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FAA Investigating Denver Airport Radio Outage Amid Newark Problems (Maria)
The author writes, “The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a Monday failure of air traffic controllers’ radio at Denver International Airport — one of the world’s busiest airports, per an FAA statement. It’s the latest in a string of alarming tech and safety lapses nationwide that’s shaking confidence in the U.S. aviation network. … The incident adds Denver to a growing list of major U.S. airports grappling with technology failures in the air traffic control system — an increasingly urgent concern amid a post-pandemic travel boom.”
Trump Just Brought a Group of White South Africans to the US as Refugees. What Are They Escaping? (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “The 59 South Africans had their applications fast-tracked by the US after President Donald Trump announced the relocation program in February. He said Monday that white Afrikaner farmers are facing a ‘genocide’ in their homeland, an allegation strongly denied by the South African government. The Trump administration has taken an anti-migrant stance, suspending refugee programs and halting arrivals from other parts of the world, including Iraq, Afghanistan and most countries in sub-Saharan Africa.”
CBP Plans on Photographing Everyone Leaving the US by Car (Sean)
From The Verge: “The agency says it will start using facial recognition technology at official border crossings to match all outbound travelers’ faces to their passports, visas, or other travel documents, though there’s no public timeline for when this will happen. ‘Although we are still working on how we would handle outbound vehicle lanes, we will ultimately expand to this area,’ CBP spokesperson Jessica Turner told Wired. It’s an expansion of the agency’s current practice of photographing travelers as they enter the country and matching those photos with ‘all documented photos, i.e., passports, visas, green cards, etc,’ the agency has on record.”
The Supreme Court Just Imperiled the Rights — and Lives — of All Trans People (Laura)
The author writes, “At the heart of the executive order is the claim that being trans ‘conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.’ The language repeats a most pernicious anti-trans myth: that there’s something dishonest and deceptive about being trans at all. Such profoundly discriminatory and false assumptions have long had purchase in US courtrooms through the so-called gay and trans ‘panic’ defense. This line of argumentation, as the American Bar Association notes, permits defendants to bolster diminished capacity defenses and ‘seek to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant’s violent reaction.’ It is rooted in the very same cis-supremacist presumption that undergirds Trump’s executive order.”
We Still Don’t Know What Kash Patel Did as a Consultant for Qatar (Dana)
From Mother Jones: “The whole point of financial disclosure for top-ranking US officials is for the public to be able to see the size and scope of any conflicts of interests. Yet this episode shows that the current requirements are inadequate. Patel is now heading the FBI, yet questions remain about his finances—including a $25,000 payment he received from a Russian-American-Ukrainian filmmaker who was connected to a Russian propaganda project financed by Vladimir Putin’s office. Americans have the right to know whether an FBI director is clean as a whistle and free of ties that could unduly affect or compromise his actions. Yet Patel has not provided the public a full view of his finances. And even though he is now securely in the position, he won’t explain his relationship to a foreign government with a checkered human rights record and that has tried to influence US policy and policymakers. The Case of the FBI Chief’s Mysterious Tie to Qatar remains open.”
Company Returns Entire Tesla Vehicle Fleet Because of Elon Musk (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “Sales had already been declining in 2024, but the decline dramatically accelerated in 2025 after many people started to become increasingly concerned about Musk’s backing of Trump and far-right political parties in Europe. The problem is that not only is Tesla missing out on new sales, but current Tesla owners are also rushing to sell their vehicles because they don’t want to be associated with the brand at all.”
