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globeonfire.bsky.social
Pandemic Still On!
@globeonfire.bsky.social
510 followers 1.1K following 210 posts
Humanist
Twitter @eatsthenews
Human who loves dogs. This person believes in airborne viruses, climate change, and lives a very small footprint with a very small dog.
Discworld ❤️
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globeonfire.bsky.social
Tulips are a month early
February 3, 2026 at 5:03 AM
Reposted by Pandemic Still On!
stevevladeck.bsky.social
Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.

It's a tour de force:

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
"On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1 More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet]. So says the official responsible for overseeing the TPS program. And one of those (her word) “damn” countries is Haiti. Relevant here, three days before making the above post, Secretary Noem announced she would terminate Haiti’s TPS designation as of February 3, 2026. See 90 Fed. Reg. 54733 (Nov. 28, 2025) (Termination). Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders. They are not, it emerges, “killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies.” They are instead: Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer’s disease, Dkt. 90 (Second Am. Compl. (SAC)) ¶ 1; Rudolph Civil, a software engineer at a national bank, id. ¶ 2; Marlene Gail Noble, a laboratory assistant in a toxicology department, id. ¶ 3; Marica Merline Laguerre, a college economics major, id. ¶ 4; and Vilbrun Dorsainvil, a full-time registered nurse, id. ¶ 5. They claim that Secretary Noem’s decision violates the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), 5 U.S.C. § 706(2), and the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Government counters that the Court does not have jurisdiction, and, in any case, the Secretary did not violate the law. Plaintiffs seek to stay the Secretary’s decision under 5 U.S.C. § 705 pending the outcome of this litigation. See Dkt. 81 (§ 705 Mot.). To decide their motion, the Court considers first whether it has jurisdiction. It does. See Part II. It then considers: whether Plaintiffs have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits; whether they will be irreparably harmed absent a stay; and whether a merged balance of the equities and public interest analysis favors a stay. See Part III. Each element favors Plaintiffs. See Parts IV, V, and VI. Plaintiffs charge that Secretary Noem preordained her termination decision and did so because of hostility to nonwhite immigrants. This seems substantially likely. Secretary Noem has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up, twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8 U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all. See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id. The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes, the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary, Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A. As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot] Dkt. 100 (§ 705 Reply) at 20–21.4 “Do not travel to Haiti for any reason” does not exactly scream, as Secretary Noem concluded, suitable for return. And so, the Government studiously does not argue that Plaintiffs will suffer no harm if removed to Haiti. Instead, it argues Plaintiffs will not certainly suffer irreparable harm because DHS might not remove them. But this fails to take Secretary Noem at her word: “WE DON’T WANT THEM. NOT ONE.” See Section IV.B.2.b. Finally, the balance of equities and public interest favor a stay. The Government does not cite any reason termination must occur post haste. Secretary Noem complains of strains unlawful immigrants place on our immigration-enforcement system. Her answer? Turn 352,959 lawful immigrants into unlawful immigrants overnight. She complains of strains to our economy. Her answer? Turn employed lawful immigrants who contribute billions in taxes into the legally unemployable. She complains of strains to our healthcare system. Her answer? Turn the insured into the uninsured. This approach is many things—in the public interest is not one of them. For the reasons below, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for a Stay Under 5 U.S.C. § 705, Dkt. 81.
February 3, 2026 at 1:06 AM
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crazysaguaro.com
bsky.app/profile/hex7...
February 2, 2026 at 6:05 AM
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cbarbermd.bsky.social
URGENT: DOJ has again removed Epstein-related files — the second time in three days.

The deleted materials reportedly referenced Donald Trump, “Calendar Girl” events at Mar-a-Lago, and files unproven allegations of rape and the auctioning of minors. Trump’s social ties to Epstein 1/2
February 2, 2026 at 6:43 PM
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htfcuddles.mmfcomic.com
Do you remember when people were saying "I think my phone is listening to me, i'm getting ads for stuff I spoke about" and people said "They arent listening to you, they're just this good at predicting your interests"?

Well, it happens they were doing exactly that.
www.cbsnews.com/news/google-...
Google to pay $68 million over allegations its voice assistant eavesdropped on users
Class-action lawsuit alleged that Google's voice assistant illegally recorded and shared private conversations with advertisers.
www.cbsnews.com
February 1, 2026 at 9:44 PM
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mayor.nyc.gov
As Black History Month begins, we honor the generations of Black New Yorkers who built this city into the “gorgeous mosaic” we call home.

Today, we reflect on the words of Mayor David Dinkins: our city’s first Black mayor (and a democratic socialist!).
February 1, 2026 at 2:11 PM
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lebassett.bsky.social
Over 3,400 journalists were laid off in 2025
marisakabas.bsky.social Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 1d
The next item in the auction was a week in a house in Sag Harbor. As the auctioneer was in the middle of talking about the item, Bari shouted “Name your price!” Didn’t wait for the bidding to begin. She won it for $25k.
February 1, 2026 at 6:15 PM
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electproject.bsky.social
My personal government data was stolen by DOGE. Where is my $10 billion?
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d
STEPHANOPOULOS: How do you respond to people who say it's a conflict of interest for the president to be seeking funds from those who he's administering?

BLANCHE: We're looking at how to handle that. He's not wrong that what happened there was horrible, the fact his tax returns were leaked.
February 1, 2026 at 4:33 PM
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mattgertz.bsky.social
This single payment is ~66x the total amount of “Biden family” revenues that the GOP and right-wing media spent years frothing over.” www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/ano...
February 1, 2026 at 3:22 PM
globeonfire.bsky.social
This Bald Eagle landed on the very top of this tree (with a silly bounce bounce) as the niece was walking to the bus stop.

Im glad my crows watch out for my tiny dog. I can relax and love seeing these great birds in the neighborhood.

Monocular should be here soon. Better photos soon!
February 1, 2026 at 5:13 AM
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jcollins.bsky.social
"MPR News has learned that the police chief in the small southern Minnesota city of St. Peter intervened Thursday afternoon to prevent federal immigration agents from arresting a local resident" who had been observing federal agents. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
St. Peter police chief intervenes, prevents federal agents from arresting resident
The police chief of St. Peter intervened to prevent federal agents from taking a local resident who was observing ICE enforcement actions into custody. It is believed to the first time local police in...
www.mprnews.org
January 31, 2026 at 2:48 PM
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maris.bsky.social
I keep thinking again, in light of the latest Epstein files dump, about how MeToo “went too far.”
January 31, 2026 at 3:43 PM
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atrupar.com
Six days ago federal officers murdered a man in the streets of Minneapolis and we still don't know their identities. Is there any modern precedent for this?
January 30, 2026 at 6:49 PM
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theverge.com
Peloton lays off 11 percent of its staff just a few months after launching its AI hardware
Peloton lays off 11 percent of its staff just a few months after launching its AI hardware
Peloton’s latest pivot includes more layoffs.
buff.ly
January 31, 2026 at 12:00 AM
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mikedrucker.bsky.social
I know it’s been said a million times but it’s pretty funny how many short king steroid comedians with corny ass manchild tattoos called themselves free speech warriors right up until the moment free speech was actually under attack.
January 30, 2026 at 5:23 PM
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freedom.press
The government’s arrests of journalists @donlemonofficial.bsky.social and @bygeorgiafort.bsky.social are attacks on freedom of the press.

Two federal courts flatly rejected prosecuting Lemon, but instead of accepting that humiliating defeat, the government has now doubled down.

Read our statement:
Statement from FPF Chief of Advocacy Seth Stern: “The government’s arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are naked attacks on freedom of the press. Two federal courts flatly rejected prosecuting Lemon because the evidence for these vindictive and unconstitutional charges was insufficient, and Lemon has every right to document news and inform the public. Instead of accepting that humiliating defeat, the government has now doubled down. “These arrests, under bogus legal theories for obviously constitutionally protected reporting, are clear warning shots aimed at other journalists. The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them. Fort’s arrest is meant to instill the same fear in local independent journalists as big names like Lemon. “The answer to this outrageous attack is not fear or self-censorship. It’s an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth, and the First Amendment. If the Trump administration thinks it can bully journalists into submission, it is wrong. We’ve recently seen that even in the Trump era, public pressure still can work. It’s time to do it again. News outlets across the political spectrum need to loudly defend Lemon’s and Fort’s rights. Journalists are not making themselves the story, Trump is.”
January 30, 2026 at 3:24 PM
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thetnholler.bsky.social
MINNESOTA — Mom goes outside to warm up her car, ICE grabs her: "Please, my car kids are all alone in the house!”

So nothing has changed and Homan was just to put a new face on the cruelty, got it

(H/T longtimehistory)
January 30, 2026 at 2:43 AM
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whstancil.bsky.social
Minneapolis should press its momentum and demand not only withdrawal but start talking about the need for immediate reparations, loudly, with the total certainty that only winners have. "You have wronged us terribly and must pay recompense" and let them argue the second part.
January 30, 2026 at 4:31 AM
globeonfire.bsky.social
The tea plant in the foreground looks sorta dead, doesn't it?

I thought it was dead or close to it, but the roots are very happy! So I put it in a bigger pot.

Hopefully it will finally sprout new happy leaves.

#tinytrees
#indoororchard
#backyardshed
A line of pots with 3 inch trees.
January 29, 2026 at 10:58 PM
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nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
ICE is upset that ICE isn't welcome in restaurants after ICE ordered food at a restaurant, ate it, then arrested restaurant employees, and ICE believes this is someone else's fault, do I have that right?
January 29, 2026 at 4:45 PM
globeonfire.bsky.social
Zip tie bonsai of my olive tree. Trying to get her branches going up toward the light, and the trunk going upwards too!
Bamboo doing triple duty as the ziptie stake and branch director to keep them from ever crossing too.

Its a process. .
January 29, 2026 at 7:13 PM
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pbsnews.org
The parents of Alex Pretti have retained a former federal prosecutor who helped Minnesota's attorney general convict the police officer who kneeled on George Floyd's neck of murder. https://to.pbs.org/3ZA2HfU
Family of Alex Pretti retains lawyers who helped prosecute the George Floyd case
The parents of Alex Pretti have retained a former federal prosecutor who helped Minnesota’s attorney general convict the police officer who kneeled on George Floyd’s neck of murder.
www.pbs.org
January 29, 2026 at 12:44 AM
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jbendery.bsky.social
NEW: Liam Conejo Ramos, the 5-year-old who ICE agents in Minneapolis nabbed last week and shipped off to a Texas detention facility with his dad, is now in poor health, his school superintendent told me today www.huffpost.com/entry/liam-c...
5-Year-Old in ICE Detention Is Sick, Says Top School Official
The 5-year-old who was taken by federal agents in Minneapolis is being held behind bars with his father in Texas.
www.huffpost.com
January 28, 2026 at 9:59 PM
globeonfire.bsky.social
I love my ladybugs that live in my plant pots.

Here is one 🐞 getting some warm light on a leaf.

Hope he snacks on pests on the way down.
January 28, 2026 at 10:41 PM