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Liam Tadeo and his dad Victor Martinez Nieto
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The Worst of The Worst

Well damn, we sure feel safer knowing ICE pulled 5-year-old Liam Tadeo and his construction worker dad Victor off Austin's streets on their way to a soccer game before Liam could start kindergarten the next day; also that they were held at a family concentration camp, ICE refused to let Liam's mother take him, and both father and son will "self-deport" to not further sully our pristine white shores. Question: How do these sick fucks sleep at night?

Thanks to the obscene $200 billion-plus gifted to DHS and ICE by their evil overlords, arrests of undocumented or at least unwanted immigrants surged to nearly 50,000 largely innocent people in July, a 15% spike from a month earlier and the regime's highest monthly arrest total to date. So yes, the sadists are still at it, just more quietly than when a psychotic Noem and Bovino were blasting out histrionic videos of daredevil agents dropping from helicopters onto apartment rooftops to grab terrified families - images reportedly, inexplicably "provoking a lot of ordinary people." Wusses, all.

Many recent arrests come during "traffic stops," increasingly with the help of partnering state and local law enforcement lured by "generous financial incentives," especially in Texas and Florida; ICE is also arresting more Haitians whose protections have been stripped away. Among those detained are over 6,200 kids, 10 times more than during Biden's tenure, despite ongoing, fantastical DHS claims they're going after the "worst of the worst" murderers, drug traffickers, sex offenders - and despite ghastly data showing up to 85% of ICE thugs themselves have sex offenses on their records, most against children. New data, like old data, also shows less than a quarter of those arrested have any criminal convictions.

Elsewhere, ICE abuses go on apace. A sailor aboard the troubled USS Lincoln said ICE has taken his father, who had a work permit, into custody. “Having a family member in the military is not a free pass to violate our nation’s laws,” said a DHS statement "in the same support-our-troops spirit Trump is so famous for." In an interview, the mother, father and sister of Alex Pretti family said no officials have come forward in the last seven months to retract or apologize for the "disgusting" claims of "assassin" and "domestic terrorist" they made about Alex - "We still hear those words about our child,” said his mother Susan - nor have any criminal charges been filed against his killers.

Meanwhile, J.D. Vance just came to Maine to spew racist lies, flaunt his "trademark absence of charisma," and claim, "If you bring in millions and millions of illegal aliens and give them houses that ought to go by right to American citizens, it's going to increase the cost of housing for everybody else." He also dismissed ICE's killing of Colombian Johan Durán Guerrero, who had a social security card, two jobs, a wife and a three-year-old daughter. Worried residents, he said, should "have a little bit of perspective" to ensure "that poison stops coming into our country." Troy Jackson called J.D. "a dirtbag": "I mean, he had a life." As to Susan Collins, who declined to regret giving ICE "$70 billion more to pull this shit off": "I’m sick of your ‘concerns.’"

And on Aug. 16, brave ICE thugs stopped five-year-old Liam Tadeo - their second small Liam like the bunny-hat-wearing Liam Ramos in Minnesota - and his father Victor Martinez Nieto on their way to play soccer. Without bothering with the nicety of pretending it was a legit traffic stop, they asked Victor, originally from Mexico, if he had legal status. Candidly, he said no; in 2025, he'd been arrested by ICE, "voluntarily" left, then "criminally" reentered the U.S. to (horrors) be with his wife and son. Heart-rending video soon surfaced of Liam crying beside his father and trying to hold one of his hands, cuffed behind him, as Victor tried to console his tearful son, talking to him as they walked. It was the day before Liam was set to start kindergarten.

They were both taken to the for-profit Dilley concentration camp, which rights groups have repeatedly accused of medical neglect, poor living conditions and abuse. According to Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, their family's attorney, Victor begged ICE to release Liam to his mother Maria, also not a legal citizen, at home, or another member of the family. ICE refused, though DHS proudly, routinely declaims ICE "will place the children with a safe person the parent designates," like how they also contend Dilley is "retrofitted for families, with access to teachers, classrooms, and curriculum booklets...generously funded by the U.S. taxpayer." Instead, they had Victor sign papers in English he didn't fully understand, and booked both father and son.

Lincoln-Goldfinch says Maria is "desperate and distraught, separated from her child and worrying about his well-being." Back at their home, "It feels like when you go to someone’s house after a sudden death, and there’s a wake or a gathering. Everybody is just stunned." Maria released a statement: "Liam was supposed to start kindergarten this week. Instead he is (in) detention. He should be in school, playing soccer, and at home with his family." Saturday, CNN aired emotional video of her talking by phone to her five-year-old. “I love you so much and I miss you so much, my love,” she tearfully told Liam in Spanish. “Don’t despair, my love, okay?” Lacking options, Liam timidly responds, "Okay." One furious, horrified online comment: "Anyone!!??!!"

This week, Austin's KUT News reported Victor has decided to be deported to Mexico along with his son, rather than risk Liam being separated from him and placed in a dystopian regime's custody as an "unaccompanied migrant child.” Said Lincoln-Goldfinch, "His family did what any family would do: Agree." As Maria reportedly struggles to find a way to re-unite with her family - "My son is only five years old" - Americans fume about "sadistic barbarians harming humanity every single day." "How sick can these people be? I used to think merciless psychopathic villains were only found in movies and fiction," said one. Also, "America has concentration camps. I. Hate. It. Here." and, "That poor little boy, That poor family. I am so tired."

Meanwhile, Texas' Dem lawmakers have called for Liam to be released and for Dilley to be shut down. "I just sat with Liam's mother as she found out what it means to have your child held hostage by ICE. It was horrifying," wrote Rep. Greg Casar, who charged Liam's arrest showed Trump uses children “as bait and leverage to fuel his mass deportation machine.” "Liam should be starting kindergarten this week, and instead he's sitting in a trailer prison." Rep. Joaquin Castro said ICE denied his request to visit Liam at Dilley in what he called "shady stuff," and he vowed to return; he also cited human rights violations, privacy concerns, and untenable phone, video call and e-mail strictures: “I’m telling y’all, ICE is getting worse."

Because this is ghoul-filled America in 2026, Liam's aunt Patricia Resendiz has begun a Gofundme to help with legal expenses and her sister Maria's household costs, as Victor was the sole provider. "If we manage to get Liam and his dad to go free, Liam will also need psychological support, as the detention has left him traumatized. These funds will be to mitigate all aspects of child detention," she wrote. "The detention of Liam and my brother-in-law was cruel. They are not criminals - they were simply on their way to a soccer match. Liam is a beautiful, intelligent, and big-hearted little boy. My sister is devastated, as are we. Liam was detained right in front of my son, his cousin. My son told me that ICE agents said to Liam, 'You can't escape.'"

We feel safer already.

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Wildfires continue to ravage Greece on the thirteenth day
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Continued Fossil Fuel Emissions Could Nearly Triple the Destruction of European Wildfires by 2100

Wildfires raging across Europe this summer have burned through more than 1.4 million acres across France, Spain, Italy, and even countries with typically milder climates, including the United Kingdom and Belgium—and a study published Thursday warned that the continuation of high carbon emissions would nearly triple the amount of burnt land from wildfires by the end of the century.

Climate action that reduces emissions, including a transition away from fossil fuel extraction and toward solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources, would mean about 39% more land would be burned through during fire seasons across the European Union by 2100, according to the research by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

But if policymakers fail to take sufficient action, according to the researchers' models, an estimated 192% more land would be burned each year by the end of the century.

The massive increase in wildfire destruction would likely mean major upheaval across Europe; as wildfires tore through Spain and France last month, nearly 270,000 people were forced to evacuate.

Hundreds of people have been killed in European wildfires over the past decade, including at least 14 people in Spain's recent blazes, which grew rapidly amid soaring temperatures, and three firefighters in Greece.

The researchers at PIK compared the projected annual burnt area for 2070-2100 with a model of results for the period between 2000-2030. An increase in hot, dry weather, which scientists have linked to fossil fuel emissions, was the biggest driver of wildfire destruction in the model.

"If fires become really extreme, our ability to contain them might break down, and we do not know yet where this point is."

“Our results indicate there could be widespread increases in burned area even under comparatively low warming of around 1.8°C. But if we emit more, and global temperatures rise by roughly 3.6°C, we see fires become much more prevalent, especially around the Mediterranean and across much of Western and Central Europe, including areas that to date have not experienced many fires,” said Maik Billing, a researcher at PIK and lead author of the study, which was published Thursday in Global Change Biology.

A global temperature rise of 3.6°C would mean fire weather would intensify “virtually all of Europe” by 2100, the scientists said.

Currently, 2.6°C of global heating is expected by the end of the century under climate policies now in place.

The researchers also examined how human action to improve fire management, including training emergency crews and improving equipment and coordination, could mitigate some damage.

"Continued improvements in fire management have the potential to reduce burned area by 92% in a 1.8°C future and 72% at roughly 3.6°C," said PIK. "However, the authors cautioned that the results could be optimistic when it comes to the efficacy of fire management in a much warmer climate."

Thomas Hickler, a scientist at the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research and a co-author of the study, said: “We see fire conditions are increasing, so we need to invest more... Our projections show that this can make a significant difference."

"But if fires become really extreme, our ability to contain them might break down, and we do not know yet where this point is," said Hickler. "The recent record fires in France clearly show that we cannot simply extrapolate from the experiences of the past."

Billing emphasized that regardless of investments in firefighting, "if we go on a path of high emissions... we still see strong increases in burnt area."

“Fire management," said Billing, "cannot replace climate mitigation.”

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Legendary TV Comedy Writer Explains 'Existential' Threat of Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger
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Legendary TV Comedy Writer Explains 'Existential' Threat of Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger

Top TV comedy writer Michael Schur, co-creator of hit shows such as Parks and Rec and The Good Place, is sounding the alarm about the "existential" dangers of allowing the proposed $110 billion megamerger between Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery to go through.

In an op-ed published Monday in The Hollywood Reporter, Schur outlined the downsides of megamergers between major Hollywood studios, which he described as "bad for everyone except those at the very top" and "another potential broadsword blow to an already wounded industry, one that’s been gouged and squeezed and strangled by high-level corporate greed."

Focusing on the challenges faced by writers, Schur wrote that people in his profession "felt the walls closing in" when they first heard news of Paramount's proposed purchase of Warner Bros.

"We know what this merger will mean," wrote Schur, "one less buyer for our work, less demand for writing services, less leverage to negotiate deal terms that recognize our value, less creative latitude... The impact will be concrete, measurable, and serious."

Schur explained that writers and other workers in the entertainment industry personally understand how corporate consolidation affects their livelihoods.

"We don’t have to theorize any of these outcomes," Schur wrote. "Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019 put them all on full display. After the merger, Fox’s television development operation was folded into Disney’s. Their studio’s priorities continued, Fox’s did not. Writers who had built relationships at Fox found themselves adrift... More than 4,000 Fox employees lost their jobs."

Schur concluded by encouraging opponents to the merger to "fight tooth and nail to sustain what is left of our struggling—but still breathing—creative industry" before it gets fully monopolized.

The combination of Paramount and Warner Bros. has long been controversial because it would put control of CBS, CNN, HBO, TikTok, and other major media properties all under the control of David Ellison, the son of billionaire Larry Ellison, a major donor to President Donald Trump.

The merger has been placed on hold amid multiple lawsuits seeking to block it, including one filed by 12 Democratic state attorneys general.

The New York Times reported on Monday that California Attorney General Rob Bonta, whose office has been leading the state AGs' antitrust complaint against the deal, called off a meeting that had been scheduled with Paramount executives to discuss a potential settlement.

In a statement, Bonta accused Paramount of leaking misleading information about settlement discussions between the parties, which he said demonstrated "a lack of good faith."

"As soon as Paramount stops playing games and engages sincerely," Bonta said, "my office is happy to meet again."

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A protestor holds a placard saying End Israels war crimes
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In First 6 Democratic Primary States for 2028, Overwhelming Majorities Demand Weapons Embargo on Israel

When the Democratic National Committee selected South Carolina this month as the "first in the nation" state for the 2028 presidential primaries, political journalists and commentators suggested the calendar could give the southern state's moderate voter base a new level of influence in selecting the party's candidate.

But new polling from the Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) Policy Project and YouGov on Tuesday showed that on an issue the party and media establishment continue to dismiss as "extreme," overwhelming majorities of voters in the first states that will hold primaries in 2028 agree: The party must elect a presidential candidate who supports ending military aid to Israel.

The IMEU Policy Project and YouGov surveyed 4,000 likely Democratic primary voters across the six states that will vote first in 2028—South Carolina, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan, and Virginia—and found an undeniable trend.

"Democrats in the first six states to vote in the 2028 presidential primary overwhelmingly demand sanctions and a total weapons embargo against Israel," said the IMEU Policy Project.

South Carolina and Virginia, which have typically favored more moderate candidates, showed somewhat less support for a weapons embargo on Israel, which, with US backing, has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians in Gaza over the past three years and continues to attack the largely decimated exclave despite a ceasefire deal.

But even the two southern states showed strong support for a dramatic shift in the United States' relationship with Israel, which it provides with nearly $4 billion in military aid annually, in addition to at least $16.3 billion in direct military assistance since it began attacking Gaza in 2023.

Nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters in both South Carolina and Virginia said they would prefer a 2028 presidential candidate who supports cutting off weapons to Israel. Fifty-seven percent of respondents in the former state said they believed Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, as well as 72% of Virginians.

Drop Site News noted that across the six states, regarding the genocide question, "the 'no' response never rises about 5%."

Prem Thakker of Zeteo News emphasized that the polling was released as "the party was hoping South Carolina would be the moderate saving grace" in the 2028 presidential election, in which a large field of candidates is expected to run.

Potential contenders include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a progressive who's committed to opposing all military aid for Israel; former Vice President Kamala Harris, who refused to commit to an arms embargo during her unsuccessful 2024 campaign; California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said in May that the US should reconsider weapons aid to Israel; and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who said he would support a weapons embargo last year only after facing backlash over comments in which he called the issue "complicated."

Buttigieg visited South Carolina over the weekend, as have several other possible candidates, including Newsom and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), a top recipient of donations from the pro-Israel lobby.

The other states polled by IMEU and YouGov also showed high levels of support for cutting off weapons to Israel and sanctioning its right-wing government, which faces elections in October.

Seventy-eight percent of Nevada voters said they view Israel's US-backed bombardment of Gaza as a genocide, and 74% said the US should end weapons aid.

Three-quarters of voters in New Hampshire, Michigan, and New Mexico said the US should stop providing Israel with weapons. Michigan was home to the largest share of voters who viewed the attacks on Gaza as a genocide—80%—and in both New Hampshire and New Mexico, 70% of voters said the US should sanction Israel.

Left-wing commentator Hasan Piker, whom centrist Democrats, think tanks, and commentators have attacked in recent months for his past comments on September 11 and Hamas, and whom critics have said should be shunned by progressive political campaigns, said the new polling illustrated an inescapable reality for the Democratic Party.

"This is why I said the '28 Democratic nominee will not be pro-Israel," said Piker of the new survey. "Even if I go away, this problem doesn’t."

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Sama Safi
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Dozens of US Lawmakers, Groups Demand Rubio Secure Release of Sama Safi From Israeli Detention

Dozens of US lawmakers came together on Tuesday to demand the immediate release of Sama Safi, a 20-year-old American psychology student with "a severe complex chronic health condition" who was "arbitrarily and wrongfully detained" by the Israeli military nearly three months ago.

Safi was abducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on June 2 as "part of a series of raids targeting Birzeit University students that morning that wrongfully detained three other young women: Natalie Abu Diah, Leila Khalil, and Joulan Abu Awad," the members of Congress wrote to President Donald Trump's top diplomat. "This targeting of Palestinian students is not an isolated incident but part of what United Nations human rights experts have called a systematic policy to 'undermine the right to education.'"

Since the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, the US-armed IDF has engaged in a military campaign in the Gaza Strip widely decried as genocide—killing over 73,000 people and damaging most civilian infrastructure, including schools—while Israeli troops and settlers have also ramped up violence against Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank.

Safi has been charged with being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Israel labels a "terrorist organization." Her lawyer, Leah Tsemel, told Agence France-Presse that she denies the allegation.

The young US citizen has familial Mediterranean fever, "which requires regular monitoring, daily medication, and recurring specialized biologic treatment abroad," the only Palestinian American in Congress, Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), and 40 of her colleagues from both chambers highlighted in their letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"Sama's medical condition has rapidly deteriorated after being subjected to abysmal detention conditions in the months since armed Israeli soldiers raided her family's home in the occupied West Bank in the middle of the night and tore her from her family," they wrote. "Her doctors have warned of irreversible and life-threatening damage to her internal organs if her detention continues. You have a duty to secure the safety and security of US citizens abroad, and we urge you to act quickly to prevent further irreparable harm to Sama by securing her immediate release."

Over the past few months, Safi "has been transferred through multiple facilities," the letter details. She has seen and endured "serious physical violence by guards against detainees, including frequent physical assault, shackling, and the throwing of gas and stun grenades into already overcrowded and poorly ventilated cells," along with "repeated verbal abuse and being placed in painful stress positions, as well as the presence of rapidly spreading infectious skin disease, rats, and mattresses reeking of feces."

"These inhumane conditions and violence towards detainees are not unique to one facility. They are systemic and well-documented throughout Israel's vast military prison system, where thousands of Palestinians are held every day, many indefinitely and without charge," the letter stresses. "In December, the United Nations Committee Against Torture denounced Israel’s application of 'a de facto state policy of organized and widespread torture and ill-treatment' in these prisons, including evidence of sexual violence, electrocution, waterboarding, systemic denial of medical care, denial of adequate nutrition and water, and deprivation of clothing, sleep, and access to hygiene facilities."

The six senators and 35 members of the House of Representatives are backed by a diverse coalition of 85 organizations, and they pointed out that earlier this month, over 100 groups also called on Rubio to find a way to free Safi from Israeli detention.

"It is your responsibility to ensure the safety of all Americans abroad, with no exceptions," the lawmakers reminded Rubio. "Her life
is at risk on your watch. We urge you to act swiftly and use every tool at your disposal to secure the immediate release of Sama Safi so that she can receive the medical care she urgently needs and return to her family, her studies, and the life and freedom that every 20-year-old deserves."

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Bombed boat
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'Lawless Killing Spree at Sea Resumes' as US Announces Fresh Boat Bombings

The US military has resumed its campaign of bombing alleged drug-trafficking vessels after a two-month pause in a campaign that many legal experts and human rights groups believe constitutes a murder spree.

In a Monday social media post, US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) said it carried out a "lethal kinetic strike on a low-profile vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes" in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday. Two people were killed as a result of the attack, SOUTHCOM claimed.

In announcing the strike, SOUTHCOM Commander Gen. Francis Donovan said the attack was part of a campaign of "imposing total systemic friction on narco-terrorists—disrupting their operations, dismantling their leadership, and eliminating cartel terror across the region."

Donovan's boasts about the effectiveness of the boat strikes in combating the drug trade come less than a month after a leaked a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) analysis revealed that the boat-bombing campaign has not "reduced the amount of cocaine entering” the country, as drug cartels have found alternate methods for shipping their product into the US.

With the latest two casualties, the boat bombing campaign launched nearly a year ago by President Donald Trump's administration has now claimed the lives of at least 223 people.

Adam Isaacson, director of the Defense Oversight program at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), criticized the administration for resuming its boat bombings despite "overwhelming evidence that they are murder; that many, likely most, of the dead are either super-low-level or uninvolved with drugs; and that cocaine supply is unaffected."

Brian Finucane, senior adviser to the US Program at the International Crisis Group, delivered a similarly scathing assessment, commenting that "the Trump administration's lawless killing spree at sea resumes."

Nicholas Grossman, professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, described the boat strike campaign as "murderous" and "illegal," adding that its victims are "not terrorists" and "may not even be drug traffickers."

Investigative journalist Camila Lourdes Galarza observed that "there’s still no proof any of the victims" of the boat strikes were involved in the drug trade.

Lourdes Galarza sarcastically added that if the victims had been drug traffickers, "the US would probably give them a deal" like the one given to Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras who was pardoned by Trump last year despite being previously convicted on narcotics trafficking charges.

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