Ahhhhh, to err is human, to forgive divine. Of course!
Always the exception. Always the victory we think we have is not, in fact, a victory. Always the rrrrrest… of the story.
«“Caitlin Perigal, as matriarch of this habitat, you are hereby charged with a category-five infringement of the democratic process. It is alleged that you tampered with the polling apparatus, to the intended benefit of your house.”»
– Aurora Rising (Alastair Reynolds)
https://bookshop.org/ebooks/quotes/523eb4f2-69ff-4b36-8a76-9d39ff36a177
Ah, now we get to the “fiction” part of this science fiction: the strong enforcement of the norms of democracy.
Huh. Who would’ve guessed?
Has he really resigned tho?
Ya know… it occurs to me: if one my Republican Senators were to suddenly get a backbone and say “enough” to the Trump administration in a serious way (e.g., not talk one way and vote another like that guy from Nebraska did a few years ago), I might actually switch party registration just so I can support him in the primary.
Just thinking out loud.
So, I used https://5calls.org to call my House and Senate representatives today, to advocate for USAID, the Dept of Education, and to oppose Vought for OMB. Literally 5 minutes, total. Spoke to actual humans in two offices, was polite, made my points succinctly (did not read the script), and was treated courteously (even by the Republican aide). At the end of my short spiel to Sen. Budd’s aide (R-NC), he said “Perrrfect,” as if he had simply filled out some checkboxes and I had delivered my message in such a way that it made it easy for him. Good enough, imo; my voice was heard.
Left voicemail for Sen. Tillis. Got a little more emphatic, but was still polite and relatively concise.
It’s easy. You can, too. I honestly believe people hearing other people’s actual human voices counts for something.
«To encourage states that had not expanded Medicaid to get on board, the federal government allotted a $1.6 billion or so “signing bonus” to new states. After North Carolina passed Medicaid expansion with bi-partisan support, the General Assembly used part of that signing bonus to fund about $835 million for behavioral health. DHHS used some of those funds to increase the rates paid to Medicaid providers for behavioral health services, among other things.»
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article299325609.html
Is 50% for behavioral health good, bad, or average?
Holy moly, 1.5 hours with minimal notes. And people talk about a five-minute single take in movies.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DForuR_R7AA/?igsh=MTd5bzBvb3NtbGRqdA==
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/05/trump-federal-education-funding-map-schools
This is in reference to *public* education funding which is already under attack in red states. I’m sure they’d be happy to lose federal assistance for their public schools.
I see at least one toot about *Hidden Figures*, presumably inspired by the shortest month of the year.
There is also a less well-known movie, *Something the Lord Made*, I can recommend.
Here, Read This 