"If Baroque was controlled exuberance, Rococo was uncontrolled exuberance, as if the divine monarchs and aristocrats needed ever-more over-the-top art to flaunt their privileged status." — Rick Steves, commenting on Schönbrunn Palace

New ballrooms. Gilded Oval Office décor. Over-the-top foreign trips. A lavish Qatari plane. Now, an illegal $1,000,000 “gold card” visa scheme. Rewarding WEALTH over hard work and a love for America.

Remember when Obama left office and racist people said “finally there’s class back in the White House?” Lmao

Guy whose job it is to make up higher and higher numbers on the White House press releases

I couldn't LOVE Neil Young more if I tried. Did you see his performance of "Big Crime" at Farm Aid. TRUTH-TELLER! 🙏💜🔥🙏💜🙏 YOU MUST!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqP1...

The scientific illiteracy of the White House press corps is going to get children dead.

... just another reminder of the CRIMINAL in the White House...

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It hurts my heart that we have racists like Laura Loomer effectively running the White House.

Republicans control the White House, Senate, and House. If the government shuts down, that's their failed leadership at work.

I'm teaching problem decomposition this week and that means The Return of Moo Deng!

Wow, epic chonk.

Hey, let's look at some amazing and fun art! The State Fairs show at The Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery is a must-see. Seed art by Liz Schreiber

26,000 YouTube views for Sinclair’s Charlie Kirk tribute special. Just for comparison, Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue on any average Wednesday will get between two and four MILLION YouTube views. Right wing culture is fringe stuff. It is not American culture by any stretch.

The sibling energy OMGGGGG

Major breaking news: There are 4 baby squirrels! I repeat, 4 baby squirrels! #Sqrlpix #squeeeeee (there's one at left where you can just see the tail)

Dua Lipa takes #sqrlpix ❤️ Stars, they're just like us

Puffleg seems to be a good name for a sparkle-bird with floofy white leggings. Lots of tropical birds are under-studied and this is one of them. They are common where found, but have unexplained breaks in their range. Sapphire-vented Puffleg, Zuroloma Preserve, Ecuador

Whimbrel on the wing… 📍Oyster Bay, Masaki, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. #NaturePhotography #Birds 🪶

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Gorgeous shot. Totally airborne.

Too cute. 😁

The Promenade near Limetz - 1887 https://botfrens.com/collections/41/contents/10246

Happy #AutumnEquinox / #SpringEquinox (I never forget my Southern Hemisphere friends!) Tōshi Yoshida (吉田 遠志, Yoshida Tōshi, Japan, 1911-1995) #Birds of the Seasons: Fall: “Serenity of Red Maple” + Spring: “Flying Around the Plum Tree” (1977) Color woodblock prints #BirdsInArt #JapaneseArt

So beautiful. Definitely saving to rewatch whenever I'm in need of calm.

54 geese, a pied-billed grebe, and a muskrat in the marsh at sunset. Howard Marsh, OH

These days I am coping with copious amounts of projects: -photo processing -writing -podcasting -home renovation -my beloved garden -not scrolling the doom (it is too a project!) May your days be likewise filled. Anyway here are some lovely Springboks from South Africa ❤️ #NaturePhotography 🌿

The fancy sparrows are stopping by on their big trek south, and this morning these two showed up. White-crowned sparrows can winter in the southern U.S. down into Central America. These two decided the creek was for bathing and drinking! Adult in the creek and juvenile on the rock! #Birds 🪶

And that wide stance.

Love the pauses.

Sunset from the Howard Marsh West boardwalk.

Prairie Flacon on a power pole crossbar. Klamath County Oregon #birding

I was being watched last night while on my kayak. This large, healthy coyote was sitting on the breakwater and judging me :) I'm glad I had the big camera in the boat with me this time. #mammals 🌿

Chestnut Trees in Blossom - 1890 https://botfrens.com/collections/46/contents/14740

Black-necked Stilts flying formation over Klamath Lake, Oregon #birding

A black kite hunting near the campground at Boolcoomatta.

"The $42 billion initiative, created by Biden's infrastructure bill, aimed to close the digital divide, with a focus on rural communities. Trump’s changes to the program have disqualified hundreds of thousands of locations from receiving internet access..." www.newsfromthestates.com/article/fewe...

Wishing a heartfelt Shana Tovah to all who are celebrating Rosh Hashanah. Here’s to a year of health, happiness, and meaningful new beginnings.

Good night, Bluesky! The aurora over Seattle, Washington from October 10 last year:

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Julia’s House, a children’s hospice, said that the reported correspondence made it inappropriate for Sarah Ferguson, also known as the Duchess of York, to remain a patron. https://to.pbs.org/42Kub4m

🚨NEW Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, has been dropped by four charities after a 2011 email surfaced calling Jeffrey Epstein her “supreme friend.” (BBC)

I keep going back to the fact that three of the obedient Christofascist majority worked for W to shut down the 2000 FL recount that handed him the election. Three years later, Roberts was on the US Appeals Court for DC; two years after that he was SCOTUS Chief Justice.

The sky and the marsh were very expressive this evening. Howard Marsh, OH

The attempted yanking of Kimmel off the air by the regime and its corporate enablers was alarming not because what he said was vicious or cutting, but precisely because it was so innocuous. Even the mildest criticism is being set up as a firing offense. (1/2)

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The goal is to exhaust you. To overwhelm your senses with overwhelming amounts of malignant idiocy. A government crusade against Kimmel one day, a war on Tylenol declared the next. POTUS publicly instructing the AG to prosecute political opponents? More foul fuckery memory holed.

Reuters: U.S. SUPREME COURT LETS TRUMP REMOVE DEMOCRATIC MEMBER OF FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION WHILE LITIGATION CONTINUES

Vice President Harris tells @maddow that Trump is "a tyrant who's using the federal government to execute his whim and fancy because of a fragile ego."