Revolution. Like the alternative, amazing timeline is right there.
Writer poet with a day job | Senior senior risk manager with a knack for things going sideways | Army Maj (Ret). | Plant geek | Northwesterner | @STEWest at that other place
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Revolution. Like the alternative, amazing timeline is right there.
This thread. Gorgeous. America could be pouring money into science, education, community, infrastructure, housing, healthcare... suspect most Americans have no idea what we're missing by transferring wealth to the rich and spending dollars on ICE/CBP/DOD. Just saying--we could have nice things.
BREAKING: Gov. JB Pritzker says the Trump administration has sent the Texas National Guard to Great Lakes Naval Base outside Chicago, awaiting orders to deploy to Chicago. Trump administration officials will target Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16) celebrations. @wttw.bsky.social
A little history about Chicago. It's a great American city. Does this regime really think any of us will just roll over?
Pritzker: "I refuse to pretend that any of this is normal ... I refuse to fall into the pundit trap that demands we sacrifice vital constitutional rights if it's being done in the fake guise of fighting crime."
Governor Pritzker held a critical press conference this afternoon. It's worth a listen, sobering and serious. The use of the National Guard for law enforcement is illegal. Full stop. Pritzker does an exceptional job of explaining just how abnormal these moves are. www.youtube.com/watch?v=8L2B...
Dammit, these are making me think about having chickens again...... nice breed choice for both eggs and the freezer looks like. Black Copper Morans were always on my shortlist for those dark eggs. I think the secret with chickens is getting the set up/infrastructure right from the start.
Learned something today--that's a sweet looking little boat.
YEP!
Had similar thoughts reading the transcript. The evidence provided to the Court makes clear that they were given specific training on Posse Comitatus and then had orders down from Hegseth to ignore key provisions--it doesn't work that way. Officers knew it was illegal and failed in their obligation.
And on a personal note--absolute shame on every officer in the chain of command that went along with this lawlessness. Our oaths are not passive, and our obligation to say no to illegal orders is clear.
"...there was no rebellion, nor was civilian law enforcement unable to respond to the protests and enforce the law" "Defendants violated the Posse Comitatus Act." The whole transcript is damning, includes details on the orders and training and how they were ordered to sidestep the law.
Influenza is just...special.
First day of the new quarter term, last of the summer, very happy to be in my office and almost done with the messiest parts of remodeling. Can't wait to see what comes next.
NEW: "Long the envy of the world…the CDC finds itself no longer able to advocate for what its scientists believe the best available research shows….The agency has since January shed literally centuries' worth of collective experience through a combination of firings, retirements, and resignations."
What's not mentioned, a clear effort to distance from the U.S. defense sector and the very real liabilities we now represent. Smart choice on multiple levels by Norway.
Very wide awake early morning.
That's way short. We had a very mild and dry winter last year, I'm not ready yet, but working on it.
Love dogs. Love. Wee dark hours of the morning something that wasn't supposed to be there was quietly stepping outside the bedroom window and the dogs woke us with a growl...let them out to take care of it. Henry's a farm collie and looks like Lassie, but he takes his security job serious as teeth.
They want to break it. Privatize it to a lesser standard of care. That's been the plan from the start.
It's a mess and yet the gaslighting is "all is well". My Doc here in Puget Sound was rifted, then not replaced, then replaced at a clinic that exists in name only. Tests results are lagging, schedulers are missing, prescriptions are slow. It's a mess.
No, think people are just getting ready for winter.
Neighborhood has been very busy with the chainsaws the last two days...
I think that's where we are. His public appearances last week were particularly rough.
Jamie, Ewan and Lachlan Maclean completed the fastest unsupported row across the Pacific, arriving in Cairns, Australia, on Saturday. They rowed over 9,000 miles non-stop from Peru.
The layers of insane with this regime....
The people are still out there doing the work. This is a good thing.
Watching the clips of the CDC leaders speaking to their colleagues as they left the CDC campus yesterday...these are just good, dedicated people. Good people, well admired by their colleagues. Deeply appreciate their work and that they are being so clear with the American public.
Not sure, my understand is oxygen is the biggest thief of flavor?
Costco still had stock at the old price from a local roaster, likely should have snagged more. Did stock up on tea too and things like tuna and coconut milk. Just hearing too many industry types expressing concern.
Did a huge pantry stock up this week, more to come. Blackberries this weekend. Very lucky to live where I live with local farmers, most of my produce and meat is not in the grocery supply chain. And we have a local grain mill. Still stocked up on everything else. Coffee is already up $4/lb.
Just brought in a bundle of mint and hung it to dry in the kitchen for winter tea, like a well and proper hedge witch. Very un-corporate-y.
Paid the mortgage, stocked the pantry, sorting out the house a bit at a time. Do what we can, where we are. Move some. Dig some. Speak. Play. Find some music. Tend. Enough of that...well, it'll all go right.
Damn, that's a good piece.
Whoo-boy this is a good read. I'll admit, I've been avoiding learning about this guy. Gun shy maybe. But. Yeah. Read it. Makes you want to live in Maine. Makes you want to get to work. You'll want to save this somewhere.
Really interesting, that someone took the time to figure out the numbers and that as recently as the 90s Americans ate less meat. I'm lucky here on the island to have farmers I get pasture chicken from, it's expensive, so it's less often. Privileged enough to be able to avoid commercial meat.
He's been on vacation for half of it.
Martin O’Malley, former Social Security Administrator, says the DOGE bro upload of SSA to cloud is the biggest data theft in history and could maybe lead to need to mass issue new SSA#s. 🤯 www.msnbc.com/the-last-wor...
The new head of the CDC, Jim O’Neill, has no degree in science or medicine, and has pushed unproven treatments for COVID like ivermectin. This is so incredibly dangerous.
Nasty wretched ghoul of a man.
Disastrous. Not mentioned here, but the guy is a hard core Peter Theil supporter, believes in the whole millennial blood transfusions to keep you young but and more true nastiness. Elon was the flash, but Theil has in so many ways seized our government--up to and including the Vice President.
This debasement is shameful and has no place in our government. It's disgusting. We don't do Dear Leaders in this country.
This. Is. Not. Okay. Hey fellow vets, if you're in DC, take a buddy and go for a walk, stop the nearest E6/E7 or 2LT/1LT and ask them why they're carrying loaded weapons in our capital. Ask them what the Rules of Engagement are. When they are authorized to shoot.
Trump administration to restore $6.8bn in education funds after multi-state suit California attorney general Rob Bonta says agreement secured after lawsuit brought by 23 states www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Very happy to see today's Letter from Heather Cox Richardson focused on DJTs efforts to deploy the National Guard against American cities and Governor Pritzker's excellent remarks yesterday. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Pritzker held a long press conference today with Chicago's mayor, federal and state officials, and community and business leaders it's worth listening to the whole thing. It really was a moment of excellent leadership and plain speaking.
Newsom is flash and he's helping in the moment, Pritzker is steel and doing a helluva lot of really good work. Leader work. I'll take a fighter from Chicago any day. The man would make a really good President.
He'd make a great President and he's doing some great work. The man's solid.
So distracted by all the ~~~~~waves~~~~~I actually sat down and made myself a to-do list for the week.
Aside from anything else, it is a national emergency that the president of the United States has lost his mind.
America unravels but the bird song this morning is gorgeous. Sliding into fall. Spending the morning weeding, planting some fall veg, writing. Here's to tending what we can.
Barely can handle witnessing it, but DJT is having another completely mad (literally) court session in the Oval. Go over to @atrupar.com for it, can't bear reposting it all. The man is holding court surrounded by groveling and bowing (literally) sycophants and raving. This is not okay.
The bowing a scraping to a mad king is disgusting. We must get this parasite out of our government.
The question needs to be "why are you deploying the military against the American people"? I know the White House Press Corps has been remade into sycophants only, but this is above politics.
I know, Monday, we should be focused on the opportunities and a fresh week... but. As a retired military officer, I cannot tell you how disturbed I am right now. America still does not understand how dangerous this moment is.
Stop using the phrase "crime crackdown". It's malpractice and gross negligence. You're doing serious harm normalizing the illegal and unprecedent use of the military on American cities based on the whims of a man abusing his office.
I like so many things about this... People got out in their city, maybe went places they never had before, met new people, talked to fellow humans, had some joy and play...it works in so many ways.
A wild stat — two thirds of elections just entirely uncontested .
So talk about geek fun and just loving the hell out of your city (also the brilliant wink wink). Hordes are turning out.
Baltimore is doing amazing. Great mayor in Brandon Scott and a great Governor in Wes Moore (both black men which absolutely is part of DJT's issue). It's a great place to visit. A person can do a New York-Boston-Baltimore-DC trip and geek out on great American history, culture, food, parks.
Right? It's the affect. Where's the energy? Also, way too much reliance on the way things have always been.
It's all of the above right now. Democracy has to hold wherever it can, it's a reasoned piece (more so than the title).
West coast is so radically different than the east coast. West in general. From the irrevocable love of public lands, to the active presence and acknowledgement of tribal nations, to even the cultures inside businesses and boardrooms, and so much more.
Truth!! A flock of house finches devoured the apple blossoms this year (that was a new one), so the yield there was a bust. Had lots of cherries but had to net branches to save any from the birds, and I have jays that show up only when the hazelnuts are ripe. It's very mixed year to year.
My friend gifted me leather forearm shield gauntlet things for my birthday last year, they've been priceless.
Slow work!! But it's getting there. Couple of more years of fighting the invasive weeds and hopefully it reaches a pretty good lowish maintenance place.
The headline is provocative but the article itself is worth a read. Blue states drive the American economy and it's where the people are (save Florida and Texas). We like government for the people. | It’s Time for Americans to Start Talking About “Soft Secession” open.substack.com/pub/cmarmita...
Life's short, if it takes too much fussing... I don't have a lawn, I'm replanting native island prairie and tough perennials. I do have veg beds, but even those, if it's not tough and easy, meh. Tossed some cosmos out there this Spring and they've been happy.
I'm a lazy gardener...I love planting plants once that then deliver food every season. The shrubs and trees, strawberry, blueberry, huckleberry, serviceberry, apple, cherry, plum, pear, fig, even rhubarb which isn't a favorite but refuses to die, even the thyme and rosemary.
Walked out the door for a bowl of blackberries for breakfast. So lucky in the northwest, with the sheer number of wild berries. Red huckleberries, evergreen huckleberries, thimbleberries, wild strawberry, native and european blackberries, elderberry for syrup. Other natives less tasty. So good.
Hiding from the heat with inside projects. Made up a focaccia using local Cairnsprings Mills milled and grown bread flour. The legendary Tartine Bakery in SF uses their flour, same with our local Skagit love Breadfarm. It's radical stuff. Now for a slow, cold rise until Monday. cairnspring.com
Just buttoned up the house for the heat. Everything's watered in, bird bath's topped off. Veg garden has been no big success this season, but there's something so satisfying, harvesting just outside the kitchen. Cucumbers, tomatoes this morning. Herbs like basil, oregano, mint. Blackberries too.🌿
Thought I saw his release just yesterday... They just can't stand it, can they? They keep proving the case of their arbitrary abuse over and over again.
Someone gave me this advice decades ago and while I own my site and have played with it, it hasn't been the center of the universe as it could be. Do you fuss with distributing your blog posts to a list of subscribers or no?
Right? Literally nobody wants this. The polls in DC proper have it as 80% against. The man is mentally devolving and is a danger to the nation. I did hear that the DC police ticketed the MRAP driver in that accident for running a red light, which seemed perfect. Ugly mess.
It's quite distressing to watch, the consequences of leaving him in the position of the Presidency are severe. I often will watch a clip like this with the sound off--his deterioration is stark.
Trump is mentally ill and needs treatment. I say this as a mental health professional who is concerned about a person who appears to be a danger - if not to himself (because he is so closely watched) - then to others
Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been released from federal custody, months after he was wrongfully deported to an El Salvador prison and accused of being a gang member.
Impeach this wretch. And then the fully compromised 2nd wretch to the left, laughing at the idea of the fully illegal idea of deploying military force against Americans.
The United States of America is without a President. Instead we have this parasitic thug, a lawless convicted criminal who is deeply un-American and threat to everything we all hold dear.
Another day, another insane presser and a bunch of illegal orders from Donald Trump who is openly just straight up tin-pot dictator now. I'm giving myself three gold stars, a fresh cup of coffee and some banana bread for resisting the urge to rage post it all. Seriously though, not okay.
Friday morning shout out to High Country News. It's worth a follow, it's worth a subscription. Great, in depth reporting from across the west. Exceptional journalists and editors and yes, independent. You'll learn things. @highcountrynews.org www.hcn.org
I'm an absolute geek for community land trusts, I regularly donate to several, one focused solely on housing. Disaster profiteering, where moneyed interests muscle in after an event and take advantage, is a scourge. The trust model is an alternative for resilience and recovery. Great article.
Pritzker keeps doing good work. I know Newsom is getting a lot of attention but, Pritzker is just solid.
I can’t believe how insane this redistricting thing is. There is no Historical precedent for a president calling a governor and saying you need to get me five seats. We are now in a literal arms race for the House of Representatives. Trump knows what he’s doing is not popular and he knows this is….
“The chief justice is presiding over the end of the rule of law in America,” Luttig said the court is “acquiescing in and accommodating the president’s lawlessness. And it is doing so without briefing, without argument, without deliberation–without even a single word of explanation of its decisions”
My insta feed delivered these essential remarks from Toni Morrison. On the necessity and risk of art and artists. www.instagram.com/reel/DNlUeQ0...
I think the combination of COVID + CO2 levels in the atmosphere + humans who've lost trees and never see the stars has resulted in too many who have simply lost their minds.
Someday, maybe someday there will be honesty with the American public about how compromised this woman is. If we're lucky.
NEW: More than 20,500 workers have left or been pushed out of federal health agencies, a ProPublica analysis found. Staffers say the cuts will leave their agencies less equipped to conduct studies, perform inspections and combat deadly outbreaks.
This is not how you develop quality leaders...
Something deeply, deeply nasty about these men. No professional would ever do this. This is the behavior of stalkers...and worse.
Do these feckless men really think this video--dark, shadowy, hysteric--makes them look strong? Compelling? Just ridiculous, pathetic men. Also, we can't keep saying it enough--it's illegal to deploy military forces for law enforcement. And you don't need the National Guard for some vagrants.
Somebody did good writing that script, knew things or people.
Much smarter, much more schemy. Very much hope, wish, they are very busy and results are soon to materialize.
The way these people just straight lie about everything is pathological. It wasn't Trump that called those leaders...they told him they were coming. Ukraine and Europe have been working closely, they weren't sitting there over concerns about energy supplies.
Fact-based, deeply researched, and essential. This is worth a bookmark. And a reminder for grownups--get your vaccinations. Everything from COVID to HPV to Shingles to Tetanus to Flu. Especially now, get current, stay current.
The noise around vaccination and the safety of vaccines is only going to increase, with the Administration stuffing Health and Human Services with already discredited individuals. Worth a save.
A little good news. Not a permanent solution, but it's an important bridge. Both NPR and PBS are worth support, both for news and exceptional programming. | Foundations Commit $36.5 Million in Emergency Funding to Protect Public Media in Vulnerable Communities www.fordfoundation.org/news-and-sto...
Can they really be this blind? Seriously?