Liese Swann

The one I finished before that. This is an in-progress shot, not the final. Sunset over the water in -- where else -- GLOSTAH MASS!!!

Canadian wildfire smoke was responsible for those colors.

So this is my latest piece. A few years ago I made the pastel color sketch from an old photo my Dad took in 1968. On the left, the oil painting I just finished. Shhhh, it's a gift for my sister. Need to frame and mail it before I move.

This book is riveting and so, so infuriating. It follows 5 families in Atlanta who are struggling to remain housed and paints deeply compassionate portraits of each unit. It reads almost like a novel but is outstanding journalism

WTAF???? Seriously??? Arresting people exercising their 1st Amendment rights? Seeking redress from their government?

I did Na Zee that coming......

11/🧵 ...I have planned? Maybe I'm not famous, but my work *is* beautiful and appreciated. Someday I'll find my audience. Meanwhile, my ex works for a biotech in the Boston area, one that specializes in mRNA vaccines. His work is important. Medicaid made recovery possible. #86theB💩B!!!

10/🧵 The surgery delayed his new job start, but at least he was able to have the care he needed. I was able to have the CT scans and MRIs I needed. We didn't starve in the meantime. If this happened now, it wouldn't be. And if I have a relapse? I'd get to die? Before finishing all the paintings...

9/🧵 Luckily, the social workers at the hospital were able to push through his Medicaid/Mass health application, thanks to the expansion under Pres. Biden. Everything got covered. If that had not happened, we would have been bankrupted. I got added onto it too, so my cancer follow-ups were covered.

8/🧵 Yep, he came down sideways on his leg. SHATTERED his ankle, fractured fibia AND shin in two places. Repairing that took a really complicated surgery. Guess what? He was between jobs, hadn't started the new one, AND HAD NO INSURANCE. No, he did not have Medicare, he's younger than me.

7/🧵 ...he put his ice grippers on his boots before walking our 65-lb Groenendael. NOPE, Pennsy said he could manage. 10 minutes later, I hear wild barking and a scream. Groenies boy had tried to take off at a run, pulling my ex off-balance and AIRBORNE. Want to guess what happened next?

6/🧵 So back in 2022, my then-spouse and I moved into a new place right after the New Year. We had 2 dogs, & shared walking duties. There's been an ice storm a few nights before, the walking areas weren't properly cleared, and there was a solid inch of ice everywhere. I strongly suggested that...

5/🧵 That $300 was my food budget!!! PFT wasn't a luxury, it was necessary for continence issues remaining from pelvic radiation treatment for cancer. Meanwhile, prescription copays went up by a lot, so this has been just the spring from Hell. And I've got another story about this for you, too.

4/🧵 The MA cost of living is going to eat me alive, and I hope to Goddess I can get back on SNAP, maybe even Medicaid/Mass Health. I have Medicare Advantage for dental/vision, but when I needed pelvic floor therapy, my copay was a whopping $75 per visit. It blew a $300/month hole in my budget.

3/🧵 ...buy the really big air purifier for La Bella Casita in Las Cruces that I really need for my health. Just too damned expensive. My soon-to-be ex is still a friend, is helping with the move back. I decided to when I woke up wheezing. I have a nebulizer, but can't afford the med to put into it.

2/🧵
I'm in the midst of a divorce. I'm on disability. I ought to be on SNAP, like I was back east. The constant haboobs this spring made me so sick, I could barely paint (not that anyone has the $$$ to buy art these days). So yeah, grocery inflation has hurt my very slender budget, so I couldn't...

@lujan.senate.gov @heinrich.senate.gov @elizabeth-warren.bsky.social My asthma has been off the charts bad. This East Coast kid can't handle the dryness and dust anymore. Going home to MA at the end of this week so my lungs can heal. Last ask, please vote AGAINST the Big Beastly Budget bill.
🧵

BerserkerGirl has the right idea. Every Congressperson needs to do this. Make it serial impeachment, never ending until that rat-bastard is out of office.

You know things are completely FUBAR when a member of Congress has to propose an amendment to an amendment to limit SecDef's vanity room. If this was a movie plot from 10 years ago, nobody would pay money to see it and the critics would absolutely pan it. But here we are.

Swalwell: What are we doing here? What in this hearing achieves lowering costs for the American people? Do you know how far you’ve deviated from that goal? This is where you are: today, you will make it easier to deport more American citizen children with cancer.

This could happen to any of us.

New York Times headline: Secret Deals, Foreign Investments, Presidential Policy Changes: The Rise of Trump's Crypto Firm. World Liberty Financial has eviscerated the boundary between private enterprise and government policy in ways without precedent in modern American history.

Grifter in Chief…

🤣🦅🤣

I worry about this happening, too.

It's pretty terrifying.

This is chilling!!!

Trump gave the Pentagon control of 170 square miles of U.S. land—now a militarized zone called the “New Mexico National Defense Area.”

This move walks the line of Posse Comitatus and edges toward the Insurrection Act—to go after migrants. But it doesn’t have to stop there.

I live in Las Cruces. So we've known about this plan for about a month now. Everyone is scared. I never see my Latino neighbors at protests since that word got out, just those of us over 60 and white.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett—is the Vice Ranking Member of the Oversight Committee and she is next in line, y’all. 🔥

Let’s rally behind her because she’s the fierce fighter we need.
@repjasmine.bsky.social

I am not surprised by anything anymore. Disgusted and horrified, yes. Surprised, no. Not when DHS doxxed Abrego Garcia's wife.