Weather Report #33: On transparency laws, climate lawsuits, text chains, corporate surveillance, goon caves, and Gaza

Hello, dear reader! Welcome to your Weather Report, a weekly column where I recommend some articles, a book, a movie, and some music for readers to consume.

Here's what you're getting this week:

1. Read my latest story about the FBI and Puerto Rico Police discussing a pro-independence group during a domestic terrorism meeting.
2. The Puerto Rican Senate passed a bill aiming to hide public information, but the battle's not over yet.
3. San Juan filed an appeal to its climate deception lawsuit being dismissed.
4. Essays, articles, and columns about: Hitler-loving Republican text chains, a corporate surveillance empire that might be tracking you, another story about how the White House helped Israel genocide Gaza, gooners and porn-based alienation, unbordered reporting, and texting with a government prosecutor.
5. A video game that probes the deep state, terrorism, and the parapolitical through funky, cel-shaded vibes and a weird assassination plotline.
6. A gripping crime-drama from one of the best contemporary horror directors.
7. Three songs I've been loving lately.

If you're interested in seeing the recommendations – and supporting Heavy Weather's quest to keep tabs on collapse – you can become a paid subscriber by clicking the button below. Paid subscribers get access to the MEDIA LIST, a comprehensive list of every book, movie, and video game I've ever recommended. If you're already a paid subscriber, thank you very much! This newsletter would literally not be possible without your support.

What I Did This Week:

Plugging my article about the FBI and Puerto Rico Police discussing a pro-independence activist group during a domestic terror meeting one more time! Worked pretty hard on this story and I'm so glad that it's finally out. It will, hopefully, be the first of many articles covering the surveillance state on the archipelago.

You can read the full story here:

FBI and Puerto Rico Police Discussed Pro-Independence Group During Domestic Terrorism Meeting

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Puerto Rico Police (PRP) discussed a pro-independence activist group during a meeting on domestic terrorism last year, according to documents obtained by The Latino Newsletter.

The Latino NewsletterCarlos Berríos Polanco

Puerto Rican Senate Wants to Hide Information from You

As I touched on two weeks ago, the Puerto Rican Senate was voting on a bill to worsen the archipelago's public records law. A day after that Weather Report went out, all but one member of the New Progressive Party (PNP) delegation voted "yes" on the bill. The one member who didn't was absent from voting. Every senator who isn't from the PNP voted against it. Tragic but not unexpected from a center-right party who's had one corruption scandal after another. However, the battle for document liberation is not over. Now, the bill passes over to the House, where it could be changed or rejected altogether. It's a very slim chance, in my opinion, but you have to have a little hope.

Worth reiterating here that it's the official position of this newsletter that every government official who wants to hide information from the public is bad and deserves to get thrown out on their ass.

Senate Approves Bill That Further Restricts Access to Information in Puerto Rico

Despite the absence of public hearings, the New Progressive Party delegation in the Senate voted in favor of the bill, introducing last-minute amendments that had neither been disclosed nor discussed beforehand.

Centro de Periodismo InvestigativoGabriela A. Dávila Lozada

San Juan Files Appeal to Climate Deception Lawsuit Dismissal

On Thursday, the Municipality of San Juan gave the District of Puerto Rico notice that it is appealing the dismissal of their climate deception lawsuit against Exxon, Shell, BP, and other fossil fuel companies.

I've covered these lawsuits extensively on the newsletter, so I won't get into the nitty gritty here, but you should know that the lawsuit was dismissed for timeliness and the judge who oversaw the case did not address its merits. That's a fancy way of saying that the judge didn't say whether their argument made sense. However, she did say they filed too late after the devastating September 2017 hurricane season, for which they were trying to recoup damages.

You can see in the picture that the lawyer is also appealing the orders for him to pay sanctions. These came about because the municipality's lawyer filed several filings late,, according to the federal documents.

You can find the appeal here.

That's it for this week's free stuff. If you want to see the media recommendations and the link roundup, you can become a paid subscriber today.