He gave up his military career to take a brave stand for democracy. Patriotism that only works with obedience isn’t patriotism.

Sahar Daneshi Oil on canvas #art

-A living wage -Guaranteed healthcare -The right to join a union -The right to vote -The right to choose when, how, and with whom you start a family -The right for you and your family to live free from gun violence Remember: These are the foundations of real freedom.

Atsuko Suwa (諏訪温子), contemporary Japanese painter specializing in Nihonga (traditional Japanese painting) #Womensart

The Crimson Rambler 1908 Philip Leslie Hale (American, 1865-1931）

Unter den Linden with a view of the Brandenburg Gate, Berlin by Ury Lesser, 1920-1929 Pastel on cardboard 49,5 cm x 35,3 cm Leo Lesser Ury (1861 – 1931) was a German impressionist painter & printmaker, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting.

Change of pace: large Canadian sings his time-honored song

Trump & Marco Rubio condemn people living with HIV/AIDS to death. PEPFAR provides essential medicines ensuring survival. Without those medicines people die. Trump, Rubio, Musk lie when they deny these facts.

[Amid Trump distractions, keep your eye on the ball:] Musk's right; many problems can't be solved by throwing money at them.But US aid to fight AIDS, child hunger & other global plagues has one of the highest ROIs in gov't. The data is clear: cutting this $ = millions will die. The Q is how many.

No injuries in Brooklyn Bridge fireworks incident.

More ignominy

E Jean Carroll’s lawyers accused Trump of defaming his sex abuse survivor again in retaliation for his having lost his bid at SCOTUS to nix her judgment, as he tries to evade the 1st of 2 jury verdicts, this 1 now = $5.5 million. Trump claims the USA is who the case is about, not his sex attack.

By the River Sir Herbert James Gunn, R.A. (British, 1893-1964）

Portrait of Baba d’Erlanger & Paula Gellibrand by Augustus John (1878–1961) Year: 1921 Oil on canvas; Modernism / 20th century They were called "The Twins." Despite their contrasting colors & features, brunette d'Erlanger & blonde Gellibrand were inseparable, & became jazz age style icons.

Go is a 1999 American crime comedy film with intertwining plots involving 3 sets of characters. The film stars William Fichtner, Katie Holmes, Jay Mohr, Sarah Polley, & Timothy Olyphant. It's set around Xmas. Ronna (Polley), a cashier, faces eviction if she doesn't pay "more money than she has."

[A longread for brainiacs ensues. F*cking life is too short & this article is too long.]

Barent Van Orley, (ca.1488-1541) Tapestry depicting the hunts of Maximilian, called the "Belles chasses de Guise": April, Sign of Taurus: return from the falcon hunt. ca. 1530 Made in Brussels, Louvre, Paris, France.

Joaquín Sorolla y Bastida, After Bathing, 1915 Oil on Canvas, 130 x 150.5 cm Sorolla Museum Madrid, Spain

Earings mosaic It depicts a victorious auriga named Marcianus driving a quadriga and holding a palm, a traditional symbol of Roman victory. National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida

[Opioid of the Masses (From 2016) By J. D. Vance] Vance wrote that "nothing compares to the fear that you're becoming the monster in your closet." Ten years later, the monster Vance feared in private is now standing in public, one heartbeat from the presidency, and his own words are the receipts.

[Texans: impossible to choke them off. Precis:] Lone Star[3] is a 1996 American neo-Western mystery film written, edited, & directed by John Sayles. Set in a small town in South Texas, the film deals with a sheriff's investigation into the murder of one of his predecessors decades earlier.

Pesky weather deity, or anthropogenic climate change, strikes again. In the nation’s sweltering capital, white supremacists and liberal activists marched, each demanding their country back. Officials ordered thousands of people to evacuate the National Mall after a severe weather warning.

Pesky weather deity, or anthropogenic climate change, strikes again.

Mizuno Toshikata "Tea Gathering: Woman of the Hoei Era," woodblock print, 1893

Michiel Coxcie (1499–1592), Cornelis Floris de Vriendt (1514–1575), Cornelis Bos (1506 or 1510–1564), Workshop of Jan de Kempeneer Tapestry: "The Story of Paradise" – from the "Story of the First Parents" series c. 1550 Wool, silk, gold &, silver thread Flanders 480 cm x 854 cm. Wawel Royal Castle

Four Studies of Heads of Cattle by George Morland (1763-1804), oil on canvas, V & At Museum. Morland lived near White Lion inn in Paddington, which then was a rural village. The pub was a popular stop for drovers taking herds to the city; Morland's paintings drew heavily from this environment.

The most craven jurists are making sure Trump knows just how willing they are to ignore stupid things like the law & precedent. That’s for losers. Trump thinks his appointees aren't allowed to rule against him & that SCOTS' only job is to give him treats. These candidates understand the assignment.

[Excerpt:] A bizarre incident in which Trump awkwardly stole a pair of scissors after a ribbon-cutting ceremony has viewers accused him of theft. But pathologist Hilary Shae, who specializes in neurological rehabilitation, said 80-year-old Trump’s theft could be a sign of serious cognitive decline.

Edward Burne-Jones (English painter and designer, 1833-1898) Lady Georgiana Burne-Jones at the Piano with her daughter Margaret B-J and her son Philip B-J, 1879-80 (The Artist's Family) Oil on canvas 143.5 cm x 113 cm

Abraham Lincoln said, “A capacity, and taste, for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved problems.” Trump’s capacity & taste begin and end with him. No history, no context, no humility.

Saint George fighting the dragon Book of Hours & Missal for Mad Joan (Juana la loca, 1479-1555) Illuminators: master of Houghton miniatures associates of Ghent, master of Marie of Burgundy, master Louthe (1420-1489). master of the Dresden prayer book (fl 1470) circa 1485 Ghent; on vellum.

A 16thC Safavid Persian miniature showing 1 of the most celebrated episodes in Islamic tradition: Imam Ali at the Battle of Khaybar. In the Falnama (Book of Divination), an illuminated manuscript now preserved in Dresden. At the center, Imam Ali is shown wearing a blue robe.

Agnes Goodsir (1864-1939) 'Girl with a cigarette' (c. 1925) Oil on canvas, 99.5 x 81cm. Painter Agnes Goodsir was born in Portland, Australia. She began her education at Bendigo Tech School (Victoria State). Following her teacher's advice she moved to Paris to study.

[It's not enough to be respected by the good people. You also have to be hated by the bad people.]

Tick, tock, sociopath...

Latin- and Luso-Americans have tried this "mano duro" bullying before. Unsuccessfully.

Amazing compilation of Ken Paxton's criminal behavior by the GOP; if he did this in my hometown, he'd be in prison.

What They Erased, We Remember:  Character Matters  - STAY LOUD!