curated news excerpts & citations
… trying to ‘unbury the lede’
Marcy Wheeler:
Iran Destroyed the US Base in Bahrain
…
Military Times had this op-ed last week.
Extensive damage to one of our most significant forward bases in the Middle East is likely to have profound tactical and strategic repercussions that are only now coming into focus.
The idea that this broad functioning hub, built over decades, was significantly degraded in the space of a few days by a regional player is unimaginable.
…That NSA Bahrain is now virtually uninhabitable, with families left in limbo, as described in recent reporting, is difficult to grasp.
The potential loss of NSA Bahrain is effectively the equivalent of losing an aircraft carrier. It could not have come as a surprise that Iran would attack it in retaliation, yet it — and those living and working there — were left exposed and the facilities inadequately protected from Tehran’s ballistic missiles.
Jay Kuo:
Problems at the Pentagon go far beyond the operational issues with the war in Iran. And Pete Hegseth’s leadership is to blame.
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Gil Duran:
Trump goes full ‘Unhumans’Last month, I warned that Donald Trump was adopting the dangerous strategy laid out in a 2024 book called Unhumans. The extremist book calls on MAGA voters to view Democrats and liberals as demonic creatures unworthy of life.
Today, Trump made it official. In a post on social media, he gave a full-throated endorsement of “Unhumans” and urged his followers to buy it.
(Gil Duran more…)
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Heather Cox Richardson:
Letters from an American – September 1, 2026Yesterday, by a vote of 5–4, the United States Supreme Court allowed Trump to continue to build his ballroom. …
This permission structure appears to have convinced Trump he can do whatever he wishes, including rigging elections so he cannot lose.
…The administration’s attack on elections is especially concerning considering the recent suggestions that Trump is spending most of his time on his legacy projects like the ballroom, leaving him largely unaware of what is going on in the administration. Nancy A. Youssef, Missy Ryan, and Michael Scherer of The Atlantic reported yesterday that when Army Secretary Dan Driscoll went directly to Trump with his concerns about what Hegseth is doing to the Army, Trump was surprised to learn “how many generals and other top officers had been fired, pushed out, or passed over for promotion under Hegseth” and “expressed concern about the deep cuts to the Army’s senior leadership.”
Driscoll resigned yesterday.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Joyce Vance:
Why Can’t the Supreme Court Tell Trump No?… the Court’s inability to tell Trump no may end up being the most concerning feature of his two terms in office. It’s as if the Justices, or five to seven of them, depending on the case, can’t summon a collective recollection of the constitutional system of checks and balances that is the foundation for the legal system they sit at the apex of.
(Joyce Vance more…)Robert Reich @ AlterNet:
A twisted new legal ruling means the White House could soon disappear… Trump could raze the entire White House and put up a Trump tower in its place, or take down the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument and erect monuments to himself, and no one would have standing to complain.
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Jennifer Rubin:
*63 Days to the Midterms*Melissa Quinn, Madeleine May @ CBS:
Whistleblower warns Postal Service’s new mail ballot system has “potentially catastrophic problems”Joyce Vance:
USPS plan to implement Trump’s EO on mail ballots
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Kathryn Post @ RNS:
Two pastors detained, a student dead: Haitians in Ohio turn to faith amid fear of ICE‘All I want is to see my husband back,’ said Denise Gedeon, whose pastor-husband, Joubert Adrien, was detained by ICE — one of two pastors arrested during a weekend that also brought a death, prayers and vigils for a Haitian community under siege.
Dalia Faheid @ CNN:
He moved to Mexico after decades of being undocumented in the US. Then he got a $1.8 million fine from DHSMichael Wriston @ Project Salt Box:
ICE awards GardaWorld up to $382 million to move detainees across TexasThe American arm of the Montreal-based security company has taken in more than $330 million this year to convert warehouses into detention space in Texas and Arizona, where the work is now on hold.
Judd Legum:
ICE is leaving hospitals with millions in unpaid billsKareem Abdul-Jabbar:
A Sanctuary State for ICE
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Katelyn Jetelina @ Your Local Epidemiologist:
Measles deaths debacle, Covid-19 protection for immunocompromised, and moreDenis Campbell @ Guardian:
Doctors’ AI scribes get names of drugs and diagnoses wrong, NHS watchdog warnsPatients identify errors in consultation transcripts that are missed by GPs
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Clara Harter @ LA Times:
Teen girl who livestreamed San Diego mosque shooting faces murder charges, prosecutors say
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Ed Zitron:
We’re going to take a strange trip to get back to the AI bubble, but trust me, it’s worth it.
In Adam Curtis’ documentary Hypernormalization, he describes, and I quote, a world where “…over the past 40 years, politicians, financiers and technological utopians, rather than face up to the real complexities of the world, retreated,” constructing what he calls “a simpler version of the world in order to hang on to power,” with the world going along with it because “the simplicity was reassuring.”Hypernormalization heavily focuses on post-cold war Russia, the means used to justify the Iraq war, and the rise of Donald Trump, but its lessons ring through everything I’ve been discussing for the last few years — that the tech industry and the markets themselves have moved beyond innovation or value creation into the realm of “managing” situations rather than addressing them, creating whatever reality is necessary to keep “things” going, no matter how ridiculous or unstable.
(Ed Zitron more…)Dissent in Bloom:
Are You Afraid of the Dark? The AI Industry Is Banking on Blackout Fears
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Jude Cramer @ Fast Company:
Trump’s Lake Ontario name change clashes with a centuries-old treaty
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Asma Uddin @ RNS:
In Texas, ordinary Muslim religious practices are increasingly being treated as political threats
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Alejandra Borunda @ NPR:
Official records may vastly undercount heat-related deaths
(Alejandra Borunda @ NPR 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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