Janet? Come on in-the water’s great here!
Ostara 3.20.25 by Dishkitty
Equinox Read on Substack
Happy Ostara and Spring Equinox! It started with snow this morning, which was a bummer, but you know – in like a lion and all that. I’m ready for the lamb!
Build your path with patience. Small steps are progress. XOXO
Share this comic with your favorite pagan.
Here’s one for Ollie, and for all the hopeful squirrel chasers.
Slightly political but funny (or maybe I’m weird!🌞)
For all of us undergoing or who’ve undergone:
I hope everyone’s Friday the 21st is really nice. Enjoy all you can! 🌞
The sun will shine in my back door someday/ The sun will shine in my back door someday/ March winds will blow all my troubles away by Worriedman
“I Know You Rider”.- Traditional Read on Substack
It was a blustery weekend. “ Blustery” was a word I learned in the fourth grade from our teacher, Mrs Wigel. She spent the first period reading to the class every morning. She read us “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day “ which was a Disney product and not the original book by AA Milne . I was never much of a Winnie the Pooh fan. I did learn “blustery” though and use it every time the situation permits.
It was blustery today up on the Hill with the Mule in his Minions. They were pretty muddy!
Crocus ! Crocus ! Crocus !
German Iris. These poor things don’t know what time of year it is – they are reblooming like nobody’s business.
Amaryllis!
That’s all I got room for – thanks for dropping by! (snip)
Enjoy your St. Pat’s, in your own fashion! ☘
| March 17, 1966 Cesar Chavez and the National Farm Workers Association left Delano for Sacramento, the capital of California, a 340-mile march which would take three weeks. They were calling public attention to the plight of farm workers and for their struggle for the right to organize a union.  |
| March 17, 1968 In London’s Trafalgar Square, at the largest anti-Vietnam War protest in Britain to date, 25,000 people marched. They were demonstrating against American action in Vietnam and British support for the United States policy. Some then attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy, resulting in 200 arrests and fifty taken to hospital, nearly half police officers.  Actress Vanessa Redgrave was allowed to enter the embassy to deliver a protest Read more and watch footage of the demo |
| March 17, 1978 The oil supertanker Amoco Cadiz ran aground and, in the worst oil spill ever, lost its entire cargo of 1,619,048 barrels (223,000 tons).A slick 18 miles wide and 80 miles long polluted approximately 200 miles of France’s Brittany coastline.  The Amoco Cadiz disaster was the first marine environmental catastrophe to be covered by the world’s media in real time.  one of the victims Read more |
| March 17, 2003 President George W. Bush warned U.N. weapons inspectors to leave the Iraq within 48 hours. They were in country searching for weapons of mass destruction (WMD), conducting 900 inspections at 500 locations in four months.Bush had given Saddam Hussein the same amount of time to step down from power or suffer the consequences of the planned invasion. Hans Blix, the chief weapons inspector, and Mohamed El Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the inspectors had found no WMDs, or any evidence of a renewed Iraqi nuclear weapons program. Despite increasing cooperation from Iraqi authorities relenting to international pressure, the inspectors were unable to complete their work due to the American threat of war.  U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq before they were forced to leave by President George W. Bush Hans Blix’s report to the UN Security Council just ten days earlier |
https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymarch.htm#march17
(Then see “Furbabies” )
Healthy cartoons by Nancy Beiman
Readers asked for them. Read on Substack
here’s a little image from an upcoming cartoon. Mrs. Oldman makes a joke.
The story line starts today, March 11. (snip)
This is yesterday’s newsletter, but I just got to it, so here it is:
Extra! Extra! 3/9 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 by Jessica Craven
Read on Substack
Hey, all, and happy Sunday!
Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. To give you a bit more enjoyment, here’s all the good news I could find from the week that just ended. I’m certain there was more, but the below is a good sampling. As awful as things are right now—and they are awful—there’s much good happening as well.
Enjoy this list, read it a few times, and share it with friends. It is not by staring relentlessly at what’s wrong that we will prevail, but in lifting up what’s working and celebrating it. Really!
Let’s do that. Then tomorrow we’ll get back to work making new victories.
Here’s a great pep talk on the power of our growing movement, courtesy of Framelab!
Paul Tazewell became the first Black man to win an Oscar for best costume design, and Zoe Saldaña became the first American of Dominican origin to win an Oscar at all.
A petrol giant in Norway has announced a ban on fuel sales to all US forces following Trump’s treatment of President Zelensky at the White House.
MeidasTouch, an independent news network that is consistently critical of Trump, surpassed Joe Rogan’s podcast to take the top podcast ranking.
Mike Johnson has instructed his members to stop having Town Halls because of their constituents’ anger.
1,400 people showed up to Indivisible Northern NV’s protest in front of their Republican Congressman Mark Amodei’s office on Saturday. WOW!
Despite political headwinds for the U.S. offshore wind industry, global installations are expected to rebound to a record-high 19 GW this year.
Starbucks workers at the S. Dale Mabry & Neptune location in Tampa, FL just won their election to become the 550th union Starbucks store in the US!
The Trump administration has rescinded its decision to cut off legal aid for unaccompanied immigrant children. You sent letters about that! Bravo!
After a public outcry, the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs has resumed the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, lowering energy bills for thousands of Alabamans.
The Supreme Court lifted its hold on a lower court order compelling the Trump administration to resume nearly $2 billion in foreign aid funding from USAID. HUGE!
Senate Dems all voted against a bad anti-trans bill.
Over the weekend after Trump and Vance’s meeting with Zelensky in the Oval Office supporters like you donated $2,597,908 to UNITED24, the Ukrainian government’s official fundraising website. Wonderful!
Los Angeles County sued Southern California Edison over its role in the devastating Eaton fire.
According to one of the organizers, over 200K people watched the “State of the People” livestream that was offered as counterprogramming to Trump’s SOTU.
In Minnesota, House Republicans brought House File 12 to the Floor, legislation that would prohibit trans and non-gender conforming youth from participating in girls’ sports in Minnesota schools and subject all women and girls to inappropriate scrutiny about their bodies. Democrats defeated it!
Rep. Al Green, was ushered out of Trump’s address to Congress by security guards after raising his voice about Medicaid. THAT is resistance!
Jackie and Shadow, two famous bald eagles, finally hatched two chicks after years of trying to become parents.
Campaign Legal Center filed a new lawsuit challenging the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). They claimed Elon Musk’s and DOGE’s actions are unconstitutional.
The African Development Foundation is putting up a fight and denying DOGE and Pete Marocco — the State Dept official dismantling USAID — access to their building.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey just commuted the death sentence of Robin Dion “Rocky” Meyers.
Electric vehicles made up 64% of all new cars sold in Denmark in January — up from 35% last year.
The stock market’s negative reaction to Trump’s tariffs caused him to withdraw them.
More than 34,000 Vermonters attended Rep Rebecca Balint’s town hall the night of the SOTU —she was joined by Sen Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch. Wow! (You can view a recording on Facebook.)
Utility-scale clean energy installations soared to 49 GW in the U.S. last year, with Republican states seeing the fastest growth.
The U.S. built a record 10.9 GW of utility-scale battery capacity in 2024, mostly in California and Texas, and that figure could surge to 18 GW this year.
More states are adopting mandates for reporting lost or stolen guns.
A federal judge extended a nationwide preliminary injunction on Trump’s executive order to end federal funding for gender-affirming healthcare for trans youth.
Jail voting soared in Colorado in November of 2024—this after the state mandated polling places in County jails.
The White House pulled the expected signing of the executive order to dismantle the Department of Education
A federal judge ruled that the head of the Office of the Special Counsel, who is responsible for protecting whistleblowers, must be able to continue in his role through the duration of his term.
With time running short to avoid a shutdown at the end of next week, Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson are urging Republicans to accept a stopgap bill that would keep federal dollars flowing at current levels through the end of the fiscal year on September 30.
Alabama’s parole rate more than doubled in 2024. The board released 20 percent of prisoners last year compared to just eight percent in 2023. One lawmaker credited the boost to increased scrutiny from journalists.
A trans woman who was fired from McDonald’s after being harassed won a $900,000 lawsuit against the company that runs the restaurant.
A crowd hundreds strong gathered near the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association campus in Boulder on Monday to protest cuts made to the agency last week as part of the Trump administration’s effort to downsize the federal government.
The U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) reinstated about 5,600 probationary USDA employees that had been terminated by the Trump administration.
Wisconsin is joining a multistate lawsuit against the Trump admin over the mass firings of federal workers.
Tesla shares tumbled 5.6% in trading Thursday and are now down 45% from their December peak. Just since Trump took office and Musk began wielding power they have lost 38% of their overall value.
Target’s online traffic dropped during The People’s Union USA Economic Blackout on Feb. 28, according to data from website analytics platform Similarweb. Costco’s went up.
Across the country on Friday—in at least thirty localities—protests were held in support of science.
U.S. government employees who have been fired in the Trump administration’s purge of recently hired workers are responding with class action-style complaints.
“Hamilton” is canceling plans to perform next year at the Kennedy Center, citing President Trump’s moves to impose his values on the venue. “We’re not going to be a part of it while it is the Trump Kennedy Center,” said its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda. Couldn’t love him more.
Virginia lawmakers unanimously passed a bill to educate the public about common menstrual disorders like endometriosis and PCOS.
Educators in New York City are embracing rather than restricting discussions of race in schools. Leaders have said they’ll do so whether the Trump administration approves or not.
This year’s count of endangered Mexican gray wolves shows their recovery is inching forward.
Parents in Britain will be granted a right to bereavement leave after suffering a miscarriage as part of Labour’s workers’ rights reforms.
Black churches across the country were awarded more than $8 million in grants by The National Trust for Historic Preservation, part of an effort to preserve buildings that played significant roles in Black history.
Researchers have created an eco-friendly alternative to plastic Mardis Gras necklaces.
Stanford University chemists have developed a practical, low-cost way to permanently remove atmospheric carbon dioxide, the main driver of global warming and climate change, using rocks.
A federal judge ordered the reinstatement of Democratic NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox, whom Trump fired to eliminate the board’s quorum.
Almost everything Trump and Musk are doing is wildly unpopular with Americans.
Dicks Sporting Goods doubled down on its commitment to DEI.
CBS has filed a motion to dismiss Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit over former Vice President Kamala Harris’ 60 Minutes interview last year, calling the suit an “affront to the First Amendment without basis in law or fact.”
Ontario will charge 25% more for electricity shipped to 1.5 million Americans starting Monday in response to Trump’s tariffs, Premier Doug Ford said Thursday.
In Las Vegas, the Culinary and Bartenders Unions have reached an agreement with Fontainebleau Las Vegas, and for the first time in the 90-year history of the strip every establishment is totally unionized.
Bernie Sanders’ ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ campaign is continuing to draw massive crowds in red districts across the US.
Production workers at Walt Disney Animation Studios officially have a first union contract.
Ukraine supporters unfurled the world’s largest 🇺🇦 flag on the White House ellipse this weekend.
In Oklahoma, the Senate Education Appropriations subcommittee nixed a $3 million request by the state Education agency to place Bibles in classrooms.
In Montana, powerful speeches by the state’s two transgender lawmakers helped flip 29 Republican lawmakers’ votes and kill two anti-trans bills.
Thanks to the ballot measure passed in the state in November, Arizona’s 15-week abortion ban has been permanently blocked!
A Federal judge in Rhode Island entered a preliminary injunction that indefinitely blocks Trump’s freeze on federal grants and loans, saying the Trump Administration “put itself above Congress.” This lawsuit was brought by Democratic state Attorneys General, led by New York AG Letitia James.
Warning, this is slightly risque. But if you saw the weird AI-generated video about “Trump Gaza” that Trump reposted last week, you have to see this. (Full disclosure; I have not watched it. No time for videos today unless it’s one of you people here. Also, the scene shown has ruined my lunch. -A)
(Good news below the poetry. The poetry is more beautifully written.)
Readers may or may not recall I’ve been undergoing some major work around our house. Back in December was the first of the foundation work, in which piers were placed at strategic points around the house to raise it after drought and earthquakes caused major dirt shifting on our block (and others surrounding.) Anyway, some or maybe all of you may be aware of the amount and depth of digging required for the work. There were great trenches around the house, including the front flower bed (mostly dedicated to wildflowers for birds and bees; nothing at all formal, just nice in a simple way.) But there were a few daffodil plants, to which DH was quite partial. I figured the entire bed’s plants were gone after the work, but this past Tuesday I pulled into the driveway after an errand, and there are the daffodil plants (not yet blooming) out drinking in sunlight, in pretty close to the same spots they used to be! I’ve just been amazed by that, and it’s a really nice thing to see out front. Thanks for reading! ⚘
Calm was the even, and clear was the sky,/ And the new budding flowers did spring,/ When all alone went Amyntas and I/ To hear the sweet nightingale sing; by Worriedman Read on Substack
“Song: Calm was the even, and clear was the sky”. By John Dryden
Fun poem ! Bawdy! Go read it!
The whole poem-
The Poetry Foundation’ s biography of Dryden is quite good. I like the sound of his poetry. It’s good to read aloud. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-dryden
“Fenn, did you see what happened to the Lemon Oreos I left on the table?”
My desktop at work
Hellebores
Amaryllis! At home –
At work –
Greenhouse sunrise
I spent some time with Barncat tonight
I had a great time out with Amos and the Minions .
I took a bunch of pictures – I’ll use them this weekend.
That’s all I got room for – thanks for dropping by! (snip)
Scottie's Playtime 
