Tim Lauer

Ofelia Torres, the teenage Chicago Public Schools student whose fight against cancer while her father was detained by ICE came to represent the federal government's overreach during Operation Midway Blitz, has died. Brave young woman. I will never forget her. RIP.

RIP to an Oregon legend

walgreens sign that says algreens

let's stay together

A child’s illustration, made in what appears to be crayon, of more than a dozen figures standing together. It’s titled “Mi Familia” and credited to “Luisanney Toloza, 5 años.”

4/ “Mi Familia,” by 5-year-old Luisanney Toloza from Venezuela, who had recently crossed the U.S.-Mexico border

The first page of a child’s handwritten letter, written in different colors of pencil. Transcript: “Hello, my name is Susej F and I’am 9 years old. I’am from Venezuela. I have been 50 days in Dilley Immigration Processing Center. And I want to go to my Country. But I miss my school and my friends I feel bad since when I came here to this Place, because I have been here too long. I have been 2 years and 6 months in united states, and I was happy with my friends in The school but now I need to leave. I miss my family in my country so now I want To go to Venezuela. But my mom do not want to leave because she wants a better future for me.”

The second page of a child’s handwritten letter, written in pencil on notebook paper. Transcript: “Seen how people like me, immigrants are been treated changes my perspective about the U.S. My mom and I came to The U.S looking for a good and safe place to live, and my mom was looking for a Good job.”

2/ “I miss my school and my friends I feel bad since when I came here to this Place, because I have been here too long.”

From 9-year-old Susej F, detained for 50+ days

1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.

Hundreds of kids are still detained.

We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵

Toddler hospitalized with respiratory failure was returned to ICE detention without prescribed medication, lawsuit says The 18-month-old was sent back to a South Texas facility after days in intensive care with severe respiratory distress, according to a federal lawsuit.

NEW: A baby held in immigration detention became so sick, she had to be rushed to a hospital in severe respiratory distress.

“She was at the brink of dying,” a lawyer told me.

But the girl didn’t go home after her 10-day hospital stay; instead, ICE put her and her mother back in lock up at Dilley.

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition.

Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

My family was imprisoned behind barbed wire and armed guards by our own government.

Not for what they did. But because of who they were. I was born in that internment camp.

My family history lives with me every day. It drives me to fight for my neighbors—for their rights and for their dignity.

Ultimately, Petitioners may, because of the arcane United States immigration system, return to their home country, involuntarily or by self-deportation. But that result should occur through a more orderly and humane policy than currently in place. Philadelphia, September 17, 1787: "Well, Dr. Franklin, what do we have?" "A republic, if you can keep it." With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike, It is so ORDERED. SIGNED this 31st day of February, 2026. 7um Jing FRED BIERY UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE Credit: Bystander Matthew 19:14 John 11:35 There is also the photo of the boy from the viral stories included.

Federal judge has ordered the release of Liam Ramos (the bunny hat boy) and his father. A brief and rather remarkable order. Clearly written to be shared widely, so please do. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Gladys Mae West obituary: mathematician who pioneered GPS technology Nature - She made key contributions to US cold-war science despite facing huge barriers as a Black woman.

Obituary: Gladys Mae West (1930-2026) mathematician who pioneered GPS technology

go.nature.com/469BlAW

Just visited with Liam and his father at Dilley detention center. I demanded his release and told him how much his family, his school, and our country loves him and is praying for 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

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."

Alex Pretti is, and was, the best of this country...

Can we please protect the children?

I remember being a kid and being told to go back to Africa. And that was before Trump. Kids right now have it so much worse. The cruelty is louder, more public, more sanctioned.

Shelter the little ones. No one deserves this treatment, but especially not them.

Public Domain Day 2026 in Literature - Blog Read about the new ebooks Standard Ebooks is releasing for Public Domain Day 2026!

standard ebooks does beautiful work with public domain titles and there are a lot of great new ones available today, including maltese falcon, stuff from christie, faulkner, kafka, hughes, lardner, sayers and more standardebooks.org/blog/public-...

YouTube video by Turner Classic Movies Victor Laszlo Gets a Crowd To Sing "La Marseillaise" (Clip) | Casablanca (1942) | TCM

Happy New Year! 🎉

Walking into 2026 like Victor Laszlo ... 🗃️ #HATM

www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOli...

The final Calvin and Hobbes, which appeared in papers 30 years ago today.

Auld Lang Syne | The Anthropocene Reviewed | WNYC Studios John Green reviews Auld Lang Syne.

John Green reviews Auld Lang Syne… Happy New Year! www.wnycstudios.org/story/anthro...

Non-speaking teen with autism — once thought to be intellectually disabled — accepted at MIT Viraj Dhanda's norm-shattering acceptance was made all the more poignant because he was considered intellectually challenged for the first 14 years of his life.

Diagnosed with autism at age 2, Viraj Dhanda was mistakenly thought to be intellectually disabled for the first 14 years of his life. But once he was correctly assessed, he flourished.

‘It’s Just Us’: The Firefighter, His Son and a Treacherous Choice

‘It’s Just Us’: The Firefighter, His Son and a Treacherous Choice...
For two decades, Luis Martinez has fought wildfires for the U.S. government. Now he’s facing down cancer, debt and the threat of separation from his 11-year-old.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/u...

Slain M.I.T. Professor Was a ‘Brilliant Scientist’ and a Beloved Colleague

MIT professor Nuno Loureiro, a leading researcher in plasma physics and fusion energy, was remembered this week for his scientific contributions and the impact he had as a teacher and mentor. His work helped push forward the global effort toward clean fusion energy.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/20/u...

Robert Samuelson, Award-Winning Economics Columnist, Dies at 79 He was a familiar byline in Newsweek and The Washington Post for decades, explaining the intricacies of economic policy in reader-friendly vernacular.

Robert Samuelson, the award-winning economics columnist who wrote for Newsweek and The Washington Post for decades, has died at 79.

In 1931 in Kiel, Germany, Rachel Posner, the wife of a rabbi, took this picture.

On the back of the photograph she wrote:

“‘Death to Judah,’ so the flag says.

‘Judah lives forever,’ so the light answers.”

The light will continue to answer the darkness. Happy Hanukkah.

Thinking of that time when my dad, himself a doctor, was thrown by a horse on a trail ride. Punctured his spleen, internal bleeding, got him to an ER just in time. He lived another 20 years. With two hours delay, probably wouldn't have.

We rushed to *nearest* ER. Not comparison-shop for ER prices.

Resurgence of a slur: Local parents, intellectual disability advocates condemn Trump’s use of the ‘R-word’ Once a common schoolyard insult, the R-word had largely vanished from mainstream speech until recently. Donald Trump has helped its resurgence.

Resurgence of a slur: Local parents, intellectual disability advocates condemn Trump’s use of the ‘R-word’

Tatiana Schlossberg, daughter of Caroline Kennedy, on her terminal-cancer diagnosis - The New Yorker

“I feel like when we win, we win together.” 🤝

Josh Naylor’s message to #Mariners fans and the impact they have on the team at T-Mobile Park.

(Watch the FULL news conference 📺 youtu.be/ThEDTwBgdN8?...)

No health care, no deal.