curated news excerpts & citations
BBC: Israeli air strikes kill at least 27 Palestinians in Gaza, rescue officials say
The civil defence agency, which is operated by Hamas, says children and women were among those killed. It added that in one attack, helicopter gunships hit a tent sheltering displaced people in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Palestinians have described these strikes as the heaviest since the second phase of the ceasefire, brokered by President Trump in October, came into effect earlier this month.
The Israeli military confirmed that a number of strikes were carried out in response to what it said was a Hamas violation of the agreement on Friday.
(BBC more…)
American Conservative: Ignore the Hawks. Attacking Iran Comes With Huge Risks
American Conservative: The Board of Peace: A Return to a Failed Approach
The new architecture enmeshes the U.S. more deeply in the Middle East, not less.
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – January 31, 2026
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller posted on social media this morning:“Plenty of countries in history have experimented with importing a foreign labor class. The West is the first and only civilization to import a foreign labor class that is granted full political rights, including welfare & the right to vote. All visas are a bridge to citizenship. In America, for generations now, the policy has been that anyone who would economically benefit from moving to the US can do so, exercise the franchise in the US and their children, the moment they are born, will be full American citizens with all the rights and benefits therein.”
After his call for a “labor class” excluded from citizenship and a voice in government, …
History is doing that rhyming thing again.
In 1858, Senator James Henry Hammond (D-SC), a wealthy enslaver, rose to explain to his northern colleagues why their objection to human enslavement was so badly misguided.
…Trump echoed Hammond in a different way tonight on Air Force One as he traveled to Florida. Asked by a reporter how he would handle being on both sides of his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS, he suggested that taking the money of the American people into his own hands would enable him to use it for the public good. “I’m supposed to work out a settlement with myself,” he said. “We could make it a substantial amount, nobody would care because it’s gonna go to numerous, very good charities.”
Another story tonight indicated the degree to which the president sees himself as part of a wealthy caste that is above the law. Sam Kessler, Rebecca Ballhous, Eliot Brown, and Angus Berwick of the Wall Street Journal published a blockbuster report showing that four days before Trump’s 2025 inauguration, men working for an Abu Dhabi royal signed a secret deal with the Trump family to buy 49% of their brand-new cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial. The investors would pay half immediately, sending $187 million to entities held by the Trump family and at least $31 million to entities held by Steve Witkoff, a co-founder of World Liberty Financial whom Trump had named U.S. envoy to the Middle East weeks earlier.
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WSJ: ‘Spy Sheikh’ Bought Secret Stake in Trump Company
$500 million investment for 49% of World Liberty came months before U.A.E. won access to tightly guarded American AI chips
(WSJ more…)
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NPR: The U.S. will likely lose its measles elimination status. Here’s what that means
The measles outbreak in South Carolina is showing little sign of slowing down. The state has confirmed 847 cases since the first case was reported in October, making the outbreak bigger than the one in Texas, which started just over a year ago.
(NPR more…)Dispatch: Let’s Be Honest About Public Health Guidance
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AP: Takeaways from AP report on ICE claims that immigrant shattered his skull running into wall
… staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the man’s 31-year-old’s brain, said three nurses familiar with the case.
“It was laughable, if there was something to laugh about,” said one of the nurses, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss patient care. “There was no way this person ran headfirst into a wall.”
(AP more…)
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truthout: Trump DOJ Sues to Force States to Share Confidential Voter Data
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Constitutionally, the federal government takes no role in elections; they are overseen solely by states. Why might the federal DOJ take such a sudden interest in obtaining state voter data? It’s clear that Trump’s ultimate aim is to distort democracy, tilting elections through mass disenfranchisement. One way to suppress the vote and cheat an election is to purge opponents’ voters from the rolls. Such purges are calculated to target (by de facto outcomes, if not explicitly) people of color and low-income voters — i.e., those likely to vote against the right. Seizing state rolls will facilitate such purges to an extent previously unreached.
(truthout more…)
NY Times: The Midterm Elections Need You. Here’s How to Help.
… it would be naïve to assume that the status quo is guaranteed to continue. The sanctity of the 2026 elections is indeed under threat. And the reason is Mr. Trump.
He has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to interfere with elections to benefit himself and his party. He has broken the law to do so and broken longstanding bipartisan traditions. Since he entered politics a decade ago, he has suggested that election outcomes are fair only if his side wins.
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Our first set of recommendations involves actions rather than donations:- Work the polls.
- Watch the polls.
- Don’t spread dubious information.
You can also support organizations that are helping to protect election officials and safeguard the process. All the ones we recommend here are nonpartisan.
(NY Times more…)
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AP: Judge orders 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his dad released from ICE detention
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Images of Liam Conejo Ramos, with a bunny hat and Spiderman backpack being surrounded by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in the Minneapolis suburb of Columbia Heights on Jan. 20, sparked even more outcry about the administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
(AP more…)
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Joyce Vance: If If They Call Me A Domestic Terrorist
This morning, I stumbled across an amazing poem by a wonderful man named Michael F. Dubois. …
(Joyce Vance more…)
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Wired: How to Film ICE
Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous—even deadly—confrontation isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to record ICE and CBP agents as safely as possible and have an impact.
(Wired more…)
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Steward Beckham and Evan Stern: Reality Checking The Bulwark
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In fairness to The Bulwark, the outlet wasn’t built to lead a movement. A group of Never Trump Republicans set up shop to connect with and broadcast to other Never Trump Republicans.
(Steward Beckham and Evan Stern more…)
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John Pavlovitz: The Powerful Women Who Protect A Predator
(John Pavlovitz more…)
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Conversation: What we get wrong about forgiveness – a counseling professor unpacks the difference between letting go and making up
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I often remind people that forgiveness does not have to mean a reconciliation. At its core, forgiveness is internal: a way of laying down ill will and our emotional burden, so we can heal. It should be seen as a separate process from reconciliation, and deciding whether to renegotiate a relationship.
ICE deaths 2026 – They deserve remembrance and justice.- 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
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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