Reading about the origins of democracy for the revision phase of my second novel, as one does on Christmas Eve morning. 😆 Anyhow, blanket-ensconced in front of the fire, I be like 👀 ...

Not easy to watch, but necessary to know what the Trump administration has been doing in our name: sending people to a concentration camp in El Salvador, many for doing nothing more than seeking asylum.

I've now watched the censored 60 Minutes report on CECOT. If you watched it too—and if you have any decency at all—I'm sure you came to the same conclusion I did: winning elections won't be enough; people like Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem will need to be charged and imprisoned.

PNW writers -- come join me in Ashland in February for some great inspo, a bunch of writing, and a supportive community in a cozy B&B. $50 off if you book in 2025.

Some of you have forgotten that only three years ago you were perfectly capable of writing a text, writing an email, telling a bedtime story to a child, and it should worry you that powerful companies have convinced us we can’t do things we’ve been doing since the dawn of time.

Writing for hope and posterity. ✨

It's 2025, and we're sharing bootleg 60 Minutes segments broadcast in other countries because our own country is being run by fascists and their billionaire-owned state media helpers, just as the Founding Fathers intended, of course.

The bold and brilliant @anntelnaes.bsky.social tells it like it is.

Oh please oh please oh please.

When a major media outlet openly capitulates to the political agenda of the executive branch, they are no longer part of the fourth estate. They are state-run media. Add Bari Weiss and CBS to the list of those who have betrayed our Republic.

CBS' Weiss pulls a Hegseth-size Pentagon news blackout with the CECOT story. How do we like permission-to-run "journalism"?

"Farcically censored" is my favorite truth-telling phrase right now.

"This isn’t political. It isn’t partisan. These were children." *See the photos of Donald Trump at the end of this piece, in images from inside Epstein's desk, that were deleted by the DOJ after Friday's document dump. Don't give up. On yourself, on them.

Just watched Wake Up Dead Man. Whew, the political-cultural parallels. Eminently entertaining, with chills and gasps galore.

The handiwork of a guilty man and his criminal henchmen who thumb their nose at the law, Justice, Congress and the American people.

Jack Smith still wants to speak in public: In a new letter, Smith says he wants the American public to "hear the facts" about his two criminal cases against Trump — asking the House Judiciary Committee to release video of his closed-door deposition and schedule an open and public hearing.

So, Congress passes a law requiring the release of ALL the Trumpstein files. Any redactions to protect ONLY the victims Trump DOJ releases a highly redacted and incomplete batch after working on them for months, citing various lame excuses for their non-compliance This is what a coverup looks like

Since he’s so obsessed with slapping his name on everything, let’s make him happy by releasing the Trumpstein files.

That a plurality of voters inflicted this man on America and the world is an embarrassment and a horror show in equal measures.

Honestly even if every single living Epstein victim signed a sworn statement that Brooks never touched them this would *still* be a firing offense just based on the conflict of interest

Yesterday I served as a juror in the 2025-2026 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards contest for 7th-12th graders. We adjudicated hundreds of artworks (ceramics and glass, drawing, etc.). For more on the program, see: www.artandwriting.org Highlights of previous winners: youtube.com/watch?v=XCF5pjhEWp4

Like @rbreich.bsky.social, and after that train wreck of an address, I couldn't sleep. In Trump 1.0, people brushed off comparisons between him and Hitler as alarmist. In Trump 2.0, with his mental decline undeniable, his finger near the nuke button is a palpable threat. Impeach and convict, now.

Damn, Bret Stephens of the NYT. No wasted words here.

I know this man has no soul…I know there is no bottom to his cruelty and depravity…yet, his complete and gleeful disregard for the dignity of the office he holds…invariably leaves me speechless.

It's my birthday and I'll 😭 happy tears if I want to! Middle daughter and youngest grandson flew in to surprise me for my 68th ... and get this, it all happened at my favorite bookstore! Lucky, lucky me.

“He is not unstoppable and you are not without power” Remind yourself of this every day. Especially on the bad days.

REMINDER: Trump has 8 DAYS to release ALL the Epstein files given the Epstein Files Transparency Act mandates their release by December 19. The survivors deserve ALL the files released!

No matter how long I live after we get through this dark chapter, I will never get over the immorality, the amorality, the corruption, the criminality and the cruelty in service to one of the worst humans to ever walk the earth.

“There’s undeniable evidence that something is wrong. And if it wasn’t a big deal, you’d think the White House would come forward with an explanation more plausible than what they’ve offered so far.” Yup. And it should alarm everyone that he has the nuke codes.

It’s not that I have a problem with them living in their own weird nonsensical universe. I do have a problem when they force their weird nonsensical universe onto the rest of the normal world.

Well, I never. (Like, literally never.) Pinch-me kudos for "Clint" Grateful thanks to (checks name of publication) @newyorker.com (That's right....) Cloud Cuckoo Land over here www.newyorker.com/best-books-2...

The fact that @aaronparnas.bsky.social covers the news wall-to-wall every single day is impressive as all get-out. Today, for instance, he'll report on his meeting with Sen. Mark Kelly and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords. He's an independent journalist who's not beholden to corporate interests.

This story by @bethkephart.bsky.social is so beautiful. Many who've lost much-loved parents long to hear them, see them, touch the essence of their vibrant lives. All captured here.

Yesterday the President fell asleep, yet again, during a televised fake Cabinet meeting staged so that each of his courtiers could heap praise on him, praise for which he couldn't stay conscious. He woke up just long enough to spew racism. Why is this not being treated as an emergency? >

"Enjoying revision" could be oxymoronic, but today, for me, it's true.

“.. The Times asks for a judge to declare the new policy unconstitutional and issue an injunction barring its enforcement, and that the Pentagon reinstate press credentials for Barnes and other Times reporters.” @wsj.com www.wsj.com/business/med...

In which @rbreich.bsky.social calls on Congress to invoke Sec. 4 of the 25th Amendment: "Trump is now saying things nobody in their right mind would say, let alone the president of the United States. He’s losing control over what he says, descending into angry, venomous, often dangerous territory."

In which George Will (yes, THAT George Will) also torches Pete Hegseth as "a criminal without a war" in a WaPo op-ed.

"Never in our nation’s history has such supreme incompetence and monstrous depravity so thoroughly disgraced a meeting of the Cabinet officers of the United States." Thanks to @atrupar.com for putting it succinctly.

Do you know where to turn to find accurate local news? Want to make a difference in the Portland area nonprofit media ecosystem? Consider a donation to Uplift Local today for #GivingTuesday. Link: zurl.co/Ju4hh

No. Nope. Not happening. They cannot make Franklin the Turtle into one of them. I, and Kids Can Press, won't allow it.

This regime has raised stupidity and meritless gloating to Olympic sport level.

Since I haven’t seen anyone mention this: When the U.S. commits war crimes it puts our troops in danger also, as it gives a green light to other countries that they can do the same to us

Beautiful mural in SE Portland #Photography #Mural #StreetArt #Portland 📷🐸

Contradiction much? "Kill them all" vs. a pardon for former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who "flooded America with cocaine," according to the New York Times.

If you love a small press, check out these 100 notable small press books from 2025!

The president is a political cartoon of corruption come to life, a gaudy grifter who is selling off pardons and lining his pockets, building a golden ballroom and protecting his fellow sex predator elites, all the while regular Americans are suffering and struggling to make ends meet. Run on *that*

Shout out to @tmcallister.bsky.social and his essay collection IT ALL FELT IMPOSSIBLE, one of the 100 Notable Small Press Books heralded on @literaryhub.bsky.social today! The book was published by @rosemetalpress.bsky.social. I loved reading Tom's work and you will too! lithub.com/100-notable-...

Happy to have participated as a reviewer for this year's #100smallpress list of notable books. The inaugural project was shepherded through 2025 by @miriamgershow.bsky.social, and the final list is up today at @literaryhub.bsky.social. Find your next satisfying read here! lithub.com/100-notable-...

Thoughts on this Thanksgiving day — the sums and the subtractions of family. thehushandthehowl.substack.com/p/is-remembr... #Thanksgiving