Ellie Mae 🌍✌️
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elliemae.bsky.social
Ellie Mae 🌍✌️
@elliemae.bsky.social
1.7K followers 810 following 950 posts
Budget slow travel in early retirement (since 2015), global citizen, sober 15+ years, former breast cancer patient, former journalist.

Signal: elliemae.01
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elliemae.bsky.social
Rozafa Castle legend:

Built by 3 brothers. One of their wives was sacrificed & buried in its walls to ensure structural strength.

Some say an inner archway near the burial site always drips water, even if it hasn’t rained.

A big fat drop fell on the top of my head.

📍Shkrodër, Albania 🇦🇱

🌍✌️✈️🗺️
Old castle walls with green vines growing on them, with a view of the countryside in the distance and an Albanian flag on a rampart
November 6, 2025 at 7:18 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
I found peace here over the weekend in Vlorë, Albania.

Even though my view included Sazan Island- the one Jared Kushner and Ivanka trump ‘bought’ to develop an uber luxury resort.

Locals call it “trump island”.
Crystal clear Mediterranean Sea at a rocky beach with an island view.
November 3, 2025 at 6:52 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
I’ve protested maga since 2016 - almost a decade. But you don’t really want to know that, do you, because it wouldn’t make you feel entitled to shit on me after I made a mistake, and admitted I didn’t know the problem with that one word.

My actions in the real world compared to your lame posts
⤵️
October 18, 2025 at 7:16 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
I am not a racist. It was a color blind statement; I’d use the same word for any lawmaker who’s *finally enthusiastically against the bullshit spewed by maga for a decade.

I’ve been waiting for people to catch up. Pic is me from *2016* protesting trump.

I fear it’s all too little too late now.
October 18, 2025 at 5:33 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
Tirana graffiti 🌍✌️
October 5, 2025 at 6:41 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
Way to go, Poland! (I’m in Warsaw atm.)

From Haaretz:
POLAND: Polish PM Donald Tusk reaffirmed Poland's support for Israel in its fight against Hamas in a post on X, but added that it "will never be on the side of politicians whose actions lead to hunger and the death of mothers and children. This must be obvious to nations that together went through the hell of World War II!" • The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it "firmly rejects" Tusk's comments and "expects Poland to refrain from using language that distorts history," accusing Warsaw of "dishonoring the memory of Holocaust victims." Later on Tuesday, the ministry summoned the Polish ambassador to Israel for an official reprimand.
August 5, 2025 at 7:50 PM
elliemae.bsky.social
ProPublica doing old-school journalism in this emboldened new world.
Propublica: SOMETIMES JUST the threat of window smashing is enough. One Afghan asylum-seeker who stepped out of a car after ICE threatened his window said in an affidavit, "It reminded me of the Taliban." But this all may be only the beginning. Shortly before Trump's flagship domestic policy bill passed in early July, border czar Tom Homan told a conservative Christian conference that immigration agencies were just getting started. The law will triple the size of ICE and add thousands more immigration agents. "You think we're arresting people now?" Homan said. "You wait."
August 2, 2025 at 6:51 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
I walked into Ukraine for a brief visit.

Why go at all?

Not for the passport stamp. Not for a selfie. I wanted to go out of curiosity. And I thought it would be nice to give a small restaurant some business.

More:
www.earthvagabonds.com/a-walk-into-...
Pedestrians and cars at the Ubla border crossing from Slovakia to Ukraine.
July 31, 2025 at 7:19 PM
elliemae.bsky.social
It’s not a swamp. It is a sewer full of shit.

www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey...
OCBS NEWS Several forensic experts CBS News spoke with, including Jim Stafford of Eclipse Forensic Services and Conor McCourt of McCourt Video Analysis, said they had not viewed surveillance footage in this format. They said it was unlikely to have been an export of the raw footage and that instead, it appears to be two separate video segments that were stitched together. Stafford, who looked at the video using specialized software to extract the underlying coding, known as metadata, said the metadata showed that the file was first created on May 23 of this year and that it was likely a "screen capture, not an actual export" of the raw file.
July 31, 2025 at 5:10 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
This is what I’m reading.
Unchecked capitalism combined with techbros edging out morality always meant America would stumble— and maybe fall.
June 15, 2025 at 8:05 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
Power of the Nile. Ramesseum ruins and modern farm plots seen from a hot air balloon in Luxor, Egypt.

#budgetslowtravel
#travelpic
#travelshot
#luxor
#egypt
#hotairballoon
#sightseeing
#lifeisnow
June 8, 2025 at 7:44 PM
elliemae.bsky.social
Everyone is talking about the 2,000 National Guards put into federal service, but this document calls for military members, too, at Hegseth’s discretion.
Document quoted: “The members and units of the National Guard called into Federal service shall be at least 2,000 National Guard personnel and the duration of duty shall be for 60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense. In addition, the Secretary of Defense may employ any other members of the regular Armed Forces as necessary to augment and support the protection of Federal functions and property in any number determined appropriate in his discretion. To carry out this mission, the deployed military personnel may perform those military protective activities that the Secretary of Defense determines are reasonably necessary to ensure the protection and safety of Federal personnel and property The Secretary of Defense shall consult with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security prior to withdrawing any personnel from any location to which they are sent. The Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security may delegate to subordinate officials of their respective Departments any of the authorities conferred upon them by this memorandum. DONALD J. TRUMP”
June 8, 2025 at 4:38 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
Highly recommend 9 Pyramids Lounge for a cold drink after exploring the amazing tombs abs chambers around the Giza Plateau near Cairo.

For those who drink alcohol, it’s the only place on-site that serves beer.

#earthvagabonds
✈️🗺️
May 22, 2025 at 6:48 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
The world is going to pot but I got to Giza. Finally.

#budgetskowtravel
#LifeisNow
#travelnow
Giza Pyramids in Egypt with a woman standing in the desert on the side of them, people on horses and camels between the woman and pyramids.
May 17, 2025 at 3:28 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
I tried signs back in 2016. Cleveland RNC.

The biggest problem was too few protestors (horrendous engagement) with a disjointed message. Climate, LGBTQ+, health care etc. are all incredibly important.

But one thing trumped them all.
Keeping trump out.

Need *millions saying that *same thing.
May 13, 2025 at 4:46 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
Thank you, Hua Hin, Thailand!
Next stop: Chengdu, China for the pandas 🐼 🤗🤍🌏✌️
Smiling woman and man on a beach
May 13, 2025 at 4:35 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
Put this way, it helps me because I’ve always been confused by this.
Excerpt: The economic carrots that national conservatism dangles before the working classes in support of family formation are nowhere to be found in this reconstituted state, nor even the traditionalist legislation that is central to the New Right platform. However far-fetched, this vision helps explain the seemingly incongruous fact of Peter Thiel’s support for the movement of Biblical family values. It might seem like Thiel, ever the speculator, is simply placing his bets on two different horses – but reading Yarvin reveals that he is actually riding one. For Thiel, it seems, national conservatism is the means to an altogether different sort of end – the gestures towards a welfare state give way, in time, to the permanent dictatorship of a neo-feudal tech CEO elite.
April 25, 2025 at 4:10 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
Slowly, mainstream journalists give credence to The Network State.

@jennycohn.bsky.social
Article excerpt: “In a sense, DOGE is serving as a sort of advance guard for Exit. It's cutting away every government function that isn't useful to a future network state (stuff that protects the vulnerable and supports the needy) while retaining the resources needed to found Exit-style cities (the blockchain, census data, border control). Casey Lynch, a geographer at the University of Girona who studies Exit politics, says that's in line with how Exiteers think: "The only things the government should be doing are administrative functions necessary to maintain the market. And the only kinds of government services that are necessary are those related to things like upholding financial transactions, fighting identity theft, and protecting property rights." This, in essence, is the new Exit: Don't secede from the government - absorb the government, digest it, and excrete a new one. A few groups have even met with the Trump administration to get his support for launching what they're calling "Freedom Cities." Like a Thiel-backed prototype in Honduras, these enclaves would be economically autonomous zones, free from government limits on Exit passion projects like longevity treatments or nuclear fusion research. Srinivasan has proposed making the area around Musk's SpaceX facility in Texas into one, and other folks have proposed building one in Greenland - after it's acquired by the United States, of course. The move is supported by Ken Howery, a college pal of Thiel's who is Trump's nominee to serve as ambassador to Denmark.”
April 21, 2025 at 11:43 PM
elliemae.bsky.social
I’m not Catholic but I appreciated how this man was more progressive. And I was lucky enough to visit Vatican City and the Papal Audience in springtime 2018. Eight years… goes fast.

Travel now. Life is Now.
✈️🗺️
#travelphoto
Pope Francis surrounded by security guards waves at me from the Pope Mobile in Vatican City, springtime 2018.
April 21, 2025 at 1:29 PM
elliemae.bsky.social
The spouse has been feeding stray puppies on the beach and my heart melts with every puppy tail wag and this man’s joyful smile.
🤗🤗😍😍🙏🙏
April 17, 2025 at 2:13 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
Elite Harvard to trump admin: HELL NO. 🙌
quinn emanuel trial lawyers April 14, 2025 VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL (Steps taken so far outlined, picking up bottom of page 1) It is unfortunate, then, that your letter disregards Harvard's efforts and instead presents demands that, in contravention of the First Amendment, invade university freedoms long Messrs. Gruenbaum, Keveney, and Wheeler April 14, 2015 Page 2 recognized by the Supreme Court. The government's terms also circumvent Harvard's statutory rights by requiring unsupported and disruptive remedies for alleged harms that the government has not proven through mandatory processes established by Congress and required by law. No less objectionable is the condition, first made explicit in the letter of March 31, 2025, that Harvard accede to these terms or risk the loss of billions of dollars in federal funding critical to vital research and innovation that has saved and improved lives and allowed Harvard to play a central role in making our country's scientific, medical, and other research communities the standard-bearers for the world. These demands extend not only to Harvard but to separately incorporated and independently operated medical and research hospitals engaging in life-saving work on behalf of their patients. The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. Accordingly, Harvard will not accept the government's terms as an agreement in principle. Harvard remains open to dialogue about what the university has done, and is planning to do, to improve the experience of every member of its community. But Harvard is not prepared to agree to demands that go beyond the lawful authority of this or any administration. William A. Burck Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
April 15, 2025 at 1:20 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
I keep saying this.
They’re gonna come after protesters, dissenters, good trouble makers.

Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/u...
Excerpt from the New York Times: “Privacy advocates say that all this data could enable the government to punish its political opponents by weaponizing information about an individual's personal life (bankruptcies, criminal histories, medical claims) or halting the benefits they receive (housing vouchers, retirement checks, food assistance). "They have not demonstrated a single case in which fraud detection has required some universal governmental access to everybody's data," said Representative Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland. "In fact, the creation of a monster uniform database of all information on all citizens will be an invitation to fraud and political retaliation against the people." That is how personal data is tracked and used in authoritarian states, Mr. Raskin added. Both Russia and China stockpile data on their citizens to track opponents and squash dissent of the ruling party in government.”
April 9, 2025 at 11:45 PM
elliemae.bsky.social
Online freedom of speech- including Bluesky itself- is at risk.

Sen. Dick Durban (D) plans new bill that would help the oligarchs silence dissent.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) as co-sponsor.

Excerpt below: www.theverge.com/policy/62632...

More: www.techdirt.com/2025/03/21/d...

#networkstate
#resist
Quote: “Trump attacked Section 230 in his first stint as president. In his second, his administration is already using its power to pressure TV stations, newspapers, and social media companies to bow to his will. Major tech platforms with deep-pocketed legal teams seem happy to accommodate Trump and other government censors, as long as they're allowed to keep raking in billions by selling targeted ads and scooping up Americans' private information. And without Section 230, potential competitors will stand little chance of getting off the ground. (Poster highlighted) Just look at Bluesky, which has gained millions of users in only a few months as people flee X. Without Section 230, anyone aggrieved by a decision from Bluesky's nascent moderation team could initiate a devastating lawsuit on any number of claims, smothering it in legal fees even if it won. The next upstart may never launch at all - leaving users with no alternatives to the government-favored Big Tech cartel.” — Senator Ron Wyden, from an excerpt found at https://www.theverge.com/policy/626326/ron-wyden-section-230-history-it-takes-chutzpah-excerpt
March 23, 2025 at 8:16 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
Low tide cloudy walks clear my head. 💙
March 23, 2025 at 6:29 AM
elliemae.bsky.social
Thank you, Indonesia! Terima kasih! It was an amazing 27 days on Sumatra, Weh and Samosir islands. 🙏🧡☺️

#airasia
#budgettravel
✈️🗺️
March 22, 2025 at 1:26 AM