Stacy

Merle Goll illustration of a Christmas tree made of cats in varying shapes and sizes

Merry Christmas!

Collage with four photographs of a young Yellow-headed Vulture

Sev as a wee lad ... @foxfeather.bsky.social's vulture photographs in a collage ...

Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

Halloween Column: Hexes for Your Exes Love makes creatures of us all

get in babe we're hexing exes theswordandthesandwich.substack.com/p/halloween-...

I don’t think a lot of men realize just how cruel boys and men can be to women they don’t find attractive. At best, it’s like we don’t exist to them.

“Well, *I* find you attractive.” That’s not the point. It’s actually kind of the problem.

Michigan legislation would prohibit declawing cats under most circumstances Is it a humane protection for cats or is it government overreach?

MICHIGAN! Please contact your reps to support a declawing ban! Declawing is not just trimming nails, it's a brutal amputation that leaves cats more likely to develop painful physical issues and severe behavioral problems. upnorthlive.com/news/local/m...

Author Edward Gorey with his feline companion

Just Edward Gorey hanging out with his cat.

Mom where do babies come from? Yeah Mary, where DO babies come from?

The apocalypse demands the agony of all but the elect; to the elect it is ecstasy. It is rapture. The conversion and annihilation of the Jews must be preceded by their return to and absolute control of Israel; therefore the lives of Palestinians are worthless and forfeit from the start, a road-bump in this violent fantasy that was never accounted for in the Revelations map. They are an inconvenience to be disposed of, pawns to be knocked off the board so other pawns can be positioned to set up the moment of Christ's return, the end of history in blood. Palestinians are less than human in this vision; inconveniences at best, instruments of the Antichrist at worst. Either way, their annihilation is necessary. There have been many predictions of the apocalypse and many preludes. In this moment of death and displacement, there is joy for Christian observers from afar, the ecstatic terror of deliverance. What it amounts to is cheering on Armageddon from the cheap seats—and directing funds

I wrote about the evangelical Christians eagerly anticipating the Rapture during this horrible war in Israel -- and why their eschatology demands the annihilation of Palestinians https://theswordandthesandwich.substack.com/p/americas-apocalyptic-cheerleaders

There's a rock a few feet wide in a lake. Piled onto one side of that rock (and onto each other) are about a dozen turtles. On the other, elevated side of the rock stands one turtle, lifting its lil head up to the Sun's rays

Oh to be a pile of turtles sunbathing on a rock

Never stops being true

My fluffy white cat Francie curled up in a ball. Placed in the center of the white circle her body forms is a round piece of paper decorated with marker to look like a green human iris. It makes Francie look like a big hairy eyeball.

Here’s another stealth costume for white cats: hairy eyeball.

The Phillie Phanatic presiding over congress

Reminder that the Speaker of the House does not necessarily have to be a Member of the House of Representatives

🌓🌎🌞 <-- lunar eclipse

🌎🌓🌞 <-- solar eclipse

🌎🌞🌗 <-- apocalypse

The implied social contract between you and a cat is they get to live in your house and be gross, and you get to bother them a little

October Big Day—14 Oct 2023 - eBird Mark your calendars for October Big Day—14 Oct 2023! Like Global Big Day, October Big Day is an opportunity to unite around our shared love of birds.

Mark your calendars for October Big Day—14 October 2023! Big Days are a 24-hour opportunity to celebrate birds near and far. Last October, more than 35,000 people from 185 countries participated, demonstrating the power of birds to bring people together for birds. ebird.org/news/october...

Animation of a woman laying on the broken roof of a stone building, wailing. The animation is from the famous opening sequence of the PBS series Mystery! and was based on Edward Gorey's illustrations.

The only "only 80s kids" test I care about is whether you can hear wailing when you see this image

Two red pandas facing each other. They are standing on their hind legs and their front legs are up in the air. It is believed that this is a defense mechanism for red pandas, but tbh it looks like they are just happy to see each other.

when u only had one friend on twitter but they show up on bluesky

Earth Layers xkcd.com/2840

And the 2023 Fat Bear Week Champion is...
Grazer!!! (Bear 128, a clever and aggressive female, taking the crown for the first time) #FatBearWeek

Speech and Speechlessness On the world of words, and the world beyond them

I wrote about the compulsion to speak about things we can't change, the confusion between posting and doing, the emptiness of meaning that pushes us to silence, and children facing death in Israel and Gaza: https://theswordandthesandwich.substack.com/p/speech-and-speechlessness

The Perverse Incentives of Elon Musk's Version of "Citizen Journalism" .Citizen journalism can be great, but it's not what Musk is referring to when he says those words.

Today's newsletter is a long one about citizen journalism in the age of Elon Musk's Twitter. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks. Please share, etc. www.readtpa.com/p/the-perver...

Five Reasons Why We Love Brown Pelicans - International Bird Rescue The more you learn about Brown Pelicans, the more fascinating they become. At Bird Rescue, we’ve had the pleasure of treating pelicans year-round for more than 50 years. We could give infinite reaso...

🪶😄

Siri and Stomp showing how super cute black vultures are! They're also personable, social, intelligent, curious, playful, funny, and a very important part of nature's cleanup crew. 🪶

A two panel screenshot from The Good Place where Janet is speaking to Chidi while Michael stands behind her. In the first panel she's holding up a finger, grinning, and saying, "Fun fact: Columbus in the Bad Place" In the second panel she's saying, "Because of all the raping, slave trade, and genocide."

oh is it monday

A red-tailed hawk grips a squirrel downward towards the pavement.

Chicago BIPOC Birders Big Sit at Garfield Park - 10/8/23 🪶

I think one of the worst quirks of online spaces is the idea that if someone doesn't post about something, they don't care about it. It encourages performative posting often makes things worse.

I care a lot. I just don't want to add another poorly-informed voice. I'm reading & thinking.

A cartoon graph with "human proximity to cat" as the x axis and two divergent curves labeled "intelligence" and "inanity of statements"

I believe @xkcd.com has charted the data on this:

Peregrine Falcon sitting on a perch.

Looking forward to finding old Twitter friends and meeting new ones here on Blue Sky. Please follow for more great content on the birds of the world. Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) by Kalin Ocaña.

Aurora officials capture culprit responsible for multi-day crime spree — a 400-pound pig named Fre... A multi-day crime spree in Aurora has come to an end after officials tracked down the culprit — a 400-pound pig named Fred.

A multi-day crime spree in Aurora has come to an end after officials tracked down the culprit — a 400-pound pig named Fred.