Emily Green
@chanceofrain.bsky.social
Gardener. Hardiness zone 7b/8a. For more go to www.chanceofrain.com
There may well be active duty troops in the Middle East right now who have family members locked in ICE jails. Congress authorized Military Parole-in-Place specifically to avoid this situation. But the Trump admin has shown little care to families caught in this situation.
AILA@aila.org · 5h ago"President Donald Trump’s administration has detained dozens of parents and spouses of active-duty U.S. troops as it rolls back immigration protections for military families to pursue its mass deportation agenda." https://bit.ly/4br4M4m
BREAKING federal judge allows Trump administration to end temporary protection for 350,000+ Haitians in the U.S. Employers are laying off healthcare workers, housekeepers, landscapers, bus drivers, security guards in Miami, Boston, other cities DHS is fitting migrants with ankle monitors
TPS for Haitians officially ends, putting thousands out of work and in limbo
A federal judge allowed the Trump administration to terminate temporary protected status for 350,000 Haitians, meaning they are likely to lose their jobs and be at risk of deportation.
washingtonpost.com
Brown University has a widget that tracks the cost of the Iran war to American consumers (as contrasted to whatever the Pentagon is spending). Per-household cost now exceeds $600. iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu
Class act by Stephens. Important that she got it out so quickly right after such a close raise. (Close race always leaves the #2 in "What if???" territory, but for "healing the party" purposes far preferable to a blowout that would leavee one side more embittered and embarrassed.)
MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com · 4h agoA gracious concession: “I want to congratulate Abdul El-Sayed on winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He is a doctor, a community health official, a Rhodes Scholar, and a dedicated Michigander. I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election…
Former J6 federal prosecutors are begging senators -- mostly GOPers, but a handful of Dems are in there, too -- to stop confirming election deniers to lifetime federal courts seats. “Please stop poisoning our courts." www.huffpost.com/entry/live-u...
Former J6 Prosecutors Beg Senators To Stop Confirming Election Deniers To Court Seats
huffpost.com
How can anyone conclude other than the US is a now rogue nation runs by murderers, thugs, and crooks? www.nytimes.com/2026/08/04/u...
Judge Pained as He Grants Dismissal of Jan. 6 Charges Against Oath Keepers
The judge, Amit P. Mehta, blasted the administration’s request for a dismissal in the case, saying it bestowed “unearned grace” on the Oath Keepers defendants “by wiping their records clean.”
nytimes.com
www.thebanner.com/community/lo...
ICE’s detention of Baltimore academics roils Maryland universities
The recent arrests of the two Baltimore academics by federal immigration enforcement officials have roiled two university systems in Maryland that have robust networks of international faculty, resear...
thebanner.com
GGRF unlocked. A federal appeals court ruled EPA cannot block roughly $20B in already-awarded GGRF grants based on a policy disagreement. If it stands, this is a major step toward getting long-delayed capital into affordable housing, building retrofits, community solar.
EPA cannot block billions in climate grants, US appeals court rules
A federal appeals court said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cannot freeze about $20 billion of clean energy grants awarded to several nonprofit groups, handing a defeat to the Trump adminis...
reuters.com
Wrong direction. "According to a UK’s Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) report in 2025, 42% of domestic garden space is now paved over, including 55% of front garden space." Not only unhealthful but also ugly. Garbage cans and cars, what a view #climate #gardening theconversation.com/how-turning-...
George J Janczyn@groksurf.bsky.social · 24h ago@chanceofrain.bsky.social If I'm not mistaken, you turned your driveway into a garden, right? How turning front gardens into driveways has added to night‑time heat theconversation.com/how-turning-...
@alsobrooks.senate.gov @vanhollen.senate.gov
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · yesterdayThis is not a surprise. While there are non-frivolous legal arguments for these laws, they were always going to be an uphill battle given the Supremacy Clause. So far, no state mask ban aimed at ICE has been successful. That leaves it to Congress alone to rein in the highly unpopular use of masks.
All of us researchers should aspire to be a little bit Mary Gray.
Kendall Powell@kendallsciwrite.bsky.social · yesterdayI love a story about a researcher who is a force for good: @nature.com's Working Scientist profile of Mary Gray, statistician, mathematician and lawyer. As told to Rachel Crowell. How I use statistics and my law degree to fight human-rights abuses www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Should be headlines everywhere Especially because it’s PREVENTABLE
Emily Green@chanceofrain.bsky.social · 4d agoUgh. And things were already deadly in Maryland. We leave water out for trash collectors in Baltimore and their hours were pushed to predawn & there are occasional cancellations but it's still beyond brutal marylandmatters.org/2026/08/01/s...
Marion Boehm (German, b. 1964). Daliah & Said (2022, mixed media collage on canvas).
Last year I tucked milkweed (A. tuberosa) all kinds of places and exposures to see where it thrived in Baltimore. The results are in: in the mixed shade, mixed sun section of the rain garden where soil is damp and gloriously alive thanks to a steadily rotting stumpery #nativegardens #nativegardening
Baltimore: Summer rain mean standing water in all our urban knooks and this means #mosquitoes. Drain where you can and instead of fogging, try this "bucket of doom" to kill larvae. More effective and pollinator-friendly. Also try crumbling dunk bits in gutters www.southernliving.com/does-mosquit...
I Tried The Mosquito ‘Bucket Of Doom’ To See If It Actually Works
I tested the popular ‘bucket of boom’ mosquito trap to see if it actually reduces mosquito populations. Plus, a garden expert weighed in on the trend.
southernliving.com
This wasn’t how it was supposed to be… The tragic truth is that, as some of us warned a decade ago, mainstream climate science has turned out to be the opposite of alarmist. It has turned out to be complacent and over-optimistic. Truthfulness - and strategic adaptation - are urgent. (Pse repost.)
Dr. Aaron Thierry@thierryaaron.bsky.social · 2d agoA first year above 2C in the mid-2030s now looks plausible. 0.5C was first passed in 1980, 1.0C in 2010 and 1.5C in 2024. The 15-year trend runs at 0.42C per decade. The 2026 and 2027 points for the current El Nino are estimates. We're not remotely ready!
To flower-loving Baltimore friends: Gladiolas are going for less than $6 at Trader Joes. These are half bunches
The right’s exploitation of the #Ceuta migrant ‘crisis’ almost guarantees that it will happen again | Ruben Andersson
The right’s exploitation of the Ceuta migrant ‘crisis’ almost guarantees that it will happen again | Ruben Andersson
The EU’s panic and the lack of solidarity emboldens smugglers and the far right – and makes Spain even more vulnerable, says Ruben Andersson, professor of social anthropology
theguardian.com
We are seeing a proliferation of sprawling AI data centres, digital vampires greedily sucking up water and power we can ill-afford to spare. If you need an exponential increase in computing power for an incremental increase in AI capability, the technological solution you are pursuing is a dead-end
At 1pm PT on Mon, Aug 3, I'll have a live update on the historic wildfire disaster that unfolded over the weekend in Spokane, Washington, including causes and context, then discuss the very active wildfire conditions currently present elsewhere in West.
Active wildfire conditions worsen across U.S. West, including historic wildfire disaster in Spokane - YouTube
The latest in a recurring series of live, virtual, & interactive #weather and #climate-focused "office hours" hosted by Dr. Daniel Swain. 08/03/2026 topics: ...
youtube.com
yeah riley “fifth place” gaines showing up to grandstand at wnba games is how you know you’re on the brink of something existential and better get your shit in line
Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · 3d agoA good commissioner steps in now before every WNBA game becomes a rightwing performance space, like school board meetings were during peak CRT. You just have to throw the hammer down on this. Do not give them an inch.
The emergency response to Spokane fires has been exemplary and heroic. We also need to remember this isn’t the limit of our ability to reduce wildfire risk. After 100 years of strict fire suppression, millions of acres of WA forest need fuel reduction treatments like prescribed fire & thinning.
Barry Geraghty@bgeraght.bsky.social · 3d agoHere’s the thing that frightens me. Everyone executed their roles almost perfectly in the response to these fires and it was still this bad. Everyone. Responders, city, county and fed officials. Detection and warning systems. Everyone did their jobs very well. This was a best case outcome.
More devastated climate refugees. Heartbreaking
Daniel Swain@weatherwest.bsky.social · 3d ago#OldTrailsFire in Spokane now appears to be most destructive wildfire in WA State history by wide margin (650+ structures lost), w/additional TBD losses nearby. Other PacNW fires actively burning, though less destructive, are far larger & could burn for weeks amid severe drought.
For interested folks, I created a wildfire experts list from my old starter pack. I also know a lot of new people have joined Bluesky since I last updated it, so let me know if you’re an expert who would like to be added bsky.app/profile/did:...
Duncan Grant's interior was painted in London in 1939 at his studio, 8 Fitzroy Street; destroyed in an air raid the following year. The picture in the background is a study for 'The Flower Gatherers,' a mural for RMS Queen Mary - later rejected by Cunard.
