curated news excerpts & citations
Harriet Barber @ Guardian: ‘We were terrified they were going to kill us’: fishers who survived US boat strike speak out
An Ecuadorian fishing crew describe their ordeal as victims of Trump’s purported war on ‘narcoterrorists’
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“We were just working, waiting for the last trawler to return,” said Jhonny Sebastián Palacios, one of the fishers. “Everything was perfectly fine.”
From nowhere, an explosion ripped through the boat. “There was a sudden crash – boom! It came from a drone,” he said.
The blast tore through the vessel, shattering glass, and injuring several crew members. …
Landon Mion @ Fox News: US military conducts strike on another boat carrying alleged narco-traffickers, killing 3
The Pentagon has refused to provide evidence of drugs on board the ships it has targeted since last fall in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific
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Uli Fehr: So much space junk
Comet R3 PanSTARRS Behind Satellite Trails
Can you find the comet? Somewhere through this web of satellite trails is Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS), a bright visitor passing through the inner Solar System.
(Uli Fehr more…)
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Maxine Joselow and Brad Plumer @ NY Times: Trump Administration Will Pay More Energy Firms to Cancel Wind Farms
In exchange, the companies will invest in oil and gas projects, echoing an earlier deal with the French energy giant TotalEnergies.
(Maxine Joselow and Brad Plumer @ NY Times more…)
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Michael Tomasky @ TNR: We Marinate in Conspiracy Today. Who’s to Blame? Partly, Donald Trump.
Chris Geidner: DOJ’s leaders just filed what amounts to a Truth social post as a legal filing in the ballroom case
Acting A.G. Todd Blanche, Associate A.G. Stanley Woodward, and Trent McCotter beclowned themselves in yet another dark, embarrassing moment for DOJ.
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Michael Peabody: My 12-Year-Old’s Orrery Would Be Illegal Under California’s New 3D Printer Bill – Stop AB 2047
… Open-source firmware like Marlin and Klipper, which animate the vast majority of consumer machines, would in practical effect become contraband.The stated rationale is ghost guns. The actual effect is something far broader: a prior restraint on fabrication technology, a state license required for one of the most consequential manufacturing platforms of the century, and an architectural transfer of authority from the maker to the bureaucrat.
(Michael Peabody @ more…)
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Miles Taylor: The next assassination attempt will be against the First Amendment.
Before the chaos erupted Saturday night, there was an eerie omen.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that “shots will be fired tonight” by the president at the dinner. She meant rhetorical ones, aimed squarely at the free press hosting the evening. But a lone gunman had other ideas, and Trump’s planned performance was interrupted before it could begin.
In the thirty-six hours since, the world has rightly focused on who the suspected shooter was and whom in the Trump administration he was targeting, including the president and members of the Cabinet. Those questions matter enormously. And we should universally condemn political violence as a scourge on our democracy.
But Donald Trump had a target that night, too. However figurative, he was preparing to open fire himself. The president seemed eager to stand in front of the assemblage of reporters and go after their profession, which he’s dubbed “the enemy of the people” — and against which he’s wielded federal powers in order to silence critics and curb constitutional protections. Now, with the horror of a genuine attack to exploit, he may well expand his arsenal.
(Miles Taylor more…)Dean Blundell: “I’m Not a Pedophile”: Trump’s 60 Minutes Meltdown, …
Decoding Fox News: Trump’s CBS 60 Minutes Interview: What Aired and What Was Cut
Marcy Wheeler: Jeanine Pirro Did the Same Thing Norah O’Donnell Did
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Dan Rather: Why the president fired the scientists and what it means for all of us
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Although the president is often reluctant to explain why he does imprudent and detrimental things, if one looks hard enough, a reason can usually be found. In this case, there may be two.Reason one: to save face. The board was set to meet in early May to work on the release of a new report. The report outlines how the U.S., once the world leader in scientific research, is losing ground to China. If there is no board, the report can’t be released.
Reason two: money. In its 2026 budget, the Trump administration recommended a 55% cut to the NSF. After lobbying by the National Science Board, Congress rejected the White House’s proposal and funded the NSF at 2025 levels.
To avoid the same fate for this year’s budget, which again recommends slashing the foundation’s funding, Trump did away with the board before its members could convince members of Congress.
Friday’s firings are just the latest in Trump’s long list of objectionable actions to cast doubt on scientific findings and thwart research.
(Dan Rather more…)
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Michael Peabody: They’re Coming for Your Phone, Counselor
(Michael Peabody more…)
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Andrew Sullivan: A Tipping Point At Last?
The case for thinking the Iran War means the implosion of the Trump era.
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The Trump cult has survived so much. But this? …That’s the first strike against MAGA: the decision to go to war at all.
The second strike is how Trump has actually conducted the war itself.
For even the most propagandistic pro-Trump outlets, it’s just unspinnable. Gerard Baker’s timeline captures the madness of it all:
Unconditional surrender. Regime change. Partnership with regime for tariffing the strait. Close the strait. Open the strait. No nukes. Some nukes. No missiles. Some missiles. Civilization wipeout. Ceasefire. War. Peace. And if all that fails, we’ll take the JCPOA.
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Anna Bower, Molly Roberts @ LawFare: The Grand Conspiracy’s New Prosecutor May Be the Case’s Biggest Liability
Former Trump lawyer Joseph diGenova is one of the most vocal proponents of a conspiracy theory that he is now in charge of investigating.
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
ICE Accountability Project
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Ximena Bustillo, Jasmine Garsd @ NPR: Deaths of migrants in ICE custody hit record high under Trump
- April 16: Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt
- March 25: Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano
- March 16: Royer Perez-Jimenez
- March 14: Naseer Paktiawil
- February 25: Nurul Amin Shah Alam
April 1 – Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz @ AP: Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide - January 24: Alex Pretti
- January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
- January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
- January 9: Parady La
- January 7: Renée Good
- January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
- January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
- January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
- December 31, 2025: Keith Porter
Suffering Under President Obama
NACDL Criminal Case Tracker
Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington
Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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