Voices interest me, and clues about the silent ones.
South Bend, Indiana
Joined December 2007
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Ken Smith retweeted
This New York Times piece is worth your time. Here’s what is happening, as simply as I can put it.
Back in January, Trump sued the IRS, an agency he controls, demanding $10 billion over the leak of his tax returns a number of years ago.
IRS lawyers did their jobs. They wrote a memo laying out the defenses that could beat the suit, including the fact that Trump filed too late. His own lawyer was in court when the leaker pleaded guilty in October 2023, more than two years before Trump sued.
The Justice Department never showed up to court. Never argued back. Never used the defenses sitting on their desk.
The judge got suspicious and ordered both sides to explain whether they were actually opposing each other or just colluding. The day before that brief was due, Trump dropped the suit.
Same day, his Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded “anti-weaponization fund.”
Trump gets a formal apology. The IRS agrees to drop any audits of him and his family, even though a 2024 Times report found a loss in an ongoing audit could cost him over $100 million.
The acting Attorney General, Trump’s former criminal defense attorney, picks the five commissioners who decide who gets paid. Trump can fire any of them. Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are not ruled out.
This is the most corrupt thing I’ve ever seen from an American president.
Where in the hell are my Republican colleagues?
nytimes.com/2026/05/19/admin…
Ken Smith retweeted
It is nearly impossible for a European to comprehend the psychological reality inside Russia. It is not just "fake news." It is a total deconstruction of reality.
Let me try to immerse you in the world Russians live in [1/9]
Ken Smith retweeted
A study commissioned by the European Parliament recommends strengthening data protection clauses in EU laws, including identifying transnational repression as a “systemic risk” that regulated platforms are responsible for under the Digital Services Act. icij.org/investigations/chin…
Ken Smith retweeted
Why we must understand tech on many levels.
“The history of tech is very much the history of politics as we go forward. We had a merger [of them], and you can and should incorporate our history in your understanding of US history,” writes @DaveWiner.
scripting.com/2026/01/01.htm…
Ken Smith retweeted
A recent article in The Nation said that resistance to Nazis in one country in Europe included a widespread practice of letting bad guys know that “we see what you are doing.” That country saved by far the largest percentage of its Jewish population, compared to other nations.
Ken Smith retweeted
A century ago, journalist Karl Kraus said his duty was to publicize and condemn the dangerous and abusive political figures of the day by putting their words accurately between quotation marks.
@jacieb
Ken Smith retweeted
No. Just no. We do not want online consultations. We want to see real healthcare professionals in real time. Please listen to what actual people want.
Ken Smith retweeted
Tad Stoermer on the US history of creating alternative institutions of power to counter a rogue government’s abuse of power tiktok.com/t/ZTMDyKWuW/ #statelaws #challengepowerwithpower
Ken Smith retweeted
And somehow it doesn’t seem to have made it to the curriculum of ag colleges
Or to government
Ours is a lunatic civilisation
Ken Smith retweeted
And it’s so simple to mend soil… all it takes is green diverse plants that are allowed to create surplus sugars and carbons by being allowed to grow big
Literally every medieval peasant or Native American knew about rotation or the power of green plants to do this
Ken Smith retweeted
“All things are already said; but since no one is listening, you always have to start over.”
~ Andre Gide
Ken Smith retweeted
The Economic Consequences of Destroying Harvard.
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/t…
Ken Smith retweeted
You're not "changing things from the inside". They're using your reputation to launder theirs.
Ken Smith retweeted
People in the US are resisting, and one lesson for Kenya is that small actions matter. The press is not covering the administration's actions properly so people are talking to their family and friends, sharing news and analysis, going to small protests that get larger.
Ken Smith retweeted
“Be careful. When a democracy is sick, fascism comes to its bedside, but it is not to inquire about its health.” Albert Camus knew what he was talking about.
@WeHaveWaysPod
