Doug Urner (he/they) 🏳️‍⚧️
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douglasurner.bsky.social
Doug Urner (he/they) 🏳️‍⚧️
@douglasurner.bsky.social
1.2K followers 450 following 4.7K posts
"I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept" - Angela Davis

Old-school nerd: Unix, wooden boats, steel bicycles. Fond of critters. Urgent about justice & human rights.
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douglasurner.bsky.social
This is Sweet Pea. He's 14 & climbing the fence is getting to be a challenge for him. So we made some "portals" so that he can still come & go as he pleases. It took him about 30 seconds to figure out how they work. It must be #caturday somewhere...
A black & white tuxedo cat passes through a "portal" in wood fence between his yard and the world beyond.
October 12, 2025 at 10:29 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
After the 2024, elections a small group of us started getting together to hold ourselves accountable for doing something to resist the regime and to help us keep our spirts up...

This t-shirt is one of our projects: fine couture for the streets and a fundraiser for the ACLU: repair-democracy.org
Dark gray t-shirt on white background. On the front of the t-shirt, the words "REPAIR DEMOCRACY" and "speak • vote • resist" are arranged in a circle around a crossed screwdriver and combination wench. Visible below the word "vote" is a union bug.
August 21, 2025 at 5:44 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
It was really hot when the last clutch hatched & we think that might be why they left the nest early (they didn't have their tail feathers & couldn't even approximate flying). So we added some insulation & air conditioning - a quiet server fan.

Mom turns to face it, hope that means she likes it.
July 4, 2025 at 4:34 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
The eggs are hatching! There is something to celebrate today!

So far this morning 2 have hatched, their mouths are wide open as mom brings food. One egg is visible in the nest.

Oregon Juncos usually nest on the ground. This pair decided to nest on our electric meter, so I built them a "deck."
July 4, 2025 at 3:56 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Note the #3 app on the Apple App Store today: ICE Block. HT to Karoline Leavitt for talking up ICE Block yesterday.
Screen capture of the Apple App Store today, showing the ICE Block as today’s number 3 app.
July 1, 2025 at 8:17 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Embroidered jacket, May Day, Tacoma, WA.
Photograph of protesters on the street in Tacoma, WA on May Day 2025. The person in the foreground is wearing a jean jacket with a piece of fabric art sewn on the back. The piece consists of a central group of colorful appliquéd flowers, above the flowers are the embroidered words "Spread the seeds of joy" below the flowers the embroidery continues with the words "Compost the fascists."
June 21, 2025 at 6:16 AM
douglasurner.bsky.social
#NoKings: Gig Harbor, WA
#NoKings protesters with the faces obscured. The protester in the foreground is wearing Navy dress whites carrying a sign over his head that reads "Harvey Milk Served With Honor" the back of his sign (not visible in the picture) reads "Hegseth Didn't Earn It."
June 15, 2025 at 3:56 AM
douglasurner.bsky.social
#NoKings Gig Harbor, WA.
Protest sign reading "NO FAUX-KING WAY! 86 47." #NoKings protesters with faces obscured. In the foreground there is a person in Navy dress whites carrying a sign overhead that reads "Harvey Milk Served Honorably." In the background there are 4 people, one is holding a sign that reads "Nope" in red letters, above the word is a "Trump toupee." A protest sign reading: T rump A lways C hickens O ut In the upper right hand corner there is an alarmed looking white cartoon chicken wearing a red tie and a toupee reminiscent of a very vain president. The chicken's bill may be oranger that usual. A group of young people at #NoKings showing their signs: A blue sign: "No Dick-Tator - America has no kings" A red sign that is hidden behind the blue one that reads: "Hate Does Not Make Us Great!" A white sign: "FAUX-KING JOKE" A green sign: "RESIST: Love your neighbor, Condemn fascism, Embody America, No Kings"
June 14, 2025 at 11:04 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
This is not somebody worth the time ou day.
June 13, 2025 at 8:45 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Spotted a cool looking Ford EV in the wild today.
Spoiler alert: white Tesla Model Y rebadged as a Ford Taurus seen through the windshield of a following car.
June 5, 2025 at 2:12 AM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Any folks in the Gig Harbor / Pierce County area: it would be great if there was a good turnout for this event. Sounds like it could be the start of a regular series if there is interest.
June 4, 2025 at 3:58 AM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Or these seagulls here? She flys away every time the train comes in and then she comes right back. Who knew that seagulls were into trains?
A pair of seagulls by their nest which is between the tracks at the Whitby (UK) train station. The (presumably) female gull is sitting on the nest while her partner walks on the singling cable raceway. There are three eggs and a stone in the nest.
June 4, 2025 at 12:36 AM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Because there is still wonder & beauty in the world.

#OregonJunco feeding her babies & taking out a fecal sack. We expect them to leave the nest in the next day or two. Then they will spend about a week on the ground learning to forage & developing the strength to fly. Our cat is on lockdown.
April 29, 2025 at 9:12 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Oregon Junco parent (mom, I think) feeding her babies & taking away the fecal sack with the “output” of one of them. Apparently all birds whose young are born dependent do this. Took us a while to figure out what to search for. The dad also feeds & cleans up.

www.audubon.org/news/what-ar...
April 27, 2025 at 10:54 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Better picture of the little birds.
Oregon Junco feeding its babies in a nest built on top of an electric meter. Usually they nest on the ground.
April 23, 2025 at 8:31 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Have you seen Tesla's earnings report? Also, I'm way overdue to thank you for the quick "Spanish" bread recipe. It works well with some whole wheat or spelt flour added.

And "our" one-week old baby Oregon Juncos are busy this morning while the folks are out looking for food.
An Oregon Junco nest on top of an electrical meter in Washington state. Two birds, about one week old, are just visible in the nest. The parents are out foraging for food.
April 23, 2025 at 5:06 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Expecting Bondi et al to ignore Judge Calvert's order I wrote an email to my reps on ResistBot. If you'd like to reuse it feel free. The wording is in the alt text of the image if you'd like to tailor it to your reps (mine are all Ds).

#resistbot
ResistBot "sign card" asking folks to "TEXT SIGN PBZYME to 50409" to urge Congress to reassert itself and support Judge Calvert. The text of the letter follows: Last Friday, April 18th, Judge Calvert in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia’s Atlanta Division ruled against the Trump administration in Doe v. Bondi and issued a TRO that, among other things orders that the “Defendants shall reinstate Plaintiffs’ student status and SEVIS authorization, retroactive to March 31, 2025. By Tuesday, April 22, 2025 at 5:00 p.m., Defendants shall file a notice of compliance with this Order.” If the Trump administration does not fully comply with this order, it is yet another sign of our deepening constitutional crisis. Congress must act to reassert itself as a coequal branch of government. The members of Congress who do not act are derelict in their duty and are failing to uphold their other to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Even if you feel that you have no way to compel your congressional colleagues to honor their responsibilities, you can act. Representative Ocasio-Cortez & Senators Booker, Sanders, and Van Hollen have all found ways to bring the crisis into the public view and to help the country see the danger we are facing. These times call for extraordinary and creative action. If today’s deadline passes without full compliance by the Trump administration you must speak out — not just for the student plaintiffs, but for our Constitution and the rule of law. Please uphold your oath of office.
April 22, 2025 at 6:36 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
I just don't see how this is sustainable.

However, this image from @oregonthedm.bsky.social, gives me hope that there is room to organize here. If the largest "voting" block is "not worth voting" & we can figure out what would motivate them to vote we have an opening. We should take it.

3/4
An unsourced graphic (citing data from the FEC & the University of Florida Election Lab) that shows that the largest "voting" block in every election since 1976 except for 2020 was "Did Not Vote." In six of those elections the number on non-voters approached 50%. The percentage of non-voters only dips below 40% in 2008, 2020, & 2024.
April 22, 2025 at 5:06 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
...of looking at it discourages us from understanding why their position makes sense to them, or why our point of view seems so out of touch.

World wide income inequality & obscene amounts of personal wealth really worry me too. I started wondering about how bad it is & found this map.

2/4
Map from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)) showing the estimated nominal GDP of the countries of world.
April 22, 2025 at 5:06 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
At the NW Detention Center in Tacoma, WA yesterday we're chanting "No estás solo / You are not alone" as an ICE van enters the compound with yet more prisoners. The NW Detention Center is a private prison run by the GEO Group on behalf of ICE.
April 20, 2025 at 5:57 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Over 200 people protesting at GEO’s concentration camp in Tacoma. It’s 2:30 in the afternoon & the captives are still waiting for breakfast.
Photo of part of the crowd at NW Detention Center in Tacoma.
April 19, 2025 at 9:34 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
I'm curious about the follower count on Bsky. I tried to look at who the five people following an account were, but when I clicked on the follower count, instead of a list I got this: any idea what is going on?
Screen capture of a Bluesky user's followers list, showing that the user has 5 followers at the top (under the user's handle) but also reporting "No results found. This user doesn't have any followers."
April 17, 2025 at 3:21 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Roberts granting an "administrative stay" is a slap in the face of justice. It doesn't feel like enough, but I felt like I had to do something so I wrote a letter to SCOTUS on ResistBot. Feel free to use it if you'd like or edit to suit (copy/paste from the alt text).

resist.bot/petitions/PN...
Instructions (Text SIGN PNFXKI to 50409) for signing the ResistBot letter/petition "Condemn Justice Roberts For Failing to Back Judge Xinis." The text of the letter is below: I am appalled by Chief Justice Roberts’ granting of an administrative stay in the case of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. Allowing a person who was removed from the country, apparently without due process, in what the government has admitted was an error is a travesty. That error should be corrected immediately. It is unconscionable that a person who was legally residing in the United States and who has not been found guilty of any crime is now sitting in a prison in El Salvador. It is beyond comprehension that our government claims to be incapable of undoing a mistake that is tearing apart a family and likely causing a presumably innocent person to fear for their safety — if not for their life. The government’s claim that the order by Judge Xinis is “district-court diplomacy” is completely disingenuous. The government made a mistake — and admits to it — the government should have immediately and urgently started working on correcting their mistake. The fact that a court order is required to do this should strike fear in the heart of every person residing in the US. By failing to vigorously uphold the order of Judge Xinis, Justice Roberts has further undermined the rule of law in the United States and the legitimacy of the Supreme Court. The full court should immediately act to correct this mistake and vigorously defend our basic rights and the rule of law.
April 7, 2025 at 10:38 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
Apple Crumb Cake for Cory Booker was lunch today. Among the recipe's many virtues, it is divided into three components inviting a cooperative cooking experience - perfect for rejecting the "rugged individualism" that has corroded our society.

Recipe here: contrarian.substack.com/p/cake-for-c...
A photograph of Marissa Rothkopf's "Cake for Cory Booker" a vegan Apple Crumb Cake - freshly baked and uncut sitting on a white plate on a background of a green tea towel with a floral pattern.
April 6, 2025 at 8:50 PM
douglasurner.bsky.social
I found the protest sign, which seems fitting to the day in a rather uplifting email from Michele Hornish. You can read it here: open.substack.com/pub/micheleh...
A photo of a protest sign. On the left hand side is a black & white drawing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wearing one of her dissent collars over her judicial robes. Part of her face is cut off by the text (presumably a quote from Justice Ginsburg): When injustice becomes law resistance becomes duty. Most of the frame is the sign, but the hand of the person holding the sign is seen at the bottom of the frame and there is a multi-story building in the backgound.
April 2, 2025 at 6:21 AM