Colleen Mondor
@chasingray.bsky.social
Aviation journalist, especially on Alaska. Never met a federal database I didn't love. "Probable Cause" newsletter is here: https://colleenmondor.substack.com/
Pinned
Newsletter just went out wherein I talk all about the NDAA and what that means for civilian/military airspace issues and the ROTOR Act which is supposed to fix the NDAA issues and how I'm skeptical and, well, you get the idea. Read it here: colleenmondor.substack.com/p/37-the-ret...
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
December 25, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
Merry Christmas ✨️
December 25, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Merry Christmas ✨️
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
London, 1948
Two Bobbies examine the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree through the smog of a grey December day
#Christmas 🎄
Two Bobbies examine the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree through the smog of a grey December day
#Christmas 🎄
December 24, 2025 at 5:30 PM
London, 1948
Two Bobbies examine the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree through the smog of a grey December day
#Christmas 🎄
Two Bobbies examine the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree through the smog of a grey December day
#Christmas 🎄
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
Suffragette Christmas card from the Women's Social and Political Union, 1909. UK.#Womensart
December 25, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Suffragette Christmas card from the Women's Social and Political Union, 1909. UK.#Womensart
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
Merry Christmas from The Eastside Orangeys plus Gentrification Kitty plus Señor Pretty Kitty.
We all matter or none of us do. And all means all.
Merry Christmas
We all matter or none of us do. And all means all.
Merry Christmas
December 25, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Merry Christmas from The Eastside Orangeys plus Gentrification Kitty plus Señor Pretty Kitty.
We all matter or none of us do. And all means all.
Merry Christmas
We all matter or none of us do. And all means all.
Merry Christmas
George Michael was such a musical gift to the world.
George Michael gets remembered for lots of good reasons. I started to realise there was more to him when Queen had him sing Somebody to Love - a song NOBODY can do - at the Freddie Mercury memorial. The rehearsal was filmed & there's Bowie in the corner looking amazed as George blows the roof off..
December 25, 2025 at 6:11 PM
George Michael was such a musical gift to the world.
What a gift!!!!!
Have you ever wondered where I find all my pictures, videos, and other sources? Well, my gift to you this morning is ten pages of the online resources I use the most, with some annotations and research tips. Get it here: (docs.google.com/docu...).
December 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM
What a gift!!!!!
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
This is such a lovely and sweet story.
Dave Willat was just 11 years old when he showed up for what he thought would be a routine church choir practice in 1965. He and his fellow singers ended up making history.
We caught up with one of the kids who sang on 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.' He's 72 now
Dave Willat was just 11 years old when he showed up for what he thought would be a routine church choir practice in 1965. He and his fellow singers ended up making history.
n.pr
December 25, 2025 at 5:37 PM
This is such a lovely and sweet story.
THIS.
How in the heck can there be no appetite among readers for this type of book?
How in the heck can there be no appetite among readers for this type of book?
Also: I've said it before, and I'll say it again:
Publishing, let me write a media literacy book, I am begging you. I keep being told that there's no appetite for this...
But how can there NOT be, when it's an urgent and pressing issue, especially with how we aggregate news + use of AI?
Publishing, let me write a media literacy book, I am begging you. I keep being told that there's no appetite for this...
But how can there NOT be, when it's an urgent and pressing issue, especially with how we aggregate news + use of AI?
December 24, 2025 at 9:52 PM
THIS.
How in the heck can there be no appetite among readers for this type of book?
How in the heck can there be no appetite among readers for this type of book?
Here’s another obnoxious take today on the USPS. I can not be more clear than this: if the USPS must be profitable then service to rural customers will be gutted & prices will skyrocket.
In rural Alaska in particular, life will become exponentially more expensive.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/s...
In rural Alaska in particular, life will become exponentially more expensive.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/s...
Mail Carriers Keep Making the Rounds, Despite a Murky Future
www.nytimes.com
December 24, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Here’s another obnoxious take today on the USPS. I can not be more clear than this: if the USPS must be profitable then service to rural customers will be gutted & prices will skyrocket.
In rural Alaska in particular, life will become exponentially more expensive.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/s...
In rural Alaska in particular, life will become exponentially more expensive.
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/s...
Every time a media organization measures the USPS via profit/loss, I lose my mind a little bit.
The USPS is a service for the American people. In the state of Alaska in particular it is never going to be profitable unless it becomes so expensive Alaskans can’t afford it.
The USPS is a service for the American people. In the state of Alaska in particular it is never going to be profitable unless it becomes so expensive Alaskans can’t afford it.
The USPS faces a tight squeeze. With fewer people using the mail, it’s lost more and more money: $9 billion in the 12 months ending in September alone.
https://cnn.it/4qkeNoF
https://cnn.it/4qkeNoF
December 24, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Every time a media organization measures the USPS via profit/loss, I lose my mind a little bit.
The USPS is a service for the American people. In the state of Alaska in particular it is never going to be profitable unless it becomes so expensive Alaskans can’t afford it.
The USPS is a service for the American people. In the state of Alaska in particular it is never going to be profitable unless it becomes so expensive Alaskans can’t afford it.
THIS.
It drives me crazy.
It drives me crazy.
CREATING A TRACKING NUMBER DOES NOT MEAN THE PACKAGE HAS SHIPPED
Let’s air those grievances. I want to hear your pettiest gripes on this the holiest of days.
December 24, 2025 at 1:17 PM
THIS.
It drives me crazy.
It drives me crazy.
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
Nollaig Shona Daoibh!
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.
(This picture of a snowy Rock of Cashel was taken during the cold snap in January of this year).
#Ireland #SpéirGhorm
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.
(This picture of a snowy Rock of Cashel was taken during the cold snap in January of this year).
#Ireland #SpéirGhorm
December 24, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Nollaig Shona Daoibh!
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.
(This picture of a snowy Rock of Cashel was taken during the cold snap in January of this year).
#Ireland #SpéirGhorm
Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy and peaceful New Year.
(This picture of a snowy Rock of Cashel was taken during the cold snap in January of this year).
#Ireland #SpéirGhorm
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
This is an almost shockingly wise essay. I'm glad I've finally read it.
There Is No Mary Problem in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
George’s vision of his wife without him is essential to the film, but critics continue to miss its true—and profound—meaning.
open.substack.com
December 24, 2025 at 12:34 AM
This is an almost shockingly wise essay. I'm glad I've finally read it.
Come on!
Has he never read a history book on US conflicts?
Was he in an isolation tank during the Iraq War?
Un-fucking-believable .
Has he never read a history book on US conflicts?
Was he in an isolation tank during the Iraq War?
Un-fucking-believable .
Greenland Envoy Gov. Jeff Landry: "Look, the United States has always been a welcoming party. We don't go in there trying to conquer anybody and trying to take over anybody's country. We say, 'Listen. We represent liberty. We represented economic strength. We represent protection.'"
December 23, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Come on!
Has he never read a history book on US conflicts?
Was he in an isolation tank during the Iraq War?
Un-fucking-believable .
Has he never read a history book on US conflicts?
Was he in an isolation tank during the Iraq War?
Un-fucking-believable .
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
Dozens of Christmas carolers gathered at Portland International Airport to greet and send travelers off with a holiday song, "O Holy Night."
December 23, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Dozens of Christmas carolers gathered at Portland International Airport to greet and send travelers off with a holiday song, "O Holy Night."
Whoa.
A Falcon 50 private jet carrying Libya’s Chief of General Staff, Muhammad Ali al-Haddad, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ankara on its way to Tripoli. The aircraft disappeared from radar minutes into the flight, prompting a search operation. Turkish rescuers later found the wreckage.
December 23, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Whoa.
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
Subscriptions are both the procrastinator's delight and maybe the best gifts? Got my brother a subscription to the Baffler and the London Review of Books for Christmas last year. We spent all year texting about the nerdiest LRB reviews we read. This year he just wants us to renew them both.
December 18, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Subscriptions are both the procrastinator's delight and maybe the best gifts? Got my brother a subscription to the Baffler and the London Review of Books for Christmas last year. We spent all year texting about the nerdiest LRB reviews we read. This year he just wants us to renew them both.
As the Trump administration doubles down on its anti-immigration stance, a reminder that my grandfather & his siblings, including my great uncle Ben, were all immigrants. Providence College has a new nursing school named for my Uncle Ben. nursing-health-sciences.providence.edu/mondor-center/
Ben Mondor Center for Nursing and Health Sciences
The School of Nursing and Health Sciences is located in this state-of-the-art, 100,000 square foot facility with specialized learning labs.
nursing-health-sciences.providence.edu
December 23, 2025 at 8:08 PM
As the Trump administration doubles down on its anti-immigration stance, a reminder that my grandfather & his siblings, including my great uncle Ben, were all immigrants. Providence College has a new nursing school named for my Uncle Ben. nursing-health-sciences.providence.edu/mondor-center/
I have nothing to do with Texas politics, but you should watch this.
James Talarico calls out bill forcing schools to display the Ten Commandments:
This bill is not only unconstitutional and un-American, it's also deeply un-Christian.
Instead of a bill that will feed the hungry—we're mandating that people put up a poster. We're imposing our beliefs on other people.
This bill is not only unconstitutional and un-American, it's also deeply un-Christian.
Instead of a bill that will feed the hungry—we're mandating that people put up a poster. We're imposing our beliefs on other people.
December 23, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I have nothing to do with Texas politics, but you should watch this.
Meanwhile, Sean has no idea what to do about chronically understaffed departments in the FAA.
Focus, Sean. Worry about the real problems you are actually supposed to be solving.
Focus, Sean. Worry about the real problems you are actually supposed to be solving.
Sean Duffy on blue states: "What I can do is I can pull their money. That's the leverage I do have ... I guarantee you that the federal taxpayer is not going to fund their roads and bridges and their systems when they are putting illegals on the roads."
December 23, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Meanwhile, Sean has no idea what to do about chronically understaffed departments in the FAA.
Focus, Sean. Worry about the real problems you are actually supposed to be solving.
Focus, Sean. Worry about the real problems you are actually supposed to be solving.
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
Hero of Ukraine Oleksandr Shemet, the Mi-24 pilot who led the final Azovstal supply mission in April 2022, has been killed. On December 17, while intercepting Shahed drones over Cherkasy, his helicopter went down. The entire crew died.
December 23, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Hero of Ukraine Oleksandr Shemet, the Mi-24 pilot who led the final Azovstal supply mission in April 2022, has been killed. On December 17, while intercepting Shahed drones over Cherkasy, his helicopter went down. The entire crew died.
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
Northway, Alaska low temperature today -57F (-49.4C) is the lowest temperature since January 2022 and the lowest. December temperature since 1990. The high temperature of -47F (-43.9C), if it holds until midnight, would be the lowest high temp any day since January 2009. #akwx #weather #Climate
December 23, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
Here's a downloadable link to the 60 MINUTES piece that Trump's enablers at Paramount's CBS refused to air.
Share it far and wide.
Thanks @jasonparis.bsky.social for posting. #60Minutes
Share it far and wide.
Thanks @jasonparis.bsky.social for posting. #60Minutes
December 23, 2025 at 12:01 AM
Here's a downloadable link to the 60 MINUTES piece that Trump's enablers at Paramount's CBS refused to air.
Share it far and wide.
Thanks @jasonparis.bsky.social for posting. #60Minutes
Share it far and wide.
Thanks @jasonparis.bsky.social for posting. #60Minutes
Reposted by Colleen Mondor
It's raining again...that makes it 18/22 days with measurable rain this December in Seattle, 20/22 if you include 2 days with a trace.
December 23, 2025 at 12:04 AM
It's raining again...that makes it 18/22 days with measurable rain this December in Seattle, 20/22 if you include 2 days with a trace.