iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nina Roberts @ninaroberts.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The arrest of Bonnie Slotnick of Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks, the $60 loaf, Snow Milk streetwear and San Gennaro, all in Mercantile Mayhem!

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

while milo gets to chit chat on TV with clear access to safety and basic needs, the US is flying untold numbers of immigrants to unsafe countries of origin or other countries where they don't speak the language or know anyone.

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Nina Roberts @ninaroberts.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Can small, independent businesses survive in New York City in this age of scale and consolidation? ninarobertsnyc.substack.com/p/nycs-merca...

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Nina Roberts @ninaroberts.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Remember when Big Book (Barnes & Noble, Borders) came to town and crushed small bookstores? Now there is an explosion of independent bookstores, like the recently opened The Rabbit Books and Bar. More in Mercantile Mayhem... ninarobertsnyc.substack.com/p/nycs-merca...

ninarobertsnyc.substack.com

NYC’s Mercantile Mayhem: The Rabbit Books and Bar Opens, Mongolian Momo King Reigns in East Village, Honey's from Maine, Freak Subway Encounter with Jaeki, Finally a Good Use for AI

A newsletter about the survival of independent businesses in New York City with a focus on immigrant-owned, storefront retail and CPG enterprises.

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Nina Roberts @ninaroberts.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

ninarobertsnyc.substack.com/p/nycs-merca... The latest Mercantile Mayhem, a newsletter about the survival of independent businesses in New York City.

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Nina Roberts @ninaroberts.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Scores of storefront business in NYC are being sued for ADA (The Americans with Disabilities Act) violations. It could be for an entry with steps and no ramp, or incorrect levers on a faucet. Some violations listed in the summonses have been false. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

theguardian.com

Slew of lawsuits over disability access frustrates US cafe and shop owners

Business owners say they’re being unfairly targeted – but disability advocates say violations must be dealt with

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Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I missed this when it came out but saw it referenced in a Substack post by @ninaroberts.bsky.social. What floors me about these articles is if basically rehashes a press release from an economic development report and doesn’t ask WHYYYYYYYY.

nytimes.com

Number of Businesses in New York City Plunged Last Spring, Report Says

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Nina Roberts @ninaroberts.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

ninarobertsnyc.substack.com/p/nycs-merca...

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

“.. We spotted nine Polymarket accounts .. who made collectively $2.4 million betting almost exclusively on U.S. Military operations. .. “.. Now, here is the crazy part. 98% win rates.” @mediaite.com www.mediaite.com/media/news/6...

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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · 11/04/2026

Israel’s attacks on Lebanon over the past few days have been “devastating,” according to a political analyst living there. www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...

newyorker.com

Israel’s War in Lebanon Has Not Stopped

Since the U.S. and Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire, on Tuesday night, Israel has continued to pummel Lebanon with air strikes, killing more than 300 people. What is the endgame?

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

the confidence of men who have contributed absolutely nothing to society in passing judgment about the intelligence of entire groups of people will never stop amazing me. bsky.app/profile/jess...

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Nina Roberts @ninaroberts.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

ninarobertsnyc.substack.com/p/nycs-merca...

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:

Just a quick update from the Twin Cities. (Please forgive the unsolicited message). THINGS ARE NOT BETTER IN MINNEAPOLIS. The media is mostly moving on, Trump is focused on other stuff, BUT NOTHING HAS CHANGED ON THE GROUND. More than 2,000 DHS thugs continue to roam the streets, abducting people 24/7, assaulting legal observers with impunity, and routinely denying 1st, 4th, and 5th amendment rights. Drones and helicopters are overhead every day. Hundreds and hundreds of terrified families have not left their homes since mid-December ... relying on the community to bring them food and help with rent and other necessities. (Those people are NOT violent drug cartel sex offending murderers, as DHS would tell you. Most are legal residents or citizens.) If anything, things have just become more stressful and intractable (think trench warfare as a suitable metaphor): The resistance is better organized and numerous, but DHS has become more clever and better at disguise... and the county sheriff's office is increasingly supporting them . Do not let anyone tell you that Homans (the new person in charge of the occupation) is making anything better. Do not let anyone tell you that 700 ICE agents leaving the city has made much of a difference; the remaining force (again, ~2,000) is still larger than the entire city's police force (which is legally unable to do anything). Please call your congressional reps ... especially if there is any chance the administration might listen to them.

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Ryan Mac 🙃 @rmac.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot. I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Doesn’t look like ICE is drawing back.

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unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 25/01/2026

We still don't know the names of the ICE agents who killed Gonzàlez behind the wheel of his car outside Chicago in September. They were unmasked in this BWC footage from Franklin Park police. If you have any information at all about these men—please text us on Signal at unraveled.66

Two federal agents in t shirts and vests

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Reposted by Nina Roberts

Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 25/01/2026

This witness to Alex Pretti's murder not only refutes the governmen't story, but says she is afraid to go home because federal agents might arrest her. This is what it feels like to live under state terror. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

documentcloud.org

TincherSealedWitnessDec012426.PDF

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Patrick Skinner @pmskinner.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Left hand on the ground trying not to hit the pavement; right hand still holding a cell phone. ICE person standing with a one handed grip pointing his gun right at the man’s head. There is nothing about this that we should accept. We all must reject this. This is our government, & they want this

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

From the NY Post. You know they are really scrambling when they are running "The gun was no angel" stories.

Alex Pretti’s Sig handgun has history of accidentally firing — offering possible clue to why Border agent shot him

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Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

I was speaking to a lawyer & admin are actively trying to send African Asylum seekers — specifically asylum— to Uganda to be processed. Like the levels of violation of law & the racism is out of this world. People who escaped persecution, war, in some cases enslavement.

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Thor Benson @thorbenson.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

They don't let me in the White House press pool because my question every day for the next week would be, "Does the president still want to take a shit on Americans?"

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

I just checked and this is real. It's on Border Patrol's official Instagram (I don't see it on Facebook) and is being celebrated by Nazis on Twitter, as you can see in the screenshot. The clip is just 13 seconds long too, so it's a very intentional thing. We've got a Nazi government.

Twitter account: Uncensored @HmanQuotes1945: Official border patrol Facebook page is posting with the banned lyrics of Michael Jackson's song.
"Jew me sue me... Kick me k*ke me."
Epic

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unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 14/10/2025

Thinking about how much of their violence has been normalized already, how scenes that caused shockwaves 6 weeks ago are now part of the rhythm of daily life. Watched a TikTok from a daughter who has to do her parents' laundry & get their groceries because they're in hiding. This is just it now

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Nina Roberts @ninaroberts.bsky.social · 05/10/2025

Blessing of The Animals at Saint John the Divine, NYC.

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Jen Mercieca @jenmercieca.bsky.social · 02/10/2025

Sent to: Vanderbilt, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, the University of Arizona, Brown University and the University of Virginia. apnews.com/article/trum...

apnews.com

Trump asks 9 colleges to commit to his political agenda and get favorable access to federal money

The White House is asking nine major universities to commit to President Donald Trump’s political priorities in exchange for more favorable access to federal money.

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Dave Vanness @djvanness.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

A lot of people think that every international student admitted means one fewer spot for domestic students, when the opposite is more likely true - the tuition revenue international students bring allows public universities to provide substantial discounts to domestic students, improving access.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

ILLINOIS — BROADVIEW POLICE CHIEF ON ICE: “I was shocked. I’ve never been spoken to by a fellow law enforcement officer in such a way.” ICE is routinely gassing cops and negatively impacting the community as their detention facility faces protests.

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Scott Nover @scottnover.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

A federal judge in Tampa, Fl. threw out Donald Trump's 85-page defamation suit against the @nytimes.com in a scathing order. Steven Merryday (GHWB appointee) said a complaint is not the forum for "vituperation and invective." Read more in @washingtonpost.com: www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

washingtonpost.com

Judge strikes down Trump’s $15 billion suit against the New York Times

A federal judge in Tampa dismissed President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, calling it improper. Judge Steven D. Merryday allowed a new complaint to be filed within 28 days.

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Trump admin planning to change student visas from lasting for duration of academic program to fixed 4-yr term, and then much harder to renew Could destroy US ability to attract global talent, particularly those seeking advanced degrees in STEM. The median time to complete a PhD is 5.7 yrs per NSF.

forbes.com

Trump Deals A New Immigration Blow To International Students

Trump officials have proposed a new rule limiting international students to fixed periods of entry, making a U.S. education more precarious.

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Sam Adams @samadams.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Don’t threaten me with a good time

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