Protip: as US food safety and inspection standards change, kosher and halal rules won't--especially around cleanliness, contamination, and ethics. Legal categories like "organic" won't be reliable, but kosher and halal certifications are steady. Support your local kosher/halal grocer. (And butcher!)

A long haired seal point Highlander cat with curved ears looks plaintively at the camera over a piece of pizza held by a woman’s hand over a white plate, the cat is clearly hoping that the woman will share her pizza with him.

This is harassment, Chidi.

Woo hoo!!! 🥳🎉🤩

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 13, 2025 CONTACT Gillian Branstetter, gbranstetter@aclu.org Tom Warnke, twarnke@lambdalegal.org BALTIMORE – In a victory for transgender youth, their families, and their medical providers, a federal district court today issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of a Trump administration executive order attempting to shut down access nationwide to gender-affirming medical care for transgender people under 19. The decision by Judge Brendan Hurson was issued from the bench with a written order to come soon. The nationwide restraining order prohibits federal agencies from conditioning or withholding federal funding based on the fact that a healthcare entity or health professional provides gender-affirming medical care to a patient under nineteen. “Good and decent parents of transgender kids should never be in the frightening position of having their child’s prescribed, medically necessary care canceled at the whim and threat of a politician. But that’s exactly what President Trump’s executive order did to PFLAG families with trans youth and young adults nationwide,” said Brian K. Bond (he/him), Chief Executive Officer of PFLAG National. “Today’s decision rights a grievous wrong to our nation's families and children, and PFLAG families will be vigilant to ensure our transgender loved ones receive the healthcare they need—as this legal ruling demands.” “Forcing providers to withhold medically-necessary, evidence-based care not only threatens patient health and well-being, but also undermines the integrity of our healthcare system in its entirety,” said Alex Sheldon (they/them), GLMA executive director. “Today's intervention by the court underscores the cruelty and recklessness that is embedded in this order and affirms our commitment to resist the administration’s extremist agenda that targets trans and non-binary young people and privileges political ideology over medical expertise. We are hopeful that…

In the first week after the order was signed, some hospitals across the country — in Massachusetts, Maryland, Washington, Colorado, and Virginia at least — abruptly halted medical care for transgender people under age 19, canceling appointments and turning away patients, including some who had been receiving this care for most of their life. This prompted protests of support for transgender youth and in opposition to the order nationwide. On Feb. 4, a lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal, the ACLU of Maryland, and law firms Jenner & Block and Hogan Lovells on behalf of transgender young adults and adolescents and their families whose health care has been disrupted by President Trump’s order. Also joining the case as plaintiffs are PFLAG National, the nation’s largest organization supporting LGBTQ+ people and their families, with over 550,000 members and supporters and nearly 350 chapters across the country; and GLMA, the country’s largest organization of LGBTQ and allied health professionals. "Across the country, this unlawful order from the president has sown fear among transgender youth and confusion among their providers,” said Joshua Block, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project. “But today’s decision should restore both their access to healthcare and protections under the Constitution. Providers who’ve suspended healthcare for their transgender patients should be left with no doubt that they can lift those suspensions and continue to provide healthcare and act in their best medical judgment without risking their funding or worse. “The president’s orders sought to take away from transgender young people the very care that they, their families, and their medical providers all agree is best for them – medical care that is evidence-based and well-established. But these decisions are for patients, their families, and their doctors to make, not for politicians or Washington bureaucrats,” said Omar Gonzale…

Incredible news!

The Trump administration's under 19 trans care ban has been BLOCKED in federal court via a bench temporary restraining order.

The administration CANNOT withhold funds from hospitals providing trans youth care.

ACLU statement here:

Chidi loves house cleaning day. Especially when it means clean, made up bed.

I was probably in my mid-to-early twenties or better before I realized that it probably wasn’t true, and even if it was, the chances of me surviving a pedestrian-vehicle collision were quite small 😅

What is something weird that your parents used to tell you as a child to get you to do what they wanted?

My mom used to tell me that I needed to walk inside the lines of the crosswalk when crossing the street or I wouldn’t be able to sue if I got injured.

I was no older than 9 or 10 😅

Luna, can you just … eat? A meal? Without getting it all over yourself and the floor?

I also like to hit up 99 Ranch Market or Daiso and try random hard candies there (I’ve had less than enthusiastic feelings about other textured candies there - not quite to my palate 😅)

Daiso had an herbal hard candy that was quite lovely and unique tasting to me.

I’ve been really in to tart candy lately. Haribo makes these lemon ginger gummies that are delightful. And in a whim I picked up a bag of Italian lemon hard candy with liquid centers and they have been a big fave.

A dark Seal Point Siamese cat lays next to a long haired lighter seal point cat with curled ears, on a handmade vintage quilt, between the legs of the photographer.

My extremely grumpy, hates everyone and everything, almost never cuddles with anyone, but especially not my sweet boy Chidi, cat Luna, just came and laid down next to Chidi and me on the couch.

I’m glad I didn’t have any plans to move for atleast two hours. 😅

Hard core atheists can be just as obnoxious as hard core christians.

In much the same way and for much of the same reason.

I’d really rather not share my water with him, though.

A scene from the 1963 film "The Great Escape," featuring an RAF officer addressing his Luftwaffe captors in Stalag-Luft III.

"Colonel Von Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability."

It seems to be fixed now, whew!

A sable pointed long haired cat with curled ears laying on a torso looking up towards the camera with love and contentment

I’ve had cats for most of my life. I am 100% a cat person. I love all of the cats I have now and all the cats I’ve had before. But I have never had a cat love me the way Chidi does. I’d die for this little shit head. 😅

Didn’t we all? 😅😅😅

I devoured all of VC Andrew’s available works as a teen. I don’t remember Sweet Audrina specifically, but I remember all of her books were pretty bonkers. I tried to re-read them in my early 20’s and couldn’t get through a single one.

Whew. Thank you. I’m glad it’s not just me 😅

Bluesky isn’t letting me post pictures? It’s giving me an “internal error” message. Tried two different browsers + app and no joy. Anyone have any info on an outage or something?

I sincerely don’t know why people aren’t physically stopping those dorks. Move shit. Lock doors. Lose the keys. Everyone switch seats. Turn off all the lights. Switch the signs on the elevator lobby. Make the settings all silly. Use a different language. Wear costumes. Fill rooms with balloons

Oh, I am extremely dubious about this… Buffy is… iconic. I have big doubts they will be able to do it justice. I want to be excited about the idea, but mostly I’m just worried that it will end up tarnishing the original. :-/

May the gods hurry you along to that day then! ❤️

I did Electrolysis some years ago (PCOS/hirsutism) and it sucked, I didn’t stick with it after my initial package 😅. I hope it gets easier for you!

The art and the Artist.

Someone likes to finger paint with her food once she gets tired of eating it out of the bowl.

When people keep asking, “What can I do?” when referring to improving the state of the world, you can wear a mask. It’s one of the easiest ways to protect minorities and create community care. It also shows noncompliance. You want to be a revolutionary? Wear a mask!

What we need is a general strike.

Unfortunately, a lot of those people have not been exposed to the right kinds of information about how to deal with the fash. Many - most even - probably still think there’s a way out of this by voting. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Every morning (and most evenings) around meal times, poor Leeroy has to put up with this level of harassment from Chidi (and more). There was too much ambient noise to hear Chidi’s tiny little “I’m gonna gitcha” meow (so I muted the audio) but trust that it’s adorable.

One of my four precious little fluffy assholes just laid down a big stinky deuce in the litter box (and didn’t cover it!!) that I could smell from two rooms away. #catlife #bossmove #alphacat #ProbablyLeeroy