I'm Margaret! I'm the beast! Blah Blah Blah!
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vt-vagabond.bsky.social
I'm Margaret! I'm the beast! Blah Blah Blah!
@vt-vagabond.bsky.social
450 followers 2K following 1.8K posts
Reading, procrastinating, and no longer living out of a backpack in places both familiar and foreign, because it's (still) a damn pandemic. Mercenary educator. She/her.
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vt-vagabond.bsky.social
And I am in absolute awe of this woman’s bravery:
As Watson questioned agents about warrants and the legality of their raid, neighbors pleaded with her to be quiet for her own safety. She refused to back down. "You claim you have warrants, but do you have a warrant to seize the entire building?" she asked the agents. "Do you have warrants to detain the entire building?" According to Watson, two federal agents told her that they were taking all detainees' photos to check them against databases for visas or warrants. When Watson walked around the block to capture footage of the ongoing raid, she noticed federal agents were using the parking lots of Excel South Shore Academy—a CPS contractor school— to load residents into vans. In them, Watson saw Black U.S. citizens, women, and children. Grabbed from their beds, they hadn't been allowed to dress themselves before they were zip-tied and brought down to the waiting vans.
October 8, 2025 at 2:45 AM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
There’s a lot in here that deserves a pull quote, but this is the most egregious. I need people to recognize the gravity of the situation here in Chicago;
SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY Donate "The ones that are getting out are coming home to no home," Watson said. According to her, after the raid occurred, building management stole or threw out residents belongings, including visas and important documents. ICIRR is still trying to determine the identities of all the people detained in the raid. Castro said that the organization usually can do that by following up with family members or loved ones. "In this instance, there was nobody left to work with," she said. The only detainee name they're sure of is that of a person who passed their Venezuelan passport to a neighbor as they were being taken away.
October 8, 2025 at 2:42 AM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
The hypocrisy of the left when it comes to the idea of “following the science” is truly staggering.
What's odd about the political climate surrounding forever COVID is that I really don't see what the counterargument is against the idea that we should stop infecting children with a brain damaging virus. Reactions online seem to be simple disbelief that COVID damages brains- but this is anti-science. The science is clear. However, today we still have a hegemonic refusal to acknowledge COVID as a threat- from the far-right to the far-left, it is a largely united front to treat COVID as the cold it is so clearly not.
October 6, 2025 at 12:24 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
DHS reported that the officer who opened fire had been "seriously injured" during the encounter. But body-worn camera footage first obtained by the Sun-Times shows that he described his injuries as "nothing major" shortly after the shooting.
October 4, 2025 at 8:41 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
If I really wanted to up the fancies, I’d look at the appetizer selection of menus from French restaurants for inspiration? I don’t even like goat cheese, but this sounds so fancy!
TARTINE AUX CHAMPIGNONS Roasted Maitake mushrooms, truffle-goat cheese, pickled shallots, persillade, walnut relish, toasted crostini
October 1, 2025 at 2:55 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
There’s a LOT packed into this short video. But one thing my brain got snagged on, that I can’t seem to get past, is this choice of optics for a politician who is the head of the House Republicans:
A woman is captured mid-speech. I didn’t mean to grab an unflattering pic, but I certainly don’t care enough about her to fix it. Her blond hair is cut into a bob and dark at the roots, she wears a pink shirt and pearl stud earrings, and she’s positioned in front of windows with lace curtains drawn back and blinds down but open. Greenery is visible outside the windows. The only thing that could make the background and styling look more “suburban mom” would be a well-positioned pic of some kids. The chyron identifies the screenshot as being from CBS News Chicago, and the woman as Rep. Tony McCombe, (R) House Minority Leader. The video quality is poor and somewhat pixelated, suggesting a slow internet connection.
October 1, 2025 at 1:54 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
Watching children play in Crown Fountain is one of my favorite downtown pastimes.

The only thing these families should be worried about is how they’re going to appease a toddler who’s stuck in soaking wet clothes for the rest of the afternoon after they splish-splashed around so gleefully.
Chicago Tribune Chavez and her two children are now confined to a room at O'Hare International Airport, awaiting transfer to a detention facility in Texas before deportation to Guatemala, she said. There are no detention centers in Illinois, which has forbidden local jails from holding ICE detainees under the state's Way Forward Act. Neither ICE or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security could immediately be reached for comment. After the family was taken into custody, they were brought to the ICE processing center in west suburban Broadview where officials demanded they sign a voluntary departure document, Chavez said. But she and her husband refused to sign anything. She and her children were then taken to O'Hare; her husband remains in Broadview.
September 29, 2025 at 11:28 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
I have never in my life wanted short hair, but my immediate response to seeing this is “compulsory adherence to outdated gender norms” and it makes me want to cut all my hair off purely out of spite.
Screenshot from the NYTimes Bsky account. Skeet reads: A reader asked our fashion critic: “I keep noticing that many women in the news now have long hair. Can you explain why? Is this a trend or something more permanent?” An article thumbnail shows a white lady with long brown hair and a text overlay reading: Ask Vanessa “Why Do So Many Women Have Long Hair Now?”
September 29, 2025 at 9:21 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
It was Bill Koza who hit me so hard today, but I can’t wait to hear how Della Reuther informs and impacts how I move in our current moment:
A stylized drawing of an older white woman with short grey hair, cat eye glasses, large round earrings, and a black and grey patterned shirt is set against a lilac background. Text below reads: Della Reuther A Lithuanian-American hog butcher, tavern owner and anti-war protester "Anything good for the people ... is never given easily."
September 19, 2025 at 12:36 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
NBC News reviewed more than 100 pages of documents the federal government submitted in its effort to deport Khalil, along with evidence filed by his legal team - including his permanent residency application, articles about his activism and contracts and letters outlining his internship and work experience. In some cases, the government appeared to rely on unverified tabloid reports about Khalil. In others, its claims were factually incorrect because of inconsistent timelines and mischaracterizations of his work history. 🦚
September 19, 2025 at 12:20 AM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
Gov Scott started so strong early in the pandemic, but that didn’t last. I don’t follow as closely as I should, living out of state but, as a rule, I don’t trust his appointees.

Seven Days initially frames it in a positive light, but that doesn’t last more than a paragraph or two (link in reply):
A state health advisory sent directly to medical providers recommends that virtually everyone receive a vaccine or booster shot. The guidelines place special emphasis on pregnant people; those at higher risk of exposure; and those at risk of serious illness or who live with a medically vulnerable person. Children between 6 months and 2 years old are also specially encouraged to get vaccinated, according to the state. The regional recommendations, meanwhile, state that healthy children between the ages of 2 and 18 "may" be vaccinated. Arel, the interim health commissioner, did not explain why the state guidelines were not promoted more visibly. "That's just the nature of sometimes how press releases are developed and released," she said. She also downplayed the state's omission from the regional guidelines, even as she acknowledged that a joint message on vaccines can "make things a little less confusing for people." "We were so focused on getting everything lined up and ready to go for our announcement about our recommendations and the standing order, we just — we weren't able to be a part of that [Northeast Public Health Collaborative] press release," she said. "Our attention was elsewhere."
September 18, 2025 at 8:08 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
😕
A 404 page (“page is not available”) of the site linked in the previous tweet.
September 17, 2025 at 12:53 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
As we train our sights on what we oppose, let's recall the costs of surrender. When we use generative Al, we consent to the appropriation of our intellectual property by data scrapers. We stuff the pockets of oligarchs with even more money. We abet the acceleration of a social media gyre that everyone admits is making life worse. We accept the further degradation of an already degraded educational system. We agree that we would rather deplete our natural resources than make our own art or think our own thoughts. We dig ourselves deeper into crises that have been made worse by technology, from the erosion of electoral democracy to the intensification of climate change. We condone platforms that not only urge children to commit suicide, they instruct them on how to tie the noose. We hand over our autonomy, at the very moment of emerging American fascism.
September 17, 2025 at 11:50 AM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
Significantly more challenging is:

Which color?
The original image (will be described below, alt text continues next image) is modified with different colors of highlighter as follows: A, E - Blue B, F - Pink C, G - Green D, H - Orange The original map asks: For the rest of your life, you can only eat food from one of these regions. Which do you choose? Below the text an image shows a Mercator protection of the continents, bisected by 4 lines to create 8 different areas of the globe. For the sake of alt text, I’ll reduce them to countries. A - Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, teeny tiny snippets of Switzerland, and Italy B - Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria, Germany, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, and Switzerland C - Russia, Japan, China, North Korea, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Ukraine, Moldova Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, and Italy D - New Zealand, Australia, Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Palau, Japan, Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, China, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbeckistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kuwait, Iran, Oman, Saudia Arabia, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Türkiye, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Cyprus, Greece, and Italy E - South Africa, Madagascar, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Somalia, Burundi, Rwanda, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Uganda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Niger, Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia (Alt text continued next slide.) (Alt text continued from previous picture): F - Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brasil, Paraguay, Bolivia, Perú, Liberia, Sierra Leon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, The Gambia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Togo, Benin, Western Sahara, Niger, Nigeria, Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia G - United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Belize, Honduras, Costa Rica, Cuba, Panamá, Ecuador, Colombia, Brasil, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, The British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Netherlands Antilles, St Barts, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Martin, St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Guayana, Suriname, French Guiana, Morocco, Portugal, and Spain H - United States, Canada, Portugal, Spain, France, Andorra
September 17, 2025 at 1:07 AM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
Paging @thelouvreof.bsky.social
Screenshot of a Bluesky interaction: Maaike @maaikeverbruggen.bsky.s... • 2h I'm getting jealous at the craziest things about normal life stuff i am missing out on due to disability Like yesterday i was watching a show and felt mad jealousy at people commuting to work (something not fun, i know, i've done it for years) just cause they get to have a life and get to work drjuliette.bsky.social @drjuliette.bsky.social Some of us don't think work = life.
August 23, 2025 at 12:18 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
Got one more favorite for you, but Epicurious seems to have a paywall these days so you get a photo of the pdf instead (double pic to capture all the alt text):
Photo of a recipe pdf: Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Beans and Guacamole recipe | Epicurious.com BY KATHERINE SACKS EPICURIOUS MARCH 2017 [A handwritten note reads, “delicious”] This easy vegetarian dinner uses a spice-rubbed sweet potato in place of rice as a canvas for all your favorite burrito toppings. Serve the leftover zesty guacamole with crisp tortilla chips on the side. YIELD: 2 servings ACTIVE TIME: 35 minutes TOTAL TIME: 35 minutes INGREDIENTS • 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 9 ounces each) • 2 tablespoons melted virgin coconut or vegetable oil, divided • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, divided • 1 red onion, coarsely chopped • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped, divided • 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained • 3/4 cup vegetable broth • 1 ripe avocado • 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro, divided • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, divided • 2 cups baby spinach (about 2 ounces) • 1 ounce crumbled queso fresco (about 1/4 cup) • Tortilla chips (optional; for serving) PREPARATION Preheat oven to 450°F. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Toss with 1 Tbsp. oil, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. cayenne, and 1/4 tsp. cumin on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange cut side up and roast until fork-tender, about 25 minutes. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 Tbsp, oil in a medium skillet over medium. Add onion and half of garlic and cook, stirring, until onion starts to release moisture and turns translucent, 2-3 minutes. Add beans, broth, 1/4 tsp. salt, and remaining 1/4 tsp. cayenne and 1/4 tsp. cumin and cook until liquid is reduced and beans soften, about 10 minutes. [Alt text continued in next pic] [Alt text continued] Meanwhile, mash avocado and remaining garlic in a medium bowl with a fork until smooth. Stir in 2 Tbsp. cilantro, 1 Tbsp. lime juice, and remaining 1/4 tsp. salt. Add spinach and remaining 1 Tbsp. lime juice to bean mixture. Continue to cook until spinach wilts, about 30 seconds. Using the back of a spoon, gently push down in center of potato halves to create a divot. Spoon bean mixture into potato halves, then top evenly with 2 Tbsp. avocado mixture, quesco fresco, and remaining 1 Tbsp. cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips, if using, and remaining avocado dip alongside. Do Ahead Potatoes and beans can be made 3 days ahead; store separately, cover, and chill. Reheat potatoes in oven and beans in skillet before serving.
May 30, 2025 at 12:43 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
Also, I do want to point out that the Pulitzer-prize-winner who wrote the attached article may be *revealing* the secret, but based on the article the credit for *uncovering* it should go to Bill Thompson.
But Thompson saw something more. A pure New Yorker, the child of “middle-class working folks,” he grew up in Harlem and moved to Queens, working for the New York City Transit Authority while taking City College classes from 6 p.m. to 9:20 p.m. on weeknights. “My brothers were more street,“ he recalls. “My salvation and peace of mind … was going to the bookstore.” Eventually, he wrote a dissertation on the history of racial passing in literature while pocketing two master's degrees and a Ph.D. from Columbia and spent a decade working with the African Poetry Theater, studying Jayne Cortez, Sonia Sanchez and Gwendolyn Brooks. His expertise, both book and life-earned, helped him to see what others had missed.
April 13, 2025 at 1:41 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
Haven’t seen it hit the internet yet, but I’m a definite fan of this one from the top of the App Gap:
A frozen mountain pond is nestled onto the mountain, ringed by evergreens and bare deciduous trees. The pond is covered in pristine fresh snow. Boot prints in the snow, visible from above, spell out: FUCK TRUMP
March 2, 2025 at 10:47 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
My prediction for 2025:
Screenshot of a Spotify Wrapped that reads: Say hello to your top artist, Linda Ronstadt You’re a top 0.005% fan and you spent 3,574 minutes together Except the artist’s name is haphazardly scribbled out and replaced with Cat Stevens, and the percentage has been changed to 0.00000000001%. The picture of Linda Ronstadt has not been altered, but she’s practically indistinguishable from a young Cat Stevens.
February 28, 2025 at 12:19 AM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
As if we aren’t already asking enough of our educators, they may now be a direct bulwark against government-directed militarized forces:
[CPS logo] Chicago Public Schools • CPS does not ask for our families' immigration status • CPS does not coordinate with ICE • CPS does not share student records with ICE, except in rare cases where there is a court order or consent from the parent/guardian. • In line with the City of Chicago's Welcoming City Ordinance, ICE agents are not permitted access to CPS facilities unless they provide their credentials, the reason they are requesting access, and a criminal judicial warrant signed by a federal judge. CPS will not admit ICE agents based upon an administrative warrant, an ICE detainer, or other document issued by an agency enforcing civil immigration law. CPS has provided detailed guidance to school leaders and the appropriate school-based staff regarding interactions with ICE, and is actively providing training to support this guidance.
January 18, 2025 at 1:03 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
Watching It’s A Wonderful Life with the family and can’t help but notice that even Pottersville had a public library.

Old Man Potter, the greediest and most cruelly capitalist of villains since Ebenezer Scrooge, allowed funding for a public service now beyond many contemporary communities.
The pillar of an imposing building with a sign that reads, “Pottersville Public Library.”
December 25, 2024 at 9:46 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
And finally, this combo one ($1.76/test) doesn’t explicitly mention the newest subvariants but does specify omicron and its earlier subvariants.

altruan.com/products/flu...
Altruan Fluorecare Sars-Cov-2, Influenza A + B & RSV Antigen Kombi Test, 1 piece • Packaging unit: 1 test • 4-in-1 test for self-application • Reliable at Alpha, Delta & Omikron variants, Ba.4 and Ba.5 • Qualitative detection of SARS-COV-2, Influenza A/B and RSV • CE 2934 • Reliable test result in 15 minutes • SARS-COV-2: Sensitivity: 92.93% // Specification: 100 % What are the advantages of a combination test? The Fluorecare Kombi test for Sars Cov 2, influenza A/B viruses and RSV antigen can be used for simultaneous & qualitative evidence and differentiation of new… Home Account Shop
November 16, 2024 at 2:38 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
This combination is pricier at $2.31/test, but still a steal all things considered. And still significantly better than any rapid around these parts.

altruan.com/products/cor...
Altruan • 4 in 1 lay-antigen combination test • Combine test for the qualitative detection of SARS-COV-2, Influenza A+B and RS viruses • Request in the front nose area • Also recognizes the latest virus variants Eris and Pirola • Prefilled buffer solution • Release for self-application by laypersons • CE certified / approved across Europe CE 2934 • 1 test per pack Sensitivity and listings • Influenza A: Sensitivity 100.00%, specificity 99.34% • Influenza B: Sensitivity 96.00%, specificity 99.60% • SARS-COV-2: Sensitivity 89.09%, specificity 100.00% • RSV: Sensitivity 98.98% specificity 99.21% • CE 2934 certified scope of delivery • 1x 4in1 test cassette Home Account Shop
November 16, 2024 at 2:38 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
Like… this Covid-specific rapid is less than $1/each, and here are the stats they post: altruan.com/products/hot...
Altruan Advantages of the Hotgen Corona Schnell test: • Security and precision: The test is CE0123 certified and was checked by TÜV Süd. • Variant detection: Also recognizes the new virus variants Omikron, Ba.5, Delta, Epsilon, Eris and Pirola. • Simple application: All required test materials are included. No laboratory required. • Specification and sensitivity: High accuracy with a sensitivity of 96.95% and a specificity of 98.88%. Application instructions: 1. Carefully insert the swab into a nostril and rub it on the inner wall 4-6 times. 2. Repeat the process in the other nostril. 3. Place 4-5 drops of the sample into the deepening of the test cassette. 4. Wait 15 minutes and read the result.
November 16, 2024 at 2:38 PM
vt-vagabond.bsky.social
Synopsis:
Essays considering what it means to love art, culture, and people in an age of accelerating disaster. This is a book about loving things-books, songs, people-in the shadow of a felt, looming disaster. Through lyrical, funny, heart-wrenching essays, Peter Coviello considers pieces of culture across a fantastic range, setting them inside the vivid scenes of friendship, dispute, romance, talk, and loss, where they enter our lives. Alongside him, we reencounter movies like The Shining, shows like The Sopranos; videos; poems; novels by Sam Lipsyte, Sally Rooney, and Paula Fox; as well as songs by Joni Mitchell, Gladys Knight, Steely Dan, Pavement, and the much-mourned saint of Minneapolis, Prince. Navigating an overwhelming feeling that Coviello calls "endstrickenness," he asks what it means to love things in calamitous times, when so much seems to be shambling toward collapse. Balancing comedy and anger, exhilaration and sorrow, Coviello illuminates the strange ways the things we cherish help us to hold on to life and to its turbulent joys. Is There God after Prince? shows us what twenty-first-century criticism can be, and how it might speak to us, in a time of ruin, in an age of "Last Things."
November 9, 2024 at 12:20 AM