The Oppressed & Persecuted

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."  More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington's vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program.  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.

Secretary Noem on Twitter (1 December 2025): "I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies.  WE DON'T WANT THEM. NOT ONE."

Plaintiffs are five Haitian TPS holders.  They are not, it emerges, "killers, leeches, or entitlement junkies."  They are instead, a neuroscientist researching Alzheimer's disease, a software engineer at a national bank, a laboratory assistant, a college economics major, and a full-time registered nurse.

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.

There is an old adage among lawyers.  If you have the facts on your side, pound the facts.  If you have the law on your side, pound the law.  If you have neither, pound the table.  Secretary Noem, the record to-date shows, does not have the facts on her side -- or at least has ignored them.  Does not have the law on her side -- or at least has ignored it.  Having neither and bringing the adage into the 21st century, she pounds X (f/k/a Twitter).

Kristi Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies, and any other inapt name she wants.  Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the APA to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program.  The record to-date shows she has yet to do that.

By accompanying Order, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Renewed Motion for a Stay.

-- US District Judge Ana C. Reyes ruling for the Plaintiffs in Fritz Emmanuel Lesly Miot, et al v Donald J Trump et al (2 February 2026)

The Most Divine

Of all God's gifts to the sight of man, colour is the holiest, the most divine, the most solemn.

-- John Ruskin (1819 - 1900), English author, poet, and painter, The Stones of Venice (1853) Volume II, chapter V, section 30

The Only Currency

Time is the only currency you spend without knowing the balance.  Use it wisely.

-- Nicholas John

No One Wished

No one wished events would prove libertarians wrong more than libertarians themselves.

-- Katherine Mangu-Ward is editor in chief of Reason, writing in the New York Times, "Libertarians Tried to Warn You About Trump" (9 February 2026)

Move Against Vaccines

US regulators will not review Moderna's request to license a new, potentially more effective flu shot -- even though the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) previously gave the green light to the project -- in a decision that could have implications for all new and updated vaccines in the US.

It's the latest move by the Trump administration against vaccines.  Officials in January decided to stop fully recommending one-third of routine childhood vaccines, including flu vaccines.

"This is likely to discourage industry from investing in future influenza vaccines, and makes working with the US FDA uncertain and problematic," said Dorit Reiss, professor of law at UC Law San Francisco.  "They are refusing to review a new vaccine with a more flexible technology, while creating a real risk we will not have traditional vaccines for next year."

-- Melody Schreiber, "FDA declines to review Moderna application for new flu vaccine" in The Guardian (10 February 2026)

RIP World Factbook

One of CIA's oldest and most recognizable intelligence publications, The World Factbook, has sunset.  The World Factbook served the Intelligence Community and the general public as a longstanding, one-stop basic reference about countries and communities around the globe.  Let's take a quick look into the history of The World Factbook.  

Over many decades, The World Factbook evolved from a classified to unclassified, hardcopy to electronic product that added new categories, and even new global entities.  The original classified publication, titled The National Basic Intelligence Factbook, launched in 1962.  The first unclassified companion version was issued in 1971.  A decade later it was renamed The World Factbook.  In 1997, The World Factbook went digital and debuted to a worldwide audience on CIA.gov, where it garnered millions of views each year.

-- Article at cia.gov announcing, but not explaining, the abrupt termination of the CIA World Factbook (4 February 2026); I'll miss it

How Hard It Is

The glory which is built upon a lie soon becomes a most unpleasant encumbrance. ...  How easy it is to make people believe a lie, and how hard it is to undo that work again!

-- Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), American humorist, novelist, writer, and lecturer, autobiographical dictation, (2 December 1906).  Published in Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 2 (University of California Press, 2013)