mastodon 4.7.2#Sociology professor, #union thug, French expat, #scifi nerd #StarTrek fan
"The US government collected over $1 billion in immigration fees then refused to process the applications. No denials. No refunds. Just silence. This is the largest fee fraud in the history of the American immigration system. Here's what's happening."
Full thread at the link: https://skyview.social/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbsky.app%2Fprofile%2Faustinkocher.com%2Fpost%2F3mhr54qb6ns2m&viewtype=unroll
Yup
Mamdani introduces “Pied-à-Terre Tax” on Tax Day: “When I ran for Mayor, I said I was going to tax the rich. Well, today we’re taxing the rich.” https://imgur.com/gallery/Z2paSgl
Longtime Immigration Court Interpreter Arrested by ICE at South Texas Airport https://www.texasobserver.org/immigration-court-interpreter-arrested-ice-south-texas-airport/ These stories fill me with so much rage.
Good point
Virginia Governor Ends Tax Breaks for Confederate Groups - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/14/us/virginia-tax-breaks-confederate.html
Yup
The Strait of Hormuz blockade is causing a slow-moving food crisis | The Verge https://www.theverge.com/science/910326/iran-strait-hormuz-fertilizer-feedstock-food-crisis "Around a quarter of US farmers did not lock in fertilizer prices last fall, and many are now scrambling to cover costs stemming from a war they didn’t anticipate. Every day the Strait remains closed or restricted, it causes the five-plus-week crisis to extend further into the Northern Hemisphere’s vital spring planting season."
Groups Set Up to Shill AI and Data Centers Are Pouring Huge Sums of Money Into the Midterm Elections https://futurism.com/future-society/ai-pacs-trump-lobbying
Kash Patel’s Erratic Behavior Could Cost Him His Job - The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/04/kash-patel-fbi-director-drinking-absences/686839/
OpenAI shutters AI video generator Sora after just six months https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/mar/24/openai-ai-video-sora
I bet that's what happened.
Occam's Kazoo https://imgur.com/gallery/sTxgXmH perfect
Automatic Registration for U.S. Military Draft Coming Soon https://newrepublic.com/post/208839/automatic-registration-us-military-draft
The reality? Inflation WAS coming down under Biden. https://imgur.com/gallery/op1yNQB
French woman, 86, held by ICE after moving to US to marry 1950s sweetheart https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/14/marie-therese-billy-ice-arrest-us-france
AI Mistake Throws Innocent Grandmother in Jail for Nearly Six Months https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-grandmother-jail-mistake
MAHAspital - SNL - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUBVuvstPCs If you watched the Pitt, this will ring a bell.
Jürgen Habermas, German philosopher and sociologist, dies aged 96 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/14/jurgen-habermas-german-philosopher-and-sociologist-dies-aged-96
Government Workers Say They're Getting Inundated With Religion | WIRED https://www.wired.com/story/government-workers-say-theyre-getting-inundated-with-religion/
Leigh McGowan (@politicsgirl) is consistently the smartest person in the room. https://imgur.com/gallery/GXUny6R
Preposterous https://imgur.com/gallery/9CoplXs that's actually a good analogy.
Toddler Sexually Abused After Immigration Agents Took Her From Her Mom https://newrepublic.com/post/208663/toddler-alleged-sexual-abuse-immigration-agents-separated They're all f*cking pervs.
The Billionaire Funding France’s Far Right - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/22/world/europe/pierre-eduoard-sterin-france-far-right.html
Trump predicts US will have ‘honour of taking Cuba’ amid power blackout https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/17/donald-trump-can-take-cuba-oil Here we go again with the rapey talk.
The greater blue-eared starling, one of the most beautiful #birds. https://imgur.com/gallery/euDJqaG
Weekend Update: Tucker Carlson on Liberal Politics and the 2026 Oscars - SNL - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cssPptEqVWE
Nick Anderson on MAGA christians
New Hungarian prime minister off to a roaring-ass start https://imgur.com/gallery/8GvQ0tL
Tax day is a reminder of America’s unequal tax system. But we can fix it | Joseph Stiglitz, Gabriel Zucman and Zohran Mamdani | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/15/tax-day-united-states-unequal-taxation
Lol, sometimes things work out just fine https://imgur.com/gallery/Y8WF2pB
Nick Anderson
The Moms Who Sponcon Their Daughters’ First Periods https://www.wired.com/story/the-moms-who-sponcon-their-daughters-first-periods/
Jim Henson is such a legend https://imgur.com/gallery/QX6V1rm Riiiight
‘It started with a tipoff’: how a Guardian investigation exposed child sex trafficking on Facebook and Instagram | Sex trafficking | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2026/apr/06/investigation-exposed-child-sex-trafficking-on-facebook-and-instagram-meta
Afrika Bambaataa, hip-hop pioneer, dies aged 67 https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/apr/09/afrika-bambaataa-hip-hop-pioneer-dies
Voting for Trump is costing Latinos their wealth https://www.salon.com/2026/04/09/voting-for-trump-is-costing-latinos-their-wealth/
No H.I.V. Aid Without More Access to Minerals: U.S. Ponders ‘Sticks’ Against Zambia - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/health/zambia-hiv-aid-minerals-trump.html? Evil f*cks.
Turns Out The DOGE Bros Who Killed Humanities Grants Are Kinda Sensitive About It https://www.techdirt.com/2026/03/16/turns-out-the-doge-bros-who-killed-humanities-grants-are-kinda-sensitive-about-it/
A little oopsie from Wired
Netflix Buys Startup That Modifies Footage Using AI https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/netflix-buys-ai-startup-ben-afleck
The FCC Has a Fast Lane for Complaints About Trump’s Media Critics | WIRED https://www.wired.com/story/the-fcc-has-a-fast-lane-for-complaints-about-trumps-media-critics/
Congress Will Not Stop the War With Iran https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/congress-iran-war-powers-trump-authorization-vote/ "Every Republican except Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul opposed the resolution; all Democrats apart from Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania supported it. Sen. Jim Justice (R-W.Va.) did not vote. "
The death of Sears https://imgur.com/gallery/0eE6vvP
Elon Musk Just Made a Small Change That Speaks Volumes About His Desperation https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/elon-musk-change-grok-desperation "Starting last week, Grok stopped taking questions that free users asked in posts on Musk’s social media site, X, where the chatbot is integrated. Instead, it now states that “Ask Grok” is only available to Premium and Premium+ subscribers, paid tiers that the site heavily pushes."
How Your Data Is Powering Trump’s Surveillance State https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/how-your-data-is-powering-trumps-surveillance-state/
Top Architecture Firm Won’t Design More ICE Prisons After Employees Revolt https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/ice-dlr-group-detention-corecivic-contract-worker-resistance-trump/
Trump Administration Seeks to Remove Cuba’s President From Power During Negotiations - The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/world/americas/trump-cuba-president-diaz-canel.html? 🌮 is gonna make lil Marco eat 💩 "The United States so far is not pushing for any action against Castro family members, who remain the country’s top power brokers, two of the people said. "
Bosses say AI boosts productivity – workers say they’re drowning in ‘workslop’ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/14/ai-productivity-workplace-errors
