cliffside
cliffside's JournalMarimar Martinez testifies on Capitol Hill after being shot by immigration agents
Source: NBC
A Chicago woman shot by immigration agents in the Brighton Park neighborhood shared her experiences with members of Congress Tuesday.
Marimar Martinez testified Tuesday afternoon before a committee looking into allegations of excessive violence against immigration enforcement agents, recounting the day where she was shot five times in Chicago.
.... She told members that she feared for her life and attempted to flee, and that’s when agents opened fire.
“As I continued to drive past the Border Patrol agents, I could hear my back passenger window shatter, and I felt bullets continue to pierce my body,” she said. “As I attempted to drive to a safe location, I began to feel lightheaded. I looked down and saw blood gushing out of my arms and legs and realized I had been shot multiple times.”
Read more: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/marimar-martinez-testifies-on-capitol-hill-after-being-shot-by-immigration-agents/3886052/
Full testimony starts at the 40 minute mark in today's hearing.
https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/house-and-senate-democrats-examine-dhs-immigration-and-enforcement-tactics/672732
FEBRUARY 3, 2026
"House and Senate Democrats Examine DHS Immigration and Enforcement Tactics
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) host a meeting examining the tactics of Department of Homeland Security immigration enforcement agents, featuring testimony from the family of Renee Good and others."
Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon ...
In October, a retiree emailed a DHS attorney to urge mercy for an asylum seeker. Then DHS subpoenaed his Google account and sent investigators to his home.
Full article/gift link
https://wapo.st/4rtfCw8
"He had decided that the America he believed in would not make it if people like him didn’t speak up, so on a cool, rainy morning in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Jon, 67 and recently retired, marched up to his study and began to type.
He had just read about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s case against an Afghan it was trying to deport. The immigrant, identified in The Washington Post’s Oct. 30 investigation as H, had begged federal officials to reconsider, telling them the Taliban would kill him if he was returned to Afghanistan.
... Five hours and one minute later, Jon was watching TV with his wife when an email popped up in his inbox. He noticed it on his phone.
“Google,” the message read, “has received legal process from a Law Enforcement authority compelling the release of information related to your Google Account.”
.... That’s how it began. Soon would come a knock at the door by men with badges and, for Jon, the relentless feeling of being surveilled in a country where he never imagined he would be..."
Trump Administration Sued Over Cutting Off Funds for $16 Billion Tunnel
Source: NYT
"The agency overseeing construction of a $16 billion rail tunnel under the Hudson River sued the federal government on Monday for cutting off the project’s funding and leaving it without enough money to keep building beyond this week.
The agency, the Gateway Development Commission, filed suit in federal court in Washington against the United States for withholding $205 million in payments for work on the tunnel, which would connect New York and New Jersey. The project is critical to avoid a disruption in rail travel around New York City that would have drastic effects on the national economy, its supporters say.
The suit contends that the federal Department of Transportation has breached several grant and loan agreements by suspending funding for the tunnel project. In its filing, the commission raises the concern that the suspension is political, citing statements by “senior executive branch officials” that linked the funding cuts to the project’s status as a “Democratic program.”
The commission, which is controlled by Amtrak and the governors of New York and New Jersey, warned last week that it would have to shut down work sites on both sides of the Hudson and in the river by Feb. 6 because the Trump administration suspended its funding four months ago. About 1,000 workers would have to be laid off, the commission said...."
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/nyregion/hudson-river-tunnel-lawsuit-gateway.html
Why The Trump-UAE Crypto Deal Made No Financial Sense--For The Emiratis
Source: Forbes
".... It’s worth noting that the United States and the UAE went on a dealmaking spree together last year. In his role as the UAE’s national security advisor, Tahnoon secured his country access to powerful AI chips that the U.S. had previously kept close to the chest due to national security concerns. That deal was announced on May 15, just two weeks after the Binance-MGX-USD1 deal went through, and was reportedly negotiated in part by Trump envoy Steve Witkoff, who along with his son Zach co-founded World Liberty Financial.
The Defense Department also announced potential arms sales totaling $1.4 billion to the UAE, where the U.S. has an Air Force base and 3,500 deployed troops, that same month. The UAE did make a big promise in exchange for the above deals: $1.4 trillion in investments in the United States over ten years. That figure is more than twice as large as the tiny monarchy’s entire annual economy. Just last month, MGX, the state-owned, Tahoon-chaired UAE investment firm, was able to purchase a stake in the Trump-brokered sale of TikTok.
....All this smoke has Democrats in Congress shouting fire. “Trump’s crypto cons are the Mt. Everest of corruption—selling influence to line his own pockets,” Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, who serves on the Foreign Relations committee and introduced the “End Crypto Corruption Act” in 2025, said in a statement to Forbes. “Corruption, plain and simple,” Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Trump is bought and paid for by Abu Dhabi royals,” Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego wrote.
After the Binance-MGX-USD1 deal was announced last year, Trump opponents in the Senate filed a resolution to enforce the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause, which bars presidents from “accept[ing] of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” without Congress’ consent. Republicans blocked the measure. Warren and Merkley wrote to Binance and MGX at that time, asking why they settled the transaction in USD1 rather than fiat or another cryptocurrency. Any responses have not been made public. The senators also pressed the Office of Government Ethics to weigh in. That office has not responded to their request...."
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kylemullins/2026/02/02/why-the-trump-uae-crypto-deal-made-no-financial-sense-for-the-emiratis/
ICE buys warehouses for mass detention network, rattling locals
Source: WaPo
Full article/gift link
"The Trump administration has moved to acquire industrial buildings in at least eight states. DHS bought two this month: one in Maryland for $102 million and another in Arizona for $70 million.
... ICE expects to hold between 1,500 and 10,000 detainees in each of these 23 warehouses at a time, according to documents and interviews. But some experts have warned that it will be difficult to bring the industrial buildings up to federal standards for detention facilities in the short time before ICE plans to begin housing people in them.
The expansion of ICE’s detention system would help fulfill President Donald Trump’s goal of deporting millions of people by creating a hub-and-spoke model capable of booking migrants into processing centers for a few weeks and then transporting them to large-scale facilities where they would await deportation.
Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary at the Department of Homeland Security, declined to answer questions about specific properties, or about whether they can be converted to meet standards, but said the agency “has new funding to expand detention space to keep these criminals off American streets before they are removed for good from our communities.”
Read more: https://wapo.st/49ZKA7W
Trump Officials Bypass Congress to Push Billions in Weapons Aid to Israel
Source: NYT
Full article/gift link
"The State Department announced on Friday that it was planning to send Israel more than $6.5 billion of weapons aid that included Apache attack helicopters and combat land vehicles, bypassing a congressional review process.
.... On Friday, the State Department also announced it was sending $9 billion of interceptor missiles to Saudi Arabia for use with U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems. Saudi Arabia is by the far the biggest buyer of U.S. weapons.
.... The State Department made separate announcements of the planned shipments of arms to Israel and Saudi Arabia after 5 p.m. on Friday, a sign that it did not want to draw attention to the statements. In each case, the State Department said it was formally notifying Congress of its plans.
.... President Trump has threatened to attack Iran soon, and the U.S. government has been trying to quickly send more air defense equipment to partners in the Middle East, to better protect those nations and U.S. military sites in the countries against possible retaliation by Iran."
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/us/politics/trump-congress-weapons-aid-israel.html?unlocked_article_code=1.IlA.BmSh.IO9V_DpQPDa5&smid=url-share
The American Threat: Three Words I Never Imagined Typing
By Nicholas Kristof
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/opinion/trump-europe-greenland.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GlA.o3Vq.l9zc88VoncQk&smid=url-share
"President Trump pounces on weakness, but retreats from strength. That’s one reason for Europe’s present troubles: For too long it was weak both toward President Vladimir Putin of Russia in the East and toward the new menace arising in the West.
That’s certainly Trump’s perception. “I think they’re weak,” Trump said last month of European leaders, and he had a point. They fawned over him and meekly surrendered as he steamrolled them with tariffs.
Trump was preying upon that weakness as he threatened to seize Greenland and effectively destroy NATO, while warning of a new trade war if Europe resisted. In Davos on Wednesday, perhaps reacting to European pushback, he backed off somewhat: “I don’t have to use force” to acquire Greenland, he said. “I won’t use force.” Later in the day he withdrew, at least for now, the threat to impose new tariffs on Europe over the Greenland dispute.
... It pains me as an American to urge leaders to defy my own country, and perhaps this seems disloyal. But it’s not. Seizing Greenland won’t benefit Americans any more than occupying Iraq did; we don’t want our children patrolling Nuuk or Toronto any more than we wanted them in Falluja or Kandahar..."
Scroll down for his comment/question and also "Win a Reporting Trip" never heard about this before.
Win a Reporting Trip With Me in 2026
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/27/opinion/nicholas-kristof-win-a-trip-2026.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GlA.k-7N.bDoEvlOsZt7x&smid=url-share
"If you’re a university student interested in the world, I invite you to apply for my 2026 win-a-trip contest. I’ve been holding these contests since 2006, each time taking the winner along with me on a reporting trip to cover global issues. The winner may write for The New York Times.
My aim is to get more young people interested in neglected topics and writing about them. HBO made a documentary called “Reporter” based on my 2007 win-a-trip journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo with the winners Leana Wen and Will Okun; it’s available to stream on Amazon and iTunes if you want to see what you’re getting yourself into. The contest opens now and the entry deadline is 11:59 p.m. E.T. on Jan. 31, 2026.
Be forewarned that the travel is sometimes tough. The joke within The New York Times is that first prize is a trip with me; second prize is two trips with me. We may be bouncing over awful roads and eating wretched food, and you may get sick. “Hotel” rooms may come with bugs and rats. And we’ll be on the go from dawn to dusk.
The contest is open to students enrolled in an American two- or four-year college or university, either as an undergraduate or at the graduate level. Please use the form below to submit an essay of up to 700 words explaining why we should pick you to win the trip. Tell us about yourself and what you would bring to the reporting and to readers. If you’d like, you may also suggest where we should go and what you would like to write about for The Times, and/or discuss your aspirations and what you would like to be doing in 10 years. Our goal is to get a better understanding of you, your accomplishments and your writing ability. Read the full rules below...."
European states see US-led Gaza base as 'failure,' consider pullback, diplomats say
Source: Jerusalem Post
Several European countries are considering whether to stop sending personnel to a US military-led coordination center for Gaza, saying it has failed to increase aid flows to the war-shattered enclave or achieve political change, diplomats said.
The Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) was established in southern Israel in October under US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza. It was tasked with monitoring the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, facilitating the entry of aid, and developing post-war policies for the Palestinian territory.
Dozens of countries, including Germany, France, Britain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, sent personnel including military planners and intelligence officials to the center as they sought to influence discussions on Gaza's future.
... The European rethink, which has not been previously reported, is the latest sign of unease among Washington's allies as Trump pursues unorthodox foreign policies towards Gaza, Greenland, and Venezuela..."
Read more: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-883972
Not sure how people survive, living in tents with temperatures in the 40's etc. etc.
One year ago, Donald Trump took an oath to serve the American people. Instead, he has focused on ...
using the presidency to enrich himself.
HOW TRUMP
HAS POCKETED
$1,408,500,000
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/01/20/opinion/editorials/trump-wealth-crypto-graft.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GFA.FW_B.iWYwP6LRD98G&smid=url-share
"PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS never been a man to ask what he can do for his country. In his second term, as in his first, he is instead testing the limits of what his country can do for him.
He has poured his energy and creativity into the exploitation of the presidency — into finding out just how much money people, corporations and other nations are willing to put into his pockets in hopes of bending the power of the government to the service of their interests.
A review by the editorial board relying on analyses from news organizations shows that Mr. Trump has used the office of the presidency to make at least $1.4 billion. We know this number to be an underestimate because some of his profits remain hidden from public view. And they continue to grow.
.... A hotel in Oman. An office tower in western India. A golf course on the outskirts of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. These are a few of the more than 20 overseas projects the Trump Organization is pursuing, often requiring cooperation with foreign governments. These deals have made millions for the Trumps, according to Reuters. And the administration has sometimes treated those same governments favorably. One example: The administration agreed to lower its threatened tariffs on Vietnam about a month after a Trump Organization project broke ground on a $1.5 billion golf complex outside of Hanoi. Vietnamese officials ignored their own laws to fast-track the project..."
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