Michael Hawthorne
@scribeguy.bsky.social
Midwesterner. Pulitzer finalist. Dig into environment/public health for the Chicago Tribune. Confidential tips welcome via SIGNAL: scribeguy.35
EPL/NBA/MLB obsessive. Victoria Concordia Crescit. https://www.chicagotribune.com/author/michael-hawthorne
EPL/NBA/MLB obsessive. Victoria Concordia Crescit. https://www.chicagotribune.com/author/michael-hawthorne
Pinned
Michael Hawthorne
@scribeguy.bsky.social
· Jan 15
EPA warns of toxic forever chemicals in sewage sludge used on farmland, including thousands of acres near the Chicago area
In northeast Illinois, more than 777,000 tons of sludge from Chicago and Cook County have been spread on farmland — in many cases near residential areas.
www.chicagotribune.com
Update from me: More than 777K tons of PFAS-contaminated sludge from Chicago and Cook Co. have been spread on farmland during the past 8 years — in many cases near residential areas.
Only LA gave more sludge to farmers.
EPA confirms cancer risks for farmers and neighbors. Unclear about gen pop.
Only LA gave more sludge to farmers.
EPA confirms cancer risks for farmers and neighbors. Unclear about gen pop.
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Rep. Underwood says Broadview detainees and staff had been moved before her visit, but it was still apparent that the detention center does not meet minimum standards
Today, after months of requests, I toured the Broadview ICE Processing Facility. I want to share what I saw.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
The facility has no food vendor, no medical care, and detainees have to use toilets in the middle of shared cells. These are in no way suitable conditions to be holding anyone — period.
November 26, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Rep. Underwood says Broadview detainees and staff had been moved before her visit, but it was still apparent that the detention center does not meet minimum standards
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
While the Trump admin claims troops have been deployed to make cities safer & to protect Trump’s immigration interests, the use of the military against civilians protesting ICE’s presence is itself unprecedented and, in many cases, has helped further stoke violence and unrest, rather than prevent it
Hegseth Orders 500 More Troops to DC in Wake of National Guard Shooting
This is your TPM evening briefing.
wherethingsstand.talkingpointsmemo.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:38 PM
While the Trump admin claims troops have been deployed to make cities safer & to protect Trump’s immigration interests, the use of the military against civilians protesting ICE’s presence is itself unprecedented and, in many cases, has helped further stoke violence and unrest, rather than prevent it
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
oh this is absolutely what i think. i think they feed him fake polls and outright AI slop
At this point, I wonder if he isn't lying when he says he has "my highest Poll Numbers, ever" since it's entirely possible that's what his aides are telling him. It's quite likely that there's an entire Potemkin village built around Trump right now.
Trump responds to a detailed report about his waning energy and propensity to sleep through on-camera events by calling the New York Times's Katie Rogers ugly
November 26, 2025 at 2:41 PM
oh this is absolutely what i think. i think they feed him fake polls and outright AI slop
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Hugely useful
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A year on from Trump’s victory, resistance is everywhere | Rebecca Solnit
Americans have shown a tremendous amount and variety of opposition – more than some may realize
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 6:45 PM
Hugely useful
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Exclusive: The US-backed 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, which became public last week, drew from a Russian-authored paper submitted to the Trump administration in October reut.rs/3XQq2ZT
November 26, 2025 at 6:21 AM
Exclusive: The US-backed 28-point peace plan to end the war in Ukraine, which became public last week, drew from a Russian-authored paper submitted to the Trump administration in October reut.rs/3XQq2ZT
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Trump EPA to abandon air pollution rule that would prevent thousands of U.S. deaths www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Trump EPA to abandon air pollution rule that would prevent thousands of U.S. deaths
The Environmental Protection Agency will no longer defend Biden-era limits on fine-particle pollution, which causes heart and lung disease.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 25, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Trump EPA to abandon air pollution rule that would prevent thousands of U.S. deaths www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
Today in Death Cult news.
Exclusive: Republicans plan to challenge vehicle-safety mandates, such as automatic emergency braking and alarms that remind drivers a child is in the back seat.
Senate Committee to Challenge Auto-Safety Mandates That Hurt ‘Affordability’
Republicans are questioning the value of some features, such as automatic braking and rear-seat reminders.
on.wsj.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Today in Death Cult news.
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Trump Has a Recipe for War and Corruption, Not Peace
Who would benefit from the White House’s 28-point proposal for Ukraine?
www.theatlantic.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:11 AM
This is not a peace plan. It is a proposal that weakens Ukraine and divides America from Europe, preparing the way for a larger war in the future. In the meantime, it benefits unnamed Russian and American investors, at the expense of everyone else.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
November 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Sign at the US Military Academy at West Point:
November 23, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Sign at the US Military Academy at West Point:
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
What’s depressing isn’t the higher levels of federal expenditures & DOGE’s failure—it’s that the feds replaced expenditures on foreign assistance, research & the environment with spending on ICE personnel & national guard deployments.
Meanwhile, the rich got tax cuts so the deficit worsened.
Meanwhile, the rich got tax cuts so the deficit worsened.
November 23, 2025 at 6:42 PM
What’s depressing isn’t the higher levels of federal expenditures & DOGE’s failure—it’s that the feds replaced expenditures on foreign assistance, research & the environment with spending on ICE personnel & national guard deployments.
Meanwhile, the rich got tax cuts so the deficit worsened.
Meanwhile, the rich got tax cuts so the deficit worsened.
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Boston's Mayor Wu playing with Yo-Yo Ma at Symphony Hall
November 23, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Boston's Mayor Wu playing with Yo-Yo Ma at Symphony Hall
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Kavanaugh stop. Smashed the kid’s car windows and arrested him. He told them he was a U.S. citizen. The officer replied “I don’t care.”
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
High school senior, a U.S. citizen, detained by ICE in Oregon
The 17-year-old was held more than five hours Friday in an ICE facility, his brother said.
www.oregonlive.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Kavanaugh stop. Smashed the kid’s car windows and arrested him. He told them he was a U.S. citizen. The officer replied “I don’t care.”
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Unprecedented nepotism & corruption at the highest levels of American government
Reuters has confirmed that President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and his special envoy Steve Witkoff held a private meeting in Miami with a sanctioned Kremlin proxy to help shape the new "peace plan" for Ukraine. www.reuters.com/world/europe...
www.reuters.com
November 23, 2025 at 6:01 AM
Unprecedented nepotism & corruption at the highest levels of American government
Federal judge says Gregory Bovino, the tough-talking face of Trump's Chicago invasion, was "evasive" during three days of sworn testimony ... "either providing 'cute responses' or "outright lying.'"
Injunction ruling provides new look at Operation Midway Blitz, from tear gas to agent using ChatGPT to help write report
A federal judge on Thursday issued a scathing opinion that takes a deep dive into the use of force by immigration agents during Operation Midway Blitz.
www.chicagotribune.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Federal judge says Gregory Bovino, the tough-talking face of Trump's Chicago invasion, was "evasive" during three days of sworn testimony ... "either providing 'cute responses' or "outright lying.'"
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Excellent antidote to depression here.
Today on Volts: the subset of cleantech known as "electrotech" -- solar, batteries, heat pumps, etc. -- is marching toward inevitable victory, not because it's low-emissions (though it is), but because it's more efficient & cheaper. I discuss the good news with @kingsmillbond.bsky.social.
Clean electrification is inevitable
Kingsmill Bond explains why the global march of "electrotech" has moved beyond the reach of US political interference.
www.volts.wtf
November 22, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Excellent antidote to depression here.
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
when I was in law school everyone knew that joining the federalist society was like getting tsa precheck for a clerkship
I’m a law prof & a YLS grad and anyone familiar w elite law schools knows it is beyond laughable to describe these places as radicalism hotbeds. Cruz knows this, as does JD Vance. But they assume that their marks are too unsophisticated to know it too. It’s condescending as hell.
Ah yes. Harvard Law School in the early 1990s, well known for its Communist professors.
November 22, 2025 at 6:52 PM
when I was in law school everyone knew that joining the federalist society was like getting tsa precheck for a clerkship
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Playbook | While Marjorie Taylor Greene was celebrated in Washington for forswearing toxic politics, her internal polling showed she'd have to go back to harassing school shooting survivors if she wanted to win another Republican primary.
November 22, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Playbook | While Marjorie Taylor Greene was celebrated in Washington for forswearing toxic politics, her internal polling showed she'd have to go back to harassing school shooting survivors if she wanted to win another Republican primary.
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Trump Has the Power to Release the Epstein Files, With or Without Congress www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u...
Trump Has the Power to Release the Epstein Files, With or Without Congress
www.nytimes.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:17 AM
Trump Has the Power to Release the Epstein Files, With or Without Congress www.nytimes.com/2025/11/17/u...
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Never miss Phil's work.
MUST WATCH: Meet the neo-Nazi targeting kids online, teaching them to hate and to prepare to kill www.newschannel5.com/news/newscha...
Meet the neo-Nazi targeting kids online, teaching them to hate and to prepare to kill
A Phil Williams NC5 Investigates report on a neo-Nazi targeting kids online, telling them to prepare for a 'race war'
www.newschannel5.com
November 18, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Never miss Phil's work.
"Time and again, these agents — and the broader DHS and White House policies behind it — are being exposed not for their strength, but their weakness. Ordinary Americas are stronger — braver and better."
Trump, Border Patrol Retreat in Failure from Chicago
Five important lessons of the first six months of Trump’s immigration raids — and why CBP’s Greg Bovino is the Nathan Bedford Forrest of the Trump era.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
November 18, 2025 at 4:07 AM
"Time and again, these agents — and the broader DHS and White House policies behind it — are being exposed not for their strength, but their weakness. Ordinary Americas are stronger — braver and better."
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
this would have been a month-long scandal in 2011
President Trump walking past the flag at the Whitehouse which has fallen to the ground
November 18, 2025 at 12:38 AM
this would have been a month-long scandal in 2011
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
This is straight up bullshit. Tickets have been sold, hotels have been booked, local officials have planned. You can’t just up and “move” a World Cup game.
Trump threatens to move 2026 World Cup matches at 'sign of any trouble'
President Donald Trump again suggested World Cup matches at US venues could be changed if the administration is concerned about safety in that city.
www.usatoday.com
November 18, 2025 at 12:32 AM
This is straight up bullshit. Tickets have been sold, hotels have been booked, local officials have planned. You can’t just up and “move” a World Cup game.
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Great interview. Last few months have seen the importance of journalism and journalists more than ever, especially ones rooted in community.
November 18, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Great interview. Last few months have seen the importance of journalism and journalists more than ever, especially ones rooted in community.
Reposted by Michael Hawthorne
Oh, so now it's fine to have a war on Christmas
Fox guest on how to save money during the holidays:
"Remember, adults don't need gifts. Focus on the people in your life who are aged 3 to 18. Grandma doesn't need slippers. If they don't live by you, don't get them a gift."
"Remember, adults don't need gifts. Focus on the people in your life who are aged 3 to 18. Grandma doesn't need slippers. If they don't live by you, don't get them a gift."
November 17, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Oh, so now it's fine to have a war on Christmas