Tom Hanson
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hansonlab.bsky.social
Tom Hanson
@hansonlab.bsky.social
Microbial physiologist working on phototrophic and soil microbes at UDelaware. Come for the microbiology, stay for other random commentary.
https://sites.udel.edu/hansonlab
Reposted by Tom Hanson
Supermajorities of Americans think ICE and Border Patrol are out of control and want Congress to do something about it. Democrats are aligned with the public. Republicans hold the unpopular position — and keeping the heat on them is how we win this fight.
Tell Your Members of Congress: Halt the ICE Terror Machine
On January 24, federal forces with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. This was just over two weeks after the killing of Renee Good. These killings are a direc...
act.indivisible.org
February 15, 2026 at 1:27 PM
@wxpnfm.bsky.social Please take the lyrics of One of the Greats of Florence + The Machine and perhaps re-evaluate how much you play Father John Misty
February 12, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
February 8, 2026 at 8:41 PM
@bluntrochester.senate.gov @coons.senate.gov @mcbride.house.gov I think this would show incredible leadership if you all did this as well.
concentration camp expert:
Some people are asking what I want Schumer to do. He should be screaming over medical care and access to facilities. He should be going to detention facilities himself and putting his body on the line, as he did at the border in 2019. He should lean into stories about New Yorkers in detention. [1/4]
February 4, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Based on the headline, I was prepared to be sad. But good news for cheese lovers!

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...
A 25-year study found an unexpected link between cheese and dementia
A massive Swedish study tracking nearly 28,000 people for 25 years found an unexpected link between full-fat dairy and brain health. Among adults without a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s, eating more fu...
www.sciencedaily.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
I'm going to say again that I understand that people need a job to live but sometimes you really have to quit.
This is unreal. An AUSA talking like that in open court is about as close as you can come to a total breakdown. Never heard of anything like it.
February 3, 2026 at 9:02 PM
@coons.senate.gov @bluntrochester.senate.gov @mcbride.house.gov Yup. Abolish as the demand with reform back to the desk as the only alternative. No unaccountable American gestapo on our streets!
74% of Democrats support abolishing ICE, with 53% *strongly* supporting it, according to YouGov polling from last month.

Weak calls for "reform" are coming from *elected* Democrats like Chuck, not the average Democratic voter.
Democrats want commonsense reform for ICE:

End the roving patrols and racial profiling.

Take accountability and abide by the same rules as local police.

Masks need to come off, body cameras need to stay on—no secret police in the United States of America.
February 3, 2026 at 11:11 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
Houston Democrat Christian Menefee wins special election to complete Sylvester Turner’s term in Congress.
Menefee defeats Edwards in special election for Congress
The former Harris County attorney defeated Amanda Edwards in Texas’ 18th Congressional District. The two will face off again in the March 3 primary for a redrawn version of the district.
www.texastribune.org
February 1, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
"They told us what they were going to do. They published it. They put it on a website. And when it happened, the press was surprised."

Hoo boy, everyone should bookmark this @parkermolloy.com piece & make sure everyone involved in media reads it.
This is Literally the Job
Political journalists need to stop pretending they don't know what Republicans are going to do.
www.readtpa.com
January 27, 2026 at 9:37 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
The American Federation of Government Employees, which represents border patrol officers at the National Border Patrol Council, calls on Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller to resign or be fired
January 27, 2026 at 2:07 AM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
A reminder to the news media: “conflicting accounts” is what you say BEFORE the incontrovertible video evidence appears. After that, your job is to ask why one side is lying, not to repeat the lie and pretend no one knows the truth.
January 25, 2026 at 12:28 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
The majority of organizing happening in Minnesota isn’t just peaceful, it’s INVISIBLE. Moms showing up who won’t be interviewed on TV, people whose ICE patrols don’t turn into viral video. The grocery runs, the donations, the people filming bc they happen to be there. Please remember this.
January 25, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara: "People have had enough. This is the third shooting in less than 3 weeks. The MPD went the entire year last year recovering about 900 guns from the street, arresting hundreds of violent offenders, and we didn't shoot anyone ... this is not sustainable."
January 25, 2026 at 3:47 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
Klobuchar: "Somehow 50,000 peaceful protesters in 10 below weather were able to march without any problems, and then the next day half a dozen ICE and CBP agents couldn't handle a guy with a cell phone taking video of them and shot him. I think it's pretty obvious what's going on here."
January 25, 2026 at 4:40 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
The most important public health story right now in America is that the Trump administration is executing people in the streets, it is kidnapping people of all ages, including 2-year-olds, it is torturing them, & it is putting them in concentration camps where many have been killed or “disappeared”
January 25, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
Great feedback, team. Keep it up.
Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said well-organized protesters in Minnseota make the ICE operation harder.

"They've got some excellent communications," Bovino said.
Live: Minnesota officials subpoenaed in federal probe of state’s response to ICE surge
The federal investigation marks an escalation in tensions between federal and state officials.
bit.ly
January 20, 2026 at 9:32 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
ICE agents at a hotel in St. Paul woke up this morning to news that they’re getting kicked out of their hotel today at noon.
January 18, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
Frost: For so long, the right wing has held up patriotism as a vibe, as an aesthetic. But patriotism is more than bald eagles and flags and beer. Patriotism is about loving the people who live in the damn country — every single one of them.
January 13, 2026 at 11:44 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
the horror of this is compounded by the fact that the whipple building sits on the same military fort where 1600+ Dakota, mostly women and children were held in a concentration camp in 1863, where over 300 died
January 14, 2026 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
I'd also like to encourage journalists who get the chance to ask Kristi Noem on camera what the Fourth Amendment is and how it applies to breaking car windows to apprehend an individual inside when there is no judicial warrant.
Academics - if you are expert in the history of the fourth amendment, today is a day you could pitch your favorite news outlet with a piece about it. If you're interested, do a little writing, then email me lollardfish at gmail and I'll give you some free op-ed coaching.
What’s this old thing
January 12, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
Look at the hundreds of people in that community in Minneapolis who ran TOWARDS the danger. Look at those who documented in their heads what happened so they could accurately recount it afterwards, look at those currently out protesting. Pay attention & do your part too.
January 7, 2026 at 11:03 PM
In his first day in office, Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people in the Jan. 6th Capitol riot. Five years later, most of the officers injured that day have never widely shared their experience.

Here are some of their stories, in their own words:
Five years after Jan. 6, officers describe the toll of defending the Capitol
In his first day in office, Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people in the Jan. 6th Capitol riot. The country has moved on, but for some the day still looms large.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 7, 2026 at 2:59 AM
Reposted by Tom Hanson
In his first day in office, Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people in the Jan. 6th Capitol riot. Five years later, most of the officers injured that day have never widely shared their experience.

Here are some of their stories, in their own words:
Five years after Jan. 6, officers describe the toll of defending the Capitol
In his first day in office, Trump pardoned nearly 1,600 people in the Jan. 6th Capitol riot. The country has moved on, but for some the day still looms large.
www.washingtonpost.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:47 AM
Life is short and uncertain, make the pizza. First up for the year is crab and pancetta on a new dough recipe.
January 1, 2026 at 11:43 PM