Friday 25 September 2026

News Notes

I can’t even begin to compete with Charlie Pierce to summarize his writing. He has two articles in Esquire you should think about reading: “Trump’s Latest Deal with Belarus Sure Smells like Shit,” and “Trump’s Bizarre Reaction to the Ebola News.”

Some Suggested Books

Torbati, Yeanen. “Stolen Revolution.”

Mueenuddin, Daniyal. “This is Where the Serpent Lives.”

Rivera Gaza, Cristina. “Autobiography of Cotton.”

TRUMP AUTHORITARIANISM: IMMIGRATION

Ingram, Julia (9/25/26) “ICE wasted millions…” CBS News.

LIFE AND NEWS NOTES

· In early 2026, ICE spent $1.07 billion to purchase eleven warehouses it planned to convert into detention mega centers. It now plans to sell seven of them.

· In July and August, IC moved $2.2 billion to purchase four detention facilities from CoreCivic a private prison company. ICE is paying CoreCivic to continue to operate the facilities.

· A GAO report released recently revealed that ICE wasted millions of taxpayer money and lost $20 million in “unrecoverable costs purchasing the warehouses it no longer plans to use…” Even more could be lost if ICE has to sell warehouses for less than that it paid for them.

· ICE is pushing to double the number of detention beds. This week, it gave contracts that could reach a combined $10 billion to expand and construct new facilities.

· ICE promised to come up with a plan to reduce further waste by August of 2027.

· (Note: What this amounts to is an enormous amount of money appropriated to ICE, pressure to spend it quickly without the normal guardrails and processes. The result has been a disaster.)

· “… Through FEMA reimbursements ICE paid the state of Florida almost triple its typical per bed rate for two state operated facilities, including the now shuttered facility dubbed Alligator Alcatraz.”

· “ICE is also paying more than it typically would per bed to house non citizen detainees at facilities operated by the Bureau of Prisons. BOP officials told Goa they’ve had to pay staff overtime and for temporary assignments to meet Ice’s needs, resulting in a per bed rate double that of Ice’s median rate.”

· In addition: “$7.1 million on detainee meals it did not need…$2.85 million on tents at Guantanamo Bay that were never used.”

ARTICLE: Gerstein, Josh and Kyle Cheney (9/24/26) “Trump admin asks Supreme Court to lift limits on third-country deportations.” Politico.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AUTHORITARIANISM: GRIFT

ARTICLE: Catalini, Mike (9/24/26) “US government foots bill for television advertisement featuring rump midterm messaging.” AP news.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION AUTHORITARIANISM: INCOMPETENCE

Kube, Courtney, et. al. (9/23/26) “8 service members attempted suicide on USS Lincoln during extended deployment…” NBC News.

Life Notes:

Why on earth MN Now has Alberto Gonzales, former US Attorney General, on air talking about the Supreme Court’s decision to allow the federal government to have a role in voting.