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Reposted by Erika Wittekind

Lucius Fox In The Box @carnegro.bsky.social · 35m

Pope Leo is spitting.

www.npr.org/2025/10/09/n...

Leo questioned a world where the wealth of the elite grows
"exponentially" while many "millions of people die of hunger or survive in conditions unfit for human beings." He also criticized "ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation,"
with false promises "that a free-market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty."

Leo described a "new tyranny," which shuns any kind of oversight and where the economy is structured "in such a way that sacrifices are demanded of the masses in order to serve the needs of the powerful." The poor, he wrote, are only allowed "drops that trickle down."

The pope openly challenged "prosperity theology" and called Christians to the practice of giving charity. "It will not solve the problem of world poverty, yet it must still be carried out, with intelligence, diligence and social responsibility," he wrote.

Popular movements that challenge "the empire of money," invite people to take on the cause to combat poverty alongside the poor, instead of on their behalf, and "make history," the pope said. It our duty, Leo said, to "make their voices heard, albeit in different ways, in order to point out and denounce such structural issues, even at the cost of appearing foolish or naïve."

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Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 19m

I grieve for the Post that used to be. This rag is a shameful impostor.

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 13h

I spent more than a decade at The Post. It was good to me and I was proud to work there. I’ve largely refrained from being critical since I left. But this framing of the special counsel probe is embarrassing and flatly wrong. Stunning, but not. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | Jack Smith’s lawfare and James Comey’s arraignment on pathetically weak charges

Good people will be deterred from public service if they see a meaningful risk of winding up in jail afterward.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Stefan E. Jones @stefanejones.bsky.social · 12h

tl;dl:

isportlandburning.com

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 12h

Is Portland "burning to the ground?" A new website has the answer.

Want to know if Portland is 'burning to the ground'? There's a website for that

Is Portland "burning to the ground?" A new website has the answer.

www.oregonlive.com

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Reposted by Erika Wittekind

Samantha Michaels @samanthamichaels.bsky.social · 17h

So much tear gas that people who aren't even protesting are getting sick when they leave their homes to run errands: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

ICE is hounding Chicago area locals with excessive chemical munitions

Agents are firing tear gas and pepper balls on lawful protesters, lawsuits say, sickening even uninvolved residents.

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by Erika Wittekind

Nathan Kalman-Lamb @nkalamb.bsky.social · 2h

This is the episode you have been waiting for.

The End of Sport @endofsportpod.bsky.social · 2h

Ep. 170: The Pseudoscience of Trans Exclusion

In a LONG awaited and vital ep, the whole crew is joined by Sheree Bekker and @annaposbergh.bsky.social to delve into and refute the 'science' deployed to justify the anti-trans movement in sport.

open.spotify.com/episode/0IO2...

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Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 2h

Nah, I think it's going to be a turnout election. Trump voters aren't going to be won over by messaging; they're going to stay home. The strategy should be lighting a fire under blue voters, and you don't do that by going Republican-lite.

Matt Steinglass @mattsteinglass.bsky.social · 3h

Yglesias makes the case that preventing a full authoritarian takeover hinges entirely on Democrats retaking the Senate in 2026; the House isn’t enough. Hence the entire ballgame is how to win uneasy Trump voters in even vaguely gettable GOP states, ie Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Maine, Florida. 1/2

The authoritarian menace has arrived

And so has the backlash — but the resistance needs to be smarter

open.substack.com

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 16h

A window into how policy is made in this White House

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 16h

Q: Are you going to work with your administration to designate antifa a foreign terror organization?

TRUMP: You mean anti-terror?

Q: Antifa

TRUMP: Antifa?

Q: A foreign terror organization

TRUMP: Would you like to see it done? I'd be glad to do it. Does everybody agree? It sounds good to me

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Reposted by Erika Wittekind

@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 2d

🚨THIS IS A BIG DEAL. Chicago journalists are suing the Trump administration for using excessive force against reporters & protestors in violation of the 1A.
The press here is doing astounding work documenting how ICE is out of control. The violence they face in doing so is obscene.

The protests at the Broadview ICE facility and the federal government’s violent
attempts to silence the protesters became a story of great interest to the local Chicago media and
was also covered in the national press. Much of the coverage described the federal officers’
abusive tactics. Defendants sought and are seeking to quash this coverage by attacking and
intimidating members of the Press on the ground there.
85. Federal immigration officers at the Broadview ICE facility have repeatedly and
intentionally singled out persons whom they know to be members of the Press for violence,
assault, and intimidation. These assaults are not incidental or unintentional. They are undertaken
by design to intimidate journalists on scene and to frustrate and suppress coverage of the federal
officers’ actions toward protesters and immigration detainees

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HELLody SchreiBOO @melodyschreiber.com · 18h

"we took the freedom of speech away"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18h

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

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Reposted by Erika Wittekind

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 20h

Pritzker: "I think it's important to recognize that the Trump administration does not seem to respect any laws in the United States. They just do what they want to do and they'll keep doing it unless someone stops them. Here in Illinois we're stopping them."

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 20h

Pritzker: "He wants to militarize major cities because he wants us to get used to the idea of troops on the streets. I believe he's gonna post people outside of polling places and if he needs to in order to control those elections, he'll assume control of the ballot boxes & count the votes himself"

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Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 19h

Racist, wrong, and irrelevant, all in one soundbite. Quite an accomplishment.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 23h

Mike Johnson: "If you're a young, pregnant American citizen women who shows up in an ER and you get treated and they pay the hospital less for treating you than some illegal rabble rouser who came in from some South American country to do us harm, that is wrong."

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Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 21h

This! We do not have to nominate Gavin Newsom to get his social media person. Someone who isn't terrible in multiple critical ways can hire her away! (Her name is Camille Zapata.)

Sunny Moraine @dynamicsymmetry.bsky.social · 21h

Gavin Newsom isn’t trolling Trump, he is not actually the one posting, the person you love is the anonymous underpaid staffer who runs his social media

Reposted by Erika Wittekind

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 1d

I was completely unprepared for the threat posed by the Antifa super soldiers.

Courtney Vaughn @courtneyvaughn.bsky.social · 1d

Streets are still closed off in front of the Portland ICE facility at 8:30pm. Protesters have gathered on a side street. Dance party in progress.

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Reposted by Erika Wittekind

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump calls for Brandon Johnson and JB Pritzker to be imprisoned

Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also!

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Hell Ray-ser @sireviscerate.myatproto.social · May 11

I.... do not understand how electricity works

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Christopher Mims @mims.bsky.social · 1d

If the economy could be represented by a giant dashboard of lights, they'd all be flashing red

soybean farmers are panicking over loss of Chinese buyers, declare possible 'bloodbath'

Trump assault on wind projects hits red states hardest

businesses that depend on government contracts are already feeling the pain of the shutdown

no official jobs numbers during shutdown means Wall Street is turning to alternative measures -- and they show the situation is bad

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Reposted by Erika Wittekind

Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 1d

Try to imagine if federal agents under a Democratic administration had fired pepper balls at conservative clergy protesting--- let's just say --- abortion.

They've litigated and won Supreme Court cases over much less.

bsky.app/profile/jack...

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d

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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@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 1d

Bookmark this video. It should be an everyday reminder of what Donald Trump is doing to chicago and the country overall. Stay outraged.

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 1d

WATCH: Trump’s lawless Ice goons shoot an unarmed priest in the head with a pepper ball. Completely out of control.

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Reposted by Erika Wittekind

Amanda Katz @katzish.bsky.social · 1d

Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts 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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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d

NEW: I spoke to clergy and faith leaders who've joined protests at the Chicago-area ICE facility.

Three say they've been shot with pepper balls, sometimes while praying.

All say ICE is also violating their religious freedom, and one is arguing it in court. religionnews.com/2025/10/07/i...

Religious protesters say ICE threatens religious freedom in Chicago

(RNS) — Despite potential danger, religious leaders and faith activists have been a visible presence at Chicago-area ICE protests, some waving signs with slogans such as ‘Love thy neighbor’ and ‘Who w...

religionnews.com

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Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 1d

This chef literally catered events for President Bush in the 2000s. That's how little of a threat he was.

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 1d

Man…man.

www.texastribune.org/2025/10/07/t...

“Why Sergio?”: Deportation ends 36-year dream for celebrated Waco chef

Sergio Garcia built a wide following for his regional Mexican cuisine over the decades, becoming a favorite of the White House press corps visiting Waco during the Bush presidency. Then in March, ICE ...

www.texastribune.org

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Erika Wittekind @erikalyn.bsky.social · 1d

This chef literally catered events for President Bush in the 2000s. That's how little of a threat he was.

Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 1d

Man…man.

www.texastribune.org/2025/10/07/t...

“Why Sergio?”: Deportation ends 36-year dream for celebrated Waco chef

Sergio Garcia built a wide following for his regional Mexican cuisine over the decades, becoming a favorite of the White House press corps visiting Waco during the Bush presidency. Then in March, ICE ...

www.texastribune.org

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Reposted by Erika Wittekind

Melanie D’Arrigo @darrigomelanie.bsky.social · 1d

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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Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 1d

US military action is done with the American people’s money in the American people’s name, as is DOJ. The people’s elected representatives in Congress have oversight authority. They are 100% entitled to this info.

You know who doesn’t have to disclose legal advice? Personal attorneys and advisors.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

COONS: How did you conclude that these strikes on boats in the open ocean are legal?

BONDI: I'm not going to discuss any legal advice that my department may or may not have issued

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