Thank you for the waxwings. They are such beautiful birds. I used to visit a friend in a nursing home and bring her magazines with pictures (Birds and Blooms, Country, etc.) She was no longer able to read, but could see the pictures, and we always hoped, when we opened Birds and Blooms, that there would be waxwings. So, thanks for the picture, and thanks for bringing to mind a nice memory of an old friend.
Where I live, the bradford pears almost always hit the peak of their fermentation level between Christmas & New Years and we get a giant, raucous conflagration of robins & cedar waxwings to booze it up for the holidays.
“The juniper berries that the birds consume were thought to offer protection, so people ate the fruit and burned branches to fumigate their houses to ward off bad luck.”
This is the reason I drink so many Bombay Sapphire martinis.
I appreciate your background info on the gif today. Even with the cold weather setting, it still reminds me of spring coming - a nice thought on a freezing January day.
As an official old, I remember Donna Rose as the baby being handed around at the Wonkmeet in Oakland, CA and about age 3-4 plaza in Sonoma on the plaza. Hi Rebecca and Shy keep up the good work. The West Coast misses you.
Hi pals: worth it to take a moment & watch Prez Macron (cooool shades) & Gov Newsom (still uncomfortable with some of his policies) absolutely hand Hair Furor his orange arse in Davos. Actually laughed, it's been a while :)
NYT: "Federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia are seeking applicants to become the U.S. attorney there, signaling that President Trump’s handpicked choice, Lindsey Halligan, has run out of time as the top prosecutor."
I'm all in favor of "Impeachment Every Week." Start off with his abuse of the Presidential Pardon. He released 1500 J6ers some of who had been convicted of violence against the police and other of seditious conspiracy. Also drug dealers, fraudsters and crooked politicians. When Republicans refused to convict on that. Impeach on making war on Venezuela, and later on impounding funds, or raising tariffs without approval of Congress, or on the emolument clause, and just keep going. One of these impeachments might stick but if not they will be a drag on Trump's chuc filled Congress
House Republicans passed legislation to repeal the ACA over 60 times knowing it would go nowhere in the Democratic Senate. Did their supporters see them as engaging in performative actions that didn't address the real issues of the day?
No. They saw fighters. Fighting for them and coming back swinging every time they got knocked down.
We want to see fighters fighting even if they don't win every battle.
Remember when Dick Cheney would plant stories in the NYT and then go on the Sunday Bobblehead shows to cite those same stories as proof that Saddam had WMDs?
I’m not sure what made me think of that this morning.
Anyway, Bari Weiss sucks and the internal bleeding story is obvious bullshit.
Just called my congresscritter again. DC office this time, where I spoke with an actual human. That felt good. I encourage everyone to do it. The only power we have is to speak up.
His race is now a “toss up” on 270towin.com. Call him anyway. Maybe he won’t do the right thing, but at least he’ll get a clearer understanding that people are watching. And, Goddess willing, he could still end up in prison if we oust this regime.
President Fuckhead is once again demonstrating his diplomatic skills:
"...In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president wrote: "Shockingly, our 'brilliant' NATO Ally, the United Kingdom is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base to Mauritius, and to do so for NO REASON WHATSOEVER". He added this was an "act of GREAT STUPIDITY"..." [ sourced from BBC reports ]
Of course, last year, before his cognition fell down the rabbit hole, Trump supported the deal UK made with Mauritius over the island archipelago's sovereignty - which actually signed in May 2025, AFTER the Trump administration okayed the deal.
As it is, the "deal" allows British control of the base under a 99-year lease ( with a 40 year extension possible ). The Brits have allowed the US to site their base on the primary island, Diego Garcia, which was established in 1966, and built out over the '70s, after they forcibly removed the residents of the archipelago, Chagossians, most to Mauritius and Maldives. Ther islands were considered part of Mauritius up until the Treaty of Paris in 1814 - and they have been trying to get the islands back since.
So, there IS a "reason whatsoever", and Trump not only displayed his diplomatic skills, but further called into question his cognitive abilities.
I get an email daily that's called, appropriately enough, "Word of the Day." Today's word was "capricious". I wonder if a certain U.S. President inspired that choice.
Capricious is a good word - so are fickle, inconstant, changeable, variable, mercurial, and ( my personal favorite ) unstable. The Stable Genius is anything but and should be on heavy medication in a psychological treatment facility.
Your hed gif info: https://martiniambassador.substack.com/p/bohemian-waxwings-basking-in-berries
And meme chat: https://open.substack.com/chat/posts/b9a714d9-bec8-4e79-b273-39a62692ed57?utm_source=share
Waxwings are such handsome birds.
Thank you for the waxwings. They are such beautiful birds. I used to visit a friend in a nursing home and bring her magazines with pictures (Birds and Blooms, Country, etc.) She was no longer able to read, but could see the pictures, and we always hoped, when we opened Birds and Blooms, that there would be waxwings. So, thanks for the picture, and thanks for bringing to mind a nice memory of an old friend.
I slept late and find it taxing
To try and find the spirit
To find a rhyme for waxwing
But I'll know it when I hear it.
Oh ...
Troops swarming in like waxwings,
The Emperor heard the news
Manchus had told him, “Pax, Ming!”
But it was all a ruse.
Hee hee! I absolutely adore your morning poetry, my sweet friend.
Vaccine, faxing, Brazilian waxing—
All would have potential.
But axing, there’s a rhyme
Deliciously demential.
I ❤️ cedar waxwings. My Pawnee stepfather called them "the boys" and said they could get tipsy eating too many berries of the wrong kind!
Where I live, the bradford pears almost always hit the peak of their fermentation level between Christmas & New Years and we get a giant, raucous conflagration of robins & cedar waxwings to booze it up for the holidays.
:D
“The juniper berries that the birds consume were thought to offer protection, so people ate the fruit and burned branches to fumigate their houses to ward off bad luck.”
This is the reason I drink so many Bombay Sapphire martinis.
So you burn the boxes?
Karate Kid:
Waxwing ON!
Waxwing OFF!
🙇
Waxwings! They pass through here in the spring, but they don't stay long.
"I see some little birdies eating in a bush,
Scaramouche, Scaramouche..."
Will they do the fandango?
Only when no one's looking.
In summer we see these birds catching insects over the river, and January they come up to our yard feast on the crabapples. Omnivorous little birdies.
So, they don't fly too close to the sun, I presume.
Beautiful little dinosaurs.
Not terribly scary.
Now THIS is a DINOSAUR!
https://64.media.tumblr.com/f60c30515613cd497ffb866e957592f2/8ecc998f58b5e7ea-75/s540x810/9f13d744e11fb1b58229a75d12c63afb6a11f790.gif
I just read Frank's comment, so
I see a big cassowary in a brook, Scaramouche, Scaramouche!
THAT is scary!
YOU brought the birds!
They fly through here in a gang in the fall, eating all the rowanberries. But not every year.
Good lookin' boids...
There was a flock of Cedar Waxwings that would come to my Dad’s yard in the winter. Very gregarious herd a birds; pretty, too.
(These are Bohemian Waxwings)
I know.
Any way the wind blows
Sorry, I’m a birder and some would probably say a pedant.
Does it really matter?
I appreciate your background info on the gif today. Even with the cold weather setting, it still reminds me of spring coming - a nice thought on a freezing January day.
As an official old, I remember Donna Rose as the baby being handed around at the Wonkmeet in Oakland, CA and about age 3-4 plaza in Sonoma on the plaza. Hi Rebecca and Shy keep up the good work. The West Coast misses you.
Bobsboats
This type of political shenaniganing would be a good reason for someone to leave MT and move to Detroit. https://montanafreepress.org/2026/01/20/montana-secretary-of-state-political-mailers-cost-197000/
And the hits just keep on coming! Florida of course must get in on the act. Is there a prediction market on if this guy gets another pardon? https://www.courthousenews.com/trump-ally-faces-fraud-suit/ https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Papadopoulos-miami-fraud-suit.pdf
Hi pals: worth it to take a moment & watch Prez Macron (cooool shades) & Gov Newsom (still uncomfortable with some of his policies) absolutely hand Hair Furor his orange arse in Davos. Actually laughed, it's been a while :)
mark carney FTW
Stupid Hitler's Propaganda Barbie Spewing Lies and Gotcha Questions for the Fourth Reich
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMueEKhc8NE
Trump Mouthpiece FREAKS OUT Over Reporter's Question
The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder
more like Piece Board, as in piece of the action
So Dumbass F K, Jr. has redrawn the food pyramid and they are now telling us we need MORE MEAT.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/20/rfk-jr-trump-meat-diet-guidelines-land
Dead bear cub & dead whale, amirite?
NYT: "Federal judges in the Eastern District of Virginia are seeking applicants to become the U.S. attorney there, signaling that President Trump’s handpicked choice, Lindsey Halligan, has run out of time as the top prosecutor."
"No, no link, I’m sorry :(" (narrator voice-over: she is not, in any way, sorry.)
Here is a gift link to that NYT article with the video (had it in an older Bluesky post):
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/video/ice-shooting-renee-good-minneapolis-videos.html?unlocked_article_code=1.E1A.iMYS.Wj4daDYBJ233&smid=url-share
I'm all in favor of "Impeachment Every Week." Start off with his abuse of the Presidential Pardon. He released 1500 J6ers some of who had been convicted of violence against the police and other of seditious conspiracy. Also drug dealers, fraudsters and crooked politicians. When Republicans refused to convict on that. Impeach on making war on Venezuela, and later on impounding funds, or raising tariffs without approval of Congress, or on the emolument clause, and just keep going. One of these impeachments might stick but if not they will be a drag on Trump's chuc filled Congress
House Republicans passed legislation to repeal the ACA over 60 times knowing it would go nowhere in the Democratic Senate. Did their supporters see them as engaging in performative actions that didn't address the real issues of the day?
No. They saw fighters. Fighting for them and coming back swinging every time they got knocked down.
We want to see fighters fighting even if they don't win every battle.
Remember when Dick Cheney would plant stories in the NYT and then go on the Sunday Bobblehead shows to cite those same stories as proof that Saddam had WMDs?
I’m not sure what made me think of that this morning.
Anyway, Bari Weiss sucks and the internal bleeding story is obvious bullshit.
Just called my congresscritter again. DC office this time, where I spoke with an actual human. That felt good. I encourage everyone to do it. The only power we have is to speak up.
I call my Republican Senators and go immediately to voicemail.
I called my Democratic rep and got an actual person, and I didn't know what to do. I was all geared up for voicemail.
I would, but my congress critter is Scott “Fuckface” Perry who should be in prison, not representing me in Congress.
His race is now a “toss up” on 270towin.com. Call him anyway. Maybe he won’t do the right thing, but at least he’ll get a clearer understanding that people are watching. And, Goddess willing, he could still end up in prison if we oust this regime.
He is a piece of shit. We came close to ousting him in the last two elections until the results from fucking York County started coming in.
One of my Senators just endorsed invading Greenland. So, I feel ya.
Just reading the headlines hurt my head and heart this morning. Jebus.
President Fuckhead is once again demonstrating his diplomatic skills:
"...In a post on his Truth Social platform, the US president wrote: "Shockingly, our 'brilliant' NATO Ally, the United Kingdom is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base to Mauritius, and to do so for NO REASON WHATSOEVER". He added this was an "act of GREAT STUPIDITY"..." [ sourced from BBC reports ]
Of course, last year, before his cognition fell down the rabbit hole, Trump supported the deal UK made with Mauritius over the island archipelago's sovereignty - which actually signed in May 2025, AFTER the Trump administration okayed the deal.
As it is, the "deal" allows British control of the base under a 99-year lease ( with a 40 year extension possible ). The Brits have allowed the US to site their base on the primary island, Diego Garcia, which was established in 1966, and built out over the '70s, after they forcibly removed the residents of the archipelago, Chagossians, most to Mauritius and Maldives. Ther islands were considered part of Mauritius up until the Treaty of Paris in 1814 - and they have been trying to get the islands back since.
So, there IS a "reason whatsoever", and Trump not only displayed his diplomatic skills, but further called into question his cognitive abilities.
I wish foreign leaders would just call him out as a fucking moron.
President Macron & Governor Newsom just did, in Davos! And called him worse :)
I get an email daily that's called, appropriately enough, "Word of the Day." Today's word was "capricious". I wonder if a certain U.S. President inspired that choice.
"resident" FTFY :))
Capricious is a good word - so are fickle, inconstant, changeable, variable, mercurial, and ( my personal favorite ) unstable. The Stable Genius is anything but and should be on heavy medication in a psychological treatment facility.