Gretchen
@offgridteacher.bsky.social
•Edu MA • Teach Plus Fellow Alum • Peace Corps 🇸🇳 in Agro-Forestry • Veteran Wife + Caregiver • Stay At Home Mom
I talk about education, running, nature, caregiving, California, cats, and health.
I talk about education, running, nature, caregiving, California, cats, and health.
I once skied through walking pneumonia (back before I understood germ theory as well as I do now) because I didn’t want to miss being on the slopes. Competing in the Olympics would amplify that infinitely.
February 9, 2026 at 11:49 PM
I once skied through walking pneumonia (back before I understood germ theory as well as I do now) because I didn’t want to miss being on the slopes. Competing in the Olympics would amplify that infinitely.
Reposted by Gretchen
Pretty wild to me how many students were willing to occupy university buildings to protest something happening halfway around the world, but not in response to those very same universities caving to an authoritarian administration setting up concentration camps in our own borders
February 9, 2026 at 11:20 PM
Pretty wild to me how many students were willing to occupy university buildings to protest something happening halfway around the world, but not in response to those very same universities caving to an authoritarian administration setting up concentration camps in our own borders
Reposted by Gretchen
"In their words and drawings, they convey how much they ache for creature comforts and describe the anguish of being trapped. They write about missing their friends and teachers, falling behind at school, having unreliable access to medical care when they’re sick...and feeling scared."
“I Have Been Here Too Long”: Read Letters from the Children Detained at ICE’s Dilley Facility
Hundreds of children are currently being held with their parents at an immigration detention center in Dilley, Texas. In letters and drawings, eight kids convey the pain of feeling trapped with no end...
www.propublica.org
February 9, 2026 at 8:13 PM
"In their words and drawings, they convey how much they ache for creature comforts and describe the anguish of being trapped. They write about missing their friends and teachers, falling behind at school, having unreliable access to medical care when they’re sick...and feeling scared."
Peter Gabriel sure did make some esoteric music.
February 9, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Peter Gabriel sure did make some esoteric music.
Reposted by Gretchen
Air pollution from burning fossil fuels causes 100,000 to 200,000 avoidable American deaths per year. At the EPA's statistical value of life of $10 million, these deaths cost America $1 to $2 trillion per year, every year. These costs far outweigh the costs of transitioning off of fossil fuels.
Air pollution deaths attributable to fossil fuels: observational and modelling study
Objectives To estimate all cause and cause specific deaths that are attributable to fossil fuel related air pollution and to assess potential health benefits from policies that replace fossil fuels wi...
www.bmj.com
February 9, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Air pollution from burning fossil fuels causes 100,000 to 200,000 avoidable American deaths per year. At the EPA's statistical value of life of $10 million, these deaths cost America $1 to $2 trillion per year, every year. These costs far outweigh the costs of transitioning off of fossil fuels.
My husband was disappointed that he didn’t bring out some of the older Fania musicians, or at least maybe La India.
February 9, 2026 at 8:34 PM
My husband was disappointed that he didn’t bring out some of the older Fania musicians, or at least maybe La India.
Reposted by Gretchen
I'm going to do a thread of all the references and context behind Bad Bunny's performance and what it means for Puerto Ricans to see this on the biggest stage.
The opening title screen is a street mural in Puerto Rico that comes to life with footballs as coconuts.
Follow along!
The opening title screen is a street mural in Puerto Rico that comes to life with footballs as coconuts.
Follow along!
February 9, 2026 at 5:08 PM
I'm going to do a thread of all the references and context behind Bad Bunny's performance and what it means for Puerto Ricans to see this on the biggest stage.
The opening title screen is a street mural in Puerto Rico that comes to life with footballs as coconuts.
Follow along!
The opening title screen is a street mural in Puerto Rico that comes to life with footballs as coconuts.
Follow along!
I thought it was a coquis
February 9, 2026 at 3:39 AM
I thought it was a coquis
Reposted by Gretchen
Just a few weeks ago, the administration cancelled all remaining department of energy grid resilience projects in Puerto Rico. All of them. www.latitudemedia.com/news/the-end...
The end of DOE’s grid work in Puerto Rico
The Trump administration has canceled all eight of the remaining awards devoted to distributed energy on the island.
www.latitudemedia.com
February 9, 2026 at 2:00 AM
Just a few weeks ago, the administration cancelled all remaining department of energy grid resilience projects in Puerto Rico. All of them. www.latitudemedia.com/news/the-end...
Reposted by Gretchen
Putting this on my list of “this is my villain origin story” moments bc MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE PUT THE CREEP WHO HAS SPENT HIS ADULT LIFE UNDERMINING VACCINES IN CHARGE
"Take the vaccine, please," said Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator whose boss has raised suspicion about the safety and importance of vaccines. "We have a solution for our problem."
https://to.pbs.org/4rYdvkn
https://to.pbs.org/4rYdvkn
Dr. Mehmet Oz urges public to take the measles vaccine as U.S. cases rise
“Take the vaccine, please,” said Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator. “We have a solution for our problem.”
www.pbs.org
February 9, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Putting this on my list of “this is my villain origin story” moments bc MAYBE YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE PUT THE CREEP WHO HAS SPENT HIS ADULT LIFE UNDERMINING VACCINES IN CHARGE
Reposted by Gretchen
No Kings includes Draft Kings
February 8, 2026 at 11:49 PM
No Kings includes Draft Kings
Reposted by Gretchen
My first grader (a US citizen) came home from school crying because a friend from class (also a US citizen) hasn’t been coming to school because his parents (one of whom is not a citizen) are afraid of ICE.
Little kids don’t have concepts of racism and xenophobia. That has to be taught. Or imposed.
Little kids don’t have concepts of racism and xenophobia. That has to be taught. Or imposed.
Gonzales on Liam Ramos and his family: "They're not gonna qualify for asylum. So what do you do with all the people that go through the process and do not qualify for asylum? You deport them. I understand that 5-year-old and it breaks my heart. I also think, what about that 5-year-old US citizen?"
February 8, 2026 at 5:11 PM
My first grader (a US citizen) came home from school crying because a friend from class (also a US citizen) hasn’t been coming to school because his parents (one of whom is not a citizen) are afraid of ICE.
Little kids don’t have concepts of racism and xenophobia. That has to be taught. Or imposed.
Little kids don’t have concepts of racism and xenophobia. That has to be taught. Or imposed.
Reposted by Gretchen
“Why go to a fine restaurant when you can just stick something in the microwave? Why go to a park and fly a kite when you can just pop a pill?” — Cosmo Kramer
people who say that all creative endeavor can be replaced with AI probably need to reckon with the fact that all televised sports events with human athletes could easily be replicated by high-definition computer-animated simulations….and yet we don’t do this and no one seems to want to.
February 8, 2026 at 8:00 PM
“Why go to a fine restaurant when you can just stick something in the microwave? Why go to a park and fly a kite when you can just pop a pill?” — Cosmo Kramer
Reposted by Gretchen
The current regime took a week to abolish USAID, which is three times as old and was not in the news every day for brutalizing children
“We cannot just abolish ICE!”
Bestie, you are older than ICE.
Bestie, you are older than ICE.
February 8, 2026 at 3:59 PM
The current regime took a week to abolish USAID, which is three times as old and was not in the news every day for brutalizing children
Reposted by Gretchen
There's no other way to describe this than as crimes against humanity. Inhumane, despicable, unconscionable.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tod...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tod...
Toddler was returned to ICE custody and denied medication after hospitalization, lawsuit says
The girl was hospitalized with a life-threatening respiratory illness, the lawsuit says.
www.reuters.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:45 PM
There's no other way to describe this than as crimes against humanity. Inhumane, despicable, unconscionable.
www.reuters.com/world/us/tod...
www.reuters.com/world/us/tod...
My old superintendent’s daughter is a biathlete, and she had to travel with her daughter to competitions because someone else had to carry the gun. I had to be Teacher In Charge for a few a number of times because she was off carrying the gun.
February 8, 2026 at 4:25 AM
My old superintendent’s daughter is a biathlete, and she had to travel with her daughter to competitions because someone else had to carry the gun. I had to be Teacher In Charge for a few a number of times because she was off carrying the gun.
Reposted by Gretchen
they fired everybody who knows that Puerto Ricans are American
The Super Bowl halftime show, with Bad Bunny showcasing Latin music before a global television audience expected to top 100 million, will illustrate the nation’s immigration divide whether or not the reggaeton star delivers an explicit political message.
The enthusiasm — and scorn — surrounding Bad Bunny’s star turn at the Super Bowl
The halftime show will illustrate the nation’s immigration divide whether or not the reggaeton star makes an explicit message about Trump’s deportation drive.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 8, 2026 at 2:25 AM
they fired everybody who knows that Puerto Ricans are American
Of the two I know personally who went to j-school, one is in documentary filmmaking, the other switched from being a columnist to working at a medicinal mushrooms foundation.
February 8, 2026 at 4:22 AM
Of the two I know personally who went to j-school, one is in documentary filmmaking, the other switched from being a columnist to working at a medicinal mushrooms foundation.
I keep asking my doctors and they don’t have any answers.
February 8, 2026 at 2:58 AM
I keep asking my doctors and they don’t have any answers.
Reposted by Gretchen
Anne Frank died from a typhus epidemic that spread through the concentration camp where she was imprisoned.
Two active cases of tuberculosis and 18 cases of COVID-19 have been identified at a massive immigration detention center in El Paso, according to the local Democratic member of Congress.
www.texastribune.org/2026/02/07/i...
www.texastribune.org/2026/02/07/i...
Two tuberculosis cases detected at Camp East Montana ICE facility
Eighteen cases of COVID-19 were also identified. U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar on Friday visited the 5,000-bed tent facility on the Fort Bliss Army base and said she saw many "chronic issues."
www.texastribune.org
February 7, 2026 at 11:35 PM
Anne Frank died from a typhus epidemic that spread through the concentration camp where she was imprisoned.