#Program 62

[pheriya]

You know everyþing? Even my actual, real-life, not-internet name?

Yeah your name is Kevin McCallister and you look exactly like that kid from Home Alone.

†Doesn't Barbara deserve a voice too?

[lonestarflight]

"Gemini-Titan 8 (GT-8) spacecraft, carrying astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, command pilot, and David R. Scott, pilot, was successfully launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC) at 11:41 a.m. (EST). An attempt will be made to rendezvous and dock the GT-8 spacecraft with Agena Docking Target Vehicle."

"The mission patch shows the whole spectrum of objectives that were hoped to have been accomplished on Gemini 8. The text at the bottom is composed of the zodiacal symbol for Gemini, , and the Roman numeral for eight, VIII. The two stars are Castor and Pollux, which are in the constellation of Gemini, and are refracted through a prism to provide the spectrum. Armstrong and Scott both designed the flight patch."

-Info from Wikipedia: link

Date: March 16, 1966

NASA ID: KSC-66PC-0038, S66-24465, S66-18616, 104-KSC-66P-138, SPD-MARSH-9141927, S66-23978

source, source

[ron-do-i-get-to-sing-my-way]

That feeling when you just have a million labs and exams and a paper and a presentation but after that you’re done :)

[healthyfy73]

Dr. Sheenu Sanjeev, a leading dietician in Noida, offers personalized nutrition plans to help you achieve your health goals. Located in Noida Sector 62, she specializes in weight management, PCOS reversal, thyroid care, and diabetes management. Her expertise allows you to transform your health and well-being through tailored dietary solutions.

[codingoutofcuriosity]

4-18-24: Day 62

Day 62 consisted of 4 tutorials:

1. Instafilter: Introduction

2. How property wrappers become structs

3. Responding to state changes using onChange()

4. Showing multiple options with confirmationDialog()

Day 62 quote: "If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat." - John Ortberg

[afloweroutofstone]

Believe it or not, there is something that Elon Musk and I agree on: Congress' reconciliation bill is filled with billions of dollars in government waste and corporate subsidies.

In this op-ed, I provide concrete examples of nearly $245 billion in waste that this bill will create over the next ten years.

This waste includes:

$62 billion for "border security," including $47 billion for a useless border wall

$58 billion to subsidize interest payments on auto loans

$52 billion in farm subsidies, including $30 billion for a program that mostly benefits agro-corporations

$25 billion for a missile defense system that won't work

$20 billion to subsidize private donations to private schools

$13-16 billion for Congress' military-related "pet projects"

$5 billion in subsidies for fossil fuel companies drilling on public lands

$5 billion for a flawed "opportunity zone" tax break for investors

$2.5 billion for a missile program that's already 81% over-budget

$1.4 billion for a tax break on firearm suppressors

$365 million for the indoor tanning industry

$153 million for the entertainment industry to buy more recording equipment

Tell your member of congress to reject the reconciliation bill!

[howellfotography]

Reentry

62 years ago today on May 15, 1963, astronaut Gordon Cooper lifted off in the Faith 7 capsule on the final mission of the Mercury program, Mercury-Atlas 9. Faith 7 now hangs in a gallery at Space Center Houston, where I shot this photo. The effect was achieved by zooming while shooting at a slow shutter speed, handheld, Nikon D90, 18-200.

[apod]

2025 June 7

Perseverance Selfie with Ingenuity Image Credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech, MSSS

Explanation: On the Mars rover's mission Sol 46 or Earth date April 6, 2021, Perseverance held out a robotic arm to take its first selfie on Mars. The WATSON camera at the end of the arm was designed to take close-ups of Martian rocks and surface details though, and not a quick snap shot of friends and smiling faces. In the end, teamwork and weeks of planning on Mars time was required to program a complex series of exposures and camera motions to include Perseverance and its surroundings. The resulting 62 frames were composed into a detailed mosaic, one of the most complicated Mars rover selfies ever taken. In this version of the selfie, the rover's Mastcam-Z and SuperCam instruments are looking toward WATSON and the end of the rover's outstretched arm. About 4 meters (13 feet) from Perseverance is a robotic companion, the Mars Ingenuity helicopter. Perseverance has now spent over 1,500 sols exploring the surface of the Red Planet. On Earth date January 18, 2024, Ingenuity made its 72nd and final flight through the thin Martian atmosphere.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250607.html

[prokopetz]

Code Green

A game for 3–7 players, about being where you're not supposed to be.

Last night, you were suspended in a tube of brightly coloured goo in an underground research facility, operated by an organisation whose three-letter initialism's meaning is strictly need-to-know. This morning, someone noticed your tube was empty. Nobody has determined how that happened yet, and you're not inclined to stick around until they figure it out!

Or, in other words, it's been nearly a whole week since I got that massive revision to Space Gerbils out the door, and apparently my brain has decided that's enough of a break. This thing was written start to finish in under 12 hours, so let the circumstances of its authorship guide your expectations. Special thanks go once again to Caro Asercion, whose micro-RPG Dwindle introduced me to the design space I'm fucking around with here. Go buy their stuff.

Anyway:

What You'll Need

Code Green is a tabletop RPG for one game moderator (GM) and up to six players. Each player will need a copy of the Profile Grid, below, as well as three tokens of some sort: dice, coins, beads, etc. You'll also need at least five six-sided dice (for the whole group, not per player, though it's fine if each player has their own set). If you're using dice for tokens, it's recommended that the dice you plan to roll be visually distinguishable in case they land on someone's Profile Grid.

Rolling Dice

There are two ways you'll be asked to roll dice in this game: rolling d66, and rolling a dice pool.

To roll d66, roll a six-side die twice, reading the first roll as the "tens" place and the second roll as the "ones" place, yielding a number in the range from 11 to 66. For example, if you rolled a 3 and then a 5, your result is 35. You may also be asked to flip a d66 roll; to do this, take your result and swap the digits without re-rolling. In the preceding example, if you flipped your roll of 35, your new result would be 53.

To roll a dice pool, pick up the indicated number of six-side dice, roll them, and take the highest individual result. Duplicates have no special significance. For example, if you rolled a pool of three dice and got a 2, a 4, and a 4, your result would be 4. If you would ever roll a pool of zero or fewer dice, roll two dice and take the lowest instead.

Character Creation

Each player should create their own character. There are three things about your character which are always true:

You are newly born into the world. You may know things about the world (e.g., from your programming, having read them on a computer terminal, etc.), but you haven't experienced them.

You are implausibly good at remaining inconspicuous; unless you're deliberately drawing attention or doing something which requires a dice roll, humans will almost always fail to spot you.

You are not human. You can decide what that means.

To find out what else is true about your character, roll or choose three times from the Form table, and three times from the Function table, placing your results into the correspondingly labelled slots on the Profile Grid, below, in any order you please. Your three results from each table should be different; if you elected to roll and get the same entry multiple times, flip your result, and re-roll if it's still a duplicate.

Think about what your three Form traits and three Function traits imply about your character's physical makeup, but don't set anything in stone just yet – you'll see why not in a moment.

Finally, roll a six-sided die five times, and record the results in the order in which they're received. The resulting five-digit number is the only name your character has when play begins.

Table 1: Form (d66)

11–12. Blood 13–14. Bones 15–16. Brain 21–22. Claws 23–24. Ears 25–26. Eyes 31–32. Guts 33–34. Hands 35–36. Heart 41–42. Hair 43–44. Legs 45–46. Lungs 51–52. Nose 53–54. Skin 55–56. Tail 61–62. Teeth 63–64. Tongue 65–66. Wings

Table 2: Function (d66)

11–12. Accelerated 13–14. Autonomous 15–16. Auxiliary 21–22. Cryogenic 23–24. Cryptic 25–26. Elastic 31–32. Electric 33–34. Entropic 35–36. Invasive 41–42. Invulnerable 43–44. Kinetic 45–46. Magnetic 51–52. Phasing 53–54. Polymorphic 55–56. Projectile 61–62. Pyrogenic 63–64. Telescopic 65–66. Toxic

Playing the Game

Play proceeds in a series of scenes. In each scene, the GM will set the stage: a challenge to overcome, a peril to escape, a mystery to investigate, etc. Given the nature of your characters, most things will be mysteries to you!

Initial Token Placement

Once the stage has been set, place each of your three tokens on a different square on your Profile Grid. If you have no preference, you can roll d66 for each token and place it in the square whose marked numeric range contains the number you rolled, flipping or re-rolling your result if you get a square which already contains a token. The placement of these tokens represents your initial state when the scene opens. Depending on the nature of your character, this may be reflected by a shifting of internal focus, or by a physical transformation.

Participation

To participate in the scene, simply tell the GM what your character does; the GM will describe how the world responds, and ask what you do next. Whenever you wish – or are forced – to do something more than lurk and observe, you are obliged to make a test.

Making Tests

To make a test, first choose a pair of traits – one Form trait, and one Function trait – with which to face the challenge. For example, if your Form traits are Legs, Tail and Teeth, and your Function traits are Cryptic, Invulnerable and Phasing, you might test your Invulnerable Legs against the trouble at hand.

Next, count the number of tokens present in the rows extending from each of the chosen traits. The illustration below shows which squares would be consulted in the preceding example:

Next, roll a dice pool containing a number of dice equal to the number of tokens present on squares extending from the chosen traits. Do not count a token twice if it's on the square where the two traits intersect (e.g., the green square in the illustration above). In the event that no tokens fall on squares extending from appropriate traits, remember that you are allowed to roll a pool of zero dice by rolling two dice and taking the lowest rather than the highest.

Finally, compare your result to the following table:

1–3. Less than human. Whatever you'd intended to try still happens, but it cannot overcome human opposition (or adversity which would challenge a typical human), and any lasting effects are transitory and easily explained away. 4–5. Mostly human. Your effort can contend with human opposition (or circumstances which would challenge a competent human), and its lasting effects make it obvious that someone (or something) has been interfering with matters. 6. More than human. Your effort easily brushes aside any human opposition, and its lasting effects are impossible to rationalise as anything other than the intervention of inhuman forces.

Without Applicable Traits

In the event that you're forced to make a test and no possible pairing of your traits is applicable, you don't get to roll anything, not even with a pool of zero dice; simply resolve the outcome as though you'd rolled a result of 1–3. Other characters may attempt to preserve you from this fate by assisting you, in which case you roll one die per assisting friend; see below for more details.

Assistance

If you wish to assist another character in making a test, consult your own Profile Grid, considering only those squares which contain tokens. Only the specific pairs of traits represented by the squares on which your tokens fall are eligible for assistance; for example, if one of your tokens falls on the intersection of Cryptic and Teeth, you may assist with Cryptic Teeth, but not any other pair of traits involving Cryptic or Teeth unless those squares also have tokens on them.

If you're able to identify an eligible pair of traits that seems applicable to the test at hand, explain how you're using it to help, and hand the player making the test one extra die. Any number of characters may assist on a given test.

Providing assistance neither requires nor permits your character to adapt (see below) – it needs to be your own test for that!

Adapting

After resolving a test, your character adapts, shifting focus or form to reflect what they've learned. Take one token of your choice from your character sheet, and move it to a different square which doesn't already contain one. You can move any token you wish, but it must end up on a different square than the one it started on unless no valid destinations are available. Adapting is not optional, and must be carried out after every test.

Suffering Strain

If whatever you're making a test against is particularly strenuous or dangerous, you might suffer strain as a consequence. Strain will often be incurred on a result of 1–3, and rarely on a result of 4–5; only the most foolhardy efforts will incur strain even on a result of 6!

To incur strain, roll d66, and place a small X on the square on your Profile Grid whose indicated numeric range contains the number you rolled. If there's a token on that square, immediately move it to an empty square of your choice, unless fewer than three unmarked squares now remain; in that case, simply remove the token entirely.

For the remainder of the scene, tokens may not be moved to any marked square. In addition, if you suffer further strain, and the square indicated by your d66 roll is already marked, your character is incapacitated, and may not participate in tests at all until they recover.

All strain is cleared – and any discarded tokens restored – at the end of each scene. Incapacitated characters also recover at this time.

[unknownfortuna]

Profection years

Profection Years represent the themes in the house you will be facing as well as the planets associated with the signs in the houses. REMEMBER planets within these houses also represent whether the manifestations will be positive or negative (also aspects). I will be speaking mostly positive manifestations to avoid freaking anyone out:)

Ascendent: ages 0, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72...

The transformation in these years are closely tied to your identity. These years may also feel like you are starting over in some way, perhaps you are being too clingy with things that are not meant to be and will be forced to let go (you were supposed to do this in the 12th house but whatever you'll learn). A new you is reborn and you will be reintroducing yourself to those around you!

The rising sign is an indicator of what your year may hold for you (planet associated too!)

ex. Virgo rising may really lean into a more polished looking appearance. attention to detail and being a bit of a perfectionist in the work you do. You may be highly critical of yourself and others. Planet- Mercury will be activated this year. Perhaps you will incorporate more professional language depending on the profession you are in.

2nd House: ages 1, 13, 25, 37, 49, 61, 73...

These years are focused on your assets and values related to the self. (ascendent profection years is more superficial and based on others opinion/the mask you show others ex. work persona). Your material possessions and your ability to provide for yourself.

ex. Scorpio in the 2nd house. Can be going through a more secretive transition related to how you make your money. May be doing a more taboo profession or conflict may arise due to scorpio being associated with pluto and mars (also darker/obsessive tendencies with your things/self....like astrology/the occult)

3rd House: ages 2, 14, 26, 38, 50, 62, 74...

More active years; heavier emphasis on your siblings and neighborhood. Changes to your thought patterns and communication. More activity in your day to day life such as traveling or commuting somewhere.

ex. Libra in the 3rd house would be feeling more codependent on their siblings/neighbors and vice versa. Can have run ins with the law (parking/speeding tickets... also being able to get out of them bc of your charm:). More activity in your romantic and business partnerships! (Flirting with everyone bc why not??). Venus will be on your side during this year.

4th House: ages 3, 15, 27, 39, 51, 63, 75...

Family and the foundation you stand on will be heavy on your mind. What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? How can I be more involved in my family? How is my relationship with my mom affecting me? Childhood themes may also come up. Revisiting certain memories or places associated with childhood.

ex. Leo in the 4th house would hold more emphasis on adding flair to their home; More self expression towards their family and with their mom. The sun would be activated and a perpetual spotlight would follow you making you stand out ESPECIALLY with your family (being the talk of their family bc their mom can't help but brag about an accomplishment you made this year).

5th House: ages 4, 16, 28, 40, 52, 64, 76...

This profection year can really help tap into a more creative side of yourself. Perhaps you become more into a hobby you've been wanting to do. More excitement in your dating life relationships/ going out more with friends. pets are also a theme.

ex. Gemini in the 5th house would have soooo much to talk about with people (beware of gossiping). More fun with your siblings or you could be involved in communicating with kids in some capacity (You are a part of an after school program for elementary aged kids). Mercury would be activated.

6th House: ages 5, 17, 29, 41, 53, 65, 77...

These years pertain to your health/daily routine/every day work habits. Perhaps you want to incorporate a new diet or get more into a fitness routine.

Ex. Pisces in the 6th house may incorporate a ritual of some sort. Manifestation practices/protection spell work/reading scriptures from a religious text. Neptune will be activated this year so movies can be an inspiration for change to your life (beware of being mislead, neptune=planet of illusions ; you join a pyramid scheme lol). Jupiter is the traditional ruler. May bring random good luck within your daily life.

7th House: ages 6, 18, 30, 42, 54, 66, 78..

Relationships of all kinds will be emphasized. You may feel a bit codependent during these years; influenced by your relationships. What type of relationships do I want? type of thoughts. You could also be more of a social butterfly or heavily locked into your one on one relationships.

ex. Aquarius in the 7th house will be more involved in online relationships (like gamer friends). May be more active in building an online business and harvesting a following. Become more concerned with humanitarian causes and collaborating with others to make a difference. Uranus will be activated this year and may bring random acquaintances/ friendships. Saturn is also the traditional ruler....long term relationship through a dating site

8th House: ages 7, 19, 31, 43, 55, 67, 79...

More focused on transformation in a soul searching kind of way. What are your thoughts/feelings towards Money/intimacy/shared resources? Speaking of shared resources, if you are in a serious business or romantic partnership, this year will cause you to review what exactly is being harvested between you two. Taxes may be a focus on these years.

ex. Aries in the 8th house may feel the need to take action and charge these topics head on. Due to its independent nature they will have to learn to walk the fine line with what is theirs and what is a shared resource with their partners. Can also have to fight for inheritances. Mars will be activated this year giving more fuel/power to the individual.

9th House: ages 8, 20, 32, 44, 56, 68, 80...

Changes to your spirituality/religious thoughts. College or higher education of some kind will be a focus. perhaps you adopt a new dogma from reading a higher-level text. Travel and foreign places will be themes.

ex. Capricorn in the 9th house likes structure. They may be into focusing on what the meaning of life is or planning trips in search of answers to such existential questions. May also take work trips during this year or building rapport with foreign associates. Saturn would also be activated which can manifest in implementing more disciplinary rituals based on your spiritual belief (buddhism=incorporating asceticism practices).

10th House: ages 9, 21, 33, 45, 57, 69, 81..

The public and how you are perceived. focus on career and what you want to achieve. The 10th house can also be associated with authority figures/ father. Perhaps you end up being mentored by your boss or a fatherly figure of some kind when it comes to your career. There can be changes in the type of relationship you have with your father.

ex. Cancer in the 10th house could have a career related to caregiving or nurturing role of some kind. A protective career like the military could also manifest. Others may come to you and seek out advice of some kind due to the public seeing you as a caretaker/ motherly figure. Cancer being ruled by the moon may also cause ppl to see you as a moody/emotional person. Your mom and the relationship you have with her could be a theme (moon=mother)

11th House: ages 10, 22, 34, 46, 58, 70, 82...

The community is of importance and the ties you have. Your friends could be a big part of this year. The natural ruler of the 11th house is Aquarius which rules the media/ your presence within social media could be a theme such as being recognized or discovered in some way.

ex. Saggitarius in the 11th house would have an expansive list of friends from all types of communities, ages, and cultures (diversity, diversity, and more diversity). Could take trips to meet said friends in foreign countries. Lots of fun in the community (reputation of the life of the party??). Jupiter would be activated bringing good luck and expansion in this area:)

12th House: ages 11, 23, 35, 47, 59, 71, 83..

The 12th house is kind of the final chapter to karmic cycles. You go through a sort of ego death in this house. Depending on your attachment to things in your life will really let you know whether this year will be easy for you or not. Also have you been ignoring something or pushing a serious topic off in hopes it will dissipate into fine dust? Well, this year will bring your subconscious thoughts to life as well as influence your sleep and dreams. Isolation can manifest in different ways (working nights, hospital, prison, sleep disorders). Think of this year as the final test/ palette cleanser to all of the years prior.

ex. Taurus in the 12th (hehe how interesting:) the fixed sign will have no choice but to face the changes that have been inevitable. Perhaps you have considered yourself to be someone who is flexible (Gemini Rising) but ask anyone around you and they would say otherwise. Lessons of beauty/ugly will come about as well as lessons dealing with your foundation. Material possession will have to be approached in a detached manner due to the possibility of having to let go of systems that can not be taken with you in the upcoming profection year. Venus will be activated during this year and may include lessons related to love.

"Your fear of abandonment is entirely justified. Nothing in this world stays forever. The leaves fall, the fields of sunflowers wilt, even the best people leave sometimes. You're not crazy. You're observant."

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

Last night during a town hall with the Spanish-language news network Univision, Vice President and presidential nominee Kamala Harris received a question from a person with Long COVID who applied for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) three years ago and still hasn’t received a decision on her case.

Martha, who is 62, had a heart attack in 2020 and was later diagnosed with Long COVID, “which will disable me for the rest of my life,” she said. The disease has caused her to lose her job and become homeless. She asked Harris how disabled people could better access disability insurance.

Harris responded with a lengthy answer that advocates and many people with Long COVID said was inadequate. While the Democratic presidential nominee cited that she helped recognize Long COVID as a disability under the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), the ADA only provides protection for people requesting accommodations and does not apply to benefits programs. Many criticized her for failing to answer the question or offer any immediate plans or policies that would expedite SSDI cases, fund Long COVID research, or prevent more cases of the disease.

A new National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) report on Long COVID as a disability, which we covered earlier this year, will allegedly be used by the Social Security Administrion (SSA) to improve their processes for Long COVID-related applications.

Mother Jones reporterJullia Métraux wrote about Martha’s question and Harris’s response today, pointing out that over 30,000 people died on waiting lists for SSDI decisions in the fiscal year 2023.

The Sick Times and The 19th reached out to the Harris campaign for comment on how the campaign will recognize and address Long COVID response but did not receive a response.

[pheriya]

Don't eat nukes it's mean to them

After what they did to me I'd eat all of them.

[lonestarflight]

"The Gemini-7 spacecraft, carrying astronauts Frank Borman, command pilot, and James A. Lovell Jr., pilot, was successfully launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from Pad 19 at 2:30 p.m., (EST) Dec. 4, 1965. The Gemini-7 spacecraft is scheduled for a 14-day mission in space."

Date: December 4, 1965

NASA ID: S65-61628, S65-61650, S65-61838, S65-54129

source, source, source

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Steve Brodner

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 21, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Feb 22, 2025

In an appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) yesterday, billionaire Elon Musk seemed to be having difficulty speaking. Musk brandished a chainsaw like that Argentina's president Javier Milei used to symbolize the drastic cuts he intended to make to his country’s government, then posted that image to X, labeling it “The DogeFather,” although the administration has recently told a court that Musk is neither an employee nor the leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Politico called Musk’s behavior “eccentric.”

While attendees cheered Musk on, outside CPAC there appears to be a storm brewing. While Trump and his team have claimed they have a mandate, in fact more people voted for someone other than Trump in 2024, and his early approval ratings were only 47%, the lowest of any president going back to 1953, when Gallup began checking them. His approval has not grown as he has called himself a “king” and openly mused about running for a third term.

A Washington Post/Ipsos poll released yesterday shows that even that “honeymoon” is over. Only 45% approve of the “the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president,” while 53% disapprove. Forty-three percent of Americans say they support what Trump has done since he took office; 48% oppose his actions. The number of people who strongly support his actions sits at 27%; the number who strongly oppose them is twelve points higher, at 39%. Fifty-seven percent of Americans think Trump has gone beyond his authority as president.

Americans especially dislike his attempts to end USAID, his tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, and his firing of large numbers of government workers. Even Trump’s signature issue of deporting undocumented immigrants receives 51% approval only if respondents think those deported are “criminals.” Fifty-seven percent opposed deporting those who are not accused of crimes, 70% oppose deporting those brought to the U.S. as children, and 66% oppose deporting those who have children who are U.S. citizens. Eighty-three percent of Americans oppose Trump’s pardon of the violent offenders convicted for their behavior during the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Even those who identify as Republican-leaning oppose those pardons 70 to 27 percent.

As Aaron Blake points out in the Washington Post, a new CNN poll, also released yesterday, shows that Musk is a major factor in Trump’s declining ratings. By nearly two to one, Americans see Musk having a prominent role in the administration as a “bad thing.” The ratio was 54 to 28. The Washington Post/Ipsos poll showed that Americans disapprove of Musk “shutting down federal government programs that he decides are unnecessary” by the wide margin of 52 to 26. Sixty-three percent of Americans are worried about Musk’s team getting access to their data.

Meanwhile, Jessica Piper of Politico noted that 62% of Americans in the CNN poll said that Trump has not done enough to try to reduce prices, and today’s economic news bears out that concern: not only are egg prices at an all-time high, but also consumer sentiment dropped to a 15-month low as people worry that Trump’s tariffs will raise prices. White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields said in a statement: “[T]he American people actually feel great about the direction of the country…. What’s to hate? We are undoing the widely unpopular agenda of the previous office holder, uprooting waste, fraud, and abuse, and chugging along on the great American Comeback.”

Phone calls swamping the congressional switchboards and constituents turning out for town halls with House members disprove Fields’s statement. In packed rooms with overflow spaces, constituents have shown up this week both to demand that their representatives take a stand against Musk’s slashing of the federal government and access to personal data, and to protest Trump’s claim to be a king. In an eastern Oregon district that Trump won by 68%, constituents shouted at Representative Cliff Bentz: “tax Elon,” “tax the wealthy,” “tax the rich,” and “tax the billionaires.” In a solid-red Atlanta suburb, the crowd was so angry at Representative Richard McCormick that he has apparently gone to ground, bailing on a CNN interview about the disastrous town hall at the last minute.

That Trump is feeling the pressure from voters showed this week when he appeared to offer two major distractions: a pledge to consider using money from savings found by the “Department of Government Efficiency” to provide rebates to taxpayers—although so far it hasn’t shown any savings and economists say the promise of checks is unrealistic—and a claim that he would release a list of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s clients.

Trump is also under pressure from the law.

The Associated Press sued three officials in the Trump administration today for blocking AP journalists from presidential events because the AP continues to use the traditional name “Gulf of Mexico” for the gulf that Trump is trying to rename. The AP is suing over the freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Today, a federal court granted a preliminary injunction to stop Musk and the DOGE team from accessing Americans’ private information in the Treasury Department’s central payment system. Eighteen states had filed the lawsuit.

Tonight, a federal court granted a nationwide injunction against Trump’s executive orders attacking diversity, equity, and inclusion, finding that they violate the First and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution.

Trump is also under pressure from principled state governors.

In his State of the State Address on Wednesday, February 19, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker noted that “it’s in fashion at the federal level right now to just indiscriminately slash school funding, healthcare coverage, support for farmers, and veterans’ services. They say they’re doing it to eliminate inefficiencies. But only an idiot would think we should eliminate emergency response in a natural disaster, education and healthcare for disabled children, gang crime investigations, clean air and water programs, monitoring of nursing home abuse, nuclear reactor regulation, and cancer research.”

He recalled: “Here in Illinois, ten years ago we saw the consequences of a rampant ideological gutting of government. It genuinely harmed people. Our citizens hated it. Trust me—I won an entire election based in part on just how much they hated it.”

Pritzker went on to address the dangers of the Trump administration directly. “We don’t have kings in America,” he said, “and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one…. If you think I’m overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this: It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control.”

He recalled how ordinary Illinoisans outnumbered Nazis who marched in Chicago in 1978 by about 2,000 to 20, and noted: “Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage. So gather your justice and humanity, Illinois, and do not let the ‘tragic spirit of despair’ overcome us when our country needs us the most.”

Today, Maine governor Janet Mills took the fight against Trump’s overreach directly to him. At a meeting of the nation’s governors, in a rambling speech in which he was wandering through his false campaign stories about transgender athletes, Trump turned to his notes and suddenly appeared to remember his executive order banning transgender student athletes from playing on girls sports teams.

The body that governs sports in Maine, the Maine Principals’ Association, ruled that it would continue to allow transgender students to compete despite Trump's executive order because the Maine state Human Rights Law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of gender identity.

Trump asked if the governor of Maine was in the room.

“Yeah, I’m here,” replied Governor Mills.

“Are you not going to comply with it?” Trump asked.

“I’m complying with state and federal laws,” she said.

“We are the federal law,” Trump said. “You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t….”

“We’re going to follow the law,” she said.

“You’d better comply because otherwise you’re not going to get any federal funding,” he said.

Mills answered: “We’ll see you in court.”

As Shawn McCreesh of the New York Times put it: “Something happened at the White House Friday afternoon that almost never happens these days. Somebody defied President Trump. Right to his face.”

Hours later, the Trump administration launched an investigation into Maine’s Department of Education, specifically its policy on transgender athletes. Maine attorney general Aaron Frey said that any attempt to cut federal funding for the states over the issue “would be illegal and in direct violation of federal court orders…. Fortunately,” he said in a statement, “the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maine’s laws and block efforts by the president to bully and threaten us.”

“[W]hat is at stake here [is] the rule of law in our country,” Mills said in a statement. “No President…can withhold Federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will. It is a violation of our Constitution and of our laws.”

“Maine may be one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his Administration, but we won’t be the last. Today, the President of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed. But you must ask yourself: who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the President is neither a King nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it—and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so.”

“[D]o not be misled: this is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”

Americans’ sense that Musk has too much power is likely to be heightened by tonight’s report from Andrea Shalal and Joey Roulette of Reuters that the United States is trying to force Ukraine to sign away rights to its critical minerals by threatening to cut off access to Musk’s Starlink satellite system. Ukraine turned to that system after the Russians destroyed its communications services.

And Americans’ concerns about Trump acting like a dictator are unlikely to be calmed by tonight’s news that Trump has abruptly purged the leadership of the military in apparent unconcern over the message that such a sweeping purge sends to adversaries. He has fired the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Charles Q. Brown, who Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested got the job only because he is Black, and Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the Chief of Naval Operations, who was the first woman to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and whom Hegseth called a “DEI hire.”

The vice chief of the Air Force, General James Slife, has also been fired, and Hegseth indicated he intends to fire the judge advocates general, or JAGs—the military lawyers who administer the military code of justice—for the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Trump has indicated he intends to nominate Air Force Lieutenant General John Dan “Razin” Caine to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Oren Liebermann and Haley Britzky of CNN call this “an extraordinary move,” since Caine is retired and is not a four-star general, a legal requirement, and will need a presidential waiver to take the job. Trump has referred to Caine as right out of “central casting.”

Defense One, which covers U.S. defense and international security, called the firings a “bloodbath.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[wachinyeya]

GO CHINA GO!

(via fixthenews.com)

China has transformed over 650 km² of monoculture forests along the Yangtze River into diverse mixed ecosystems, expanding mixed-forest coverage from 6% to 62%.The $150 million initiative engaged has provided 10,000+ farmers with sustainable livelihoods that doubled monthly incomes, and is on track to transform 1,300 km² by 2027. Beyond improving biodiversity and water retention, the transformed landscapes will sequester 23.5 million tons of carbon over 30 years. World Bank

And that’s not the country's only environmentally ambitious plan. Strict laws now protect a 1.09 million km² band of black soil in the nation's Northeast from illegal excavation, putting a stop to those who smuggled away the soil for use in nurseries and flower markets. The same laws now protect the region from toxic dumping – and given that it sits smack in the middle of one of China's major grain production sites, we can see why. China Daily

China is also planning a major new project to re-wild the endangered North China Leopard after recent (and very exciting) leopard sightings just 20 km from Beijing. The 10-year initiative will plant 10 million oak trees across the Taihang and Yanshan mountains, creating critical wildlife corridors connecting Beijing, Hebei, and Shanxi provinces. Dialogue Earth

[sentintheclowns]

YAGP FINALS 2025 PROGRAM DETAILS

since yagp never posted the program publicly, here are some notable dancers and their numbers! (i don't think i have the FINAL schedule, because there were a couple more competitors that i saw on the yagp instagram stories/posts!)

Pre-Competitive Group 1 (Classical & Contemporary Mon)

#9 Matinly Conrad - Ave Maria (Contemporary Only)

#15 Mina Terry - Three Odalisque Le Corsaire - Race Against Time

#17 Sylvie Win Szyndlar - Graduation Ball - Solitude

#36 Evie McCune-Barrett - Nocture Rouge (Contemporary Only)

#44 Calla Massey - Kitri Act III Don Quixote - Sanctuary

#50 Emilia Padesky - I've Waited (Contemporary Only)

#58 Gigi Shea - Deepest Regard (Contemporary Only)

#59 Mila Simunic - Gravity (Contemporary Only)

Pre-Competitive Group 2 (Classical & Contemporary Monday)

#62 Mika Florez - The Rise (Contemporary Only)

#78 Chloe Fan - Graduation Ball - Hyperfocus

#81 Lexie Chanstrom - Rewind (Contemporary Only)

#87 Savannah Jackson - La Esmeralda - Veiled

#88 Sadie Daniels - La Fille Mal Gardee - Solo 7

#91 Stella Brinkerhoff - La Fille Mal Gardee - Dreaming

Pre-Competitive Group 3 (Classical Mon - Contemporary Tues)

#111 Aliya Yen - Before It Ends (Contemporary Only)

#125 Harper Schwalb - Raymonda Act I - In The Light Of The Moon

#127 Scarlett Manzel - A Thousand Steps (Contemporary Only)

#129 Bella Linman - Lilac Fairy Sleeping Beauty - Black Swan

#133 Kaia Erby - Satanella - The Pull

#142 Violet Marti - Raymonda - Interstellar

Pre-Competitive Group 4 (Classical Mon - Contemporary Tues)

#172 Lucia Piedrahita - La Esmeralda - Mad Virtuoso

#201 Lisbon Hendrick - Peasant Pas Giselle - Effervescent

Junior Classical Group 1 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Wed)

#306 Athena Hu - Raymonda - Passing Of Time

#328 Elsa Peng - Harlequinade - Weathered

#335 Ellary Day Szyndlar - Paquita - Chrysalis

#338 Victoria Carrillo - Harlequinade - Kolysanka

Junior Classical Group 2 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Wed)

#368 Katarina Carney - La Esmeralda - Midnight Waltz

Junior Classical Group 3 (Classical Wed - Contemporary Tues)

#402 Madelyn Murphy - Pas D'Esclave - The Final Farewell

#420 Isabella Tjoe - Satanella - Nightfall

#421 Savannah Manzel - La Fille Mal Gardee - Diversion

#422 Fiona Wu - Queen Of The Dryads - The Sting Of Loss

Junior Classical Group 4 (Classical Wed - Contemporary Tues)

#435 Kya Massimino - La Fille Mal Gardee - No Other Path

#465 Anjali Dyen - Harlequinade - Longing

#468 Kiera Sun - Raymonda - Seeing Red

#475 Chloe Helimets - Grand Pas Classique - The Muse

Senior Classical Group 1 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Wed)

#616 Lena Garcia - Le Corsaire - Moment In Memory

Senior Classical Group 2 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Thurs)

#650 Macie Miersch - Kitri Act III - Where Light And Dark Meet

Senior Men Classical Group 1 (Classical Thurs- Contemporary Wed)

#818 Natan Grzybowski - Talisman - Solo #75

Senior Men Classical Group 2 (Classical Thurs- Contemporary Wed)

#847 Max Berg - Basilio Don Quixote - Erupting Light

Contemporary Pas De Deux (Tues)

#903 Sadie & Nicholas - Prelude To A Soul (Elite Classical Coaching)

#910 Savannah & Max - Elegiya (Elite Classical Coaching)

#912 Erik & Laci - To The Moon (Larkin Dance Studio)

Classical Pas De Deux Group 1 (Wed)

#919 Sadie & Nichloas - Coppelia (Elite Classical Coaching)

#932 Kiera & Liam - Grand Pas Classique (Dmitri Kulev)

Classical Pas De Deux Group 2 (Fri)

#938 Savannah & Max - La Esmeralda (Elite Classical Coaching)

Ensemble Group 1 (Thurs)

#963 Ellary Day & Sylvie Win - Mercy On Me (Master Ballet)

#977 Fiona Wu & Raina Wu - Breaking In The Dark (Yoko's)

Ensemble Group 9 (Sun)

#1174 Kya & Lena - Lost Voices (Hollywood Ballet Academy)