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Alys Brooks

@alysbrooks

Freelance writer, reporter, and developer. she/her/hers. @transjournalists.org member. @MarquetteU alumna. Words @rewirenewsgroup.com, CapTimes, Door County Knock

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11.11.2024
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Latest posts by Alys Brooks @alysbrooks

Preview
Minnesota judges nearly shut out DOJ in a week of immigrant detention hearings An MS NOW review of court cases found that in 61 challenges to immigrant detention last week, all but one succeeded, an apparent blow to Trump’s Operation Metro Surge.

Lawyers seem to be having a lot more success with habeas petitions in immigration cases lately: www.ms.now/news/minneso....

10.03.2026 02:38 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

We urgently need to address the fact that queer media has been decimated over the last year. Them has been sold. NBC Out dissolved. INTO shuttered. At a time when they are needed most, most queer and trans journalists have no platform or income.

09.03.2026 15:49 πŸ‘ 178 πŸ” 38 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
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Guess What Moderate Democratic Voters Aren’t Anymore? Moderate. Two new polls suggest that moderate Democrats, too, want higher taxes on the rich and some measure of economic populism. Moderate isn’t what it was in 1992.

Third Way and other "moderate" Democratic groups and elites constantly bash progressive politicians and ideas. But moderate Democratic VOTERS really like raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations, Medicare-for-all, and Bernie Sanders. newrepublic.com/article/2074...

09.03.2026 15:26 πŸ‘ 892 πŸ” 180 πŸ’¬ 22 πŸ“Œ 20

My always watch measures: long term unemp & Black unemp are still in distress. 1 in 4 of the unemployed have been so for more than 6 months. Black unemp is up to 7.7 (double white unemp). And Black unemployment has always been a harbinger of things to come for other types of workers, so look out.

06.03.2026 14:43 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Take any claims from this DOJ with a massive grain of salt, but um, yikes

06.03.2026 18:29 πŸ‘ 47 πŸ” 18 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

I don't know if you are directing that at me, but I am familiar with the context.

05.03.2026 03:41 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I can see reading it either way. Regardless, Singal’s overall point is wrong

04.03.2026 20:32 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

It doesn’t make his overall point correct, but I believe he’s saying they shouldn’t be biased because they have a stake, not that the stake makes them biased.

04.03.2026 20:21 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

"Among respondents who reported facing transphobia from family members in the past year, 98% also believed that media narratives had influenced how their relatives treated them."

πŸ’― I am less safe among my own family due to the transphobic shit they read in the NYT, the Guardian, the BBC, the

04.03.2026 16:12 πŸ‘ 393 πŸ” 117 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0

I think you’re right. I could imagine AI also being draining in new ways if it eliminated tasks that introduced variety or were more satisfying.

04.03.2026 16:07 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congratulations!

04.03.2026 15:58 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Coming out as trans during an election is probably not desirable for most people anyway but imagine the chaos with this kind of set up.

04.03.2026 15:56 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thinking about the one time I helped write a service that needed moderation capabilities, I would perhaps consider that kind of limitation acceptable when the user count is in, like, the teens but not much longer.

04.03.2026 15:43 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The skilled programmers I am aware of who use AI heavily consider it a replacement for writing the code but not reviewing it or making bigger-picture decisions. (I have my objections to that usage myself, but that’s a longer discussion.)

04.03.2026 15:33 πŸ‘ 17 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

There's been a lot of debate within the Democratic establishment about what rhetoric to use via ICE.

Well, an incumbent doesn't lose by 48 percentage points very oftenβ€”and her vote on collaborating with ICE was the defining issue here.

04.03.2026 04:49 πŸ‘ 8328 πŸ” 2492 πŸ’¬ 98 πŸ“Œ 107
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New: Internal tension at the Associated Press over use of AI. One of the AP newsroom leaders leading the company's AI initiatives told staff that many editors preferred an AI-written article to a human one, and told them when it comes to using AI in the newsroom "resistance is futile."

04.03.2026 03:03 πŸ‘ 584 πŸ” 172 πŸ’¬ 95 πŸ“Œ 306
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She’d Never Changed Her Gender Marker. Kansas Invalidated Her License Anyway. β€” Assigned A trans Kansas resident recently changed her name but not her gender marker on her license, fearing what Kansas may do if she did. The Kansas DMV still flagged her ID.

This story, from @natezuke.bsky.social, is absolutely wild. A trans woman who never changed her gender marker was issued a letter invalidating her license. At the DMV they cut up her license, which had an "M" marker.

www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

03.03.2026 12:05 πŸ‘ 3606 πŸ” 1640 πŸ’¬ 72 πŸ“Œ 267

Today, US & Israeli forces bombed the Gandhi Children’s Hospital in Iran’s capital of Tehran.

Nurses supposedly risked their lives carrying newborns to safety from the rubble.

I’m having trouble finding more reporting about this, but here is at least a blurb from Reuters:

01.03.2026 22:25 πŸ‘ 783 πŸ” 439 πŸ’¬ 22 πŸ“Œ 50

That's my read, too.

02.03.2026 20:22 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I've been doing some analysis of federal science grants for a hopefully upcoming piece, and I'm glad other people are pointing this drop off out. The difference is stark.

01.03.2026 19:53 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I don't blame Jamelle Bouie for responding harshly to baseless or unfounded criticisms. Given the dynamics of Bluesky and sites like it, I nonetheless think it's wrong to leave the person's username uncensored when they have less than a hundred followers and you over 700,000.

01.03.2026 03:56 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

This is disgusting. Rationalizing the bombing of a school that reportedly killed 108 girls.

But since she asked,

"Currently, 161 public schools operate on military installations across the United States."

www.militaryonesource.mil/education-em...

01.03.2026 00:09 πŸ‘ 5152 πŸ” 1414 πŸ’¬ 96 πŸ“Œ 24
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Elite Doctors Served Jeffrey Epstein While Treating His β€˜Girls’

NEW: I and colleagues reviewed 15,000 documents to illuminate how Jeffrey Epstein used VIP doctors to control and manipulate young women* β€” and how the doctors helped him, treating his needs as more important than the patients'. Gift link.

*see next post in thread

28.02.2026 16:56 πŸ‘ 1367 πŸ” 740 πŸ’¬ 44 πŸ“Œ 58

The 1940s were also a time of future weapons (rocket missiles and atom bombs) so perhaps we're just ahead of schedule.

28.02.2026 06:11 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I read it analogously to his widely read posts on the midterms. Trumpβ€˜s interference in the midterms is likely to be harmful and illegal but not likely to turn a blue wave into a Republican majority.

27.02.2026 14:52 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

So I didnβ€˜t read him as disputing that, say, the Times can change the conversation on trans people or that remade outlets won’t be successful in spreading propaganda pieces but that those successes, harmful as they are, won’t translate into new powers for Trump and his administration

27.02.2026 14:29 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I seem to be in the minority, but I read Bouieβ€˜s post as more focused on how the capture of these outlets would benefit the current administration’s attempts to seize power rather than its longer term impacts.

27.02.2026 14:22 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Glad things have turned around for you!

27.02.2026 04:21 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I agree with Gertz that this is the largest effect. Still, I wouldn't underestimate the impact on people who might see the occasional clip or read the occasional story lacking context of the ownership change.

27.02.2026 01:54 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Wisconsin's supreme court election is coming up in just 5 weeks... and 66% of respondents tell this poll that they're undecided! One candidate leads 17% to 12%, so, yeah.

(more soon!) www.jsonline.com/story/news/p...

27.02.2026 01:18 πŸ‘ 167 πŸ” 60 πŸ’¬ 7 πŸ“Œ 4