Twitter diaspora. Agamemnon sucks: we do the fighting, he gets the girls. (Oregonian. Mediator/lawyer/writer; bylines in The Guardian, Alternet, HuffPost/OffTheBus, more.) Dad of the best adult kids ever; 3+ decade husband to the best woman ever. Ex-mountain rescue volunteer, USFS firefighter, aircrash litigator, prosecutor, swimming pool digger, bartender. Other stuff. Kindness is king.
Public Key
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2026-05-13T08:09:52Z Event JSON
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Last Notes npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Trying to think up a new sign for tomorrow's #NoKings protest. There's so much wrong I can't even begin deciding which one to point out. Open to suggestions. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Wow. The same guy who instantly caved to Trump's threats to big law firms finally resigns – not because he's a quisling, but because it turns out he's also associated with Epstein. https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/leader-of-paul-weiss-resigns-over-epstein-ties-940031fc?st=7qhqs1&reflink=article_copyURL_share npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. "[N]ew documents confirm in the government’s own words that what prompted the raid was more pedestrian [than Tren de Aragua]: allegations that immigrants were squatting in the complex. And the landlord had given federal officials, who were already targeting immigrants in Chicago, the blessing to search the building. https://www.propublica.org/article/chicago-venezuela-immigration-ice-raid-landlord-tren-de-aragua?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=mastodon-post npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. It's a beautiful planet we inherited. I feel lucky. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/116/004/518/616/643/442/original/12dd06ec93f0a44b.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. whYDOn'T yOu usE Ai??? https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/985/380/591/966/450/original/a6c7e71fbf981f20.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Bad news: there is erotic Trump fan fiction. Amusing news: it's "a strain of homoeroticism unprecedented in American politics." Inside the World of Erotic Trump Fan Fiction (from 2018): https://medium.com/mel-magazine/inside-the-world-of-erotic-trump-fan-fiction-23b812a9914e npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. And also for killing Indians and keeping enslaved people in line, of course. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Take a handling/safety class; then take a bird hunting class; buy a shotgun for [waves arms wildly at current events] and for food hunting in the event the economy completely collapses; then store it in a locked offsite location with keys to facility + trigger lock held by two different people so just one can't access? Reasoning in comments, please. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Heads up: eBay just sent an email updating their terms of service to add mandatory arbitration of any disputes. To opt OUT of arbitration, you need to send an opt-out notice, on paper, by mail, within 30 days. Here's the link to the notice form: https://pages.ebay.com/policies/arbitrate-optout.html Note: I'm a lawyer and an arbitrator, and I opted out. #enshittification #ebay npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. I mean, he was paid to make LPs like this: Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_Speaks_Out_Against_Socialized_Medicine https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/918/238/533/316/295/original/494d44e1f1bb68ea.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. People forget that the Boomers were the hippies. They were the antiwar protestors. They were the kids mowed down at Kent State. They were the greatest generation of musicians of all time. They invented Earth Day. The main thing they did wrong is that after spending the Sixties believing you can't trust the government, they fell for Reagan's con job in 1980 when he pretended that's what Republicans believed too. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Look, I'm not saying Canada should surround and seize Washington D.C. to save us from fascism. I'm just saying that in case they *do*, I've plotted out three invasion routes they could use without being cut off from certain critical supplies. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/901/265/761/460/688/original/2fa07df74e0aaf0f.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Okay, you're doing terribly. As did I, at waaaaay too many stress points in my parenting. Like, 6'3 250 lb man yelling in years and anger at daughters. Bad. They're both in their thirties now, and love me and forgive me and are kind to me, because they say at least I was always honest and had the strength to apologize and keep trying to do better. So I won't tell you you're doing fine. But I'm pretty confident you'll do better, and your son will turn out fine. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Location list/map for tomorrow's nationwide "ICE Out for Good" protests endorsed by the ACLU: https://www.mobilize.us/?tag_ids=29132&utm_source=aclu npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. And The Catcher In the Rye is garbage, absolute garbage. I love everything else Salinger wrote but this novel belongs in the shredder. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Ten years ago: "Trump to declare end to nation building, if elected president." https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-declare-end-nation-building-elected-president https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/834/999/201/533/806/original/02111875713f3123.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. I think the Chambord is similar but would be an improvement! npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Sorry, I was thinking of kirsch, but it's not even that. Bols black raspberry liqueur (basically raspberry brandy). The Carny's Third Sidepiece: Brandy 1.5 oz, blackberry liqueur 1 oz, grenadine 1/2 oz, over ice, topped off with 2-3 oz soda. Garnish with real maraschino cherry. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/793/224/703/793/780/original/59386e85c36c9328.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. On Christmas an adult kid wanted a sweet strong cocktail so I invented one: blackberry kolsch + grenadine + brandy + soda. To my family's dismay and amusement and because it's fundamentally tacky yet stimulating, I named it "The Carny's Third Sidepiece." npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. I gave both adult kids copies "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" by Becky Chambers, with an inscription saying that I'll keep fighting to leave them a better world but in the meantime here's one they can live in for at least a few hours. #MonkAndRobot And when my wife finally wakes up, for her Dec. 26 (!) birthday I'll give her the battery-powered chainsaw she's been jonesing for. (Yes. She's 71 and wants her own chainsaw.) npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. How did you keep her out of the water? npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. I can't get past it running the Oscar over the infinitely better Pulp Fiction. Yes, I am a bitter, angry old man. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Thanks for sharing that! Also, fun fact: for 19th century young people, the "one horse open sleigh" was the equivalent of the later "Little Deuce Coupe": it was fast so they'd hold races (ergo the bit about getting flipped over on a snowbank), AND it could only hold two passengers (so young men and women could talk – and maybe more – without a chaperone sitting in the back seat). Yes, "Jingle Bells" is about drag racing and making out. It's "American Graffiti" v.19c. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/770/398/223/031/795/original/a253d770f43e8fe2.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Here, have still MORE Christmas stuff. We all getting in the right mood now? https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/765/779/475/646/493/original/e69edb845a39ebbc.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Here, have some more Christmas stuff. Ho ho ho and yippie kay-yay. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/760/635/221/503/457/original/bd3f9cf7463ea0b7.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Here, have some Christmas stuff. Ho ho ho etc. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/749/113/297/209/264/original/a4636823d788fde9.jpg https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/749/113/302/476/804/original/c0bdd25f9bce183a.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. I think you're exactly right, and also it's hilarious that she just gave it away instead of writing a tell-all sure $$$ whenever she ended up getting fired as she eventually would have anyway. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Oh no!!! Soldiers on elephants are crossing the Siskiyous and converging on Sacramento!!! Turns out the "C" actually stands for "Carthage"!!! npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Wonder if you could do the old fraternity house trick and inject a watermelon with Pedialyte instead of vodka. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Aw, man, the accused DC pipe bomber was a *Black* Trumpie. I'm pretty sure that right there would make a successful insanity defense. Pipe bomb suspect believed in 2020 election conspiracies, reports say, as new details about his background are revealed | The Independent https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/brian-cole-jan-6-pipe-bomb-what-to-know-b2878950.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Happy Krampusnacht to those who celebrate. It's the most magical night of the year! https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/668/091/116/536/585/original/17b5b60d8a42a5db.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Taps mic, points to sign: https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/662/574/602/598/205/original/429cfa6589b06b8d.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Nice to see him up and about! npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Our local Home Depot operates a Flock license plate reader camera. Because of course they do. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/622/731/044/383/497/original/f75f197a44c77f58.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. A perfect beach break like that, and yet you and Summer didn't surf? Wimps. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. John Oliver is holding an online auction to raise money for public media (in response to Trump's fzcking budget cuts), and the items up for auction are amazeballs! The Bob Ross painting is over a million dollars now! https://e.givesmart.com/events/LYw/i/ npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Okay but what if in our personal experience he actually is that person? npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. This is the correct answer: https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/549/359/279/324/055/original/21b559c4636e2611.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Because Himalayan blackberries are both prolific and invasive here. No one needs to buy one, and if they do, it will consume their garden and then their neighbor's garden and then gardens a mile away. (And Luther Burbank, who actually was a great horticulturalist, is who imported them to California, not realizing birds would spread them everywhere.) https://positivebloom.com/risks-of-growing-invasive-blackberries-you-shouldnt-ignore/ npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Damn, I love being more literate than they are. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/540/387/733/703/801/original/df627b75c1e0ef98.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Capitalism at its very worst (at least to gardeners in Oregon's Willamette Valley): #evil #gardening #EffLutherBurbank https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/540/344/035/193/645/original/297aa7a8948f0614.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Imagine one person at the Jamestown colony having more wheat in his barn than the poorer half of his peers PUT TOGETHER, and not distributing it to his starving community. What would the starving people have done? Imagine one member of the Donner Party having more beef jerky in his saddlebags than half of his fellow travelers COMBINED, so that they are forced to starve while he sits smugly on more than he needs. Who would the others have eaten? Trillionaire Elon Musk has more wealth than the bottom 52% of Americans combined. Hell yes, I would seize 90% of it via tax, spending it for the public benefit and leaving him to struggle on somehow on a mere (does math) $100 billion. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/521/739/455/258/033/original/8e2316a6167384a2.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/521/736/974/908/999/original/37cc69fc1745731d.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/521/732/397/702/606/original/c49a1728aff45f08.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/521/729/931/856/753/original/7c6b07b45b48c52f.mp4 npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Damn: "Michael Wolff, a longtime chronicler of Trump’s White House who conducted extensive interviews with Epstein prior to his death, told The Daily Beast last month that Epstein had shown him photos of Trump with half-naked 'young girls' in his lap." DOJ Admits to Republicans That Epstein Files Are Even Worse for Trump | The New Republic https://newrepublic.com/post/202813/department-justice-admits-republicans-epstein-files-worse-donald-trump npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Okay look all I really need to know is, when my mom pulls out that orange studded with cloves thing over the holidays, can I stay in the room or should I run like hell? npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Oh, my God, no. Not all Westerners like me are aware of the Boundary Waters. We should be. They're beautiful. They're pristine. They're sacred. They should be preserved, not soiled in the interest of protecting the U.S. against the evil hordes of undocumented.... Canadians? https://www.twincities.com/2025/11/04/bwca-federal-bill-allowing-roads-vehicles-border-enforcement/?share=mspecefnwdntmnvev002 ^ @npub1x5z…u3k4 npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Any idea what the appeal is? npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Halloween status update: doing a brisk trade in raw potatoes. 31 y.o. offspring is boggled. Boggled! https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/471/917/296/701/198/original/a6a61034c731e0e5.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. This is how to do Halloween. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/471/775/409/260/800/original/f3b082cb2ca8b28b.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Wait, so you put up your Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving and take them down before Christmas? npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Thanks for being open instead of defensive! Usually I just do a keyword search then look for reputable sources among the garbage. In this case I just searched for the first few words from the plaque to see if I could find an independent description of where it's located (eg a Wikipedia page about it), and the factcheck was in the top few results. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Not actually true. Factcheck things, people! https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2025/10/fact-check-plaque-quoting-fdr-not-in-east-wing.html npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Among other things, Trump tore down the East Wing because one time the coward actually bugged out to the emergency shelter beneath it, and probably was offended that it's isn't as opulent as Mark Zuckerberg's End Times bunker in Hawaii. https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-ap-top-news-george-floyd-politics-a2326518da6b25b4509bef1ec85f5d7f npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. The Bay Area has a lot of tunnels and bridges, especially around Alameda. It's not that hard to completely shut down tunnels and bridges. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Inadvertent upside: when a good person becomes president again and rips out Trumps horrendous balls room, the rebuilt East Wing *won't* have been built by enslaved people! npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Ice axes are what we do with our hands now that no one smokes cigarettes anymore. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. I've been a litigator for nearly four decades. This is a horseshit move. Defendants get to choose their own lawyer. Prosecutors may move to oust James Comey’s defense lawyer - POLITICO https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/19/james-comey-lawyer-criminal-case-00615102 npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. What I'm trying to say is, your dude is a cool dude and you were right to choose him even if times now are challenging. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. SO. FUCKING. COOL. I remember being at a fire camp outside Palm Springs and watching the tankers aiming downward and appearing like they're going to crash then drop their loads and instantly bounce up a couple hundred feet like birds freed from chains and soar away. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Also too? Tanker} pilots are SO. FUCKING. COOL. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. In my 1982 training they told us that a USFS inspector found a pot field and was confronted by the grower with a shotgun but talked his way out of it by explaining that he only was interested in fire conditions and obv. the grower didn't want his crop to burn but then a week later the Mendo sheriff launched a pre-planned raid so the grower assumed the USFS guy had narced and a month later a FS helicopter was downed by rifle fire that hit the engine and the FS elected to report it as merely an engine malfunction because they didn't want to do Hatfields & McCoys. This wisdom has remained with me and informed both my jaw and mediation practices for nearly 40 years now. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. I fought fire in the Eighties in Mendo. We received as much training in not pissing off the dangerous pot growers and how to avoid their booby traps as we did in fire science. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. We're not big pot smokers, but Lyricdancer *is* an inveterate gardener and thought, what the hell, and planted one cannabis plant. One. One plant. Just one. We've harvested, dried and cured about 5 oz of smooth sticky a.f. bud so far (roughly six quart jars), I spent much of the day wet trimming more harvest, three more branches are hanging in our spare bathroom, my fingers are crusty with resin, our house stanks like a 1970s surfer van, and I'm learning to roll joints (which I'm planning to give to our kids). Who said Olds can't learn new things? #cannabis #trees https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/403/921/760/087/876/original/17dc7efc03990172.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that to "celebrate the anniversary of their founding" (read: fzck with Gavin Newsom), the Marines would fire live artillery across I-5. Newsom: But that's dangerous to civilians. Hegseth: Suck it, cowardly libtard! Predictable outcome: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-19/u-s-military-live-fire-demonstration-dropped-shrapnel-on-chp-vehicle http://www.memeorandum.com/251019/p68#a251019p68 npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Stolen from Pastor Brandon on (sigh) FB: https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/381/054/366/248/010/original/6f0037511d6190f9.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. You know who DIDN'T hold naked bike rides on cold rainy days to protest fascism? 1930s Germans. In Weimar Germany, democracy was less than two decades old when Hitler challenged it. The US has far deeper democratic institutions, and a far more profound national culture of valuing egalitarian democracy, than interwar Germany or Italy had. We the People are going to win this thing. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Perfect. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/357/206/628/460/271/original/230027595308861e.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Gonna fish that with a dropper? npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. "Thinking of taking a break from methamphetamine? Heroin is ready to impress!" Please stop helping evil. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. It's surprising how well the 1935 Sinclair Lewis novel "It Can't Happen Here" holds up today. Trump is a mixture of clownish populist blowhard Buzz Windrip and creepy sexual predator Shad Ledue; Stephen Miller clearly is his behind-the-scenes advisor Lee Sarason. I wonder who Gen. Dewey Haik will turn out to be? And how long before we get to the happy part where the fascists start assassinating each other? npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Every writer about #resistance has noted that #fascism asks us to comply in small increments, none of which seems so terrible that it's worth losing our job or social standing over – so that once we finally reach the line we cannot cross, it's too late for noncompliance to make a difference (and possibly fatal to do so). This is a post about every single federal IT person who complied with fascism by inputting the html that placed illegal, dishonest banners on government websites in violation of both the Hatch Act and the Anti-Lobbying Act. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/311/963/078/108/689/original/8f7b5774566ffe44.jpg https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/311/969/436/024/128/original/37a818d6501162b9.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Trump is sending troops to Portland because the previous night Fox News ran "B-roll" footage of the huge, sometimes violent 2020 protests behind a story about the current (small, peaceful) protests at the ICE facility here, and he BELIEVES WHAT HE SAW ON TV IS HAPPENING TODAY: "Trump referenced a weekend conversation with Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, and he alluded to being told by Kotek that the reality in Portland is different from what’s being portrayed to him. "'I spoke to the governor, she was very nice,: Trump said. 'But I said, "Well wait a minute, am I watching things on television that are different from what’s happening? My people tell me different." They are literally attacking and there are fires all over the place…it looks like terrible.'" https://presswatchers.org/2025/09/trump-am-i-watching-things-on-television-that-are-different-from-whats-happening/ npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Today in #TIL: I knew that a mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey. But I *didn't* know that the mule's father (sire) must be the donkey; if the cross is between a horse sire and a donkey mother (dam), then the result isn't a mule, but a "hinny." And mules and hinnies are different both morphologically and in temperament! And check this out: "In general terms, in both these hybrids the foreparts and head of the animal are similar to those of the sire, while the hindparts and tail are more similar to those of the dam." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinny Nature is cool and weird. And also, I learned this going down a rabbit hole while reading an article about tomatoes and potatoes. #asstodon npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Yesterday Lyricdancer and I engaged in a Swiftboat-style river patrol just outside Portland with our Antifa unit (the "Manbun Kerrys"). How are *you" contributing to the war effort? https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/284/272/989/423/535/original/26ad9ecdd51eec1f.jpeg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. On this calm, beautiful Saturday morning, the President of the United States illegally declared war on my peaceful city: "At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter! 9/27/25, 7:19 AM" https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/276/895/402/066/662/original/e5d25fff98e28fed.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. The most dangerous man on earth is billionaire defense/spy agency/surveillance contractor (and JD Vance's sugar daddy) Peter Thiel. Here's more reason to believe that: He is giving secret (!) lectures claiming that AI is God's chosen weapon against evil and anyone who opposes AI is literally helping the Antichrist (which he previously has said might be young environmentalist Greta Thunberg). This isn't a metaphor; he means it literally. This from from a "Christian" who made his billions helping spy agencies, governments, and private companies spy on citizens using facial recognition, AI, and huge secret data collections (which is why he named his company Palantir after the technology JRR Tolkien's evil wizard Sauron used to spy on people and manipulate their beliefs). One of his products, "Palantir Gotham," is an intelligence tool used by police in multiple countries for "predictive policing" (ie, identifying who will commit crimes instead of merely those who already have committed crimes, as in the Tom Cruise sci-fi film "Minority Report"). But he thinks Greta Thunberg is the Antichrist, not himself. And he owns JD Vance. And he's a huge Republican donor, including to Donald Trump. Pay attention. And be afraid. https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/technology/article/palantir-founder-peter-thiel-antichrist-lectures-religion-qzmpth35t?fbclid=IwdGRzaANC0NBjbGNrA0LQy2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEeQi1s68xH44kwo3aV5HOtxF45_acTjXZ5NBDzBJO4lH3_WJxDF7xTwMtQhP4_aem_8j_VCSxdHf3AChGM18whxg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. This is a helpful and frightening perspective on why Americans have such different views of who Charlie Kirk was. Screenshot from FB; original poster's name is in the screenshot but I'm not typing it because she might not want it searchable outside FB: "One thing that has become really clear since yesterday is that we live in at least two different realities. Talking to a friend who only knew Charlie as a Christian motivational speaker because that's all that ever came across her feed. Showed me videos I've never seen before of him saying perfectly reasonable and empowering things. "I showed her videos she'd never seen before of his racism, misogyny, homophobia, advocating for violence against specific groups of people. She was horrified by his remarks about Pelosi's husband's attacker being bailed out and celebrated for his violent act. She was horrified by a number of things that he said, but she had never seen or heard them before, the same as I had never seen or heard the generalized clips of him sounding like a perfectly nice loving man and father. "Neither of us had a whole picture of this man. I mentioned he was a known white supremacist and she thought I was joking. She talked about him giving a speech about finding your purpose and doing good in the world and I thought she was joking. "I saw why this friend was mourning the loss of a person she thought was a good person. My friend, bless her, saw why I feel the way I do about him. We understood each other better. In spite of a multi-billion dollar internet machine specifically focused on keeping us apart. Because we talked to each other with the desire to listen and to learn rather than the desire to change someone else's mind or to be 'right'. "None of those motivational things he said change my opinion about him because they don't erase the negativity, the subtle calls for violence, the belittling and denigrating of other races religions genders etc. His negative and blaming comments about homeless people, the poor, and victims of domestic violence. His comments about rounding up people who didn't think like him and putting them in camps where their behavior could be corrected. That time he said empathy was a made-up word he didn't believe in. That other time he said the Civil Rights Act was a mistake. The time he said most people are afraid when they get on a plane and see that there's a black pilot. His anti-vaccination rhetoric and his active campaigning against people being allowed to wear masks for their own health. His open support of fascism and white supremacy. To me, all of those are fully unchristian sentiments. Those are undeniable and just one of them would be a deal-breaker for me. All of them together are a picture of a man who was polarizing, enraged a lot of people and rightly so, but even with all of that I would never wish upon him or especially his children the end that he got. "Oh, and my friend had never heard, and God help me I don't know how she escaped the news, but she had never heard of the Minnesota legislators who were shot in June. The husband and wife and dog who were killed, one after throwing themselves over their child to protect the child. The other couple who somehow survived. Politically motivated attacks specifically because they were democrats. She learned about those shootings that happened months ago because I showed her Charlie Kirk's comments about them. The kidnapping plot against a female Midwestern Democratic governor. The assassination attempt against Pennsylvania's democratic governor. All things Charlie had plenty to say about while supporting the Second Amendment and bashing the Democratic party. She didn't know about any of it because we're all living in two different worlds and none of us have the whole story." https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/199/282/429/543/962/original/fe6854a9e7b87ad0.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. P.S.: For the blessedly innocent uninitiated, here's Sean Connery (the original James Bond) in "Zardoz": https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/198/735/416/028/809/original/98a59b25c7bae6e1.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. We just watched Zardoz (1974) with Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling. During filming, the cast, crew, and locals reportedly did so many drugs and had so much sex that the small Irish village where it was filmed asked the government for, and was given, a portable STD clinic. This factoid basically describes the movie. https://share.google/siELVkavhFocVs3wG https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/198/643/159/815/465/original/d457c3d8f6980740.mp4 npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. But I hate people who are not only intolerant, but are acting on that intolerance. One side is taking away women's rights and deporting people and in the process of destroying our democracy, and I hate them for that. But my hate is appropriate and righteous, and it seems privileged to ask me to stop hating them before they stop acting out their hate against others. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Charlie Kirk's entire career was, as you put it, "selling hate," which you say (and I agree) is wrong. Ezra Klein literally wrote that it was "right." That's the headline. And David Corn, like you and I, disagreed. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. David Corn > Ezra fucking Klein. No, Charlie Kirk Was Not Practicing Politics the Right Way – Mother Jones https://share.google/t8sWMfSYWdOIUteVP npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Except we ain't shocked and we ain't awed. We're pissed. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Trump is testing the deployment of troops in Black-led/Black-majority cities in preparation for the massive military occupations of Democratic strongholds that will be in place on Election Day 2026. And at the same time, he is trying to eliminate mail voting because it allows vulnerable populations to vote despite hostile occupation of polling places. These urban troop deployments are the beginning of the theft of the midterm elections. Remember this. Keep the long view. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Which is crazy, because as everyone knows (and as I was taught in the USFS in 1981), BLM stands for Bureau of Logging and Mining. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. This is like the time Michael and Dwight followed their GPS's instructions directly into a lake. "Dems’ Messaging Nerds Urged Party Not to Talk About Trump’s Military Takeover" https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/dem-strategists-urged-party-trump-military-takeover-1235415635/ npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Good news: you have lots of choices! https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/101/679/691/463/390/original/822f37915a52040c.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Good. I'll bet he's shocked to find himself in Hell. Focus on the Family Founder James Dobson dies at 89 : NPR https://www.npr.org/2025/08/21/nx-s1-5509575/focus-on-the-family-founder-james-dobson-dies-at-89?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. My fave photo of Summer yet. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. The military occupation of D C. is being justified as a "CRIME EMERGENCY" "Public Safety Surge." And the deployment of troops inside the US is being justified as due to an "invasion" "emergency." In his important book "On Tyranny," historian of fascism Timothy Snyder wrote: "Be alert... to the fatal notions of *emergency* and *exception*... The most intelligent of the Nazis, the legal theorist Karl Schmidt, explained in clear language the essence of fascist governance. The way to destroy all rules, he explained, was to focus on the idea of the *exception*. A Nazi leader outmaneuvers his opponents by manufacturing a general conviction that the present moment is exceptional, and then transforming that state of exception into a permanent emergency. Citizens then trade real freedom for fake safety." There is not a crime emergency in DC. Each of the states sending National Guard troops to DC has cities with higher crime rates than DC, according to the FBI. This, like the deployment on L.A, is just one more stepping stone to complete military occupation of our cities, because as someone else wrote, fascism is colonialism turned inwards. @npub16w5…3gqs @npub1akj…7u7q https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/061/885/845/705/490/original/d10ee47b2a4361cc.png npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Trump's buying bonds, not stocks. He's covering his ass because he knows he's causing a stock market crash soon. Trump bought more than $100 million in bonds since January, filings show (Steve Kopack/NBC News) https://www.nbcnews.com/business/markets/trump-bought-bonds-companies-governments-rcna226024 http://www.memeorandum.com/250820/p47#a250820p47 @npub1q3s…nf8x npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/051/495/710/483/223/original/3dc9749eef0e31a0.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. So basically battling insurance companies burns out doctors to the point that they go to work for the insurance companies? npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Crap. My wallet's missing after we went out with friends last night. Aside from all the credit cards, license, etc., I love that wallet itself. Blue nylon zippered bifold from Eagle Creek. I've had it for at least twenty years and it was still going strong. It really tied the room together. npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security today released a new ICE recruiting poster, under the stilted and sexist tagline, "Which way, American man?" Why did they use that weird language? Because it's a dog whistle, something ordinary humans won't notice but that those attuned to it will respond to. And it's literally a Nazi dog whistle. William Gayley Simpson was a Presbyterian pastor who decided Christianity wasn't workable and consciously decided to become a racist instead. In 1978 he published a book, "Which Way, Western Man?" – a manifesto calling on white men to defeat all other races. Some nuggets include: "Let me preface what I am about to say by declaring frankly that I am prepared to accept violence on the part of our people. The Jews’ hold on our throat is not going to be relaxed until we break their grip. Hitler felt that he had to take to the streets. All normal approach to his people was barred. Today, we are confronted with much the same situation here." "The point is to reveal organized Jewry as a world power entrenched in every country of the White man’s world...." You might think that 1978 is too long ago for anyone to remember, but this book was republished in 2003 by a neo-Nazi group called the National Alliance, and is a bestseller among neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups. In other words, the federal government is recruiting Nazis and other racists to join ICE, which is being deployed in cities across the country and arresting both citizens and non-citizens alike. Folks, this literally is fascism. You think I enjoy posting this stuff here all the time? I don't. But this literally is fascism. They're literally following following the Nazi playbook. And they'll follow it to the very end. Unless we stop them. Sources: https://share.google/nT0dJ8jYEQYeVoLgA https://share.google/TTsKfI8dw9ZZAwCo3 ^ @npub1m2k…3a8f https://universeodon.com/@jaykuo/115017214198700669 https://s3.c.im/media_attachments/files/115/018/815/792/459/788/original/afeb2b073d97820f.jpg npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. There's an even more direct precedent for what's happening in DC (teenagers' attack on a minor fascist official like Big Balls being used as justification for a long-planned assertion of brutal power): the assassination of Ernst vom Rath. "Ernst Eduard vom Rath (3 June 1909 – 9 November 1938) was a German diplomat. He is mainly remembered for his assassination in Paris in 1938 by a Polish Jewish teenager, Herschel Grynszpan, which provided a pretext for Kristallnacht, 'The Night of Broken Glass' on 9–10 November 1938. Historians consider Kristallnacht the beginning of the Holocaust." https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_vom_Rath npub1fdxkhtc8y07vch8nxzjk4v64sslyvmlnk8ldr99ktav5qcj8mvesny5qau M.S. Bellows, Jr. Update: Those Democratic fundraising emails are worse than spam; they're corrupt. "The Mothership Vortex: An Investigation Into the Firm at the Heart of the Democratic Spam Machine How a single consulting firm extracted $282 million from a network of spam PACs while delivering just $11 million to actual campaigns." https://data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-mothership-vortex-an-investigation