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coccinelle.bsky.social
@coccinelle.bsky.social
610 followers 1.1K following 1.4K posts
Twitter Refugee. Thought I’d check this out a bit, b4 I share more.
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coccinelle.bsky.social
Dogs.
Med. Close-up of my dog’s tush. He’s sleeping on his side under a red plaid fleecy throw covering his head, on top of a white quilt w/ red ladybugs. Feetsies sticking out.
October 17, 2025 at 2:37 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Beautiful on the river today in #Chicago.

We don’t need no stinkin’ #ICE🚫. Not to mention the Texas National Guard. 🙄
Ludicrous.
Slightly overhead shot of trees & shrubs on the bank of a river along blue rippling water. Composition is diagonal, w/ blue upper left triangle, green lower right. Huge pink flower blooming just left of center, w/ sun hitting yellow leaves atop a spindly tree branching out at top of frame, & highlighting ripply water in circular pattern behind it. Sun dappling green & yellow leaves along bottom triangle corner too. There’s lots of motion in this picture of a still river. Longer view of same river bank. Horizontal composition w/ blue water covering bottom 2/3, w/ a vanishing point into green shady banks across top third of frame. Green, leafy, bushy bank w/ 3 pink flowers close to viewer at lower right of frame. Water snakes around the green in backwards S from left to right, in horizontal layers of bright blue to shaded to bright blue again.
October 8, 2025 at 11:36 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
Screenshot of text from article linked above, w/ highlighted text quoted here at end: Universities must agree to do a lot of other things that are in most cases already required by federal law. In addition to not engaging in affirmative action, for example, universities must be fair in their disciplinary procedures with respect to students’ race and sex. Such provisions requiring universities to do things law already requires are partly a ruse, aimed at producing the kind of journalistic coverage the rollout of this compact in fact got, which was that much of the document looked pretty anodyne and mainstream. But there is also a second, deeper purpose. By bringing these existing obligations inside “the deal,” the government attempts to gain new power to enforce these existing obligations through unilateral DOJ findings—by threatening the full suite of far-reaching sanctions outlined in the compact. Violating “the deal” is potentially a lot more consequential for a university than violating the law. This post is long enough, and at this point I think the distinction between the law and “the deal” is clear enough. The proposed “compact” for universities is similar in a key respect to this government’s actions across many areas of law and policy: “It is replacing the regularity and fairness of law with highly discretionary systems that ensure all sorts of entities and institutions will face the government from a subservient position, as supplicants in need of largesse.” A small example is
October 5, 2025 at 2:08 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
OMG. This is exactly how Pee Wee hurt his back! (No stairs, tho , we were visiting my parents.) So this is how I live now:
Overhead view of bed bordered by an X-pen, alongside a dog ramp, allowing only one point of access & egress (for the dog) at the top of the ramp. Bed is covered in white bedspread w/ ladybugs, ramp is black foam, forming left & right sides of composition, respectively, sliced on a slight diagonal by the beige/black panels of the x-pen.
September 27, 2025 at 12:54 AM
coccinelle.bsky.social
@ejeancarroll.bsky.social I’m in. #paperclipprotest
Something, in other words, that holds things together. Something that holds us together. Something that says we’re not shutting-up. Something that ALSO picks locks. Something that ALSO opens handcuffs. Something that ALSO when you straighten it out, is a weapon. Something that was worn in WW2 as a sign of resistance to Nazi Occupation. Something that you have in your desk drawer right now! Comely Reader! I suggest we all start wearing the paper clip. Subtler than a red hat, more powerful as CONNECTION. Medium close-up of E Jean wearing a big red paper clip on her gray mandarin-collar jacket & lookin’ gooood.
September 20, 2025 at 6:49 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Yes, and maybe it’d be nice to do both?
An antifederalist writing under the pseudonym An Old Whig said it well, “So far is it from its being improbable that the man who shall hereafter be in a situation to make the attempt to perpetuate his own power, should want the virtues of General Washington,” he wrote, “that it is perhaps a chance of one hundred millions to one that the next age will not furnish an example of so disinterested a use of great power.” We are in the next age, and we are governed by a man who shuns Washington’s example and grasps for power with both hands. There is a constitutional answer to this national challenge. We can — at long last — heed the warnings of the antifederalists, and we can do it simply enough, by changing the first sentence of Article II. Instead of declaring “The executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America,” it should read, “A president of the United States of America shall execute laws passed by Congress.” This simple change has sweeping implications. It removes the president as the chief executive of the nation and turns him or her into a steward of the laws passed through the democratic process.
August 21, 2025 at 3:02 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Screenshot of 2 paragraphs in article: It also reveals how lobbyists, political consultants and others in the influence industry have capitalized on Mr. Trump’s aggressive fund-raising while in office to deliver for clients and earn chits with a president who keeps close tabs on who is delivering cash and listens to their appeals. It is a cycle that has helped Mr. Trump fill the coffers of his political groups, defying the gravity that sometimes drags down the fund-raising of term-limited presidents. Highlited: The degree to which this dynamic has benefited Mr. Trump, his donors and their lobbyists — while shutting out regular people seeking assistance from their government — was laid bare in MAGA Inc.’s financial report.
August 3, 2025 at 6:40 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Screenshot of NYT article: Under the Trump administration, the Weather Service, like other federal agencies, has been pushed to reduce its number of employees. By this spring, through layoffs and retirements, the Weather Service had lost nearly 600 people from a work force that until recently was as large as 4,000. Some forecasting offices began to close down at night, and others launched fewer weather balloons, which send back crucial data to feed forecasts. The Weather Service said it was preparing for “degraded operations,” with fewer meteorologists available to fine-tune forecasts. Last month, despite a government hiring freeze, the Weather Service announced a plan to hire 126 people in positions around the country, in what Ms. Cei, the agency’s spokeswoman, described as an effort to “stabilize” the department. As of this week, those jobs had not been posted in the federal government’s hiring portal.
July 9, 2025 at 5:49 AM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Paid with pleasure. But I 4got to note it was for Blanca! 🤦‍♀️ Should I email them?
Screenshot of PayPal receipt
July 1, 2025 at 8:59 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
The physicality of these buildings, like the John Hancock, are really keeping me centered & on earth during these very trying times. And after like 4 Bellini.
Chicago skyline & a smidgen of Oak St. Beach & blue sky in background, long narrow view of my balcony & railing in foreground, all headed towards a vanishing point.
June 19, 2025 at 11:22 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Thx so much for responding! Pls let us know if there is anything we can do or sign to help Councilman Blumenfield fight for them. I also trust that nonhumanrights.org will not stop until Billy & Tina are released to sanctuary. Once again, thank you.
Screenshot closeup of 2 elephants touching their heads together- writing superimposed on this pic: “Rights protect against intolerable wrongs— no matter who you are.” And beneath that: “With persistence and rigor, we’re challenging a centuries-old status quo [that] unjustly sees all nonhuman animals as “things” with no rights.” Below that are also 2 buttons that say, “Donate” and “Subscribe Now,” which, sadly, are not live bcuz this is a screenshot. But the links are live on their page, & I included that link above in my skeet. Screenshot of landing page that says: Statement from NhRP Litigation Director Elizabeth Stein On May 20th the NhRP announced that we’d filed a habeas corpus petition seeking the right to liberty and release to a sanctuary for elephants Billy and Tina (see court case timeline here). The L.A. Zoo announced on May 21st that Billy and Tina have been transported to the Tulsa Zoo. Below is a short statement on this news from our Litigation Director Elizabeth Stein: “We still have viable legal options to secure Billy and Tina’s freedom in an elephant sanctuary, and we’re not stopping.”
May 26, 2025 at 11:27 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
To:
@mayor.lacity.gov @jennyportillo.bsky.social (for Bob Blumenfield)
And the disingenuous Denise Verret, shamelessly representing both the #LAZoo AND the #AZA.
Screenshot of text: The AZA is the governing body which effectively controls the actions of its member zoos. L.A. is an AZA member. While there are benefits to being an AZA member zoo (such as access to more prized animal species for exhibition) there is a price to be paid for “doing the right thing” if it differs from AZA dogma. Specifically, if a zoo director disagrees with a particular AZA guideline trouble lurks on the horizon. A relevant example involves Ron Kagan, by all objective expert accounts, an exceptional zoo director. But when he concluded that the Detroit Zoo could not humanely keep elephants and decided to close their elephant exhibit (citing the horrific winter cold conditions, forcing their elephants to stay in cramped indoor quarters) he and the zoo were threatened by the AZA, promising to withdraw their accreditation. Similar heavy-handed tactics have served to keep AZA zoos “in line” for decades.
May 26, 2025 at 5:05 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Sorry, guys, but this should not be the featured story of the week, let alone the only story.
Drawing of yellow dog peeing on Newspapers; dog is labeled, “Mainstream Media,” & one representative headline, representing all the papers spread out under the dog, reads, “Actual Journalism.”
May 24, 2025 at 1:28 AM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Here’s how it looked driving back from Oak Park @ 7 last nite.
Longshot thru my windshield driving East in marked lanes behind some cars-- sky is completely gray/brown & opaque, backdrop to some streetlights & red traffic lights forming a vanishing point on North Ave.
May 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Screenshot of Jamelle Bouie’s NYT opinion piece. Headline reads: THE FIRST DRAFT OF A NEW AMERICA Subhead reads: A Blitz of Action, An Abject Failure Jamelle Bouie
May 6, 2025 at 4:46 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Bién plus que la nôtre.
Upside down American flag, signifying ‘Distress.’
April 1, 2025 at 12:16 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
No sentence yet - snap analysis Jakub Krupa A word of caution: we still need to wait for sentencing, including a decision on the key issue of whether the verdict will include a declaration that she is ineligible to run for public office, and whether it will be “with immediate effect” or not. Stay with us for the latest.
March 31, 2025 at 9:57 AM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Cartoon by Paul Noth of a caveman on his knees with a stone tool inventing the wheel. He’s chipping away while 3 cavemen with clubs stand in background frowning & watching. His friend looks down at him working and says, “We’ll have to stop research now that the Neanderthals are back in charge.”
March 16, 2025 at 5:37 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
And here’s the #alttext. I couldn’t figure out how to add it while I was quote posting.
A Prayer Before Reading the News (written by Rabbi Irwin Keller in early 2016) Elohai neshamah shenatata bi tehorah hi My God, the soul you have placed in me is pure and vulnerable. I am afraid that looking at today's news will be painful. Encircle me in a robe of light so that I can witness the wounds of the world without being wounded myself. Let me learn what I need to know in order to be of my greatest use, without being overwhelmed by despair. I feel your protective light now as I open myself to the world's suffering and the world's joys. Amen
March 5, 2025 at 8:54 AM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Who r the idiots on @pbsnews.bsky.social L8ly? Paul Saunders from Center for Ntnl. Interest? Whose national interest? Russia’s? Omg! @least the fact writers r doing their job of keeping things Kosher.& Andrea-Kendall-Taylor pointing out lost principle of negotiating from strength! But Geoff Bennett?
“The first trilateral meeting of American, Russian and Ukrainian diplomats took place in 1993, in an effort to transfer some of Ukraine's nuclear weapons to Russia.” PBS NEWS HOUR Wttw
February 19, 2025 at 2:06 AM
coccinelle.bsky.social
No clicks necessary. Sorry about that. Bluesky’s a little clunky sometimes.
Image of ad banned by Wapo. Red background. Black & white Musk head & shoulders, head thrown back laughing, atop & behind way smaller image of entire front portico of White House. Slightly angled upwards right, above parallel headline reading: Donald Trump or Elon Musk? Copy reads: Since day one, Elon has created chaos and confusion and put our livelihoods at risk. And he is accountable to no one but himself. The Constitution only allows for one president at a time. Call Your Senators and tell them it's time Donald Trump fire Elon Musk. Tagline reads: No One Elected Elon Musk FireMusk.org
February 18, 2025 at 3:51 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Screenshot of weather app showing Chicago at 6 degrees.
February 14, 2025 at 11:23 AM
coccinelle.bsky.social
Screenshot of NORAD tracking Santa en route to Kodiak, Alaska. Now headed over the Pacific. Rudolph’s nose is lookin’ very bright.
Screenshot of Norad’s Santa Tracker: Longshot of him in his sleigh, being pulled by the reindeer, with Rudolph out front. Snow-covered Earth’s horizon visible in the background, black starry sky above, deep blue Pacific Ocean below.
December 25, 2024 at 9:01 AM
coccinelle.bsky.social
All your gut feelings vindicated by fact: “Beyond the devastating human toll, the Biden administration’s COVID response was political malpractice 4 Democrats and laid the groundwork for Trump’s return.”
@juliadoubleday.blsky.social &
@walkerbragman.bsky.social

www.thegauntlet.news/p/how-covid-...
Screenshot from article. Not enough space here for all the text, but it’s all in the article. Excerpt: “The expiration of COVID relief meant that millions of Americans who had been receiving aid from the federal government under Trump lost it under Biden. The virus continued wreaking havoc on the workforce right as inflation was taking off and the Federal Reserve was hiking interest rates.”
November 29, 2024 at 6:09 PM
coccinelle.bsky.social
I found out late & had to watch on rewind or whatever the hell it is that doesn’t let u fast-forward thru commercials. But lots of dogie sponsors (Chewy, Purina) so it was ok. The dachshunds were robbed, as usual. But didja c Karnacki show their rise in national popularity? 😁#NationalDogShow
Sticker cutout closeup of my red longhaired doxie Norwood staring right atcha!
November 29, 2024 at 6:40 AM