curated news excerpts & citations
… trying to ‘unbury the lede’
James Eagle:
Russia intensifies attacks on Ukraine’s grain
Russia’s war in Ukraine is straining food and fuel supplies. And this doesn’t just affect Ukraine; it also affects Russia, as Russian farmers are now struggling to export their own crops. This includes grain exports through the Black Sea, which usually account for 80% of the country’s exports.
For Ukrainian farmers, their normal sea routes have become too dangerous to use due to deliberate and targeted attacks by Russia. In fairness, both countries are assaulting each other’s exports of grain and have done so over the past year, as you can see in this chart. But it’s asymmetric. Russia has always proactively targeted Ukraine’s grain exports, and the attacks you see here from Ukraine are far more moderate counterattacks.
What’s frightening is the global impact, because both Russia and Ukraine export a huge amount of grain to the global market, especially to emerging markets. This will have an impact not just on food inflation, but also on countries where grain supply is running low.
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Michael Wriston, Mia Barragán @ Project Salt Box:
GEO Group pursues more detention facility sales to ICE after $950 million Adelanto dealThe private prison company also reported its highest quarterly revenue and new contracts to reopen three facilities with space to hold 4,837 detainees.
(Michael Wriston, Mia Barragán @ Project Salt Box more…)Michael Wriston, Em Chapin, Mia Barragán @ Project Salt Box:
CoreCivic urges ICE to move quickly on more facility purchases after Democrats’ historic midterm winsThe private prison company said selling four detention facilities to the federal government earned it about $1.3 billion after taxes, and that it is in talks to sell more.
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Gil Duran:
The REAL danger of AI (w/Timnit Gebru)…
Dr. Gebru breaks down the cult-like behavior of tech CEOs, explains what Large Language Models (LLMs) actually are, and exposes the devastating environmental toll of AI data centers (which she says aren’t really necessary).
(Gil Duran more…)Kevin McLaughlin, Dakin Campbell, Phoebe Liu @ Information:
Nvidia’s Answer to Data Center Backlash: Retrofitting Apollo’s Old Phone Buildings
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Heather Cox Richardson:
Letters from an American – November 5, 2026Incoming chair of the House Judiciary Committee Jamie Raskin (D-MD) posted today: “House Democrats are in the fight to bring government back from the brink of authoritarianism. We will shine a light on President Trump’s quid pro quo, coin-operated, pay-to-play corruption and renew American government as an instrument for the common good.”
…Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA) is in line to chair the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Yesterday, he told reporters the committee would focus on four major areas. The first is “the Trump crime family.” … The other three areas on which the committee will focus are the Department of Homeland Security and the abuses of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, corporate corruption, and those associated with sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein.
…Gabe Kaminsky of CBS News reported today that Democrats plan to investigate the finances behind Trump’s presidential library. Last March, Trump said he doesn’t “believe in building libraries or museums” and that the building is “most likely going to be a hotel.” …
…Outgoing Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) posted today that when Congress returns next week, he expects to get the necessary signatures for a discharge petition to force a vote on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II. That measure will enable survivors to get their own records, state attorneys general to prosecute crimes, and Congress to sue the Department of Justice “for keeping critical files hidden.”
Massie also vowed to force a vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth when the House returns to work next week, and “multiple” Republican sources told Adam Cancryn, Sarah Ferris, Zachary Cohen, and Alayna Treene of CNN that they think the measure will pass. Massie added on social media that the one condition under which he won’t reintroduce the articles of impeachment against Hegseth is if Hegseth resigns first.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Mitch Jackson:
What They Will Never Explain Away- the illegal tariffs that turned the global economy upside down
- the hatred and racism Trump uses to divide this country, including calling half your family and friends communists
- the cruel and illegal immigration and ICE activity that is hurting people and tearing communities apart
- how Trump cozies up to Putin, Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, and a long line of other dictators, and then shits on our allies like Canada
- how Trump put the justices on the Supreme Court who overturned Roe v. Wade and took away a woman’s right to choose and make her own healthcare decisions
- the multibillion-dollar grift Trump and his family members have been running since he took office
- the thousands of times Trump shows up in the Epstein files, and the people around him keep telling you it’s no big deal
- his thousands of stock trades placed days and weeks before his own administration made official decisions that benefited him
- how Trump treats female reporters and anyone who asks him a legitimate question
- how he tore down the East Wing to build his ballroom without asking Congress first
- why he pardoned roughly 1,500 people charged in the January 6th attack on the Capitol, including people convicted of assaulting police officers, the same officers who held the line for members of Congress from both parties, and then called every one of them hostages. Read that word again. These are the same people who now want you to believe Tuesday was about Iran.
- his pardons of convicted fraudsters and corrupt politicians, many of them donors and allies, and then he turns around and calls himself the law-and-order president.
- why he keeps putting people with no experience in charge of key agencies, where they are gutting those agencies and harming the health of Americans
- why he pressures Ukraine to stop hitting Russian oil depots as Putin keeps bombing Ukrainian cities
- he diesel deal he cut with Putin, followed by waiving the Russia sanctions Congress passed, which sends money right back into the Kremlin’s war machine
- how he stood at a rally and said “let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Diego” as the crowd cheered
- how Pete Hegseth has fired or blocked the promotions of more than 80 generals and admirals, most of them without explanation, in the middle of a war
Ken Klippenstein:
The Real Architect of the Iran MessAdam Gramegna @ Military.com:
Hegseth’s Wife Was Paid by Lockheed-Tied Firm and His Book Money Vanished From His Filings, Records Show
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Jennifer Rubin:
The magnitude of the victory raises the stakes for Democrats
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Joyce Vance:
What’s Happening in Mississippi
The Lawyers Have Shown Up
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James Talarico:
Texas, it’s time to start flipping tables
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Sarah Jones:
Turning Point Lost a Red Brick and then The Whole Wall Collapsed
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Jeremy Kohler:
Missouri Voters Just Made It Much Harder for Lawmakers to Overturn Citizen-Led InitiativesFor years, Missouri Republicans worked to undo or restrict voter-approved laws and amendments. In passing Amendment 6, voters have not only protected the ballot initiative process but also dramatically strengthened their power over the legislature.
The January 6Memory Project
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?
Cleanview Data Center Traker
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
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