As terrible as the times are, as the month has been, as the week has been, I take joy in seeing just now that the first hummingbird has arrived from Mexico, unmolested by ICE, and drunk deeply of nectar from the feeder (one of three under the portals). (I now live in the high desert of New Mexico.)
caught this little guy luxuriating in a brief LA rainshower last week, and it brought a similar moment of joy... he was just soaking it up, taking sips of water, ruffling his feathers, and reminding observers that you have to make the most of life's pleasurable moments
Love this. 🤙🏼
Imagine animals, being more "free" than humans, while humans claim wealth hoarding as "success", and imprison themselves into the addictive gambling patterns. Humanity is going extinct by allowing the emotional children to lead the path. Without sustinable parity, there can be no civility.
Brave. Elon will send drones after you!
Taos? ⛰️✨🌲🌶️🪶
Those are one of our highlights at our summer home in Alaska....amazing little birds.
Oh cool! Both the arrival of hummers and your location. I’ve been thinking about New Mexico as a place to retire. Do you like it?
Very much. I’m in the northern part of the state.
But the whole state is gorgeous. Lots of poverty and some serious dysfunctionality, alas. Still, great people, great beauty, great climate.
I love New Mexico. It is a special place. Thank you!
I have not seen a hummingbird yet. Here, the Eastern Towhees and Eastern Phoebe’s are back. At the end of March, I went to take pictures of a small yellow trout lily colony and it was being visited by a wide range of early pollinators. I am late in going out to see the returned Osprey.
Can I ask you a question that I don’t understand as not a lawyer, and not a judge… My interpretation of John Roberts is that he believes in the Unitary Executive theory in a way that he feels like he’s being objective, calling balls and strikes, but it’s because the error of his thinking is deeper…
… than he perceives. And so he’s not willing to consider objective reality, or is willing to eat shit instead to questioning it… is that plausible?
If you want to really dive deeply into this, there is a superb Substack called executivefunctions.substack.com Two great lawyers writing very intelligently about all this.
That’s overload… I don’t know where to start. I’m just a dude looking at things and thinking he’s got some deeply wrong core belief that he thinks is objective, and it’s not.
I don’t think that’s the case. I think right now he is tiptoeing carefully. It is no small thing to tell Trump he is violating the Constitution. The court needs to get the public on board. But there is some real intellectual integrity to the unitary executive theory, when properly applied.
I defer to you, but I find him sus. 😉
And, yeah I can’t speak at a high level about unitary executive theory, but if there is any validity to it, we need to crush it with amendments, because it’s not American.
In general I think what we’re experiencing is the political parties gaming the system so far that congress is no longer effective, so there’s been a gradual passing of power to the executive. And therefore, we need to break the parties.
Impossible, really, to "break the parties" while simultaneously saying you have both freedom of speech, and association. Good luck with that.
Ranked Choice Voting, Multi member districts… many ways… it is a state by state thing though.
This governance structure inherently formed & shaped parties. ...they won't break collectively without significant reform
My view is different. I’m not saying yours is not legitimate. I think there is something to the unitary executive theory, and certainly Democratic presidents have wanted to assert it when they were in power. But I think Trump‘s actions have far exceeded the limits of the theory.
Have you seen decisions that have gone against the unitary executive theory? I defer to you, because I’m not a lawyer, but from what I’ve seen he leans strongly toward the executive, that he must know is a criminal, but he still sides with the office.
1/ Courts have occasionally had to define the exact contours of Executive power relative to Legislative and Judicial power in particular areas. Most famous decision arose from Truman's seizure of steel mills (Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v Sawyer). Seila Law is a recent one.
2/ But Trump is pushing the boundaries in so many ways. This term will see many precedent-setting decisions. SCOTUS has to appreciate that its decisions apply not just to this Administration, but to all that follow. I don't think it's fair to say Roberts is "siding with a criminal."
3/ Trump recently ordered his department heads to start axing regulations without regard to the notice & comment provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act. He'll claim it's for "good cause" which applies when an agency finds the process is “unnecessary” or “contrary to the public interest.”
4/ This will result in an immediate and further explosion of litigation. When the dust finally settles, the powers of the Executive will have received yet further definition from the judicial branch. What will be left of the country is another matter.
Thanks! (I saw this in the morning and meant to circle back around)
How beautiful to hear! We’re a bit north of that and are anxiously awaiting the return of our neighborhood hummingbirds 🥳
Still waiting for the small feathered friends to hit Albuquerque. I better get the feeders out.
I'm north of you, so I think you'll meet with quick success.
Fill them, and they will come. I'm so optimistic that I put my first one out in mid-March...
Will do! I need to see hummer visits.
Welcome to the Land of Enchantment! I have found myself spending much more time there as my ol’ folks age, and because Texas is, well, Texas
I really need to find an excuse to get back there, it's been far too long. After having the Rio Grande basin as my backyard everything else feels claustrophobic.
Love the pic.
My wife saw one this morning. Made her day.
They’re like family!
In the federal reserve owned by the member banks? Even if Trump is allowed to fire FCC commissioners the Fed isn’t a government agency so he can’t fire Powell. Could the Treasury do something to push down interest rates?
At some point, the U.S.'s destructive geopolitical and fiscal simply overwhelm anything that monetary policy can do. I think we're close to that point, if not past it. Trump can bullshit the simps & cultists & morons, but not the markets.
It was a beautiful day out today. Was able to get outside this afternoon and really enjoy it
New Mexico Skeptic when??
When you have a brand, stick to the brand.
Never!
Got to say. Wasn't expecting this nice post to interrupt my regular Newsfeed of Doom and Destruction.
Do you subscribe to my Substack (free, and always will be)? Maybe it’s time for a post about hummingbirds, Shostakovich quartets, and a surprising Kabalevsky cello concerto.
I’m here for this!!
Please I need this. I’ll break out my Shostakovich sheet music but it’s old and I’m rusty.
what instrument, Chance?
🎹
and clarinet but I took piano a lot farther (further? i.e., closer to Shastakovitch) than I did clarinet 😂
I read them when you post them here. Thanks for the reminder. I'm going to sign up for it.
Last time I was in Amsterdam I saw Jonathan Rooseman, a cellist, who played Shostakovich and other Russian works. It was a great experience.
