And as this is one of the first stories to greet me in today's news, I should note (as someone who wrote about Netanyahu's attacks on the Supreme Court all last year) that this isn't in the least surprising.

The only sad part is that it doesn't reflect *how hard* others fought to protect the SC from Knesset overreach.

US folks, take heed: whatever happens in Nov, there won't be participation trophies in the history books should the worst come about.

(Rooting for you.)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/global-index-israel-falls-out-of-liberal-democracy-category-for-first-time-in-over-50-years/

Three notes on this before bed:

1) How *boring* is the modern version? What was wrong with "maketh"?

2) Oh, but now looking at the Middle English, I'm thinking "nothyng shal defailen to me" is way better than "I shall not want."

3) You know how in Who Framed Roger Rabbit we learn that no toon can resist the old "shave and a haircut"? I swear, find me an English lit major who *won't* start reading out loud if they come across text in Old English. 🙃

Night, all!
Be good, but not *too* good, eh?

It is *very* muggy today for some reason, so why not share a little "steamy" #poetry (care of Anne Sexton) to add to the mood?

(@LiseL, I haven't forgotten our commitment to poems this year!)

#AfternoonPaws

My brother is still alive and not in a Chinese prison yet, so after a bit of a radio silence, he sent along an hilarious English language exercise in his elementary school workbooks (gotta learn sometime), and one heck of an expression on his new cat's face, while held by a friend. Enjoy!

All right, back in we go.

#AmWriting #AsAlways

🤦‍♂️ How bad a sign of the state of the world is it that, before scrolling to see the rest of this, I couldn't instantly figure out which country's history was being referenced?
#TooManyOptions

I don't know who needs park horses, but these were my friends on today's walk. (No morning runs this month, to conserve salt content during the experiment.)

#Colombia #Nature

Does anyone here speak great-tailed grackle? I feel like there's a lot of hot goss going down this morning in the park.

(It's funny, for a while they all seemed to be looking at the dawn-breaking sky, but I know they were just making themselves look big and dominant while eyeing their neighbours mid-squawk-down.)

At least we're not the only critters who make a fuss just to show we're alive. 🙃

#Nature

The fellow currently sleeping rough beyond my window is having a bad night. He sleeps in the day and stays awake against threats for most of the night, but on this occasion I've been watching him smoke out and beat his clothes on a pole before placing his things in a box on a tarp, then use his lighter on the items he couldn't strip off completely. I suspect he was trying to rid himself of unwelcome critters, before moving on to another resting spot.

So many layers of hardship in our world.

Anyway, thanks for the space to vent.

We all know that there's only one king of the lighthouse, so no worries - I won't try to take his crown any time soon.

Night, CoSo.
Be kind, and do good crimes.

I have a great many problems to fix, but many were made by trying to dodge *other* problems. A life of evasive manoeuvres.

A part of me strongly longs to disappear, go where no one knows me, and work quietly far from my many failures.

But wherever I go, I am, so that's not gonna fix the issue (unless I become a lighthouse operator?!).

I have huge problems to resolve...

And most still reside in me.

I dunno. Maybe I need to buy more forks. 2/2

And I got to hold a baby! 😁

The eight-month-old and I had a good chat while mum was dealing with a toddler having trouble with emotional regulation on the metro. I almost ate the wee one's toes right up, but restrained myself.

Good gravy is it good to exist in the world--grief and setbacks and all.

I have to start over on many, many fronts in my life, and I don't know how to begin just yet, but... at least I'm still here to try. One small impossible thing at a time.

🤔 And I can't put my finger on it, but I think the artist here is expressing his love of something... #graffiti

#graffiti on the way back.

(The right, translated: "Men, yes they cry.")

(Solo theatre FTW.)

With apologies for a phone camera that can't capture reds for the life of it.

"Birds flying high, you know how I feel
Sun in the sky, you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life for me, yeah
It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life for me, ooh
And I'm feeling good" 🕊️

I don't share this for the "LOLs", this being the now-deleted tweet of an unwell man.

I share this for the Great Big Cultural Sad of our discourse having been driven in recent years by people who never had the chops for anything more than "thought-leading" by playing into fear and hatred.

How do we come back from an era of "public intellectual" grifters? How do we recenter dialogue that encourages better critical thinking, knowledge exchange, and democratic practices?

And can we do it online?

Time to check in on my sociopath pod and a few other reminders that the world runs a bit differently for people in finance. 🙃

(And if anyone here credulously uses the expression "How much foam is in our stock-market latte?", I hope you can take a good long look in the mirror and think about what you've become.)

Apparently it's flat white appreciation day on Google? #Coffee

I've already consumed all my liquids for the next 12 hours, but have at it, loves!

Me: Yay! All finished this first week's workflow.
Also Me: You gonna take a break now? Maybe read something for fun? Eat something? Walk?
Me: ...I was thinking of finishing tomorrow's newsletter first.
AM: