Happy to share that "Polarization and Democracy in Latin America" is out now with @uchicagopress.bsky.social and available in multiple formats.
If it looks interesting, please consider requesting it at your university library!
Check it out 👇
press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
The direct consequences of this breach are too staggering to fathom.
Two brothers from South Texas and their high school mariachi bandmates were recognized by their congresswoman last June for winning a state mariachi competition. Nine months later, the brothers, along with their parents and younger brother, are in ICE detention and facing deportation.
The consequences of this war for Americans will be bleak and take decades to unfold, but it will impoverish and provincialize them in ways that would have been unimaginable ten years ago
Hitting desalination plants is so bad. Not just evil but strategically incomprehensible. Without desalination 75% of the entire population of the Middle East will be refugees. Israel and Kuwait depend on desalination for 90% of their water and other Middle East states aren’t far behind.
NEW: The bad news about international-student enrollments at American colleges just got worse. An exclusive @chronicle.com analysis of just-released State Department data shows new visa issuances in the summer of 2025 dropped by more than a third. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
The last photo of third-grader Mikaeil Mirdoraghi, waving to his mom before he left for school. He was killed shortly after in the U.S./Israeli strike on a primary school in Minab.
"The latest employment report just came out... and this is my worried face."
I haven't said anything about this before, bc in the grand scheme of horrors this only rates as an inconvenience, but since others are experiencing it:
Just three days after CBP arrested me for filming them outside Broadview on 9/27, my TSA Pre & Global Entry were suspended—and so were my wife's.
FT comments section this morning - saying what everyone else is thinking, right?
Spanish PM Sánchez responds to Trump:
"Spain is against this disaster... Govts are here to improve people's lives... It is absolutely unacceptable that those leaders who are unable to fulfill that mission use the smoke of war to hide their failure, and in the process, fill the pockets of a few."
Congrats again to Thom Tillis, Rand Paul, & Senate Majority Leader John Thune:
www.senate.gov/legislative/...
JUST IN: North Carolina's Dem lawmaker Carla Cunningham gave the GOP the decisive vote to pass a law forcing police to comply with ICE. She said "all cultures are not equal."
She just lost reelection BIG in the Dem primary to a progressive pastor & activist, Rodney Sadler. 70% to 22%!
Context:
NEW YouGov poll: Abolishing ICE is now at a *record high* level of support in the United States 50% support 39% oppose Independents are now +17 on abolishing ICE Moderates +6 23% of Republicans now support abolishing ICE
NEW YouGov poll:
Abolishing ICE is now at a *record high* level of support in the United States
50% support
39% oppose
Independents are now +17 on abolishing ICE
Moderates +6
23% of Republicans now support abolishing ICE
'UNIMAGINABLE CRUELTY': Judge Gary Brown, a Trump appointeee from NY, thrashes DHS' treatment of a man who came to the US at 9 as an abuse/neglect victim, has no criminal record and became a college grad.
"The laws of decency condemn such villainy." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Near Richmond?
Join us at the Bell Tower on Capitol Square on March 7 at high noon — corner of 9th & Franklin.
Bring your signs and your voices. We're bringing speakers.
Gotta tell ya, I'm looking forward to a fired up speech from The Bad Astronomer, @philplait.bsky.social on Saturday afternoon.
Trump's mass deportations really are a Forever War. It'll take 3 presidential terms at current pace. The prison camps are a new carceral state. It has its own growing public-private bureaucracy: Contractors, mercenary army, etc. 6/
(h/t @lioneltrolling.bsky.social)
newrepublic.com/article/2069...
Today, Rio de Janeiro’s former Police Chief & a Congressman were convicted in the assassination of socialist Rio City Councilwoman Marielle Franco.
She was a college classmate of mine & today is a beautiful day for Brazilian democracy
Appalling: ICE and CBP contracted for $144 million in weaponry and accessories in Trump's first year, per data obtained by Sen Adam Schiff.
For ICE it's a fourfold increase, much of it for military-style weapons. A heavily armed secret police force. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2069...
NEW: Jeffrey Epstein cultivated relationships with CBP officers at the airports he frequented.
Epstein emailed and texted with six CBP officers, invited them to his island, visited with them at the airport, and frequently sought to determine who was going to be on duty when he was traveling
So SCOTUS, with its fabricated-out-of-thin-air immunity doctrine, has actually made American presidents less accountable than LITERAL royalty.
Tomorrow you may see James David Vance or some other purported Catholic from this administration with ashes on their forehead, it’s important to remember that it’s all just for show.
February 16, 2026 NR26026kt Los Angeles Police Department Encourages School Attendance Amid Recent Downtown Activity Los Angeles: In light of recent activity in the downtown area, the Los Angeles Police Department would like to take this opportunity to remind parents and students of the importance of staying in school. School attendance is mandatory in the City of Los Angeles and there may be legal consequences for parents and students for: • Day time Curfew violations - It is unlawful for any minors under 18 to be in public places, streets, or amusement spots during school hours (typically 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. The only exception includes being with a parent, authorized school activities, or emergencies. • California Education Code violations: • Mandates that all children between the ages of six and eighteen, unless exempted, must attend a full-time public day school for the full designated school day. • Middle and high school students are legally permitted one excused absence per calendar year to participate in a "civic or political event," provided advance school notification (emphasis added). • Additionally, Los Angeles Unified School District policy states that three or more unexcused absences or tardies of 30 minutes or more, can trigger a School Attendance Review Board (SARB) intervention for disciplinary action. Parents and students are also reminded that presence at school promotes intellectual growth. It becomes more difficult to fill knowledge gaps with student absences. Attendance builds good habits and healthy routines; and provides structure and stability. Lastly, school attendance also increases student safety, which includes safety resources provided by the Los Angeles Unified School District. (Page 1 of 2) X Follow @LAPDHQ
Any adult that collects or picks up a child and transports them to participate in any illegal activities may be responsible for Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor and is subject to arrest and prosecution. This law applies to actions like providing drugs/alcohol to minors, promoting truancy, and for parents failing to exercise reasonable supervision. Community members, parents, and students may contact their local Community Police Station of the Los Angeles Police Department for additional guidance specific to their community.
The LAPD is citing truancy laws in an attempt to squash the ongoing school walkouts against ICE. The LAPD is also threatening to arrest any parents or adults who support the kids in their acts of civil disobedience.
Stephen Colbert said that the FCC and CBS - which is in no way a compromised or complicit organization - wouldn’t allow him to broadcast an interview with Democratic State Rep James Talarico. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/a...
Page 15 of the GOP’s Save America Act wld force all 50 states to submit their voter rolls to the DHS’s centralized voter purge program (called “SAVE”), which they know has had error rates as high as 14% & links to an SSA database that they know was compromised by DOGE. #NoOnSave 1/
A child dying of cancer spent her final days fighting to free her wrongfully detained father from ICE custody.
This comes just weeks after a mother from Maryland was denied the right to be at her son’s side as he died from cancer.
Not one dime for this cruelty.
www.cbsnews.com/amp/chicago/...
The pace at which US wealth concentration is rising is simply staggering
The concentration of AI wealth into the hands of a few tech barons + plutocratic capture ==> unchartered territory
Just take a look at this and remember, Pam Bondi's concern here was not with any of the victims of these crimes but with the nosy Democrats who actually gave a shit about them.
Trump's Department of Justice was apparently monitoring members of Congress as they search through the newly-unredacted Epstein Files, tracking their search terms. Rep. Jamie Raskin calls it "Orwellian" and a "violation of the separation of powers."
@premthakker.bsky.social
