Maryann Batlle
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maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Maryann Batlle
@maryannbatlle.bsky.social
380 followers 470 following 170 posts
Cubana Florideña | she/her/ella
Editor, Storyteller, Meaning-Maker & Juju Believer.
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maryannbatlle.bsky.social
This is my Teams spirit emoji.
An emoji of a smiling, prickly cactus “holding” a balloon heart that has a smiling-but-concerned look on its face.
August 2, 2025 at 7:30 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
I read and saved this 2019 Pitzer quote earlier today, as I was grappling with this news on my own, sick to my stomach:

(Source: www.npr.org/2019/07/03/7...)
PITZER: Well, for the purposes of my book, I defined it as the mass detention of civilians without trial usually on the basis of identity, so could be political affiliation, race, ethnicity, religious belief. But it's about who you are rather than what you've done. They have a demonized population that becomes to be regarded as subhuman, a willingness on the part of the population to tolerate bad treatment of those identified by the government as a threat, to tolerate detention. Once detention is tolerated for a particular group, it tends to be used, the longer the camps are open, against other groups as well.
July 1, 2025 at 4:51 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
NYT article excerpt: “All I ate today was a little bit of fava beans from an expired can,” said Khalil el-Halabi, a 71-year-old retired U.N. official from Gaza City. He said on Monday that he was too dizzy and weak to walk, adding that his weight had dropped to roughly 130 pounds from about 210 pounds before the war. Mr. el-Halabi said his daughter, who recently gave birth, was unable to breastfeed because she has not been eating enough. No baby formula is available, he said.
May 13, 2025 at 11:15 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Where my thoughts turned today.
Quote from The Diary of a Young Girl, written by Anne Frank: “In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”
April 16, 2025 at 1:05 AM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Fort Myers (Florida) City Council reversed course and approved a formal agreement with ICE.

Here’s what the mayor told a local TV station after the unanimous vote.
After the vote, Fox 4 spoke with Mayor Kevin Anderson. We asked him about the concerns of racial profiling being brought up by council members and the public. “This is not a green light to go out there and racially profile people," he responded. "Now, let’s be realistic, you stop someone and they don’t speak English and they can’t provide documentation, you’re going to suspect maybe they’re undocumented. That’s not profiling. They did something to be stopped for to begin with.”
March 22, 2025 at 2:25 AM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Excerpt from an American Bar Association statement: “There are clear choices facing our profession. We can choose to remain silent and allow these acts to continue or we can stand for the rule of law and the values we hold dear. We call upon the entire profession, including lawyers who serve in elected positions, to speak out against intimidation. We acknowledge that there are risks to standing up and addressing these important issues. But if the ABA and lawyers do not speak, who will speak for the organized bar? Who will speak for the judiciary? Who will protect our system of justice? If we don’t speak now, when will we speak?”
March 3, 2025 at 8:43 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Trump’s 2024 victory *was not* a landslide.

Don’t let them convince you otherwise.

www.cfr.org/article/2024...
A Landslide Election or Not? Early election coverage described Trump’s victory as a landslide. But whether you go by the Electoral College vote or the popular vote, it was anything but. The 312 Electoral College votes that Trump won are just six more than Joe Biden won in 2020, twenty less than Barack Obama won in 2012, and fifty-three less than Obama won in 2008. Trump’s Electoral College performance pales in comparison to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s landslide victory in 1936 (523 electoral votes), Lyndon Johnson’s in 1964 (486), Richard Nixon’s in 1972 (520), or Ronald Reagan’s in 1984 (525). In terms of the popular vote, more people voted for someone not named Trump for president than voted for Trump in 2024, and his margin of victory over Harris was 1.5 percentage points. That is the fifth smallest margin of victory in the thirty-two presidential races held since 1900.
February 12, 2025 at 4:45 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Sen. Rick Scott’s office sent this in his newsletter. This is how the GOP
is lending DOGE congressional legitimacy and cover.
February 9, 2025 at 2:42 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Seen at a protest against mass deportations:
Person holds a protest sign that says “don’t bite the hands that feed you” during an anti-deportation protest in Fort Myers, Florida on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.
February 8, 2025 at 6:12 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
NBC reported this on Feb. 2: www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...
Screenshot from an NBC News article that shows how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem repeatedly dodged questions about whether women and children would be detained at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detention camp.
February 4, 2025 at 4:02 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
My Shayla😩
February 4, 2025 at 1:28 AM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
I just got this message when I opened #tiktok.
January 19, 2025 at 3:37 AM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
The Unitarian Universalist Association, which serves more than 1K progressive, self-governing congregations in the United States, left The Bad Place for Bluesky.

New handle: @uua.org!
The Unitarian Universalist Association explains that it is leaving X/Twitter for Bluesky because the former platform conflicts with the UUA’s values of Justice, Equity, Transformation, Pluralism, and Generosity.
December 6, 2024 at 7:48 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Except from “Your Heart Was Made For This” by Oren Jay Sofer
Personal and social transformation are inextricably linked. Focusing on internal transformation without also applying our love and wisdom to the world, we may fail to respond effectively to the suffering of others. Similarly, if we focus on external transformation without simultaneously healing our hearts, we risk re-creating the very ills we seek to address. How many revolutions have unwittingly replaced one domination system with another? — Oren Jay Sofer in the book “Your Heart Was Made For This”
November 23, 2024 at 9:08 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Overjoyed to spot Red Jacket in Florida!

I’ll love #WNY for the rest of my days. 😆
November 23, 2024 at 12:12 AM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Legit on repeat for me rn.
November 11, 2024 at 1:21 AM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
Ahem.
October 25, 2024 at 7:09 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
😌
September 17, 2024 at 7:45 PM
maryannbatlle.bsky.social
CNN Business: “Boeing is shifting its employee bonus formula from finances to safety and quality”

www.cnn.com/2024/03/08/b...
March 8, 2024 at 7:51 PM