@commodorenelson.bsky.social
Neuroscience international research project management🔬🇨🇭🇩🇪🇪🇸 🇮🇳 🇨🇳 US political centrist Fighting Trump-MAGA lies and misinformation
“We are not the Britain of the Brexit years anymore” Starmer says - and gets spontaneous applause even he hadn’t planned for.
#MSC2026
First Lady Michelle and President Barack Obama hugging each other.
Vice President Kamala Harris hugging Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
President Joe Biden holding the hand of First Lady Jill Biden as they are walking away from Marine One.
Happy Valentine’s Day 💙
Field: "“they stand for a rejection of universalist rights-based liberal order and internationalism and its replacement with nativist populism... and this very exclusive definition of who counts as an American...this intellectual part, I think, is pretty important for what's happening here in DC.”
12.02.2026 13:38 — 👍 13 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
We taped this episode before The New York Times scoop about DHS hiring the 21 year-old staffer who created white supremacist content for the Department of Labor (gift link)
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/u...
Always listen to (and read!) @sarahposner.bsky.social, and check out this new episode of Reign of Error that I got to record with her about all things “highbrow“ fascist in DC.
12.02.2026 14:29 — 👍 5 🔁 3 💬 0 📌 1
Wholesome Canadian university student content
www.cbc.ca/sports/olymp...
> @theatlantic.com
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
⚡️ Moldovan president rejects Nobel Peace Prize nomination, says Ukrainian POWs deserve it instead.
"Today, I was watching Ukrainian (prisoners of war) who returned home from Russia, and these are the people who deserve the Peace Prize," Moldovan President Maia Sandu said.
“Things like this usually don’t come to you,” said Blair. “And if it does, I think you need to make the time and space to participate.”
04.02.2026 19:42 — 👍 3 🔁 6 💬 0 📌 0
"The humanities respond by inviting essential insight about what matters in life, how to sustain civic culture and safeguard democracy, and what it will take to build a secure, free, and prosperous future for the planet." bit.ly/3ZiKWSb
04.02.2026 21:04 — 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Despite the Trump administration's gaslighting, only 22% of voters think the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti was justified — including only 16% of Independents — according to a new Quinnipiac poll.
04.02.2026 21:34 — 👍 1071 🔁 295 💬 48 📌 23
NEW: Abigail Spanberger this afternoon ordered that all state agencies leave ICE's 287(g) program.
This means that the state police (and some other agencies) will no longer be empowered to detain and arrest people for ICE.
Big, big move by the governor within weeks of coming into office.
Kind of amazed she had it turned on? I only turn it on when I'm crossing borders or am visiting a country controlled by a repressive regime ahhh shit
04.02.2026 15:52 — 👍 3710 🔁 683 💬 31 📌 11!["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].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/bafkreicrroq5taft777rmau2ffjlsphbcatlxnwwigf2yekoke533yycim@jpeg)
"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]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/bafkreid3cmawech25ummuj2tjvgxsrvufma2kmrijlfpglalwddd3qkikq@jpeg)
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.
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...
Bloomberg chart shows priced of Haas avocados in Mexico City each week dropping by more than half from July.
Just in time for Super Bowl guacamole, avocado prices have plunged. Kristina Peterson explains why >
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
The pollster SUSA surveyed the Minnesota governor's race for KSTP-TV, testing Amy Klobuchar against various GOP opponents.
Klobuchar leads Mike Lindell 52/32. She leads other Republicans between 14% and 20%.
Does anyone know the name of this Minneapolis immigration lawyer?
She makes very clear statements about what's going on. It's zero due process. ICE is denying people access to their attorneys by phone or IRL. She has a habeas order to get a client released. ICE claims they can't locate them.
This is what an independent pro-democracy news site looks like. No corporate investors. No compromises. It never backs down. It will not obey. Help it thrive by subscribing today. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0
02.02.2026 01:54 — 👍 3136 🔁 773 💬 19 📌 8
This article is a very good example of why "more training" and "more vetting" isn't the answer. Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez joined Border Patrol in 2018 and 2014 respectively. These aren't new agents. www.propublica.org/article/alex...
01.02.2026 22:02 — 👍 5479 🔁 1762 💬 152 📌 107Try a propane torch. Maybe you can rent one at Home Depot. You can melt the snow and make the walkway dry.
01.02.2026 21:22 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Bumper-sticker-style graphic reading: "I'm against having secret police in America AND I VOTE"
So far the front-runner in making my proposed slogan into a bumper sticker type graphic is Stephanie V. Thank you Stephanie!
31.01.2026 22:11 — 👍 50 🔁 11 💬 1 📌 1
Finally got around to a bit of research I'd been meaning to explore, and: There is no documented instance of an ICE officer being identified and assaulted while off duty because he wasn't masked. www.pbump.net/o/ices-excus...
29.01.2026 18:05 — 👍 12083 🔁 4521 💬 471 📌 2262/ from Oxford Economics: “The hit to labor supply from restrictive immigration policies will intensify, increasing the prospects of a jobless expansion for the economy.”
29.01.2026 17:30 — 👍 58 🔁 9 💬 4 📌 1
The Minnesota Orchestra is changing its program for this weekend's performances in honor of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Friday's concert will be livestreamed for free on YouTube.
29.01.2026 17:50 — 👍 27 🔁 7 💬 0 📌 1I'm a late convert to a multi-speed Europe, but increasingly convinced that it's the only way to rise to the demands of the moment. Let an inner core pioneer new initiatives, and others join when they can.
28.01.2026 18:20 — 👍 67 🔁 21 💬 7 📌 0
Let me translate this: stop whining and get your act together, Europe
www.politico.eu/article/euro...
NEW: A federal judge in Minnesota told DHS to explain whether the ICE operation is part of a Trump admin attempt to coerce and punish the state over sanctuary laws. The operation remains in place until at least Weds. @dell.bsky.social reports: www.wired.com/story/judge-...
26.01.2026 22:42 — 👍 119 🔁 26 💬 2 📌 1
SCOOP: Palantir Defends Work With ICE to Staff Following Killing of Alex Pretti
WIRED obtained Slack conversations + an updated internal Palantir wiki defending the company's work for ICE to outraged workers.
More here:
www.wired.com/story/palant...
FETTERMAN joins fellow Democrats in seeking DHS changes via government funding: “I want a conversation on the DHS appropriations bill and support stripping it from the minibus.”
26.01.2026 19:17 — 👍 418 🔁 94 💬 60 📌 45
Odds of a mining bonanza in Greenland are abysmally low
• Getting mine running in Arctic can cost 2-3 times as much as equivalent project at lower latitudes
• Island’s two big rare-earth projects have been plagued by difficulties and have yet to start operations
www.economist.com/briefing/202...
