curated news excerpts & citations
… trying to ‘unbury the lede’
Sarah Jones:
Abdul El-Sayed Exposing A Troll Went Viral For A Very Good Reason
Abdul El-Sayed is everything the media falsely praised Charlie Kirk for, exposing the lack of patriotism in a Christian troll who asked him if he disavowed the Muslim Brotherhood.
Marisa Kabas:
‘Tommy’ from viral El-Sayed video is former Sen. Hawley staffer with Christian nationalist ties
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Lingling Wei, Alex Leary, Thomas Grove, Josh Dawsey @ WSJ:
Putin Floats a Summit With Trump and Xi to Discuss Ukraine DealUkraine’s Zelensky would not be included in the proposed talks, as Russia’s leader seeks to negotiate an end to the conflict that favors Moscow
Heather Cox Richardson:
Letters from an American – October 18, 2026…
A former Russian intelligence officer told the reporters that the summit would replace the rules-based international order established by the United States and its allies and partners after World War II with a system that divides the globe into spheres of influence.After ten years of Trump insisting that reports of his cooperation with Russia were a hoax, here we are, watching one profoundly unpopular man tear apart the global system under which we have lived for eighty years in order to climb into bed with Vladimir Putin.
…… it is truly astonishing to see Republicans, who for more than forty years have championed President Ronald Reagan for his stance against the Soviet Union, stand aside as Trump trashes the post–World War II system of global security in order to ally the United States with a Russian dictator.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Mary Geddry:
Some Assembly RequiredThe administration’s explanations arrived in pieces that didn’t fit. Ukraine and No Kings voters brought their own tools.
“It sort of happened.”
That was Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s explanation for the sudden slowdown in Starlink service used by Ukrainian drones. Rubio spent years on the Senate Intelligence Committee, finishing as its vice chairman. He understands chains of command, and in a chain of command, orders don’t sort of happen.

(Mary Geddry more…)Mitch Jackson:
An easy to understand guide to the Russian diesel deal, the Graham Act waiver and how one decision harmed Ukraine, benefited Trump and put cash back in Putin’s war chest
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Garrett Graff:
Three Shootings in AmericaI want to highlight three incidents of gun violence this last week, each very ordinary — and each shocking in its own way.
First: A white nationalist attempted a mass shooting and to assassinate a member of Congress — and you probably didn’t hear about it. … The shooting is another reminder of how right-wing and white nationalist violence remains the biggest threat to the United States domestically.
Second, the Bend, Oregon, elementary school shooting. … I do not understand how the prevalence of gun violence targeting America’s schoolchildren has not turned every parent in the country into a single-issue voter.
Then, third: Friday I was in the middle of a very routine and completely unremarkable shooting in Washington, D.C. … What struck me was how entirely unremarkable the gunfire was — it was dramatic, sure, but everyone around me treated it more as an annoyance than anything to really fear.
(Garrett Graff more…)
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Brandon Richardson @ Long Beach Watchdog:
Ricardo Gonzalez, a U.S. citizen born in California, was reportedly hit by an unmarked federal vehicle, tased twice and then handcuffed while face down in the gutter screaming that his arm was broken.

(Brandon Richardson @ Long Beach Watchdog more…)
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Allison Gill:
Between Katie Phang’s EFTA Lawsuit and my FOIA Lawsuit, we Have Blanche Cornered on the Epstein files
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Alex Skopic @ Current Affairs:
Johnny Cash, Prison Abolitionist
(Alex Skopic @ Current Affairs more…)
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Bill McKibben:
The solar panel is the new peace symbol
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Serge Schmemann @ NY Times:
The Old World Order Is Over. This Is What Could Come Next.
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Ruth Ann Crystal MD:
Dr. Ruth Report, 10/18/26
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Thom Hartmann:
How Prudential killed healthcare for allThe industry playbook against universal coverage was written in 1917, and it’s still in use…
Last Sunday you met Frederick Hoffman, the Prudential statistician who spent his life “proving” that helping Black Americans by giving them access to free healthcare would only hasten their extinction. This week’s chapter is about what he and his colleagues did with that belief once real money was on the line.
(Thom Hartmann more…)

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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
- September 18: Carlos Josue Marchena Marchena
- 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
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