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"We don't need the perfect rule on XYZ. We don't even need a very good rule on XYZ. We want good enough. We're flooding the zone." undark.org/2026/02/02/dept-tra…
#politics #USPol #AI

Transportation Department Plans to Use AI to Write Regulations

During a December presentation, agency employees grew skeptical that Google Gemini could accurately write complex rules.

^{Jesse Coburn (Undark Magazine)}

@pluralistic argues that now is the moment for the EU to act while platforms like Threads are degrading.

I don’t think Europe works on that kind of timing, nor it would use the mechanism Doctorow suggests.

This piece is about what leaving platforms costs, and why protecting exit routes may matter more here than technical escape.

Read here:
medium.com/@Diogo_Mendes/the-r…

#digitalrights #socialmedia #eu #politics

MEPs urge the EU to block ICE from entering Europe for the Winter Olympics.

Several European lawmakers have urged the EU to impose restrictive measures on ICE, arguing that the agency should not operate in Europe due to concerns over democratic oversight and human rights.

The controversy has been further fuelled by revelations of ICE’s business relationships with French IT multinational Capgemini.

mediafaro.org/article/20260128…

#EuropeanParliament #EU #ICE #WinterOlympics #HumanRights #Politics

MEPs urge the EU to block ICE from entering Europe for the Winter Olympics.

Several European lawmakers have urged the EU to impose restrictive measures on ICE, arguing that the agency should not operate in Europe due to concerns over democratic oversight and human …

^Euronews

Raw Story:
Witness told FBI Trump threatened to ‘disappear’ girl and have her ‘whole family killed’

Under penalty of perjury, a witness told the FBI back in 2016 that they had “personally witnessed” President Donald Trump threaten to “disappear” a girl and have her entire family killed, according to a document released by the Justice Department on Friday.
rawstory.com/trump-epstein-267…

#News #Politics #Democracy #Democrats #Trump #Epstein #EpsteinFiles

Witness told FBI Trump threatened to ‘disappear’ girl and have her ‘whole family killed’

Under penalty of perjury, a witness told the FBI back in 2016 that they had “personally witnessed” President Donald Trump threaten to “disappear” a girl and have her entire family killed, according to a document released by the Justice Department on …

^{Alexander Willis (Raw Story)}

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"The Senate voted on Friday evening to pass the federal budget, funding everything except for one entity: the Department of Homeland Security, which was given a two-week funding extension in order to negotiate new guardrails around Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If no agreement is reached, DHS funding will lapse and the department will face a shutdown." Don't threaten me with a good time. theverge.com/policy/870419/sen…
#politics #USPol #ICE

Senate passes budget with two more weeks of Homeland Security funding

Congress now has two weeks to negotiate new funding limits for ICE before DHS is shut down again.

^{Tina Nguyen (The Verge)}

Newsom files civil rights complaint against Dr. Oz in Trump feud

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ca…
#UnitedStates #US #USA #america #business #California #CivilRights #Crime #DCWire #DistrictofColumbia #DonaldTrump #fraud #GavinNewsom #generalnews #health #Hospicecare #humanrights #losangeles #medicare #mehmetoz #organizedcrime #Politics #SendtoAppleNews #U.S.NationalGuard #U.S.News #UnitedStatesgovernment #unitedstatesofamerica #USnews #USTopics #USAnews #Washingtonnews
europesays.com/2743030/

Who knew they’d release Epstein Files to distract for the occupation and terrorizing of Minneapolis and the rest of the country? (also to distract for the bad reviews and sales od the Melania movie)

DOJ releases additional material from its Epstein files
#Politics
abcnews.go.com/US/doj-releasin…

Journalist Don Lemon taken into custody after Minnesota church protest

cnn.com/2026/01/30/politics/do…

#news #politics #uspol #uspolitics #GOPCult #trump #ethics #corruption #maga

Like, in case you still thought tech bubbles might somehow be politically neutral.

Or that you can play their game without paying into their #politics

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"Netanyahu, who for months has used his position of strength to violate other aspects of the ceasefire and force Hamas into full compliance, is now making disarmament a prerequisite, while reiterating that 'there will never be a Palestinian state' and ordering daily bombings." english.elpais.com/internation…
#politics #war #Israel #Gaza

Netanyahu rewrites the terms of the ceasefire in Gaza

The Israeli prime minister is using his position of strength to implement the truce with a different approach than initially planned, with Trump’s approval

^{Antonio Pita (Ediciones EL PAÍS S.L.)}

Featured story: U.S. law enforcement’s growing use of an array of #surveillance tools enables #police to build a robust profile of almost anyone’s life and movements without a warrant or probable cause. Experts find phone-tracking tools like Tangles particularly troubling.
texasobserver.org/texas-police…

#tech #Texas #law #privacy #politics #USpol #news

Texas Police Invested Millions in a Shadowy Phone-Tracking Software. They Won’t Say How They’ve Used It.

One sheriff who leads an anti-smuggling task force says the software helps “develop leads to eventually obtain probable cause.” Civil liberties experts say its use violates constitutional rights.

^{Francesca D’Annunzio (The Texas Observer)}

For those of you looking across the Atlantic & thinking at least what's happening with ICE in Minnesota couldn't happen here.... think again.

This is exactly what Reform UK Ltd (Nigel Farage's company masquerading as a political party) *is* planning - and as so often the Fascists are quite open about what they intend.

Moreover, lacking the sort of constitutional restraints (unevenly) available in the US, the danger of ICE-like action(s) here is worse!

#politics

bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/reader-…

Reader Contribution: UK DEPORTATION COMMAND: The Great British ICE

What Reform UK is not telling you

^{Brown Reporter (Bearly Politics)}

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Dark money-funded "civics centers" and "schools of intellectual freedom" are popping up on US college campuses, teaching conservative ideology under the guise of making up for a decline in civics education. prismreports.org/2026/01/27/ci…
#politics #education #USPol

Behind the right-wing plot to set up taxpayer-funded ‘intellectual freedom centers’ at public universities

UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Florida are part of the effort to push conservative ideology on college students in the guise of civics education

^{Sophie Hayssen (Prism)}

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For those of you worried about the exposure of the UK state to the activities & money of Palantir, here's a diagram from The Nerve that is going to do nothing to reassure you at all....

For more details see the investigation published today by The Nerve.

#politics #Palantir

thenerve.news/p/palantir-techn…

TikTok blocks Epstein mentions and anti-Trump videos, users claim

Alleged censorship comes after investors loyal to Trump take over social media platform

the-independent.com/tech/tikto…

#Republicans #MAGA #GOP #Trump #politics #TikTok #censorship #Epstein #press

TikTok blocks ‘Epstein’ mentions and anti-Trump videos, users claim

^{Anthony Cuthbertson (The Independent)}

Worth your time.

Remembering the Boston Massacre as Minneapolis Writhes Under Occupation
#Politics #Minneapolis #ICE
talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/r…

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❌Veteran Brothers Roofing & Restoration
❌Grand Pine Developments
❌Charvold Homes
❌Blue Collar Tree and Junk Removal texasobserver.org/revealed-fou…

#WhiteSupremacy #Dallas #NorthTexas #politics #USpol #news #racism #SocialMedia #Texas #fascism

Revealed: Four Businesses with Ties to Patriot Front Operating in North Texas

The neo-Nazi group is engaged in a strategy to establish an independent economic ecosystem. Through publicly available information, interviews, and in-person observation, the Observer has identified companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that are op…

^{Tristan Lee (The Texas Observer)}

RIP Michael Parenti.

from Fascism in a Pinstriped Suit

#Politics #Bookstodon #NoWarButClassWar #GlobaliseTheIntifada

American Indians on Immigration:
“Hey hey Americans; This is what a real American looks like. I am an American Indian. I was here before you and I will be here for centuries to come, I’m not extinct.”

“In case you forgot, this is the face of America, the American race, the native American race is me, not you! ME!
youtube.com/shorts/_Vp8kse0eQI

#News #Indigenous #NativeAmericans #Politics #Democracy #Democrats #Trump

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"The problem is that it is the presence of ICE itself that is already causing the harm. The intimidation of ‘we are here, you cannot escape us’ is the point, and the accounts by the regime are deliberately trying to provoke an outrage." connectedplaces.online/reports…

On some level, I think this is correct, but I also wonder if the administration isn't also daring the Bluesky LLC to ban them, so that they can justify a more hostile stance toward the network.
#politics #USPol #Bluesky

FR#150 – On ICE, Verification, and Presence As Harm

Bluesky built a verification system designed to distribute trust, and then didn't use it when it mattered.

^{connectedplaces.online}

While many of use here are concerned about David Lammy's plan to recuse the incidence of jury trials (which has already been criticised for being unlikely to *actually* quickly rescue the backlog in courts, as intended), here is Natalie Fleet, who has direct experience of the court system (as a victim of sexual violence) arguing that actually judge-led trials may be better for the victims of crime.

#RuleOfLaw #politics

theguardian.com/law/2026/jan/2…

Labour MP who was groomed asks colleagues to back judge-only trials

Exclusive: Natalie Fleet says power balance is with criminals not victims as delays make ‘hell of being raped’ worse

^{Rajeev Syal (The Guardian)}

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UAE is getting in on the dystopia-building in Gaza: theguardian.com/world/2026/jan…
#politics #UAE #Palestine #Gaza

United Arab Emirates plans to bankroll first ‘planned community’ in south Gaza

Exclusive: Blueprints describe a ‘case study’ community where residents submit biometric data to gain entry

^{Cate Brown (The Guardian)}

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The House has narrowly voted against constraining POTUS' ability to deploy troops to Venezuela: theguardian.com/us-news/2026/j…

But that may not particularly matter since his plan apparently involves private security contractors: insideclimatenews.org/news/230…

If the use of contractors in Iraq was anything to go by, that could end up being even worse for Venezuelans.
#politics #USPol #Venezuela #VEPol

House rejects resolution that would bar Trump from sending troops to Venezuela

Vote on legislation falls just short of number needed for passage, showing Mike Johnson’s tenuous hold on majority

^{Guardian staff reporter (The Guardian)}

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I see this initiative as a way to create one big fiscal pain point that can be used to defund state services like education and health care, but hey, I'm all for ending $3 billion in corporate tax breaks. georgiarecorder.com/2026/01/21…
#politics #USPol #GAPol #Georgia

Georgia candidates pitch zero state income tax. How would it work? • Georgia Recorder

Two high-profile Republicans running for higher office in Georgia have a pitch for voters: zero state income taxes. They have promised that the change wouldn’t cause much pain if the state ends $3 billion in corporate tax breaks.

^{Maggie Lee, The Current (Georgia Recorder)}

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Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez were in league with the Trump administration before the US military operation that exfiltrated Maduro: theguardian.com/world/2026/jan… Now the siblings preside over two of the country's branches of government.
#politics #Venezuela #VEPol #USPol

Venezuela’s Delcy Rodríguez assured US of cooperation before Maduro’s capture

Exclusive: sources say powerful figures in the regime secretly told US and Qatari officials they would welcome Maduro’s departure

^{Aram Roston (The Guardian)}

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Jared Kushner has unveiled the "master plan" for remaking Gaza into a sort of knock-off Dubai, whether that's what its Palestinian residents want or not: english.elpais.com/economy-and…
#politics #USPol #Palestine

The Trump administration is selling a ‘new Gaza’ in the style of Dubai

Jared Kushner announced a project to rebuild the Strip with tourist skyscrapers by the sea, even as Israeli strikes continue and Palestinian children die from hypothermia

^{Andrea Rizzi (Ediciones EL PAÍS S.L.)}

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#Trump #DonaldTrump #Greenland #USA #Davos #Switzerland #Europe #EU #UK #US #America #UnitedStates #Politics #USPol #FactCheck #BBC #News
I couldn’t stomach listening to you-know-who today, but the fact checks after his speeches are always worth a read. As for “fake news”, he clearly likes spreading it…

Fact-checking Trump's Davos speech bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c301jg…

Fact-checking Donald Trump's Davos speech

The US president made a series of contested claims, ranging from the status of Greenland to Nato spending.

^{BBC Verify (BBC News)}

You do not see his name in Israeli history books they teach their children.

But I watched a documentary about the team who murdered him on an Israeli TV back in the 90s. They were proudly describing their heroic act to pave the road for the creation of the state of Israel.

#FolkeBernadot #Israel #Palestine #Terrorism #History #UN #Politics
@palestine

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Legislative pressure is, of course, just one facet of the fight: atlanta.capitalbnews.org/atlan…
#politics #USPol #Georgia

Organize, Educate, Win: How Residents Are Blocking Data Centers in Atlanta

By tracking zoning changes, educating neighbors, and pressuring elected officials, Atlanta residents are winning battles against data center expansion.

^{Alyssa Johnson (Capital B News - Atlanta)}

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Georgia residents, get ready push your state representatives hard on this issue: georgiarecorder.com/2026/01/20…
#politics #USPol #Georgia

Outrage over surge of data centers in Georgia inspires wave of bipartisan bills • Georgia Recorder

Georgia lawmakers are expected to consider data center legislation this session to address the industry's power demands and their impact on utility costs.

^{Alander Rocha (Georgia Recorder)}