Rob Shum
Public policy ( #climate / energy policy, more specifically ) & IR prof (but also ex-🇨🇦 trade diplomat). PoliSciSky 🗺️, EnergySky 🔌💡, & GreenSky 🌱.
Cf. same handles on also-ran microblogging sites.
- Reposted by Rob Shum“The Trump administration sought to end protections for children held in detention that are in place through the Flores Settlement Agreement. The 1997 agreement requires that children be treated humanely and that officials should prioritize their release.”
- If you have not (understandably) watched any of the videos, this is again worth highlighting.
- Krugman is rightly enraged: Monsters open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...
- Cross-national indices of press freedom should really account for the relative absence or presence of this tendency.
- ‘… It’s not a fair fight, with one side repeating a litany of claims found on anti-wind websites, and the wind power companies obligated to stick to facts that will stand up in court, said Danielson. “It’s not even really an adult conversation anymore,” …’ 🔌💡 🌱
- What's killing onshore wind power? I went to the state where I was born and raised to try to figure out why onshore wind development, once a point of pride, has slowed almost to a stop. With @ajbeamer.bsky.social in Shenandoah, Iowa: insideclimatenews.org/news/2501202... #energysky
- “American carnage” and “engineered chaos” were and are tell-tale projections and self-fulfilling prophecies of fascism.
- Shorter NRA: #TreadOnMe and my community.
- Reposted by Rob ShumThey think they can provoke us into abandoning our values. They are wrong. We will keep the peace. We will secure justice for our neighbors. And we will see this occupation end.
- Reposted by Rob ShumImpeach the entire Executive Branch
- Reposted by Rob Shum“Only hours have passed since they shot a man right in front me and I don't feel like I can go home because I heard agents were looking for me. I don't know what the agents will do when they find me.”
- The best of us, killed by the worst.
- “.. He cared about people deeply ..,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong ..” @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/national/202...
- Goya, in Minneapolis.
- We are all simply not worthy of this good man’s sacrifice.
- Reposted by Rob ShumThe first professional police force in the US began in 1838 in Boston. In 1854 only three cities had police forces: NYC, Philly, and Boston.
- Reposted by Rob ShumSo, cops in blue states can start shooting motherfuckers like these on sight now?
- Reposted by Rob ShumUnarmed civilian defenders clashing with Trump's ICE paramilitary forces in Minneapolis in the immediate aftermath of Alex Pretti's murder by regime thugs. #3E #GoodvsEvil 📹@3janetv youtu.be/Z_fnqVy0Qfs
- Reposted by Rob ShumThe govt lying about the killing of a U.S. citizen at the hands of the state, is by itself, a front page a story, worthy of drumbeat coverage, resignations, and impeachments.
- Reposted by Rob ShumImagine this in a trial. Devastating first-hand witness to Alex Pretti's killing Declaration filed in federal court: "I don't know why they shot him. He was only helping. I was five feet from him and they just shot him."
- Reposted by Rob ShumOur country was founded on resistance to a tyrant.
- Reposted by Rob Shumholy shit they are still asking Democrats if they will tone down the rhetoric
- Reposted by Rob ShumI said this last time but their real position is “if you disagree with us we can kill you.”
- Reposted by Rob ShumAlex Pretti will not be forgotten.
- Reposted by Rob Shumteachers and nurses. it's like there's a running contest to see who can kill the most sympathetic victim.
- Reposted by Rob ShumPam Bondi just sent a letter to Minnesota officials saying ICE will leave if the state turns over its voter database to Trump. Guess what? This has never been about safety or immigration. It’s a pretext for Trump to take over elections in swing states.
- Reposted by Rob ShumPro-murder vs. anti-murder
- Reposted by Rob Shum"Videos analyzed by The New York Times appear to contradict the accounts of federal officials, who said Mr. Pretti approached Border Patrol agents with a handgun and the intent to 'massacre' them. Video footage shows Mr. Pretti stepping between a woman and an agent who is pepper spraying her. ...
- Reposted by Rob ShumIf ICE did nothing wrong - why are they confiscating all the eyewitness's smartphones?
- Reposted by Rob ShumAbolishing ICE is not nearly sufficient. State and local officials need to start arresting and prosecuting these kidnappers and murderers.
- Reposted by Rob ShumFrom this moment forward (and before, but clearly now): -If you work for ICE. -If you vote for money for ICE. You are complicit. This is the gestapo. You're on the wrong side. You can't pretend not to know.
- Reposted by Rob ShumMinneapolitans are gathering on every block tonight at 7pm to hold a vigil for someone killed by our own government, for doing nothing but helping someone up off the ground. What would you say if you saw this in other country? What would you expect to happen to those responsible and accountable?
- Reposted by Rob ShumPretti clearly did not brandish his gun. Which means the government is saying he was killed for legally exercising his right to carry. It’s as clear-cut a violation of the Second Amendment as I can possibly imagine. And we’re about to see the bulk of the gun rights crowd defend his murder.
- Reposted by Rob ShumThis is courage. Looking a masked, government fascist dead in the eye, face to face, knowing full well that your life is on the line. If elected officials had 1/10th of Alex Pretti's resolve, we would have far fewer troubles.
- Reposted by Rob ShumWise words from WEB DuBois to gird us today: "It would be shame and cowardice to surrender this glorious land and its opportunities for civilization and humanity to the thugs and lynchers, the mobs and profiteers, the monopolists & gamblers who today choke its soul and steal its resources."
- Reposted by Rob ShumThis is absolutely what the video shows. A person is wrestled to the ground by 6 ICE agents and then executed at point blank range.
- Reposted by Rob ShumWoman tells Minnesota Public Radio that the man killed today was helping vehicle traffic get around the area where ICE agents and observers had started to gather and "next thing I knew, they shot him." www.mprnews.org/live-updates....
- Reposted by Rob ShumA Brief History Of All the Awful & Illegal Things in American Politics, 1865-2026
- Reposted by Rob ShumWhat we are watching is a paramilitary force learning that they can kill with impunity, that the regime will smear the victim and defend them. Unless politicians and the legal system exerts accountability, it will not stop. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/past-the-b...
- Reposted by Rob ShumI would be very surprised if a full accounting in the future didn't reveal more than one mass grave at the detention centers. If they're behaving this way in public, what's happening out of sight must be many times more brutal.
- Reposted by Rob Shum“Hundreds of immigrant mothers” in Texas concentration camp uprising
- Reposted by Rob ShumMore Will Die
- Reposted by Rob ShumAnd he didn’t. He tried to help a woman who’d just been assaulted. There was nothing rash, stupid, or radical about what he did. He showed kindness. And they killed him for it.
- This is so difficult to read. apnews.com/article/immi...
- Reposted by Rob ShumThey're openly hostile to our civic creed and the legacy of the American Revolution, but many of them are also genuinely, absurdly, "how did you make it through middle school?" ignorant of the most basic highlights of American history.
- Reposted by Rob ShumI have now read enough about Alex to be certain that he was filled with a love for the least of these that burned far brighter than the majority of parishioners who will trundle into the church pews tomorrow morning and sing some pablum about love and justice.
- Alex Pretti’s dad: “He cared about people deeply & was very upset with what was happening...He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, he knew it was wrong, so he did participate in protests” apnews.com/article/immi...
- Reposted by Rob ShumThe Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.
- Reposted by Rob ShumThe Secretary of Defense praising the murder of a protestor and posting "ICE > MN." Minnesota is an American state with almost six million residents.
- Reposted by Rob ShumThis could end any day. Republicans in Congress are choosing not to do so.
- Reposted by Rob ShumThe American elites look largely coopted/afraid/silent, and this is a terrible signal, domestically and abroad.
- Reposted by Rob Shum"What stayed with Amundson most, she said, was not the adrenaline of the moment but the realization that came while she was holding the agent’s head in her hands and keeping his airway open. “I was hit so hard with the fact that this man would not do this for me,” she said.'"
- Two women trained as first responders were abducted by three ICE agents. One of the agents starts seizing. The other two don’t know what to do. The women jump into action and save the agent’s life, only to be re-handcuffed and processed. www.startribune.com/detained-by-...
- Reposted by Rob ShumNothing complicated or subtle or hard to understand about what is happening
- Reposted by Rob ShumOne thing authoritarian regimes do is establish impunity for government officials who break the law on their behalf
- Reposted by Rob ShumNothing complicated or subtle or hard to understand about what is happening: -"forcibly entered homes without a judge’s warrant" -"interrogated people because of their ethnicity or accents" -"broke windows and dragged occupants from their cars" -"used force on people who were already restrained"
- Reposted by Rob ShumYa, it's uh, quantum chemistry. That's the ticket!
- Reposted by Rob ShumThe parents of a 7 year old, all of whom are in the process of applying for asylum, took their daughter to the ER when her nose wouldn't stop bleeding. ICE picked them up near the hospital and they are now in detention in Texas, presumably awaiting deportation. www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...
- Reposted by Rob ShumThey really are dropping any pretense that ICE is about immigration. Once you're saying ICE has absolute power over not only undocumented people but anyone they engage, you're openly admitting these are meant to be shock troops for the mad king
- Reposted by Rob ShumPeople are missing a big thing about the saga of the detained 5-year-old. When Vance calls the father an "illegal alien" it seems to reflect a little-known Trump admin move that attempts to nullify asylum claims before they are even heard. This policy is a horror: newrepublic.com/article/2056...
- Is it good or bad news that federal DoJ lawyers are still doing something other than trying to deport people?
- The Trump administration is suing California to overturn a law banning new oil and gas drilling within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, playgrounds and hospitals: www.latimes.com/environment/... via @hayleysmith.bsky.social
- This is simply looting and embezzlement of taxpayer money.
- Congress set aside funds for carbon capture, and the Trump administration is using them to prop up old coal plants. It is hard to imagine how this is legal. www.eenews.net/articles/tru...
- Reposted by Rob Shum👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇 🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯 The institutions are broken & deeeply antidemocratic & not self-enforcing & the imperial presidency was a grave mistake & Article I, II, & III have all failed. The platform, going forward, must be institutional reform. Ready to go immediately.
- Reposted by Rob ShumI was at the Power Resilience Forum in Houston for the past two days and can confirm that utilities are concerned. It was a little surreal as this bears down on us. Hopefully work and progress since Uri pays off. Storm Poses Big Threats to Power Grids Across U.S. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/b...
- “… Most importantly, we must ensure that secret, coordinated manipulation is economically punishing and operationally difficult. Right now, a bad actor can launch a massive bot swarm cheaply and safely. We need to flip those physics. …”
- Heads up that AI slop may be the least of our problems. AI "swarms" - bad actors unleashing swarms of AI bots to perpetuate disinformation- are emerging as one of the big threats to elections and democracy. substack.com/home/post/p-...
- Reposted by Rob Shumone of the most predictable own goals by the Biden admin imaginable. did any staffer stop to think that handing a giant platform to their political enemies was a bad idea? we'll be watching closely to see what changes in content moderation regimes and algorithmic recommendation systems.
- Reposted by Rob Shum[This post could not be retrieved]
