E.S.
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esteele-writes.bsky.social
E.S.
@esteele-writes.bsky.social
Writer, editor, book lover. Currently screaming into the void.
Reposted by E.S.
Our founders, though deeply flawed, understood that democracy requires an informed citizenry and a government accountable to it people. That’s why the press is the only profession protected by the Constitution. It’s also why autocrats and oligarchs seek to control and destroy it.
February 4, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Reposted by E.S.
In the ongoing measles outbreak in South Carolina that has infected more than 800 people, some children have developed a rare but serious complication called encephalitis. www.wired.com/story/measle...
Measles Is Causing Brain Swelling in Children in South Carolina
In the ongoing measles outbreak in South Carolina that has infected more than 800 people, some children have developed a rare but serious complication called encephalitis.
www.wired.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by E.S.
in which Mike Johnson attempts to scripture-splain to the [checks notes] Pope
Q: Pope Leo cited Matthew 25:35 to critique Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda. How would you respond to Pope Leo in scripture?

MIKE JOHNSON: Sovereign borders are biblical and right and just. It's not because we hate the people on the outside. It's because we love the people on the inside.
February 3, 2026 at 7:40 PM
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SCOOP: Palantir's AI has been deployed at HHS since last March to audit grants, grant applications, & job descriptions for anything related to "DEI" or "gender ideology"

The goal was to ensure compliance with 2 of Trump's executive orders:
www.wired.com/story/hhs-is...
HHS Is Using AI Tools From Palantir to Target ‘DEI’ and ‘Gender Ideology’ in Grants
Since March of 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services has been using tools from Palantir and the startup Credal AI to weed out perceived alignment with “DEI” or “gender ideology.”
www.wired.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Reposted by E.S.
PORTLAND MAYOR WILSON:

“.. To those who continue to work for ICE: Resign. To those who control this facility: Leave. … you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame.”

@politico.com
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
February 1, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by E.S.
Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com
February 1, 2026 at 12:50 AM
Reposted by E.S.
Today I saw ICE gas little white kids in the streets of Portland with chemical weapons. Imagine what they're doing to brown and black kids in the detention camps
February 1, 2026 at 2:08 AM
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SHAME!!! ICE in Portland just tear gassed thousands of peaceful protesters, including children, the elderly, and dogs. #Portland
February 1, 2026 at 1:04 AM
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A view of the rolling Alex Pretti memorial #Portland #ICEOut
January 31, 2026 at 11:04 PM
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I recorded this today, in Portland, Oregon, at a huge march to the ICE facility in SW. The crowd was full of cyclists who had ridden there in memory of Alex Pretti; members of several labor unions; and ordinary citizens of every age, including this little girl. So of course ICE deployed tear gas.
February 1, 2026 at 2:05 AM
Reposted by E.S.
ICE will never intimidate the good people of Minneapolis.
Minnesotans on Bde Maka Ska, a lake in Minneapolis. Photo credit WCCO-TV
January 31, 2026 at 7:52 PM
Reposted by E.S.
Yesterday, five-year-old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning.

Liam is now home. With his hat and his backpack.
February 1, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by E.S.
Yes, movie theaters are famous for being “standing room only.”
Kayleigh: My mom went to see Melania. She said the theater was packed, it was standing room only. People were cheering through it, they were excited. It was interactive—people interplaying with the film. She said it was just electric.
February 2, 2026 at 7:49 PM
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Oh, this Wormtongue thing is catching on!
January 31, 2026 at 8:10 PM
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i was actually shocked to see the numbers on new research from Global Energy Monitor on new gas projects in the US: nearly 100 gigawatts of power—enough to power tens of millions of homes—are currently in development explicitly to power data centers. At the end of 2023 that number was 4 gigawatts
Data Centers Are Driving a US Gas Boom
Gas projects in the US pipeline explicitly linked to data centers increased by almost 25 times over the past two years, according to new research from Global Energy Monitor.
www.wired.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:38 PM
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This is so unhinged
January 29, 2026 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by E.S.
The fact that men can be so evil to other human beings will never not astound me.
“I watched him die… then I watched them maneuver his body like a rag doll— only to discover it was because they wanted to count the bullet wounds and see how many they ‘got’, like he was a deer.”
January 28, 2026 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by E.S.
“I watched him die… then I watched them maneuver his body like a rag doll— only to discover it was because they wanted to count the bullet wounds and see how many they ‘got’, like he was a deer.”
January 28, 2026 at 5:46 AM
Reposted by E.S.
This is Minneapolis.

Collective trauma, and neighbors helping neighbors.

This is our 24/7 every day lives right now, not just a 10 second news clip.
January 28, 2026 at 3:15 PM
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Individuals are responsible for their actions, even under orders, especially when those orders involve clear violations of international law or fundamental morality.
humanrightsfirst.org/library/fact...
Fact Sheet: “Following Orders” Is No Defense to War Crimes: The Duty to Disobey Illegal Military Orders - Human Rights First
Service members of the United States Armed Forces are required to disobey orders that violate the law. As retired Marine Corps General John Allen recently said: “When we swear an oath to support and d...
humanrightsfirst.org
January 28, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Reposted by E.S.
Republicans cut funding for health care to pay for Trump's lawless militia. Giving more money to use 5-year-olds as bait and shoot unarmed mothers is unacceptable. I will not vote to give more money to ICE until there is accountability and an end to these abuses.
January 23, 2026 at 6:53 PM
Reposted by E.S.
Sesame Street is now offering tips for parents on post-trauma comfort because the federal government is physically and mentally abusing our country's children.
January 27, 2026 at 7:30 PM
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After being held in two of them as a boy, I fought for decades urging America to never again build concentration camps and put human beings in them. It breaks my heart to watch this happen twice now in my own lifetime.
January 27, 2026 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by E.S.
Something important to understand about ICE thugs in the Twin Cities is that they're harassing innocent kids and parents at bus stops and schools every single day. Even after the Pretti shooting. It's terrorism.
January 27, 2026 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by E.S.
My gosh. Alex Pretti was notifying neighbors that Trump and Vance's agents were chasing a family. A mob of agents then tackled him and broke his rib.

He thought he was going to die.

Then the very next week, he came back out to support his neighbors.

And a mob of agents killed him.
January 27, 2026 at 6:48 PM