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Articles by Tana Ganeva
How to scare a generation out of having kids, then blame them for it
We weren’t friends, but I still remember the name of the girl in my high school who got pregnant at 16. She skulked around, head hung in shame, gargantuan belly exploding out of the bottom of her stretched tank top. I don’t recall ever seeing her get bullied, maybe she was, but I suspect not really: You almost got the sense that the tragedy of her plight was so great, even those prone to bullying couldn’t bring themselves to mock her; it’d be like attacking someone missing all of their limbs.
The manufactured backlash that led to fascist AfD victory.
“Ha! Did you hear? Germany elected a government that will kick out all the Syrians!” my Syrian friend Ali said with casual equanimity. Something about barely surviving a Russian missile strike makes you nonchalant about more quotidian concerns. “Are you concerned?” Substance is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Lots of “Woke 1” could be cringe—why abandon the parts about life and death?
In 2018, I went to Miami with a few girlfriends and we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Sipping margaritas bigger than our heads, we struck up a rapport with the wait staff, who serenaded us. At some point, a guy came out in an avocado suit and made us get up and dance with him to Mambo No. 5. We went back to the table to wrap up the night, when the waiters ran at us bearing giant sombreros that they stuck on our heads. Before we could protest, they snapped a picture.
Even the Communists didn't do this.
“Look, look, that’s Tsvetana’s boy,” my father recalls some old Bulgarian village women whispering, pointing at him as he walked by. My grandmother was kind of a legend in her own time. One day, she’d disappeared.
Why did a story about a tiny liberal arts college go viral?
Tyler Austin Harper, a writer at TheAtlantic, has published a scathing cover story about the absurdities of “wokeness” in academia. Of the indignity of being made to feel like a token Black professor in a sea of clueless academics prattling about diversity. He makes good points: I can’t imagine the kind of confidence you need to not wonder if your colleagues secretly think you didn’t earn your job based on merit.
Mamdani's Stalinism in the Bronx
I asked my Mom if she experienced breadlines and food shortages growing up in 1960s Communist Bulgaria. “No.” Damn, I was hoping for drama. Because for days now the entire firmament of right-wing freaks on social media and the conservative press have been raging about Mayor Mamdani’s official announcement the city will open five grocery stores where healthy staples will be available at a 30 percent discount—and how this will lead to Stalinism.
Lame Democrat endorses lamer Democrat.
“As Governor I’ve had one strategy. Get. Things. Done.” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declares from a kitchen table in what appears to be a tradwife frock.1 “That strategy informs everything that I do. And that’s why I’m endorsing Haley Stevens for the U.S. Senate.” Substance is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Will the hateful stupidity of the online right be its political undoing?
I grew up obsessed with Greek and Roman myth. In college, when I still had an attention span, I read and loved the Iliad and Odyssey. But I still wouldn’t have gone to a theater to watch the Odyssey. At this point, we live in a scattered, siloed social media and media economy where even an epic film by a big director and starring every movie star in existence with a subject matter of interest to me — would still fall off my radar.
“Sowing Fear”—The Legal Battle Over Masked ICE Agents
At 6:50 am on Tuesday, July 7, Houston resident Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was on the way to his work of running a construction business when ICE agents tried to stop his white van. Video footage shows an agent’s car swerve into the van, and the vehicle come to a stop. Other footage starts moments later: men, including Araujo, on their stomachs, handcuffed. Araujo, 52, had been shot in the abdomen. He would die in the hospital.
Trump-Endorsed de la Espriella Pulls Ahead in Colombia Presidential Race Original
Clad in a yellow Colombian soccer jersey with “Presidente” written on the back, Abelardo de la Espriella pumped his fist and slammed the podium in a victory speech after his May 31 win in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election. Behind the hardline right-wing candidate flashed giant screens bearing his image; one showed a tiger giving a salute with a human hand. De la Espriella refers to himself as El Tigre. “I am going to do everything for our country to save our nation.
Carceral Health Care Profiteers Keep Evading Responsibility for Harms
In 2018, 40-year-old Wade Jones was arrested in Michigan for shoplifting several bottles of alcohol. At his court appearance two weeks later, he clocked a BAC of 0.159, nearly double the limit for driving. Jones was sentenced to five days in jail. Shortly after being booked into Kent County Correctional Facility, he began to suffer acute alcohol withdrawal, reported Prison Legal News.
Trump Admin Plans More Drug War, AI Surveillance, Wastewater Testing
On May 8, the United States “Department of War” struck another boat in the Caribbean, the third in five days. Two people were killed while a third survived, bringing the total number of known deaths to almost 200 in a campaign the administration claims targets “narcoterrorists.” Once again the Trump administration offered no proof that there had been drugs on board.
Louisiana “Homelessness Court” Would Offer Treatment, Forced Labor
On April 28, a Louisiana Senate committee advanced a homelessness criminalization bill brightly titled “Streets to Success.” The legislation would make public camping a misdemeanor and funnel those convicted of violations into a “Homelessness Court Program,” the premise of which is that people living outside need treatment for substance use, mental illness or both. HB 211 came before the Senate Judiciary C Committee a week after it was advanced by the House.
Prisons exploit drug panic to swap paper mail for electronic. Guess who profits?
Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Phillip Vance Smith II, who is serving life without parole in North Carolina. He advocates for criminal justice reform through journalism and legislation. He is currently working toward publishing a memoir about the difficulties of activism from behind the wall. His writing has been published in HuffPost, Slate, and Bolts, among many others. Read his personal essays describing the esoteric side of incarceration on his Substack: Prison Life Unlocked.
Hopes of Shutting Rikers Grow Under Mamdani, as Deaths Continue
On March 25, 39-year-old Barry Cozart collapsed at Rikers, New York City’s notorious island jail complex. He’d been held on burglary charges since November. Staff tried to revive him by performing CPR, according to the Department of Corrections, but he later died in a hospital. “I’ve never cried so hard in my life,” his brother, Ron Lee, told Filter. Far from the “criminal” stereotype, Lee said, Cozart was a community leader who owned two barbershops and performed stand-up comedy.
Lack of Public Bathrooms Makes Cities More Hostile
Back in February, a woman shared a tale of urban woe on social media. She wrote that her husband had been on a crowded train in New York City when “a homeless woman” walked in, pulled down her pants and urinated on the train. “He hasn’t stopped talking about it for the past 24+ hrs,” the account added. “It is the single most traumatizing thing that’s happened to him in nyc.” The post went viral, generating 5.8 million views and fueling cycles of online outrage.
Why Ecuador Is Partnering in US Drug-War Strikes
On March 6, the United States “Department of War” released its latest Hollywood movie production. The brief video celebrated the first publicized joint US-Ecuador strike, days after the two nations announced combined military operations “to combat the scourge of narco-terrorism.” Up to 20 men in military uniform hurry toward a waiting helicopter. The helicopter speeds across black-and-white terrain. Tense movie music plays.
The Kingpin Effect: Violence From “El Mencho” Killing Far From Over
Violence erupted across Mexico in the immediate aftermath of the February 22 killing of the drug lord known as “El Mencho,” Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes. He died of gunshot wounds after a Mexican military operation in Tapalpa, Jalisco, that was assisted by United States intelligence.
Already Killing People, ICE to Scale Up With Warehouse Detention
“No puedo respirar!” Geraldo Lunas Campos yelled as guards pinned him down. I can’t breathe. The moments leading up to his death on January 3 were witnessed by another person being held at the Camp East Montana ICE detention facility at Fort Bliss, Texas, who described how the 55-year-old Cuban national struggled with “at least five guards” as they dragged him to solitary. He had been protesting that he didn’t have his medication.
“Survival Mode” Amid Trump’s Health Care and Harm Reduction Cuts
The Trump administration continues to wage war on programs that keep people who use drugs healthy and alive. Experts fear that the recent decline in overdose deaths, after years of unprecedented crisis—the last year of the Biden administration saw a 26 -percent drop—will stall or reverse, as people lose access to health care and harm reduction. Close to $1 trillion will be cut from Medicaid over 10 years, under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that President Trump signed in July 2025.
Drugs Barely Even a Pretext Anymore in Trump’s Regional Nightmare
On January 19, Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va) vowed to pass a war powers resolution curbing the Trump administration’s military actions in Venezuela. One such measure narrowly failed to pass the Senate on January 14, after Vice President JD Vance’s vote broke a 50-50 tie. Kaine, who sponsored it along with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky), promised to remain resolute. We’re going to be filing a whole lot more war powers resolutions,” he said.
Pressure Builds on Hegseth for Killings of Helpless Boat-Strike Survivors
Democratic lawmakers are demanding that “War Secretary” Pete Hegseth release footage of a strike that killed two helpless survivors of an air attack on a boat in the Caribbean. So far he’s refused. “We’re reviewing the process, and we’ll see,” Hegseth said at a press conference in California on December 6. On November 28, the Washington Post had reported that the initial strike left two men clinging to the wreckage of the vessel. After roughly 45 minutes, the military fired again.
“Clock Starts to Tick,” Amid Trump’s Venezuela Build-Up - Filter
The United States continues its heavy military build-up in the Caribbean, and continues to strike boats off the coast of Venezuela—despite CIA and Pentagon lawyers’ serious concerns about the strikes’ legality. As the Washington Post reported, the Trump administration responds to their concerns by changing lawyers. So far at least 83 people are believed to have been killed.
Grassroots Harm Reduction Sidelined in NY Opioid Fund Spending
“He was awesome,” Alexis Pleus, executive director of Truth Pharm, a small harm reduction organization based in Binghamton, New York, said of her son. “Really outgoing. Loved sports.” As a high school junior, Jeff injured his knee and doctors quickly prescribed opioids. She recalled reminding him to take his pills.
“Weaponizing Grief”-Experts Weigh In on Trump’s Continuing Boat Strikes
Yet again, like clockwork, “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth boasted on November 4 about a “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel in the Eastern Pacific. “Lethal kinetic strike” is apparently tough-guy talk for killing what many suspect are fishermen. Hegseth claimed, again, that the victims were engaged in “illicit narcotics smuggling,” and as always offered no proof. Two people were killed, raising the death toll from the strikes to 67.
Death Toll From US Boat Strikes Now Exceeds 60
On October 29, the United States struck another boat in the eastern Pacific, killing four people on board. The attack came just two days after the US military had hit four boats, killing 14 unidentified people off the coast of Colombia, in the single deadliest day since the drug-war strikes began in the Caribbean in September. The four latest extrajudicial killings bring the campaign’s total known death toll to 61.
Is Venezuela Regime Change a Goal of Trump’s Drug-War Strikes?
On October 4, President Donald Trump addressed the United States Navy, praising its role in blowing up yet another Caribbean boat, killing all four people on board. The administration is following new precedent, in that we know nothing of their identities and are expected to just believe “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth’s claim that they were “narco-terrorists” ferrying drugs. A total of 21 people have now been killed by a series of at least four US strikes since September 2.
Confusion and Anger in Portland Over Trump Troop Deployment
On September 29, Chief Bob Day of the Portland Police Bureau expressed bewilderment as to why President Donald Trump has ordered the National Guard to the Oregon city. “This is one city block,” he said of the neighborhood where an ICE detention Center is located, the site of peaceful protests. “The city of Portland is 145 square miles. And even the events that are happening down there do not rise to the level of attention that they are receiving.” Trump begs to differ.
Maybe Bill Burr should wait until after the anniversary of Jamal Khashoggi's murder to gush over the Saudi regime.
On October 2, 2018, Saudi Arabian dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to obtain papers for his upcoming marriage. You can hear his final moments in audio recovered from the scene. “Has the sacrificial animal arrived?” “He’s here.” Soon after: “I’m suffocating... take this bag off my head, I’m claustrophobic,” Khashoggi pleads. After five days of global speculation about Khashoggi’s fate, Turkish authorities concluded he’d been murdered at the consulate.
Trump Brags of Lethal US Drug-War Strikes to the United Nations
On September 23, United States President Donald Trump delivered an unhinged diatribe at the United Nations in New York. For almost an hour, he variously attacked the UN itself, the “con job” of climate science and the “double-tailed monster” of Europe’s immigration and energy policies. Another of his targets was people he’s already been killing: those riding boats in the Caribbean.
Memphis Harm Reductionists Create Survival Guide for Trump Crackdown
On September 15, President Donald Trump announced he’s deploying the National Guard and other federal agencies to Memphis, Tennessee. “Today, at the request of Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee, who’s standing with us as you know, I’m signing a presidential memorandum to establish the Memphis Safe Task Force and it’s very important because of the crime that’s going on not only in Memphis, but in many cities and we’re going to take care of all of them,” Trump said.
“Murder on the High Seas”-Trump's Drug-War Strike Crosses New Line
The history of the global drug war is rife with murder and mayhem caused by United States military interventions. Relentless US military interference in Latin America through the 20th century and beyond—take Operation Blast Furnace in Bolivia, the 1989 invasion of Panama or Plan Colombia in the 2000s—has destabilized the region, setting the stage for violent illicit markets to flourish.
Trump’s Deadly Drug War Is Also Waged Through Funding Cuts
On September 2, the United States military struck a small boat speeding through the Caribbean. The Trump administration claimed the 11 people killed by the airstrike were drug smugglers, offering no proof or information about their identities. Experts wondered why 11 people would have been on board the boat if it was being used to transport drugs—given only two or three would be needed to pilot it, leaving more room for its valuable cargo.
“They're Here to Pick Fights”-DC Crackdown Clogs Federal Courts
On August 18, DEA agents and other federal officers, deployed to Washington, DC, by the Trump administration, pulled a man over for running a red light. Court records indicate he had mismatched license plates and lacked a valid driver’s license. The agents ordered him out of the car, then noticed what looked like a joint tucked behind his ear and a baggie of marijuana from a dispensary. They seized the marijuana and took him to the station, where they patted him down.
Mayor Adams Pushes SUD Involuntary Commitment Law for New York State
On August 14, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the “Compassionate Interventions Act.” The proposed legislation, which the Adams administration intends to pursue in the upcoming state legislative session, is part of the mayor’s “End the Culture of Anything Goes” campaign.
Children taught not to hate refugees
A charity in England, Schools of Sanctuary, has partnered with elementary schools to have children write cards to refugees welcoming them to the country. A wonderful gesture, representing the best of our Judeo-Christian values: multiculturalism. Peaceful co-existence. Tolerance. Respect for human rights and dignity, regardless of color, creed or religion. Yeah 2015 called and it wants it’s TL back. Right-wing politicians and random racists on social media are livid.
The Return of Forced Institutionalization
On July 24, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order that allows — and incentivizes — states and cities to purge encampments of unhoused people and force them into mental health or drug treatment facilities against their will. The order compounds this by directly attacking harm reduction services that protect vulnerable people.
Trump’s “Sick” Executive Order Targets Unhoused People and Harm Reduction
On July 24, President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order that allows—and incentivizes—states and cities to purge encampments of unhoused people, and force them into mental health or drug treatment facilities against their will. The order compounds this by directly attacking harm reduction services that protect vulnerable people.
Hard to fathom the worthlessness of the liberal establishment.
In a story clearly planted by the DNC, the New York Times wondered yesterday whether top Democrats regret an (imaginary) leftward turn on immigration ahead of the 2020 election, as voters allegedly surged to the right. They cite a moment during the 2019 primary debate when the Democratic candidates were asked if they favored decriminalizing border crossings. Most candidates on stage had raised their hands, the writers mournfully observe.
The Catholic Church can stop ICE (also the Pope should excommunicate JD Vance).
JD Vance is a heretic. He follows (misinterprets) a medieval Catholic idea known as ordo amoris, or “order of love.” Vance believes that moral obligation is ranked by hierarchy—family first, then countrymen and Nation, and only then the rest of the world (in other words refugees can go fuck themselves.)1 On its face, Vance’s “doctrine” is common sense. Yes, you’re morally obligated to make sure your young, dependent children stay alive, before you go worry about global affairs.
Opinion | Naloxone saves lives. The Trump administration may cut funding for it. Original
At a Cabinet meeting in late April, Attorney General Pam Bondi lavishly praised Donald Trump for saving 75% of the American populace. “Since you have been in office, President Trump, your DOJ agencies have seized more than 22 million fentanyl pills — 3,400 kilos of fentanyl,” she gushed. Turning to the cameras, she added that the seizures “saved — are you ready for this, media?
Texas Jail Staff Laughed as Army Vet Choked and Died, Lawsuit Says
According to a wrongful death lawsuit, staff at the Angelina County Jail stood by as 33-year-old Glenn Smallwood vomited and died in front of them. On the night of June 16, 2023, police officers in Lufkin, Texas, approached 33-year-old Glenn Smallwood. He was shirtless, on his hands and knees, and appeared to be scratching at something on the sidewalk. “I’m a psych patient,” he told them, according to a wrongful death lawsuit Smallwood’s family filed Monday.
Marco Rubio's grandfather was literally an "illegal alien"
Yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio (it feels so weird to say that—“Little Marco” looks like his Dad took him to the office and let him sit behind the desk and doodle) announced he’s revoking the visas of South Sudan passport holders.
Opinion | Trump claims tariffs will stop fentanyl. The facts say otherwise.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has thrown global markets into turmoil with tariff threats, which he seems to alter depending in part on world leaders’ ability to coddle him. After Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke with Trump on Thursday and persuaded him to postpone a tax on goods from Mexico, Trump lavishly praised her.
Opinion | Trump claims tariffs will stop fentanyl. The facts say otherwise.
As part of the 'Border Operation', a convoy of the Mexican National Guard installs a checkpoint on Juarez Avenue to check vehicles seeking to cross the border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on February 07, 2025. The agents are one block from the Paso del Norte international bridge, where they check the trunks of some vehicles and ask drivers for information before entering the border port from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso.
BBC: "Deeply unacceptable" to show Palestinians as human.
Ed note: If you never want to sleep again read this round-up by Radley Balko of every outrageous thing the Trump admin has done in 5 days with the help of the rich guy who, don’t you think looks like Dwight from The Office? Must suck for someone so concerned about good genes. Anyway, every day I read the news until my eyes bleed and I still only knew like 30% of this.
Suicidal Psychopathy.
“Can I just ask you … not to get into politics, but do you think the AfD will win?” I asked my cousin at lunch, in a furtive whisper—I’d been warned to stay away from politics. There’s the proverbial crank right-wing Uncle at the table and my Mom had warned me to shut up to keep the peace. “Yes,” my cousin said without doubt. His wife, who is German, concurred, even though AfD still lags behind the Christian Democrat party in polls. They both grimaced. Thankfully they were against this outcome.
People Who Use Drugs Among Victims of Trump's Foreign-Aid Assault
On January 30, employees at SANPUD (South African Network of People Who Use Drugs) received a letter informing them that they’d soon get their last paychecks. The organization, which worked with fellow nonprofit TB HIV Care, had been forced to halt operations—part of a global freeze imposed on groups receiving United States humanitarian aid.
What actual resistance looks like: RIP Jose “Cha Cha” Jimenez.
Jose “Cha Cha” Jimenez, a pivotal member of the Rainbow Coalition, has died. Not the Jesse Jackson Rainbow Coalition. The truly revolutionary union of Black Panthers, the Young Lords—a Puerto Rican group spearheaded by Jimenez—and the Young Patriots, poor whites from the South, in the 1960s. The groups set aside their differences, rightly observing that their differences didn’t mean much in the face of commonalities like poverty and the Chicago cops bashing their skulls in.
What happened to #resistance?
When Trump got elected in 2016 liberals lost their minds. The pussy hat protests, everyone on cable melting down every 1 minute. Unprecedented! Democracy dies in Darkness! (Democracy dies when Jeff Bezos buys it). I was at some media party and some of the most financially and socially privileged people in the history of the world were melodramatically fretting that as journalists they’d be rounded up and sent to camps.
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