curated news excerpts & citations
… trying to ‘unbury the lede’
Alexander Ward, Natalie Andrews, Josh Dawsey @ WSJ:
Musk Ordered Starlink Slowdown That Blindsided Ukraine
…
Michael Kofman, an expert on the war at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, said, “Ukrainian forces continue to be throttled in their ability to employ strike drones and interceptor drones to 160 kilometers [99 miles] per hour, but the current connection is below 130 kilometers per hour, and the limits continue to hamper Ukrainian strike operations and air defenses.”
Ukraine’s top diplomat in Washington, Denys Sienik, said Tuesday that Ukraine was still “waiting for the official response from contacts with the Pentagon and SpaceX at the leaders level to understand what has happened, but also to understand whether the connection has been restored or will be restored.”
(Alexander Ward, Natalie Andrews, Josh Dawsey @ WSJ more…)
Heather Cox Richardson:
Letters from an American – October 20, 2026
…
Musk’s decision to change the course of a war with “a seeming flick of a switch,” taking it upon himself, with or without the complicity of White House officials, to reverse the foreign policy of the United States of America for the benefit of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin, is a stunning assumption of power reminiscent of Revolutionary War general Benedict Arnold’s weakening of the Americans’ defenses and draining of supplies at the strategic fort at West Point to enable the British to capture it before he was discovered and defected to the British Army.
…
These four stories, just from today, encapsulate the administration’s betrayal of U.S. national security, its corruption, and its disregard for the welfare of Americans. …
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
Mitch Jackson:
Russia Is Helping Iran Target Our Troops, and Trump Keeps Rewarding Moscow
Hayes Brown @ MSNOW:
Trump wants to make Zelenskyy his midterms scapegoat
Cate Brown, Aaron C. Davis, Sebastian Rotella @ ProPublica:
The Secret Terms of Trump’s Venezuelan Oil Deal
- Corporate Firewall: The oil deal is designed to prevent future U.S. presidents and Venezuelan leaders from changing or dismantling the enterprise.
- Hidden Investors: Some of the Trump administration’s partners could remain anonymous, hidden behind a parent company based in Barbados.
- The Long Run: It could be many years before the company produces enough oil to be a statistically significant share for the United States.
-
Ari Weitzman @ Tangle:
The protests and riots in France- The disorder in France is downstream of a few straightforward issues that have been building for some time.
- More complicated factors are at play, too, prompting uncomfortable but necessary discussions about changes to French society.
- Ultimately, France has a tough balance to strike between over-correction and not responding strongly enough.
Nadine Yousif, Jessica Murphy @ BBC:
Huge setback for Alberta’s separatist movement after decisive defeat
-
Andy Mannix, Doug Bock Clark @ ProPublica:
Trump Appointees Asked a Federal Cybersecurity Agency to Secretly Acquire a Voting Machine — and Hack It…
The proposition was shocking to CISA’s career staffers, according to one of the former officials. CISA typically worked to thwart hackers. Moreover, the agency had been directed not to alert the voting machine company if it uncovered flaws, contrary to its standard practices. The request made the CISA employees fear they were being asked to take part in political interference.
(Andy Mannix, Doug Bock Clark @ ProPublica more…)The January 6Memory Project
Jay Kuo:
how Trump plans to challenge the midterm results
THE COUNT | Microhouse Films
Ian Prasad Philbrick @ Slate:
We Have a New Contender for Ugliest Political Ad of All TimeWe twice asked Vivek Ramaswamy if his campaign had anything to do with it. They wouldn’t give us a straight answer.
Andy Borowitz, Paul Karasik:
Millions of Americans Offer Trump $90 to Resign
-
Sarah Jones:
A lawful permanent resident who lived in Dallas for decades has died in ICE custody.… He is the seventh person to die in ICE custody in Texas this year, while at least 29* people have reportedly died in ICE custody this year.
(Sarah Jones more…)
-
Torsten Slok:
“This AI thing better work out because if it doesn’t … we’re going to have a problem”Hans Christensen:
Small AIJason Koebler @ 404 Media:
People Are Using ‘AI Decompiling’ to Hack Their Things
-
Catherine Nouhan @ Al Jazeera:
CDC reports third measles death in the United States this year… The agency’s national tally remains lower than the number of measles-related deaths reported by state officials, particularly in Pennsylvania, the state hardest hit by the outbreak. Pennsylvania had reported 1,286 cases and five deaths as of Monday.
Katelyn Jetelina @ Your Local Epidemiologist:
Another mass shooter strikes, RSV surges, Ebola persists. Plus, what to know about waning flu vaccines.
-
James Eagle:
Chinese automakers are gaiing ground with hybrids
(James Eagle more…)
ICE Detention Expansion Tracker
A field guide to claims
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
Mourning Those Who Have Died in ICE Custody
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
- October 17: Emiliano Andrade-Covarrubias
- 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
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
Leave a Reply