curated news excerpts & citations
… trying to ‘unbury the lede’
James Eagle:
China trade has hit a record $7.2 trillion
Despite the trade tariffs slapped on China by the United States, China hasn’t stopped exporting goods to the rest of the world. In fact, trade has hit a record $7.2 trillion when you combine both exports and imports. Despite the United States’ best efforts, China appears to be gaining during this trade war.
China still maintains a huge amount of manufacturing capacity and is therefore able to comfortably meet strong demand from overseas. Right now that appears to be growing faster than the growth of China’s imports. You can see that clearly in this chart. The gap between the blue and red lines has kept widening since the pandemic.
Thom Hartmann:
Trump boasts about billions from Venezuelan oil, but lawmakers are still fighting to learn where the money is, who controls it, and who’s getting paid…
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Daniel Parris:
What Happens When AI Starts Citing Itself?Half of all internet content is now AI-generated. What happens next?
(Daniel Parris more…)Cory Smith @ NewsNation:
OpenAI models go rogue in 6 new casesChan Ho-Him, Associated Press:
OpenAI flags concerning new AI behavior and vows to track it more closely
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Sophie Hurwitz @ Mother Jones:
Cops Love ICE’s New Shock Gloves. Parents Want Them Out of Schools.Omaha requested 40 pairs of the gloves for just under $66,000 in 2025.
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Heather Cox Richardson:
Letters from an American – September 16, 2026Yesterday U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper of the District of Columbia refused to permit the Kennedy Center board, stacked by Trump with his own loyalists, to return Trump’s name to the facade of the building. Cooper reiterated that Congress had prohibited such an addition and would have to change that law in order to make the addition of Trump’s name legal.
The board of the Kennedy Center promptly appealed and voted to close the venue for two years for renovations. Then Trump posted on social media that those renovations couldn’t take place unless the court approved the addition of his name to the building. Without that, he posted, “unfortunately, the Building is destined to doom. Isn’t that too bad?”
Although the Kennedy Center board insisted that only Trump’s name on the building would restore donations, in fact, the Washington Post reports that ticket sales and fundraising plunged when Trump added his name to the building in the first place.
Nonetheless, Trump posted that he is the only one who can save it, “because I have the ability to raise the money, and the ability to construct—that few others have. I also have the strength and power of the Presidency, which will be needed [to] do what must be done, and give it a strong shot at Greatness again!”
As George Conway of the Bulwark noted, “To destroy things he can’t possess or control is his essential nature.”
…… facts across the board are challenging Trump’s image of himself.
Panic is sounding across the U.S. about oil prices. …
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Joyce Vance:
Another Loss for Trump: The Kennedy CenterJulia Jacobs, Zach Montague @ NY Times:
Emergency Hearing Sought Over Kennedy Center Closure
Kennedy Center Is in Limbo After Building Was Abruptly Shuttered
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Dan Diamond @ Washington Post:
Trump’s arch will harm historic sites but must proceed, federal officials sayWhile acknowledging the project’s “adverse effects” on dozens of sites, the administration is asking local preservationists to sign on to an agreement by Monday.
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Mike Brock:
How to Argue with Reactionariesthe field guide, in three rules:
- never answer the inquisitor
- never accept the frame
- reverse unilateral demands
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Heather Cox Richardson:
250 to 250
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
Last Days in Two Nations
Climate.us
formerly Climate.gov
Climate Solutions Explorer
Have I Been Flocked?
Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting
resources tracking the “Andes” hantavirus outbreak
Apocalypse Early Warning System
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
Mike Ludwig @ truthout: ICE Says 51 People Died in Custody Under Trump. Experts Say That’s an Undercount.
ICE Accountability Project
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Ximena Bustillo, Jasmine Garsd @ NPR: Deaths of migrants in ICE custody hit record high under Trump
- August 31: Pierre Damas Bel
- August 1: Edwin Lopez-Cornejo
- July 19: Jose Chajon-Raxon
- July 14: Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran
- July 13: Joan Sebastian Guerrero
- July 7: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
- June 4: Mamuka Artmeladze
- 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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