"You got to be a little bit of a scientist, a little bit of a detective, and a little bit of a veterinarian,” he said. ‘It’s been shocking’: Historic storm leads to uptick in ailing birds at wildlife centers

 https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/27/metro/mass-blizzard-birds-impact/

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani

@NYCMayor

Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression. Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war.  Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change. They want relief from the affordability crisis. They want peace. I am focused on making sure that every New Yorker is safe. I have been in contact with our Police Commissioner and emergency management officials. We are taking proactive steps, including increasing coordination across agencies and enhancing patrols of sensitive locations out of an abundance of caution. Additionally, I want to speak directly to Iranian New Yorkers: you are part of the fabric of this city — you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders. You will be safe here.

Singapore Noodle

After trying swimmers Joe and Tom's MEDWAY LOTUS Singapore Noodles I am obsessed with making it myself. +1 508-473-4600 

128 Milford St, Medway, MA 02053-2225

https://www.recipetineats.com/singapore-noodles/ 

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dI_xxw2iHuo

Body Condition Score in Dogs

 

https://www.petobesityprevention.org/dogbcs

I just shoveled out the trash and recycle bins and had to shovel the shrubs to do so.

We are still sore from shoveling and swimming and life with two dogs. But today is Saturday and I am baking twice-baked potatoes. I love how the house smells like hot dirt!

 I might continue to cook and bake all day. I am trying to keep my mind off of the MONSTER who just launched us into WW3. The PEDOPHILE PREDATOR in CHIEF has been exposed and CORNERED and so he is desperate to DISTRACT US. 

We are not fooled. I predicted this. I had a MONSTER mother who mirrored this behavior.  I knew this was coming. THE MONSTER in CHIEF has so much SELF LOATHING he would conceivably end the world to protect his ego. Hopefully he will not take out any more humans but sadly this is already taking lives.

Cabbage is Good! Don't Forget About Cabbage By Marion Cunningham

I have another Marion Cunningham recipe upstairs in her book LEARNING to COOK and it calls for Chopped cabbage stir fried with toasted sunflower seeds and crumbled bacon and dried cranberries or chopped apples.

Food|Cooking

Don't Forget About Cabbage

By Marion Cunningham Feb 14, 2001

It seems that no one uses cabbage any more. I can't remember when I've had coleslaw, or had cabbage boiled, steamed, braised, baked, shredded or in soups or stews.

It is a splendid vegetable with corn beef, game, pork and smoked meat; it is inexpensive and keeps well. It has been pleasing people all over the world for centuries.

When you are buying cabbage, look for crisp, firm, heavy heads with good color. Avoid those with blemishes or loose leaves.

Blanche's Cabbage with Bacon is a great recipe to show off fresh cabbage. Since it takes just minutes to fix, it has become one of my favorites to use when afternoon visitors turn into spur-of-the-moment dinner guests.

This is the dish to have with sausage -- I use smoked Polish kielbasa -- and rye bread

A small head of cabbage torn into bite-size pieces looks like a huge amount, but it wilts and cooks down to serve four ordinary appetites. I think this dish will make you a cabbage fan.

---

BLANCHE'S CABBAGE WITH BACON

INGREDIENTS:

1 head cabbage, 2 to 2 1/2 pounds

1/4 pound bacon

1/2 teaspoon sugar

4 tablespoons bacon fat (from cooking the bacon)

4 tablespoons cider vinegar

Salt, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS: Using a small paring knife, cut the core out of the cabbage. Separate the leaves. Cut the thick, center vein from each leaf (discard it) and tear the leaves into large bite-size pieces. Set aside.

Stack the strips of bacon, one on top of the other, and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces.

Start bringing a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the bacon and, stirring occasionally, move the pieces around until they are uniformly golden brown. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and put it on a paper towel to drain. Pat the pieces with paper towels to remove more fat. Put the bacon into a small bowl, stir in the sugar, bacon fat and vinegar; set aside.

Plunge the cabbage into the boiling water and let blanch for 12 seconds. Immediately drain the cabbage, place in a bowl and toss with the bacon and sugar mixture. Mix well, taste, then season with salt.

Serves 4.

PER SERVING: 335 calories, 11 g protein, 11 g carbohydrate, 28 g fat (10 g saturated), 108 mg cholesterol, 623 mg sodium, 4 g fiber.

Feb 14, 2001

Marion Cunningham

 

Just made these: Twice Baked Potatoes

 https://chefmichaelsmith.com/recipe/oven-crisped-potatoes/

Putin's Puppet Strikes Again

Keep Standard Time

Leo Tolstoy: “The wicked become even worse whey they are tolerated.”

OPERATION EPSTEIN FURY

To Distract from Epstein Files and Bad ratings, and to accomodate Putin, The Monster Launches a war on Iran

“I wanted to confront her, to make her see the folly of her religion, to change her diet, to help her spend less on makeup and other nonessentials, to make her worship every biological moment she was offered instead of some badly punctured deity. I also wanted to kiss her for some reason, feel the life pulsing in those big Catholic lips, remind myself of the primacy of the living animal, of my time amongst the Romans.”

― Gary Shteyngart, Super Sad True Love Story

“Whatever you may think of Judaism, Lyuba, in the end it’s just a codified system of anxieties.” ― Gary Shteyngart, Absurdistan

“She took my hand and pulled me after her, her shoulders giving off a sweet peppermint concoction that the bodies of young women sometimes produce to make my life more difficult.”

― Gary Shteyngart, Absurdistan

“That's what tyrants do, I guess. They make you covet their attention; they make you confuse attention for mercy.” ― Gary Shteyngart, Super Sad True Love Story

 “I write because there is nothing as joyful as writing, even when the writing is twisted and full of hate, the self-hate that makes writing not only possible but necessary. I hate myself, I hate the people around me, but what I crave is the fulfillment of some ideal.”
― Gary Shteyngart, Little Failure

“Reading is difficult. People just aren't meant to read anymore. We're in a post-literate age. You know, a visual age. How many years after the fall of Rome did it take for a Dante to appear? Many, many years.”

― Gary Shteyngart, Super Sad True Love Story

 “Then I celebrated my Wall of Books. I counted the volumes on my twenty-foot-long modernist bookshelf to make sure none had been misplaced or used as kindling by my subtenant. “You’re my sacred ones,” I told the books. “No one but me still cares about you. But I’m going to keep you with me forever. And one day I’ll make you important again.” I thought about that terrible calumny of the new generation: that books smell.”
― Gary Shteyngart, Super Sad True Love Story

“You could drown a kitten in her blue eyes.” ― Gary Shteyngart, Super Sad True Love Story

“Maybe this is who I really am. Not a loner, exactly. But someone who can be alone.” ― Gary Shteyngart, Little Failure

“If we can't take care of each other now, when the world is going to shit, how are we ever going to make it?” ― Gary Shteyngart, Super Sad True Love Story

“Every returning New Yorker asks the question: Is this still my city? I have a ready answer, cloaked in obstinate despair: It is. And if it's not, I will love it all the more. I will love it to the point where it becomes mine again.”

― Gary Shteyngart, Super Sad True Love Story

“We are now part of this giant machine where every second we have to take out a device and contribute our thoughts and opinions.” ― Gary Shteyngart

“Reading is entering into the consciousness of another human being.” ― Gary Shteyngart

“Do not throw away your heart. Keep your heart. Your heart is all that matters ... Throw away your ancestors! ... Throw away your shyness and the anger that lies just a few inches beneath ... Accept the truth! And if there is more than one truth, then learn to do the difficult work -- learn to choose. You are good enough, you are HUMAN ENOUGH, to choose!” ― Gary Shteyngart, Super Sad True Love Story

I measure the cost of everything against the Cost of Broccoli because I love it

T****'s War on the Constitution

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/trumps-war-on-the-constitution

“If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” —Shirley Chisholm.

 Born in Brooklyn, New York City, she spent ages five through nine in Barbados, and she always considered herself a Barbadian American. She excelled at school and earned her college degree in the United States. She started working in early-childhood education, and she became involved in local Democratic Party politics in the 1950s. In 1964, overcoming resistance because she was a woman, she was elected to the New York State Assembly. Four years later, she was elected to Congress, where she led the expansion of food and nutrition programs for the poor and rose to party leadership. She retired from Congress in 1983 and taught at Mount Holyoke College while continuing her political organizing. Although nominated for the ambassadorship to Jamaica in 1993, health issues caused her to withdraw. In 2015, Chisholm was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“If you can only be tall because somebody’s on their knees, you have a serious problem.” —Toni Morrison

Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don't try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It's the one and only thing you have to offer. BARBARA KINGSOLVER

A lie does not cease to be a lie because it is shared by millions of people. On the contrary, the more widespread the lie, the more dangerous it becomes. Leo Tolstoy

Celebrity Tailor

My Grandparents Were Married For 60 Years. One Day I Asked My Grandfather: “What’s The Secret To Loving The Same Woman For A Lifetime?”  He didn’t laugh. He didn’t say “communication.” He didn’t say “date nights.” He looked at my grandmother, who was in the kitchen, and said: “You don’t love the same woman.” That confused me. He said, “She changes every few years. And if you don’t update the way you love her, you lose her.” He told me the girl he married at 22 wasn’t the same woman at 30. Motherhood changed her. Loss changed her. Time changed her.  “At 40,” he said, “she needed respect more than romance. At 50, she needed partnership more than passion. At 60, she needed presence more than promises.” And every time she changed, he had a choice: Complain that she’s “not like she used to be.” Or learn her again. He said the biggest mistake men make is this: They fall in love once. Then stop paying attention. “Loving a woman for a lifetime,” he told me, “is deciding to stay curious about her.”  Not assuming you know her. Not freezing her in the version you met. He leaned back and said something I’ll never forget: “If you stop studying her, someone else eventually will.” Sixty years. Not because it was easy. Because he kept relearning her.

@KLASSIQTUNEZ

 Celebrity Tailor

“I am fully aware and in full possession of myself. I have no desire to be understood, admired, pitied, or even known.” — George Sand

Søren Kierkegaard: Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Every day, I walk myself into a state of well-being and walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.

“It is also good to love: because love is difficult. For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks, the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

“To love someone else is easy, but to love what you are, the thing that is yourself, is just as if you were embracing a glowing, red-hot iron; it burns into you and that is very painful. Therefore, to love somebody else in the first place is always an escape which we all hope for, and we all enjoy it when we are capable of it. But in the long run, it comes back on us. You cannot stay away from yourself forever. You have to return, have to come to that experiment, to know whether you really can love. That is the question—whether you can love yourself. And that will be the test.” — Carl Jung

“The world is increasingly designed to depress us. Happiness isn't very good for the economy. If we were happy with what we had, why would we need more?” — Matt Haig

“Too much consistency is as bad for the mind as it is for the body. Consistency is contrary to nature, contrary to life. The only completely consistent people are the dead” — Aldous Huxley

“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Who wants to live to be a hundred? What's the point of it? A short life and a merry one is far better than a long life sustained by fear, caution and perpetual medical surveillance.” — Henry Miller

“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.” — Kurt Vonnegut

Jean-Paul Sartre: I hate victims who respect their executioners.

“There's no light at the end of the tunnel there isn't even a tunnel. The best thing I can do is get drunk and listen to classical music. Yet I'm glad, somehow, that I threw my words in the air: confetti, celebrating nothing.” — Charles Bukowski

“The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss — an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife — is sure to be noticed.” — Søren Kierkegaard

“I think it's so foolish for people to want to be happy. Happy is so momentary – you're happy for an instant and then you start thinking again. Interest is the most important thing in life; happiness is temporary, but interest is continuous.” — Georgia O’Keeffe

David Labaree on Schooling, History, and Writing

 https://davidlabaree.com/2026/02/23/steven-mintz-learning-to-write-like-ai-and-then-beyond-it/

“Every time a man gives way to vanity, every time he thinks and lives in order to show off, this is a betrayal. We do not need to reveal ourselves to others, but only to those we love. For then we are no longer revealing ourselves in order to seem but in order to give.” — Albert Camus

As time goes on, you'll understand. What lasts, lasts; what doesn't, doesn't. Time solves most things. And what time can't solve, you have to solve yourself. Haruki Murakami

Robert Frost: "Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can't, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it."

“I'd like to be remembered as a guy who tried…tried to be part of his times, tried to help people communicate with one another, tried to find some decency in his own life, tried to extend himself as a human being. Someone who isn't complacent, who doesn't cop out.” — Paul Newman

“Dearest, I beg of you, sleep properly and go for walks.” — Franz Kafka

“And yet the only exciting life is the imaginary one.” — Virginia Woolf

To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.” — Simone Weil

“The worst men have the best jobs, the best men have the worst jobs or are unemployed or locked in madhouses.” — Charles Bukowski

“those who escape hell however never talk about it and nothing much bothers them after that.” — Charles Bukowski.

“History, as nearly no one seems to know, is not merely something to be read. And it does not refer merely, or even principally, to the past. On the contrary, the great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations.” — James Baldwin

“Love is not a sentiment which can be easily indulged in by anyone. The main condition for the achievement of love is the overcoming of one's narcissism. It requires discipline, concentration, and patience.” — Erich Fromm

 “The problem in middle life, when the body has reached its climax of power and begins to decline, is to identify yourself, not with the body, which is falling away, but with the consciousness of which it is a vehicle. This is something I learned from myths. What am I? Am I the bulb that carries the light, or am I the light of which the bulb is a vehicle? 

 One of the psychological problems in growing old is the fear of death. People resist the door of death. But this body is a vehicle of consciousness, and if you can identify with the consciousness, you can watch this body go like an old car. There goes the fender, there goes the tire, one thing after another—but it’s predictable. And then, gradually, the whole thing drops off, and consciousness rejoins consciousness. It is no longer in this particular environment.” — Joseph Campbell

“The world reveals itself to those who travel on foot.” — Werner Herzog

“The Four Conditions of Happiness: Life in the open air, Love for another being, Freedom from ambition, Creation.” — Albert Camus

“I despise the kind of book which tells you how to live, how to make yourself happy. Philosophers have no good news for you at this level. I believe the first duty of philosophy is making you understand what deep shit you are in!” — Slavoj Žižek

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” — Steve Jobs

“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” — Joseph Campbell

“Life has no meaning a priori. Before you come alive, life is nothing; it’s up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing but the meaning that you choose.” — Jean-Paul Sartre

“There is more beauty in truth, even if it is dreadful beauty.” — John Steinbeck

“People are always angry at anyone who chooses very individual standards for his life; because of the extraordinary treatment which that man grants to himself, they feel degraded, like ordinary beings.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“All I know is that I've wasted all these years looking for something, a sort of trophy I'd get only if I really, really did enough to deserve it. But I don't want it anymore, I want something else now, something warm and sheltering, something I can turn to, regardless of what I do, regardless of who I become. Something that will just be there, always, like tomorrow's sky.” — Kazuo Ishiguro

“I wouldn't trade my solitude for a little love. For a lot of love, yes. But a lot of love is itself a kind of solitude.” — Dulce María Loynaz

“Go to Heaven for the climate, but to Hell for the company.” — Benjamin Franklin Wade

I want solitude. I want space. I want air. I want the empty fields round me, & my legs pounding along roads; & sleep; & animal existence. — Virginia Woolf

  — Virginia Woolf

 

Josh Marshall: Time for the States to Gear Up for T****'s Fake Elections Exec Order

 https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/time-for-the-states-to-gear-up-for-trumps-fake-elections-exec-order

The Post has an article today, an exclusive they say, about a draft executive order purportedly being circulated between the White House and various conspiracy theorists and right-wing extremists in its broader circle. The proposed order claims that China has been found to be interfering in U.S. elections — specifically rigged the 2020 election in Joe Biden’s favor — and that as a result of that the president, as commander-in-chief, can and must directly take control of U.S. elections for the midterms and the 2028 presidential elections.

Two points merit saying on this. The first is that these are the rehashed, insane theories that were literally and figuratively laughed out of court in 2020. These are all absurd. Everybody knows they are absurd and false. The legal theory is what demands our attention. The authors of the order believe that if something is an emergency the president can invoke a kind of hidden dictator clause in the Constitution which allows him to assert powers which the Constitution explicitly forbids to him. This is not so. They secondarily believe in what we might call a “because” or “therefore” logic or clause. So because we have found that Threat X exists, the president can do whatever he wants to combat that threat. And as commander-in-chief, he can do anything he wants. This is also not so.

The Post, as is typical for most MSM publications, doesn’t quite know how to deal with a set of facts like this and treats it as a kind of mystery since such a non-existent power has never been claimed or litigated. So, for instance, down toward the bottom of the article we read this: “Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution assigns power to regulate elections to state legislatures and Congress, with no role for the president … A presidential emergency on elections has never been tested in court.” It’s true that this has never been tested in court. But lots of absurd things have never been tested in court.

Some people might get up in arms about this. And it’s definitely right to be up in arms in the sense of being vigilant or ready to fight over it. But this is a bogus theory and a bogus constitutional argument. I think there is little chance any judges will go for it. But more to the point, states, these subordinate but separate sovereignties, have their own standing to refuse unconstitutional invasions of their sovereign authority. Trump’s angle is always to keep others guessing about what he will do or what he’ll be allowed to do by this or that corrupted agency or court. Don’t do that. Every state should make clear proactively that an illegal military takeover of their state’s sovereign power to conduct its own elections will not be tolerated, accepted or submitted.

Period. End of story. The issue is not simply President Trump’s never-ending efforts to destroy the Republic, violate the Constitution, etc. Again, the Constitution is crystal clear about who runs and controls elections. States do that with guidelines set by Congress. Period. The issue is whether we — everyone, the opposition, everyone who purportedly needs to be in perpetual orbit around Donald Trump’s degenerate brain — need to always be allowing him the initiative. Does everyone have to be waiting and thinking how to respond to his actions? No. States are obligated to maintain their unchallenged and unchallengeable sovereign power to conduct elections, in line with laws passed by Congress. Nothing anyone says to the contrary matters. Not any executive order. Not any court. No one. Period. End of story.

Josh Marshall is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TPM.

 

Michael F Ozaki MD @brontyman

 

Learn from the World

When I was a child my mother would yell at me You eat too much yogurt! I can't afford it. Which was ridiculous, but I began culturing my own yogurt from nonfat dry milk and water. I incubated it with a teaspoon of live active yogurt and let it grow overnight in the empty oven over the pilot light. I would eat the finished yogurt the next morning for breakfast.

You can't eat yogurt for breakfast! my mother insisted. I knew there must be humans on Earth who eat yogurt for breakfast. India, Scandinavian countries, and more. Eventually my mother also began eating yogurt for breakfast.

My mother insisted that if she was going to pay for my clothing, she would choose the clothing herself. So in college I made my own clothes. I bought a dozen shirts and dyed them in the dye lab over Thanksgiving break when the school was empty.  I also bought fabric and sewed blouses. 

Then I got a job as a prep cook in a restaurant. My mother screamed at me. Quit your job! It will interfere with your schoolwork. But of course it didn't. I kept my job and loved it more than college. I was able to buy a used Volkswagen bug and get around on my own. 

Eventually I realized she had a master plan for me and anytime I veered away she tried to push me back into her plan. I never obeyed. I am proud of this because others in my family got caught and they are still trapped there to this day. I saw outside the trap, the prison. 

My friends tell me You really see outside the box."What box?" I reply.

Hazelnut on 5 Grain Sourdough Toast

 Like British biscuit!

Bad to Blue: The True Story of a Chinatown Gangster Who Became an NYPD Detective by Mike Moy

more

Always Keep Frozen Corn or Peas in the Freezer in case you sprain your wrist or need an ice pack

Recovery Day

After a day of shoveling yesterday I am grateful to rest today. No school again. This morning we were unable to park anywhere to walk the dogs due to the parking ban and snowy streets, so we drove to a parking lot off in Blackstone near Betty's Donuts and walked the dogs around the edges. Then we got stuck in our own driveway trying to park. Luckily Rick was able to help us. "Tell me you don't love me," he said.

I just clipped Lulu and Romeo's nails without incident. What a victory! 

Why Do my Dog's Feet Smell Like Corn Chips?

If you get close enough to your dog’s feet, you might have noticed that they smell a bit like corn chips or Fritos. Some dog owners don’t mind the aroma. Others might find the smell unpleasant and perhaps even wonder if it’s a sign of poor health. Since dogs can’t tell us what’s wrong, it’s our job to learn what smells are normal and when it might be time to intervene and seek veterinary care.

What Causes the Corn Chip Smell?

At any given time, dogs have some level of bacteria and fungi on their skin. “When your dog’s paws have a bacteria called Pseudomonas and Proteus, they can give off a yeasty odor that smells similar to corn chips,” says American Kennel Club Chief Veterinarian Dr. Jerry Klein, DVM.

Dogs control their body temperature by panting. “Since they don’t perspire, the only place dogs have to cool down is on the bottom of their feet,” explains Dr. Amy Attas, VMD. She emphasizes that the “Fritos smell is completely normal” and doesn’t mean that your dog has a bacterial or fungal infection.

https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/why-do-my-dogs-feet-smell-like-fritos/

Drooling when kissing or cuddling your dog is likely a, sometimes unconscious, involuntary physical reaction to the intense emotions, physical sensation, or sensory input of that moment. Here are the main reasons for this reaction: Intense Emotional Regulation (Empathy): When you interact lovingly with your dog, your brain releases a flood of oxytocin (the bonding hormone) and dopamine (reward chemicals). This strong, positive emotional surge can, for some, trigger an automatic, parasympathetic nervous system response—such as increased salivation—similar to how some people tear up when extremely happy.

blue @bluewmist my therapist told me this and it hit me: “healing is so hard because it is a constant battle between your inner child who is scared and just wants safety.... your inner teenager who is angry and just wants justice.... and your current self-who is tired and just wants peace."

Make Your own Spinach Pasta Dough

 https://www.insidetherustickitchen.com/spinach-pasta-dough/

Gabor Mate: Why Empaths Attract People Who Secretly Resent Their Light | Gabor Mate MOTIVATIONAL SPEECH

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07iRlDKsHQY

When you step back the pattern breaks. 

Putin's Demented Deranged Racist Mysogonist Puppet is Steering the Boat

The Little Cottage with the Light Blue Door

For weeks I have passed a cottage on North Main Street and the light blue front door is covered in snow. The snow drift is over five feet high! I worry each time I drive by. What if there was an emergency situation where someone had to get in or out in a hurry.  I would blame myself if something bad happened because I noticed the hazard. For days this haunted me. I contacted the public safety director and told him my concerns. He was sympathetic and immediately responded. He is contacting them and offering to help them unearth their alternate exit. Why I love my city!

carbon monoxide poisoning

I am deeply saddened to learn of a young Salve Regina college student charging his phone in a snow covered vehicle died of carbon monoxide poisoning. More discussion about the dangers and hazards of covered tailpipes should be in the news. Perhaps carbon monoxide detectors should be in cars with alarms.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/24/metro/ri-salve-regina-student-carbon-monoxide/

https://www.firerescue1.com/fire-products/co-testing/why-you-should-install-co-detectors-in-your-car-camper-and-boat

Why I Love My City

 

McVities Homemade Biscuits

Snow day for both of us again. It's a blessing!

After hours and hours of shoveling yesterday I woke up with this in mind.  

https://www.seriouseats.com/chocolate-digestive-biscuits-mcvities-recipe

Plastic Language

Her language is the verbal equivalent of plastic surgery. Face lift liposuction, bee sting lips, bone smashing, and tummy tucks. She writes like she is sending a thank-you letter at Christmas to her Auntie whoseibob who gave her the matching girl & doll outfit. Her word choices and punctuation are so artificial I wonder if AI composed the letter. Semicolons and exclamation points sprinkled like salt, or sand during a snowstorm.

Hiroshi Yasuda: When confronted with an ignorant person, the American say, “You're stupid,” the British say, “You are not so intelligent,” the Japanese say, “I think you need to learn more.” However, there is no difference in the feelings.

BLIZZARD

The snow finally stopped at 5or 6 PM last night. The little landlord's light blue jeep plow got stuck so our parking lot was barely workable with a small path through 2-3 feet of snow. It was overwhelming. So Joey my neighbor and I had a visit as we shoveled a little.

Bill slipped on the stairs not because of ice but the snow was so packed down it was like a ramp and landed on his wrist, spraining it. (I blame myself because this is usually the shoveling I do to prevent accidents but yesterday we shoveled 3x  during the blizzard to let the dogs pee and and it still happened). 

We are icing his wrist sandwiched between 2 one pound bags of frozen corn wrapped in dish towel for 20 minute sessions every 2 hours and treating him with ibuprofen. He's doing the Napoleon pose with his hand held above his heart tucked into his sweatshirt. He's doing well but no shoveling.

Luckily no school no YMCA due to the travel ban from both MA and RI governors. Thank God because I was trying to call out! All of my neighbors called out of work without a fight with their bosses. I am about to start tackling the cars.

My neighbor Holly surprised me with shoveling out our cars last night! I could cry at the kindness. The sun is out. The dogs are sharing the dog bed!! They are touching!! Life is good.

I have the day to tackle the front stairs (for mailman) side stairs (for oil man) (to cellar just in case) roof of the cars and end of driveway. But I will take my time.

UPDATE: I just finished shoveling. I've never had to shovel my shrubs before! We got 33 inches!

We are lucky to have heat and food and electricity and our health for digging out!

Peanut Butter Kiss Sandwich

After a day of shoveling I made a few peanut butter sandwiches. I sliced homemade oat wheat rye corn barley sourdough and toasted them and added 1 Hershey's kiss melted into the natural peanut butter. I added salt. It was perfect.

‪Think it’s time for billionaires to learn that their wealth being taxed is in fact the most moderate solution to society’s billionaire problem. Nikita Gill‬

Call it a guillotine prevention fund if "tax" is too scary for them

 Leon English

“I feel that the dormant goodwill in people needs to be stirred. People need to hear that it makes sense to behave decently or to help others, to place common interests above their own, to respect the elementary rules of human coexistence.” — Václav Havel

In 1975, women of Iceland went on strike for equal rights. 90% of women walked off their jobs & homes, shutting down the entire country. The men could barely cope. Five years later, Iceland elected first female President. Now Iceland has the highest gender equality in the world.

BLIZZARD UPDATE

 My windows are covered in snow!

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.” — John Dewey

“Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.” — Henry James

“I live in a kind of tension between the will to say yes to my suffering, and my inability to utter this yes with complete sincerity.” — Karl Jaspers

“Solitude is fine but you need someone to tell that solitude is fine.” — Honoré de Balzac

“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“Every man takes the limits of his own field of vision for the limits of the world.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

“Make it a rule never to give a child a book you would not read yourself.” — George Bernard Shaw

Martin Luther King Jr.: In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

“You never know what worse luck your bad luck has saved you from.” — Cormac McCarthy

Eleanor Roosevelt: Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway.

The history books quietly bypassed is that Barack Obama, during the most pressure-saturated nights of his presidency, would retreat alone to the Treaty Room on the second floor of the White House residence — not to strategize, not to take calls, but to handwrite personal letters to ten ordinary American citizens every single night, a practice he maintained with almost monastic devotion across all eight years, selecting the letters himself from the 40,000 that arrived daily at the White House, and his longtime correspondence director Fiona Reese confirmed that Obama would often weep privately while reading certain letters, folding them carefully before writing responses so personally detailed and emotionally present that recipients frequently described the experience of receiving them as the most significant moment of their lives, with one Ohio steelworker writing back to say that Obama's letter had physically stopped him from making a decision that would have permanently altered his family's future. What makes this practice almost unbearably moving is the detail that surfaced later — Obama never used a computer for these letters, always a black felt-tip pen, always legal yellow paper first as a draft, always rewritten onto White House stationery by hand a second time, because he believed, as he told historian Doris Kearns Goodwin in a rare private conversation later recounted in her 2018 work, that the physical act of pressing pen to paper forced a quality of attention that typing simply could not replicate, a philosophy rooted in his years as a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago from 1992 to 2004 where he developed the conviction that democracy only functions when its leaders remain genuinely, uncomfortably close to the specific gravity of individual human suffering rather than processing it from behind the insulating distance of institutions and screens." 

 Mr PitBull

@MrPitbull07

Feb 22

Basic Cornbread from Moosewood Cookbook

 Basic Corn Bread- The Moosewood Cookbook

Ingredients

Butter to grease the pan

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt (I used 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup organic vanilla yogurt)
1 egg
3 tablespoons sugar or honey (I used coconut sugar)
3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease an 8-inch square pan (or a 9-10 inch cast-iron skillet) with butter.

Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl.  Combine wet ingredients, including sugar/honey, separately.  Stir wet ingredients into dry, mixing just enough to thoroughly combine.  Spread into the prepared pan.

The batter is relatively thick- much thicker than other cornbread recipes I've tried. No cause for concern; it turns out great!

Bake 20 minutes, or until the center is firm to the touch.  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature. 

https://3blessings.blogspot.com/2012/01/this-week-moosewood-cookbooks-basic.html

*************************************************************** 

Emily's SOURDOUGH RYE STARTER ADAPTATION

I cup rye sourdough discard, 1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt, 4 TBS butter

 

Sourdough Cornbread

 https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/sourdough-cornbread-recipe

Recipe by Martin Philip

Move aside, flavorless cornbread! Sourdough discard adds a slight tang that balances the slight sweetness typical of northern cornbread. Browned butter, which is made in the cast iron skillet as the oven preheats, brings nuttiness, gorgeous speckles, and crisp, flavorful edges. If your cornbread is still pale on the surface when the baking time is up, broil it briefly for extra toastiness. 

Prep15 mins

Bake 15 mins

Total 45 mins

Yield one 10" cornbread

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (113g) unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups (150g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup (138g to 156g) yellow cornmeal*
• 1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (227g to 241g) sourdough starter, unfed/discard
• 1/3 cup (76g) milk, whole preferred
• 2 large eggs

*The weight of cornmeal varies by brand; Quaker cornmeal weighs 156g per cup while Indian Head whole cornmeal weighs 138g per cup. 

Instructions

1. Place the butter in a 10" cast iron skillet and place in a cold oven; set the oven to 425°F. The butter will melt and eventually brown as the oven preheats, about 15 to 20 minutes. While this happens, prepare the remaining ingredients. 

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sourdough discard, milk, and eggs until homogenous.  

3. Once the butter has melted, it will separate, foam, then change from light yellow to golden brown in spots as the milk solids toast. When the butter is golden brown with some darker bits, carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and set it aside to cool briefly, 2 to 3 minutes.  

4. Pour most of the butter into the wet ingredients while stirring, leaving a generous tablespoon in the pan to grease the bottom and sides. (Swirl the pan gently so the butter coats the sides.) Once the butter is incorporated, stir the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing until everything is homogenous.  

5. Transfer the batter into the cast iron pan and spread it into an even layer. Return the pan to the oven. 

6. Bake the sourdough cornbread for about 15 minutes, until it’s set, golden around the edges, and light brown on top. If, after 15 minutes, the edges are brown but the top remains light, broil briefly until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.  

7. Remove the cornbread from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan briefly before serving warm or at room temperature. Cornbread is best enjoyed the day it's made. 

8. Store any leftover sourdough cornbread, well-wrapped, at room temperature for 1 day; freeze for longer storage. Toast leftover slices of cornbread and slather in butter, jam, or honey. 

Nebraska Spider Bread

Nebraska Spider Bread  The Spider is the name of the Cast iron pot it is baked in.

There’s an International Dutch Oven Society. (re-posted from my other blog, the insomniacs kitchen)

My mother got this recipe from Avi when they first moved to Massachusetts in 1975. I found this written out on a lined yellow recipe card the other day. Nebraska Spider Bread named after the cast iron spider pan. Which was a cast iron Dutch oven pot with legs.
serves 5-6 preheat oven to 375
1 and 1/4 cups coarse corn meal
1 Tbsp dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 Tablespoon melted butter or corn oil or bacon fat
5 eggs beaten
2 and 1/2 cups buttermilk or 2 and 1/2 cups of milk and a half teaspoon of white vinegar or yogurt diluted with milk to make one and a half cups
3 Tablespoons butter or oil
Mix dry ingredients + add to the mixed liquids. Melt butter in 10" Spider pan or cast iron Dutch oven. Tip grease all over, then add batter. bake 30 minutes in preheated 375 oven. Serve hot with butter maple syrup or honey. Do not overcook the eggs they set a bit after your remove the pot from the oven.

Butter vs. Margarine

 Nutrition Smack Down: Butter vs. Margarine

February 24, 2023

Cooking at home can be a great way to cut down on calories and fats, and take control of your eating habits. But how much do you really know about your go-to ingredients?

Whether you opt for butter or margarine, you’re bound to consume some fat. But the trick, according to Jamie Allers, RD, with Hartford HealthCare’s Digestive Health Institute, is choosing the right ones.

Butter

Made from heavy cream, butter is notoriously high in saturated fat. These fats raise “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein, or LDL), which can increase your risk of heart disease.

Here’s the upside – butter is rich in nutrients like calcium, and contains compounds linked to lower chances of obesity. It’s high in beta-carotene, a compound that your body converts into vitamin A, which lowers risks of lung and prostate cancer. It also contains vitamin D, vital for bone growth and development, and vitamin E, which plays a role in skin health.

Margarine

Fortunately, not all fat is bad. Unlike butter, margarine is high in unsaturated fats, which can lower cholesterol and improve overall heart health.

But margarine is also high in trans fats, Allers cautions. “Trans fats are the worst type of fat for you,” says Allers. “It’s so bad that there is now legislation across the country that regulates manufacturers’ use of trans fats in their products.”

These are particularly dangerous, because in addition to raising bad cholesterol, they also lower levels of good cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein, or HDL).

Keep your options open

Luckily, butter and margarine aren’t the only options. On your next trip to the grocery store, look for butter alternatives made with olive or avocado oil, or butters made with milk from grass-fed cows. These are higher in vitamin A, beta-carotene and omega-3 fats, which help prevent heart disease and stroke, may help control lupus, eczema, and rheumatoid arthritis, and play protective roles in cancer and other conditions.

But remember to always check the product labels, Allers warns. Butter substitutes can be full of additives, both natural and chemical.

Day 1461 of Putin’s Three-Day War Courage, betrayal — and reasons for hope Paul Krugman

 https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/day-1461-of-putins-three-day-war

Blizzard

This morning we woke early and laid in bed wondering how we were going to navigate the dogs in the snow. First step was opening the back door which was completely covered in snow.  I went out with them, trudging down the back stairs in deep snow so they could pee. Then we came inside and as I fed them my husband shoveled the steps and a path 10 feet into the small yard. It worked out well although the dogs were not happy pooping in the ferocious wind and snow. We are inside now although our neighbors H&L work the night shift and they just came home and are trying to shovel a path to get their jeep into the parking lot.

I made hard boiled eggs and hummus yesterday and it's delicious on homemade bread toasted and a few raw scallions. 

We shoveled again to let the dogs pee again, and it has filled in again! 

This is the real deal blizzard. The wind is whipping. 

To hell with grammar, but only if you know the grammar first. To hell with formality, but only if you have learned what it means to be formal. To hell with plot, but you had better at some stage make something happen. To hell with structure, but only if you have thought it through so thoroughly that you can safely walk through your work with your eyes closed.

COLUM McCANN

Psychoanalysts in France, structuralists in the United States and France, conservative, liberal and left-wing thinkers in contemporary schools of linguistic philosophy agree about one thing; man became man not by the tool but by the Word. It is not walking upright and using a stick to dig for food or strike a blow that makes a human being, it is speech. And neither intelligent apes nor dolphins whispering marvels in the ocean share with us the ability to transform this direct communication into the written word, which sets up an endless chain of communication and commune between peoples and generations who will never meet.

NADINE GORDIMER

Wim Wenders: “movies can change the world,” but “not in a political way.” “No movie has really changed any politician’s idea. But we can change the idea people have of how they should live,” he continued. “There’s a big discrepancy on this planet between people who want to live their lives and governments who have other ideas. So I think films enter that discrepancy.”

 https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/wim-wenders-berlinale-stay-out-of-politics-1236659726/

Wim Wenders “We have to stay out of politics because if we make movies that are dedicatedly political, we enter the field of politics. But we are the counterweight of politics, we are the opposite of politics. We have to do the work of people, not the work of politicians.”

“Every film is political. Most political of all are those that pretend not to be: 'entertainment' movies. They are the most political films there are because they dismiss the possibility of change. In every frame they tell you everything's fine the way it is. They are a continual advertisement for things as they are.” ― Wim Wenders

"Every photo, every ‘once’ in time is also the beginning of a story… Every photo is the first frame of a movie." – Wim Wenders

 

Wim Wenders:Images are no longer what they used to be. They can’t be trusted any more. We all know that. You know that. When we grew up, images were telling stories and showing them. Now they’re all into selling. They’ve changed under our very eyes. They don’t even know how to do it anymore. They’ve plain forgotten. Images are selling out the world. And at a big discount.

 

“That's how it begins, making a film, writing a book, painting a picture, composing a tune, generally creating something. You have a wish. You wish that something might exist, and then you work on it until it does.” ― Wim Wenders, The Logic of Images: Essays and Conversations

“What is it in the human condition that tries to impose our own view onto others, without the ability, capacity, propensity, to receive somebody else's openly?” ― Wim Wenders, Inventing Peace: A Dialogue on Perception

“I think seeing happens partly through the eyes, but not entirely.” ― Wim Wenders

“Stories give people the feeling that there is meaning, that there is ultimately an order lurking behind the incredible confusion of appearances and phenomena that surrounds them. This order is what people require more than anything else.” ― Wim Wenders, The Logic of Images: Essays and Conversations

“For me, black and white is more realistic than colour. Black and white can be colourful, and colour can be very black and white.” ― Wim Wenders

My feeling about reunions is— high school was bad enough. Why go back? George Bilgere

Kitchen Bloopers: 40 years ago I made lemon sesame chicken and cooked it in the marinade (!!) and it was like chicken ala Mr. Clean. AWFUL!! It was the first time my now husband came over! I still am embarrassed.

2 weeks ago I made apple pie and the sticker was still there, baked on the apple slice!

We Still Carry our Lunch

 

Deborah McDowell ‪@dem8z.bsky.social‬ Dayum. Just heard a minister say, as perhaps only Black ministers can, “We will fight until hell freezes over, and then we will fight on the ice.” I’m stealing that!!

Blackstone Bomber

The neighbors knew he was off because he built a million hodge-podge ugly fences around his yard. He fought with his neighbors over lot lines, and with the town zoning board over what he could build in his yard. He had a crazy dog that he would walk and let shit in your yard. When his neighbor Jane asked him to clean up after his dog squatted a big poop on her property he just said FUCK YOU and kept walking. She is 80 and lives alone behind him.

The recent news is he put a two way surveillance camera on his tree aimed at his trash bin and left the bin out all week as a trap. So when anyone walks by he shouts through the speaker FUCK YOU GET AWAY FROM MY TRASH. I think he might be the notorious Blackstone Bomber because he is off his rocker, but he's probably not intelligent enough to make bombs. I can only imagine the poor boy was violated as a child and is not bright enough to get help. So he is working out his violation with fencing and trash bins and two-way cameras. Poor chap.

ALERT: BLIZZARD WARNING 4 PM Sunday to 7 AM Tuesday

Alert: Blizzard Warning issued February 21 at 12:29PM EST until February 24 at 7:00AM EST by NWS Boston/Norton MA A blizzard warning is in effect for your area from 4 PM Sunday to 7 AM Tuesday EST, with expected snow accumulation between 1 and 2 feet and winds gusting up to 60 mph.  Summarized by Yahoo Scout Was this message summary helpful?      To:  me · Sat, Feb 21 at 12:35 PM    ⚠️ Blizzard Warning In Your Area     Blizzard Warning issued February 21 at 12:29PM EST until February 24 at 7:00AM EST by NWS Boston/Norton MA     BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM SUNDAY TO 7 AM EST TUESDAY     Instruction: Travel should be restricted to emergencies only. If you must travel, have a winter survival kit with you. If you get stranded, stay with your vehicle.     Description: * WHAT...Blizzard conditions expected. Total snow accumulations between 1 and 2 feet. Winds gusting as high as 60 mph. * WHERE...Portions of eastern, northeastern, and southeastern Massachusetts and northern and southern Rhode Island. This includes Boston to Providence corridor. * WHEN...From 4 PM Sunday to 7 AM EST Tuesday. * IMPACTS...Visibilities may drop below 1/4 mile due to falling and blowing snow. The strong winds and weight of snow on tree limbs may down power lines and could cause power outages. Whiteout conditions are expected and will make travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening. Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The hazardous conditions will impact the Monday morning and evening commutes. Strong winds could cause tree damage. 

Anne Lamott "The love of our dogs and cats is the closest most of us will come to knowing the direct love of God on this side of eternity." ~@ANNELAMOTT

 

Bob Golen: trump wins gold in downhill presidency

The Way they Were

 

Lulu's back in Town

In early January the Blackstone MA animal rescue officer received a call about a dog someone needed to drop off. "Sorry, but you're outside our jurisdiction," was the reply. Because the caller lived in Woonsocket, they were told they needed to go to Woonsocket's facility. But because the Woonsocket animal control building is under construction, they would have to drop the dog at the Woonsocket Police Department. The people were too scared to do that so they drove to Blackstone, just a mile away, and let the dog loose.

Soon after, the Blackstone animal rescue officers, Kevin and Susan, started receiving calls from residents about a loose dog, and they went out and picked her up. I saw her picture and immediately filled out an application for adoption. After waiting the allotted days without being claimed, she was brought to Tufts for spaying and vaccines and a microchip. I went to meet her when she was allowed to be adopted and then Bill met her and then Romeo dog met her. We adopted her February 1st, and decided to name her Lulu.

She and Romeo are becoming good friends. We took Lulu for her lyme and lepto shots part one of two and fecal test this week. She is being treated for the Giardia parasite common at kennels. 

We love her! 

I have three treasures that I cherish and hold dear. The first is love, the second is moderation, the third is humility. With love one is fearless. With moderation one is abundant. With humility one can fill the highest position. Now if one is fearless but has no love, abundant but has no moderation, rises up but has no humility, surely he is doomed. Lao Tzu

‪Dare Obasanjo‬: Other countries are arresting people on the Epstein list, America decided to make its most frequent flier its president and is now going to give him a war with Iran as a distraction. This is not a serious country.

I was walking my dogs on Montcalm Avenue in Blackstone Massachusetts and the trash bins were on the street today. I tossed in the poop bag and an empty plastic yogurt container I picked up from the sidewalk. The surveillance camera shouted at me, Get the fuck away from my trash! I have met the folks and dog who live there. No cars were in the driveway so someone was shouting at me from a remote location. Fascinating. Cowardly.

I had never met a Briard dog until just now in the waiting room at the vet's office. Apparently Thomas Jefferson had them. They are French herding dogs.

The dog was huge and reminded me of the children's book by Tomi Ungerer called THE BEAST of MONSIEUR RACINE. I told the woman  with the dog about the book and she was out the door to get a copy for her 5 year old grand daughter. "She loves books!"

"The Beast of Monsieur Racine" by Tomi Ungerer, published in 1971. 

In this story, a retired tax collector named Monsieur Racine discovers a strange-looking creature eating the award-winning pears in his garden. The creature is described as a large, lumpy, weirdly shaped beast, which the community treats as a scientific wonder. 

However, the twist is that the "beast" is actually just two children from next door hiding under a disguise of blankets, rags, and skins. The secret is revealed in a dramatic scene at the Academy of Sciences in Paris when the children break into giggles and come apart from their disguise.

 

Giardiasis is common in densely populated environments, such as kennels, pet stores, or animal shelters.

 https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/giardia-in-dogs

Public health can’t survive another year of this

Take chances in the interest of clarity of emotion.

Tell the whole truth. Don't be lazy, don't be afraid. Close the critic out when you are drafting something new. Take chances in the interest of clarity of emotion.

JANE KENYON

'By using words well, writers strengthen their souls... And their words make the souls of their readers stronger, brighter, deeper.’ — Ursula K. Le Guin

Corn Rye Wheat Barley Oat Sourdough

I ground up the barley and the wheat in the coffee grinder. 

It came out great!

Bull Clasp Leashes are Secure!

 *

Vegetable Soup and Apple Pie

I made a vat of everything soup again. This has turkey base with peas potato corn tomato kale garbanzo white bean herbs spices salt vinegar. Vegetable soup and apple pie are winter staples in my house.

‪Chris Pariso‬: US getting absolutely destroyed in the Epstein Olympics.

Provoking Trouble Again

Exclusive: US plans online portal to bypass content bans in Europe and elsewhere By Simon Lewis, Humeyra Pamuk and Gram Slattery February 18, 20268:56 PM UTC Updated ago A woman views her phone as she walks past street art on a wall in London, Britain A woman views her phone as she walks past street art on a wall in London, Britain, December 18, 2019. REUTERS/Toby Melville Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab      Summary     Companies      Launch planned for last week was delayed     Portal team includes former DOGE member Coristine     Officials discussed including a VPN function  WASHINGTON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department is developing an online portal that will enable people in Europe and elsewhere to see content banned by their governments including alleged hate speech and terrorist propaganda, a move Washington views as a way to counter censorship, three sources familiar with the plan said. The site will be hosted at "freedom.gov," the sources said. One source said officials had discussed including a virtual private network function to make a user's traffic appear to originate in the U.S. and added that user activity on the site will not be tracked.  Sign up here. Headed by Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy Sarah Rogers, the project was expected to be unveiled at last week's Munich Security Conference but was delayed, the sources said. Reuters could not determine why the launch did not happen, but some State Department officials, including lawyers, have raised concerns about the plan, two of the sources said, without detailing the concerns. The project could further strain ties between the Trump administration and traditional U.S. allies in Europe, already heightened by disputes over trade, Russia’s war in Ukraine and President Donald Trump’s push to assert control over Greenland. The portal could also put Washington in the unfamiliar position of appearing to encourage citizens to flout local laws. In a statement to Reuters, a State Department spokesperson said the U.S. government does not have a censorship-circumvention program specific to Europe but added: “Digital freedom is a priority for the State Department, however, and that includes the proliferation of privacy and censorship-circumvention technologies like VPNs." The spokesperson denied any announcement had been delayed and said it was inaccurate that State Department lawyers had raised concerns. The Trump administration has made free speech, particularly what it sees as the stifling of conservative voices online, a focus of its foreign policy including in Europe and in Brazil. Europe's approach to free speech differs from the U.S., where the Constitution protects virtually all expression. The European Union's limits grew from efforts to fight any resurgence of extremist propaganda that fueled Nazism including its vilification of Jews, foreigners and minorities. U.S. officials have denounced EU policies that they say are suppressing right-wing politicians, including in Romania, Germany and France, and have claimed rules like the EU's Digital Services Act and Britain's Online Safety Act limit free speech. The EU delegation in Washington, which acts like an embassy for the 27-country bloc, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the U.S. plan. In rules that fall most heavily on social media sites and large platforms like Meta's (META.O), opens new tab Facebook and X, the EU restricts the availability — and in some cases requires rapid removal — of content classified as illegal hate speech, terrorist propaganda or harmful disinformation under a group of rules, laws and decisions since 2008. FRICTION WITH EUROPEAN REGULATORS Rogers of the State Department has emerged as an outspoken advocate of the Trump administration position on EU content policies. She has visited more than half a dozen European countries since taking office in October and met with representatives of right-wing groups that the administration says are being oppressed. The department did not make Rogers available for an interview. In a National Security Strategy published in December, the Trump administration warned that Europe faced "civilisational erasure" because of its migration policies. It said the U.S. would prioritize "cultivating resistance to Europe's current trajectory within European nations." EU regulators regularly require U.S.-based sites to remove content and can impose bans as a measure of last resort. X, which is owned by Trump ally Elon Musk, was hit with a 120 million-euro fine in December for noncompliance. Germany, for example, in 2024 issued 482 removal orders for material it deemed supported or incited terrorism and forced providers to take down 16,771 pieces of content. Similarly, Meta's oversight board in 2024 ordered the removal of a Polish political party's posts that used a racial slur and depicted immigrants as rapists, a content category EU law treats as illegal hate speech. Calling the U.S. plan "a direct shot" at European rules and laws, former State Department official Kenneth Propp, who worked on European digital regulations and is now at the Atlantic Council’s Europe Center, said freedom.gov "would be perceived in Europe as a U.S. effort to frustrate national law provisions." Also involved in the U.S. portal effort is Edward Coristine, a former member of Musk's job-slashing Department of Government Efficiency, two sources said. Coristine works with the National Design Studio, created by Trump to beautify government websites. Reuters was unable to reach Coristine for comment. It was not clear what advantages the U.S. government portal would offer users that are not available from commercial VPNs. The web address freedom.gov was registered on January 12, according to the federal registry get.gov. On Wednesday, the site had no content but showed the National Design Studio's logo, the words "fly, eagle, fly" and a log-in form. Before Trump's second term, the U.S. government helped fund commercial VPNs and other tools as part of efforts to promote democracy globally and help users access free information in China, Iran, Russia, Belarus, Cuba, Myanmar and other countries.  Reporting by Simon Lewis, Humeyra Pamuk and Gram Slattery; Additional reporting by Gabriel Stargardter in Paris; Editing by Don Durfee and Cynthia Osterman

The Monster is Backed Against the Wall So he's going to Launch a War

 All of this to protect pedophiles.

BREAKING: The Department of Education has ended its directive that attempted to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in schools nationwide. This is a victory for academic freedom and education equity.

 

Marc Turnes‬ ‪@turnesfurnace.bsky.social‬

· 18h

Sounds like they're aware of their losing the "culture war" which can also be rephrased as: "They're aware that they're losing the war on basic human decency." Regardless of how you say it -- this is good news for all of America.

‪F.LyonDeWall‬ ‪@flyondewall.bsky.social‬

· 17h

hate to be that ointmentfly, but I view all this as a pressure relief tactic and tho we should take in every win... We definitely need to be aware of the frog/pot analogy. I hate that we're normalizing living under fascism, imo everything needs to stop, be dealt w/. Instead clap for lil'wins boiling

‪yankeewitch.bsky.social‬ ‪@yankeewitch.bsky.social‬

· 17h

1. I think you're right that the regime is tossing out scraps as a diversion. Like Obama said, we need to stay focused on everything, with the highest priority being closing the concentration camps. 2. I am totally plagiarizing the term "ointmentfly".

‪mosey239.bsky.social‬ ‪@mosey239.bsky.social‬

· 17h

There will be more of this as we head toward the midterms. Stay focused.

Mrs. Betty Bowers‬ ‪@mrsbettybowers.bsky.social‬ · 13h If someone had told me ten years ago that in 2026, there could be evidence of the president raping and threatening to kill children, and he would *still* be allowed to stay in office, I would have politely asked them to put down the meth pipe.

US judge throws out immigration board's ruling endorsing Trump mass detention policy

"Respondents have far crossed the boundaries of constitutional conduct," Sykes wrote.

 

you have to be there for that person

“It’s not enough just to send someone to detox – you have to be there for that person,” Baker said. “Because a lot of people on Mass. and Cass are alone. They don’t have anyone, and so they leave detox and go straight back to the streets. But if you have even one person there to support you and push you, like they did with me, then you can get your life back on track.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/18/metro/mass-and-cass-enforcement-drugs-homeless/

Goya Flourless Chocolate Bean Cake

https://www.goya.com/en/recipes/flourless-chocolate-bean-cake/

https://www.thepancakeprincess.com/flourless-black-bean-chocolate-cake-gluten-free/

Bacon-Cooking Method: Baking on Parchment Paper  Total Time: 18 minutes (regular-cut bacon); 24 minutes (thick-cut bacon) + 10 minutes oven preheating time  About This Method: Martha Stewart’s technique promises a “spatter-free” way to get “perfectly crispy bacon.” You simply line one or two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper, arrange the bacon on top, and bake at 400°F until it is crisped to your liking. When the bacon is done, you transfer it to a paper towel–lined plate or platter to drain.  Results  Because the bacon sits in its own rendered fat as it bakes, it cooks more quickly than if you cooked it on a rack. The fatty parts also get wonderfully crispy (if you like that), because they’re basically fried. If you prefer your bacon chewier, you can simply cook it a few minutes less to achieve that effect.  Both regular- and thick-cut slices cooked evenly and completely flat, without any need to flip them as they cooked.  One cleanup tip: Make sure to cut a large-enough sheet of parchment paper so that there is overhang on all sides. Then fold the excess up so that the drippings don’t seep through any cracks. I tried this (it’s not shown in the photo) and when the bacon came out of the pan, I let the drippings cool slightly, lifted up the parchment, and directed the drippings into a container for storage. I threw away the parchment and inspected the pan — there was not a trace of grease. It went back in the cabinet without even a rinse.  My Takeaway: I loved the texture and appearance of this bacon, and that it cooks hands-free with no babysitting. I also loved that this method works for a few slices or up to 20, and that, if you use the overhang trick, cleanup is just so incredibly easy.    Bottom Line: Effortless cleanup (that allows you to save drippings), pretty slices, and easy control of the crispiness or chewiness of the bacon. This method has it all.