No immigration enforcement action should lead to death. Rather than protect public safety, CBP and ICE are actively undermining it. CBP, ICE, and DHS must halt these chaotic raids targeting American cities.

“Everyone should be allowed to carry a gun for their safety but the government can murder you in the street if you have a gun” is an incredible endpoint for the conservative moment

I'm sorry, his name was what?! 😲

The City of Philadelphia is suing the Trump administration after the National Park Service removed a long-standing exhibit on slavery in the city's Independence National Historical Park. https://cnn.it/4jSDTZQ

Dr. Gladys West, the pioneering mathematician whose work laid the foundation for modern GPS technology, has died. She was 95.

Haven't been sleeping well. Is it Trump etc or the extreme cold? It's both. I'm not getting enough steps in due to the cold (my sleep is better when I get my steps).

German Jews were citizens of Germany at the start of 1933. By the end of 1933, the Nazis had removed citizenship from naturalized citizen Jews. In 1935, all German Jews were fully stripped of their German citizenship. Citizenship under dictatorships is contingent for targeted minorities.

“Trump is the first president not to issue an official proclamation recognizing Martin Luther King, Jr. Day since President Reagan made it a holiday.”

I could really use some time in nature to help me get off my phone. But look at this forecast 😭🥶 (for my overseas followers 9F=-12.8C)

Whiskey Friday! I'm doing it. Currently sipping on a Jameson Black Barrel + Diet Coke.

Demonizing specifically white women who act in solidarity with racial minorities isn’t new. Here’s a southern political cartoon depicting Harriet Beecher Stowe, published in 1853. Surrounded by devils, she‘s holding a book titled “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Subtitle: “I Love the Blacks.”

it's the big day

I give Chicago property managers a grade of D for their (non)treatment of the sidewalks today after the 7AM graupel storm.

This is another movie that I saw at the Chicago International Film Festival and I thought it was fantastic (4.5 stars?) but there were 2 girls laughing and snickering behind me in the theatre, which was distracting, so I want to watch this again at some point.

Saw this at the Chicago International Film Festival and I would give it 3.5 stars. It is helpful to have a basic understanding of Japanese culture or at least a curiosity of Japanese culture when watching this film.

Where did we go wrong? Have we become so focused on “timeless” that we now only embrace dull, colorless decor? 😳

The Mighty Mississippi!!

The "United" States. What a year this will be. What a way to celebrate our 250th birthday.

If the executive branch can unilaterally cut off federal funding to specific states the union has already been dissolved.

This is a moral failure, not a financial failure. Instead of bargaining over fair pay, Conn-Selmer decided to ship its Ohio operations to China. Hundreds of union jobs are on the chopping block so billionaires can reap more profits. UAW members are gearing up for a big fight to keep these jobs.

We bought a guava-filled rosca this year and it's delicious. (A rosca de reyes is the Mexican version of a King Cake)

A reminder - before Trump, MAGA, Musk and Fox rewrote history - that this is what the entire country agreed had happened five years ago today:

Edith Renfrow Smith was born in Iowa two weeks before the start of World War I. She met aviator Amelia Earhart while an undergraduate at Grinnell College, where she became the first Black female graduate. After graduation, she came to Chicago. Mrs. Smith died at the age of 111.

Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts. Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.

#GenHour Happy New Year everyone! 🎉 Any New Year's resolutions related to genealogy or family history? My goal as usual is to write more posts for my blog. I should be able to focus on that this year as I have completed most of my archive visits. Just have to write up my results.

If you're going to write an obituary for your mother or wife, can you please include her maiden name? #genealogy #FamilyHistory

Planning my next trip to London and I just barely scored tickets to Paddington the Musical (whew!). Already almost sold out for dates in May! It pays to be an obsessive planner 🤓 🎭 Hoping to also see Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Teeth 'n' Smiles in May.

Listening to Chuck Redd 😎 open.spotify.com/album/1K9kvI...

my festive spirit amidst our grimly stupid reality (2025)

CBS paid the president of the United States millions in bribe money and now they censor news reports so it does not annoy him. I don’t know how much plainer we can put this.

Bulgarian Chicago business owner dies in ICE custody, sparking calls for 'immediate investigation' https://abc7chicago.com/post/bulgarian-chicago-business-owner-nenko-gantchev-dies-ice-custody-family-congresswoman-call-immediate-investigation/18301520/

#ResistanceUnited Almost 550,000 American workers are over 80. It's one of the fastest-growing demographics in the workforce. Many were unable to save enough to retire, or had a health emergency, or had to care for adult children. Many barely get by. www.businessinsider.com/working-at-8...

Armed ICE agents trapped US citizens in a restaurant and demanded their papers. Federal agents walked into East African restaurants in Cedar-Riverside, MN. They closed and blocked the doors. Then they demanded to see everyone’s papers. Every person present was a US citizen.

www.bbc.com/news/article... Yikes

When I take the time to post a well-thought-out question on a discussion board, looking for human expertise and insight, and someone responds with "This is what AI/ChatGPT said..."

Is anyone else in Chicago sleeping like 9 hours a night in this weather?

Greetings #AncestryHour. I recently heard from a 4C1R via email. He found me via my blog, where I covered my New England branch of the Cronins of Mogeely/Castlemartyr, Co Cork. He's on a branch that is now in Dublin. He signed his email "There's loads of us still here!" ☺️ #IrishAmericans #Genealogy

This entire grift relies on convincing people that they don't know how to do the things they have always known how to do, and ironically, if it works, we will, in a very short amount of time, forget how to do all the things we have always known how to do.

Currently recovering from our trip to Japan, which was jam-packed with activities including kimono rental, tea ceremony, kaiseki lunch, ramen tasting tour, listening bars, lots of walking, and a trip to Shirakawa-go. We are really missing the Japanese service, hospitality, and infrastructure.

Live shot of me on the Chicago 311 website reporting the businesses in my neighborhood that have not cleared their sidewalk of snow and ice. I would like to make it through another winter without any broken bones or sprains please! ❄️

#ManholeCoverMonday from Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture, Japan 🇯🇵

"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se

As you’re preparing for your Thanksgiving meal, remember the skilled work it took to get that food to your grocery store. Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving dish, and we can share some of what we know about the work behind the ingredients.

The EPA will approve two new pesticides containing “forever chemicals” and relax a reporting rule for companies who make products with forever chemicals. The moves come after a $60 million lobbying blitz from the forever chemical industry. Where is the MAHA outcry?

Arizona tribal member nearly deported after Iowa jail issues ICE detainer by mistake azmirror.com/2025/11/12/a...

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills: the emails from Landon Thomas has his New York Times signature block...he was employed by NY Times at the time. He was communicating directly with Epstein about Trump, and was given incriminating information about Trump. It's been in NYT's possession since 2015

Guardian reviews are so random. I'm half-way through this series, and I will finish it, but 5 stars is really pushing it.

#AncestryHour Behold the beautiful penmanship of my 4th GG Charles Randall who was working as a scrivener in Huntingdon, England when he was just 16 y.o. I've just posted on my blog a deep dive into his life and into Huntingdon c1800-1850 emilyrandall.space/blog/2025/11...

The fight tonight was over about $25 billion. Thats about 2.5% of the Defense budget. Would cover a year of the enhanced ACA credits. Republicans said that’s unaffordable.