Steve Rhodes

Obama has the crowd at Jesse Jackson's eulogy hanging on his every word

Confidential database reveals which items NPS thinks may ‘disparage’ America An internal government database reviewed by The Washington Post demonstrates the vast scope of the Trump administration’s ongoing effort to revise or remove information on African American history, cl...

Orwell lives. wapo.st/3OKoDTr

James Talarico is seen holding a microphone and wearing an open white shirt and jacket. A headline reads: James Talarico Wins Democratic Senate Primary in Texas. Photo by Tamir Kalifa for The New York Times

James Talarico, a 36-year-old state legislator, won the Democratic nomination for Senate in Texas, finishing ahead of Representative Jasmine Crockett as his party’s voters put their faith in him to pursue an elusive decades-long goal of turning the state blue. nyti.ms/4u8ZS3k

Paperback edition of There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone

Today the paperback of THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US is out.

It's arriving in a country once again waging war—a country that can spend tens of billions on bombs without blinking, while millions of Americans are one missed paycheck, one rent hike away from homelessness.

Let's take stock of where we are.

Finally, in celebration of The Great Telly Visions Relaunch, I finally sat down and wrote that post you need. You’re welcome.

Personal news update: I'm delighted to announce that as of today, I am an actual Bluesky employee! I'll be working to welcome indie media and local govt to Bsky—and supporting those already here.

I'll always want to hear your thoughts on how we can make Bsky the sort of social media we all want!

US strikes Iran; protests erupt worldwide Rep. Lateefah Simon said the attacks 'demonstrate once again President Trump’s callous disregard for the rule of law.'

Rep. Lateefah Simon said the attacks 'demonstrate once again President Trump’s callous disregard for the rule of law.' A protest is scheduled for 3 p.m. in San Francisco.

VidGrid – Live news multiviewer A free news focused multiviewer for editors and journalists

If you are following the news on Iran, here's a live video grid with coverage from BBC News, NBC, AJE and Sky News. vidgrid.tk.gg?layout=N4IgN...

The Texas Democrat stood holding a sign reading 'BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES!' in what appeared to be a reference to a social media post Donald Trump removed earlier this month that included a racist meme depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as apes. ft.trib.al/vxZxUAk

reminder that OBBA did not represent the largest tax cuts in US history. but it was arguably the most regressive tax/spending bill in US history
taxfoundation.org/blog/obbba-l...

Rep. Al Green was holding a sign that reads "Black People Aren't Apes" at the State of the Union:

Rep. Al Green was holding a sign that reads "Black People Aren't Apes" at the #SOTU:

Gavin Newsom’s Struggle For Everyman Cred “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery” tries to recast a life of privilege in often baffling ways.

I read Gavin Newsom‘s memoir so that you don’t have to. Suffice it to say the book does not achieve what it sets out to do and I’m looking forward to everyone on bluesky being extremely normal on this subject.

The Ford Pinto wasn't just infamous for catching fire and killing people during a crash; it was infamous for the leaked memo where Ford said the $50million to pay off survivors was less than the $121million to recall and retool, so the deaths were an acceptable business issue.

The Cybertruck is...

It's Official: the Cybertruck is More Explosive than the Ford Pinto - FuelArc News We now have a full year of data for the Cybertruck, and a strange preponderance of headlines about Cybertrucks exploding into flames, including several fatalities. That’s more than enough data to comp...

The Ford Pinto had a death rate of 85 people for 10 million cars sold. The Cybertruck hasn't sold 10 million, but the fatality rate so far maths out to 1,452 people killed per 10 million sold.

The Cybertruck may be the deadliest road car, for the occupants, ever sold.

fuelarc.com/evs/its-offi...

That’s where we’re at… the sitting president of the United States and former network TV game-show host is staggeringly close to plunging our nation (and other countries, too) into yet another regional bloodbath, in part because he needs to feel like a Big Man…

…Multiple advisers have tried to play to his ego and repeatedly make the comparison to President Obama’s famous “red line” comments about the murderous Assad regime, and assuring Trump — as one Trump adviser paraphrased it to me — “you gotta have bigger balls than Barack Hussein Obama.”…

as I note in here: one way that certain close Trump advisers have been trying to push him towards pulling the trigger on Iran recently is by stressing to him that the government in Tehran has made a mockery of Trump’s “red lines” for weeks now...

A school suspended 323 students after ICE protest. They protested again. The Virginia school is one of many across the country that have seen students walk out in protest of actions taken amid the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

This is the way to do it! -------A school suspended 323 students after ICE protest. They protested again. wapo.st/4rYbhBi gift link

‘No one deserves this’: Beaverton father dies after deportation to Mexico A Beaverton family is grieving after the father, who was detained and deported by ICE, has now died.

This 53 year old man who lived in my neighborhood w/no criminal record & who had been in the US for 30 years, was detained and thrown into a cold cell for days, caught pneumonia and COVID there and deported.

He finally died.

I am so angry.
www.kptv.com/2026/02/21/n...

ICE abandons plan to build detention facility in Chester, assemblyman says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will allegedly scrap a controversial plan to bring an immigration detention facility to the village of Chester.

www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley... [gift link]

Pope Leo Will Spend July 4 Visiting Migrant Crossing Island Pope Leo has spoken out against the treatment of migrants in the United States several times over the last year.

JD Vance personally invited Pope Leo to the U.S. 250th celebration on the 4th of July. Today the Vatican announced Leo will be spending the day with migrants instead.

DoJ cases against protesters keep collapsing as officers’ lies are exposed in court String of embarrassing defeats for prosecutors as experts condemn DoJ effort to cast people as ‘violent perpetrators’

A MN protester accused of assaulting ICE officer had case dropped after vids showed no assault.

LA protester accused of assaulting ICE w/ “hat” had case dropped; judge said govt acted in “bad faith”

In Chicago, 92 ppl were arrested for assault/impeding ICE; 0 convicted

DOJ keeps lying and losing:

Trump aides struggle with how to spend $500 billion more on military Some senior officials resisted the decision to approve the major military spending increase, people familiar with the matter say.

Reading this story—about how the Pentagon has been given so much extra money it's struggling to spend it all—while thinking about the formerly homeless tenants I've spoken with in recent weeks whose housing vouchers are being discontinued for "lack of funds."

Bryce Andrews, @zephoria.bsky.social, Esmé E. Deprez, Sarah Esther Maslin, @karimzidan.com, @benchansfield.bsky.social, Rich Benjamin, @mariahblake.bsky.social, Jeff Hobbs, Danielle Leavitt, Sven Beckert, Nicholas Boggs, William Dalrymple, Siddharth Kara and Martha A. Sandweiss.

Awards will be presented at Columbia Journalism School this May.

Read the full list of 2026 shortlisted titles: journalism.columbia.edu/news/lukas-s...

#LukasPrizes

🏆 Columbia Journalism School and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard (@niemanfoundation.bsky.social) have announced the 2026 shortlists for the J. Anthony Lukas Prize Project, honoring outstanding works of American nonfiction in progress and in print.

This year's fellows were selected for work that advances rigorous reporting on race, gender and civil and human rights.

Read the full announcement: journalism.columbia.edu/news/2026-li...

🗞️ Congratulations to this year’s grantees of The Ira A. Lipman Center For Journalism and Civil and Human Rights Initiative in Reporting on Race and Criminal Justice: Neena Satija of the Houston Chronicle and independent journalist Kayla Ruble.

Tim Cook Seems Determined to Keep Bruising Apple For America’s brands, the second Trump administration has been a field of rakes lying in wait to give them black eyes. But unlike most rakes, these have big red flags telling you where they are. Which...

Tim Cook managed to navigate Trump 1.0 without embarrassing himself. Trump 2.0, not so much.

Apple dropping climate targets from its executive pay is just the latest example of Cook caving to political winds

Gift link to my column for @opinion.bloomberg.com

www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

Happy Lunar New Year! If you're around San Francisco, join the celebration: apasf.org

All events are free, family-friendly, and community-led!