In Case Someone Needs Words

with which to address and direct our government, the American Bar Association has provided very good such words. I was thinking I was going to make this a morning post, but I’m going ahead and publishing so people can get to work in the morning. Thanks for everything you can do! It matters, and we have to really push our legislators to do the right things, now more than ever before in my own lifetime, and I thought that was when we invaded Iraq. This is exponential amounts of that.-A.

The American Bar Association Pulls The Fire Alarm by Rebecca Schoenkopf

The crisis is here. Read on Substack

Yesterday, the American Bar Association did something it pretty much never does: It spoke out on politics. If you’re a cow with a head injury or an alien from outer space or a typical Trump supporter, you might think the organization is being partisan in so doing, but that word doesn’t apply when the president and his party are in the midst of committing a Nazi terrorist attack to destroy the United States once and for all, and with it, the Constitution, the rule of law, and the rest of our 249-year experiment.

But that’s what’s happening, which means groups like the ABA must speak out. It’s not the kind of thing that’s going to make a ripple at the next Make Cousins Love Again Trump Nazi Jamboree in Pig Whistle, Alabama, but it might be instructive for some of the real lawyers currently trading their integrity and legal ethics to work for Donald Trump, or real lawyers quietly hanging on in government agencies facing a choice over whether or not to do that.

Y’all know how lawyers who work for Trump tend to get disbarred, right?

The Trump regime, unsurprisingly, is being very clear that if the choice for lawyers is between following the law and breaking it for Trump, they’ll pick the latter every time. Pam Bondi’s Justice Department has already let it be known in no uncertain terms that their alliance is to den Führer.

Letters have been drafted begging the ABA to stand up against the two-bit dictator. The ABA has already had to come out in opposition to Trump’s executive order threatening targeted investigations into DEI in bar associations of all kinds, at all levels. The clear implication being that if you speak out against Stupid Hitler in any way, Stupid Hitler will target you. NBC News has much more on what the conversations surrounding bar associations are looking like right now.

Now we have this very long statement from Bill Bay, the president of the ABA. Again, if you’re a MAGA Nazi supporter, it might seem “partisan.” To normal people who don’t hate America and everything it stands for, it’s just patriotic.

The full statement, which is titled “The ABA Supports The Rule Of Law,” with a few things bolded for emphasis:

It has been three weeks since Inauguration Day. Most Americans recognize that newly elected leaders bring change. That is expected. But most Americans also expect that changes will take place in accordance with the rule of law and in an orderly manner that respects the lives of affected individuals and the work they have been asked to perform.

Instead, we see wide-scale affronts to the rule of law itself, such as attacks on constitutionally protected birthright citizenship, the dismantling of USAID and the attempts to criminalize those who support lawful programs to eliminate bias and enhance diversity.

We have seen attempts at wholesale dismantling of departments and entities created by Congress without seeking the required congressional approval to change the law. There are efforts to dismiss employees with little regard for the law and protections they merit, and social media announcements that disparage and appear to be motivated by a desire to inflame without any stated factual basis. This is chaotic. It may appeal to a few. But it is wrong. And most Americans recognize it is wrong. It is also contrary to the rule of law.

The American Bar Association supports the rule of law. That means holding governments, including our own, accountable under law. We stand for a legal process that is orderly and fair. We have consistently urged the administrations of both parties to adhere to the rule of law. We stand in that familiar place again today. And we do not stand alone. Our courts stand for the rule of law as well.

Just last week, in rejecting citizenship challenges, the U.S. District Judge John Coughenour said that the rule of law is, according to this administration, something to navigate around or simply ignore. “Nevertheless,” he said, “in this courtroom and under my watch, the rule of law is a bright beacon which I intend to follow.” He is correct. The rule of law is a bright beacon for our country.

In the last 21 days, more than a dozen lawsuits have been filed alleging that the administration’s actions violate the rule of law and are contrary to the Constitution or laws of the United States. The list grows longer every day.

These actions have forced affected parties to seek relief in the courts, which stand as a bulwark against these violations. We support our courts who are treating these cases with the urgency they require. Americans know there is a right way and a wrong way to proceed. What is being done is not the right way to pursue the change that is sought in our system of government.

These actions do not make America stronger. They make us weaker. Many Americans are rightly concerned about how leaders who are elected, confirmed or appointed are proceeding to make changes. The goals of eliminating departments and entire functions do not justify the means when the means are not in accordance with the law. Americans expect better. Even among those who want change, no one wants their neighbor or their family to be treated this way. Yet that is exactly what is happening.

These actions have real-world consequences. Recently hired employees fear they will lose their jobs because of some matter they were assigned to in the Justice Department or some training they attended in their agency. USAID employees assigned to build programs that benefit foreign countries are being doxed, harassed with name-calling and receiving conflicting information about their employment status. These stories should concern all Americans because they are our family members, neighbors and friends. No American can be proud of a government that carries out change in this way. Neither can these actions be rationalized by discussion of past grievances or appeals to efficiency. Everything can be more efficient, but adherence to the rule of law is paramount. We must be cognizant of the harm being done by these methods.

Moreover, refusing to spend money appropriated by Congress under the euphemism of a pause is a violation of the rule of law and suggests that the executive branch can overrule the other two co-equal branches of government. This is contrary to the constitutional framework and not the way our democracy works. The money appropriated by Congress must be spent in accordance with what Congress has said. It cannot be changed or paused because a newly elected administration desires it. Our elected representatives know this. The lawyers of this country know this. It must stop.

There is much that Americans disagree on, but all of us expect our government to follow the rule of law, protect due process and treat individuals in a way that we would treat others in our homes and workplaces. The ABA does not oppose any administration. Instead, we remain steadfast in our support for the rule of law.

We call upon our elected representatives to stand with us and to insist upon adherence to the rule of law and the legal processes and procedures that ensure orderly change. The administration cannot choose which law it will follow or ignore. These are not partisan or political issues. These are rule of law and process issues. We cannot afford to remain silent. We must stand up for the values we hold dear. The ABA will do its part and act to protect the rule of law.

We urge every attorney to join us and insist that our government, a government of the people, follow the law. It is part of the oath we took when we became lawyers. Whatever your political party or your views, change must be made in the right way. Americans expect no less.

– William R. Bay, president of the American Bar Association

Again, if you’re a Nazi Republican, that probably feels like an attack. All good and true things feel like attacks to Nazi Republicans, we reckon.

This is a plea to lawyers to remember that they’re lawyers and act accordingly, unlike the freaks Trump has installed atop the Justice Department and in OMB and everywhere else, many of whom have represented Trump so many times that the concept of legal ethics is probably a foreign language at this point. (Use it or lose it! It applies to high school Spanish and also legal ethics, we guess.) And it’s a plea to elected officials to at least pretend like they weren’t making jerk-off motions behind their backs when they took their oaths.

Note that the full statement, while referring to specific things, doesn’t invoke the dictator by name. That seems intentional.

Bay said last week at a speech in Phoenix that the ABA “will not shrink from the things we believe in.” More:

“We will stand tomorrow for what we stand for today and what we stood for yesterday: the rule of law, the importance of our judicial system, the essential role of lawyers, an inclusive profession,” he said. “These are our north stars. We will hold fast to our core principles in the face of shifting winds.”

Bay closed out his speech to a standing ovation, saying, “I believe this will be our finest hour.”

We certainly hope so. The times we live in require it.

EJ Dionne quotes Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of UC Berkeley Law, who emphasizes that “We are in the midst of a constitutional crisis right now. There have been so many unconstitutional and illegal actions in the first 18 days of the Trump presidency. We never have seen anything like this.” It’s not coming. We’re in the thick of it. The speaker of the House — an avowed Christian extremist insurrectionist — will not say out loud that Trump and Elon Musk should obey court orders. JD Vance and Elon Musk are pretty sure the answer to that is “no,” and that courts should have to physically make them obey orders.

Because guess what? The speaker of the House is one of those domestic enemies people swear to protect America from, and so is the president, and so is the vice president, and so is their unelected South African apartheid terrorist buddy.

Self Care Is Important

(I used to do 10-20 minutes of some yoga each day during W’s admin while the kid was in school. I sort of let it go over time, though I suppose technically I use it when generally stretching, and during some exercises. This is linked on Oliver Willis’s news page, and I thought it could help all of us.)

A Hip Stretch To Help You Stay Sane

By Diana Moskovitz 2:54 PM EST on February 9, 2025

The news is all shit right now. Sure, there are more artful, creative, and writerly, ways to say that, but time is precious and writing something like that would prove nothing more than ownership of a thesaurus.

If you’re like me and millions of others, you are absorbing all this and wondering, “What can I do?” You can subscribe to journalism (which you probably already do! Yay!), donate money, volunteer, show up for your family, friends, and neighbors, and then what? That’s the thing about the battle for a real democracy—it is not won in flashy, Hollywood fight scenes, though those do make for excellent inspirational images for sharing amid said battle for democracy. It’s won in federal workers showing up to do their jobs. It’s won in reporters showing up to do their jobs. It’s won in a lot of us, in our own ways, showing up, doing our jobs, and not being assholes, even to the person who irritates you—and they are so, so annoying—but dammit we’ll deal with that after we make sure there’s still a republic.

Except, after all that showing up, there’s still a lot of time left for the mind to spiral. It can be easy to forget that our brains, for much of human history, did not take in this much news every day. Not even 100 years ago, most people got their news from a newspaper or magazine. They read it and went about their day, unless they listened to a radio broadcast. Then came television, then cable, then 24-hour news, then smartphones, then apps with push notifications, then social media and its endless firehouse of likes and lives. If we do not know how to log off it is because, in part, for most of human history, nobody had to. You could read to the end of the newspaper or reach the end of the newscast; you cannot ever scroll to the end of Instagram or TikTok. The endlessness is the point. We sacrificed true boredom to the gods of engagement.

So here’s my advice: Stretch your hips. Yes, even if you aren’t naturally stretchy, which I am not, and even if you can’t touch your toes, a feat I can barely accomplish myself. Those of you who have followed my work for a while probably will be unsurprised to know that I completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2018. I didn’t become a yoga teacher afterward, but it did deepen my practice and gave me more tools for stress management. Mostly, it taught me that one secret to leading a good yoga class is setting aside time for a hip stretch. Everyone gets so excited for a hip stretch, almost as much as savasana, and everyone feels really good afterward.

For my money, the best hip stretch is deer pose. You won’t run into it in a ton of classes; I find the defaults tend to be pigeon pose or figure four. But figure four doesn’t provide me much relief, and my hips are too inflexible to pull off a proper pigeon pose without bolsters and time to settle in. But deer pose? It requires less flexibility, no props, and provides a nice hip stretch.

In lieu of giving you an entire explanation of how it works, here’s a good video to walk you through the pose because, c’mon, you were just gonna skip to this part anyway. Though, if you want to read more about the pose, you can do that here. Also, remember you gotta do both sides!

To be clear, I’m not saying occasional hip stretches will stop fascism; I’m saying they help you stay level while you’re trying to survive the fascism. Tomorrow you will wake up, grab your phone, and scroll through what will feel like an endless stream of bad news and horrors. But then what? Maybe you go on a walk. Maybe you actually touch grass. Or maybe you take a few minutes to do deer pose. (snip)

Here’s An Important Resource!

Jekyll and Hide-n-Seek

“Tiny Froglets”-I’m All In For Science on Wednesday!

(Photos on the page-click the title right down there)

Scientists hope these tiny froglets can save their species

By SYLVIA HUI Updated 5:13 PM CST, February 3, 2025

LONDON (AP) — It was quite the journey for such tiny froglets: traveling thousands of miles from the forests of southern Chile to London, carried and brooded inside their fathers’ vocal sacs for safety.

London Zoo said Monday that 33 endangered Darwin’s frogs, named after scientist Charles Darwin who discovered the species, were born in their new home as part of a rescue mission to save the species from extinction.

Known populations of Darwin’s frogs have suffered a 90% decline within a year since a deadly disease known as chytrid fungus arrived in 2023 in their habitat, the Parque Tantauco forests in southern Chile. The fungus has affected hundreds of amphibian species around the world.

The creatures have a unique reproductive strategy: after the females lay eggs, the male frogs protect and rear the tiny tadpoles inside their distensible vocal sacs for them to develop in safety.

A team of conservationists traveled to Chile’s forests in October in search of healthy Darwin’s frogs free of the infectious disease. They collected 52 frogs, which were then placed in climate-controlled boxes for a 7,000-mile (11,265 kilometers) ride by boat, car and plane to their new home in London.

Of the group, 11 male frogs — each measuring under 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) — carried 33 tadpoles that were born at the zoo.

“We knew we were embarking on something special — the clock was ticking, and we needed to act quickly if we were going to save these frogs,” said Ben Tapley, curator of amphibians at London Zoo.

He said the successful parent-rearing of the froglets was a “powerful symbol of hope for the species.”

The frogs are now kept in pairs inside dozens of glass tanks filled with moss and with temperatures that mimic their natural habitat. Keepers said the zoo will set up a breeding program for them, and any frogs they breed may later be reintroduced into the wild.

Andres Valenzuela-Sanchez, a researcher at ZSL, the conservation charity behind London Zoo, said the project will ensure the species has a fighting chance of recovery.

“These frogs are not only vital for the future of their species but also help us better understand how we can combat chytrid fungus and safeguard other amphibians globally,” he said.

Trans People Are Real and Detransitioning Isn’t That Common – SOME MORE NEWS

Ok the first few minutes are sort of campy and over the top, it is the guy’s style thing I guess. But then he settles down and delivers the facts and debunks a lot of stuff by showing the actual studies the right wrong claim back them up, but he shows how the studies say the opposite of that the trans haters claimed. Great info on trans people and the made up faked outrage caused by a small group of trans haters who are making big money off of pushing lies about trans kids and trans issues. Hugs

Hi. Right-wing politicians, lawyers, and grifters (and some liberals) want to convince you that trans youth are the victims of a social contagion and that the majority of those who transition will detransition. This is a lie that puts all trans people at risk. Get the world’s news at https://ground.news/SMN to compare coverage and see through biased coverage. Subscribe for 40% off unlimited access through our link.

“Extreme Habitat Specialist”

Florida Scrub-Jay

Neil deGrasse Tyson, The Trans Community, And “Rising To The Occasion”

Wow oh wow! This is a great video and a must watch video if you support trans people. I wouldn’t have expected a man of the Christian faith to come out for trans people but never would have expected them to do this that strongly and seriously. I watched it twice to be sure I heard what I did. After I post this I will watch it again. I am not even sure how to post this in the labels. Hugs and loves. This is why I really like this Christian man. Hugs

This is the comment I left on this post. I wonder if he will reply. Hugs

Hello Rev. I had only commented once before where I asked you if a caring loving atheist such as myself could find a place in your god’s paradise. You welcomed me and told me I did not have to believe in the supernatural but live a decent life helping others as I could, which I had said I did, you replied I was totally accepted by your god. I was honestly surprised by your answer. Since then I have followed your channel and often posted it to my blog. Most of my readers are not religious but all are caring wonderful people of different faiths, sexual orientations, and some are trans. But all have found wisdom in your videos. I thank you for this one. The trans community and trans kids are under heavy attack in the US. I suspect because it undermines the cis straight majority that has long ruled the US, but also driven by religious people who feel this allowing their children to be who they wee born to be, LGBTQ+ is an affront to their god they will be held to account for. Thank you, Hugs. Scottie

Compassionate Wisdom From The Author & Writer of “Fur Babies”

We interrupt this broadcast by Nancy Beiman

Cal Arts stories can wait a while. This is importance. Read on Substack

It’s hard to believe how much the world has changed since 2020.

I started drawing panel cartoons and comic strips in March, 2020 as the COVID 19 pandemic changed daily life. We were in lockdown starting in March. No one thought it would be for long.

There were jokes about toilet paper shortages though I never noticed any. Guess where most of the toilet paper is made?

This was my first cartoon, drawn to cheer up the neighbors on March 18, 2020.

I continued drawing the cartoons until January, 2022. (sometimes with large gaps between depending on what was going on outside, and my level of depression). The first Corona Diary cartoon appeared on April 18, when the ‘four week lockdown’ was supposed to end. It didn’t.

Thee first Corona Diary cartoon. April 18, 2020.

I never intended to draw more than one of these cartoons, just like I never intended to draw a comic strip. As the lockdowns got longer and longer, I kept on drawing them and sending them on social media and emails to a lot of very scared people.

They were intended to cheer people up and let them know what was happening here. The Canadian experience was very different from the American. Toronto became one big community. People wore masks and considered other people’s health along with their own. Prime Minister Trudeau had daily press conferences where he spoke of what was going on and what the health ministers thought could help.

People paid more attention to hygiene. I may never shake anyone’s hands again.

We would stand on the apartment roof and bang pots and ring bells to thank the nurses and first responders who still had to go to work.

and generally stayed out of crowds.

How different from today. Some people think that if it doesn’t immediately affect them, it isn’t happening. Back then: we knew that we were all connected.

There were ‘anti maskers’ before there were ‘vaccine deniers’. I caricatured the worst of them and decided that I didn’t want their ugly faces in my files, or future book. This cartoon is a replacement showing how we improvised masks in 2020, when there were no N95S available for anyone other than essential healthcare workers.

I discovered that ‘non woven material’ could be found in the cheap shopping bags in the market. The bags could be cut up and used as filters in cloth masks. Other people matched their masks to their outfits.

Replacement cartoon for one that I won’t publish and didn’t keep.

Why am I publishing this today? Because we are in danger of another pandemic, the first one is by no means over, and there are people who deny that any vaccine, anywhere, ever worked.

I’m willing to bet that most of us would not be alive today if it weren’t for childhood immunizations. You have only to walk through an old cemetery (pre 1950) to see many small gravestones commemorating children. These become less frequent after 1950 because of polio, measles, and mump immunizations.

I don’t want to live in the mid 19th century, and certainly not in the Dark Ages. (snip)

Totally Off Topic

and worthy of sharing. Enjoy a nice beverage/snack while perusing.

For 17 Years, Swedish Scientists Were Sneaking Bob Dylan Song Titles into Their Research Papers as Part of a Bet

By Lauren Boisvert

January 22, 2025 11:18 am

Since 1997, five Swedish-based scientists were involved in an interesting practice that went on for 17 years, the parameters of which were revealed in 2014. The goal? See who can use as many Bob Dylan songs in their research paper titles before retirement.

John Jundberg and Eddie Weitzburg started the trend. Two professors at Stockholm’s Karolinska Institute, they titled a research paper “Nitric Oxide and inflammation: The answer is blowing in the wind” (Predictably, it was about flatulence). However, in a 2014 story with Swedish outlet The Local, Weitzburg cleared up some things about the wager. (Snip-More; just click the article title)