Flyaway (The MaryEllenCarter⛴️)

“Oz’s new proposal would allow one kind of health plan to raise the annual deductible to more than $15,000 for an individual and $31,000 for a family…much higher than current Obamacare plans. The individual deductible would be eight times the average for someone with job-based insurance.” Gift Link

Anthropic CEO says AI company 'cannot in good conscience accede' to Pentagon's demands Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says the artificial intelligence company “cannot in good conscience accede” to the Pentagon’s demands to allow wider use of its technology.

As of about an hour ago (8:20 PM EST, February 26, 2026) Amodei was still firmly principled:

apnews.com/article/anth...

Anthropic (maker of Claude AI) is refusing to bow to heavy pressure from Hegseth:
“In some cases, large-scale surveillance with powerful AI, mass propaganda with powerful AI, and certain types of offensive uses of fully autonomous weapons should be considered crimes against humanity.” 👍

Gift link:

Also that's a stupid name, made worse by the not nearly as cute as they think spelling. Jabber is what you're looking to get *away* from in an airport if you need to work or think. Something like QuietBox or SilentSpace or something along those lines would be much more enticing.

That's a great concept, but it doesn't sound very well executed, and pricey for a not terribly comfortable space. After googling it, I would've expected better.

But I'm glad it didn't stab you or electrocute you or anything – I just hope their electronics are more reliable than their door lock!

I know two couples (both on Social Security) who are emigrating from the US—one to Mexico and one to Panama. They already have their residency permits, and are house hunting in congenial expat communities where they already have many friends. Prices are low, the climate is delightful. I'm jealous.

Ever since tRump got back into office a year ago, I've been saying that he's going to declare an emergency in order to prevent the Democrats from winning back either chamber of Congress, as would be usual after the White House changed hands.

I would've been SO happy to have been wrong.

Gift link:

Yes, This Latest Trump Revelation Out of the Epstein Files Seem Big You’ve probably seen some hints of it. But I wanted to focus...

Yes, This Latest Trump Revelation Out of the Epstein Files Seem Big talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/yes-t...

If you know of a deletion you find particularly egregious, you could hang out there from time to time and talk to people. I'm still proud of myself for speaking up about NASM's one-sided story of the Enola Gay. Even though the docent wasn't very happy, a bunch of people learned something important.

Donny tRump in his uniform (dark suit, white shirt, too-long red tie) during the State of the Onion speech at the moment he said the quote in the post. There was no tentativeness in his voice – he looked and sounded quite comfortable and assured that he had stopped the Democrats. This will definitely not be a free and fair election, but a rigged one – and the rigging is already set up and in place.

During the #SOTU2026:

"Democrats are destroying our country – but we've stopped it just in the nick of time."

tRump's use of the past tense makes me very worried. It sounds like he's already "found" enough votes to ensure both houses have a majority of not just Republicans, but loyalists.

The End of Diplomacy The once-bustling corridors of the State Department are tomblike as ambassadors scrape for information.

www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

These dogs are having the time of their lives following this week's historic blizzard in the Northeast. Please enjoy. 14/10 for all

You can go to your settings and have it require alt text before your message will post. It will keep that from happening, and is a great reminder so you can't forget. (If you're ever sooo busy that you can't spare a few seconds, any character in the alt text field will work.)

Hahahaha 😂! Who came up with the idea to use that music? This nearly octogenarian Boomer recognized it instantly! Hilarious! 🤣

988 Lifeline At the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, we understand that life’s challenges can sometimes be difficult. Whether you’re facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns…

Yes! The 988 crisis line is available via phone, text, or chat in all US states, territories and tribal lands.

And it's not just for suicidal feelings – substance abuse issues, anxiety attacks, and other mental health issues are very valid reasons to call them. Learn more:
988lifeline.org

Forested mountainside with bare high ground in the background. The double rainbow goes edge to edge across the photo, in front of the mountain. You can actually see all seven colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (the last three bands are very narrow and kind of smushed together, but there's definitely violet at the lower edge). Below the violet band in the photo is a band of colorless or white light – it is in the ultraviolet area of the spectrum, which is invisible to human eyes but can be seen by some cameras, and thus captured in a photo. Apparently the tiny water droplets in the atmosphere scatter the light so it appears white.

My friend in Volcán, Panama, sent this fantastic #photo of a #DoubleRainbow in front of a mountain!

Unlike the washed-out looking rainbows I see here in the mid-Atlantic area, this tropical beauty has all 7 colors *plus* a colorless band in the ultraviolet! (More about that in alt text)

#rainbow

House Democrats bringing Jeffrey Epstein survivors to Trump's State of the Union speech Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said he was bringing Haley Robson as a way of "bringing accountability to the Epstein class."

As Trump's numbers sink like a stone, he grows ever more desperate to bury the secrets buried in the Epstein File. The survivors plan to make sure the truth is known and justice is done.

Our AI times :-)

"President Trump's idea of sending an American hospital ship here to Greenland has been noted. But we have a public healthcare system where treatment is free for citizens. That is a deliberate choice - and a fundamental part of our society. That is not how it works in the USA." "Please talk to us instead of just making more or less random statements on social media," Nielsen said later in the statement. "Dialogue and cooperation require respect for the fact that decisions about our country are made here at home." Maritime tracking data further suggests there are no U.S. hospital ships currently positioned to sail to Greenland.

Trump said he's sending a hospital ship to Greenland to take care of the citizens there after Denmark reported on an emergency evacuation — of a US sailor sent to Nuuk for care!

Prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen replied in a statement, “It’s a no thank you from here."

The statement continued:

Our taxes are among the highest in the country, but so is our educational system, medical care, services for low-income people, etc. Providing those isn't cheap, but I'd rather help pay for them than see them fall to the level of red states! We also legally protect health care for women, trans, etc.

Have your glasses come yet? I'm sorry you're getting headaches—I don't get headaches, but mine make me conk out from eyestrain when I read for more than a half hour or so!

I just got new ones but they're not right—I have an appt with my ophthalmologist on Wed. to figure out what the problem is.

And rather than being forced out by the people who were here first—and had been here for thousands of years—the indigenous folks helped the earliest settlers and then were promptly repaid by them with genocide.

I'm not confident they'll happen either – trump may well invent some kind of emergency and postpone them indefinitely. The alternate scenario is that we will vote, but a combination of voter suppression by various means and "finding" enough votes will result in a big, albeit false, GOP win. 🤮

I live in Maryland 🦀 and I'm proud to say I voted for Anthony Brown. He's doing a great job, as is our governor, Wes Moore.

You can gauge the quality of a state official by how much trump likes or hates them. He despises both Moore and Brown, which means they're doing a great job! 👍

Thread

(Side note: I just thought—trump says he's using lowercase initial letters to show disrespect for the Supreme Court, so I'm going to be doing the same thing with the name donald j trump.)

Now read the thread, it's important:

Oh, good. If that mispronunciation is deliberate, it *is* funny – and very appropriately disrespectful.

I don't know that it's sovcit—he uses initial caps to show approval, so it's more likely the lower case is as he said, to show disrespect—but @pc93.bsky.social's point 2 is exactly right, and it's much more terrifying than point 1. We're clearly on the road to dictatorship. I hope his battery dies.

Are they being sarcastic / ironic, or do they seem to really think it's pronounced that way? It does fit....!

I'm not disagreeing – I just want figures that can be specifically defended.

I would be interested in population-based rankings for the second half – part of why we're #1 is because we're so much larger than most countries.

I think we'd still be a leader in those negative aspects – but rankings per 100K population would be more defensible.