Kevin Clarke
Chief correspondent, America Media. Send me tips and pitches at clarke@americamedia.org: www.americamagazine.org/dispatches
- “That experience is a blessing for him as the pontiff of our church. He was out there, very concerned about the pastoral care of the people, of the migrants, of the poor.” www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/0...
- Father Prevost’s work brought him into regular contact with campesino and Indigenous communities of great poverty but also deep spirituality, according to Kevin Flaherty, S.J. “It’s an area where you really know the poor.” www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/0...
- The AfD strongly laments the arrival of the poor and low-skilled immigrants in Germany, accepted in previous decades, and views “the ever-increasing number of Muslims in the country…as a danger to our state, our society, and our values.” www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- Pope Francis reminded the world about conflicts in the region that were sometimes forgotten. www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- Reposted by Kevin ClarkeOne arcane and surprising mathematical fact about a 30% tariff is that it represents an extra $30 on every $100 that something costs.
- It’s only a matter time before one of these foolish performance law enforcement episodes ends in real violence. Neighbors don’t like to see their neighbors dragged off by men in black masks.
- A key element of the administration’s repurposing of wartime and counterterrorism framings to other ends is aesthetic. Here ICE agents are kitted out like wannabe GWOT operators while conducting a raid in the badlands of the Berkshires. www.berkshireeagle.com/breaking/ice...
- Is #PopeLeoXIV the first “pope of the periphery”? Pope Francis created cardinals from the ‘peripheries.’ Is that how we got Pope Leo XIV? | America Magazine www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/0...
- What the what?
- Just hours after the Copyright Office released its report on AI training—stating the obvious, that much unlicensed commercial training of AI on copyright-protected material is unlikely to qualify as fair use—President Trump has fired the Register of Copyrights. www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/tru...
- Satire is finished
- If you ain’t feeling this, check your pulse Townes Van Zandt - Pancho and Lefty. Heartworn Highways youtu.be/zprRZ2wFQD4?... via @YouTube
- Given the conclave’s historic ecclesial and geographic diversity, Francis, the pope of surprises, may have laid the groundwork at the margins for one final surprise. Pope Francis created cardinals from the ‘peripheries.’ Is that how we got #PopeLeoXIV? www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/0...
- Reposted by Kevin Clarke"What I worry about is that when problems are not addressed...one person will come forward and say, 'Give me total power, and I will solve this problem.' That is how the Roman republic fell….That is how democracy dies (2012)." #DavidSouter #PrayForAmerica
- Reposted by Kevin ClarkeFriday night Tequila tweet: She was in this country LEGALLY. She wrote an op-ed. And bcuz she wrote an op-ed, our government disappeared her, detained her for 6wks, & tried to deport her. Fuck that. That’s not America. Today she was freed. And free speech held. THAT’S America.
- His intent was to ensure that issues of equity, economics and ecology, most acutely felt in the so-called Global South, would get a fair hearing in Rome. www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/0...
- Reposted by Kevin ClarkeHaving now watched the footage and interview two of the members who were there, the amount of armed, masked federal agents surrounding three members of Congress and a mayor outside the ICE facility was totally unnecessary; the only possible reason for it was intentional escalation and intimidation.
- Caramba This Israeli Government Is Not Our Ally www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/o...
- what the what?
- BREAKING—Fabian Schmidt, the German man with legal permanent residency who was detained for no apparent reason and violently interrogated at Boston’s Logan Airport in March, was RELEASED from prison yesterday and the case against him has been DISMISSED, a source familiar with the situation tells me.
- His intent was to ensure that issues of equity, economics and ecology, most acutely felt in the so-called Global South, would get a fair hearing in Rome. #PopeLeoXIV Pope Francis created cardinals from the ‘peripheries.’ Is that how we got Pope Leo XIV? www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/0...
- what the what?
- The late pope’s attention to geographic detail led to what was described as the most diverse conclave in the history of the church. www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/0...
- Pope Francis created cardinals from the ‘peripheries.’ Is that how we got Pope Leo XIV? www.americamagazine.org/faith/2025/0...
- This unwavering support from Pope Francis will forever remain in Mr. Abu Daoud’s memories. He hopes that the next pope will keep Palestinian Christians in his prayers. Remembering Pope Francis, a pilgrim leader in the Holy Land and Middle East www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- Reposted by Kevin ClarkeMy conclave take, for MSNBC: nobody knows nothin'.
- Reposted by Kevin ClarkeSomething I hope everyone covers this tomorrow notes is that...the President has no authority whatsoever to make trade deals without congress. None. Not even the pretext of one.
- New: Trump is expected to announce on Thursday that the US will strike a trade deal with the UK, according to a person familiar with the matter, the first agreement for the administration since it imposed sweeping tariffs against its trading partners last month @theguardian.com story TK
- Hegseth celebrates the impending $1 trillion defense spending "rebuilding our military," treating this like a game or a race. In a world of want, this is a moral scandal, not a victory. If $900 billion plus is not enough then we are srsly already doing something wrong. Where are the DOGE boys now?
- Reposted by Kevin Clarke[Not loaded yet]
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- Conditions have only gotten worse, much worse, since we posted this report in mid April.
- All the critics of Pope Francis can just be quiet. They will never grasp the mercy and tenderness of this pope. Their faith is trapped on paper. It is not alive like this. Pope Francis consoles a boy who asked if his non-believing father is in … youtu.be/bRbUTfSds0U
- There’s a reason Trump talks about big cities where resistance to his policies is greatest as if they were Mad Maxvilles when most have been experiencing historic lows in crime. His Foxed out followers believe it and it will make what may come next easier to swallow.
- Among the pope’s final acts was the declaration of 2025 as a Jubilee Year that would include a focus on addressing the immiserating debt burden of poor nations as a new global debt crisis looms. americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- good grief
- Don't forget Capitol Hill jogger!
- Among the pope’s final acts was the declaration of 2025 as a Jubilee Year that would include a focus on addressing the immiserating debt burden of poor nations as a new global debt crisis looms. www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- Francis seemed one of the last credible moral voices able to speak with clarity and authority on global challenges. Who can now take his place, hold up the plight of migrating people and care for creation? Who will be a trusted voice for peace www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- This tech was a grave concern to Pope Francis ...
- Reposted by Kevin ClarkeIsrael has used the war in Gaza to rapidly test and deploy A.I.-backed military technologies to a degree that had not been seen before, U.S. and Israeli defense officials said. The tools have sometimes led to mistaken identifications and arrests, as well as civilian deaths, officials said.
- Progress is bunk. I think I'm agonna hate the future. Justin Bieber - Fly High Pope Francis (Official Tribute Video) youtu.be/rq6kAvERNN0?... via @YouTube
- so terrific The Weekly Dish andrewsullivan.substack.com?utm_source=n...
- Former executive director of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. What to know about Hannah Dugan, Milwaukee judge arrested amid ICE investigation on April 25 www.jsonline.com/story/news/c... via @journalsentinel
- Reposted by Kevin Clarke“He is one of the top five, probably, most targeted people in the world for espionage.” That seems accurate!
- Hesgeth used his personal phone to log into a 4th-tier sports betting site -- and to relay real-time information about U.S. airstrikes. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/u...
- Reposted by Kevin ClarkeIf we’re serious about more efficient government and better everyday life in America - which we all should be - that means actually improving government, not cutting health care for poor people and slashing support for veterans.
- When polling goes too far ...
- The global impact of Pope Francis: From migration to taxes to A.I. weapons @nuclearban.bsky.social @taxjustice.net www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- Other global issues of concern to Francis were obscure, like tax fairness, “tierra, techo y trabajo” efforts, just and sustainable development, the equitable distribution of wealth and his anxiety over the rise of autonomous (A.I.) weapons systems. www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- Great. He should look into this fact checking business then.
- I’ve found myself pondering our fate in the coming AI apocalypse. @DouthatNYT nails many emerging worries and woes here. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/o...
- Pope Francis in his final easter address: "I appeal to the warring parties: call a ceasefire, release the hostages and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace." www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- Israel cut off all humanitarian aid into the strip on March 1 at the conclusion of the first phase of a cease-fire agreement with Hamas. United Nations officials have warned repeatedly that the aid embargo will cause new hunger, sanitation and health catastrophes in #Gaza.
- Humanitarian officials have been frantically trying to get the message across that conditions there, already wretched after more than 17 months of war, have grown markedly worse. www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- After more than a year and half of war, he said, “the Palestinian community, especially in #Gaza, have lost hope in the international community to intervene and make a change and put pressure on the parties to end this cruel war.” www.americamagazine.org/politics-soc...
- ‘Fire, ready, aim’ appears to be Trump admin trade policy. What a series of pointless unforced errors. What a ditch we are digging for ourselves.
