Beloved Snail (Turn Not Pale)

From the Onion: color photo of a Siamese (?) kitten, seen from above, climbing up a decorated Christmas tree, with the caption "Cat Clinging To Side Of Christmas Tree Admits That Was Extent Of Plan"

Perry: This St. Patrick’s Day, don’t forget Irish music’s anti-fascist roots Dropkick Murphys, the iconic Irish American punk band, are headlining a free block party March 6 near where Alex Pretti was killed by immigration agents, contributing columnist David M. Perry writes.

NEW “We’re celebrating a tradition that is at its core about resisting occupation and maintaining community in the face of horrors. You can’t keep politics out of Irish music. No one should try, for two reasons. First, it’s ahistorical. Second, Minnesotans are ready for a big anti-fascist party.”

Your last saved meme is your moral philosophy

Dank je wel!

I have checked in to my flight and ordered Five Guys. I have a bit of packing left to do, but almost done.

Vacation has started. Costa Rica here I come.

One of my first jobs was teaching mainframe programmers how to use client-server

I mean, I really needed the money. But when I type that out I realise how horrifying this is.

In my youth I was a model for the pawn in a gold chess set where all the figures were naked women— commissioned by a group of rich collectors.

Coworkers yesterday: we wish OurCompany would be more tech minded.

Me: we used to be! We were the first big retailer to use mainframes.

Them (stares in Zillenial): What on earth is a mainframe?

I scream soundlessly as I crumble into a pile of dust.

An AI avatar is running to represent Indigenous voters in Colombia "Gaitana" is the digital stand-in for two candidates who will use the platform to seek consensus from their communities on all legislative matters.

“To build something like this from the jungle, as outsiders who were never part of the political establishment, feels like a miracle.” https://restofworld.org/2026/ai-avatar-colombia-political-candidate/?utm_campaign=row-social&utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=social

1) Militaries lose wars because of wokeness and win because of traditional conceptions of gender roles

OR

2) Iran is weak and will lose quickly

PICK ONE
Or better yet, neither.
Either way, it can’t be both.

Wisdom from a fellow tourist at the Rothko Chapel this morning: it's the moment that matters.

The numbers ‘twenty’ to ‘ninety’ end in ‘-ty’.
Where does this part come from?

While it’s now a suffix, ‘-ty’ stems from a Proto-Germanic noun meaning “decade, a (group of) ten”.

For example, ‘forty’ comes from *fedwōr tegiwiz, literally “four tens”.

Click my new graphic to learn all about it:

I will be checking very carefully before I actually leave

Before I go to sleep I want to thank my cats for helping me pack for vacation. I discovered they hid a jingle bell, a cat toy and a half chewed dog snack in my suitcase.

"It’s painful to refrain from anger; it takes courage."
Pema Chödrön

💙📚

"We long for joy and do the very things that destroy our peace of mind. Again and again, we unwittingly make matters worse. If we’re going to help other people get free, we have to work compassionately with our own unfortunate tendencies."
Pema Chödrön

💙📚

I am in this weird Groundhog Day kind of life moment where no matter what I plan to do each day, what I actually do when I get up is revise supervisory board presentation drafts.

Over and over and over again.

A. broad-bodied pale with with small dark spots and short stout spines swims away from the viewer over a coral reef.

Side view of a chonky spiky spotted fish built a little like a flat-bottomed boat.

Porcupinefishes are like the corgis of the fish world - chonky, oddly-shaped, and with a perpetual slight smile. They are fairly fast swimmers but tolerant of a slow respectful approach. #fish #oceans #scuba #diving #coralreefs

Always true.

And for good reason. I cringe if the primaries come up.

I'm slightly jealous of you to live in a world where you never hear it. :)

Exactly.

Which I get.

A Dutch Muslim man I know asked me with incredulity why people thought he was forcing his wife to wear hijab. “Have they met my wife? She would have my hand off if I tried!”

But many of these same people are calling for a hijab ban here.

And it also seems to be coupled with hostility towards Muslims in Europe in a way I find very ominous.

But several friends who are strongly pro Israel but anti Trump have gone full on “why do you hate America?” to all critique.

And have stated quite openly they would rather see a regime which forbids open expression of traditional dress than one which allows it.

In truth, I will shed no tears at all for Iran’s current government. My hesitation comes the depressing history of intervention and regime change in the region. Particularly when it seems likely to be coupled with an attempt to restore the monarchy. Which I find disgusting.

One thing I’ll say about Iran, the attack by US/Israel is playing very well among leftish people with strong Islamophobic tendencies. Which seems to be a depressingly large chunk of people I know.

🧵 1/X

This is gorgeous.