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larelli.bsky.social
larelli
@larelli.bsky.social
1.1K followers 5.1K following 8.3K posts
Gardener. Democrat. Dog Aficionado.
All about peonies, politics and pups

Hell is empty and all the skeets are here
Posts Replies Media Videos
larelli.bsky.social
Newsome is what he is … but I have to admit this is pretty great!
Donald Trump painted as Marie Antoinette Governor Newsom ... @GovPr... • Oct 1 TRUMP "MARIE ANTOINETTE" SAYS, "NO HEALTH CARE FOR YOU PEASANTS, BUT A BALLROOM FOR THE QUEEN!"
October 3, 2025 at 11:26 PM
larelli.bsky.social
Oooooof
Well, the next time someone brings up a terrible anecdote about Cambodia or Vietnam, I will definitely drop the Star Wars story to show that people have two sides
September 24, 2025 at 12:40 AM
larelli.bsky.social
What hell have we descended into?
A priest believed assaulted by ICE in Illinois
September 21, 2025 at 10:58 PM
larelli.bsky.social
I love shows on these streaming plats but I can’t support this anti-American capitulation to authoritarianism

We all love a show/WaPo writers/the NYT’s crossword-but that love is too costly to democracy at this point. Economic retaliation/pain is the only language corporate America will understand
September 18, 2025 at 3:56 PM
larelli.bsky.social
Love that movie! Yeah evidently when Adams first met Mamdani he repeatedly mentioned how fascinated he was by Idi Amin - Adams is such a weirdo!
Andrew Marzoni @andrewmarzonl Follow Eric Adams is fascinated by Idi Amin. Weeks passed. The budget was overdue and momentum was stalling around free buses. In a Hail Mary pass, Mamdani texted Mayor Eric Adams. Earlier in the year, Adams had hosted a meeting with progressive lawmakers at Gracie Mansion. Each person would introduce themselves and discuss policy proposals they were passionate about. Before Mamdani began, Adams said, "I read your bio - you were born in Uganda. I was fascinated by Idi Amin, referring to the leader who had expelled Mamdani's father. Mamdani went into his pitch about free buses. He thought Adams seemed into it but sensed that the mayor's staff didn't "love that he loved the idea." Afterward, the mayor came up to him to reiterate how interesting he thought Idi Amin was. "I said, Well, you know, my dad was expelled by him. He has a lot he can share," Mamdani recalls. Adams said, "Take my number. Let's have dinner sometime." (A
July 5, 2025 at 1:56 AM
larelli.bsky.social
This is why I have a book of exotic chickens to look at when the world gets to be too ridiculously horrible
Book cover of a book called extra extraordinary chickens- a book of photographs of fancy fantastic chicken breed The picture is of a golden brown extremely fluffy chicken with feathers that form an elaborate headdress
April 21, 2025 at 10:17 PM
larelli.bsky.social
Protesting and making an outcry works
Let’s keep it up and widen the scope of our efforts
a thousand people marched outside of Tom Homan's home in village of less than 1,500 after family was detained Payr POLICE ICE O Ice agents walk down a street during an enforcement operation in Chicago, Illinois, on 26 January. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Marina Dunbar in New York Mon 7 Ape 2025 18.08 EDT| Share A mother and her three children who were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents as part of a sweep in the tiny hometown of the Trump administration's "border czar", Tom Homan, have been released following days of outcry from community figures, advocates and protesters calling for their freedom. Over the weekend, about a thousand protesters marched outside of Homan's home in a small New York village, calling for the release of the family after they were detained last month. The family has not been named or spoken
April 8, 2025 at 2:30 AM
larelli.bsky.social
As Ryan Broderick notes it’s also about kicking women out of the workforce

www.garbageday.email/p/crashing-t...
And these viral outrage videos aren't just amorphous right-wing digital chatter, the sentiment behind them has quickly become the main conservative cope strategy for Trump's tariffs this week. Right-wing columnist Batya Ungar-Sargon was on Fox News on Sunday arguing that Trump's collapse of the global economy could actually help fix America's "crisis in masculinity." And investor Jason Howerton was posting memes on X this morning arguing the same thing, captioning a video of a guy jumping out of a plane with, "As soon as we bring back this energy to the common American man, we will be fully back. Why not you?" And podcaster and writer Laura Robinson said she's seen data that shows that many conservative men want to hurt the economy to specifically push women out of the workforce. Even Trump has leaned into the masculinist messaging, frantically posting on Truth Social this morning, "Don't be Weak! Don't be Stupid! Don't be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!"
April 8, 2025 at 1:56 AM
larelli.bsky.social
Protests need to spread- every kind of protest mechanism available to us.

The Supreme Court, media orgs physical sites, ICE centers, Tesla dealerships

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
a thousand people marched outside of Tom Homan's home in village of less than 1,500 after family was detained Payr POLICE ICE O Ice agents walk down a street during an enforcement operation in Chicago, Illinois, on 26 January. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Marina Dunbar in New York Mon 7 Ape 2025 18.08 EDT| Share A mother and her three children who were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents as part of a sweep in the tiny hometown of the Trump administration's "border czar", Tom Homan, have been released following days of outcry from community figures, advocates and protesters calling for their freedom. Over the weekend, about a thousand protesters marched outside of Homan's home in a small New York village, calling for the release of the family after they were detained last month. The family has not been named or spoken
April 7, 2025 at 11:32 PM
larelli.bsky.social
I would have no personal space because of the close talking but I would feel very supported I think
Drew Barrymore in an exquisite light tulle dress surrounded by a fairytale backdrop and seated next to a large golden lion
April 6, 2025 at 4:14 AM
larelli.bsky.social
This owl looks like Lyndsey Graham after his 5th mint julep
Owl that looks like Lyndsey Graham after one too many mint juleps
April 2, 2025 at 7:24 AM
larelli.bsky.social
Oh I love the side eye disapproving bird genre
Owls are super start at this
Owl with brown feathers and golden eyes standing up on rock with a very disapproving expression
April 2, 2025 at 7:21 AM
larelli.bsky.social
Economic protests of all sorts are the most potent weapon we have in this particular moments in our history

American oligarchs depend on a consumerist society to keep up that consumption rate to hold power
We can follow the path of other successful movements

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
In the face of such changes, the public's most powerful options are often withholding labor power and purchasing power. Calling in sick from work or school, refusing to buy and stay-at-home demonstrations are notoriously difficult to police. Last month, an inestimable number of people participated in such actions to highlight a Day Without Immigrants. The prominence of billionaires in the administration and populist anger toward them make this type of approach even more viable in today's climate. Indeed, the diversification of resistance methods puts the United States on a similar trajectory to many democracy movements of the past. In anti-authoritarian movements of the 20th century, economic noncooperation - more so than protest alone - was the coordinated activity that split elites and made way for democratic breakthroughs. In apartheid South Africa, it was the enormous economic pressure - through boycotts of white-owned businesses, general strikes, divestments and capital flight - that brought the white supremacist National party to heel and elevated reformers who were willing to do business with Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress. In communist Poland, it was the ability of trade unionists to credibly call for general strikes (and credibly call off such strikes) that gave the Solidarity movement the leverage to negotiate a peaceful democratic transition. Mahatma Gandhi's noncooperation campaigns in India made the colony ungovernable by British colonial authorities. And when the Nazis invaded and occupied Denmark in the 1940s, noncooperation was near-total. No one remembered how to run the railroad. Teachers had to leave school early to tend to their gardens. Factory workers slowed down or stopped production altogether. Danes obscured the identities of their Jewish neighbors, gave them temporary haven and secured their passage through fishing boats to neutral territory, saving thousands of lives.
March 28, 2025 at 6:48 PM
larelli.bsky.social
This is a less stiff Helen Corbitt midcentury version my mom made w/ bourbon (Helen Corbitt is midcentury cookbook writer extraordinaire)

This is the punchbowl size for a party recipe but you can easily poke around the internet and find a recipe that serves 2 or 4

www.girlsatlibrary.com/kat-turner
Eggnog (for 15) 12 large pasture-raised eggs, separated 1 cup of sugar 1 nice pinch of Maldon salt 1 pint golden rum (I like Mount Gay Eclipse) 1 cup brandy (Don't overthink it, Korbel will do you just fine) 4 ounces St Elizabeth Allspice Dram (optional) 1 pint organic heavy cream 1 quart organic whole milk 1 pint organic vanilla bean ice cream Whole nutmeg for grating Angostura bitters Beat the egg yolks, sugar, and nice pinch of Maldon salt until thick and ribbony. Add the rum, brandy, and allspice dram and stir thoroughly. The liquor "cooks" the eggs (I'm not sure if this is actually true but Helen says it is and no one in my family has ever gotten sick, so...). Add the milk and cream and continue whipping. Break up the ice cream and add. Beat the egs whites until stiff and fold in, and if you've got a copper bowl like my mother does use that- whites whip like a dream. Pour the eggnog into a fancy punch bowl (or just use that Ikea bowl you mixed it in) and refrigerate for 30 minutes
December 25, 2024 at 1:10 AM
larelli.bsky.social
Oh he would be a close second for me- but this is my top choice to reread

A few bits of gardening advice have become outdated but the soundness of his character shines through- and he is so funny

His books of collected Washington Post columns are a marvelous gift to give to a gardener!
First page of Henry Mitchell On Gardening He was the Washington Post garden columnist for many many years and just a wise and wryly funny man
December 24, 2024 at 9:26 PM
larelli.bsky.social
I thought so too- it stuck with me- it wasn’t a council race but a winning race for LA city controller

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Billboard for the 2022 winning Kenneth Mejia campaign for LA city controller that shows the enormous amount of the budget that the police force consumes
December 11, 2024 at 8:01 AM
larelli.bsky.social
I wait till the end of fall when peony vendors have end of the season sales -I can pick them up relatively inexpensively

I just plant a bit at a time &then I can start dividing them after they have been growing for a cple of years &go on from there-I’ve starting to grow from seed too

My Seedling
Peach colored single flowered Peony seedling grown from open pollinated peony seed
December 2, 2024 at 6:30 AM
larelli.bsky.social
It’s my favorite peony! It changes colors as it fades and always looks so pretty - it’s on the left about a forth of the way up and both the deep coral bloom and the bloom that looks like peach ice cream are the same plant- it’s just the way the peony fades as the flower gets older

Peony ‘Lorelei’
Peony walk with tons of peonies of different colors and forms
December 2, 2024 at 3:31 AM
larelli.bsky.social
Super lucky!
scruffy terriers who look like they were assembled out of slightly irregular carnival toys are the BEST
Scruffy black and white terrier in a gold bow tie sitting on a sheepskin covered leopard print couch
November 23, 2024 at 11:57 PM
larelli.bsky.social
Omg she looks a bit like a my dog Monty with a longer hair do!
Black and white scruffy terrier with a curly tail in the snow
November 23, 2024 at 10:05 PM
larelli.bsky.social
Picture of a page of a website for the plant nursery Logees with a selection of their Rex Begonias that they have for sale
November 23, 2024 at 7:14 AM
larelli.bsky.social
This whole thing was a super interesting read but I confess I was surprised by this:
The gap currently stands at about 6.8 million votes, and will come down slightly more as the final remaining votes are counted. That's a drop of about 8%. But, perhaps more relevant to this analysis, the drop-off within the battleground states was only 0.8%, meaning Vice President Harris very nearly matched President Biden's vote total in the states that decided this election. In four of the battleground states (Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin) Harris actually won more votes than President Biden.
November 23, 2024 at 5:06 AM
larelli.bsky.social
Here is a graphic that helped me
Alt text writing aid TEXT IDENTIFY WHO EXPRESSION DESCRIPTION COLOUR INTERESTING FEATURES Example pic is: A capybara looking relaxed in a hot spa. Yellow yuzu fruits are floating in the water, and one is balanced on the top of the capybara's head.
November 22, 2024 at 9:54 AM
larelli.bsky.social
It’s also a bonding and dominance ritual
-I think it’s something that is the first step to what John Marshall calls dignity wraithing
The Wall Street Journal has a new article alleging that Elon Musk and various board members have taken illegal drugs together. The volume of drug use by Musk and with board members has become concerning, some of these people said. In the culture Musk has created around him, some friends, including directors, feel there is an expectation to consume drugs with him because they think refraining could upset the billionaire, who has made them a lot of money, some of the people said. More so, they don't want to risk losing the social capital that comes from being close to Musk, which for some feels akin to having proximity to a king. Musk and his lawyer, Alex Spiro, didn't
November 21, 2024 at 9:45 PM
larelli.bsky.social
RFK is not merely quirky or a woowoo health nut

He is actively dangerous &he will cause a rise in child mortality w/ his anti vaccine crusade &untold mental misery for those on SSRIs or Adderall

MAGA Detention camps for immigrants &labor camps for people on RFK unapproved prescription drugs
for people taking the ADHD treatment and other common drugs - which, it was hard to ignore, sounded an awful lot like labor camps. I'm going to create these wellness farms where they can go to get off of illegal drugs, off of opiates, but also illegal drugs, other psychiatric drugs, if they want to," he said during a recorded podcast interview billed as a "Latino Town Hall" event, "to get off of SSRIs, to get off of benzos, to get off of Adderall, and to spend time as much time as they need - three or four years if they need it - to learn to get reparented, to reconnect with communities."
November 21, 2024 at 9:39 PM