Notices by Dan Gillmor (dangillmor@mastodon.social)

Dept. of Yeah Right: FBI "can't find" records of its extravagant purchases of hacking tools. https://www.404media.co/the-fbi-cant-find-missing-records-of-its-hacking-tools/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter

The entire Trump regime is a clear and present danger to U.S. national security, but Hegseth stands out for his illegal and blatantly deliberate up-yours to even basic security practices.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/20/politics/hegseth-second-signal-chat-military-plans/index.html

A writer I admire, Benedict Evans, publishes a fine newsletter. I'm glad to say it's not on Substack.

But he's discovered that the company is pulling a fast one on him simply because he subscribes to several newsletter on that site.

Substack, he writes, "has created a public profile in my name and encouraged hundreds of people to follow me there, without my permission or consent. There’s no way for me to control this or turn it off."

Sleazy. Why am I not surprised?

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/benedictevans_i-dont-use-substack-to-publish-my-newsletter-activity-7319323633888227328-YjFy/

Wired headline says Trump regime is building "master database" to spy on immigrants. That's bad enough (and totally illegal).

But the real story is that the regime and its Big Tech partners in this crime are building the database to track ALL OF US.

https://www.wired.com/story/doge-collecting-immigrant-data-surveil-track/

Molly White (https://mastodon.social/@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io) is by far the best journalist covering the always-sleazy cryptocurrency "industry" -- and in her latest newsletter she connects the dots in Trump's totally corrupt crypto dealings: https://www.citationneeded.news/trump-crypto-empire/

Her lede should be in an indictment. "In an unprecedented abuse of presidential power, Donald Trump is dismantling federal cryptocurrency oversight while building a sprawling family crypto empire worth billions."

Wall Street Journal's investigation into Musk's baby-making machine is jaw-dropping. Free link below:

https://www.wsj.com/politics/elon-musk-children-mothers-ashley-st-clair-grimes-dc7ba05c?st=NYbpEK&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Fraud seems to be a key part of the Tesla business model. https://futurism.com/tesla-accused-odometers

Trump's press secretary is quite the Fascist Barbie, isn't she?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/apr/16/donald-trump-inflation-tariffs-china-trade-war-immigration-us-politics-live

Even the right-wing Cato Institute is sounding the alarm about the Trump regime's headlong race into fascism. That's more than I can say for Big Journalism, which mostly continues to ever-so-politely do both-sides stenography.

https://www.cato.org/blog/where-writ-courts-does-not-run

For god's sake, journalists, take a stand. Now.

Is there any confirmation that Bluesky has obeyed Turkish government order to shut down accounts or access there? I've seen purported screenshots but I haven't seen anything that looks "official" --

Garrett Graff asks if the American experiment has "reached the end of the road?"

If it has, one reason will have been the sickening failure of institutions -- like journalism -- that should have stood firm but chose to capitulate or pretend it wasn't their job.

https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/has-america-reached-the-end-of-the-road-a1d4feac8041058a

If you wonder why people view "health" insurance CEOs with white-hot fury, ProPublica's detailed look into the contemptible actions of a Blue Cross boss (and his lawyers) should make it clear.

https://www.propublica.org/article/blue-cross-blue-shield-louisiana-insurance-lawsuit-breast-cancer-doctors

Key phrase: "...authorization (for surgery) never says we're going to pay you..."

This study -- showing how companies ignore do-not-track requests -- is just the latest evidence that you should always use ad/tracker blockers in your browser.

This means, among other things, that Chrome is no longer an option now that Google has blocked some blockers.

https://innovation.consumerreports.org/Mixed-Signals-Many-Companies-May-Be-Ignoring-Opt-Out-Requests-Under-State-Privacy-Laws.pdf

Even a Democratic Party as incompetent as the current one should be able to recognize a political opportunity like the one the ruinous Trump tariffs provides. Read this from the always insightful Josh Marshall:

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/these-tariffs-wont-stand-make-political-electoral-hay-now/sharetoken/52f09770-43e6-471e-be6d-87a42e558c78

Might say the same about endlessly feckless Big Journalism...

Americans' taxes just went up by $6 trillion. That is a million dollars multiplied by 6 million.

Don't tell me Trump is trying to save anything. This guy is a economy destroyer -- and not just ours.

Glad to see CNN telling the simple truth in this headline:

The "United States Disappeared Tracker' is brilliant, though we should be sickened that it is needed. Huge kudos to Prof. Danielle Harlow.

https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/danielleharlow/viz/UnitedStatesDisappearedTracker/Map

Here's her explainer:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn🇱🇮activity:7311257817301012481/

Sad to see the Center for Public Integrity shutting down. In its day the nonprofit journalism organization did some of the finest investigative work in the field. https://www.cjr.org/news/center-for-public-integrity-shutting-down.php

The words "detain" and "detention" have definitions that are mostly benign -- e.g. "detained by traffic on the way to lunch" and "grade-school kid has after-class detention..."

That's why using "was detained" is carrying water for ICE when the reality is "was kidnapped off the street and imprisoned..."

Journalism needs to be much more precise, but that would require less stenography and more thinking before publishing.

Follow recommendation: the Signals Network, which works with whistleblowers and media organizations to help all of us learn about the bad stuff that powerful interests want to keep secret:

https://mastodon.social/@TheSignalsNetwork/114229333868932432

Extraordinary reporting here:

"Who Is Funding Canary Mission? Inside the Doxxing Operation Targeting Anti-Zionist Students and Professors

"Americans who give money to Canary Mission are potentially committing a serious crime by acting as agents of a foreign power."

https://www.thenation.com/article/world/canary-mission-israel-covert-operations/