A backgrounder is someone who conducts background checks.

The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”

That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.

Wow! This read-along of the NYT moment-by-moment leading to the murder of Alex Pretti should shake everyone awake. He was a Good Samaritan.

Agents fired at least ten shots in roughly five seconds. DHS and Pam Bondi claim Pretti approached them armed and intent on a “massacre.”

Secretary Noem has forfeited her right to lead. I’m calling on her to resign.

Gregory Bovino must also be fired.

No one, not an ICE agent, not a federal officer, not a president, is above the law.

Does anyone have any idea how we break the echo chambers? No Trump voter in my family will ever know what actually happened to Alex Pretti or Renee Good. They will believe the officers were justified. They will watch Fox News and that will be the end of it.

Hugo Lowell told MSNOW that the Trump administration expects that the murder of Alex Pretti will "blow over and go away." They believe that Americans will forget about it in a week or so.

Undiagnosed autism is everyone thinking you're a complete weirdo

Diagnosed autism is telling people you're autistic and everyone being confused because you look "completely normal"

It took seeing adult bullies to understand that my childhood bullies didn’t even really want to hurt me, they just wanted to feel powerful and how I felt about it wasn’t even in the equation.

I can’t imagine someone not outgrowing that, but apparently it happens quite a lot!

Self care

Saruman laughed again. "...Still I have already done much that you will find it hard to mend or undo in your lives. And it will be pleasant to think of that and set it against my injuries."

--Return of the King, "The Scouring Of The Shire"

Sadly I can no longer attend #restore2025! Please message me if someone needs a ticket!

I’m no longer able to attend the #Restore2025 conference. If anyone needs a ticket, happy to sell it at a lower price. Includes pre-conference day for helping professionals (Feb. 6), CEU’s, the main conference (Feb. 7, 8), and a box lunch each day. Sad to miss it but hope someone can use the ticket!

A Refusal to Know: St. Mark's United Methodist Church - Into Account Our report describes the refusal of St. Mark’s leadership to protect their congregation from a registered sex offender, John Lohr.

“'We will not dwell on the past' is an easy brush-off... And the casualties of that ease... are human beings. Often they’re children, whose humanity is somehow so easy to ignore."

A #ChurchToo story from @sjkrehbiel.bsky.social shows the terrible repetitive patterns. intoaccount.org/2025/01/24/s...

And get this... Hunt claims he was paid $610,000 annually by the SBC's North American Mission Board.

If you're someone who donates $$ to the SBC's Annie Armstrong offering - thinking it goes for missions - this is something you might wanna consider. #ThisistheSBC

Per year. Or per semester.

This is who the "family values" crowd rallied around. This is who they wanted to be the country's top law enforcement official. This is what they tried to keep secret.

What kind of sweet puppy is this??

“The deep struggles of the soul cannot truly be considered until the trauma victim has experienced a relationship that bears the fragrance of Christ in hard places. We need the Word made flesh first. If you want the survivor to understand that God is a refuge, then be one.”

- Diane Langberg

"Our responses to the vulnerable expose who we are."

Redeeming Power by Diane Langberg.

We had our three kids in international schools the past 8 years. Happy to share info. And ty for your podcast.