Alexander De Croo, the former Belgian prime minister who just returned from Gaza, said that the UNDP had removed just 0.5% of the rubble and people in Gaza are experiencing “the worst living conditions that I have ever seen”. 2.2 million people in Gaza www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Have you read this piece by Nadia Schadlow at the Hudson Institute? “In global health, one of Washington’s most successful initiatives was the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief...the state-centric program made hundreds of investments that resulted in major reductions in mortality”

Vatican says it will not participate in Trump's 'Board of Peace' reut.rs/4kHThsn

NPR Morning Edition do better. Report by Aya Batrawy on Trump‘s so-called Board of Peace failed to focus on the fact that this meeting is absent the Palestinians! It’s a joke. Their country, yet they are not involved? Trump is using White House to cash in and renaming institutions without shame.

Rev. Jesse Jackson, a Chicago institution who left footprints globally in his ardent advocacy for civil rights, has died. He was 84. chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/2...

Catherine Stratton Treadway, a D.C. native and lifelong Quaker, said she connected with the monks’ belief in the power of peace. “They’re from a different religious tradition than my own, and it really is a beautiful thing to understand that love unites us all..." cnsmaryland.org/2026/02/12/b...

President Zelensky met skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, who was disqualified from the 2026 Olympics over a helmet honoring Ukrainian athletes killed by Russia. Zelensky presented him with the Order of Freedom and thanked him for his stance and courage. #Ukraine

Watch the full interview: youtu.be/uI-hgSE5QIw

The exiled son of Iran's last shah said he was ready to lead the country to a "secular democratic future" in Munich where police said 200,000 people joined a rally. US-based Reza Pahlavi has not returned to Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. u.afp.com/S6Sg

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper: “Sudan is the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century. “I spoke to an aid worker who has worked in conflict zones for 20 years. She said she had never seen sexual violence on this scale. “

Every single person in DC is outside right now.

No one, 50y ago, would believe a drug-addled dunderhead could be a health secretary. Especially not in the most advanced high tech country in the world. We can laugh at the stupidity but the destruction of US science, the EPA, the FDA & CDC sets back not just the US, but world health by decades.

Nancy Guthrie is among the thousands of people who go missing in the U.S. each year. But experts describe her case as "strange," with many unique details, from her age to her celebrity daughter. n.pr/3ODvKwK

Chicago-area Proud Boys, Terry Newsome, showed up in Downers Grove yesterday to harass and intimidate high school students protesting DHS-activity. Terry claims he wants to ban books to protect students in the same post in which he shares video of himself trying to bully them. He's in his 60s.

I think we’re on a roll for #blue theme #BirdOfTheDay picked by @robcrank68.bsky.social Seen at Custer State Park SD #birds Mountain bluebird

Gross incompetence at USDA, which would be bad enough. But it's also sending markets into chaos and, not coincidentally really hurting US farmers. bsky.app/profile/niaw...

A group of Buddhist monks has finally reached Washington, D.C., on foot, completing a 15-week trek from Texas that captivated the country.

The no-bid contract for the weapons known for high civilian death tolls is the largest of its kind in available government records.

DC community: From 12:30 - 1:30pm today WISCONSIN AVENUE will be closed between Macomb and the National Cathedral for the Walk for Peace pilgrimage. Come see these monks arriving after 2,300 miles. Will Aloka be with them?

LIVE: Monks on a Walk for Peace arrive in Washington, DC youtube.com/live/K6Or-Lx...

"Nuclear deterrence does not create peace. It has not prevented major wars... ...In the history of the arms race, steps for weapons limitation and disarmament usually have been the result of citizen pressure and grassroots political action" - David Cortright www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

American concentration camps. This must be stopped.

What Hess said: “There’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of, and I think a lot of people aren’t. … Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.” Trump, the actual president, has insulted Dems repeatedly. wapo.st/46eFns3

“One of the things Trump has done is occupy a significant chunk of our attention every single day. Our consciousness is being polluted, and protecting ourselves against that at the same time we preserve the ability to act politically is a difficult balancing act.“ -MP www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/m...

“Paywalls don’t just limit the reach of news; they create a void often filled by lies and deceit. People read and share unverified social media reports — some wildly wrong — not because they’re good, but because they’re free.”

As Netanyahu and Trump meet on Feb 11th, the amazing monks walking from Texas to Washington DC will steps away— walking from Capitol Hill to the Lincoln Memorial. Walk for peace. 🙏 War is not the answer.

As the eyes of the nation descend on San Francisco for #SuperBowlLX, it has been refreshing to see many learn what we have always known: the Bay Area is bold, beautiful and full of heart. From our neighborhoods to our people, the San Francisco Bay Area is truly Heaven on Earth.

Bea Kim is an Olympian, @protectourwinters.bsky.social member + climate advocate. “The world is changing. Glaciers are melting that we’re riding on. Each year we wonder if there will even be enough snow for us to do what we love. I couldn't watch it happen and not say anything about it,” she says.

Sacred Resistance brings us the stories of five environmental campaigns and the spiritual traditions that anchored them—in the words of their spiritual leaders, most of whom are women. It includes the voices of Indigenous activists, Catholic nuns, and members of Earth Quaker Action Team.

DHS’s actions “have significantly impacted the ability of school districts and teachers to provide access to educational services and a safe learning environment,” the lawsuit says. www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

Is the path towards peace and justice linked to photo, film and audio coverage of violence?

Huda Skaik asked eight brilliant photojournalists from Gaza to pick a single image from the past two years and explain why it matters so much to them. These pictures are incredible. www.thenation.com/article/worl...

THANK YOU to snow plow operators, road crews, US mail carriers, utility operators, bus drivers, Metro drivers, school admin and teachers, city employees, building snow shovelers, volunteers who pitch in — everyone who helped our DC community! ❤️

Right now: the federal government has to help these folks and get the power back on, and if they can’t, they should resign After that: we need a Grid New Deal and rebuild the grid for this century

Ice out! Bad Bunny and Olivia Dean use their Grammy moments to send the message the country needs to hear.

Can Congress get ahead of this, and try to stop his renovations, or this the White House East Wing, Pt. 2?

The media reports, over and over, how cold it is in the eastern US, but they're silent about how hot it is in the west. The lower-48 were almost a degree hotter than average in January. And there's terrible snowpack in the west, critical for water supply, as what little precipitation has been rain.

"The main accuser was 14 years old in 2012 when Chasing Horse allegedly told her the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity to save her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer. He then sexually assaulted her and told her that if she told anyone, her mother would die" www.aol.com/news/dances-...

Lime bicycle frozen, Washington, DC January 30

Downers Grove, Illinois

The Hagerstown and Surprise warehouse detention camps are set to be DWARFED by the purchase of a massive warehouse in El Paso (price currently unknown) where ICE wants to hold 8,500 people, making it instantly the second-largest jail in the entire United States (behind only Rikers Island in NYC).

Palantir‘s Peter Thiel has a mansion in our neighborhood (Woodley Park) and enjoys privacy in this community yet Palantir is the epitome of your worst neighbor! Palantir’s works with ICE is anti-community and anti-American.

For my first piece for Group Threat I wrote about the grotesque profits being made off of people's lives through ICE contracts. If we're going to survive this, we have to abolish the profit motive that ever made us see swaths of people as expendable for profit. groupthreat.com/p/tracking-i...

Anyone else with kids getting pandemic vibes since snowstorm?

With widespread layoffs expected at The Washington Post, reporters are sending letters to Jeff Bezos, urging him to reverse course. The newest letter is from the Post's White House reporters, who are defending the desks that are facing major cuts... www.cnn.com/2026/01/29/m...

Update: NW DC intersections are so bad and piled up with snow. I see now why some parents didn’t want their kids going back to school. It makes walking around moving traffic difficult at crosswalks.

This. Remember they cut healthcare for this.

📣"War costs us a better world." 👇