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amsrbb.bsky.social
ames
@amsrbb.bsky.social
1K followers 1.5K following 790 posts
Hunkered down in Vermont (US). Woods walker. Gardener. Birder. Doomer. Lefty/ist. Masked. Covid cautious. Free Palestine. she/her
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amsrbb.bsky.social
Every single word of this Ackerman piece…
…For all his claims to foresight, Cheney never expected to be displaced by what he empowered. He surely did not expect to die on a day when New Yorkers are poised to elect a Muslim socialist mayor in a repudiation of his legacy. Trump and Cheney were more characterologically alike than either man would prefer to admit. While Trump is charismatic and Cheney was anything but, they both ruled through fear, cruelty, and domination. Not even Trump has gotten his own friend to apologize after shooting him in the face. The impunity Trump enjoys is another aftereffect of Obama's decision to forgo accountability for the War on Terror and its many institutional crimes. (All it earned the Democrats was an endorsement from Cheney of Kamala Harris that she seemed not to understand was grotesque and self-discrediting.)…
November 21, 2025 at 10:37 AM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Most of these jerkoffs (D&R alike) are so out of touch - do they have any sense of the huge, life-altering decisions those of us getting pushed off the ACA cliff have to make? Decisions that can’t be made in one day or easily reversed once made. Their Dec31 deadline is too late. Our deadline is now.
Screenshot from Punchbowl: “Democrats' shutdown fight put a massive political spotlight on surging health care costs, and that has Republicans looking for options. Talks among House Republicans who want to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies are picking up, and some backers are keeping their options open to secure a path to the floor. The Obamacare cliff is the immediate challenge facing lawmakers. The subsidies expire Dec. 31, and Thune promised a vote before then.”
November 13, 2025 at 11:04 AM
amsrbb.bsky.social
In banner on this USDA webpage it says, “Due to the Radical Left Democrat shutdown, this website will not be updated during the funding lapse. President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people.”
A banner on the USDA webpage pictured says, “Due to the Radical Left Democrat shutdown, this website will not be updated during the funding lapse. President Trump has made it clear he wants to keep the government open and support those who feed, fuel, and clothe the American people.”
November 9, 2025 at 8:19 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Bronze plan, 2 people with a $10k deductible per person.

Premium now: $450/month. Premium 2026: $1900/month.

So we’d pay $23k for the annual covered basics, then another $20k before coverage kicks in. This is the second least expensive option available. Just completely untenable. Not happening.
Your New Monthly Premium: • You're currently enrolled in the VERMONT PREFERRED BRONZE plan. • Starting January 1, 2026, your new monthly premium is estimated to be $1,902.98. • Here's the math: Monthly premium of $1,902.98 minus $0.00 of possible financial help. Your actual monthly premium may be different because your financial help may change in 2026. You'll find out your exact new monthly premium amount when you receive your January 2026 bill. • Important: This estimated monthly premium is based on your 2025 information and may not account for changes that could impact your monthly premium, such as changes to your household income, family size, or any enrollment changes. Therefore, your financial help may be different in 2026. To confirm the correct amount of financial help for 2026, please contact Vermont Health Connect at (855) 899-9600 or visit VermontHealthConnect.gov. • Currently, your 2025 monthly premium is $450.85. Here's the math: Monthly premium of $1,751.24 minus $1,300.39 of financial help you receive each month.
November 2, 2025 at 10:25 AM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Someone get Jim McGovern a dictionary, stat!
(From Punchbowl)
Democrats discussed the looming crisis over SNAP funding, which runs out on Nov. 1. They blamed President Donald Trump and GOP congressional leaders for the situation, even though virtually all House Democrats voted against a Republican plan to fund federal agencies through Nov. 21. And there was extreme bitterness toward Speaker Mike Johnson, who hasn't brought the House back into session for more than 40 days while refusing to swear in Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.). "Mike Johnson - what an insignificant, irrelevant human being he has become," Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) complained. McGovern and other Democrats want Johnson to bring back the House immediately.
October 29, 2025 at 9:33 AM
amsrbb.bsky.social
I walk by this in the woods every day. I’ll confess I’m a 54 year old person utterly convinced there is some Wind in the Willows stuff going on in there.
A big log on the ground in the woods covered in moss and fallen leaves, with a big tunnel hole where a branch used to be, obviously a portal into the cozy living quarters of small animals.
October 6, 2025 at 12:15 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
This is more an absolute mangling than a typo, but i really love it. It took me at least 15 puzzled seconds to figure out what the intended word was. If i could figure out how to pronounce it, i’d make it a permanent stand-in. (At a small beach motel in Rye, NH)
October 6, 2025 at 11:06 AM
amsrbb.bsky.social
This is a cutting from a cutting (ad infinitum) of a begonia that belonged to Sigmund Freud and it’s now in my house!
A small begonia with spotted, pointy leaves in a terra cotta pot.
October 4, 2025 at 10:22 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Fall colors in the garden and in the woods.
Messy, scrappy looking fall garden with purple and orange flowers, seed heads and kale, backed by red sumac and taller trees in various colors, all in pretty morning light. Looking through near trees to treetops. Orange leaf litter on the ground, orange and red leaves, in the distant treetops, the silhouette of a distant hilltop, backlit by the sun.
October 4, 2025 at 11:33 AM
amsrbb.bsky.social
They’re open. Probably a great view from the moon.
Very tall sunflowers with multiple blooms, bright, clear blue sky in the background, and the waning gibbous moon starting to set.
September 12, 2025 at 1:41 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Oh, Vermont…
Photo of a rural landscape in layers. From the bottom: dirt road, green grass, golden tall grass, green grass again in the middle distance, then a hillside with dark green trees, then pale blue sky. There is a mailbox on a post in the near left side. A more distant view similar to the last, with tall mountains in the background on the right side of the photo.
September 11, 2025 at 6:24 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Also the below excerpt from your piece is just blatantly untrue. The entire Republican party is laser-focused on destroying the American experiment.
American politics has sides. There is no use pretending it doesn't. But both sides are meant to be on the same side of a larger project - we are all, or most of us anyway, trying to maintain the viability of the American experiment. We can live with losing an election because we believe in the promise of the next election; we can live with losing an argument because we believe that there will be another argument. Political violence imperils that.
September 11, 2025 at 9:53 AM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Northeast: Covid in wastewater
A chart showing incidence of Covid in wastewater in the Northeast US over the last six weeks. The line for the last week goes straight up.
August 29, 2025 at 10:37 AM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Might need to hire a drone to get a look at these sunflowers when they open.
Looking up at a very tall branching sunflower. Lots of buds, not flowers, blue sky with wispy clouds in the background. Another view of several tall sunflowers, not flowering yet. Backlit by the sun. Light clouds in the background. A fuller view of the garden, with the very tall sunflowers in the background, towering above everything but the tall trees and the sun behind them.
August 28, 2025 at 12:34 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Sometimes chaos is ok
A garden explosion of flowers… blue ageratum salvia and in the foreground, a bright yellow sunflower upper right, orange tithonia and plum colored cleome in the background.
August 28, 2025 at 12:29 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
A dark, rusty red sunflower just opening in the right side of the photo, with a blurry rusty red dog looking on in the background on the left. Same shot as the last, with the focus on the rusty red dog, blurry sunflower in top right foreground.
August 3, 2025 at 12:19 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
There are five frogs on the lilypads in this photo. 💚
Can you find them all?
The edge of a pond with a big patch of pond lilies. The photo is mostly green lilypads, with brown pond water on the right edge. Shrubs and trees at the top and left. A couple of white pond lily flowers. Five frogs visible if zooming in.
July 20, 2025 at 9:32 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
The frog on the right is a decent sized/big frog. The frog on the left is massive. Like bigger than my foot. Check out his scuba flippers.
Two frogs in a pond with their eyes and snouts peaking out of the water. The rest of their bodies are visible below the water line.
July 13, 2025 at 1:11 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
This website has really good info: acasignups.net/sites/defaul...
July 6, 2025 at 5:19 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Timeline cleanse: green frog chorus.
July 3, 2025 at 4:42 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Red Wagon Plants in Hinesburg, VT puts out the best weekly gardening newsletter. If you garden in Vermont I encourage you to sign up!
A screenshot from Red Wagon’s website. The photo is a view of greenhouses in the spring, surrounded by plants on tables and in beds, and a tree whose branches have early leaves. The whole scene is in sharp early morning light.
July 1, 2025 at 12:57 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
A screenshot of a post from Sen Chris Murphy regarding the bill: 5/ The bill cuts the help middle income Americans get to buy health care on the Affordable Care Act exchange. A 60 year old couple making $85,000 (not a king's ransom) would see a $26,000 increase in health care premiums. Yes, that's right - $26,000.
June 30, 2025 at 8:53 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Bear in the daylight
A black bear walking across a dirt driveway. S/he has a tan muzzle and looks focused. Trees above and in the background.
June 29, 2025 at 10:14 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
Thanks for writing this. I am the kind of doomer who bursts into tears at the phrase “this beautiful planet”
We are sickened by the political hard turn to the right that has seen the rise of kakistocratic fascism, wiping out access to years or decades of scientific research that allow humanity to track the trajectory of this beautiful planet's collapsing systems.
June 25, 2025 at 7:58 PM
amsrbb.bsky.social
I’ve had that petal pattern pop up in my wild rudbeckia too. I love it! I think it’s a mutation.
Rudbeckia or black eyed Susan flowers, yellow petals with brown centers. The petals have an unusual sunray-like pattern in brown on the petals where they meet the center.
June 23, 2025 at 10:22 AM