#RedtailHawk #LakeStClairMetroPark #HarrisonTwp #MI #birds #photography #birdphotography #BirdWatching #birdsofbluesky #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography

Yes it’s Valentine’s Day. But it’s also the chosen birthday of Frederick Douglass who was born in 1818 on a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland. He escaped from slavery & rose to become the most eloquent and forceful voice for the abolition of slavery & for Black voting rights in the U.S.

To prepare for some baby seal scooting, here are 5 minutes of the 15% Crescent moon scooting across the sky.

Requiring the gov’t to do the right thing may look like a small thing in the context of one case, but it’s important to understand just how big it is. Judge Boasberg rules in the case where the Trump administration sent men to CECOT prison. joycevance.substack.com/p/judge-boas...

Everyone should read How to Stand up to a Dictator by Maria Ressa. Ban X and Facebook.

Long day Folks ; My vid of today - A Lunatic Joke bsky.app/profile/off-...

@schiff.senate.gov @schumer.senate.gov @sanders.senate.gov @klobuchar.senate.gov @wyden.senate.gov @merkley.senate.gov @warren.senate.gov @ocasio-cortez.house.gov @vanhollen.senate.gov @crockett.house.gov @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social @khanna.house.gov @booker.senate.gov

First they came for...EVERYONE!

Here is Kasparov's warning:

👇👇👇👇

Sanders: The American people do not want this country to be an authoritarian society or an oligarchy. We have our differences, that’s what democracy is about—we argue it out. We don’t throw people who disagree in jail. We don’t intimidate the media. We don’t send ICE agents to shoot people.

👇👇👇👇

Not sure who needs to hear this but the voter fraud rate is a mere 0.000003%. Anyone telling you otherwise is making shit up so they can take away your right to vote.

The whole sky just exploded in green here in Reykjavík. It was so bright, I didn't even need my flashlight to walk out to my neighborhood beach. It's rare when we get these whole sky engulfing shows. This season has been something else. #solarmaximum ftw! #northernlights #aurora #iceland

On resisting authoritarianism. With Blue City Blues podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a...

open.substack.com/pub/statusku... Great read from the Status Kuo "...There is still no justice for the murdered victims, the investigation remains politically tainted, and many residents illegally detained and transported to concentration camps have yet to be returned home..." But there are wins

Great listen. National Review covering this is significant. Nice job explaining @timmiller.bsky.social @thebulwark.com youtube.com/watch?v=7xXm...

substack.com/@itsmalloryh... If you’re a married woman or a military family, this is especially for you! Please call your Senator with the 5 Calls app. #saveact #votingrights #vote #midterms #election2026

Worthwhile listen youtube.com/watch?v=7sYM... @thebulwark.com @timmiller.bsky.social @janecoaston.bsky.social

"That's a pretty big mistake for [Trump] to put on the collar and let Erica Kirk walk him around the neighborhood, because I do think this is good for TPUSA. I think it was bad for Trump, bad for the Republicans." @timmiller.bsky.social on Trump tying himself to TPUSA’s Super Bowl culture war.

Today's pod: @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org is back from Ukraine where the winter is getting dire but resolve remains. We also discuss the latest Lawfare shenanigans and the collapse of the Post. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

"I do think Americans are the quintessential unbombed." @timmiller.bsky.social and @benjaminwittes.lawfaremedia.org on how Americans became “the unbombed," fighting over imaginary crises while other countries face very real ones.

I feel that weight on my soul too. Perfect way to describe it.

We never did, it’s all an illusion! We been slaves blindly feeding a growing monster. To see it all clearer now is a mind boggling. How were we so sold on a dream that didn’t exist. To realize most of what you believed in your whole life was a trap and lies is a heavy weight on the soul!

There are so many fucked up things with the current administration that it's hard to focus on one but this recent move is basically a death sentence for the planet. I've been involved with more boots on the ground actions over the years than I can count and this really bums me out.

In his confirmation hearings, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told U.S. senators that he would not cut funding for vaccine research or change the nation's official vaccine recommendations. He did both. n.pr/46QDn9p

While Ukraine is being punished for honoring the memory of russia’s victims at the Olympics, russia continues their attempts to murder more people with impunity. 219 drones and 25 missiles attacked Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, and the Kharkiv region last night, wounding civilians.

Walz: "The federal government needs to pay for what they broke here. There's going to be accountability on things that happened, but one of them is the incredible and immense cost borne by the people of this state. The federal government needs to be responsible."

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov said the disabling of Starlink terminals for Russia is only the beginning. He said Russia was recently left without communication and called it a good opportunity to demonstrate strategic initiative. #Ukraine

The New York Times just launched a new "newsletter about the law and the courts." They are calling it "The Docket." The Times may not care that Democracy Docket has been publishing "On the Docket" and "Daily Docket" for years, but I believe our 400,000 subscribers might. More on this tomorrow.

ICE STILL HERE TODAY. I'm here in Minneapolis. Retired Army LT-Colonel. 3 combat tours. Grew up hunting in Montana mountains. They are NOT detaining. They are NOT doing immigration work. They are NOT checking a damn thing. They are HUNTING BROWN PEOPLE. Spotter and 3 car abduction teams.

5th July 2009: U.S. Route 395 5 U.S. Route 395, which runs through the Mono Lake and Mammoth Lakes region, is often described as a “scenic corridor” that cuts through the grand landscapes of the Eastern Sierra. dararindarling.blogspot.com/2009/07/5th-... Nikon D40x / AF-S DX 18-70mm F3.5-4.5G ED

Looking down the trail at the Olympic Mountains from Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park - #landscapes #outdoorphotography #pdxphotographer #beautifulEarth #photography #nationalparks

It's not a new observation at this point but that wild Noem/Lewandowski story in WSJ really brings home the extent to which all the Trump 2 cabinet-level goblins see their jobs as flying private, doing short-form video, and screaming at underlings. They all hate each other and none of them can read.