Alas, no Bernie/AOC rally for me. I arrived 50 min early for the Bernie/AOC rally and the line is already wrapped all he way around Catalina HS then stretches east down Elm to Alvernon. Ah well.

This.

Sometimes ya just gotta take a break from the news. (This is our greyhound Max.)

How it started. How it’s going.

The President is on the verge of signing an illegal executive order to eliminate the Dept of Education. In no universe will this help our kids succeed. Call your Senators and your Rep in the House and demand they do what they can to protect the Dept of Education!

Low-level government employees with little discretion can generally claim privacy protections from public oversight, but staff in more senior roles or with more power fall within a separate bucket, EFF’s @aaronmackey.bsky.social told @bloomberglaw.com.

1/2: A note about what new social media is like. U have to work at it. If you just go there & lurk youll be disappointed with what you see. But they’re are also an opportunity. When there are no algorithms forcing what’s on your timeline we have the chance to make it what we want & need it to be.

I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F. 18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it. We made this website to tell our story: 18f.org

Looking to help people being targeted by the Trump administration? Support Whistleblower Aid (@wbaidlaw.bsky.social). They protect courageous citizens who risk everything to defend our democracy. The legal non-profit has proven track record & needs support to keep combatting this Administration.

Dammitall, Sen Gallego!

As of today, a new term has entered our language. A “rubio” is a spineless lump of nothing. Example: Don’t be such a rubio.

Yo Tucson, if you’re looking for pre-printed resistance signs, check out: peacesupplies.org/product-cate... it’s allied with The Gloo Factory, a unionized print shop.

Yes I typed this on fb… I wish we had more characters here.

Some therapy in the midst of the day’s news: one of our favorite walks, twilight at Silverbell Lake.

this week's cover is on point ht: @jamiegangel.bsky.social

Yes.

If you are a federal employee then pin this post & copy the link. This living resource will help you plan for what is coming. It covers prepping for terminations, paths forward, legal actions, lawyers, reporters & news agencies, etc. bit.ly/getreadyfed

Rep Ilhan Omar, you are my hero. This is the best, most crystalline, roaring speech about where we stand right now. Absolutely fearless. www.instagram.com/reel/DFoFWtO...

Massive anti-Trump rally at NYC Washington Square on Presidents Day. www.reddit.com/r/economicCo...

Spring is springing in our yard! The welcome shade is from an enormous olive tree.

Trying to balance anger and fear with daily small joys feels like fiddling while Rome burns.

Mothman warning.

If you think protesting is boomer cringe, I get it. So find something else to do that makes Tesla's brand toxic. Make art, leave bad reviews, use your imagination. Tesla's business is weak, and if we can make it weaker, the stock will fall and wipe out his fragile paper fortune. Every bit helps!

It’s nice that the Target founder’s heirs oppose canceling DEI & sidelining Black-owned products, but they don’t run the company—and Target has made its stance clear. @Target.com: There’s nothing you sell that I can’t find elsewhere. I don’t shop where I’m not welcome. You’ve already been replaced.

Unfortunately I think many are afraid to face their angry constituents.

This is probably the most accurate take.

The Alt National Park Service account is just brilliant. Also, we need more imagery that brings us together.

It’s safe to say that I’m having Parable of the Sower nightmares. Y’all should read it if you haven’t. This quote is from its sequel, The Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler (1998).

Children of 101st Airborne Division families are no longer allowed to read books about civil rights or slavery in their school library.

“Privilege is having history rewritten so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable facts.”

Ich bin Dein und Du bist Mein. Bunk and I are designing a new wedding ring for me, for our 40th wedding anniversary. The design is inspired by the inscriptions & look of old poesy rings. Alas my original ring no longer fits. Custom designer Randy Hays (of Celtic Jewelscapes) is working with us.

On the recommendation of friends, I just subscribed to 5 Calls Newsletter. There’s an app too. buttondown.com/5calls

Amidst all of the day’s fresh catastrophes I also need to remind myself to enjoy what’s around me. These are this morning’s clouds, what my dad called a “mackerel sky.”

Well played, President Claudia Sheinbaum, for committing troops already at the border since 2021, knowing perfectly well President Man Baby would have no idea and take it as a win.

I went to my Congressman's local office today. First off, they were surprised that I was there. They said they had been getting phone calls, but I was the first walk-in. That said, the phones were not ringing off the hook. If the DC phone lines are busy, try calling the local office.

Trump and his white nationalist allies are busy trying to kill Black History Month from America. And you know, it just don't get any more history of black people in America than that.

Dorothy B. Porter changed libraries 💜 The Dewey Decimal System used to only have two classifications for Black people: 325 (colonization) & 326 (slavery). Each book by a Black person was put into one of these classifications. A book of poetry? Classified as colonization. Enter Dorothy B. Porter 🧵

NEWS Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz says he’s putting a blanket hold on all of President Trump’s State Department nominees until USAID is back up and running.

I honestly believe our most powerful position in a toxic time that feeds on cynicism, apathy,& despair is to genuinely care and act for a better world. Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO

Yes. What I’ve been so pissed about. The primary was a joke that throttled other choices and voices. Now that new DNC leadership has been chosen (Ken Martin, etc), how do we monitor what they’re doing? And not doing?

Shortly before Trump took office, volunteers who had been operating camps that provide food and aid to migrants near the border were told to vacate federal land. “If he cracks down on us, we will fight back,” said one volunteer.

This is a 1962 textile hanging made by my mom, Elsie Waite. I adore all of the crazy textures and its playful geometry. I think it just vibrates. She had only been in Arizona 4 years and I’ve always wondered if it was inspired by trips to New York City when she was younger.

Wisdom from from Ezra Klein: “That is the tension at the heart of Trump’s whole strategy: Trump is acting like a king because he is too weak to govern like a president. […] He is hoping that perception then becomes reality. That can only happen if we believe him.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/o...

Another ema by Hank, this one is a prayer for rain. The glyph on the left is for spirit ancestors and the two on the right are for harmony and wisdom. Hank carved his own stamps.

@thayerkeller.bsky.social I love your photo! You look so blissed out.

My friend Hank Tusinski, a Buddhist monk, paints emas that celebrate the lunar new years. Emas are wishes, prayers, and dreams in Buddhist and Shinto religions. When closed: the outgoing Year of the Dragon. Inside: another Dragon (2024), a Snake (2025), and a Horse (2926). So much joy, Hank. <3