Ruth Maassen
@ruthmaassen.bsky.social
Hanging on for dear life in coastal New England
Amateur but ardent musician (choirs, piano), sometime poet, grandmother of three, book lover, alumna of St. John’s College (Annapolis), proudly liberal
Amateur but ardent musician (choirs, piano), sometime poet, grandmother of three, book lover, alumna of St. John’s College (Annapolis), proudly liberal
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
December 15, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Impossible how good reading is. You mean I just point my face at the paper for a bit and it does a whole update on my brain?
November 23, 2025 at 1:52 PM
Impossible how good reading is. You mean I just point my face at the paper for a bit and it does a whole update on my brain?
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Jeffrey Epstein to Lawrence Summers (both of whom are very bad people):
“i have met some very bad people , none as bad as trump. not one decent cell in his body. so yes- dangerous”
“i have met some very bad people , none as bad as trump. not one decent cell in his body. so yes- dangerous”
November 13, 2025 at 1:09 AM
Jeffrey Epstein to Lawrence Summers (both of whom are very bad people):
“i have met some very bad people , none as bad as trump. not one decent cell in his body. so yes- dangerous”
“i have met some very bad people , none as bad as trump. not one decent cell in his body. so yes- dangerous”
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
A majority of the days the government has ever been shut down, Donald Trump was president. www.howtoreadthisch.art/red-versus-b...
November 8, 2025 at 7:04 PM
A majority of the days the government has ever been shut down, Donald Trump was president. www.howtoreadthisch.art/red-versus-b...
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Mamdani: "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."
November 5, 2025 at 4:38 AM
Mamdani: "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves. After all, if anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him."
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Mike Johnson: It’s True. I Am Tuning Out The News Cycle To Focus On Self-Care
Mike Johnson: I Am Tuning Out the News Cycle to Focus on Self-Care
Don’t ask me about the news. I am protecting my mental space.
www.theatlantic.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Mike Johnson: It’s True. I Am Tuning Out The News Cycle To Focus On Self-Care
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
I would like for national political reporters to place a moratorium on “But what will voters in the rest of America think about New York City’s socialist mayor?” We don’t care! Red states are notably full of psycho politicians yet rarely do you see pundits asking Brooklyn people about them.
November 2, 2025 at 5:57 PM
I would like for national political reporters to place a moratorium on “But what will voters in the rest of America think about New York City’s socialist mayor?” We don’t care! Red states are notably full of psycho politicians yet rarely do you see pundits asking Brooklyn people about them.
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Six months ago I wrote this post about “the next terrorist attack.” I republish it now (lightly updated) because my fear of this scenario has recently grown much greater.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
The Next Terrorist Attack
And What Comes After (Updated)
snyder.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Six months ago I wrote this post about “the next terrorist attack.” I republish it now (lightly updated) because my fear of this scenario has recently grown much greater.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
WE ARE COMING, FATHER ABRAHAM, THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE,
FROM MISSISSIPPI'S WINDING STREAM AND FROM NEW ENGLAND'S SHORE.
WE DARE NOT LOOK BEHIND US BUT STEADFASTLY BEFORE.
WE ARE COMING, FATHER ABRAHAM, THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE!
FROM MISSISSIPPI'S WINDING STREAM AND FROM NEW ENGLAND'S SHORE.
WE DARE NOT LOOK BEHIND US BUT STEADFASTLY BEFORE.
WE ARE COMING, FATHER ABRAHAM, THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE!
October 19, 2025 at 12:36 AM
WE ARE COMING, FATHER ABRAHAM, THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE,
FROM MISSISSIPPI'S WINDING STREAM AND FROM NEW ENGLAND'S SHORE.
WE DARE NOT LOOK BEHIND US BUT STEADFASTLY BEFORE.
WE ARE COMING, FATHER ABRAHAM, THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE!
FROM MISSISSIPPI'S WINDING STREAM AND FROM NEW ENGLAND'S SHORE.
WE DARE NOT LOOK BEHIND US BUT STEADFASTLY BEFORE.
WE ARE COMING, FATHER ABRAHAM, THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND MORE!
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
ABOLISH ICE.
Pass it on.
Pass it on.
October 4, 2025 at 4:05 AM
ABOLISH ICE.
Pass it on.
Pass it on.
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Good morning.
The government is shut down because Trump wants to act like a king and steal from you.
Democrats have no obligation to support a budget that funds the destruction of our democracy - and DOUBLES health premiums to fund a tax cut for billionaires.
The government is shut down because Trump wants to act like a king and steal from you.
Democrats have no obligation to support a budget that funds the destruction of our democracy - and DOUBLES health premiums to fund a tax cut for billionaires.
October 1, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Good morning.
The government is shut down because Trump wants to act like a king and steal from you.
Democrats have no obligation to support a budget that funds the destruction of our democracy - and DOUBLES health premiums to fund a tax cut for billionaires.
The government is shut down because Trump wants to act like a king and steal from you.
Democrats have no obligation to support a budget that funds the destruction of our democracy - and DOUBLES health premiums to fund a tax cut for billionaires.
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Why the clean energy revolution can outrun the Trump administration www.vox.com/podcasts/462...
Why the clean energy revolution can outrun the Trump administration
Environmental activist and writer Bill McKibben on why “you can’t stop the sun.”
www.vox.com
September 22, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Why the clean energy revolution can outrun the Trump administration www.vox.com/podcasts/462...
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
This is the playbook, folks.
If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away.
Do not be quiet in this moment.
If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away.
Do not be quiet in this moment.
September 18, 2025 at 4:12 PM
This is the playbook, folks.
If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away.
Do not be quiet in this moment.
If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away.
Do not be quiet in this moment.
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
today’s date is all squares! 9/16/25
September 16, 2025 at 7:26 PM
today’s date is all squares! 9/16/25
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
“We are currently governed by a leader indifferent to scientific consensus if it contradicts his political or economic interests, hostile to immigrants and intent on crippling the research universities that embody our collective hope for the future. The menace now is within.”
Opinion | We Are Watching a Scientific Superpower Destroy Itself
www.nytimes.com
September 8, 2025 at 11:30 AM
“We are currently governed by a leader indifferent to scientific consensus if it contradicts his political or economic interests, hostile to immigrants and intent on crippling the research universities that embody our collective hope for the future. The menace now is within.”
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
I’ve started investing in stocks. Beef. Chicken and Vegetable
One day I hope to be a bouillonaire
One day I hope to be a bouillonaire
August 26, 2025 at 11:20 AM
I’ve started investing in stocks. Beef. Chicken and Vegetable
One day I hope to be a bouillonaire
One day I hope to be a bouillonaire
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Worked for me too.
HWORK! *yeet*
HWORK! *yeet*
Watching this video 10 times has significantly improved my mood.
August 18, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Worked for me too.
HWORK! *yeet*
HWORK! *yeet*
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
July 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
We feed you.
They hunt us.
They hunt us.
June 11, 2025 at 5:05 AM
We feed you.
They hunt us.
They hunt us.
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
Conversation with Paul Krugman about “Inventing the Renaissance” paulkrugman.substack.com/p/inventing-...
Inventing the Renaissance: Ada Palmer
A fun conversation about history
paulkrugman.substack.com
June 7, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Conversation with Paul Krugman about “Inventing the Renaissance” paulkrugman.substack.com/p/inventing-...
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
In an effort to protect one of Cape Ann’s most misunderstood creatures, Cape Ann Animal Aid has officially launched its newest initiative: a barnacle rehoming program for those displaced during annual spring boat cleanings.
Cape Ann Animal Aid Launches Barnacle Rehoming Program
By J.B. Fitzsimmons | Gloucester Correspondent GLOUCESTER — In an effort to protect one of Cape Ann’s most misunderstood creatures, Cape Ann Animal Aid has officially launched its newest initiative…
thedogtownreader.com
June 4, 2025 at 4:16 PM
In an effort to protect one of Cape Ann’s most misunderstood creatures, Cape Ann Animal Aid has officially launched its newest initiative: a barnacle rehoming program for those displaced during annual spring boat cleanings.
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
How to be a writer:
First, plant the tree on which the leaves of your book will be printed.
Next, hatch the bird from whose quill your ink will flow.
Water the tree.
Feed the bird.
Learn the patience of things that grow and the joy of things that sing.
Make tea: you've got time.
First, plant the tree on which the leaves of your book will be printed.
Next, hatch the bird from whose quill your ink will flow.
Water the tree.
Feed the bird.
Learn the patience of things that grow and the joy of things that sing.
Make tea: you've got time.
June 4, 2025 at 8:43 AM
How to be a writer:
First, plant the tree on which the leaves of your book will be printed.
Next, hatch the bird from whose quill your ink will flow.
Water the tree.
Feed the bird.
Learn the patience of things that grow and the joy of things that sing.
Make tea: you've got time.
First, plant the tree on which the leaves of your book will be printed.
Next, hatch the bird from whose quill your ink will flow.
Water the tree.
Feed the bird.
Learn the patience of things that grow and the joy of things that sing.
Make tea: you've got time.
Reposted by Ruth Maassen
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Em dashes, of course, were named in honor of Emily Dickinson, because she used so many of them.
Kerning, by the way, is named after Jerome Kern, who took a special interest in the posters and other advertising art for his shows, and God help the fellow who once rendered Kern's beloved SHOW BOAT as SHOWBOAT.
June 2, 2025 at 3:40 AM
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