It Could Happen Here Weekly 247

All of this week's episodes of It Could Happen Here put together in one large file. 

• How to Rob a City: NBA Billionaire Edition 

• How the United States Built its Colonial Empire, Pt. 2

• Sophie Cunningham's Transphobic WNBA Panic 

• DHS Surveillance and Infiltration of ICE Protests in Minnesota 

• Executive Disorder: Mail-In Voting Restrictions, Canadian Trade War, Record High ICE Detentions 

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Sources/Links:

How to Rob a City: NBA Billionaire Edition 

• https://www.forbes.com/profile/thomas-dundon/
• https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/the-nbas-newest-cheapest-owner-shows-how-billionaires-ruin-sports
• https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/03/tom-dundon-blazers-subprime-loan/
• https://archive.nytimes.com/dealbook.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/investment-riches-built-on-auto-loans-to-poor/#:~:text=Ms.,the%20loan%20with%20her%20daughter
• https://www.youtube.com/live/UD8erzI72Fg
• https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/shadow-bank-blue-owl-caps-021700097.html
• https://wealth.blueowl.com/solutions/investment-strategy-real-assets-digital-infrastructure
• https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-02-04/blue-owl-fund-sells-warehouse-to-dhs-for-ice-mega-jail
• https://youtu.be/3BqOjrFFNK0
• https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.14.3.95
• https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecin.12572
• https://belkcollegeofbusiness.charlotte.edu/economic-working-papers/wp-content/uploads/sites/850/2012/10/wp2016-014.pdf
• https://www.cfr.org/backgrounders/economics-hosting-olympic-games
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24131508_Mega-Events_The_effect_of_the_world's_biggest_sporting_events_on_local_regional_and_national_economies
• https://econjwatch.org/file_download/222/2008-09-coateshumphreys-com.pdf
• https://econjwatch.org/file_download/222/2008-09-coateshumphreys-com.pdf
• https://media.clemson.edu/economics/data/sports/Stadiums%20and%20Econ%20Impact/Matheson-2019-Journal_of_Policy_Analysis_and_Management.pdf
• https://www.blazersedge.com/trail-blazers-analysis/114957/portland-moda-center-portland-trail-blazers-arena-revenue-debate-sports-teams-city-revenue-taxes-deal
• https://www.kjzz.org/business/2026-05-10/diversification-matters-glendale-says-desert-diamond-arena-is-thriving-post-hockey
• https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/oakland-arena-coliseum-record-best-fiscal-year-of-all-time-after-sold-out-bad-bunny-k-pop-concerts/
• https://oaklandside.org/2026/06/16/how-hot-is-the-oakland-arena-a-second-bidder-has-emerged-to-buy-it/
• https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/keyarena-turns-a-bigger-profit-than-it-ever-did-with-the-sonics/
• https://journalistsresource.org/economics/sports-stadium-public-financing/
• https://idahocapitalsun.com/2024/07/03/smith-entertainment-group-estimates-spending-525-million-remodeling-delta-center/
• https://www.opb.org/article/2026/04/20/trail-blazers-moda-center-portland-basketball-sports/
• https://www.ripcitynotripoff.com
• https://weareripcity.org/#supporters
• https://www.opb.org/article/2026/07/16/portland-councilors-release-draft-term-sheet-as-business-coalition-presses-for-public-moda-center-funding/
• https://multnomah.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php
• https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7145153/2026/03/25/nba-expansion-seattle-las-vegas/

How the United States Built its Colonial Empire, Pt. 2

• How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr

• Colonial Crucible: Empire in the Making of the Modern American State edited by Alfred W. McCoy and Francisco A. Scarano

• The Anarchy of Empire in the Making of U.S. Culture by Amy Kaplan

• https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/182/244/ 

• https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/182/1/ 

• https://theconversation.com/why-russia-gave-up-alaska-americas-gateway-to-the-arctic-74675?xid=PS_smithsonian 

• https://www.reuters.com/graphics/USA-CARIBBEAN/MILITARY-BUILDUP/egpbbnzyrpq/ 

• https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/17/magazine/venezuela-empires-colony.html 

• https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-us-state-trump-rodriguez-chavismo-silence-634203c885803b018ecd8ac012bb249d 

• https://time.com/article/2026/06/02/trump-annex-canada-51st-state-rhetoric-carney-us-partnership-message/ 

• https://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/28/nyregion/new-light-on-old-fbi-fight-decades-of-surveillance-of-puerto-rican-groups.html 

• https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/atc/1685.html

• https://theconversation.com/us-territories-have-a-voice-in-congress-but-no-vote-heres-why-283547 

• https://www.nminewsservice.com/cnmi-covenant-united-states-50th-anniversary-explainer-timeline/ 

• https://apnews.com/article/american-samoa-voting-citizenship-alaska-trump-eda6c32ce0fcdca6edb22efac26e403d 

• https://elecciones2024.ceepur.org/Escrutinio_General_123/index.html#es/default/PLEBISCITO_Resumen.xml 

• https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099257005212415735 

• https://www.doi.gov/oia/compacts-of-free-association 

• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/30/puerto-rico-independence-movement 

• https://time.com/7024574/puerto-rico-status-vote/ 

• https://www.uog.edu/_resources/files/schools-and-colleges/college-of-liberal-arts-and-social-sciences/droessler_whose-pacific.pdf 

• https://juntasupervision.pr.gov/abril-y-mayo-2025/
• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/21/trump-strait-of-hormuz-american-territory
•  https://edition.cnn.com/2026/08/20/politics/trump-iran-war-strait-of-hormuz
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:School_Begins_(Puck_Magazine_1-25-1899).jpg

• Las carpetas: persecución política y derechos civiles en Puerto Rico by Ramón Bosque Pérez y Javier Colón Morera

• Soldiers of the Nation: Military Service and Modern Puerto Rico, 1868-1952 by Harry Franqui-Rivera

Sophie Cunningham's Transphobic WNBA Panic 

• https://www.thefrankiedlc.news/
• @thefrankiedlc
• @bugsmaytrix.bsky.social
• https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-everything-is-wrestling-336405745/

DHS Surveillance and Infiltration of ICE Protests in Minnesota 

• https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73489661/united-states-v-sant/ 
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.0_6.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.3_3.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.5_5.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.7_4.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.10_4.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.8_4.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.9_5.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.12_4.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.11_5.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.21_4.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.22_4.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.23_4.pdf
• https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416/gov.uscourts.mnd.234416.212.24_4.pdf
• https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1446251/dl
• inline=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X3DhFnngDY

Executive Disorder: Mail-In Voting Restrictions, Canadian Trade War, Record High ICE Detentions 

• https://pridesource.com/article/dolly-parton-tribute
• https://people.com/dolly-parton-says-she-loves-and-does-not-judge-the-lgbtq-community-8386722
  https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/08/designation-of-autistici-inventati-as-a-specially-designated-global-terrorist/
• https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0616/
  https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/press-releases/2026/08/18/usda-acts-remove-roadless-rule-restrictions-exacerbate-rising-wildfire-risk 
• https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/planning/roadless
  https://www.politico.com/news/2026/08/22/us-canada-trade-deal-01046788 
• https://www.npr.org/2026/08/24/nx-s1-5942971/u-s-treasury-launches-economic-d-day-against-iran-as-war-drags-on 
• https://thehill.com/newsletters/morning-report/6048370-scott-bessent-trump-administration-slow-roll-iran-war-sanctions/ 
• https://newrepublic.com/post/214646/trump-worker-visa-fees-immigration 
• https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/world/canada/trump-carney-trade-war-tariffs.html 
• https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqxvj1zd4qjo 
• https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/iran-vows-retaliation-u-widens-115405636.html 
• https://apnews.com/article/puerto-rico-drought-disaster-usda-farmers-water-b4fe620ecbb2272576e79d140f0180dd 
• https://www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsalias/washington-dc/notas/agricultura-federal-declara-una-emergencia-en-26-municipios-de-puerto-rico-a-causa-de-la-sequia/
  https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/ice-informants/2026/illinois-prosecutors-helping-ice/  
• https://www.injusticewatch.org/project/ice-informants/2026/illinois-trust-act-violations-immigrants-deported/ 
• https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/Safer-Communities/Resources-for-Law-Enforcement/Law-Enforcement-and-Immigration/ 
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC1X9shmR24 
• https://x.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/2092303479054225809?s=20 
• https://deportationdata.org/news/2026-08-24-ICE-release.html 
• https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/251258.P.pdf 
• https://app.deportationdata.org/?agency=ice&dataset=detention-stays&tab=chart&s=eJxVyDEKhEAMQNG7_HqEWRd2IZcJKoOKTCIabcS7W_vKd3Ei38QeXSAMflho777MtpOIuRaE6hYTibE4gqq5FVUS47a-o64IbW5_Tf43-cP9AO8gHXk 
• https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2026-08/OIG-26-23-Aug26.pdf 
• https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-17238.pdf 
• https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/26a124_hgci.pdf 
• https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/26/trump-usps-mail-voting-rule-lawsuit-states-supreme-court.html 
• https://archive.is/20260818151459/https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/18/pentagon-evaluating-smaller-us-military-presence-persian-gulf-after-iran-war/#selection-1117.0-1121.36
• https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2026-08-21/bahrain-evacuation-military-families-navy-22618186.html
• https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-08-21/stars-and-stripes-publisher-editor-reporter-separated-22620671.html 

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