ssommer642.bsky.social
@ssommer642.bsky.social
Reposted
💰SCOOP: Hungary is in advanced talks with Russia on a plan to bypass US sanctions on Serbia’s mostly Russian-owned NIS oil firm by having a Hungarian firm buy shares. My sources say this is foreign minister Péter Szijjártó’s main topic at today’s Moscow trip—just 11 days after Orbán's Kremlin visit.
December 9, 2025 at 8:34 AM
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SCOOP: David Gentile reported to prison on Nov. 14 to begin a 7-year sentence for what prosecutors described as a $1.6B scheme that defrauded thousands of victims.

Trump commuted Gentile's sentence 12 days later, freeing him from prison.
Trump Frees Fraudster Just Days Into Seven-Year Prison Sentence
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 2:51 AM
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Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 24, 2025 at 11:02 AM
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I wrote about the fake account blowup on X this weekend. A genuine post-truth nightmare and proof that these companies have polluted their platforms so thoroughly and traded reality for profit that they've undermined the very idea of what the internet is supposed to be.
That MAGA Account Might Be a Troll From Pakistan
How X blew up its own platform with a new location feature
www.theatlantic.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:33 PM
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Paul Ingrassia, a lawyer who previously represented Andrew and Tristan Tate before joining the White House, stepped in on their behalf during a federal investigation, saying the seizure of the Tates’ devices was not a good use of time or resources.
The White House Intervened on Behalf of Accused Sex Trafficker Andrew Tate During a Federal Investigation
Federal authorities were chided for seizing electronic devices from Tate and his brother, and told to return them, records and interviews show. Experts said the intervention was highly inappropriate.
www.propublica.org
November 24, 2025 at 4:15 AM
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It's a revealing moment...

J.D. Vance welcomes a two-legged robot helping on the job site. But if that helper is a person named Jose, he calls it a threat. Same tasks, same productivity boost.

The inconsistency reveals this isn’t about economics.
November 16, 2025 at 12:52 PM
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This should alarm everyone.

On Thursday, Florida, by unanimous vote, became the first state in the country to adopt “The Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education.”
It was written by the Heritage Foundation, the same group behind Project 2025.

THIS IS INDOCTRINATION
November 17, 2025 at 12:21 AM
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"300 agents stormed the building, rappelled from a helicopter, knocked down doors and hurled flash-bang grenades. Agents ziptied and detained many US citizens for hours..."

Prosecutors have not filed a *single* criminal charge against anyone arrested that night:

www.propublica.org/article/chic...
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
www.propublica.org
November 15, 2025 at 1:39 AM
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I've handled polygraph cases for over 25 years & regularly lecture on topic. I've sued FBI over its policies. I've also rep'd many polygraphers & American Polygraph Association.

My knowledge is broad on both sides.

This is not how FBI or USG historically operates & is very disconcerting.
November 14, 2025 at 4:53 PM
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Young people understand: The way we did things yesterday does not have to be the way we do things tmrw — because the we did things yesterday wasn’t working!! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/14/r...
New York Lacked an Affordable Housing Portal. So These Teenagers Made One.
www.nytimes.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:52 PM
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November 14, 2025 at 3:37 AM
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Like the Koch brothers and other conservative billionaires, Dunn and Wilks want to slash regulations and taxes.

Their endgame, however, is more radical: not just to limit the government but also to steer it toward Christian rule.

(Published Oct. 2024)
A Pair of Billionaire Preachers Built the Most Powerful Political Machine in Texas. That’s Just the Start.
Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks are poised to take their Christian nationalist agenda nationwide.
www.propublica.org
November 14, 2025 at 4:00 AM
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New from me: “working the refs” has come for Wikipedia. The same type of attacks alleging anti-conservative bias that right wing politicians have make about social media are coming for the encyclopedia — because of its critical role in shaping AI answer engines.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Right-Wing Attack on Wikipedia
The free internet encyclopedia is widely used to train AI. That’s why conservatives are trying to dethrone it.
www.theatlantic.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:41 PM
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NEW: Trump says America needs more foreign workers.

His company requested a record 184 of them for 2025.

me, for @Forbes

1/
Trump Organization Sought Record Number Of Foreign Workers In 2025
Labor Department data show President Donald Trump’s businesses applied to hire at least 184 foreign workers for seasonal jobs at golf courses, a winery and Mar–a-Lago.
www.forbes.com
November 12, 2025 at 8:29 PM
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The Kremlin disguised a nearly $100 mn payment to Trump in the form of a brokered real estate deal... and both Jeffrey Epstein and William Pulte were involved in the deal. That's very interesting.
November 12, 2025 at 9:56 PM
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NEW: The US has deported a longtime Oregon firefighter who was arrested by Border Patrol while deployed at a major wildfire in Washington state.

José Bertin Cruz-Estrada, separated from his family, is speaking out from Mexico for the first time:

“I feel betrayed ... What am I going to do now?"
US firefighter detained on the job speaks out after deportation: ‘I feel betrayed’
Exclusive: Border patrol arrested José Bertin Cruz-Estrada while he was battling a wildfire in Washington. He is now in Mexico, separated from his family in Oregon
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:04 PM
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Now I'm a dummy but it really feels to me like there has to be an entire relatively broad-based winning politics based around being in opposition to *just this one sliver* of what the Trump administration is doing right here www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/b...
November 11, 2025 at 4:26 AM
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Under Gov. Landry’s tough-on-crime agenda, Louisiana has eliminated parole for nearly everyone imprisoned for crimes committed after Aug. 1, 2024.

For most prisoners already behind bars, an algorithm is now deciding if they have a shot at early release.

(Published April with @veritenews.org)
An Algorithm Deemed This Nearly Blind 70-Year-Old Prisoner a “Moderate Risk.” Now He’s No Longer Eligible for Parole.
A Louisiana law cedes much of the power of the parole board to an algorithm that bars thousands of prisoners from a shot at early release. Civil rights attorneys say it could disproportionately harm B...
www.propublica.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:00 PM
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Read every word & share with everyone you know. This is real life here in Chicago. Americans need to know this grotesque reality & stand with us.
Kyle Kingsbury is not a journalist. He is not an op-ed writer.

He is a computer safety researcher.

And he has written one of the most compelling, comprehensive accounts of the ongoing hell in Chicago that you could possibly imagine.

In under 1600 words.

aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...
November 10, 2025 at 12:15 PM
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"Pope Leo said Scripture emphasizes the question that will be posed at the end of the world:

'How did you receive the foreigner, did you receive him and welcome him, or not? I think there is a deep reflection that needs to be made about what is happening'..."

chicago.suntimes.com/pope-leo-xiv...
Pope Leo calls for ‘deep reflection’ about treatment of detained migrants in U.S.
“Many people who have lived for years and years and years, never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what is going on right now,” Chicago-born pope says.
chicago.suntimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 5:02 AM
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Brother Warnock lays it plain.
November 6, 2025 at 11:46 PM
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Texas… it’s not just Grijalva….

#TrumpEpsteinFilesCoverUp
November 6, 2025 at 9:17 PM
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🚨 CNBC: "Announced corporate job cuts surging past 1 million so far this year, with 153,000 new layoffs just in October according to Challenger. That is the worst October since 2003."
November 6, 2025 at 12:57 PM
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What's happening in TX-18 is more obscene than not seating Grijalva during pro formas. Turner died in March. Abbott delayed the special election until yesterday, and now it goes to a runoff early *next year.*

Congress can and should require special elections to be held within 90 days of a vacancy.
November 5, 2025 at 4:14 PM