religious freedom by, among other things, shooting them with pepper balls.

Also: a pastor tells me senior Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino personally shoved him last week. religionnews.com/2025/10/09/f...

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Meduza in English @meduza.io · 19h

We watched 10 hours of footage from Russia’s leading conference of experts in smartphone hacking so you don’t have to. Here’s what they can do to your phone.
meduza.io/en/slides/wh...

What a top Russian cyber forensics conference reveals about the country’s ability to hack iPhones and Androids — Meduza

The human rights group Memorial found a publicly available video recording of the 2025 Moscow Forensics Day conference, held in mid-September in the Russian capital. The event brought together…

meduza.io

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Jack’s in DC @transitopinions.bsky.social · 19h

Crazy that in <1 year we went from plans for dedicated lanes to improve performance to ceasing operations. I don’t think the streetcar was particularly well executed, but stuff like this makes me feel despair

Barred in DC @barredindc.bsky.social · 19h

Rachel Weiner of the Post confirms that the DC Streetcar will shutter in 5 months, in March, about a year earlier than expected because DC budget cuts + early termination of contract costs.

Operational for a decade, tracks were laid back in 2007.

wapo.st/4q3VtNf

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Tucker Jones @tuckerjones.bsky.social · 21h

Interestingly "Why don't we sell more apples to Russia?" was one of the lines in Stoianoglo's closing speech in Comrat ahead of last year's first round presidential election.

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Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project @occrp.org · 22h

The move targets Serbia’s largest energy company, majority-owned by Russia’s Gazprom Neft, increasing pressure on Belgrade to reduce its reliance on Moscow.

www.occrp.org/en/news/us-s...

U.S. Sanctions on Serbian Oil Giant NIS Take Effect Despite Expected Delay

The move targets Serbia’s largest energy company, majority-owned by Russia’s Gazprom Neft, increasing pressure on Belgrade to reduce its reliance on Moscow.

www.occrp.org

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DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb @dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social · 22h

NEW: A charter bus company will pay $85,000 and adopt strong anti-idling measures across its entire bus fleet.

DC Trails repeatedly violated anti-idling laws and operated without a required basic business license for more than three years.

We will always enforce the District's air pollution laws.

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Tucker Jones @tuckerjones.bsky.social · 22h

I assume you've already heard this Tuvan throat singing cover of Numb, but if you haven't, here you go. Global banger. youtu.be/jV4ASCadZ4s?...

Linkin Park - Numb (Throat singing cover)

YouTube video by KUULAR

youtu.be

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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · Apr 17

New from 404 Media: we've obtained a leak from inside Palantir describing Palantir's plan to help ICE find people to deport. Includes peoples' location. Palantir is expecting a backlash, preparing comments for employees to tell their family. Says ICE "mature partner"

www.404media.co/leaked-palan...

Leaked: Palantir’s Plan to Help ICE Deport People

Internal Palantir Slack chats and message boards obtained by 404 Media show the contracting giant is helping find the location of people flagged for deportation, that Palantir is now a “more mature pa...

www.404media.co

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Tucker Jones @tuckerjones.bsky.social · 1d

I've read a fair amount of work by one author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature. He's almost a different author before the win vs. after; after the win, nearly impossible to work through. I strongly suspect that's because his editor(s) started getting overruled after the Prize.

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d

Reporter's notebook: I actually began working on this story shortly after footage of the incident showed up last month.

But by the time I finally got ahold of folks, the story grew: 2 *other* faith leaders I spoke with *also* reported being shot w/pepper balls while protesting this ICE facility.

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 2d

Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.

(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.

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Triangle Blog Blog @triangleblogblog.bsky.social · 1d

hearing rumors about bill b and unc. really want to be the news org that breaks this news so espn has to refer to the blogblog.

if you know something tell us please.

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Alex Koma @alexkoma.bsky.social · 1d

I got more details on this poll from people who received it, and it sure reads like it's by someone aligned with Bowser. It asks about her stances on various policy issues (including testing out negative messages against her).

And very notable that it asks specifically about a JLG-Bowser matchup...

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Kurtbert Barlowko @albertburneko.bsky.social · 1d

when the people who shuttered USAID learn of a diabetic single mother and her disabled son starving to death 9,000 miles away because of aid cuts, they don't see failure or dereliction or tragedy, but rather success: the people they view as unworthy of life are dying

She has no real way of explaining the danger of their situation to her son, who is 17 years old but cognitively closer to a toddler. And as a single mother too weak to forage, she has no real way of ensuring their survival. She also is too old to benefit from a recent policy change the Thai government made in a bid to prevent mass starvation, granting work rights to some of the 107,000 Myanmar refugees who, like her, live in Thailand’s border camps.

Her son never learned to speak, and needs her help with everything from getting dressed to using the toilet. Since the funding cuts, their survival has hinged on the charity of her Christian church, whose members occasionally give her handfuls of their rice.

She suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure, and begins to sweat and grow dizzy when her hunger is at its fiercest. Some days, she eats nothing.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

i desperately want everyone involved in the destruction of USAID to have to, st the very least, answer to the american people for the suffering and misery they have caused apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 1d

Our New York Times Visual Investigations team is hiring a reporter. It's the same job I have -- use visual investigation/OSINT/etc. skills to report on the world.

You'll need to be based in/near NYC. Pay range is ~110-130k.

www.nytco.com/careers/job-...

Open-Source Reporter (Video Journalist), Visual Investigations | The New York Times Company

www.nytco.com

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Tucker Jones @tuckerjones.bsky.social · 1d

And before. They need masks, "manly" outfits, and guns before they dare do their tasks. The priest needs only God.

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Stephen Soldz @ethicalpsycholo.bsky.social · 2d

Professor Flees to Europe After Turning Point USA Calls Him Antifa, Leading to Death Threats for Him and His Family
newrepublic.com/post/201448/...

Professor Flees to Europe After Turning Point USA Calls Him Antifa

Rutgers University professor Mark Bray no longer feels safe at home.

newrepublic.com

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Stephen Jacob Smith @stephenjacobsmith.com · 2d

I've been on two calls today with fire safety professionals where the topic was the safety of single-stair buildings. On both calls, somebody was driving while on the call – one a firefighter, the other a fire protection engineer.

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Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 2d

I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.

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Tucker Jones @tuckerjones.bsky.social · 2d

Pleasantly, CM Nadeau and her staff draw a sharp contrast. I've encountered her and her staffers on the bus, on bikes, and while they were driving.

Unsurprisingly, CM Nadeau is far more supportive of non car transportation (including more pro walking!) than Chair Mendelson. Experiences matter.

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Tucker Jones @tuckerjones.bsky.social · 3d

I'm recalling that in his 2022 reelection campaign, DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson couldn't name the last time he took public transportation. Couldn't even name it!

Nicholas Riehle, MUPP @nicholasriehle.bsky.social · Aug 7

Zohran’s citibike numbers make me feel like we need to start demanding bike share stats from our politicians in the same way we demand tax returns

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Monica Marks @monicamarks.bsky.social · 2d

🚨 My fellow Rhodes Scholar, David Adler, is being held in Israeli prison w/ 20 other Americans. Israel detained them in international waters. They were bound for Gaza onboard the Sumud Flotilla to deliver aid.

25 Congresspeople petitioned Sec. of State Rubio to demand their release.

🧵 1/10

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Tucker Jones @tuckerjones.bsky.social · 2d

Yup, I voted (and volunteered) for Erin Palmer, who did her entire campaign via public transit.