Charlotte Garden

Yeah, I remember it as no worse than the rest of gym class; it certainly never inspired me to get better at the bent arm hang

...Is this attached to bringing back the President's physical fitness test?

(Is anyone excited about that? Is it possible to have strong feelings about that?)

Nicely done

Two cats curled on their sides on a sidewalk. One is a tabby with a white face, and the other is half-white/half-tabby.

Anyone interested in adopting a bonded pair of sweet middle-aged kitties? Used to catsit for them and their owner has to unexpectedly move to Mexico due to a death in the family, and cannot take them. They're such sweeties I almost decided to take them, but my allergies just won't let me.

Caracas on the Potomac Goodbye, reliable economic data

I once worked at the DoL, and the BLS was like a priesthood - a small number of elite economists who truly believed in producing the most accurate economic data in the world.

They didn't even socialize with the rest of DoL for fear of appearing biased.

paulkrugman.substack.com/p/caracas-on...

This is truly his most consistently held position...

Economist Amartya Sen won a Nobel in part for asking: Why did India avoid the mass famines that killed tens of millions in China? His answer: a free press. Journalists could expose suffering and shame governments into action. Silence and avoidance, by contrast, can be deadly.

Equally annoying: parking lots that make you download an app to pay. Nothing like standing in the dark in winter, setting up a new account on another random app.

Ugh, I just had to download an app to do one (1) load of laundry at a friend’s place, and then load the minimum $10 onto it. That is enough for 2 loads, which I guess means I just get to donate $5 to the company…

This is cataclysmic in just about every imaginable way.

Just to remind everyone, when international students come to the United State to study, that is an EXPORT of services.

“Cavapoochon” is fun to say :)

For sure. This is all an illustration of why these agreements don’t buy peace

Yeah, totally agree

Which illustrates the problem with these agreements - bc the Trump admin can always come back for more, schools that settle are likely to do what the admin wants, irrespective of what’s on the page.

Im not sure this is even concrete enough to really be enforceable, and I definitely don’t read it as an obligation to actually enroll fewer international students, though that’s obviously what the admin wants

According to the article, the agreement says ““Columbia will examine its business model and take steps to decrease financial dependence on international student enrollment.”

UCLA faculty rally opposition to Trump’s funding threat: “Prioritizing federal dollars over academic freedom, including the freedom to speak publicly and decide upon our own curricula and research goals, is unacceptable.”
sites.google.com/view/ucstand...

“Wait, I am one of your French dogs!” (Though this joke only works if I’m guessing right that he’s a poodle mix?)

These VOA newscasters and reporters were given visas because there weren't experienced broadcast journalists in the US with native level skills in such languages as Bambara, Lao or Georgian. But since Kari Lake wiped out nearly all VOA's 48 language services there are indeed no jobs for them now.

A tuxedo cat lounges on his side, on a tan couch

Draw me like one of your French cats

(Not that those two phenomena are unrelated)

I suppose I get the nostalgia for the end of the Cold War and the feeling that the world was getting freer (bookended by the Berlin Wall & 9/11), but yeah, the cultural and domestic side of things was another story…

The Ralph Reed of it all…

Was just thinking exactly that

At my elementary school, they’d try to lift up our skirts (every Friday was “Friday Flip-up Day”). The school responded by telling girls not to wear skirts, or wear leggings underneath.

OMG. I mean, I recall “it’s morally wrong for [white] mothers to work” being a non-fringe policy position.

A Fish Falls From the Sky and Sparks a Brush Fire in British Columbia Officials say a flying osprey dropped its catch, which then struck power lines, causing sparks that ignited dry grass.

A small brush fire and power outage in British Columbia started on Wednesday when an airborne fish struck power lines, according to fire officials.

One of my cats thinks any writing implement currently in use belongs to him, which is not great for productivity!

Yes, exactly