Jules

it is certainly true that Western media constantly cast doubt on the Gaza Health Ministry's death numbers, but seeing this today made me think of the Lancet study estimating total deaths in Gaza to be as high as over 186,000 that came out in *July 2024*

EMERGENCY & RAPID RESPONSE FUND: Keep Minnesota Workers Safe The ICE occupation in the Twin Cities is ongoing, and low-wage and immigrant workers continue to face urgent threats to their safety and livelihoods. This campaign has met its original rent fund goal,...

hey if you want to help people in Minnesota pay rent when they can't work due to the federal government occupying their city for the purpose of oppression, ethnic cleansing and terrorism, here's a place to donate chuffed.org/project/1671...

Listen: because I am hearing this a lot from folks who are in caregiving roles with disabled, sick, dying folks, elders, or children in their care:

You are not unable to do anything or unable to take action.

Care work IS justice work

The Success of Heated Rivalry Should Not Be a Surprise — Fansplaining Romancelandia understands why the show is a hit. Why is it so hard for Hollywood to get the message?

"The real question here isn’t why Heated Rivalry is a hit—it’s why this kind of romance series is so rare in the first place."

The great @gavia.bsky.social returns to Fansplaining with an incisive piece on Heated Rivalry, romance publishing, and the TV industry. Read or listen to an audio version:

The assumption that all romance is trash for dumb people who like formulas -- that's still a thing in TV & film. A big thing. Also, like, I'm sorry, but a middle or upper class man is an asshole and is doing crimes or solving crimes? That's not a genre? MORE formulaic than a romance? HILARIOUS

We're seeing the same thing here in Maine. People unable to buy groceries or pay for rent because they don't dare leave their homes. Mutual aid and non-profits are jumping in, volunteers are ready, but there's just so much need. My heart breaks and is full of rage at the same time.

Sesame Street Instagram: Big Bird snuggling a smaller bird. Offering comfort in Scary Times: After a violent event, children of different ages will have different needs. These age based strategies can help them feel safer and more secure.

Sesame Street is now offering tips for parents on post-trauma comfort because the federal government is physically and mentally abusing our country's children.

“Because what sits at the heart of this fascist pushback on queer lives is the effort to remove our humanity from us…Living as ourselves everywhere we can, emphasizing our humanness in every facet of our work on the planet, pushes back against that.”

The earlier incident started when he stopped his car after observing ICE agents chasing what he described as a family on foot, and began shouting and blowing his whistle, according to a source who asked not to be named out of fear of retribution. Pretti later told the source that five agents tackled him and one leaned on his back – an encounter that left him with a broken rib. The agents quickly released him at the scene. “That day, he thought he was going to die,” said the source.

My gosh. Alex Pretti was notifying neighbors that Trump and Vance's agents were chasing a family. A mob of agents then tackled him and broke his rib.

He thought he was going to die.

Then the very next week, he came back out to support his neighbors.

And a mob of agents killed him.

I grew up with Alex Pretti The kind-hearted ICU nurse shot by ICE agents was my childhood best friend.

I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com

A drawing of two foxes cuddling in the moonlight. The caption reads, "You're not weak for struggling through this. Sometimes life is just really hard."

Week of action in honor of Alex Pretti, RN and all others killed by ice Join National Nurses United RN members in a week-long series of actions to honor Pretti and all who have been murdered by ICE, as well as demand that Congress vote to immediately abolish this violent,...

National Nurses United, largest nurses' union in US, are holding actions over the coming week in honor of Alex Pretti and all others killed by ICE

www.nationalnursesunited.org/week-of-acti...

Kelly Marie Tran is a badass

Greg Ketter, founder/owner of DreamHaven Books & Comics, Winner of the Will Eisner Spirit of Retail Award, 1999.

As Greg has said here, the store's site has crashed from the traffic/flood of orders. But a GofundMe is still live to help with the store's renovation.

www.gofundme.com/f/dreamhaven...

So, so much of the response to Good called her "a mom," even erasing her wife to make her seem more like a "normal" Wife and Mother. Pretti also has a family, but I haven't heard anything about them -- just about him and his values. He valued calling out sexism, so it's worth pointing out.

there is no reason to be a people pleaser. people are never pleased.

signs left at alex pretti’s memorial in minneapolis: “i love you so much / i’ll miss you forever” photo with a friend, “i would have done the same. RIP alex,” a stethoscope and “we’ll take it from here, alex” and a tshirt for the minnesota nurses association

Great thread!

One of my favorite Supernatural fics has this tweet as the basis for its plot and it’s truly genius.

Stand With Minnesota Donation Directory Stand With Minnesota is a hub for supporting, learning, and taking action to support Minnesotans impacted by ICE and federal enforcement.

tomorrow, StandWithMinnesota.com will hit a million site visits and over 650,000 unique visitors.

i made it 10 days ago with $600 from you guys for hosting and cloudflare.

thank you. thank you.

DreamHaven Books owner Greg Ketter emerging from a cloud of tear gas that ICE agents fired into the streets of Minneapolis.

Remember the other day when I was saluting my friend Greg Ketter, owner of Minneapolis’ DreamHaven Books? This is him the following day. Greg will never say this, so I will — now is a great time to buy books from DreamHaven. Support Americans who stand up vs. 🧊. dreamhavenbooks.com

nursesonja • 7h & Threads Let us not forget, it was the same administration that reduced us to wearing trash bags as protective gear while we watched the hospital go up in flames around us during the pandemic that just murdered one of our own on the streets in broad daylight. As a nurse & as a person, I will never forgive. I will never forget. I will never back down. This was never about border control. This is about total control. O240 Q5 G34 → 21

The nurses are pissed

“.. He cared about people deeply ..,” said Michael Pretti, Alex’s father. “He thought it was terrible, you know, kidnapping children, just grabbing people off the street. He cared about those people, and he knew it was wrong ..”

@washingtonpost.com
www.washingtonpost.com/national/202...

Man shot in Minneapolis by federal agents identified as VA nurse: ‘He wanted to help people’ Alex Pretti, 37, worked in the ICU at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System and had assisted on scientific research

Alex Pretti took care of veterans as an ICU nurse. “He was a super nice, super helpful guy – looked after his patients," said @dimitridrekonja.bsky.social, who worked with Pretti both at the hospital and on scientific research. "I’m just stunned.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Protesters clashed with federal agents for another night outside the Whipple Federal Building, which holds ICE detainees. Agents fired less-lethal munitions and deployed chemical irritants at the crowd.

📷️: Jeff Wheeler

Statement from Michael and Susan Pretti Parents of Alex Jeffrey Pretti “We are heartbroken but also very angry. Alex was a kindhearted soul who cared deeply for his family and friends and also the American veterans whom he cared for as an ICU nurse at the Minneapolis VA hospital. Alex wanted to make a difference in this world. Unfortunately, he will not be with us to see his impact. I do not throw around the ‘hero’ term lightly. However, his last thought and act was to protect a woman. The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting. Alex is clearly not holding a gun when attacked by Trump’s murdering and cowardly ICE thugs. He had his phone in his right hand and his empty left hand is raised above his head while trying to protect the woman ICE just pushed down, all while being pepper sprayed. Please get the truth out about our son. He was a good man. Thank you.

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti.

"Please get the truth out about our son."

Politics.

They all hurt, but today hurts in a special way. This guy was a VA ICU nurse. He could have been me. He could have been a friend of mine, a coworker I saw all the time.

And I know that some people in my life will see that and still not care.

And that fucking sucks.

my stepmom is a nurse. my aunt is a nurse. my grandmother was a nurse. I have multiple cousins who are nurses. I have another aunt who was a labor organizer for nurses. this is not a constituency you want declaring war on your already wobbly fascist administration

Alex Pretti, the man killed by federal agents today in Minneapolis, appears to have been a registered nurse, an athlete, a son and a brother, with ties to Colorado and Wisconsin.

Here is a photo he used for several accounts.

Care is an act of resistance. Engage as much as you can in direct forms of resistance now. But don’t discount the value and necessity of care.

The actions you take to provide care for your community are necessary for survival. Don’t think you’re “doing nothing” when providing care to people.