Every day Chuck Schumer says we need minor reforms to ICE, it’s a “fuck you” to the base, which is demanding abolition. Schumer thinks it’s his job to temper the demands of Democrats and keep the party moderately conservative. It’s an anti-democratic impulse and political malpractice.

Loved the speedskater going "it's between Milwaukee and Fond du Lac" like anyone outside SE WI would benefit from that descriptor. I mock lovingly - he grew up about 15 min from my childhood home and I did 4-H things in Kewaskum regularly.

something from minnesota that i would like people to learn, that i don’t think is hitting people yet: helping MN is good. people need it. but people in your community need mutual aid too. care. resources. food. outside of times of crisis. and you can help.

Hobbits tend pansexual but Merry and Pippin are gay Saruman is the worst gay Republican you've ever encountered Tom Bombadil and Goldberry are bi and gender fluid Aragorn is heterosexual. Legolas doesn't like labels. Gimli is just queer without modifiers Boromir is mostly straight.

It's a night for layering Aleve and Tylenol. My shoulder, elbow, forearm, and thumb are Big Mad even after one Aleve. Yay tendonitis (elbow) plus whatever the fuck my shoulder is doing. Rogue joints are not atypical for me but that doesn't make it less painful. #chronic

Definitely have something scrabbling around in the dark on my 2nd floor balcony. I'm also in the middle of a horror novel. We're going with "if I don't look, it isn't real."

I don’t really know what I expect in posting this, but maybe some people see it and can learn from it. I’ll call it “lessons from an unwilling immigration attorney.” 1/

Overheard a teenager deploy "SHUT UP, BRO. You watch AI porn!" as a devastating insult to one of his friends, which sent the rest of their group into a laughing fit.

Do you like sapphic Wodehouse aunts solving crimes on a cruise ship in space, alongside their winsome yet irksome nephews? Do you like books on sale? Good news on both fronts — Murder by Memory is $2.99 this week!

So, in effect, Hasbro and WB Discovery are funding anti-trans legislation and hate speech.

The neurologist's office has the fancy beds: they convert to chairs, with adjustable back angle and height. Almost comfortable even for my short self.

Another resistance quilt finished this week. The eye is my own design, the letters are a fpp pattern by QuiltByNight, the rounded corners and black binding are meant to resemble the phones we the people are using to document the horrors and disprove the government’s lies about what they are doing.

Elfreda Chatman was a former Catholic sister, known for her research into the info-seeking behaviors of traditionally understudied groups--poor people, elderly, women prisoners, janitors. Her theory of information poverty was foundational in LIS studies. #BlackHistoryMonth eric.ed.gov?id=EJ1311930

An older woman who came to my Americans and the Holocaust opening reception told me: "I skipped my book club at the public library for this. I didn't like the book anyway." Then she went on to tell me how critical she felt events like mine were.

Jack Duffy attaches a respirator to his bagpipes to play through tear gas. “I always play it whenever the police retreat because it's like, ‘You fucking ran while we stayed,’” he says. The full story: lataco.com/protest-bagp... By Julianne Le

I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.

Seems rude that it's February and I got my first sunburn. I'm in the Midwest(ish) and it wasn't reflection off snow or water. Just straight-up sun.

The Great Dictator was excellent seen in the restored (to late 1920s) movie theatre. As the organizer, I watched the movie last week to prep panel discussion questions, so I can fairly say that the theatre experience really added to my enjoyment.

When I lived in France we had a sweet old neighbor lady who would spit every time she passed a certain house. Eventually, her daughter explained to me that the home belonged to a man who’d collaborated with the Nazis 60 YEARS AGO. May these ICE goons face a similarly lonely future.

Headed over to one of the Central Nebraska Public Power District eagle viewing areas (inside a hydro plant). As promised, the eagle viewing was good, though apparently it's even better in colder temps. #BirdSky #birds

Of all the easy things you can do to help the environment, conserve water for communities not corporations, not perpetuate scams, support the labor and rights of creators... *not* using generative AI is the fucking easiest. You absolutely deserve to be shamed for using it for image and text creation

Parents are getting into town in an hour and a half or so. Debating between napping and trying to clean a bit.

D&D GM: ...as the villagers perish, the lich hits you all for 75 damage. What do you do? Mage: Fireball. Max level Barbarian: Channel my rage into my axe! HERE I GO! Archer: Overcharged arrows. Called shots. Eyes. Cleric: Turn undead. Let's send him to HELL. Chuck Schumer: I cast "Stern Letter"

A home-grown protest song by local Minneapolis folksy Americana band Roe Family Singers. It's more common to see them play at the farmers' market and family-friendly events. A pretty good indication of how many in Minneapolis are feeling right now... roefamilysingers.bandcamp.com/track/blacke...

Anyway friendly reminder that Good Omens going forward is being piloted by the Terry Pratchett estate, run by Rob Wilkins, no money from merch is going towards That Man, and Terry wrote 70% of the originally book

15 hours into my work week and it is - checks calendar - Monday. That doesn't count finishing the book for an official work book club I'm in charge of.

Worst of the worst Depraved brutes with badges Emboldened by nefarious tyrants Armed and let loose on our streets To terrorize, kidnap, and kill J. C. 01.22.26 #poetry #emoetry #emboldened #fuckice #merica

I genuinely have no idea how to convey this to the American people, but I think the biggest impediment to any kind of immigration reform is that people are convinced that "legal" and "illegal" are immutable, intrinsic categories instead of a rapidly-shifting arbitrary constellation of regulations.

hindsight is 20/20 but maybe selecting university presidents on their willingness to debase themselves for private donor money is related to the current difficulties in defending academia from fascism

This is also great for basics, from formatting to length to what the difference between alt text and image description is.

The Epstein emails should really end the debate over whether society should have billionaires. "Do you want there to be a class of people so powerful they can fuck your kids and no one will even try to do anything" seems like an easy sell if everyone in politics wasn't trying to get on their payroll

I finished this two days ago and it was soooo good. I read a library copy but am going to grab a copy for my personal shelf.

Event #1 done. Decent movie attendance, smallish but engaged crowd who stayed for the panel, and participation from the local vampire community (bat loose in the theatre).

Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college: 1. Comparative Study of Genocide 2. Scandinavian Archaeology 3. Inmigracion, migracion, y globalizacion (taught by a Mexican leftist) 4. Environmental Geology 5. America Views Russia, Russia Views America c. 1850-1930

relevant to many of yalls interests.

Borders are lines on maps. Powerful people have made them matter.

And Epstein was an explicit eugenicist! Even in the (unlikely) scenario that the academics writing him chummy emails didn't know about the pedophilia charges, they were seeking funding because they thought their work aligned with his interests, which were monstrous.

If you see this, don't participate. It's a rigged study by Lisa Littman and unethical researcher J. Michael Bailey meant to undermine access to care. Spread the word.

My tire inflator is slooooooow, so I was outside for quite a while when I topped them up. Now burritoed in a heated blanket as I can't get my lower half warm.

Please buy books that are coming out this year. Doesn’t have to be mine. But there is a stellar release calendar this year especially of Black writers and it would be a shame if one of the fascist victories was people not buying those books (from the indies that are in the fight with us). #BookSky

Literally half the country wants to abolish ICE and the Democrats are going to make them pinky swear not to deport U.S. citizens anymore

What really causes migraines? #MigraineChat

In the midst of a busy day, I had a lovely chat with a library/archives student. I've been participating in another school's "interview an archivist" assignment every semester for 6ish years. Had some great conversations over the years.

Bind the current tech god-kings and throw them into the flames, let the ashes of their dead bodies fertilize the soil for the beautiful madness that is to come

The word armadillo is borrowed from Spanish and simply means “little armored one.” But an even better word for an armadillo, in my opinion, is the Nahuatl ayotochtli. It means “turtle rabbit.”

This large exhibit is going to be the death of me. "Only" 10 hrs work today w a migraine etc. Still so behind but started getting the big opening reception invites out, nailed down volunteers to assemble the exhibit, and dealt with a looooot of minutia for Sunday's event.

Managed to take my evening meds this morning, so that is how my life is going. Only one is of mild concern and even doubling up, dose is nowhere near toxicity range. Definitely feeling it, though.