CleverPeople.com: Bookmarks}

Watch "Inside CECOT" (The Story That 60 Minutes Refused to Air)

Gary Wright II — Tue, 23 Dec 2025 21:20:50 -0500

Here's a link to the 14-minute documentary about the notorious El Salvador prison that Bari Weiss refused to let CBS air:

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.muellershewrote.com/p/watch-the-60-minutes-cecot-segment

Executive Order Lawsuit Tracker

Gary Wright II — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 14:25:20 -0500

The Associated Press has a page worth bookmarking. The AP is tracking the hundreds of lawsuits filed against Trump's executive orders. I've been using RSS to follow the major civil rights lawsuits so that I get immediate notifications about each new filing, and I can barely keep up! When you see all of them together on one page you realize how much trouble we're in trying to fight an authoritarian government.

Address of the Bookmark: https://apnews.com/projects/trump-executive-order-lawsuit-tracker/

Jeffrey Epstein And Ehud Barak Emails

Gary Wright II — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 16:39:20 -0500

This reporting is based on the files released by the House Oversight Committee and the hacked files on Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDOSecrets.org). It is not based on the DOJ Epstein files release, which once released will hopefully provide even more insight. Having the hacked files is one way we know the DOJ release is incomplete and being censored!

Epstein has taken credit for interfering in the Israeli elections, and for setting up secret backchannels of communication between Israel and Russia. My biggest question is: did Epstein do the same thing for Trump using Steve Bannon an the intermediary?

This article is a good look at the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/18/ehud-barak-israel-jeffrey-epstein-emails/876...

Fort Bliss ICE Detainee Dies In Custody

Gary Wright II — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 13:44:10 -0500

A 48-year-old man has died while in ICE custody at Fort Bliss after failing to receive appropriate medical care. The detention center is called Camp East Montana, and it's a massive tent camp at the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. The Fort Bliss detention center needs to be shut down! It was used during World War II to intern people of Japanese descent, and now is the nation's largest detention center that can hold up to 4,000. Trump has also funneled billions from DHS to the US Navy to build internment camps to each hold up to 10,000 detainees. They must be stopped, because they aren't capable of caring for such a large population of people in custody.

The ACLU and other rights groups has done numerous interviews with the Fort Bliss detainees and they report: "Immigrants held in this facility are facing extreme abuse. People are suffering beatings and sexual abuse by officers. They're being given inadequate and rotten food and foul water. They've been denied soap, toilet paper, and adequate medical care. Access to legal counsel has been restricted. One teenager was beaten so severely that he lost consciousness and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance in an incident that led to hearing loss."

The goal of DHS is simple: they make the immigrants so miserable that they give up their rights and self-deport. The reports of extreme abuse are sickening, and so far there's been no one held accountable for it. The Fort Bliss detention center must be shut down!

Here's more reporting with some of the stories of the immigrants.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/12/08/us-close-fort-bliss-immigration-detention-site

"Resilience for Sustainable Activism" by Nkem Ndefo

Gary Wright II — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 13:17:52 -0500

Current events are stressful and exhausting, especially if you are an activist. This is a recording of the excellent 1-½ hour session by Nkem Ndefo on Resilience for Sustainable Activism. It teaches you how to listen to your body, and recognize the signs of stress and exhaustion which are only human responses, and not a sign of failure. The lesson is part of Indivisible's Solidarity in Action Speaker Series and it really helped me a lot. Please bookmark it and watch it when you have some time!

She teaches us that::

Burnout and reactivity are predictable stress responses, not personal shortcomings.
Our bodies can be tools for discernment, steadiness, and alignment when we learn to listen.
Solidarity deepens when we can show up from a regulated place being able to hear, to repair, and to stay connected.
Rest, play, and delight are forms of resistance that make sustained action possible.

Address of the Bookmark: https://youtu.be/fU7dIoJTCCE?si=bbiVZep4HkBX2dQy

Antifa Civil Lawsuit

Gary Wright II — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 10:57:19 -0500

The first civil lawsuit has been filed over Trump's designation of Antifa (anti-fascists) as a domestic terrorist group. The Protect Democracy Project filed FOIA requests to Dept of Treasury, DHS, State Dept, and FinCEN "seeking records with the potential to shed light on whether and how these executive actions are being used to target perceived political enemies of the Trump Administration." None of the agencies responded to the FOIA requests, so they've filed a federal lawsuit.

It isn't included in the lawsuit (yet), but yesterday at a House Homeland Security hearing FBI agent Michael Glasheen who is serving as operations director of the National Security Branch said that he agreed with Trump that antifa is the greatest national security threat facing the US. Then he really struggled when asked very basic questions by Rep. Bennie Thompson. That's because antifa is not an organization in the US. There are no leaders and there is no hierarchy. It is just a term for people who are anti-fascists (which are most sane people) and Trump is using that self-imagined boogeyman to go after anyone who disagrees with him. I guess that means the government is admitting it is fascist if anti-fascists are its greatest enemy?

Here's the 13-page Complaint.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71951881/1/protect-democracy-project-v-us-department-of-the-tre...

ICE Has "Watch List" Of Prominent Immigration Attorneys

Gary Wright II — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 20:46:03 -0500

Whew boy! Tennessee attorney Arlene Amarante was looking at the ICE website to confirm she was listed as the attorney for her client, when she discovered a "watch list" of prominent immigration attorneys that overwhelmingly are Latino, Asian, or have African-sounding names. ICE quickly removed the list from their website, but not before she got a screen capture of it. There is now a FOIA request filed to obtain that list and more information about it.

This reporting says: In March 2025, the White House issued a memo titled “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court,” accusing immigration attorneys of “unscrupulous” conduct and directing the Attorney General to take action against attorneys and law firms pursuing litigation against the US. The memo ordered agencies to “seek sanctions” and disciplinary actions against those challenging government policy.

We are falling so far and so quickly, and headed towards having a fascist government. I can't wait to see what the FOIA request uncovers.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/attorney-uncovers-ice-watch-list-of-prominent-us-immigration-lawyers/

New US National Security Strategy Sucks!

Gary Wright II — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 19:13:29 -0500

If you thought the unclassified version was bad, the longer classified version is even worse! It wants five nations to rule the world: US, China, Russia, India, and Japan. It will be called the C5 as we abandon the Western-led groups and give Russia a place at the table. It attacks Europe and wants to form resistance groups there composed of White Supremacists who they want to govern those countries and kick out all of their immigrants. It has the US abandoning NATO, which is critical to keeping Europe safe from Russia.

The White House insists that the only version of the NSS that exists is the one they made public, but there was a longer classified version floating around before they made anything public. Even the unclassified version is a total disaster! It reads like it was written by Stephen Miller and Vladimir Putin, because it gives Putin everything he wants but with an even more xenophobic slant.

Trump is not only enabling Putin, but he's making the US much like Russia. Even Russia has stated that they love the new plan.

Here's more reporting on the new NSS.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.defenseone.com/policy/2025/12/make-europe-great-again-and-more-longer-version-national-s...

Judicial Complaint Filed Against Emil Bove

Gary Wright II — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 16:36:07 -0500

Emil Bove used to be Trump's personal lawyer, he was then given a high level job at DOJ as Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, and then they rewarded his corrupt ass with a lifetime appointment of federal judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals where he's been a failure. His public statements show he is not qualified or fit to be a judge. He is a witness in the criminal contempt proceedings against DHS Kristi Noem because of the poor legal advice he gave her. On December 15th at 9:30AM whistleblower Erez Reuveni is going to give sworn testimony that Bove told the DOJ attorneys to say "Fuck the court!" if they rule against anything in the Trump agenda. That's exactly what Noem did when she ignored Judge Boasberg's order, and why the judge is quickly moving to hold them in criminal contempt (J.G.G. v. Trump).

Today, Fix The Court filed a formal Judicial Complaint after Bove attended the Trump rally yesterday at a casino in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. When asked about it, Bove said he was “just here as a citizen coming to watch the president speak.”

The rally was clearly a political rally, not a presidential speech (which would be allowed). There are two Canons of Judicial Conduct that he violated by attending a political rally: Canon 2 states that a judge “should avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities.” Canon 5 states that a judge “should refrain from political activity.”

There is already no question that Bove is biased and incapable of being an impartial judge. He's also not qualified. Bove must be impeached and thrown off the federal bench as quickly as possible!

Here's the 4-page Complaint of Judicial Misconduct.

Address of the Bookmark: https://fixthecourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Bove-complaint-GR-12.10.25.pdf

Lawsuit Seeks DOJ Memo On Trump's Extra-Judicial Murders

Gary Wright II — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 18:18:25 -0500

The illegal strikes on boats in Latin America have already killed at least 87 people. There is a memorandum from DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) that not only supposedly gives legal authority for the murders of these civilians who allegedly are carrying drugs, but also promises immunity from prosecution for everyone who takes part in the extra-judicial murders.

A new lawsuit is seeking release of the OLC memo and other documents through enforcing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Here's the 11-page Complaint:

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/72008925/1/american-civil-liberties-union-v-department-of-justi...

USA Gets Downgraded As We Slip Towards Authoritarianism

Gary Wright II — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 15:39:39 -0500

The latest report from CIVICUS has downgraded the USA from Narrowed to Obstructed since Trump has taken office. The report measures all the areas that disrupt civil society, and the USA violates almost all of them. 😭 Then next stage is Oppressed and then Closed. The further we fall, the harder it is to get back to an open society. I can't believe how quickly we've fallen in just one year, and there's been no pushback from Congress or the Supreme Court. We have to get organized and come up with a plan for the people to retake control of our government before we lose it.

Here's the full 112-page report.

Address of the Bookmark: https://civicusmonitor.contentfiles.net/media/documents/Embargoed9December.CIVICUSMonitorReport25.pd...

AG Bondi's Memo To Attack "Antifa" And Left-Leaning Groups

Gary Wright II — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 16:48:28 -0500

I've already written about the dangers of Trump's NSPM-7 memorandum that mobilized the national security apparatus to go after Anti-fascists ("Antifa") and groups that they have broadly defined as "domestic terrorists." The National Security Presidential Memorandum is written so that just about any left-leaning group can be investigated. Here's a link to my post about NSPM-7:

https://cleverpeople.com/blog/view/148545/national-security-presidential-memo-7-targets-activists

Now we have the memorandum that Attorney General Pam Bondi sent out to all of the federal prosecutors. It includes Antifa (which is not an organization in the USA), those with "extreme viewpoints on immigration, radical gender ideology, and anti-American sentiment." She is using the Charlie Kirk assassination as an excuse to prosecute anyone who voices dissent against the Trump administration by labeling them as domestic terrorists.

Our First Amendment right is how we protect all of our other rights. It's imperative that we fight back against such tyranny. Please join your local Indivisible group or seek out another rights organization in your area. We have to get organized and act quickly before we lose our rights!

Here is a link to Indivisible: https://groups.indivisible.org/

This bookmark is the 6-page Bondi memorandum.

Address of the Bookmark: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/s3.indivisibleguide.com/images/Bondi-Memo-December2025.pdf

The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act Is Released

Gary Wright II — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 21:34:52 -0500

The National Defense Authorization Act is what funds our military, but way too much of the bill always gives outrageous amounts of money to defense contractors. Much of the "dark money" is for projects that are classified, so there's no way to track their spending on them. This is where most of our taxpayer money goes, but politicians on both sides refuse to cut the spending. It infuriates me that we spend so much on our military industrial complex, yet they say we can't afford universal health care like most civilized countries, or afford social safety nets for people who are struggling. They also sneak hundreds of items into the must-pass bill that they know they can't get passed through the normal lawmaking process. The amount of spending in this bill each year is obscene! $900.6 BILLION dollars this year?

House Speaker Mike Johnson said, “This year’s National Defense Authorization Act helps advance President Trump and Republicans’ Peace Through Strength Agenda by codifying 15 of President Trump’s executive orders, ending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos." WTF?!?

Most lawmakers never have time to read the full document, but they vote on it anyway. Here's the full text of the bill which is 3,086 pages long.

Address of the Bookmark: https://thehill.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/12/NDAA.pdf

The People's Indictment of Trump: A Unified Declaration of Illegitimacy

Gary Wright II — Sat, 06 Dec 2025 15:18:44 -0500

On Saturday, December 13th at 2PM there will be 3,000 protesters from Refuse Fascism surrounding the White House with crime tape and delivering The People's Indictment. I wish I had the time and money to join them! ✊

It's pretty scary how far and how quickly our country has fallen into fascism, especially when you write all of the reasons down in one document. Here's a link to the indictment which is worth reading, and to the Refuse Fascism website where you can subscribe, donate, or volunteer.

Address of the Bookmark: https://refusefascism.org/uncategorized/the-peoples-indictment-of-donald-trump-a-unified-declaration...

SCOTUS To Hear Birthright Citizenship Case

Gary Wright II — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 14:42:05 -0500

The Supreme Court just granted certiorari to hear Trump's plan to overturn the 14th Amendment guarantee of birthright citizenship. That means that at least 4 of the 9 justices voted to hear the case, which has been ruled unconstitutional by all of the lower courts. The Questions Presented file hasn't been filled in yet, but Trump has been arguing against the text of the Constitution that says: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Trump claims that migrants aren't "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" so babies don't get citizenship unless both parents are citizens at time of birth. Nobody has ever interpreted the law this way, so I'm shocked that SCOTUS has even agreed to hear this case.

If immigrants aren't "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" then doesn't that mean they also wouldn't be subject to federal or state laws? Trump's interpretation of the 14th Amendment defies all logic, but here we are. What will the corrupt SCOTUS do?

Here's the court docket for Trump, et al. v. Barbara, et al. (SCOTUS Case #25-365).

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/25-365.html

Free Alabama Movement's Nine Demands

Gary Wright II — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 13:06:49 -0500

There's a list of nine demands that FAM is making for their planned February 8th statewide prison work stoppage. They all seem very reasonable to me, but they can't do it alone and they need our help! Instead of quoting the voices of the incarcerated, here's a link to their website so you can read for yourself and stay informed.

Address of the Bookmark: https://freealabamamovement.wordpress.com/

Abortion Clinic "Safety Zone" Overturned In Clearwater, Florida

Gary Wright II — Fri, 05 Dec 2025 11:32:42 -0500

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Alabama, Florida, and Georgia) has remanded for a preliminary injunction an abortion clinic safety zone case back to the lower court. Sounds like they may need more clinic escorts to ensure people aren't being intimidated!

A three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit wrote: "Seeking to protect the safety of those driving into and out of the parking lot of a local abortion clinic, the City of Clearwater, Florida created a “vehicular safety zone.” The buffer zone applied to most pedestrians, forbidding entrance to a 38-foot stretch of public sidewalk (28 feet of which cross the clinic’s driveway) during business hours."

The pro-lifers claim the safety zone around the Bread And Roses Woman's Health Center in Clearwater, FL impedes their First Amendment rights. The "sidewalk counselors" hang out and harass any pedestrians or vehicles they see coming near the clinic, so a safety zone was established by the city. The 11th Circuit thinks the First Amendment concerns prevail in this case because of the SCOTUS ruling in McCullen v. Coakley.

Here's their full 38-page opinion.

Address of the Bookmark: https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202313501.pdf

Bondi Issues Memo Directing Actions Against "Antifa"

Gary Wright II — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 22:36:02 -0500

This will open the door for them to investigate anyone who opposes Trump's fascist agenda. It says, "These domestic terrorists use violence or the threat of violence to advance political and social agendas, including opposition to law and immigration enforcement; extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders; adherence to radical gender ideology, anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, or anti-Christianity." Like I said, this is written so broadly it could target just about anyone who opposes the MAGA agenda. We are all in danger! When is our next protest march???

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/bondi-orders-law-enforcement-investigate-us-groups-over-acc...

Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxxing Act

Gary Wright II — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 21:46:32 -0500

Senators have introduced a bill that would expand Title 18 of US Code to specifically include federal immigration officers. It would make doxxing a federal officer with the intent to obstruct criminal or immigration enforcement a felony with fines and up to five years in federal prison. 🤬

So, let's talk about doxxing and let me introduce y'all to what's called reverse image searches. There are services that allow you to upload a face and it will identify the person. There is pimeyes dot com that does an excellent job, but it requires paid monthly subscriptions with different levels of service. Grok is good at doxxing based on text searches, but is not reliable for seeking other information because of its Nazi bias. Here's an article with more info on pimeyes, and it has a list of some free alternatives.

Address of the Bookmark: https://dataconomy.com/2023/03/06/what-is-pimeyes-free-alternatives-how-to/

SCOTUS Allows Racial Gerrymandering In Texas

Gary Wright II — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 18:52:09 -0500

Using the map, Texas could add up to 5 more seats in the House of Representatives. Justice Kagan wrote the dissent. The unsigned order says that Texas is “likely to succeed on the merits of its claim,” and that the lower court “failed to honor the presumption of legislative good faith” when assessing the state legislature’s motives. The lower court ruled that the map was racially gerrymandered. It will be interesting to see if SCOTUS allows the California map. The three liberals voted no, so it looks like the vote was likely 6-3. Here's the 20-page court's opinion (the dissent starts on page 4).

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25a608_7khn.pdf

DOJ Ends LGBTQIA+ Safety Standards In Prisons

Gary Wright II — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 17:21:42 -0500

This decision will get people raped and murdered! DOJ is in the process of revising the federal standards related to the 2003 Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) in order to align with Trump's executive order on "gender ideology extremism" that only recognizes two sexes: male and female. A 2015 survey from criminal justice group Black and Pink found LGBTQIA+ prisoners were over six times as likely to be sexually assaulted as the general prison population. They will also be housing transgender people in the wrong prisons based on their sex at birth.

This bookmark has an article with more reporting on their efforts.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.npr.org/2025/12/04/nx-s1-5630490/prison-doj-safety-memo-changes-trans-lgbtq-inmates

Taking A Life: Archie Hamlett's Story

Gary Wright II — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 12:50:20 -0500

The Alabama prison system is so broken and cruel, we have to change it! Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice is doing great work, and they have an excellent series called "Taking A Life." Reporter Beth Shelburne just added a note to her substack telling about what happened to Archie Hamlett. The utter cruelty is astounding! I encourage y'all to subscribe to her Moth To Flame newsletter (free or paid) and also check out Alabama Appleseed.

Please take a moment to read and think about what they did to Mr. Hamlett, and then help us fix the system: ✊

Address of the Bookmark: https://substack.com/@bethshelburne/note/c-182883322

"Power of the Purse: Anti-LGBTQ+ Extremism in the Congressional Appropriations Process"

Gary Wright II — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 12:36:49 -0500

GOP's Obsession Attacking LGBTQIA+ People - Across 12 must-pass federal funding bills, MAGA members of Congress have proposed more than 50 anti-LGBTQIA+ provisions. We've seen similar laws proposed in each of the states. They've attacked our health care, drag shows, pride flags, DEI efforts, non-discrimination rights, and everything else they can think of. Trump has used recission powers to strip away already-approved funding from housing, HIV prevention, health care, and so much more. They have stopped all foreign aid that helps protect our communities in developing nations. Trump has used executive orders to target us, and refuses to acknowledge Pride or World AIDS Day. Their unrelentless attacks against the transgender community has been dangerous and heart-breaking to watch.

Human Rights Campaign has just released this updated 16-page report called "Power of the Purse: Anti-LGBTQ+ Extremism in the Congressional Appropriations Process" that examines this problem further.

Address of the Bookmark: https://hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/files/documents/Appropriations-Report-Dec-2025-...

ACLU Sues Louisiana For Act 399 (Obstructing ICE)

Gary Wright II — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 19:41:26 -0500

On August 1st, Act 399 went into effect in Louisiana and so the ACLU has filed a lawsuit because it violates the 1st and 14th Amendments. The law amended Louisiana’s obstruction of justice statute to threaten imprisonment with hard labor and thousands of dollars in fines for people who “knowingly commit any act intended to hinder, delay, prevent or otherwise interfere with or thwart federal immigration enforcement efforts.”

This law is written so broadly, that people are scared to hand out Know Your Rights pamphlets or provide any assistance to immigrants. There are other states who are passing similar laws, so we need this win in Louisiana to set a legal precedent to take out the same law in other states.

Address of the Bookmark: https://www.kplctv.com/2025/12/03/aclu-files-lawsuit-against-louisiana-challenging-law-it-says-viola...

California Portal For Reporting Federal Officer Misconduct

Gary Wright II — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 18:20:14 -0500

With ICE/CBP's new crackdown on Afghan immigrants in northern California, now is a good time to have a portal to report their misconduct. Please share this link with folks in California!

Address of the Bookmark: https://oag.ca.gov/reportmisconduct