He made a fake ICE deportation tip line. Then a kindergarten teacher called.

GUILTY… Until proven otherwise.


“He made a fake ICE deportation tip line. Then a kindergarten teacher called.” by Drew Harwell, Washington Post, February 20, 2026.

A Nashville comedian’s deportation hotline, set up as a joke, has gone viral among viewers who say it shows the “banality of evil personified.”

Ben Palmer, a stand-up comic in Nashville, has built a following online with his signature style of elaborate deadpan pranks, stumbling his way onto court TV shows and pyramid-scheme calls to poke fun at the latent absurdities of American life.

Then in January of last year, he had an idea for a new bit: He’d set up a fake tip line that people could use to report anyone they thought was an undocumented immigrant. It was darker than his other stunts, but it felt topical, the kind of challenge he wanted to try. At the very least, he thought, he might get a few calls he could talk about at his next show. Read the whole article here.

 

Am I hallucinating?

Who do you believe? Me or your lying eyes?

NOTE: To see the Moltbots (supposedly) in action, visit here: https://www.moltbook.com/m/general


“Moltbook was peak AI theater,” by Will Douglas Heaven, MIT Technology Review, February 6, 2026.

The viral social network for bots reveals more about our own current mania for AI as it does about the future of agents.

For a few days this week the hottest new hangout on the internet was a vibe-coded Reddit clone called Moltbook, which billed itself as a social network for bots. As the website’s tagline puts it: “Where AI agents share, discuss, and upvote. Humans welcome to observe.”

We observed! Launched on January 28 by Matt Schlicht, a US tech entrepreneur, Moltbook went viral in a matter of hours. Schlicht’s idea was to make a place where instances of a free open-source LLM-powered agent known as OpenClaw (formerly known as ClawdBot, then Moltbot), released in November by the Austrian software engineer Peter Steinberger, could come together and do whatever they wanted. Read the whole article here.

 

From the Vault: Vietnamese Christmas Nativity Burning, 1968

“Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, the little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head…”
and then…
and then…
and then…

Along came Skaggs with his 1968 anti-war art protest, “Vietnamese Christmas Nativity Burning.

The Second Coming is on ICE

“The role of public art is to raise awareness.” – Reverend Karen Ristine


“Anti-ICE Nativities Take a Stand Against Trump’s Cruelty,” by Emma Cieslik, Hyperallergic, December 9, 2025.

Despite pushback from right-wing leaders, nativity scenes with a humanitarian message are spreading across the country.

This past Friday, December 5, the Archdiocese of Boston asked St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Massachusetts, to remove its nativity scene. The crèche features the shepherds and the Wise Men, but no Holy Family — no Jesus, Mary, or Joseph. In their place is a sign that reads: “ICE WAS HERE.”

A text below includes the number for the LUCE defense hotline, run by the Immigrant Justice Network of Massachusetts, which monitors and confirms Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity. Read the whole article here.

Religious Iconography as Protest Art

Reminiscent of Joey Skaggs’ Vietnamese Christmas Nativity Burning, Central Park, 1968


“Zip-Tied Baby Jesus Guarded by ICE Agents in Illinois Church Nativity Scene,” by TMZ Staff, TMZ, December 4, 2025.

No Room at the Inn, or the Border!!! Baby Jesus Tied Up in Church Nativity Manger.

If Jesus comes to the U.S., he’d better have a valid visa … at least that’s the worry of an Illinois church that’s installed a controversial Nativity scene depicting the baby messiah zip-tied in a manger.

Lake Street Church of Evanston — just north of Chicago — reimagined the Nativity with masked centurions wearing green vests labeled “ICE” surrounding the Holy Family. Mother Mary and Joseph wear respirator masks to shield themselves from tear gas, according to the church. Read the whole article here.