Sailing at Sunset. Blazing setting sun made a magical moment on this day in 2021 over Chicago's Lake Michigan.
Midwestern girl, mother, public educator serving children with special needs
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Sailing at Sunset. Blazing setting sun made a magical moment on this day in 2021 over Chicago's Lake Michigan.
Anti-ICE/Gestapo protest - Chicago, IL Right now!
I just visited Naval Station Great Lakes that Trump is letting DHS use as they prepare to invade Chicago. The Navy cooperated and took the time to answer our questions. Trump’s DHS locked the doors and fled. That’s not how you act when you’re doing something legal.
Know your rights, Illinois. Stay safe and stay informed.
I am appalled
I keep typing words and then deleting them because none of them are sufficient to capture how utterly fucked up and unacceptable this is. And yet it won't move a single Republican to give a damn.
The president of the United States just declared war, actual military war, not a metaphorical one, on a major American city, and one governed by his political opponents. In any other period, this would be impeachment-worthy.
Appalling abuse of power
Timeline cleanse
Frightening brutality of govt agents
Sesame Street will be putting a huge collection of episodes on YouTube starting in January 2026 This is a fantastic way to educate children It’s a form of resistance. Shows like Sesame Street teach love, tolerance, acceptance & more. These lessons are crucial for the long fight ahead.
As I said after the GOP Legislation Formerly Known as the Big Beautiful Bill was passed, Trump is creating a massive - and chronically overweight - Praetorian Guard.
I know people are overwhelmed by too much news from every angle, and maybe people are distracted by the "terrorist" language, or just plain exhausted. But this is the President of the United States saying he is going to go around killing people because he thinks they're criminals. And already did.
Trump wants to replace doctors with AI to determine whether Medicare patients get the care they need. A machine will have the ability to override a licensed doctor to deny care in order to increase profits. Make no mistake, this is a direct attack on Medicare.
CBS News is giving up the power it has to hold “Face the Nation” interviewees to account. Following pressure from Trump, it has agreed not to edit interviews, even to remove false statements or propaganda uttered by political operatives and officials, or add explanatory context.
A high-ranking Pentagon official told The Intercept Trump's strike on a boat in the Caribbean was a criminal attack on civilians. Two government officials said Pete Hegseth's rationale for the attack came together after the fact.
It’s National Food Bank Day, which means it's a great day to remind you that the Republican’s Big Ugly Bill is gutting our food security.
Fox Business is coping hard with another bad Trump jobs report: "That 22,000 number -- it's a weaker than expected number, and these revisions are pretty brutal ... it's disappointing ... there's a lot of concern"
DOJ Deputy Chief Joseph Schnitt admitted that the government will "redact every republican" and "leave all the liberal, democratic people” on the Epstein client list. He also said Ghislaine Maxwell was moved to a minimum securithy prison as "a benefit to keep her mouth shut."
Two types of dogs... 👀😅🤣 #dog #dogday #bluesky
The churchyard of Cooling, in Kent, England. Those ten tiny gravestones were made famous by Dickens. They are a nice picture of childhood in a world without vaccines.
Wyden to RFK Jr: "I hope that you will tell the American people how many preventable child deaths are an acceptable sacrifice for enacting an agenda that I think is fundamentally cruel and defies common sense."
Some thoughts from Claudia about some health issues she's been working through, and the relationship between body and mind. 💕❤️ open.substack.com/pub/claudiam...
gift link to dr. susan monarez’s piece in the wall street journal this morning.
This makes me so sad for these children
"I thought they were going to make me board the plane like they did with the other kids from the shelter, but they asked me for my name and told me I was not on the list." A terrifying declaration from an unaccompanied child nearly removed to Guatemala straight out of Schindler's List.
"One firefighter who was present at the raid said he is convinced that Team 7 leaders sent their crews into a trap." Excellent follow-up from @statesnewsroom.com on the recent immigration raid during an active wildfire.
Lethal force against a civilian vessel in international waters is a war crime if not in self-defense. If not in self-defense, only non-lethal actions, such as warning shots or disabling fire, are allowed. "Not yielding to pursuers" or "suspected of carrying drugs" doesn't carry a death sentence.
The president is sending the military to control American cities and if you're a reporter who's framing that illegal power grab as "pushing the boundaries of constitutionality" or "acting boldly to fight crime" or whatever, please go find another line of work where you won't get us all killed.
This offer still stands. Mainstream media should use my suggested headline and lead paragraph.
Pritzker: "He has no idea what's he's talking about. There is no emergency that warrants deployment of troops. He is insulting the people of Chicago by calling our home a hellhole, and anyone that takes his word at face value is insulting Chicagoans too."
“Chicago is a lot of things, but it’s certainly not a ‘hellhole,’ as claimed by the convicted felon, sexual predator, and pathological liar in the White House.” In fact, Chicago is a city of fierce defiance. My free Stop the Presses newsletter.
Pritzker: Any rational person who has spent even the most minimal amount of time studying human history has to ask themselves one important question: Once they get the citizens of this nation comfortable with the current atrocities committed under the color of law, what comes next
Illinois Gov. Pritzker ahead of Trump National Guard deployment: "To Chicagoans... Look out for your communities and your neighbours. Know your rights. Film things that you see happening... Authoritarians thrive on your silence. Be loud for America."
Pritzker: "We've gathered information from unauthorized, patriotic officials inside the government and from-sourced reporters about Donald Trump's plan, which is to deploy armed military personnel to the streets of Chicago."
Pritzker: "It breaks my heart to report that we have been told ICE will try to disrupt community picnics and peaceful parades. Let's be clear -- the terror and cruelty is the point, not the safety of anybody living here."
🚨Portugal, a founding NATO nation, just delivered a shock: its president says Donald Trump “functions as a Russian asset.” At a historic rupture, allies fear America’s leader is tilting the West’s security and NATO itself toward Moscow. open.substack.com/pub/theintel...
Apologies! You have reached the end of your free trial period of America
Darkly humorous— gotta laugh to keep from crying! “All of the articles are now written by AI, except Article I, which has disappeared entirely.”
How to report on Nazis. And it's real, I checked thenightly.com.au/editions
9/ Our parks are already beautiful, no need to take the national Guard away from their jobs and families to come here like in DC: bsky.app/profile/dani...
Breaking news: It's a beautiful weekend in Chicago. So for this weekend, the city has safely hosted: 🚴♀️ Bike the Drive where hundreds pedal down a temporarily closed Lake Shore Drive 🏠The ARC music festival (Chicago is the home of house music) ⚾A White Sox game 🍒Farmers markets & food fests 1/
Out for a stroll on another incredible Chicago day. This is ‘meet me on Milwaukee,’ a car free event in the Wicker Park neighborhood. Happy people & happy dogs everywhere. Remember this when Trump tries to paint an ugly picture of our beautiful city. #chicago
Trump limits National Guard assignments to 29 days at a time to keep the called up service members from getting healthcare and housing benefits while on duty. And the NG troops are catching on. Stereotypical Trump. Don't give those losers and suckers an extra dime. www.rawstory.com/trump-infuri...
The government has failed us. So we are stepping in. #media4good @msnbc.com
Here’s what appears to be a little girl shackled at the wrists and ankles boarding an ICE flight on Avelo Airlines yesterday. Seattle (Boeing Field) to Mesa, AZ, an ICE detention hub. Not one of those men helped her up the stairs. Courtesy @lalabote.bsky.social
Pritzker on Trump sending troops into cities: "He has other aims other than fighting crime... he would like to stop the elections in 2026 or frankly take control of those elections. He'll just claim there's some problem with an election and then he's got troops on the ground that can take control."
Residents are finding all sorts of ways to fight ICE: They're recording and reporting. They're wheatpasting and sharing know-your-rights materials. And they're stepping up to care for each other, from delivering groceries to walking kids to school. 51st.news/dc-residents...
Thank you for speaking up and speaking often about our American rights, @govpritzker.illinois.gov
Useful frame for understanding Trumpism from @aselrod.bsky.social: "It’s not merely rule by the worst but an active assault on virtue wherever it exists. Trump/MAGA have turned the country over to the cruelest, most rapacious, and least honorable among us." www.liberalcurrents.com/let-it-burn-...
Eww
We won’t notice it at first Maybe an outbreak of cholera in southwest Kansas goes undetected Perhaps the number of flu related deaths ticks up just a bit each year But-ultimately, inexorably-the destruction of the CDC will lead to countless deaths All because of two men Trump and RFK, Jr
Please call for his resignation
Lake Michigan on a gorgeous sunny day (in Kewaunee, WI)
Agree
This beautiful cat greets you all! 😊 #cat #catday #bluesky
The NRA buys off Congress. No action on guns. The oil industry buys off Congress. No action on climate. Insurance companies buy off Congress. No action on health care. The list goes on and on. Money in politics is the root of our dysfunction.
there is no question in my mind that rfk jr is the most dangerous person in this administration and that his eugenicist ideology threatens the lives of millions of people www.advocate.com/politics/dem...
ICE’s unchecked power has turned into lawless overreach—abductions by masked agents, denial of due process, secret police tactics. Democratic leaders can stop this, but only if we demand it: bit.ly/45Umbi3
Eerie similarities
“This is our moment to reassert what it means to be American by speaking out and pushing back. The victory of the weak, malignant and unprincipled man is not inevitable.” Great piece.
More or less universally a country seeking to limit foreigners studying in that country is a sign of a society, culture, great power in severe decline.
When Ziblatt is talking about the lessons from Weimar for the present day, you listen. Chilling.
Thank you, CDC, for standing up for public health
It is time to shut down a proven threat to 21% of the world’s surface freshwater. Clean water is life 🌊🌊
Trump's use of red state National Guards in DC is really about viciously turning Americans against each other, about stoking hate and violence *among Americans.* JB Pritzker's response is so good because it lays *this* bare. Me and @brianbeutler.bsky.social on this: newrepublic.com/article/1997...
Trump troops in cities are about "intimidating populations that don’t support him," says @brianbeutler.bsky.social, to "push people to their breaking point so they lash out." On the pod Brian is great on what makes JB Pritzker's response so powerful and essential: newrepublic.com/article/1997...
Indeed we are inspired by the speech and actions of Pritzker and Walz and O'Rourke and AOC, etc. and are disgusted by the strategy of current so-called leadership. Waiting for midterms and not addressing the fascism we face now is killing us.
These otters chasing a butterfly.. 😊 #bluesky #animals #otters
Sickening, how accurately this captures our current reality in the U.S.
This morning: MPD and ATF conducted a massive paramilitary operation, with officers in masks and camo, in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood of DC within 500 yards of an elementary school while neighborhood children were heading to school. On their third day of classes.
Here's what the third day of elementary school looked like in Mount Pleasant, Washington DC.
Communist regimes: Own companies Control their central banks Use tariffs to insulate their economies Use armies, false charges, home raids & arrests to intimidate the opposition Idolize their leaders with posters & praise Sound familiar?
Celebrating World Lake Day and urging humans to be bold in protecting water, land and air. Now is the time 🌊🌊 Clean water is life
Morning Light. August sunrise this week in Chicago. SaveTheLighthouse.org
"The top story of the moment is the one story that our most influential newsrooms won’t touch: That the United State has become an authoritarian state." — Dan Froomkin @froomkin.bsky.social presswatchers.org/2025/08/we-h...
EXCLUSIVE: DHS, ICE and CBP agents — and possibly National Guard troops — would operate from a suburban naval base for much of next month as part of President Donald Trump’s plan to target Chicago, per an email from Navy leadership obtained by CST. They'd be at Naval Station Great Lakes Sept. 2-30.
It’s an insult to these trained professional servicemen and servicewomen
The fundamental choice has not been as stark since World War II: democracy and freedom, or dictatorship and tyranny. Trump and his sycophants are siding with the latter. The rest of us must loudly, proudly, and boldly proclaim our allegiance to the former.
Agree
A whistleblower complaint says that the personal data of over 300 million Americans was copied to a private cloud account to allow access by members of the Department of Government Efficiency team.
It's been widely noted that Trump seems newly emboldened on many fronts. But another thing that makes this moment so ominous is that his accomplices at very senior levels *also* seem emboldened. Many of them seem arrogantly certain of never facing accountability. newrepublic.com/article/1996...
I'm still not buying into the "fun of sadism"
This alone should be an extinction-level lawsuit for Elon Musk
Pritzker: This is not about fighting crime. This is about the President and his complicit lackey, Stephen Miller, searching for ways to lay the groundwork to circumvent our democracy, militarize our cities, and end elections.
This is 100% correct.
Gov. JB Pritzker: “I am ringing the alarm.” @wttw.bsky.social
The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/america-ti...
Forecast: Grunge
It's important to get up to speed on the Trump endorsed kids TV programming by PragerU coming to a school or screen near you. Start with this: it is NOT from a university or school of any kind. It's white nationalism propaganda masquerading as a kids show. @velshi.com has a good explainer:
Just walking around the hellscape that is my Chicago neighborhood this morning
Spirit of America—creative, determined resistance
It’s not game-playing and distraction—- it’s authoritarian takeover
"History is important. If you don't know history it is as if you were born yesterday. And if you were born yesterday, anybody up there in a position of power can tell you anything, and you have no way of checking up on it." -- Howard Zinn, born #OTD 1922
Summer Saturdays. Last night at Navy Pier and Navy Pier Marina.
Yes!
Institution after institution, created, constructed, designed, funded, maintained, for generations for this exact moment and the cowards at the top, all of whom know damn well what they've got on their hands, did nothing and hoped someone else would bell the cat.
"Twenty-three Democratic attorneys general now gather on near-daily Zoom calls at 8 AM Pacific, which means the East Coast officials are already on their third coffee. They divide responsibilities and share templates for lawsuits they’ve been drafting since last spring."
LIVE EVENT: MeidasTouch goes live in OMAHA, NEBRASKA as Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congressman Maxwell Frost join ADAM MOCKLER for a rally!
