David Karger
@karger.bsky.social
Professor, MIT EECS/CSAIL
http://people.csail.mit.edu/karger
http://people.csail.mit.edu/karger
Reposted by David Karger
The pardons were never about justice. They’ve always been, like all things Trump, transactional. Trump wants the insurrectionists need to believe he’s their leader and protector.
Once wasn’t enough. Trump pardons a J6 rioter for a SECOND time.
@politico.com @kyledcheney.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
@politico.com @kyledcheney.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
November 15, 2025 at 3:11 PM
The pardons were never about justice. They’ve always been, like all things Trump, transactional. Trump wants the insurrectionists need to believe he’s their leader and protector.
Reposted by David Karger
Devastating piece on the human toll of Kavanaugh Stops.
Especially infuriating to know that rich white guys like Brett K can simply close their eyes to the human suffering their racist jurisprudence has unleashed.
Especially infuriating to know that rich white guys like Brett K can simply close their eyes to the human suffering their racist jurisprudence has unleashed.
For two months, the U.S. government has been racial profiling as masked federal agents hunted for immigrants throughout Chicago. They’ve repeatedly snatched up U.S. citizens while traumatizing communities. “I felt like a piece of trash.” Here is our story www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/15/l...
Latino US citizens racially profiled by federal immigration agents in Chicago: ‘I felt like a piece of trash’
The Tribune spoke to U.S. citizens and green card holders who have either been questioned or detained during Trump’s Operation Midway Blitz.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Devastating piece on the human toll of Kavanaugh Stops.
Especially infuriating to know that rich white guys like Brett K can simply close their eyes to the human suffering their racist jurisprudence has unleashed.
Especially infuriating to know that rich white guys like Brett K can simply close their eyes to the human suffering their racist jurisprudence has unleashed.
Reposted by David Karger
Wrote about what the real threat Grokipedia poses is + some suggestions for addressing it! Drawing on @brendannyhan.bsky.social's work on misinformation.
(Lots more to say about erosion of epistemic standards, models of knowledge-production, etc.!)
(Lots more to say about erosion of epistemic standards, models of knowledge-production, etc.!)
What should worry us about Grokipedia is not that masses of people will come to believe right-wing conspiracy theories, but that far-right supporters will find new rationalizations for their views, writes Carolina Flores.
Grokipedia Won't Destroy Knowledge, but it Might Divide Us More | TechPolicy.Press
Grokipedia might well not dethrone Wikipedia, and media outlets should be wary of inflating its importance, Carolina Flores writes.
www.techpolicy.press
November 14, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Wrote about what the real threat Grokipedia poses is + some suggestions for addressing it! Drawing on @brendannyhan.bsky.social's work on misinformation.
(Lots more to say about erosion of epistemic standards, models of knowledge-production, etc.!)
(Lots more to say about erosion of epistemic standards, models of knowledge-production, etc.!)
Reposted by David Karger
“Housing shortage – Jews to blame," letter sticker, German Reich, 1938
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
November 14, 2025 at 2:16 AM
“Housing shortage – Jews to blame," letter sticker, German Reich, 1938
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
zwangsraeume.berlin/en/context
Reposted by David Karger
it's both gratifying to witness this defense of pluralism and traumatic to know how late the hour is
Good statement from the US conference of Catholic Bishops
November 14, 2025 at 4:30 AM
it's both gratifying to witness this defense of pluralism and traumatic to know how late the hour is
Reposted by David Karger
SCOTUS6: POTUS can fire anyone.
IGs: Even IGs?
SCOTUS6: Everyone but Fed Chairs.
IGs: Even IGs who discovered someone framed a Fed Chair?
www.wsj.com/finance/regu...
IGs: Even IGs?
SCOTUS6: Everyone but Fed Chairs.
IGs: Even IGs who discovered someone framed a Fed Chair?
www.wsj.com/finance/regu...
November 11, 2025 at 9:16 PM
SCOTUS6: POTUS can fire anyone.
IGs: Even IGs?
SCOTUS6: Everyone but Fed Chairs.
IGs: Even IGs who discovered someone framed a Fed Chair?
www.wsj.com/finance/regu...
IGs: Even IGs?
SCOTUS6: Everyone but Fed Chairs.
IGs: Even IGs who discovered someone framed a Fed Chair?
www.wsj.com/finance/regu...
Reposted by David Karger
spoke with the executive director of my local food bank today and got this really incredible line: "if you donate 1 can of green beans, we can give away 1 can of green beans. but if you donate a dollar, we can give away 6 cans of green beans"
November 10, 2025 at 7:32 PM
spoke with the executive director of my local food bank today and got this really incredible line: "if you donate 1 can of green beans, we can give away 1 can of green beans. but if you donate a dollar, we can give away 6 cans of green beans"
Reposted by David Karger
"In the first half of this year, the Trump Organization’s income soared 17-fold to $864 million from $51 million a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations." Wild. www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Inside the Trump family’s global crypto cash machine
The U.S. president’s family raked in more than $800 million from sales of crypto assets in the first half of 2025 alone, a Reuters examination found, on top of potentially billions more in unrealized “on paper” gains. Much of that cash came from foreign sources as Donald Trump's sons touted their business on an international investor roadshow.
www.reuters.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:33 PM
"In the first half of this year, the Trump Organization’s income soared 17-fold to $864 million from $51 million a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations." Wild. www.reuters.com/investigatio...
It's a shame we don't live in a society that could accept a more complex message, that various good people disagreed about whether it was worse to starve some people now or to have others dying without health insurance later.
This is actually good spin, or would have been. But the fact that the Democratic cave happened without even a coordinated, agreed-upon message like this indicates the depth of the leadership void.
November 11, 2025 at 6:12 PM
It's a shame we don't live in a society that could accept a more complex message, that various good people disagreed about whether it was worse to starve some people now or to have others dying without health insurance later.
Reposted by David Karger
A Republican sheriff in a swing county that Trump won by 0.1% signed a contract to help ICE, then lost last week by 11.
New by me in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/sheriff-of-b...
New by me in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/sheriff-of-b...
Voters Ousted This Pennsylvania Sheriff After He Signed Up to Collaborate With ICE - Bolts
A populous, swing county replaced its GOP sheriff on Tuesday after months of controversy over his joining ICE’s 287(g) program. The Democratic winner promises he’ll end the contract.
boltsmag.org
November 10, 2025 at 7:20 PM
A Republican sheriff in a swing county that Trump won by 0.1% signed a contract to help ICE, then lost last week by 11.
New by me in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/sheriff-of-b...
New by me in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/sheriff-of-b...
Reposted by David Karger
"But Her Emails" he cried softly
What the actual f*ck?!!!
“Members of Trump’s National Security Council, including White House national security adviser Michael Waltz, have conducted government business over personal Gmail accounts, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post and interviews with three U.S. officials.“
“Members of Trump’s National Security Council, including White House national security adviser Michael Waltz, have conducted government business over personal Gmail accounts, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post and interviews with three U.S. officials.“
Waltz and staff used Gmail for government communications, officials say
Trump’s national security adviser is trying to manage his way out of a crisis. But new revelations about his team’s operational security are piling up in the inbox.
wapo.st
October 31, 2025 at 8:01 PM
"But Her Emails" he cried softly
Reposted by David Karger
I kid you not, this is currently what the White House's "Major Events Timeline" shows for the East Wing expansion.
www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-wh...
www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-wh...
October 23, 2025 at 7:53 PM
I kid you not, this is currently what the White House's "Major Events Timeline" shows for the East Wing expansion.
www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-wh...
www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-wh...
Reposted by David Karger
If only Murkowski was a member of an organization that could do something about Congress being "adrift," that would be amazing.
“The Congress is adrift,” said Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska. “It’s like we have given up. And that’s not a good signal to the American public.”
1/4
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/b...
1/4
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/b...
The Abdication of Congress
www.nytimes.com
October 23, 2025 at 11:01 PM
If only Murkowski was a member of an organization that could do something about Congress being "adrift," that would be amazing.
I think the best response might be to develop an LLM conversational interface to wikipedia that can aggregate information from multiple wikipedia pages to provide fact-based answers to user questions.
wikipedia's data shows that AI is siphoning traffic away from the site, which is a danger to its sustainability. ironically Wikipedia is more important than ever to users who want reliable information instead of slop, and to AI companies that need it for training data www.404media.co/wikipedia-sa...
Wikipedia Says AI Is Causing a Dangerous Decline in Human Visitors
“With fewer visits to Wikipedia, fewer volunteers may grow and enrich the content, and fewer individual donors may support this work.”
www.404media.co
October 17, 2025 at 8:52 PM
I think the best response might be to develop an LLM conversational interface to wikipedia that can aggregate information from multiple wikipedia pages to provide fact-based answers to user questions.
Reposted by David Karger
Senator JD Vance warned against weaponizing the IRS.
Vice President JD Vance is getting ready to weaponize the IRS.
Trump’s illegal meddling is one of the many reasons why millions of Americans will take to the streets on Saturday. We hope to see you there: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings
Vice President JD Vance is getting ready to weaponize the IRS.
Trump’s illegal meddling is one of the many reasons why millions of Americans will take to the streets on Saturday. We hope to see you there: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings
October 17, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Senator JD Vance warned against weaponizing the IRS.
Vice President JD Vance is getting ready to weaponize the IRS.
Trump’s illegal meddling is one of the many reasons why millions of Americans will take to the streets on Saturday. We hope to see you there: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings
Vice President JD Vance is getting ready to weaponize the IRS.
Trump’s illegal meddling is one of the many reasons why millions of Americans will take to the streets on Saturday. We hope to see you there: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i... #NoKings
Reposted by David Karger
The moderate position here is that no current ICE agent should ever be allowed to work for the government again
October 17, 2025 at 1:24 AM
The moderate position here is that no current ICE agent should ever be allowed to work for the government again
Reposted by David Karger
Second article of impeachment of Richard Nixon:
“He has endeavoured…to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be intitiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.”
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
“He has endeavoured…to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be intitiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.”
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Exclusive | Trump Team Plans IRS Overhaul to Enable Pursuit of Left-Leaning Groups
The effort would install a Trump ally at the IRS’s criminal unit who has drawn up a list of investigative targets.
www.wsj.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Second article of impeachment of Richard Nixon:
“He has endeavoured…to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be intitiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.”
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
“He has endeavoured…to cause, in violation of the constitutional rights of citizens, income tax audits or other income tax investigations to be intitiated or conducted in a discriminatory manner.”
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
we're not going to forget but Trump is going to pardon all of them.
Pritzker: "Stephen Miller is clearly ordering people to break the law. So he should know that yeah, it may be three years from now that he is held accountable, but I think it's important for them to know that whatever they do now, it's not like we're going to forget."
October 17, 2025 at 4:30 AM
we're not going to forget but Trump is going to pardon all of them.
Reposted by David Karger
@kenwhite.bsky.social I'm so sorry.
Cruz: I've introduced legislation that would allow DOJ to use RICO to prosecute the money that is funding these No Kings Protests
Credit: @acyn.bsky.social
x.com/Acyn/status/...
Cruz: I've introduced legislation that would allow DOJ to use RICO to prosecute the money that is funding these No Kings Protests
Credit: @acyn.bsky.social
x.com/Acyn/status/...
October 16, 2025 at 12:49 PM
@kenwhite.bsky.social I'm so sorry.
Cruz: I've introduced legislation that would allow DOJ to use RICO to prosecute the money that is funding these No Kings Protests
Credit: @acyn.bsky.social
x.com/Acyn/status/...
Cruz: I've introduced legislation that would allow DOJ to use RICO to prosecute the money that is funding these No Kings Protests
Credit: @acyn.bsky.social
x.com/Acyn/status/...
Reposted by David Karger
If Joe Biden was unable to close an umbrella there would have been +/- 1,000 think pieces in the newspapers of America questioning whether he was capable of discharging the duties of the office of President of the United States.
Trump gets some help closing his umbrella while boarding Air Force One
October 12, 2025 at 8:58 PM
If Joe Biden was unable to close an umbrella there would have been +/- 1,000 think pieces in the newspapers of America questioning whether he was capable of discharging the duties of the office of President of the United States.
Reposted by David Karger
Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts apnews.com/article/myan...
Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.
apnews.com
October 8, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Horrific reporting from the AP on the Myanmar families watching their kids starve to death from Trump and Musk’s aid cuts apnews.com/article/myan...
Nice coverage in MIT News of my student @theias.place 's new infrastructure that lets you build your own social application in a single web page and interact with your friends without running a server at all. Want to try? We're happy to answer questions.
news.mit.edu/2025/system-...
news.mit.edu/2025/system-...
System lets people personalize online social spaces while staying connected with others
The Graffiti system lets individuals create customized social applications that can seamlessly interoperate with one another, allowing users to move between multiple apps without losing their connecti...
news.mit.edu
October 6, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Nice coverage in MIT News of my student @theias.place 's new infrastructure that lets you build your own social application in a single web page and interact with your friends without running a server at all. Want to try? We're happy to answer questions.
news.mit.edu/2025/system-...
news.mit.edu/2025/system-...
My student Theia Henderson just presented at UIST (and earned a best paper award) for her work "Graffiti: Enabling an Ecosystem of Personalized and Interoperable Social Applications".
If you want to build a social app, Graffiti makes it simple and serverless; I explain why below.
1/
If you want to build a social app, Graffiti makes it simple and serverless; I explain why below.
1/
October 1, 2025 at 9:52 PM
My student Theia Henderson just presented at UIST (and earned a best paper award) for her work "Graffiti: Enabling an Ecosystem of Personalized and Interoperable Social Applications".
If you want to build a social app, Graffiti makes it simple and serverless; I explain why below.
1/
If you want to build a social app, Graffiti makes it simple and serverless; I explain why below.
1/
Reposted by David Karger
Indie director Barbara Marques has been kidnapped by ICE. She is legally married to a U.S. citizen & was at a green card mtg when she was abducted and prevented from seeing her lawyer. Her husband Tucker May does not know where she is. Please spread the word so he can find her /1
September 28, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Indie director Barbara Marques has been kidnapped by ICE. She is legally married to a U.S. citizen & was at a green card mtg when she was abducted and prevented from seeing her lawyer. Her husband Tucker May does not know where she is. Please spread the word so he can find her /1
read the replies
Technologically advance a band:
OLED Soundsystem
OLED Soundsystem
September 22, 2025 at 9:51 PM
read the replies