So much of our government is being willfully destroyed that it overshadows areas where things haven't been working correctly for a while, like medication shortages. ADHD drugs since 2022. Local anesthetics since 2015.

Even stuff as basic as "sterile water for irrigation" since 2023. Seriously.

‘No Reason He Should Have Died’: Alex Pretti’s Parents Open Up

Alex Pretti's parents keep a box crammed with 200 letters and cards that have poured into their Denver home since their son was shot and killed by immigration agents.

"He's my first born," Susan Pretti said. "He's the one that made me a mother. There was no reason he should have died that day."

Moderna says FDA refuses its application for new mRNA flu vaccine The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is refusing to consider Moderna’s application for a new flu vaccine made with mRNA technology.

It is absolutely outrageous that Moderna’s flu vaccine was met with a “refusal-to-file” even after their approved their protocol with FDA and carried out the trial as agreed. This vaccine works better in older adults than the current flu vaccines.

apnews.com/article/mode...

The Troubled State of the Senate Has Members Eyeing Governorships

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/u...
Why on earth would Coloradans want @bennet.senate.gov in the governors office? Because he yelled in front of the cameras a few times while the Senate failed? We also remember his tenure at DPS and he should stay away from education policy.

Senate Democrat demands ‘full accounting’ of VA health care dollars that funded staff departures About $6 billion Congress provided for veterans care was spent on deferred resignations and voluntary retirements as part of a workforce reduction.

www.stripes.com/veterans/202...
Collins assertion that employees weren’t pushed-out in 2025 is a brazen lie. I could get a dozen former employees on the phone right now that saw leaving as their only option. Good, dedicated nurses, support staff; some veterans themselves.

Incredible work here by local Chicago journalists investigating two of the especially violent DHS agents terrorizing people in Chicago & MSP. Using body cam footage, after-action reports, social media videos & much more, @unraveledpress.com tells a jarring and must read story:

This era got me reposting fucking Cato Institute studies smdh

Anything from McGregor Metal on this? If I recall they employ a lot of Haitian immigrants, presumably because they’re the only ones who show up to work and can pass a drug test. Trump seems to be intent on making manufacturing great by killing one family business at a time!

Dear media, stop acting like Trump means what he says Whether over "a deal" on Greenland or a "pivot" on ICE, we need far more skepticism

"The news media doesn’t seem to know how to bring anything other than wide-eyed credulity to Trump's utterances, even after all the lies and deceit of the past decade."

Great @sulliview.bsky.social takedown of coverage of "pivot" on ICE and Greenland:
margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/dear-media...

happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.

HHS Is Using AI Tools From Palantir to Target ‘DEI’ and ‘Gender Ideology’ in Grants Since March of 2025, the Department of Health and Human Services has been using tools from Palantir and the startup Credal AI to weed out perceived alignment with “DEI” or “gender ideology.”

NEW: HHS has been using Palantir AI tools since last March to ferret out improper DEI and "gender ideology" from grants for child welfare programs. The observant @carolinehaskins.bsky.social has more:

ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING.

Michael Bennet’s wife, Susan Daggett, joked that if you don’t like his support for Netanyahu’s genocide in Gaza, you should elect him Governor so he stops voting in the Senate.

Their utter contempt for voters is disqualifying.
Bennet must be defeated.
#copolitics

Colorado hospitals recruit foreign workers for hard-to-fill jobs. That won’t be an option with Trump’s new $100,000 fee. The H-1B visa allows American employers to hire foreign workers with at least a bachelor’s degree, typically when they can’t find U.S.-based applicants.

Colorado hospitals recruit foreign workers for hard-to-fill jobs. That won’t be an option with Trump’s new $100,000 fee. trib.al/h7XuRIo

VA Officials Tried to Block a Memorial Service for Alex Pretti The Minneapolis VA got an order from higher up telling them to “back off,” an employee told The New Republic.

newrepublic.com/post/205865/...

VA political appointees never miss a chance to demoralize and disparage one of the most committed workforces in the government.

Alex Pretti was a hero. To these workers, he was a colleague, too. "As health care providers, it's our duty to make sacrifices."

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
“It’s not hard for civil servants to imagine what Pretti might have been going through over the past year.”

Good points in this thread.

Homan won’t bring substantive changes but unlike Bovino he’ll direct operations largely away from observers and cameras on the ground.

As immigrant advocates worry Colorado could be the next Minnesota, state leaders vow to fight back - The Colorado Sun “It’s already come here. We’ve already seen the violence,” a Durango immigrant rights advocate says.

"As immigrant advocates worry Colorado could be the next Minnesota, state leaders vow to fight back" #denver

Police Told to Be ‘as Vague as Permissible’ About Why They Use Flock The documents show law enforcement sees themselves as being consistently and universally under threat from the people it is supposed to protect.

“Police officers are being told to ‘be as vague as permissible’ about why they are using the Flock surveillance system in order to not leak sensitive information via public records requests, according to records obtained using a public records request.”

After Donations, Trump Administration Revoked Rule Requiring More Nursing Home Staff

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/27/u...

YouTube video by Unite 4 Veterans Honoring Alex Pretti

We salute these VA workers for honoring #AlexPretti.

As they say, "We are healthcare workers for veterans. We know what heroes look like."

youtube.com/shorts/bgCcE...

'The violent death of one of our own': VA employees ask for more from their agency after nurse is fatally shot Workers look to leadership for support, though so far it has pointed the finger at its political opponents after federal officers shot and killed a VA employee.

Ask more? How about the bare minimum? Like, I’d be delighted if Collins would merely *pretend* that he doesn’t hate the entire VHA workforce for a moment.
www.govexec.com/workforce/20...

RFI Background The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is gathering information to better understand how the industry's commercial Big Data and Ad Tech providers can directly support investigations ac-tivities. ICE components are working with increasing volumes of criminal, civil, and regulatory, administrative documentation from numerous internal and external sources. The Government is assessing the marketplace for existing and emerging commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions comparable to large providers of investigative data and legal/risk analytics. As well, the Government is seeking to understand the current state of Ad Tech compliant and location data services available to federal investigative and operational entities, considering regulatory constraints and privacy expectations of support investigations activities.

DHS wants to learn from the best on how to use large datasets to target people. (The best is Ad Tech).

sam.gov/workspace/co...

From the minnesotatwins community on Reddit: The Pohlads and Twins on ICE Explore this post and more from the minnesotatwins community

Someone at Twins fan fest asked a question about ICE www.reddit.com/r/minnesotat...

A reminder that VA employees are already exhausted from the ongoing assault on veterans’ healthcare. I don’t know their hospital specifically, but odds are they have been hemorrhaging medical, and support staff for a year. Bet VA leaders will send an email to staff disparaging Alex on tomorrow...

The thing is, veterans have been watching the slow, deliberate destruction of the VA by political appointees, DOGE holdovers, and assorted internal opportunists for over a year now, and the VSOs and other orgs haven’t even made a dent in their plans. Most just give the privatization crowd cover.

Photos of Alex Pretti with Sara’s caption: On August 16th at approximately 10:00 pm I received a call from the ICU at the VA saying my Dad had sepsis and needed to be intubated to stay alive so Josh and I headed in. We were greeted by the kindest, most calming and warm soul who helped us understand what was happening and showed deep care for us and my Dad. He continued to show utmost patience and kindness over the next few days as my Dad remained in the ICU and we were there continually. It was Alex Pretti, the man shot today by ICE. If you see this video and don't think it's murder, I don't understand your thinking and ask you to question your heart. He was out there trying to help and protect and from the little we knew of him, it doesn't surprise me he was not afraid to be on the front lines of this horrible scene in our Minneapolis. Weeping for his family and all those at the VA who no longer get to work with him or receive his care.

My friend Sara posted this about the superb care her father received from with Alex Pretti

Absolutely heartbreaking

Misconduct by ICE can now be reported to the Colorado attorney general | Colorado Newsline The Colorado Attorney General’s office launched a new section of its public complaint system for misconduct by federal agents.

ICE misconduct in CO can now be reported to the state attorney general's office:

I WAS ACQUAINTED WITH ALEX THROUGH MY VOLUNTEERING AT THE VA...I AM SO SORRY FOR ALL HIS FAMILY, FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES AT THE VA. SEE YOU ALL SOON.

YES WHITE. HOT. RAGE. DR. DREKONJA.

IMHO ...

There is no one in the world more interested in saving lives than an ICU nurse.

There is no one in the world more capable of saving lives than an ICU nurse.

And they killed him.

This fucking burns me up. I work for the VA as a Lead MSA in Oregon and am a patient. I know damn well how healthcare has been struggling under this regime already. I've been sharing today's events with every employee I know.