As if we needed another reason to be disgusted with them, the Trump administration is coercing other countries into joining its anti-climate crusade. There are two examples reported on February 20 by Dana Drugmand in www.oneearthnow.org/p/trump-is-t.... (Quote in thread.)

Tonight, the President of the United States will stand at the podium of the House of Representatives and lie to us about the state of the union. As William J. Barber, II and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove wrote, “But a President who lies cannot tell us the State of the Union. Having -> 1/2

Me, too, Mark. Me, too.

This is a headline I’m not enjoying reading: “Excruciating tropical disease can now be transmitted in most of Europe, study finds.” Damian Carrington reports that the mosquito that transmits chikayunga loves the world we’re creating on its behalf by warming the planet. 1/2

We are deciding right now whether we want to be a country with ethnic cleansing and concentration camps.

Grrrrrrr!

The manuscript for my #sermon, “The Good News Is … So Good, It Catches Us by Surprise,” is on my blog. In this sermon I look at the peculiar miracle of turning water into wine and the strange parable of the mustard seed to see how the commonwealth of God is good news and how it catches us.

I wish I could say this warms my heart, but it doesn’t. Not at all. And I think it is important to share this on the day the 2026 Winter Olympics end. 1/5

Posted at the beginning of the month, Sen. Whitehouse’s intelligent, honest, clear calling out of the fraud being perpetrated by Trump et al makes me seriously consider Rhode Island as a place to move to when I retire. youtu.be/ajbU36ahnUA

Fair comparison.

From the “Not that it’s surprising, but …” department: “Global ocean warming continued unabated in 2025 in response to increased greenhouse gas concentrations and recent reductions in sulfate aerosols, reflecting the long-term accumulation of heat within the climate system.”

Happy birthday, @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social !

Creating just immigration policies is hard now, and it’s only going to get harder as our planet warms. In the UK, an internal government report suggest, “that the degradation of rainforests in the Congo and the drying up of rivers fed by the Himalayas could drive people to flee to Europe, -> 1/4

More proof that “Christian Nationalism” is not Christian in any meaningful sense of the word.

None of us should be surprised that powerful white men took advantage of girls under the control of Jeffrey Epstein. It’s simply history rhyming. Look to the case of Senator James Henry Hammond (D-SC from the mid-1800s). 1/5

According to Bill McKibben (and I agree with him, so according to me, too), here’s what we need to be doing: Don’t give up. Support independent media. Speak the truth and only the truth. Why the nitty-gritty of why our honesty (including honestly calling out the lies others tell) is so important:

The build-up of ICE (and CBP) has not been about immigration, as Trump and the Republican party have claimed. It’s been about power and intimidation. As Dr. Heather Cox Richardson noted on February 4, “Trump ally Steve Bannon said yesterday on his podcast: ‘You’re damn right, -> 1/8

Day by day, week by week, our government attacks terrorizes traumatizes multitudes of civilians— helpless children among them. Together, help end this nightmare.

I appreciate that Dr. Heather Cox Richardson isn’t prone to overstatement. This quote from her February 13, 2026, “Letter from an American” seems to me to be understatement, especially given how important it is. Read the whole “Letter” at heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/february-1...

I’m behind reading many “Letters from an American,” by Dr. Heather Cox Richardson. I finally read her January 10 letter, which includes this vitally important insights: “The thread that runs through both [the killing of Ahmaud Arbery and Renee Good] is the assumption that an American -> 1/3

This is a lawsuit to watch. The residents of affordable housing complex are suing the Trump administration, making a novel legal accusation. The U.S. government is knowingly releasing poisonous gas into the homes of its own citizens, they allege in their lawsuit. 1/3

When faith calls us to act boldly, which it almost certainly will, these words from Rosa Parks may be of comfort. "I finally realized that for fear of that county jail, I had ended up putting myself in prison. That morning, as I realized what I had done, I decided to set myself free. -> 1/2

In her February 7, 2026, “Letter from an American,” Dr. Heather Cox Richardson offers a comprehensive roundup of DHS’s plans regarding the creation of more immigrant concentration camps. It’s appalling. I found the final three paragraphs of the “Letter” to be especially powerful (in thread).

"The last colder-than-average month on planet earth was in February of 1985, which means that no one under the age of forty has ever known one." Bill McKibben

The manuscript for today’s #sermon, “There Are Altars Everywhere,” is on my blog. jeffsjottings.wordpress.com/2026/02/08/t... 1/3

At least there are people tracking it.

To say “I don’t do politics” is to say “I don’t do power.” Politics is another word for power. To say “I don’t do power” is to say “dominate me.” Meaning, to say “I don’t do politics” is to consent to being dominated. Precisely what these authoritarian regimes want.

I think the most important two paragraphs from yesterday's "Letter from an American" are these: The Republicans are also trying to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would require a document proving citizenship in order to register to vote and -> 1/4

In an editorial published today (Friday, February 6), the Editorial Board of The New York Times says that the United States continues its slide toward “autocracy.” I say the USA is continuing to slide into a dictatorship. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/interactive/... 1/4

In 1969, James Baldwin appeared on the Dick Cavett Show and talked about racism. Most of what he had to say still holds true today. 1/7

While my country heads in the wrong energy direction, it’s nice to read about the plan of ten European nations to build a giant “clean energy reservoir” in the North Sea, with enough wind to power 143 million homes (which is about two-thirds of all the homes in Europe).

I think this song goes well with this past Sunday's sermon. youtu.be/awzNHuGqoMc

Congratulations to the Fremont (California) Unified School District on receiving a one million dollar grant for electric school buses and electric infrastructure. tricityvoice.com/fremont-scho...

Without getting into the ethics of Artificial Intelligence (since that’s not her area of expertise), Dr. Katharine Hayhoe offers a great overview of how AI intersects with climate change, and what the science tells us there. www.talkingclimate.ca/p/when-ai-hu... 1/7

Scrolling through Facebook memories and I suddenly realize: four years ago, one year into the Biden presidency, the fight was about getting our democracy to adopt intelligent policies ... and now, one year into the Trump presidency, the fight is about keeping our democracy. 1/2

Andy Borowitz reports, "Trump is threatening to sue Trevor Noah over a joke he made at the Grammys last night. So it's incumbent on all of us to share that joke as far and wide as possible. Here it is: 1/2

The manuscript for yesterday’s #sermon, “Serving Serves,” is on my blog. jeffsjottings.wordpress.com/2026/02/02/s... 1/2

Green energy makes financial sense! Not only does green electricity cost less to generate than fossil fueled electricity, investing in green energy makes money. 1/5

We've been warned.

INBOX: Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, responds to this report:

Who knows about a place where they’re tracking which constitutional amendments the Trump Administration is violating? Here’s my quick list ... from just this month: 1, with the arrest of Don Lemon; with Homan telling us to say nice things about ICE or they’ll kill us. 1/3

Downtown Minneapolis today! ✊

Can we please call "large-scale detention" what it is: concentration camps. Note: this is also has a hidden threat to democracy. The census counts people (not voters) and where they live. ->

I really, really want @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social to be wrong. I don't think she will be.

In my lifetime, we have completely transformed the Arctic. And not in a good way.

I know who has committed the "bloodshed," so what I heard is, "Talk about us nicely or we'll kill you."

Alex Pretti was lynched. It really is as simple as that. ourmoralmoment.substack.com/p/a-man-was-...

Today is the anniversary of the day that Dr. Martin Luther King’s house was bombed in Montgomery, Alabama. The people who did this just threw a bomb into that family’s home.   That is level of violence we are seeing now, and it requires the same response: sustained, aggressive nonviolence.

Dr. Timothy Snyder, in an interview today on Substack (link below) explains the situation in the USA and how the Trump administration is attempting to boil us all like you boil a frog. 1/10 - A thread: