"Everywhere I look, I see something holy." The priest in Carpe Jugulum said that once he saw spirituality as something you gain from life itself, instead of a book. One of the vampyres who treated humans like cattle, rather than game, said that after she began to feel what they did. #Discworld

71.5% of ICE detainees have no criminal convictions, according to government data. Don’t fall for Trump’s lies about targeting the “worst of the worst.” As Trump's regime terrorizes communities to fill up detention centers, remember that some of his biggest donors are private prison corporations.

In Discworld, cities thrive because they welcome dwarfs, trolls, vampires, and humans alike. Ankh-Morpork works because everyone belongs. Funny how fiction can seem more humane than policy sometimes.

A judge blocked Trump from sending Oregon's National Guard into Portland. That same judge then blocked Trump from deploying California's National Guard to Portland instead. This isn't a "left wing" judge — Trump appointed her. Says a lot about Trump's authoritarian power grab.

“No one man can terrorize a whole nation, unless we are all his accomplices.” -Edward R. Murrow

"Anything is a chair if you hammer nails into it!" That's how I see the speech the top U.S. military leadership sat through on the 30th. He told them enemies are everywhere, so get violent. They're warriors, trained and experienced in defence, not ICE agents handed a mask and a gun a month ago.

"True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.” —FDR, 1944

After a federal court blocked his attempt to federalize the Oregon National Guard, Donald Trump is deploying 300 California National Guard personnel into Oregon. They are on their way there now. We are taking this fight back to court.

Trump has run roughshod over the Constitution. He's used this power to cut vital funding for healthcare programs while passing massive tax cuts for himself and his rich donors. Now is the clearest opportunity for Democrats to point out the devastating realities of this regime.

From a Terry Pratchett group

Federal workers are about to have their livelihoods upended because of this shutdown. We'll hear talk about "sacrifices" that the American people need to make. Meanwhile, Trump is bailing out Argentina with $20 billion worth of taxpayer dollars.

Why is it that the livelihoods of federal workers or the healthcare of millions of people always end up on the chopping block, but never the trillions in tax cuts handed out to billionaires and massive corporations?

I love the movie made of "Going Postal" during Terrry Pratchett's life. But I have to say the book is better. I underestimated Reacher Gilt. He's scarier in the book. His associates (marks) don't realize that he's been threatening them all along. They're trapped, and he has never raised his voice.

#BookSky #TerryPratchett

I'm rereading the Guards Discworld books in publication order (and The Truth in as well) and every plot to remove Vetinari and return Ankh Morpork to a human-only city is chiming louder than ever. Burn the black robes and the high-backed chairs, cast the plotters into the light and shame them.

I've just watched "Inferno" from classic #DoctorWho. Drilling though the Earth's crust seeking cheap energy is causing a breech. The Doctor goes to a timeline where England is fascist. A soldier tries to bully a scientist into fixing a technical problem faster. That's the second timeless insight.

#DoctorWho and the Silurians is one of my favorite episodes. Unit and the Doctor argue over whether the Silurian's attacks prove the need for military force. Soon two Silurians have the same conversation about us. We could have gotten along with them if they weren't so much like us.

Increase in productivity since 1979: 87% Increase in hourly pay since 1979: 32% Just so happens that ~25% of workers were unionized in 1979. Today? 10%. As unions declined, the super-rich have taken a larger share of wealth generated by labor. We must build back union power.

🚨 CDC Website Scrubbing Alert We do not have a complete list but can report that CDC plans to delete or otherwise takedown many CDC pages about LGBTQ+ health, health equity, disabilities, hepatitis, HIV and more.

Today I offer a reminder of the word ‘forswunk’ (13th century): exhausted from too much work. To be ‘foreswunk’ (my own version) is to be exhausted before you even begin.

Democracy depends on a fearless and free press. Corporations or ultra-wealthy individuals with many other business interests should not be allowed to control our media. They cannot be trusted to prioritize the public’s right to know over their own financial interests.

Airlines merged from 12 major carriers in 1980 to 4 today. Four giants control 80% of meat processing. A handful of companies control the pharmaceutical industry. The evidence of corporate concentration is everywhere. It means more power for them and less freedom for you.

I used to repost reports like this because I believed that with further testing, and better funding, millions of people benefit from medical science. Now I repost them to remind myself and others not to stop fighting for healthcare.

Ages 0-4 are the most important years of human development. The kids & parents of this country deserve quality, affordable child care & early education. I was glad to meet Head Start educators from Vermont doing incredible work supporting working class families in our state.

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There’s only one person he cares about.

Discworld QOTD, from Maskerade

This passage from Jingo might be Sir Terry at close to his finest.

Billionaire Trump donor Elon Musk owns X. Billionaire Trump ally Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post. With this acquisition, both CNN and CBS News would be owned by billionaire Trump donor Larry Ellison. Oligarchs’ monopoly over our media is spiraling out of control.

Republicans often claim "guns aren't the problem, it's mental illness." Yes, mental health is a major problem in America — which is why we should fund programs to address it. But all countries deal with mental illness. Yet they don't suffer from the scourge of gun violence like the U.S.

My childhood best friend probably kept me sane. My mother's second husband was a misogynist and a bigot. I couldn't safely talk about how I felt about anything in his house. Sometimes I want to contact her to tell her how much she meant to me, but she's a tradwife to a man who's probably MAGAt now.

Remember: There is nothing natural or inevitable about extreme inequality; it’s the result of an economic system that values wealth and power over human dignity and justice. It doesn't have to be this way.

The 400 richest Americans are now worth a record $6.6 trillion, after getting $1.2 trillion richer over the past year alone. Meanwhile, the rest of the country is getting squeezed by tariffs and high prices for groceries, utilities, and health care. The system is broken.

"We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job. Rather than stand idly by while our constitutional freedoms are lost, I dissent." —Justice Sonia Sotomayor

Next year, Americans will see the biggest jump in health insurance costs in 15 years. Meanwhile, the six largest health insurers raked in more than $31 billion in net income last year. Still not sure if we need Medicare for All?

Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan travel around in "Billy and Dom Eat the World," making and eating food each region specializes in. It's a perfect fit for Hobbits. The only surpise came when they ran away from a robot that wouldn't stop serving them cheese.

You know you've found a good life parter when the only chaos in your life is happening outside your home.

Been re-reading Pratchett with my 13 y/o...amazing how much he saw coming

The richest 100 billionaires in the U.S. have a net worth totaling $3.86 trillion. The entire bottom 50% of America is collectively worth $4 trillion. Read that back. Folks, this is what oligarchy looks like.

Terry Pratchett wrote of Golems with no sex who chose to be identified as men … and Gladys … the Golem that identified as a woman … and was respected for *her* identity … and wrote of the importance of words we *choose* for ourselves … And making up our *own* mind on what that means.

There is one certainty as to what childhood vaccines are responsible for causing - adults. Childhood vaccines are responsible for causing adults.

The “problem” with vaccines? They so effective at preventing deaths that they create generations of people that question whether disease was a problem in the first place because they have never experienced the horrors of a world without vaccines.

RFK Jr. wants to "make America healthy again." So he's doing that by dismantling federal health agencies and firing civil servants who inspect our food, track infectious diseases, and research life-saving treatments and vaccines. Do I have this right?

Democracy is weakened by austerity because public services are democracy in action. www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMa-...