"We hope that a long weekend will help. We'll absolutely disregard any measures that night actually help."

Not only as extensions of their ego, but as property. And as perceived property who stopped parroting beliefs, I can attest that they really think they own their children. Body. Mind. Soul.

It's January. I live in the northern hemisphere at an elevation of about 8500 feet. I also have a solarium. This is my first winter here and I've spent the morning gardening, mostly pruning back grapes. Tomatoes and strawberries are starting to fruit. The peas are hale and hearty. Weird. Wonderful!

My first CYO @effinbirds.com of the year. Asked the spouse for the adjective without context. Feel it's an accurate description of the news this morning.

I love potatoes. And I make no apologies for saying so.

I'm several hours away from the year ticking over into the new one. Pleased to have survived. Scared about the coming one. Fighting the good fight.

I have several brothers. A few of them serve in the military. I spoke to more than one of them tonight. I'm not sure, in the aftermath of those conversations, that they see the Constitution clearly. Scary times, and times of opportunity. I'm doing my best to tell them a non kegseth view.

If only more Christians could internalize this: Truly he taught us to love one another; His law is love and his gospel is peace. Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, And in his name all oppression shall cease.

Just watched episodes 5 and 6 of #Pluribus and, whew, as a COVID-aware person, they really hit. (Minor spoilers in the thread)

For MANY reasons, it hasn't felt very merry and gay this season. Until tonight. All I needed for Christmas was the veeps live stream concert from Brandi Carlile. share.google/wNrWFdwsh5x5...

Don't threaten me with a good time.

Jesus. This poor kid.

Watching Pluribus. Don't like it. Grief while the rest of the world is like " Let's all be super-spreaders," is just too fucking real.

Having suffered shingles 3 times so far, I can say this is a big part of why I continue to avoid COVID. I was exposed to chicken pox without my consent. I have suffered for it from my 20s to 40s. We are gaining an idea of the long term effects of COVID and they sound worse than shingles, to me.

This view from the front porch today was well worth braving the cold!

I've never made tiramisu before and acquired all the ingredients a little while ago but haven't had the time to actually put it together before today. So either this will be a new tradition (I'm not into pumpkin pie), or we'll never speak of this again.

We are up to 688 LoCITT participants! If we could enroll all 1,000 participants within a month of launch (by 11/30), it would send a powerful message about the demand for remote Long COVID clinical trials. We appreciate the community's help to spread the word: longcovid.scripps.edu/locitt-t/?ut...

What is happening. So much news, so little of it remotely explicable.

I know not many will see this, but it's snowing here. Have a timeline cleanse.

I've always wanted to see the northern lights!

Jesus. Be mad at a handful of Democrats. Be fucking furious. Don't hand more power to the fucking GOP. How do you think we got here. By fuckwits not voting at all. Don't be a fuckwit. The system is broken, for sure. That's not a reason to hand more power to the evil rather than the incompetent

Mountain sunrise.

Voted today. Not for anything garnering national attention, but for local matters. Two of the ballots were essentially "do you want to tax the rich and use the money to feed kids?" Could not fill in the yes bubble fast enough.

"Something as simple as breathing in shared indoor spaces has become a barrier to accessibility and inclusion for millions of people, and it's time to change that!"

It's almost like the general public is against fascism and things that support or enable fascism.

Or literally any space where other people exist. Outside won't save you. Uncrowded inside won't save you. We're more than five years into this bitch and I've still never caught it because I wear a fit tested mask at all times outside my home.

Introverts don’t recharge with sleep, we recharge by being left completely alone for 3–5 business days

Maybe he's dead. Maybe he's very ill and about to be dead. While it's right to be happy if that's ever confirmed, please keep in mind that it won't undo any damage. Won't make your parents/neighbors/whomever less racist. Less misogynistic. Less awful. There will still be so much work to do.

So many people losing their fucking shit over CDC leadership and vaccine access. COVID vaccines don't really do much of anything to stop the spread. Maybe y'all could consider masking again. It was a wildly popular performative action back in the day. It's also the best line of defense we have.

I've never had COVID far as I know. I think I'd know since my partner has had it once and was quite symptomatic. In the last couple years, when I've had to seek medical treatment or have entered an assisted care facility to visit an aged relative, I've gotten to the comment "Are you dead?'

"Immunologists tell me that the average person’s immune system looks different than it did in 2019. That we’re walking around with more inflammation, and with immune systems that don’t work quite as well as they did in the beforetimes (on average)." Source: canadahealthwatch.ca/newsletter/2...

Why are kids and teachers sicker now? It’s not lockdowns. It’s COVID infections weakening immunity, over and over. Thread by tern threadreaderapp.com/thread/19596...

I already knew I was following cool people, but it's still nice to see I'm not the only one feeling some satisfaction about Dobson having died. I didn't even believe in hell, but if there is one, I sincerely hope he's in it.

Imagine putting "the team and I" on a plaque.

Did that as soon as they fired Colbert. No money to fascist bootlickers if I can help it!

Bro can't match his makeup to his skin tone anywhere. I mean neither can I, but I don't wear it every day or even every year.

RE: my last repost. Not to take away from that conversation, but I feel strongly we're seeing that bystander effect in action with regard to public health. If you're not wearing a mask to help protect the vulnerable, you're complicit.

On the allure of being a bystander: kristindumez.substack.com/p/standing-b...

Masks are under serious threat at being banned widely due to politicization. This would be a public health disaster. If you are only wearing a mask at protests, please consider also wearing them elsewhere. The more people mask, the more we normalize masks and protect them against bans.

Just had our very first bear visit at our new home. It knocked down our recycle bin which was still outside. Very silly on our part to forget the cat food tins, if nothing else, would smell of meat. Set off the camera alarm and it left. Cleaned up the spilled recyclables and whew. What a night.

Get it together, Aranets!

Well, the why in DIY continues apace. We now have a massive hole in the (two!) layers of subflooring because the amateur DIY people covered up the termite-ridden first subfloor with a second one and the architect who built this place decided a supporting beam did not require support itself.

DIY. More like DI Whyyyyyy, am I right?

JHRC. I'm honestly at the point where I hope their non-scientific bullshit catches up to them first.

Look. I realize that duck fat roasted Brussels sprouts may soon be a thing of the past because of the orange dipshit, but I'm having them now and words cannot convey the greatness.

I'm exposing the Trump admin with firsthand CDC intel. Farmers with Bird Flu symptoms are denied testing by RFJK’s direct order. This isn’t negligence. It’s a public health crime. I’ll keep revealing the truth on H5N1, COVID-19, TB, Measles, and more. Please follow my page and spread the word.

Anyone else find themselves going off script when calling their representatives these days? "I've seen cheap one-ply toilet paper in the office bathrooms with more integrity than you" is something I may or may not have just said on a voicemail for my congressperson.

The U.S. has reported 2.793 million new COVID-19 cases in a single week, with daily infections reaching 399,000, according to the PMC COVID-19 Forecasting Model. The latest data indicates that 1 in every 120 Americans is currently infected. Transmission exceeds 40.7% of peaks.

BREAKING: U.S. Sees 2.793 Million COVID-19 Cases in a Week as COVID-19 Transmission Surges to 40.7% Currently 1 in 120 Americans Infected.

Mood. (@effinbirds.com)