evebrowning.bsky.social

“I can verify that Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, having been inducted in 2002 at the University of Minnesota,” Amber Cox, associate secretary and chief operating officer of Phi Beta Kappa, said in a statement.

"In truth, a mature man who uses hair-oil, unless medicinally, that man has probably got a quoggy spot in him somewhere, As a general rule, he can't amount to much in his totality." (Herman Melville, Moby Dick, ch.XXV)

In the midst of so much that is terrifying, independent bookstores and wonderful authors are giving me life, and some peace of mind.

Pete Hegseth displays his sophisticated understanding of the current international conflict: "It takes money to kill bad guys." thehill.com/policy/defen...

Are you having trouble keeping your eels to yourself? The Prior of Hardham understands. In 1400 he accused locals of diverting water from the his stream & stealing his fish. The stream had been good for 4,000 eels per year. But now the Prior complained that he could only get 200! 🗃️🧪

I hate everything Kristi Noem stands for, but Trump firing her with a social media post while she is giving a speech is gratuitous cruelty on his part.

"If an enemy is rich, they are greedy; if he is poor, they crave glory. To robbery, butchery, and rape they give the name of 'government'. They make a desert and call it peace." (Tacitus on Roman invaders; but if the shoe fits...) www.youtube.com/watch?v=5avU...

I can hardly believe it - Supreme Court strikes down Trump's tariffs! www.npr.org/2026/02/20/n...

Born 19 Jan 1943, #JanisJoplin. In 1967, Joplin rose to fame following an appearance at the Monterey Pop Festival, where she was the lead singer of Big Brother & the Holding Company. After releasing 2 albums with the band, she left Big Brother to continue as a solo artist. She died in 1970, aged 27.

Join the U.S. armed forces! You will never know whether your commander-in-chief is sane; you will have to take wild guesses about the legality of your orders; you will be used as political pawns; and then on retirement you can fight the VA for basic health care. 🇺🇸 www.npr.org/2025/12/02/n...

Pete Hegseth's levels of misogyny and moral rottenness have to be way above 'normal' human psychological health, however that's defined. Right into psychotic territory. www.jezebel.com/female-navy-...

Many hands make light work, as my (ruining things) mother used to say.

Right-wing efforts to dismiss yesterday's world-wide rallies are pretty 'sad' this morning. I've seen: 1. There weren't that many people. 2. There were a lot of people but they were all old-looking. 3. And anyway Trump in an AI video drops sewage on them from a plane so har har; Murica!

They are going to make a horrid mess out of the Super Bowl, aren’t they?

"The single garment of destiny to which we are all tied"

The Washington Post sweating to beatify Charlie Kirk this morning, with fawning essays by George Will and Marc Thiessen. Will actually compares Kirk to Socrates. Anyone needing an emetic? Gift link: wapo.st/4gfHvDm

It is very consoling to me that the Minnesota State Fair has a large competition for 'crop art', art made from agricultural seeds, and that this gorgeous thing is one of the entries:

Beautifully written article, asking some deep questions about ways we think about dangerous physical challenges.

The US small-business retail site Etsy has already got hundreds of "fun" items featuring Trump's newest concentration camp; this one, from a spelling-challenged entrepreneur, uses a hateful phrase for black people that I often heard growing up in the segregated south:

Trump and Noem, cackling about their new concentration camp in Florida, tap in to a long racist tradition of "alligator-bait" rhetoric & practice in the US. jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/question/201... They are monsters.

In more news, anything that can kill you is now allowed, and anyone who can stop you getting killed is fired.

Everybody please follow this hilarious account from Heard Island, now newly a target of Trump's laughable tariffs and only occupied by penguins. bsky.app/profile/hear...

Uh oh! According to Herr Doktor Professor Musk, western civilization is doomed. On Wisconsin! www.npr.org/2025/04/01/n...

In case you'd like to send thanks to Senator Cory Booker for his extraordinary effort yesterday and into today, here's the place: www.booker.senate.gov/contact/writ...

I worked a 3-hour shift at my smallish town's Trans Visibility Day event yesterday. I was on Safety Team, and we were told to walk around & try to address any troublesome "guests". I saw only beauty, mutual love, support, and joy. So much joy. Also great tacos! Trump/Hegseth: Leave them alone.

How soon will Musk's band of evil little serpents start announcing their book contracts?

My payment into Social Security (US) started age 16. I was so very proud to be part of a program where the government had planned a retirement program for us. I've paid into it continuously since. It is the best idea ever. You work, you pay in, you retire with some safety. DOGE is killing it.

Once upon a time, billionaires built libraries - literally thousands of them are thanks to Andrew Carnegie - dedicated to "the improvement of mankind". Now another couple of billionaires, who are sick in their souls, want to destroy them, for the opposite effect. dp.la/exhibitions/...

Scary thought I had this morning: U.S. Republicans know that mid-term elections have them vulnerable. In the face of that, they are cheering on Musk & minions as they wreck the government and inflict suffering on all of us. How will they behave AFTER mid-terms, when they have nothing to fear?

Why are they longing for a subserviently grateful Zelenskiy, and raging at his refusal to play that game? Because they themselves are grovelling mewling puking bully-cowards, and his courage shames them to their rotten little cores.

Vivek Ramaswamy just discovered physical education and school playgrounds. Given enough time, these brilliant tech bros will also discover how fun it is to eat paste in class. And then: Musk will invent & patent the spitball. (thanks to Jim Wright for the Xitter quote).

Ever wished for an almost-infallible "Stephen Miller wrote this" detector tool? It's his rhetorical triples. He can't resist them! - dangerous, demeaning and immoral - deny, discredit and undermine - unlawful, corrosive and pernicious (All from Trump's DEI EO of Jan 21)

Just attended a fantastic talk by a faculty member/scientist who works creating robotics for many types of disability therapies. Her recent NSF grant is now in limbo, because "DEI" shutdown. She showed solid evidence of massive life improvements. The U.S. is sprinting backwards into hell.

President Jasmine Crockett. I hope I said it first! Of course many voters in the US would be too stupid and racist to vote for her, but she would be awesome.https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5122727-jasmine-crockett-criticizes-trump-thug/

Even though I tolerated a lot of boiled-down Marxism/Socialism during the good old days, I've love to be a fly on the wall for a good old-fashioned Marxist argument about what's happening now.

There are many things to lament today, but I am taking joy in the fact that I just consulted detailed reviews of "Baby Girl" on (a) Reddit (b) The Evening Standard (UK) and (c) www.slugmag.com/arts/film/fi... I am now going to enjoy watching this film with all these smart people. Hail internet! ~?

If you were writing a character: skinny pimply white male prep-school product, former camp counselor, who gave himself a nickname yearning for larger testicles, and then stole data from central government servers wearing the world's worst haircut, your editor might express some reservations.

People of Greenland: If Donald Trump is offering to "protect and cherish" you, please start running for the exits as fast as possible while rummaging in your pockets for that pepper spray you thought you'd never need.

"Democracy Dies in Darkness". Turns out it wasn't a slogan. It was a mission statement.

Until I checked the Washington Post’s live vote tally for speaker, I did not know Jim Jordan was a candidate. Guess hope springs eternal, no matter how weed-choked the garden.