Category: General Interest

Submitted By: nehalembayexperience@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

Hi bbq-land. My name is Drew and I am a local video tech/creator. Turn those old 8mm, VHS and DVD’s into digital files you can share with family and friends and save for generations to come.
It’s quick, easy, affordable and local.
The cost is $15 up to an hour and $5 each hour over and turn around is a few days. Your new digital mp4 files can be copied to your Flash drive/external hard drive or I can provide one at an additional cost.
PLease email me with any questions and let’s start saving and sharing those precious moments. Cheers, Drew.

Submitted By: Coastbbqfree@protonmail.com – Click to email about this post

Introducing United Paws’ newest stars, Baby Shark (Sharky) and Frank. These boys have skills!

Frank is a chocolate point snowshoe Siamese who is named after Ol’ Blue Eyes himself. He was abandoned but luckily found his way to a friendly house about six months ago. He was very guarded from having to survive outside, but with loving, consistent care Frank became more comfortable and trusting. He enjoyed the companionship of the home’s visiting chickens, even cuddling up with one of them in his bed, and
keeping her eggs warm when she went off to feed! Around Christmas it was time for Frank to move indoors, so he now has his own private room complete with all the requisite comforts befitting a star like Frank. Frank loves attention, adores being pet, and responds by rubbing his head against you and rolling around in bliss. Frank is fine around a Shepard mix, so he may adjust to a dog pal.

Sharky wakes up with a smile and is always in a happy mood. He enjoys other cats, playing with feather toys, a kick sock, and lounging in a sunny spot of the house. Sharky comes running when called, travels well, plays fetch, and is even an accomplished bug hunter! Sharky isn’t a lap cat but doesn’t mind being held as long as there’s petting involved, and is an affectionate boy that will gladly snuggle up to your neck or your feet at bedtime.

You can learn more about these boys, as well as other cats and kittens available for adoption, at unitedpaws.wordress.com, where you can also complete an application. If you would like to schedule a “Meet & Greet”, please email unitedpawsapps@gmail.com or call United Paws at 503-842-5663.

Submitted By: genedieken@yahoo.com – Click to email about this post

Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the DOGE
[DeepFake]

Perhaps back in 1961 Stanley Kubrick was more of a prophet than we realized. 😉

Here’s the video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/0qKSo1mavMQ

You can can also check out the DeepFake of General Jack Ripper: https://youtube.com/shorts/5pVsoL4VhVI

Gene Dieken

Submitted By: Bryan.miller@outlook.com – Click to email about this post

Is there a dancing gorilla amongst the choas monkey business of the new administration?

A Blitzkrieg, a slight of hand, or a fork-in-the-road letter to America? Or maybe a love letter?

Gaza beach resorts, Greenlandia, Panamanium, $Trump, Tariff threats, DOGE Bros, Stargate AI, Quantanamo roundups, Kennedy Center Chairman, Gulf of Florida, anti-DEI, military transport flights, purging DOJ and Federal law enforcement, ongoing Big Tech RIFs, Project 2025 staffers… I hope it’s not a preamble to yet even more.

How much of this is performative TV wrestling kayfabe chaos-monkey business? Maybe 75% smoke-and-mirrors distraction and 25% destructive chaos? Blitzkrieg or slight of hand?

Don’t get too distracted by the monkey business as the dancing gorilla parades in plain sight. I perceive a clever trickster. There is a fork in the road. No matter what color your circus car you drive, we are all in for a ride for sure. Praying for wisdom, for our country, for the world and for our president and those advising him.

You know, we’ve all complained about Washington and the bureaucratic inertia. Let’s hope he doesn’t inadvertently burn it all down in the process.

Submitted By: babbles@nehalemtel.net – Click to email about this post

posted by lucy brook
nehalem resident
u.s. citizen

this article was published in The Guardian, a British daily newspaper founded in 1821. The Guardian prides itself on its in-depth, investigative journalism with a strong focus on social justice issues, holding power to account, and providing a diverse range of perspectives on current affairs; essentially, being a reliable source for high-quality, impactful reporting that challenges the status quo and champions important causes.

Tue 21 Jan 2025
I set out to study which jobs should be done by AI – and found a very human answer.
Allison Pugh

Allison Pugh is a professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University, and the author of The Last Human Job: The Work of Connecting in a Disconnected World. All names have been changed.

Much of the power of work like counseling lies in a relationship where we really see each other. And tech just can’t do that

When I interviewed a nurse practitioner in California about what she cherished most about nursing, it was the “human element” of being present with others. “I think we all just want acknowledgment of our suffering, even if you can’t cure it or do anything about it,” she told me.

She still remembered when a homeless man came into her clinic, his back hunched, feet gnarled and callused from being on the streets for years, and she “just sat and did wound care for his feet”. The moment stood out for her, in part because the opportunity to take that kind of time is getting rarer in clinics and hospitals as drives for efficiency impose time constraints.

Washing his feet captured what nursing was about for her: the humility, the service, the witnessing. “Just to give him that moment of ‘I’m seeing you, I’m acknowledging you, this is me caring for you’,” she said. “It was powerful for both of us.”

What is the value of being seen by another human being, outside of your friends and family? What happens when people connect with one another in the everyday encounters of civic life or commerce, and why is that important? Amid the rapid spread of efficiency campaigns, ceaseless data-collecting and AI in connecting jobs such as therapy or teaching, these questions have never been more urgent.

The benefits of human interactions have long eluded measurement, making them easy to ignore, while the skills of connecting to others have long been presumed to be innately feminine, making them easy to devalue. As a social scientist, I spent five years researching these connections to see how and why they are important, and how people forge them in different settings. All sorts of occupations – from teaching, therapy and primary care, to sales, management and the law – rely on seeing others to help students learn, patients heal, or consumers buy.
Sorry, Labour, but ChatGPT teachers are a lesson in how not to transform our schools.

In fact, the doctor-patient relationship has been shown to have a stronger effect on healthcare outcomes than taking a daily aspirin to ward off heart attacks, while the therapist’s connection to clients has a greater impact than the particular therapeutic tradition they adhere to. Reflective, witnessing work is so important that it deserves its own name: after five years of interviewing and observing scores of practitioners and their clients at work, I’ve come to call it “connective labour”.

Connective labour may enable the contemporary service economy, but it serves as more than some sort of engine grease for the outcomes we value, such as understanding algebra, managing diabetes or learning how to control anxiety. Instead, seeing and being seen has its own powerful effects, for individuals and for their communities. University of Sussex researchers, for instance, demonstrated that people who paused to interact with their baristas experienced more gains to wellbeing than those who breezed right by. It is critical that we drill down into these effects: as people race to replace connective labour with its mechanised forms, we need to understand what we all risk losing.

First, when people see one another, it helps to create dignity, by conveying simply that they are worthy of being seen by another person. I spoke to a woman named Mariah who ran a programme that taught entrepreneurial skills to ex-prisoners in California by having them meet mentors in small groups. She said that it took a while for the men to become comfortable with the attention. “Like, [they ask] ‘You mean, you just want to know about what I think? Like we’re just going to be talking about what I want to do?’” The programme helped to transform the men through the power of human attention.

The power of human attention to inspire others may be a truism, but it is perhaps less well-known that these effects go both ways. “It’s a trusting relationship,” Jenna, a primary care physician, told me. “That trust imbues the relationship with almost a power, a sanctity – there’s just something about it. I feel really honoured and lucky that I get to do that. It gives me just as much as I give to people.”

Finally, people help others better understand themselves. “I think each kid needs to be seen, like, really seen,” Bert, a school principal, said. “I don’t think a kid really gets it on a deep level; I don’t think they are really bitten by the information or the content until they feel seen by the person they’re learning from.”

These kind of results – dignity, purpose, understanding – are profound for the individuals involved. But being seen can also have broader impact. A recent study of formerly incarcerated people in Chicago found that interpersonal recognition from local community leaders helped them feel that they fitted in; one ex-inmate said she knew now that she had “something valuable to say”. Who is seen and who is not has political ramifications, as the sense of being overlooked may drive populist rage, while being recognised promotes the feelings of belonging that knit communities together.

Of course, human beings also mis-recognise each other, as judgment and bias can poison these interactions, drawing out shame in moments of considerable vulnerability. But as therapists told me, if people seek only to avoid shame – say by opting for an AI companion or counsellor – then they might never be free of it. Although shame is piercing in human interactions, it is something to walk through together, rather than run from. Part of the very power of human interaction comes from the risks involved when we reveal ourselves to each other.

Connective labour has profound consequences for individuals and for our society, and yet it is under siege by data analytics, which is drowning practitioners in its requirements to collect and measure, and under threat from AI, which is increasingly behind automated therapy, teaching and other novelties. For some, AI might be better than nothing, while others view AI as better than humans – yet both opt for technology to solve problems largely created by inadequate staffing and unremitting drives for efficiency, and both reflect the fact that what humans actually do for each other is not well understood.

Instead, we need to preserve and protect these personal interactions. We need to bolster the working conditions of connective labour practitioners so they are able to see others well. We need to impose a “connection criterion” to help us decide which AI to encourage – the kind that creates new antibiotics, for instance, or decodes sperm whale language – and which to put the brakes on, that is, the kind that intervenes in human relationships. Each of us needs to decide how much we value the human connections in our lives and the lives of our neighbours.

Submitted By: dixiegainer@icloud.com – Click to email about this post

**USAID! There is a loud fraction of a political group losing its mind over an audit that should have been done on a regular basis, to find out where taxpayer money was spent, either wisely, foolishly, or if some of it was just embezzled out of the system.

Why all the noise? Have you never heard of an audit? These are our tax dollars, like household budgets – one has to determine, especially in an economic crunch, where this money is going.

AND SO IT SHALL BE DONE!
I would request that any of these noise makers write and/or declare why THERE SHOULD BE NO AUDIT. Because I believe an audit is way over due!

Here is just one item: 30 million dollars given to the George Soros Fund – a George Soros Fund! George Soros is a billionaire who gave millions to fund the political campaigns of those running for district attorney positions, if they would agree to NOT prosecute criminals, thereby keeping them in the public streets to continue chaos and crime in their respective states, like Oregon! 600 million dollars every two months to fly in illegals? Biden was accused of doing that to hide the visuals of so many crossing the border.

The left-wing media is against this audit – (WHY?* – some of them are receiving money from USAID too!) so they are distorting the message of the media – they are telling you about people starving, medical needs of clinics in war torn countries, etc Let me say that if the money is going to good charity, or other entity, they will resume getting their funds, or there will be a discussion in our congress to decide if they should still receive funds. We need a proper accounting of our tax payer dollars. Wait until you hear where social security money has been going !!!!!- I don’t believe that this audit will have that info. But there is another audit for that!

At the finish of the audit you will see it all, I am sure. So we as a country will be better off for it. Just have patience!

**The USAID hidden information (no audit) has been funding our deep state,(swamp) which is the name given to the corruption in our federal government.!
President Donald Trump is the tip of the spear that is DRAINING THE SWAMP! Like he promised – remember!!!

*Including many popular US journals and newspapers, so now taxpayer dollars that have been allocated toward essentially subsidizing subscriptions to these journals and newspapers will no longer be happening.”

Submitted By: NDJane@comcast.net – Click to email about this post

Has anyone else noticed a Winter Star Triangle in the western sky after the moon sets? I’ve noticed it, or whatever it is, twice now around 4-5am. I couldn’t capture the image by camera but it’s three very bright stars forming a triangle, flat at the top, pointed at the bottom. I’ve reviewed articles on Google but just wondering if anyone else has seen it.

Submitted By: dwieb1@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

This morning’s local news reported efforts underway to take advantage of our state by privileged tech companies who are consumed by their addiction to greed.

OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle (yes, the same company that screwed our state with the failed “Cover Oregon” website) want to use us in their pursuit of ever more profits. And they don’t care a whit about us or the State of Oregon. They want cheap power to run AI data centers that will violate our privacy and drive up our electrical bills.

Think AI is good for us? Not the way tech companies are scrambling to use it, and that would create the majority of demand for AI. Here’s a good article on ways that AI can actually help society:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/21/ai-jobs-human-work-relationship-tech

Don’t let greedy tech companies use and abuse our state.
-Dave

Submitted By: Jettkeyser@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

Nelson Mandela’s inspiration for all:

We know that he sustained his life
by regularly reading this poem and that
it got him through almost 3 decades
of abuse in prison in South Africa.

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance.
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

by William Ernest Henley

I ask myself how this kind of anchor
can serve our community now?

Submitted By: runnawaytrain1@gmx.com – Click to email about this post

What is USAID? 10% is humanitarian aid, the rest is THE key funding mechanism for American imperialism, war, and genocide (Palestine/Ukraine):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_min2MyyV7E

and, feel the Bern!

rumble.com/v6f0akp-bernie-challenges-rfk-jr.-on-selling-onesies.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp

and, feel the anti-war burn!

rumble.com/v6fqkls-tulsi-brutally-exposes-intel-community-in-confirmation-hearing.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp

and a song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwSRqaZGsPw

Andy, Wheeler
🙂

Submitted By: lfelley@nehalemtel.net – Click to email about this post

Speak out about your concerns with politics. Because people are speaking out issues are being investigated and brought to court. We can call and email those with the power to work towards change. We can thank them for their hard work. We can tell them how we feel about what is going on. Join organizations that share your beliefs, there is power in numbers.
Lydia Felley

Submitted By: hopecstanton@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

People aren’t easy talking about politics. We all have different points of view and a right to them but there are things happening that are wrong and I finally felalt a need to express my fears. If you voted for Trump you might want to rethink that decision the next time you have a choice. The administration has given a green light for the Office of Management and Budget to use essentially blackmail to force individuals to resign. They have issued a probably illegal offer to resign with pay (maybe) until Sept or else risk getting laidoff. If that is not blackmail I don’t know what is. The speed and ease at which it was presented has caused huge anxiety and fear among thousands of folks, many of whom do jobs that benefit all of us. The order was written by Elon Musk and is essentially what he did at Twitter (X). Elon was never elected and the organization that he is in charge of is not a government agency and he is not a government employee. I find it terrify. Several courageous judges are doing what are legislatures does not seem to be able to do and putting temporary holds on some of these executive decisions. I go to sleep at night hoping that both political parties will show some common sense and stand up to these very UNAmerican tactics.
Hope Stanton

Submitted By: info@evcnb.org – Click to email about this post

evcnb.org/news-updates/top-chef-2025 Click the link above to read about our second annual top chef emergency food cooking contest. Winner details and contestants’ recipes are included.
Another fun and sold out event we plan to do again next year.
For other events and training opportunities, click the link below: evcnb.org/events-and-training

Submitted By: nehalembayexperience@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

Hi bbq-land. Great things are happening with our ability to understand local news and help shape our future. It’s time to celebrate our Little Edge of the Earth in a new way. The PIONEER crew is proud to present Edition 03, ’25.
LINK= https://youtu.be/aOA8E_IHp2E

Submitted By: jettkeyser@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

Let us remember.
May we remember…

                          Amicus Brief 

           What they call you is one thing. 
                                      
         What you answer to is something else.
                                           
                Lucille Clifton, 1936 – 2010

The light of day was gone. 

It was to honor a birthday

that we were at the Lighthouse,

a local tavern and gathering place.

An unknown to me, you were sitting 

by yourself at the bar, a stranger. 

When I came up to the bar,

what you saw and apparently imagined, 

was not what was actually there.

For your own reasons you were

wanting to hurt, get down, forget.

Not for you and you alone did I

refuse to kiss your angry, drunken 

axe, dismiss or ignore all the times 

you were wronged, not heard, 

demeaned, all the times you were 

frightened, contracted, confused.

Full of party intentions, I was wearing 

my favorite old coat, unraveling a bit, 

threadbare, and apparently from somewhere

in Bolivia. When you asked if I was homeless

it was clear you believed I had no right

or reason to be at the bar, the gathering,

or occupy space at all. It was all so sad

and familiar. A response was needed but

not available. When I answered the fist 

of your question, “Are you homeless,” 

I could not sanction nor join another 

confused distraction, nor support 

the ignorance that brought this violence 

to you that you were now bringing to me. 

My answer, “Not at this time.” could never

quiet what was burning in you and the uncertain 

tightening of this difficult meeting continued

in ways I have now completely forgotten. 

Finally a person I never saw, claiming to know

each of us, said something that allowed you

to let go, begin to settle down. I was grateful 

that at least on this night, self-loathing 

quieted, no blood would be lost.

Submitted By: cindy.obtd@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

Hello artists, sewists, and crafters! We will be meeting again this week at the White Clover Grange from 1:00 – 4:00 P.M. Let’s make something beautiful together! Dori Bash will be there teaching her Quilting for Beginners series. For a list of tools and materials needed, just reach out and I will send them to you. Otherwise, just bring whatever you are working on, have some fun, and maybe even make a new friend!

See you there!

Submitted By: mkuestner10@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

Tillamook County Housing Commission Meeting
Thursday, February 6th, 2025
9:00am-11:00am
In-Person and Virtual
Agenda
Topic Presenter Time
Welcome & Introductions Kari Fleisher 10 minutes
Mission Minute Mark Kuestner 5 minutes
Public Comment Kari Fleisher 5 minutes
Housing Coordinator Report Parker Sammons 20 minutes
Middle Housing Update Sarah Absher 20 minutes
Seven Corners Update Gale Ousele 15 minutes
Finance Committee Update Dave Benneth 15 minutes
Legislative Committee Update Kari Fleisher 15 minutes
Outreach Committee Update Michelle Jeck 15 minutes
Development Committee Update Parker Sammons 15 minutes
Public Comment 5 minutes
120 minutes

Virtual Link for Public Meetings
Microsoft Teams is utilized for Housing Commission Meetings. To access this link,
please visit: www.co.tillamook.or.us/bc-hc
Call in: 1-971-254-3149, Conference ID: 887 242 77#
Meeting Location:
Port of Tillamook Bay Conference Center, 4000 Blimp Boulevard, Tillamook, OR 97141

Submitted By: dixiedarrow@icloud.com – Click to email about this post

Many persons, including myself are very interested in knowing the cause of the helicopter/airline crash over Washington. Army helicopter accidents have been steadily increasing since 2014 new statistics show. These numbers are provided by The Aviation Division of the Directorate of Analysis and Prevention at the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center. For more info provided by this article – Google: The Intercept – Washington plane Crash Army helicopter accident.

Also: Just as multiple air travel related tragedies have taken place, it’s been reported that the FAA is fighting a class action lawsuit alleging it denied
1,000 people air traffic controller jobs based on diversity hiring targets, according to the New York Post. The lawsuit, originally filed in 2015, resurfaced following this fatal midair collision in Washington, DC, that claimed 67 lives—the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in nearly 25 years. Hours after this tragic plane crash, a small private plane crashed in Northeast Philadelphia, putting emphasis on the role of air traffic control.

At the time of the blackhawk helicopter incident, staffing levels were reportedly “not normal.” Andrew Brigida, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, criticized the FAA’s focus on diversity and inclusion, suggesting it contributed to the likelihood of such an accident.

The New York Post report says that the lawsuit claims the FAA, under the Obama administration, replaced a skill-based hiring system with a “biographical assessment” to increase minority hires.

Submitted By: babbles@nehalemtel.net – Click to email about this post

This is absolutely appalling.

Now aren’t you sorry if you are one who voted for trump.

He has been in office TWO WEEKS, and has not just created mayhem and confusion, but is dismantling our democracy.

Pay special attention to Justin Trudeau’s words.

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON
FEB 3

Billionaire Elon Musk’s team yesterday took control of the Treasury’s payment system, thus essentially gaining access to the checkbook with which the United States handles about $6 trillion annually and to all the financial information of Americans and American businesses with it. Apparently, it did not stop there.

Today Ellen Knickmeyer of the Associated Press reported that yesterday two top security officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) tried to stop people associated with Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing classified information they did not have security clearance to see. The Trump administration put the officials on leave, and the DOGE team gained access to the information.

Vittoria Elliott of Wired has identified those associated with Musk’s takeover as six “engineers who are barely out of—and in at least one case, purportedly still in—college.” They are connected either to Musk or to his long-time associate Peter Thiel, who backed J.D. Vance’s Senate run eighteen months before he became Trump’s vice presidential running mate. Their names are Akash Bobba, Edward Coristine, Luke Farritor, Gautier Cole Killian, Gavin Kliger, and Ethan Shaotran, and they have little to no experience in government.

Public policy expert Dan Moynihan told reporter Elliott that the fact these people “are not really public officials” makes it hard for Congress to intervene. “So this feels like a hostile takeover of the machinery of governments by the richest man in the world,” he said. Law professor Nick Bednar noted that “it is very unlikely” that the engineers “have the expertise to understand either the law or the administration needs that surround these agencies.”

After Musk’s team breached the USAID computers, cybersecurity specialist Matthew Garrett posted: “Random computers being plugged into federal networks is obviously terrifying in terms of what data they’re deliberately accessing, but it’s also terrifying because it implies controls are being disabled—unmanaged systems should never have access to this data. Who else has access to those systems?”

USAID receives foreign policy guidance from the State Department. Intelligence agencies must now assume U.S. intelligence systems are insecure.

Musk’s response was to post: “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.” Also last night, according to Sam Stein of The Bulwark, “the majority of staff in the legislative and public affairs bureau lost access to their emails, implying they’ve been put on admin leave although this was never communicated to them.”

Congress established USAID in 1961 to bring together the many different programs that were administering foreign aid. Focusing on long-term socioeconomic development, USAID has a budget of more than $50 billion, less than 1% of the U.S. annual budget. It is one of the largest aid agencies in the world.

Musk is unelected, and it appears that DOGE has no legal authority. As political scientist Seth Masket put it in tusk: “Elon Musk is not a federal employee, nor has he been appointed by the President nor approved by the Senate to have any leadership role in government. The ‘Department of Government Efficiency,’ announced by Trump in a January 20th executive order, is not truly any sort of government department or agency, and even the executive order uses quotes in the title. It’s perfectly fine to have a marketing gimmick like this, but DOGE does not have power over established government agencies, and Musk has no role in government. It does not matter that he is an ally of the President. Musk is a private citizen taking control of established government offices. That is not efficiency; that is a coup.”

DOGE has simply taken over government systems. Musk, using President Donald Trump’s name, is personally deciding what he thinks should be cut from the U.S. government.

Today, Musk reposted a social media post from MAGA religious extremist General Mike Flynn, who resigned from his position as Trump’s national security advisor in 2017 after pleading guilty to secret conversations with a Russian agent—for which Trump pardoned him—and who publicly embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory. In today’s post, Flynn complained about “the ‘Lutheran’ faith” and, referring to federal grants provided to Lutheran Family Services and affiliated organizations, said, “this use of ‘religion’ as a money laundering operation must end.” Musk added: “The [DOGE] team is rapidly shutting down these illegal payments.”

In fact, this is money appropriated by Congress, and its payment is required by law. Republican lawmakers have pushed government subsidies and grants toward religious organizations for years, and Lutheran Social Services is one of the largest employers in South Dakota, where it operates senior living facilities.

South Dakota is the home of Senate majority leader John Thune, who has not been a strong Trump supporter, as well as Homeland Security secretary nominee Kristi Noem.

The news that DOGE has taken over U.S. government computers is not the only bombshell this weekend.

Another is that Trump has declared a trade war with the top trading partners of the United States: Mexico, Canada, and China. Although his first administration negotiated the current trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, on Saturday Trump broke the terms of that treaty.

He slapped tariffs of 25% on goods coming from Mexico and Canada, tariffs of 10% on Canadian energy, and tariffs of 10% on goods coming from China. He said he was doing so to force Mexico and Canada to do more about undocumented migration and drug trafficking, but while precursor chemicals to make fentanyl come from China and undocumented migrants come over the southern border with Mexico, Canada accounts for only about 1% of both. Further, Trump has diverted Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents combating drug trafficking to his immigration sweeps.

As soon as he took office, Trump designated Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and on Friday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth responded that “all options will be on the table” when a Fox News Channel host asked if the military will strike within Mexico. Today Trump was clearer: he posted on social media that without U.S. trade—which Trump somehow thinks is a “massive subsidy”—“Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true! Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State. Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada—AND NO TARIFFS!”

Trump inherited the best economy in the world from his predecessor, President Joe Biden, but on Friday, as soon as White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump would levy the tariffs, the stock market plunged. Trump, who during his campaign insisted that tariffs would boost the economy, today said that Americans could feel “SOME PAIN” from them. He added “BUT WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, AND IT WILL ALL BE WORTH THE PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID.” Tonight, stock market futures dropped 450 points before trading opens tomorrow.

Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum wrote, “We categorically reject the White House’s slander that the Mexican government has alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of meddling in our territory,” and has promised retaliatory tariffs. China noted that it has been working with the U.S. to regulate precursor chemicals since 2019 and said it would sue the U.S. before the World Trade Organization.

Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau announced more than $100 billion in retaliatory 25% tariffs and then spoke directly to Americans. Echoing what economists have said all along, Trudeau warned that tariffs would cost jobs, raise prices, and limit the precious metals necessary for U.S. security. But then he turned from economics to principles.

“As President John F. Kennedy said many years ago,” Trudeau began, “geography has made us neighbours. History has made us friends, economics has made us partners and necessity has made us allies.” He noted that “from the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of the Korean Peninsula, from the fields of Flanders to the streets of Kandahar,” Canadians “have “fought and died alongside you.”

“During the summer of 2005, when Hurricane Katrina ravaged your great city of New Orleans, or mere weeks ago when we sent water bombers to tackle the wildfires in California. During the day, the world stood still—Sept. 11, 2001—when we provided refuge to stranded passengers and planes, we were always there, standing with you, grieving with you, the American people.

“Together, we’ve built the most successful economic, military and security partnership the world has ever seen. A relationship that has been the envy of the world…. Unfortunately, the actions taken today by the White House split us apart instead of bringing us together.”

Trudeau said Canada’s response would “be far reaching and include everyday items such as American beer, wine and bourbon, fruits and fruit juices, including orange juice, along with vegetables, perfume, clothing and shoes. It’ll include major consumer products like household appliances, furniture and sports equipment, and materials like lumber and plastics, along with much, much more. He assured Canadians: “[W]e are all in this together. The Canadian government, Canadian businesses, Canadian organized labour, Canadian civil society, Canada’s premiers, and tens of millions of Canadians from coast to coast to coast are aligned and united. This is Team Canada at its best.”

Canadian provincial leaders said they were removing alcohol from Republican-dominated states, and Canadian member of parliament Charlie Angus noted that the Liquor Control Board of Ontario buys more wine by dollar value than any other organization in the world and that Canada is the number one export market for Kentucky spirits. The Liquor Control Board of Ontario has stopped all purchases of American beer, wine, and spirits, turning instead to allies and local producers. Canada’s Irving Oil, which provides heating oil to New England, has already told customers that prices will reflect the tariffs.

In a riveting piece today, in his Thinking about…, scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder wrote that “[t]he people who now dominate the executive branch of the government…are acting, quite deliberately, to destroy the nation.” “Think of the federal government as a car,” he wrote. “You might have thought that the election was like getting the car serviced. Instead, when you come into the shop, the mechanics, who somehow don’t look like mechanics, tell you that they have taken the parts of your car that work and sold them and kept the money. And that this was the most efficient thing to do. And that you should thank them.”

On Friday, James E. Dennehy of the FBI’s New York field office told his staff that they are “in a battle of our own, as good people are being walked out of the F.B.I. and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and F.B.I. policy.” He vowed that he, anyway, is going to “dig in.”

—

Notes:

apnews.com/article/doge-musk-trump-classified-information-usaid-security-35101dee28a766e0d9705e0d47958611

www.state.gov/resources-and-reports-office-of-foreign-assistance/

www.cnn.com/2025/02/02/politics/usaid-officials-leave-musk-doge/index.html

Friday Night Musk-acre
Friday was a busy day in national politics, with the media fixated on two plane crashes, a tariff order that sparked vows of retaliation and a stock market selloff, embarrassing Senate confirmation hearings for a number cabinet appointees, and more. But we need to talk about the massive assault on democracy and the rule of law that occurred this day. It…
Read more
2 days ago · 278 likes · 25 comments · Seth Masket
www.military.com/daily-news/2025/01/31/defense-secretary-hegseth-says-all-options-will-be-table-when-asked-about-military-strikes-mexico.html

www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/canada-and-mexico-order-retaliatory-tariffs-on-u-s-as-trumps-tariffs-spur-trade-war

globalnews.ca/news/10993376/trudeau-trump-tariffs-us-canada/

www.thedailybeast.com/canadian-provinces-take-aim-at-us-red-states-by-yanking-american-liquor-from-shelves/

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/us/politics/fbi-new-york-email-trump.html

www.newsweek.com/stock-market-plunges-trump-tariffs-mexico-canada-china-2024502

www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-government-young-engineers/

apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-canada-mexico-china-trade-surplus-3010e6368545e2976feb5ac6b41e528e

Thinking about…
The Logic of Destruction
What is a country? The way its people govern themselves. America exists because its people elect those who make and execute laws. The assumption of a democracy is that individuals have dignity and rights that they realize and protect by acting together…
Read more
Timothy Snyder
www.cnbc.com/2025/02/02/stock-market-today-live-updates.html

obamaadministration.archives.performance.gov/agency/department-state-and-usaid.html

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/01/usaid-website-offline-trump

lsssd.org/

www.lssliving.org/living/

lutheranservices.org/todays-front-line-hero-lutheran-social-services-of-south-dakota-2/

link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-0-387-93996-4_821

thebeaconnews.org/stories/2025/01/29/federal-funding-freeze-threat-causes-panic-in-kc-health-nonprofits/

Bluesky:

mjg59.eicar-test-file.zip/post/3lh5n4s75sk2n

andrewlebovich.bsky.social/post/3lh7llltink2y

joedunman.bsky.social/post/3lh7mnlmzwc2g

douglasirwin.bsky.social/post/3lh7jz3mjss2b

charlieangus104.bsky.social/post/3lh7htpmaqs2c

gtconway.bsky.social/post/3lhams26fgk2r

charlieangus104.bsky.social/post/3lha4wr6aqs2k

X:

samstein/status/1886085513896956041

RonFilipkowski/with_replies

reichlinmelnick/status/1884247899602849852

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© 2025 Heather Cox Richardson
548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104

Submitted By: jettkeyser@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

What she said…
*Apologies if this does not format well.

The Energy of Dreams

In the twilight of early morning
carried on the energy of dreams,
an urgent spirit appeared, “Listen,
just listen, listen to the wind passing
over our broken land. Hear the cries
across the barren clear-cuts.
Understand, the old cedar are gone,
as the buffalo are gone and the ones
who were here, who walked in sacred
shadows, breathing in the majesty
of immense branches, they are all
gone now. Listen well. Rising time
has come. As fertile seeds, our voices
will carry. Together, in the turning
of all our lives, mountains and rivers
and clouds passing can hold bright,
new generations. Beauty will return
to a lost and forsaken land.”

Submitted By: cbbcalm@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

Falling in love with Birds and taking the good idea of someone the other day who. asked if there was an old bin they could have for storage makes me ask the same . Anyone has a pair of binoculars not being used or a kind they would recommend
thank you very much
corinna and Daniel

Submitted By: hiway53guy@nehalemtel.net – Click to email about this post

I can cut your downed trees into firewood lengths, and some tree removal also.
Other saw work done too.
Very reasonable rates- prices determined upon visual inspection of task… 44 years of experience.
Call or text 503 341 0450

Submitted By: Wendyjacksonuk@yahoo.com – Click to email about this post

How to balance your existential angst.

Submitted By: cindy.obtd@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

A gentle Reminder: February 8th is the date for the White Clover Grange Pie Day – Auction, a true family fun event for all ages!!! Just try your best to keep folks away from the free all-you-can-eat feast pie (and ice cream) tables – the over indulgence is set to run rampant!!! And, to begin your Super Bowl watching cuisine experience, bid and win one of our delicious savory pie offerings – Chicken Pot Pie, Shepherd’s Pie, Pizza Pie (yum!), Veggie Quiche, or bid on one of last year’s favorites – Spanakopita Pie. You also have the opportunity to win a pie in your favorite team’s colors – Key Lime for green for Philly, or Cherry for red for Kansas City, or many other colors in between – 25+ pies to choose from! Get in on the raffle to win a 2-night stay at the scenic Nehalem River Inn, or just come for the good times with friends and neighbors – it will be fun for everyone! Tickets are $15, children 10 years old and under get in for just $5. Proceeds from the tickets go to the building maintenance fund. Doors open at 2:30 P.M. to obtain bidding paddles and get seated, the auction starts at 3:00. See you there! WCG members and volunteers

Submitted By: Diwax54@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

Write your members of Congress… here is my letter

Dear Members of Congress,
I am writing to express my deep concern over Elon Musk’s involvement in governmental affairs, particularly in the fabricated DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) position—a role that does not exist within any legitimate government structure and one to which he was neither elected nor approved by Congress. This unprecedented and extralegal appointment is a direct affront to democratic governance and a matter of national security.
Mr. Musk, a private billionaire with a history of prioritizing personal and corporate interests over public well-being, has now been granted undue influence in critical government functions. His unchecked access to sensitive national infrastructure, military contracts, and energy policies poses serious risks. The American people did not vote for him, nor was there any congressional oversight in granting him such authority. It is deeply alarming that a single, unelected individual could wield such power without accountability.
Beyond the national security implications, Mr. Musk’s history of erratic decision-making, financial entanglements, and public manipulation of markets—including his direct financial interests in cryptocurrency, space exploration, and defense contracts—raises serious ethical concerns. No private citizen– is he even a citizen?– should be permitted to insert themselves into government operations without the scrutiny and approval of the legislative branch.
I urge Congress to take immediate action to remove Elon Musk from any and all government-affiliated roles and investigate how and why this fabricated position was granted without democratic consent. If left unchecked, this sets a dangerous precedent, allowing billionaires and private entities to hijack governmental authority without public oversight.
This is a critical moment for our democracy. I implore you to act swiftly to restore transparency, accountability, and the integrity of our nation’s leadership. The American people deserve governance that is chosen by them—not installed by backroom deals and corporate interests.
Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. I look forward to seeing Congress uphold its duty to protect the nation and its democratic institutions.

Sincerely,
(Your name)

Submitted By: Coastbbqfree@protonmail.com – Click to email about this post

United Paws’ Kittens of the Week: Gabriel and Linus

Meet Gabriel and Linus, the coolest cats at United Paws. These exceptionally loving and gentle brothers are Zen masters, demonstrating an exceptional ability to enjoy one day at a time. These two overcame adversity early in life to become happy, healthy kitties who now care for smaller foster friends who find themselves at UP.
Gabriel is an angel, soulful and strong-spirited. After receiving extra special care, he recovered from some health issues and became the love of his Foster Mama’s life. She said, “Gabriel’s will to live and thrive are inspirational.” Gabriel loves to be held and snuggled, and the minute you sit, he will be there to warm your lap.

Linus is a black and gray tabby with a gorgeous, ticked coat that makes him irresistible. Playtime is his specialty, and he seeks out toys to conquer and his brother to wrestle. When playtime is done, he soaks in pets, especially on his soft spotted belly. Linus loves lap time too, and is a pro at squeezing in with Gabriel to ensure a lap full of love.

Gabriel & Linus were surrendered to United Paws when very young, so they have had lots of tender loving care in a safe environment. This bonded pair is ready to bring lots of loving energy to a forever home.

You can learn more about these cuties, as well as other cats and kittens available for adoption, at unitedpaws.wordress.com, where you can also complete an application. If you would like to schedule a “Meet & Greet”, please email unitedpawsapps@gmail.com or call United Paws at 503-842-5663.

Submitted By: tevisdiii@gmail.com – Click to email about this post

This first article is by a journalist in Australia, commenting on their MSN coverage of US confirmation hearings, specifically RFK Jr. for HHS. It’s always interesting to get another country’s take on things. The journo includes some charts representing dollars contributed to Senators by the pharma industry.

www.sott.net/article/497576-Its-all-about-the-Money-The-Blob-Pharma-corruption-goes-all-the-way-to-the-top-and-all-around-the-world