Was driving my kids to school and the first thing on the radio was reporting about Trump's video depicting the Obamas as apes and I think many people still don't fully appreciate what it means to have to raise Black children in a country where the president is so brazenly and consistently racist

Using racist, dehumanizing rhetoric that compares people of color to animals and prey is literally this administration’s bread and butter. They call ICE operations “catch of the day” and post AI alligator bait cartoons straight from the Jim Crow era. And that’s just the official departments

Mornings are hard. Brought to you by a Thursday morning gremlin.

A fallen bit of lichen (Ramalina farinacea) from the canopy provides shelter and nourishment for an aggregation of moss mites (Oribatid: Brachypylina). It is as if the fallen lichen is bedecked with tiny jewels. 💎

The Mayor of Portland, OR after ICE shot tear gas into a crowd “To those who..work for ICE: Resign..Through your use of violence and..trampling of the Constitution, you have lost all legitimacy and replaced it with shame. [G]o home, look in a mirror, and ask yourselves why you have gassed children”

People all over Portland, Oregon were impacted by the chemical warfare deployed by the feds tonight. Here’s a thread of some Portlanders experiences who weren’t even at the protest:

It might only be the first of February, but the birds are already building. This little pair of bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) are bringing in regular deliveries of lichen & fluff to line & camouflage their nest in the silk tassel tree (Garrya elliptica).

Trump did this. Measles is deadly.

Ochrolechia oregonensis (pumpkin pie lichen for the tiny pie apothecia) on a strip of bark being munched by mites and a springtail. A complete tiny world on a fallen bit of canopy debris. Ochrolechia is a bioindicator, growing slowly in old growth forests in the Pacific Northwest.

A little Xystocheir dissecta (a type of millipede that lives in the soil and fluoresces under uv light) appears to glide over the ground. #backyardcreatures

Today a stranger had an anger outburst at me. I was weeding the front yard & this passerby said I looked like a Karen (yikes), & then called me a$$hole repeatedly & railed. It hurt, but there is a lot of fear & anger these days. So in case you also need a kitten & some chicken butts, here you go.

From a good friend in Minneapolis: "Target is allowing ICE to stage in their parking lots, use their restrooms, and abduct people from inside their stores - so if you weren’t boycotting already, now is the time." They were staging in Chicago as well.

Time for this gem, again: youtu.be/gp5JCrSXkJY?...

Abolish ICE and destroy their computers and databases.

My friends and I can barely manage to respond to each other’s texts within two weeks, yet I still manage to rack up over 14 phone calls a day. 🙃 They must believe they can drown us in dupery.

2025 was the year of the pseudoscorpion as far as I'm concerned. I managed to see 14 species in Norfolk, mostly by cycling round to various churchyards but I also got a lift out to a few places by car. Over 100 churchyards visited by bicycle though. Photo montage of species, map of 2025's records.

I heard the Hermit Thrush outside my window this morn practicing his ethereal song. But partway through, a flat. Start over. Again, a crack. Third time now. Nope, still stopped short. “thbbbt” it said, which I understand to mean in avian: “screw it, it’s too cold” 🥶

Bonjour les chatons bleus 💙 La semaine est passée à un rythme de dingue...🎵🎶

Did a little winter garden clearing today. Very therapeutic. It was fun to see all my familiar friends in the yard. Arboreal salamander, slender salamander, Xystocheir dissecta, kinglets, California towhees, song sparrows, & cedar waxwings as a pair of ravens made rattle calls to each other nearby.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson: "There was a time that we could take [the federal government] at their word. That time has long passed. That is why we are calling on ICE to halt all operations in Portland until a full and independent investigation can take place."

There are many times I envy my cat. In case you also need a little Princely Pi in your feed. Here you go.

Again, the poet @nikitagill.bsky.social comes through with the right words for the moment.

If ICE feels emboldened enough to murder a woman they were not even after in cold blood in board daylight, imagine what they are doing to the people who have been deemed “illegal”by this fascist government.

Minnesota investigators said the Trump administration has barred it them from taking part in the investigation into yesterday’s ICE killing

Great success story for salmon restoration. “If you (un)build it they will come” is at least partially true for this resilient species. Climate change remains the bogeyman www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news...

Chill morning flushed pink Tsee tsee tsee the cedars trill Planter sprouts a cat Minuit the feral

A beautiful winter morn with the fog rolling over the hills and the sky tinged with pink.

This is fun (and also highly useful if you write about things that might happen!)

Assume your most comfortable position. I guess that works… Pi the cat

Congratulations to my hard-working snakey graduate student, @hippieherper.bsky.social ! Well-deserved! Check out his work on garter snake venom evolution in IOB 🐍 ☠️ academic.oup.com/iob/article/...

Wet wintry morning. I love the colors after a rain. Who’s up for a good walk?

Reminder.

Happy New Year May it be restful and good

Sometimes a girl’s just gotta build what a girl’s gotta build. ❤️ @lego

Nothing says MAGA quite like bombing Nigeria on Christmas Day, the holiday fascist republicans pretend to worship, and pretending to attack the same ISIS they claimed to have eradicated whilst also pretending they are against starting wars. Can’t make this shit up.

Merry Christmas from myself and little Pi. 🎄

Thanks for sharing this document, @rweingarten.bsky.social. I read it, and I believe it's inexcusably inadequate and will not prepare teachers or schools to confront the very real dangers of the "A.i." products pushed by your partners, including OpenAI. A few thoughts for your consideration...

A beautiful night of illumination A crisp morning frost

Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵 Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...

‘Borrowed time’: crop pests and food losses supercharged by climate crisis

Carl Sagan:

Mosses love to decorate with slime molds. Northwest Territories, Canada. #slime #fungifriends #myxo #moss #bryophyte #botany

Puppy time. My happy place.

A mostly good little boi…

Chilly but beautiful morning in the Bay Area

I am brimming with holiday spirit

Another chilly morning this week. ❄️ Chickens got oatmeal with molasses and I got chocolate and cardamom in my coffee. 🐓☕️ What are your favorite chilly morning recipes or rituals? 🍁 (Pi the cat got extra snuggles, of course)

Chilly morning. Perfect for Farmer’s Market, chillin with the chickens, and getting help decorating the little light trees. ❄️ 🎄 🐓 🐱

My cat has learned to lock himself in the bathroom. He has also learned that mewing pitifully from this position gets him rescued. New human controlling game unlocked. #PiTheCat

Mucking about and paddling around. Doing what I do best.