In short, 24 headlines from the last 24 hours [breathe in…let it out; let’s go…]
1. FBI’s Dep. Dir. Dan Bongino, ex-conspiracy podcaster, admits to Fox’s Sean Hannity that past claims about J6 pipe bombs were PAID OPINIONS—says NOW he acts only on verified facts
2. Amnesty International releases report documenting cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment at 2 immigration detention centers in FL: “Alligator Alcatraz” and Krome North Service Processing Center
3. Netflix to buy Warner Bros. and HBO Max in $82.7B deal; IF DJT APPROVES, it will create entertainment/media behemoth, uniting the world’s largest streaming destination w/ 102yo film studio
4. After almost 3 weeks and on the same day Adm. Bradley testified, US strikes another alleged drug boat E.Pacific, 4 killed; Total strikes - 22; (11 Caribbean, 11 E. Pacific); Total extrajudicial killings - 87
5. NYT sues Pentagon over new reporting rules, claiming they violate the 1st Amendment; policy bans unauthorized info, blocks badges, targets reporters covering military freely
6. SCOTUS allows TX GOP congressional maps for 2026 midterms; overturns lower court ruling on racial gerrymandering by DJT-appointee; maps give GOP 5 new seats
7. DHS’ Kristi Noem said US to expand travel ban to 30+ countries; include both immigrants and short-term visitors, including tourists, students and business travelers
8. DHS launches “Operation Catahoula Crunch”/ “Swamp Sweep” in NOLA, deploying 200+ agents with goal of 5k arrests; detaining multiple people with work permits and US citizenship… which included:
9. 'It's attempted kidnapping': video from NOLA immigration sweep shows masked agents jump from unmarked cars chasing 22yo US citizen back to her home from grocery store
10. Bank, cell records led FBI to suspect in J6 eve pipe bomb case; 30yo Brian Cole Jr. of VA allegedly left 1 bomb at RNC, and another at DNC when VP Kamala Harris was inside
11. Layoff announcements hit highest level since pandemic; US employers announce plans this year to eliminate nearly 1.2M jobs through end of Nov; only 6th time over 1M since 1993
12. UK public inquiry concludes Putin authorized 2018 Novichok poisoning of ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal that left 44yo mother of 3 dead after she found poisoned perfume bottle used in attack
13. FL GOP begin mid-decade redistricting despite an anti-gerrymander amendment; GOP want 3–5 Dem seats while bracing for lawsuits; any special session map due before 4/20 filing deadline
14. CDC’s new anti-vax panel delays vote hepatitis B vaccine schedule for infants after a chaotic, misinformation-filled meeting; vote postponed til Fri over disagreements and confusion in voting language
15. As expected, Admiral Bradley testifies he saw alleged drug boat strike survivors as legitimate targets, citing survivors' contact w/ “mothership;”; says there was no 'kill them all' or ‘no quarter’ order
16. DJT’s D.C. crime crackdown claimed to target “violent criminals” but 80% (932 of 1,100) arrests were of immigrants with NO record — mass sweeps, warrantless stops, and collateral arrests now under scrutiny
17. New Science Journal shows AI chatbots can strongly shift political views; tested 17 models on 77k people, researchers found nearly 1 in 5 claims mostly false; most persuasive chatbots are least accurate
18. After weeks of disagreements on size, DJT fires original WH ballroom architect, citing firm too small for $300M, 90K sqft project; new architect takes over amid demolition chaos; still no public review
19. Longest US government shutdown cost Delta $200M; 10K flights cut, FAA forced cancellations, controllers worked unpaid, DJT pushed bonuses—but only 776 of 20k got bonuses
20. Government Accountability Office [GAO] opens investigation into FHFA chief Bill Pulte after he referred multiple Dems—including Schiff, James, Cook, Swalwell—to DOJ for alleged mortgage fraud
21. Green Berets defend Afghan allies after DC shooting and DJT halts visas and asylums, calling them “criminals;” leaving those who risked their lives for US terrified and vets outraged
22. ACLU sues 5 county sheriffs in WI for Voces de la Frontera [immigrant rights group]; WI Supreme Court will rule if local jails can hold immigrants for ICE which potentially violates state law/constitutional rights
23. Ex-GOP senator predicts GOP wil break from DJT after “filing deadlines” pass; GOP lawmakers are growing frustrated by “daily humiliation” of defending pardons, Hegseth war orders, etc
24. Grand jury in VA REJECTS new mortgage fraud indictment against NY AG Letitia James; US Atty from MO, Roger Keller, was brought in to present the case after initial indictment was thrown out last week
📌 All of those were from the last 24 hours.
I am a mother, a teacher, a historian, an advocate, a lawyer, a woman who has endured and bore witness to her fair-share of trauma; but nothing… absolutely nothing… could have prepared me for witnessing on the streets of my city of New Orleans (NOLA), what I have been tracking here in this #24in24 blog in other cities around the country.
It is different.
It is not some other unfamiliar street names, locations, and faces.
It is people you know, streets you’ve walked, and the place you call home.
It has hit different.
But this… is not my home.
This… is NOT the America I envisioned for my children.
THIS… IS NOT NORMAL… OR RIGHT… OR JUST!
I am sick; maybe it is the flu like my son has… maybe I have reached the point of exhaustion, a weariness that no amount of sleep can fix.
Or maybe it is the ache of realizing, once again, that the country we are told to love does not always love back—or at least, not in the ways we expect or deserve.
You’ve stayed with me daily. You have not turned away.
You’ve felt each headline with me, carried each bitter, ugly truth in your chest. For that, I thank you.
In a time when denial is easier than action, your presence is a quiet rebellion, a steadfast insistence that we will not accept this as normal.
No. Seriously.
As tears pours down my face; thank you for telling me I am not alone in this every day.
I am angry. I am disgusted. I am ASHAMED that in the land of so much promise, these stories—these injustices—spill across our streets, our screens, our lives, unchecked.
And I am heartbroken for the children, for the mothers and fathers, for the neighbors, for all of us who are forced to witness what should never be.
It didn’t have to come to this.
Not this.
But here we are.
I force myself to remember that anger, when shared, becomes fuel.
That despair, when witnessed together, becomes courage.
That love for this country—real, deep, DEMANDING love—means we refuse to shut the **** up about the things that matter.
We refuse to be passive.
We REFUSE to accept that this is “just the way things are.”
So, again, thank you—for reading, for feeling, for being here in this impossible, infuriating, heartbreaking, sickening moment.
Thank you for walking these streets with me, even if only in spirit. Even if only in likes, shares, comments, or prayers.
Thank you.
Together, we will bear witness.
Together, we hold the line.
Together, we remind each other that America is not just the headlines; America is also the hope, the resistance, the unwavering insistence that right will, eventually, prevail.
Because hear me now —and I mean every SYLLABLE of this with the full weight of a mother’s love, a historian’s duty, and a citizen’s fierce inheritance: I KNOW we will prevail because I am prepared to give the last full measure of my devotion to see this country rise to the promise it made to me, to you, to all of us.
THEY SAID with ‘liberty and justice for all;’
THEY MADE me promise.
Many here are new, but check the pedigree; I keep my promises.
It’s not my fault and it won’t be my problem they didn’t mean it when I DID!
They can try to silence us, to exhaust us, to break us—but they will not.
They cannot.
Because the only way they stop this fight is if every last one of us lays down our voice, our truth, our witness—and we won’t.
Not today.
Not tomorrow.
Not ever.
I stand here—sick, exhausted, embarrassed—but in that, I am also rooted, unmovable, and unafraid.
And if they want to strip this nation of its soul, they’re going to have to go through all of US who still believe in its damn heartbeat first.
Because love—REAL love for country, for community, for our children—doesn’t back down.
And if they think they can stop us all; well, lol…GOOD ******* LUCK!
Let the war begin.
**** them; it’s time to armor up.
With Me:
Deep breath in… hold… release; then, repeat as necessary…
As always… all links and sources will 📌’d in the comments.
~Ms. G, J.D.
The Louisiana Department Of Wildlife And Fisheries is helping ICE hunt people; this is sick.
In short, 24 headlines from the last 24 hours [relax your shoulders, unclench your jaw…breathe in… let it out, and let’s go…]
1. Adm Bradley Testified: the vessel hit in double-tap strike was NOT heading to US; 2 survivors clung to wreckage for hour+ before hit 3x more times; men unarmed, shirtless, NO radio; and waved, either for help or do not strike
2. Video shows AZ Rep. Adelita Grijalva [rep who waited 7 weeks for Speaker Johnson to swear her in] being pepper-sprayed by masked ICE who pulled up for immigration raid at taco spot in Tucson
3. Indiana House GOP pass new congressional map, defeating 21 Dem amendments; map would splinter Indianapolis 4 ways and produce 9-0 GOP map for 2026; heads to IN Senate on Mon
4. Judge slams DJT; says he lacks power to detain deportees at Gitmo, Cuba where 710 ppl already held; calls it unprecedented; ACLU pushes to end DJT’s planned 30k-person facility
5. DOJ memo eliminates rules protecting LGBTQ+ people from SA in prisons; ‘effective immediately,’ prisons and jails will no longer be held responsible for violations
6. House Committee on Homeland Security sent letter to Google and Apple for steps on removal of apps like ICEBlock that let users track federal immigration officers; citing risks to personnel; demands briefing by 12/12
7. DJT moves to deny visas to factcheckers and content moderators; state department memo directs officials to deny visas to any applicant engaging in what the WH calls ‘censorship’
8. UK IVF couples using legal loophole to rank embryos based on potential IQ, height, and health since illegal there; US company Herasight legally charges couples $50K to assess an unlimited number of embryos
9. Ex-DEA deputy chief Paul Campo(61, of VA) and Robert Sensi(75, of FL) charged in NY with laundering $12M for cartels + crypto, cocaine, and military-grade weapons
10. Four-star admiral and 1st transgender person confirmed by the Senate, Rachel L. Levine, had her HHS portrait altered during the govt shutdown to display her previous name instead of current legal name
11. DHS Kristi Noem’s court declaration confirms she ordered flight deportations to El Salvador despite judges’ order, but claims privilege and refuses details in contempt probe amid claims that DOJ officials urged defiance the day before
12. Record 60K people in ICE facilities as DJT immigration crackdown arrests thousands claiming “worst of worst,” yet under 30% had prior convictions; most had NO criminal record at all
13. DJT receives 1st Annual [and completely made up] “FIFA Peace Prize” and rambles about renaming American football, claiming it should align with the rest of the world’s soccer
14. 60,000+ African penguins have starved to death near South Africa’s coast as sardine numbers collapse; climate change and overfishing push species to brink of extinction
15. “Just because you look brown…you’re going to get stopped:” 23yo US citizen Jacelynn Guzman chased by masked federal agents in NOLA during immigration sweep; Mayor-elect Moreno demands public accountability
16. ‘Trump Mobile’ sells 3-year-old refurbished iPhones and Samsungs for $500+, FAR ABOVE Amazon/Best Buy prices, while fans still wait for the promised T1 phone
17. After a federal judge in FL ordered Epstein grand jury documents unsealed, Pam Bondi celebrated; but the record reflects, the documents are already publicly released, so the ruling requires no new disclosures
18. DJT to cut Social Security field office visits by 50% in 2026 [provide in-person help for people applying for retirement and disability benefits]; closures will hurt elderly, disabled, and rural populations most
19. After China deployed 100+ ships in its largest maritime show of force, DJT says he has a strategy to deter conflict over Taiwan and the South China Sea; build military there + sell $330M in jets to Taiwan
20. J6 Pipe bomb suspect said he believed 2020 election was stolen, and supported DJT; FBI tracked him via cell tower pings, license plate, purchase records, etc; pretrial hearing 12/15
21. DJT officials are reviewing rollbacks of changes to census racial categories for 2030, including new "Hispanic or Latino" and "Middle Eastern or North African" checkboxs, no longer considered automatically white
22. RFK, Jr. new CDC advisors panel vote to overturn decades-long policy on hepatitis B vaccine for infants as anti-vax lawyer with ties to Kennedy alarms experts over vaccine misinformation in 2-hour presentation
23. Freight railroads can now cut human track inspections from twice a week to once a week, relying on machines that unions say can’t detect hidden risks—raising derailment concerns
24. SCOTUS agrees to hear DJT’s challenge to birthright citizenship EO [guarantees citizenship to those born in the US]; also, an appeals court tells DJT he can fire 2 independent agency heads without cause
📌 Yes, all of those were just from the last 24 hours.
I do not wish to take up your time this morning; I have to get on the road, but I do have a message.
Given everything taking place in New Orleans, and this being the city that made me the woman you know; I have decided I must personally deliver a verbal message to Chief Bovino himself, and/or other federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement throughout my city; since it seems he’s clearly in the neighborhood and they collectively don’t want to follow the Constitution or federal law.
But before I get into it and go… thank you for being here; thank you for sending healing love and light; thank you for your prayers; for your attention; and your presence… and thank you to those who give money they may not even have to send stars or subscribe. Bc FB has made some changes; to the interface, to the algorithm — it now makes it hard to see comments, or who shares - which sucks, bc I try to engage with as much as I can so that you know I see you. 😒
All that said, I just want to say… when I said I was a mom, teacher, historian, advocate, and lawyer — I didn’t mean any of it made me special.
I am not exceptionally smart, or wealthy, or pretty, or strong; what I am… I suppose, is a bit crazy.
Crazy enough to believe we deserve magic and not mediocrity.
Crazy enough to believe we deserve better than THIS every day.
Crazy enough to believe the goal was NEVER a return BACK to anything, but a future dream where we MAKE AMERICA GREAT FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME EVER — for the vast majority of US, the MANY - not for the rich and powerful few.
It took 311 days total to get the bodies of workers Quinnyon Wimberly and Jose Ponce Arreola from the collapsed rumble of the Hard Rock here in New Orleans.
So, what I want to leave you with today, is why I cried hard tears in the RAIN yesterday realizing why all of this going on hurts so much.
It’s bc the last time I felt so heartbroken by the inhumanity of mankind, was when the Hard Rock hotel being constructed here in New Orleans collapsed in Oct 2019 bc other people didn’t do their jobs, and it killed 3 workers inside; then, they left the bodies of Quinnyon and Jose in the rubble, with Quinnyon’s legs hanging from the 11th floor — on public display, covered by a tarp that covered absolutely nothing, bc you could see him from the street.
And I did see him, every day I protested to get the both of them out — for almost a year.
For those who are new here, when I mention Hard Rock — in sum, THAT is what they did here in 2019. THAT is what I protested — and that is what cost me everything, but taught me the things you can’t put a price tag on.
And here’s the truth I came here to tell you before I go: I learned at the Hard Rock that sometimes the universe forces you to look at the thing everyone else is trying to pretend isn’t there.
Sometimes the horror is so loud, the injustice so brazen, the human suffering so exposed that you realize silence is not neutrality anymore. Silence is participation.
That was the moment I understood:
If nobody else will say the thing, then I will say the damn thing.
If nobody else will stand in the rain, then I will stand there soaked.
If nobody else will name the injustice, I will carve its name into the air with my own breath.
Bc that’s what this city raised me to be.
Bc New Orleans doesn’t birth cowards — it births witnesses.
And today, with everything happening on the streets of my home… I know I have to go see it for myself.
Not bc I think I’m special.
But bc I know what happens when good people look away; money, beauty, or degrees be damned.
I lived through what happens when a city looks up and sees a man who deserved dignity, and nobody in power moves.
I will not look away again.
And if that makes me “crazy,” then so be it. IDC. We could use a little more crazy if that’s the case, IMHO.
Bc someone has to love this city, this country, with a fierceness that burns clear through the fear and indifference.
Someone has to carry its pain, cradle its hope, and fight for its soul — even when you know they may get away with it in this lifetime.
And bc someone has to be the one to remind them that Karma doesn’t sleep — and she is the MOST patient bitch ever.
Today, that gets to be me.
I’ll do that 10-toes down alone if need be, again — but I know I am not… bc if you read this far; I bet you’re riding there with me — if only in spirit.
#NoSurrender #NoRetreat ✊😔
Deep breath in… hold… release; then, repeat as necessary…
As always…links & sources 📌’d in the comments.
~Ms. G, J.D.
Glyphosate, the main chemical in Roundup, now shows up in 75% of Midwest rainfall samples. It’s literally raining weed killer. Ditch the poisons—our soil and water can’t take any more.
Sudan War Updates, citing local officials speaking to Al Jazeera, reported that at least 80 people were killed in an attack on the town — 46 of them children. Drop Site News says this was a suicide-drone strike carried out by the RSF and SPLM-N (al-Hilu), based on local medical networks.
The target area included a nursery.
A drone. A nursery. Dozens of dead children.
If you’ve seen the footage from the aftermath, you know what I mean when I say it’s hard to watch: small bodies on stretchers, children covered in dust and blood, adults screaming and running with limp kids in their arms.
In any other era, this would dominate the news. It would prompt emergency debates at the United Nations. You would see world leaders addressing it live.
Instead? Unless you are Sudanese, or follow a few specialized accounts on social media, you may not have heard about it at all.
Barely a ripple.
Who Did This? RSF and SPLM-N in Plain Language
The names in that short update — RSF and SPLM-N (al-Hilu) — sound like alphabet soup. Let me break them down in simple, honest terms, because understanding who they are matters.
RSF – Rapid Support Forces
The Rapid Support Forces are not a neighborhood self-defense group. They are a paramilitary army that grew out of the Janjaweed militias — the same forces that carried out mass killings, rapes, and ethnic cleansing in Darfur starting in the early 2000s.
Later, the Sudanese government tried to “formalize” them and gave them a new name: RSF. Same core fighters, new uniforms. Their leader is Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemeti.
For years, the RSF have been used first by the old regime, and now as an independent power center, to crush uprisings, terrorize communities, and grab resources. In the current war that broke out in 2023, they’ve fought the regular Sudanese army for control of cities and regions, and they’ve been accused of:
Massacres
Systematic rape
Looting and burning entire neighborhoods
Think of them as a cross between a mafia, a militia, and a private army — with external sponsors, especially the United Arab Emirates, keeping them supplied with money and weapons.
SPLM-N (al-Hilu)
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North is a rebel movement that has fought the central government for years, mainly in the Nuba Mountains and South Kordofan. Its history goes back to the same movement that fought for what became South Sudan.
The group has different factions. The al-Hilu wing — led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu — controls pockets of territory in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. They say they are fighting for rights and autonomy for marginalized communities in those regions.
But in this attack, according to local reports, fighters from SPLM-N (al-Hilu) cooperated with the RSF to hit Kalogi with a suicide drone. That means a rebel group that claims to fight for oppressed people joined with a paramilitary force notorious for war crimes to carry out a strike that slaughtered children at a nursery.
So when you see “RSF & SPLM-N” in that update, what you’re really seeing is a hard-right paramilitary born from genocidal militias, paired with a long-time rebel faction, fusing their tactics in one of the most vulnerable places you can imagine.
This is what it looks like when the logic of “total war” eats everything.
UAE: To Sudan What the United States Is to Israel
None of this is happening in a vacuum.
For years now, independent investigations and UN experts have pointed to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the RSF’s lifeline. Planes from Emirati-controlled airports. Cargo labeled as “aid” that looks a whole lot like weapons. Diplomatic cover. Money.
It’s not complicated:
Israel cannot do what it is doing in Gaza without U.S. weapons, U.S. money, and U.S. political protection.
The RSF cannot keep doing what it is doing in Sudan without Emirati weapons, Emirati money, and Emirati protection.
The UAE is to Sudan what the United States is to Israel.
So when a suicide drone hits a nursery in Kalogi, killing 46 children, you’re seeing more than just the RSF or SPLM-N. You’re seeing a regional power, rich from oil and investments and real estate, sponsoring a paramilitary force that uses those resources to terrorize African civilians.
The distance between Abu Dhabi and that nursery is not moral. It is only physical.
Sudan Is Copying the Gaza Playbook
What makes this moment even more chilling is that Sudan’s armed actors are not improvising. They are studying.
They’ve watched Israel’s genocide in Gaza in real time:
Starvation and siege as weapons
Bombing schools, hospitals, and UN shelters
Calling everyone “terrorists” or “human shields”
Crushing whole neighborhoods and then blaming the victims
And they’ve watched how the world responded: rhetorical concern, no real accountability, continued arms shipments, and diplomatic protection.
So they take notes.
When the RSF uses a drone on a nursery, they are not just acting on impulse. They are testing the same line Israel has walked for two years: how far can we go and still be treated as a legitimate actor?
If you can bomb a school in Gaza, or a hospital, or a refugee camp, and keep your seat at international conferences, why would armed groups in Sudan believe there is a red line around a nursery?
This is how impunity spreads. It’s contagious.
A World Numbed on Purpose
I keep coming back to this: in any other era, 80 civilians killed in a nursery drone strike, including 46 children, would dominate the news cycle for days. It would be a defining image.
Today, it’s just one more atrocity in a feed already overflowing with images of Palestinian children under rubble, Caribbean boat crews being blown apart by U.S. drones, and a thousand other violations that no longer shock the people who commit them.
We are being conditioned.
When you see enough horror with no consequence, you start to believe two things:
This level of violence is normal.
Caring about it won’t change anything.
Those are deadly beliefs. Not just for Sudanese children or Palestinian children, but for all of us, because they turn our hearts into the kind of place where anything can happen and nothing matters.
That is what these governments are betting on — that if they show you enough death, you will eventually stop counting.
We can’t let that happen.
Family, if you want someone who will keep saying “this is not normal, and here are the names of the people making it normal”, I’m asking you to help me keep doing this work. Please click here to become a member so we can keep The North Star free for the world and truly independent of the same governments and donors whose crimes we’re naming. And if you’re in a position to support this at a higher level, please click here to join as a monthly, annual, or founding member.
Love and appreciate each of you.
Your friend and brother,
Shaun
Representative Mike Levin
Yesterday at 12:58 PM
·
The presidential pardon system has reached a breaking point, which is why I have joined Reps. Cohen, Lieu, and Johnson in proposing a Constitutional amendment that finally puts guardrails on abuse. The amendment would explicitly prohibit a self-pardon and would bar pardons for family members, administration officials, and campaign employees. It would also forbid pardons for anyone whose crimes were committed to advance the direct and significant personal interests of a President or those close to a President, or whose crimes were carried out at the direction of a President. It further clarifies that no pardon issued for a corrupt purpose is valid, whether past, present, or future.
The need for reform is clear. A tool meant to correct injustices has instead enabled them. It is time to protect the Constitution and the rule of law with common sense limits that restore public trust.
