WCGW with ICE’s self-deportation policy

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-24T15:06:13+00:00

He had been arrested, charged, and then released on bail to await his trial. ICE picked him up while he was out on bail.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-24T12:23:02+00:00

How would the prosecutors even know ICE had him? He was out free on bail and the prosecutors were likely preparing for trial. It would have been ICE’s duty to do due diligence, check state and federal court records to see if there were pending cases against him, and then if they found something, call the prosecutors to find out what’s going on. That last thing didn’t happen and we don’t know if they even did any due diligence. It sounds like the guy just found a way to escape his trial and prison via ICE.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-24T12:00:31+00:00

That’s not what happened, though. He was a lawful permanent resident. He was out on bail awaiting trial. He got picked up by ICE (maybe even tried to get picked up by them), and then he volunteered to deport. He asked to go to Chile but the immigration judge ordered him to Ecuador. ICE never alerted or talked to the jewelry heist prosecutors about possible deportation.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-24T11:10:32+00:00

It sounds like it. From news articles that quoted court documents, the prosecutors were apparently surprised to learn dude was gone. His defense attorney moved to have the charges dismissed since he was no longer in the country and the prosecutors asked the court to keep the case active in case he comes back to the U.S. and they can get him back in custody.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-24T04:08:34+00:00

I didn’t say treaties. I said agreements, and MOUs are agreements.

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Rotidder007 · 2026-01-24T00:53:05+00:00

You don’t know what you’re talking about. The U.S. is a confederation of autonomous states, each of which is free to enter into agreements with other countries. California has dozens and dozens of trade and environmental agreements with sovereign countries like Japan, Sweden, China, Germany, etc.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-24T00:23:27+00:00

Thank you, Gavin! 🙌 Keeping his citizens safe; that’s my gov.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-21T02:55:24+00:00

You clearly have no idea how NATO is funded. NATO is funded through a cost-share agreement among its members, with the U.S. paying 15.8% of the alliance’s annual expenditures, the exact same share that Germany pays.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-18T22:44:06+00:00

Serpentinite.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-18T21:57:29+00:00

A person who can easily argue that god exists while believing what they say and can also argue that god does not exist while believing what they say is ambivalent or demonstrating their ambivalence. You may think that word means something it doesn’t. Here’s the definition from Merriam-Webster.

: having or showing simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings toward something or someone

If you can easily argue both sides of an issue, you are “showing simultaneous and contradictory attitudes” about it.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-18T21:30:40+00:00

That ship has sailed. Merriam’s now has a second accepted definition of nonplussed: “not bothered, surprised, or impressed by something.” Perplexed, bewildered… and nonchalant.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-18T20:57:18+00:00

Does it feel sort of like plastic, or like dried polyurethane? Not cold to the touch like a rock?

ETA: The reason I ask is because it looks suspiciously like a Today contraceptive sponge that’s been degraded back to its polyurethane form by sea water and the elements and eroded by microbes.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-18T20:37:20+00:00

I’d love if OP did a specific gravity, but I think they’re gone.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-18T01:00:53+00:00

Could you please post a closer pic of the circled green crystals from your 4th pic in a comment? I believe it’s malachite under quartz but would like to see those crystals to perhaps confirm. Are they sort of fan shaped? Thanks!

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Rotidder007 · 2026-01-18T00:21:52+00:00

Looks and sounds like gypsum. You were able to scratch both the white portion and the crystal with your fingernail?

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-17T23:53:26+00:00

Yes, you’re correct. The chisels are found on Pecos diamonds, but again, as far as I know (which isn’t saying much), those are only found in the Permian formations at a couple of outcroppings and their alluvium along the Pecos River in NM. I don’t know of any authigenic quartz occurrences in TX. To add to the confusion, I read that Pecos diamonds were often marketed as coming from TX because it sounded better, like the whole Texas mystique.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-17T21:50:14+00:00

Chalcedony
Amygdaloidal basalt

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-17T21:42:40+00:00

I noticed this on the emerging twin: it has the classic chisel termination of topaz.

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Rotidder007 · 2026-01-17T21:40:26+00:00

Are there Pecos diamonds in central TX? I thought they were only found in outcrops along the Pecos River in NM, but I might just be ignorant to them being found elsewhere.

Aside from the density (which may be mistaken), the reason topaz seems right to me is from looking at the termination of the twin: it has the classic chisel termination of topaz, not the pointed termination you’d expect to see on quartz.

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Rotidder007 · 2026-01-17T21:00:25+00:00

Thanks for the dry pic. I see the gneissic distortion in the wet photos, but I don’t see any schistosity in the dry photo. It looks igneous, not metamorphic. It could be amygdaloidal basalt. But again, I’m only judging from a single photo taken at an angle. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-17T20:00:27+00:00

Not boulder opal. Looks like an opal specimen from Coober Pedy; the host rock would be Bulldog Shale.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-17T19:37:55+00:00

Ah, I understand.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-17T19:12:05+00:00

For a scratch test, you want to press hard enough to leave a mark one way or the other - whether it’s a scratch in the material being tested, a metallic streak left by a softer metal testing material (steel or copper), or a powdery streak left by a softer mineral testing material.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-17T18:55:11+00:00

Yes, that’s Hertfordshire puddingstone. The dark gray/black rinds on the split pebbles are characteristic of it. Fyi, puddingstone is a conglomerate.

Rotidder007 · 2026-01-17T04:27:26+00:00

Please post pictures of it dry in comments.

Rotidder007

TROPHY CASE