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Let’s get this out of the way: Immigration and Customs Enforcement is nothing like the Sturmabteilung, a.k.a. Hitler’s Brownshirts. Your main clue is right there in the name. The Brownshirts wore brown shirts. And pants, coats, hats, insignia, etc. They had an actual uniform that they wore like brand ambassadors for authoritarian paramilitary violence.

ICE? Not so much. No official uniform, no clear identification, nothing that says, “I am a recognized member of a government agency, and what I am doing is legal.” Instead, they go for that “Target clearance rack meets SWAT cosplay” vibe: a tactical vest you can buy on Amazon, maybe an old baseball cap, and a face mask they want you to know isn’t there for any health-related reasons. That’s not a uniform. You can tell because people have easily copied the look to impersonate ICE numerous times in the past to brutalize or rob immigrants, knowing that it’s virtually impossible to tell apart government agents and straight-up criminals in wraparound glasses.

“We couldn’t even look out the window,” the New York City high school student said of his isolation while detained in a hotel.

The post ICE Held an NYC Child Incommunicado at Secret Hotels, Then Deported Him appeared first on The Intercept.

A reporter in Gaza finds a Catholic community grieving their family members killed by Israeli bombs, but still worshipping together.

The post Inside Gaza’s Only Catholic Church, One Month After Israel’s Attack appeared first on The Intercept.

“And I saw Sisyphus in agonizing torment, drafting a reply to Kayleigh’s ten urgent UX questions. He hit ‘send,’ and immediately received an autoresponder: ‘I no longer work here! For questions, contact Caleb, Chief Joy Officer.’”
—Homer, Odyssey

“Sisyphus thinks he can outwit death. But the company hive mind pings him relentlessly, even on weekends, and so he stares at his phone on a Saturday and misses his daughter score her first goal at a soccer game.”
—Pindar, Olympian Ode

“Athena quietly adds Sisyphus to a sinister Google Doc called ‘Q3 brainstorm,’ which emails him whenever anyone comments on this document, which he does not desire and from which he cannot escape. The notifications may be silenced only in settings reserved for the Gods—and thus, not for Sisyphus.”
—Seneca the Younger, Hercules Furens

“There, Sisyphus toils—straining to zero the inbox, only for Nathan to smite him with that cruelest of follow-ups: ‘Just checking if you saw this?’”
—Virgil, Aeneid

From Newton’s circle to Schrödinger’s curved geometry, we’ve yet to arrive at a perfect way to map colour

- by Aeon Video

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The problems of our time are too complex for heroes to swoop in and simply erase. Our movies should reflect that reality

- Video by Psyche

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I once exalted in the extraordinary. But as I’ve learned from Virginia Woolf, indelible beauty is also found in the everyday

- by Diana Saverin

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Acting on impulse often feels good at first, but brings trouble later. Understanding these urges can help you control them

- by Peggilee Wupperman

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Nowadays, when I go to an art gallery, it’s usually to play. One big reason for this is that I have two small children: pretty much the only things they do when they’re awake are play, eat, and, if not playing or eating, complain. Another reason is that I live near the BALTIC gallery in […]