important meeting

Whatcha reading? 👁️👁️ [ #cuteart #illustration #booksky ]

Donations have stalled :( So many sad little bubbles. Colorless. Empty. From Upstate New York and Connecticut to Hawaii. Fill a bubble today 🥺 givebutter.com/USS2026

Frederick Douglass' "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July" is the greatest-ever July 4 speech. Contrary to mythology it is NOT a condemnation of the Declaration and Revolution, but rather of Americans' failure to live up to their principles: reason.com/volokh/2020/...

Black soldiers sought freedom through various means during the American Revolution. Hundreds, many of whom were self-liberated, joined the Hessian armies. About 70 of these Black American soldiers settled in Germany after the war, transforming themselves “from slaves to subjects.”

“The formula for democracy is a thing of multiple parts. At its core is nothing solid, just a framework, on which pieces brought across oceans can be conjoined. From many, one.” Fascinating interactive exploration of the powerful metaphor of the creation of the Statue of Liberty (I learned a lot):

Hi, it's the 4th of July and what better way to spend it than bidding on cool shit and helping people exercise their right to vote!!! www.32auctions.com/romancingthe... (I'll thread the items I have avail below, but go through, there is so much great stuff in the listings!)

An introduction to a living genius of children’s literature for the adults who will inevitably read her on repeat. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/01/b...

I was doing so well at staying off socials, but now there is a schism in the Catholic church, and even though I have never been Catholic I feel the need to be Up To Date on everything to do with this situation.

Did you know that Guild membership is open to any editor in the US? That's right, you can enjoy the affordability and perks of the friendliest editing organization around from Portland to Portland, Salem to Salem, or even a Springfield! Find out more at www.edsguild.org/about-us/joi...

“Enslaved people did not watch these transformations unfold from the sidelines. They instead committed themselves to winning freedom.”

Authors blaming libraries for lower pay gives off real "let's you and him fight" energy. The real reason authors don't get paid what they're worth is an exploitative system created by corporate consolidation among publishers, distributors, and retailers.

Increasingly glad I never bothered joining the Author’s Guild. You go after libraries, you do NOT represent me.

A good thread on screwworms. Talking to an entomologist last year, he also added that the pandemic was the first domino. Scientists couldn’t get to the facilities, couldn’t get out into the field to check outbreak reports.

Really fantastic photos in the article from The Atlantic. Lots of cool animal photos. 😀

"Working class" in 2026 means a blue haired barista with they/them pronouns, a Asian immigrant nail technician, and an undocumented hotel cleaner. And we are going to keep having the same fights until we let the midcentury illustrator mirage of the white guy in plaid with the lunch pail go.

I DIDN’T WRITE A BOOK ABOUT IT YOU CAN’T BLAME ME

GIFT article www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Oh I am soooo excited about this!

I have no pictures, but we’ve fed the red-winged blackbirds so often that one burst out of the bushes at my husband and perched on his hand today, even though we didn’t have any bird seed with us. “We’d better bring food tomorrow,” I told him. “I guess so!”

Be a David Attenborough in world of Trumps, Farages, Musks, and Putins.

"The LCC [Laurelhurst Community Council] cyclically opposes hospital expansions [...] They’ve mandated parking limits on hospital workers and staff [...] And, since the 1980s, they’ve warred against the scourge of noisy helicopters carrying ill children." www.thestranger.com/news/laurelh...

Apple Blossom 18x11cm acryla gouache this is available to buy for lots of money or as a print for much less

From 3 years ago today. A mossy pathway in Coedydd Maentwrog in North Wales. Pen and watercolour.

horrible. this country’s turn away from science based medicine in the name of “wellness” is killing children and will kill a lot more. www.propublica.org/article/more...

Sen. Mark Kelly: "If you say something that the president or this administration does not like, they're going to come after you. The president is trying to silence us, and I can't think of anything that's more un-American."

Important stuff.

There was no structural or institutional support to help La'Monica McIver when the Trump admin charged her with federal crimes for confronting an ICE officer -- so the Dem congresswomen built their own network of solidarity. I love love love this story. www.marieclaire.com/politics/con...

Sorry, but I feel like a person who cannot understand that receiving 30 5mg pills as a 30-day supply for someone who is supposed to take 7.5mg of the medication per day should not be working for a doctor's office. I'm not good at math, either, but this is not actually hard. 7.5 is more than 5.

Caregiving is female, it is VASTLY undercompensated, and every government agency and male taxpayer benefits from women’s unpaid and underpaid work. Caregiving is a Feminist Issue, it’s an equality issue, it’s an equal justice issue, and it’s a racial justice issue.

I have long said that our food system is broken, but food is one of those things where you CANNOT allow it to crash and burn in hopes of getting something better. It needs delicate surgery, not a sledgehammer.

Love The Atlantic’s reaction to Patel threatening them.

Why did the Scientific American union choose mitochondria as our symbol? A key part of working at @sciam.bsky.social is caring about getting good science to people. To that end, please enjoy some mitochondria fun facts! 1/🧵

Perfection.

If you, like me, are now duty bound to read the entire H!aV archive, here's a handy link to the first one. www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=1 Also, Scrutinizing Edgar Allen Poe remains a favorite (from #213)

I will never fail to sing the praises of Dorothy Fontana. A lot of what I loved about the original Star Trek and, later, Babylon 5 came from her.

If you are mad about Republicans' shoveling $1 BILLION at Trump's ballroom—as you should be!—just remember: Trump is asking them to blow 1500x times that amount on his war budget.

My new Genre Grapevine covers the partnership between Clarion West @clarionwest.bsky.social and Common AREA Maintenance in Seattle to establish a long-term, affordable space for artist residencies, classes, and other events. Includes interview with @marneechua.bsky.social on what this means for CW.

I am not being hyperbolic when I say that antidepressants literally saved my comics career. They gave me my life back and boosted my stress tolerance at a critical moment. Meds don’t work for everyone. But the people that meds DO work for deserve to have reliable access to them.

A way to be an ally to Jews is to relentlessly point out that there are more Christian Zionists in the US alone then there are Jews in the entire world (many of whom are not even Zionists). The conversation about Zionism should be dominated by that rather than laying all blame at the feet of Jews.

This is important.

Starbucks CEO, who made $98 million in 4 months, wants you to stop thinking about prices. Oh, and union busting. Definitely don’t think 600+ labor rights violations!

Today is World Press Freedom Day. The US is now ranked 57th in the world for press freedom — and that is rapidly declining as Trump continues to attack journalism. Democracy needs a strong, free press to survive.

Feels flippant to use the term Streisand Effect here, but that's what happened. Japan ensured a statue very few people would've seen and even fewer would've understood won't be put up, and instead people all over the world are going to read about their system of sexual slavery during WWII.

Fired from Disney in retaliation for striking were, among others, (the legendarily evil) Hank Ketcham, Walt Kelly, Preston Blair, and Phil Eastman. Who you definitely know, even if you think you don't.

My favorite fish and chips place sells three options: cod, halibut, and salmon. Different prices, mind, but they're all fish and chips. Fish and chips... can be made with pretty much any fish.

We do not concede the south, the birthplace & continued lifeblood of the Black American experience, to people who hate us. We do not throw in the towel. Black people have every right to be southerners & very much are no matter who likes it.

Absolutely extraordinary. The Democrats conceded *nothing* and got everything they demanded. They said no ICE/CBP funding, and that's precisely what happened. In other words, they did not cave. At all. But the GOP did—completely.

Just donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center because fuck this corrupt and racist Department of "Justice" and fuck Fidelity while we're at it www.splcenter.org