A few of the neighbors came by this evening.

CARTOON OF THE DAY

(From @garthtoons.bsky.social ) 🇺🇸 😕

Hello, I’m a disruptor, very smart, here to create efficiency. I’m just going to drill holes in the bottom of this boat to see which parts of the hull are mission-critical.

I got laid off today, with the rest of 18F.

18F was an elite federal software shop. We made gov't websites work better, more efficiently for the American people. We saved taxpayers from getting screwed over by contractors. And were fired for it.

We made this website to tell our story:
18f.org

Maybe corny but it was helpful for me to hear Henry Rollins saying "this is not time to be dismayed, this is punk rock time, this is what Joe Strummer trained you for... You can be thunderous in your own life, to the eight people around you. That rubs off... Goodness is viral"

Wisdom from his many years.

May you find beauty in the world.

Saw someone upbraiding someone else for having a hobby while the world is on fire, and, my friends:

1. The world is ever on fire, this is today's conflagration;

2. If you don't find time for rest and joy the fire will consume you;

3. Don't let people shame you for being an entire human.

Watching videos from Syria of people searching for detainees trapped in Assad's prisons. I used to be religious. Of all the aspects of my former faith, I miss believing in eternal justice the most.

This healthcare ceo is hard to talk about because how much death can you cause indirectly before you’re a murderer who got murdered? How do you convince yourself it doesn’t count if you kill people with policy instead of a gun? What do you have to believe about life and systems and human worthiness?

Solitude.

Welcome to the era of "[Blank] shocked that Trump lied to them..."

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'

-Eleanor Roosevelt

Yes, he does get whatever he wants with a face like that, except outside. There are coyotes out there. The circle of life can look elsewhere, thanks.

It was a little chilly today, but bright and perfect for exploring.

How Bluesky feels right now.

I've seen a lot of conversation on the validity of building an echo chamber here this morning. Personally, I live in a ketchup-red rural county in a swing state and have a public-facing day job. I need an online echo chamber to remind me that there IS another side, that I'm not on the wrong planet.

"We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel… is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.”

Ursula K. Le Guin .

New here. Searching for a better world. This is Bernie. #proofofcat