Harrisonburg VA - heart of the rural Shenandoah Valley - Signs of Fascism standing procession along Main Street #NoKings

"If I want to help a man reduce his defensiveness and become more adaptive, I must try to remove the threat of myself as his potential changer." Rogers, Carl, R.; Farson, Richard, Evans. Active Listening (p. 6). (Function). Kindle Edition.

Any Celsius-Fahrenheit split households? I just created this to print and hang in the kitchen. Thoughts on improvement? Utility?

During a press conference, Kristi Noem claimed that ICE has not detained or arrested any US citizens. This isn't true. The reality is that at least 170 citizens have been held by immigration agents, including two kids with cancer.

NEW: A federal judge rules that the DOJ’s criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia may be a form of punishment against him for legally challenging his removal to El Salvador, and said he is entitled to discovery against the administration.

College prep for 5 yrs old. You can never start too early.

Brutal way to mess up my bell curve. Wordle 1,535 6/6 ⬛🟨⬛🟨⬛ ⬛🟩🟩⬛⬛ ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 ⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Motherfucking wind farms…

Why fund #PBS #NPR #CPN: 5 yo on long car ride today: “Daddy, can you tell me about the scientific med dod?” “The scientific method?” “Yes. The scientific method. Can you teach me it?” “Umm, sure. What has you thinking about that?” “The superhero show on PBS. They use it to solve problems.”

Definitely tempted to see what’s going on over on X tonight…

Video: Speaking to a Fired-Up Opening Night of the 2025 VA Women’s Summit, Sen. Kaine Rips Youngkin – “If you won’t stand up for [UVA], will you stand up for ANYTHING?!?”; "I sent [a text to Youngkin asking for him to help] at 6:58 am and I have not gotten a response" bluevirginia.us/2025/06/vide...

The circumstances driving the resignation of UVA President Jim Ryan are sad, infuriating, and dangerous. He himself had no choice, given his integrity, as demonstrated in today’s email to the University community.

When the word “peace” is being coopted & used as a mechanism of coercion to justify violence & war, is when, those who can & have the privilege to, should pause, breathe, stay grounded, find our center, & continue creating spaces where true peace can be generated.

Interesting… www.talktothe.city About An open-source AI tool …. Talk to the City bridges this gap with an open-source AI platform that turns large-scale conversations into actionable insights while preserving individual perspectives—from local town halls to national policy discussions.

More from Carl Rogers - getting back to the foundational texts of active listening is useful

From Carl Rogers' intro to Active Listening - rather on the nose about fighting authoritarianism tendencies: "People who have been listened to in this new and special way become more emotionally mature, more open to their experiences, less defensive, more democratic, and less authoritarian."

Who’s going to mess this up?

Me: “Mom can do the bath tomorrow. There’s always another day.” 5yo: “Not when the sun explodes.”

Reminder: the device you’re on right now probably has a feature called “Phone.” It unlocks live, interactive discussions with human beings that have potential for efficient and effective communication.

My bell curve is strong

Another sign egg prices aren’t coming down anytime soon: Fox News posting affiliate links for backyard chicken coops. 🥚🥚🥚🐣🐣🐣

Anyone else?

You might be at the Virginia Democrats Rural Retreat if…

Pfff excited to be finalizing this presentation to kick off a new learning community for people ready to level up their leadership in these times. Seems like a culmination of 22 years of learning and doing. Title Slide: 3 Secrets to Unlock the Collective Leadership Needed Now to Save Democracy

Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, VA - #HandsOff Hands Off Rally in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley #resist

Some astonishing numbers in here: -OpenAI loses $2 for every $1 it makes -OpenAI projects annual losses of $14 billion by 2026 -To break even OpenAI needs to increase revenue 25x in just 5 years -33% of VC portfolios are committed to AI -5 AI-heavy stocks account for 29% of the S&P 500's value

The resistance has room for everyone - but we need to get in a room. Here’s a recipe to do so: 1. Send a powerful invitation speaking to feelings of overwhelm and isolation, and need to be in collective action. 2. Run the meetings in Open Space (attendees create agenda). 3. Donations cover costs.

A Call to Action for the Central Shenandoah Valley: Attend the Local Organizing for Civic Action and Leadership (L.O.C.A.L.) Summits. 150 came together for Summit #1. We are bringing people together to connect, strategize, and take action in response to threats to democracy and our neighbors.

None of us can be sure what will “work.” You try multiple things and find your way in. Read some histories of the Civil Rights Movement by those who participated. They were never “sure” of what would work. Some campaigns fizzled out. But persistence, creativity, determination, and focus were key.

"Most of EPA’s work happens behind the scenes, like when one of its enforcement teams raided a warehouse in Colorado full of mislabeled oil barrels that had been prepared for a landfill and discovered they contained nuclear waste..." www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/o...

To work together to defend democracy and protect vulnerable communities, we must manage polarities. Polarities are often confused with “sides” or the “correct” or “wrong” way. In fact, polarities are interdependent pairs of values/strategies that must be pursued in proper balance. Here are 10:

Thank you to the Eagles for ending this national nightmare.

Please add one lesson you would expect to be in this children’s book

Aquatic Intelligence

I am happy to say the "Followers only" reply setting is getting implemented. We're also adding a way to set default reply settings If you want your posts to default to "Followers only," that'll become an option

The United States Military Academy has just eliminated all Cadet clubs and activities for POC. Most of these have existed for decades like the Society of Black Engineers. They were there when I was a Cadet in 1987. All of the religious ones remain. This isn’t DEI. It’s white Christian Nationalism.

Stop pretending this is normal

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Neo-Nazi leader found guilty of plotting to attack Maryland power grid

Ahh, the correct framing. So important!

Even Costco won’t save us from the higher prices.

So is Costco having no eggs at all like lowering prices?

When I was a Hill staffer in 2009, a Dem trifecta was trying to pass universal healthcare. In response, Senate GOP released a memo detailing all of the tactics they in the minority could use to delay the effort as much as possible. I'm recirculating that 2009 GOP memo here. Take inspiration from it.

“He estimated that the tariffs could add $10,000 or more to trucks and other larger vehicles that are shipped into the United States from Canada and Mexico. “Much of that, at least in the short term, is going to get absorbed by customers and auto dealers,” he said.” www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/b...

😲🥃

Recommend Mo’ Horizons pandora.app.link/q7r599TaEQb

Where is the proposed law to ban X in the US on the grounds it is run by an adversary to national security?

Don’t underestimate your power to bring people together - without needing to have all the answers and next steps. If you’re the person that multiple people are reaching out to for answers, resources, or help about the current fears and uncertainty, you can invite people to meet just to connect.

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The Internet Archive has to date downloaded 500 terabytes of US government websites, which it crawls at the end of every presidential term. The whole archive is fully searchable. This effort's housed by a donation-funded nonprofit, not a branch of the US government. blog.archive.org/2024/05/08/e...