Turns out the phrase “America First” is preceded by the words “Sell Out.”

Way cool!

An astonishing photo that allows me to recommend a wonderful, strange book, The Peregrine, by J.A. Baker.

A tightly cropped Hubble view of a vast star-forming region known as the Trifid Nebula. The top left is bright blue. Brown and amber colors run from top right through the center in irregular, overlapping lines to the bottom-center. At bottom right, the view is almost black. Tiny, amber-colored stars appear throughout the scene. Toward the left there is a prominent brown shape that looks like a head with two horns. The left horn points left and is wavy. The right horn is triangular and points up. The brown dust continues, flowing down, as if along a back, and up toward the top right. A prominent line, about the same length as the left horn, appears below the middle of the body, and changes from orange to red. A small, separate semi-transparent pillar is left of the head. A few slightly larger, blue foreground stars with four diffraction spikes appear throughout.

NEW HUBBLE IMAGE OF THE TRIFID NEBULA TO START OFF ITS BIRTHDAY WEEK!!! 🌌

Nope. Pension benefits do not kick in until after five years, so for a member of the house, after election to a 3rd term. That's a later eligibility than a lot of the private sector.

www.congress.gov/crs-product/...

PS: all my thanks to the legendary Laurie Garrett for taking an early look at A Pox on Fools.

“Since the 1800 dawn of the age of vaccines, the life-saving miracles have had their opponents, decrying immunization to its public health advocates. The anti-vax arguments aren’t new, as Tom Levenson shows. Only the fear-mongering voices have changed, now led by RFK Jr. A Pox of Fools is your go-to guide for countering the mendacity and conspiratorial thinking.”—Laurie Garrett, bestselling author of The Coming Plague

Got a post up over at LinkedIn, celebrating some of the early praise for A Pox on Fools (see image below) and making a blog:

My hope is that the book can help advance our civic conversation re vaccines. To that end, if you'd like me to come to your institution to talk my book, I'd love to. DM me.

All part of the GOP economic program: redistribute income up.

If you aren't part of the 1% and you still vote GOP, you're a mark.

"A lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots on."
--attributed to many.

A thing of beauty and a joy forever.

This is manufactured outrage. Representatives and staff are eligible for the same healthcare coverage as federal employees in general in office and retirement. It's not some special members-only boondoggle.

If your complaint is about how long folks stay in Congress, that's a different question.

Regular readers will know that I love me some pinwheel!

Right time of year. My visit to the Valley was in January. Perfect. Lots of wildflowers.

I think you're right. There's no evidence that Patel is smart, none that he understands the law (especially the process of law), and believes that being the aggressor is the right move at every challenge.

Oops.

You have treats in store. I grew up in Berkeley, CA, so I'm reasonably well covered on NPs and NMs. Yosemite, Kings Canyon/Sequoia, Death Valley, Redwood, Pinnacles (when it was a SP); Point Reyes; Golden Gate. Still some to go (incl. Lava Beds). Don't sleep on the state parks, either.

Grateful Dead - Ripple (New York, NY 10/31/80) (Official Live Video) YouTube video by Grateful Dead

This one in almost any of its versions makes me smile, calms me down, puts just a little kinder gloss on the day:

Let's hear it for the harp unstrung!

It is still recovering from the damage from the Dixie Fire (which destroyed our cabin in the Warner Valley). But it is a special place. Also, one of the least visited of CA NPs, which makes for a lovely experience, IMHO.

Gorgeous.

And very much right for the moment, at least for yr. humble correspondent.

Panoramic view of a snow covered Lassen peak on the left, with a line of snow covered mountains running rot the right of frame. A forested ridge is in the foreground.

I grew up--well, spent every summer of child and teen years on the border of Lassen Volcanic NP (just at the Warner Valley-Juniper Lake trailhead).

I can't call the park my favorite. It's much more than that.

IANAL but I believe Mr. K. Patel is not terribly familiar with the concept of discovery.

Popcorn futures are through the roof.

Articles about Jared Kushner's diplomatic role with Iran that mention Kushner has received billions from the Saudi government (2/28-4/19):

NYT: 5 of 58
WashPost: 1 of 43
WSJ: 0 of 40
AP: 0 of 26
CNN Wire: 0 of 18
NY Post: 0 of 17
Chicago Tribune: 0 of 4
LA Times: 0 of 4
Boston Globe: 0 of 2

For "progress" read "regress."

Iran War Live Updates: U.S. Attacks Iranian Cargo Ship While Preparing for New Round of Talks

So it appears we're back on the edge (if not over it) into a shooting war with Iran.

This is what happens when a cognitively declining narcissist confronts a situation where his tried-and-true bullshit doesn't work.

The world will pay/is paying for Trump's manifest unfitness.

Oh, that's awesome!

Willin' Boogie - Little Feat | The Midnight Special YouTube video by The Midnight Special

"If you give me weed, whites, and wine...I'll be willin'" is one of the great lyrics in rock and roll.

I will die on this hill.

Yes.

This recipe is slightly different from the one in Ripe Figs. It calls for 3T of oil; where the one in the book calls for 4T--which I think is needed to have enough marinade under and over the skin. Trivial, I know.

In which I am reminded that @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social is a brilliant writer and a rigorous, unblinking thinker:

harpers.org:2096/archive/2018...

Not quite sure what you mean. Is it that when you set the oven to 400º it heats to 375º and relies on the fan for the rest? Or that you run your convection oven 25º cooler than what the recipe calls for?

I'm so sorry for your loss.

My sweet cat Mo is curled up on my desk next to my monitor as I type this.

Imma go cuddle him right now.

NB: I have a convection oven, so I usually dial back temperatures just a little, as the convection heats more efficiently than a fanless oven, and my assumption (perhaps not valid) is that most written recipe assumes the standard oven.