MLF
@marklfilteau.bsky.social
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marklfilteau.bsky.social
This is exactly the same thing I hear from friends in DC. 😢😡
jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
This heartfelt and meaningful statement by Portland resident and author Cristina Breshears on another social media platform bears reposting here. I don't think the intent is to idealize Portland but to remind all of us what is important and why. (Posted here with permission.)
For nine nights now, the steady thrum of Black Hawk helicopters has circled over Portland. The sound is constant, invasive; a low mechanical beating above our homes. It’s expensive. It’s intimidating. And it’s unnecessary.

Our protests have been largely peaceful. There is no insurrection here. Yet this federalized military presence makes us feel like we are living in a war zone (the very kind of chaos this administration claims to be protecting us from). 

The irony is painful: it is only this occupation that makes Portland feel unsafe.

Each hour of helicopter flight costs taxpayers between $2,000 and $4,000, depending on crew, fuel, and maintenance. Multiply that by multiple aircraft over multiple nights, and you’re looking at hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars burned into the sky. Meanwhile, the Woodstock Food Pantry at All Saints Episcopal Church — which feeds working families, elders, and people with disabilities — has seen its federal funding slashed by 75%. How can we justify pouring public money into intimidation while cutting aid to those who simply need to eat?

This is waste, fraud, and abuse in plain sight:
* Waste of public resources on military theatrics.
* Fraud in the name of “public safety.”
* Abuse of the communities that federal agencies claim to protect.

Portland is a Sanctuary City. A sanctuary city is not a fortress. It’s a promise — a living vow that a community will protect the dignity and safety of everyone who calls it home. It means that local governments and ordinary people alike will refuse to criminalize survival. That schools, clinics, churches, and shelters will remain safe spaces no matter who you are or where you were born. But the term reaches far beyond policy. It’s an ethic of belonging; a refusal to criminalize need, difference, or desperation. 
Sanctuary isn’t weakness. It’s courage. It takes moral strength to meet suffering with care instead of punishment, to believe that our neighbors’ safety is bound up in our own, to insist that safety is not achieved through force but through community, inclusion, and trust. It is living Matthew 25:40 out loud and in deed. It is an act of moral imagination and moral defiance. To hold sanctuary is to say: you belong here.

When we hold space for the most vulnerable — refugees, the unhoused, the undocumented, the disabled, the working poor, the displaced — we become something larger than a collection of individuals. We become a moral body. We do more than offer charity. We offer witness. We declare that the measure of a nation is found not in its towers or tanks, but in its tenderness.

Sanctuary cities are not lawless; they are soulful. They represent the conscience of the nation, a place where the laws of empathy still apply. To make sanctuary is to affirm that the United States is not merely a geographic territory, but a moral experiment: a republic that must constantly choose between fear and compassion, between domination and democracy. 
A nation’s soul is measured not by the might of its military, but by the mercy of its people. When helicopters circle our skies in the name of order, while food pantries struggle to feed the hungry, we are forced to ask: What are we defending, and from whom? The soul of a nation survives only when we make sanctuary for one another. Not through walls or weapons, but through compassion and collective will. If we allow intimidation to replace compassion, we will have traded our conscience for control.

Please know that despite the hum of war machines overhead, the conscience of our city — whimsical, creative, stubbornly kind — can still be heard.

Portland is not the problem. Portland is the reminder. A reminder that a city can still choose to be sanctuary. That a people can still choose to be human.
Reposted by MLF
jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
This heartfelt and meaningful statement by Portland resident and author Cristina Breshears on another social media platform bears reposting here. I don't think the intent is to idealize Portland but to remind all of us what is important and why. (Posted here with permission.)
For nine nights now, the steady thrum of Black Hawk helicopters has circled over Portland. The sound is constant, invasive; a low mechanical beating above our homes. It’s expensive. It’s intimidating. And it’s unnecessary.

Our protests have been largely peaceful. There is no insurrection here. Yet this federalized military presence makes us feel like we are living in a war zone (the very kind of chaos this administration claims to be protecting us from). 

The irony is painful: it is only this occupation that makes Portland feel unsafe.

Each hour of helicopter flight costs taxpayers between $2,000 and $4,000, depending on crew, fuel, and maintenance. Multiply that by multiple aircraft over multiple nights, and you’re looking at hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of dollars burned into the sky. Meanwhile, the Woodstock Food Pantry at All Saints Episcopal Church — which feeds working families, elders, and people with disabilities — has seen its federal funding slashed by 75%. How can we justify pouring public money into intimidation while cutting aid to those who simply need to eat?

This is waste, fraud, and abuse in plain sight:
* Waste of public resources on military theatrics.
* Fraud in the name of “public safety.”
* Abuse of the communities that federal agencies claim to protect.

Portland is a Sanctuary City. A sanctuary city is not a fortress. It’s a promise — a living vow that a community will protect the dignity and safety of everyone who calls it home. It means that local governments and ordinary people alike will refuse to criminalize survival. That schools, clinics, churches, and shelters will remain safe spaces no matter who you are or where you were born. But the term reaches far beyond policy. It’s an ethic of belonging; a refusal to criminalize need, difference, or desperation. 
Sanctuary isn’t weakness. It’s courage. It takes moral strength to meet suffering with care instead of punishment, to believe that our neighbors’ safety is bound up in our own, to insist that safety is not achieved through force but through community, inclusion, and trust. It is living Matthew 25:40 out loud and in deed. It is an act of moral imagination and moral defiance. To hold sanctuary is to say: you belong here.

When we hold space for the most vulnerable — refugees, the unhoused, the undocumented, the disabled, the working poor, the displaced — we become something larger than a collection of individuals. We become a moral body. We do more than offer charity. We offer witness. We declare that the measure of a nation is found not in its towers or tanks, but in its tenderness.

Sanctuary cities are not lawless; they are soulful. They represent the conscience of the nation, a place where the laws of empathy still apply. To make sanctuary is to affirm that the United States is not merely a geographic territory, but a moral experiment: a republic that must constantly choose between fear and compassion, between domination and democracy. 
A nation’s soul is measured not by the might of its military, but by the mercy of its people. When helicopters circle our skies in the name of order, while food pantries struggle to feed the hungry, we are forced to ask: What are we defending, and from whom? The soul of a nation survives only when we make sanctuary for one another. Not through walls or weapons, but through compassion and collective will. If we allow intimidation to replace compassion, we will have traded our conscience for control.

Please know that despite the hum of war machines overhead, the conscience of our city — whimsical, creative, stubbornly kind — can still be heard.

Portland is not the problem. Portland is the reminder. A reminder that a city can still choose to be sanctuary. That a people can still choose to be human.
marklfilteau.bsky.social
So all students will get drunk and kill their best friend (lover?) with a spear?
marklfilteau.bsky.social
Knowledge for me and not for thee.
Reposted by MLF
disabilitystor1.bsky.social
For a long time, I was very itinerant, and had to stick to digital media for my own convenience, but the AI-ification of everything is reminding me how important physical media remain.
Especially books.
marklfilteau.bsky.social
At our local record store/cafe
Notice
Anyone purporting to be an agent of ICE or any other federal agency who enters these premises with the intent of arresting and or detaining any person(s) within:
Must wear clothing that accurately represents the agency they represent. 
Must not wear a mask or anything else that conceals their true identity. 
Must possess an official warrant signed by a federal judge and agree to show it to anyone who asks to see it. 
Must agree to any photography, video, and/or audio recording of their activities. 
Must provide detailed information of where their arrestees will be sent and allow full due process as required by the Constitution. 
The United States is a democratic republic and the rights of everyone must be respected.
marklfilteau.bsky.social
That’s a big “rut-roh” from me.
Reposted by MLF
cherylrofer.bsky.social
We have to keep in mind that every word Vance emits is a lie.
marklfilteau.bsky.social
As hard as it is to say, this is true.
elisewang.bsky.social
I should point out that I’m lapsed, but as a friend of mine once put it about cradle Catholics, “you can never really leave the church. The farthest you can get is the foyer, and you can still hear the hymns from there.”
Reposted by MLF
elisewang.bsky.social
I should point out that I’m lapsed, but as a friend of mine once put it about cradle Catholics, “you can never really leave the church. The farthest you can get is the foyer, and you can still hear the hymns from there.”
Reposted by MLF
novicsara.bsky.social
People are really asking me why the mainstream news is barely reporting the closing of special ed dept at DoEd like all our big media companies aren't owned and run by absolute psychopaths.
Reposted by MLF
rahaeli.bsky.social
For any Catholic, the sight of a Eucharistic Procession being turned away at the gates of the destination is the embodiment of Jesus being denied entrance. You don't have to be Catholic to get the symbolism in that!
marklfilteau.bsky.social
Salvation army has a history of anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry. Now they are supporting ICE.
DO NOT SUPPORT THE SALVATION ARMY!
chaoskat.bsky.social
Salvation Army seen feeding ICE today. For anyone who doesn't already know about their bigotry, here is more, No need to give them your money this Christmas, or ever.
unraveledpress.com
It’s dinner time for the police. Appears to be pizza from a Salvation Army van.

Broadview’s “free speech” curfew starts soon, at 6pm.
Reposted by MLF
chaoskat.bsky.social
Salvation Army seen feeding ICE today. For anyone who doesn't already know about their bigotry, here is more, No need to give them your money this Christmas, or ever.
unraveledpress.com
It’s dinner time for the police. Appears to be pizza from a Salvation Army van.

Broadview’s “free speech” curfew starts soon, at 6pm.
Reposted by MLF
marynmck.bsky.social
This is what Catholicism is for, and that this is happening in the hometown of the new pope is not incidental.
richraho.bsky.social
Chicago priest Fr. Larry Dowling describes procession to ICE facility: “No one had the courage to speak directly to us. No one from Homeland Security could stand in the presence of the Monstrance holding the Blessed Sacrament. No wonder. Evil is repelled, recoils in the presence of Christ.”
Reposted by MLF
pnsn1.bsky.social
You feel that Seattle?! Check out that Polanco P-Wave! Polanco Game Winning Single, Crawford Scores, MARINERS WIN!! @Mariners are Toronto Bound! @Tmobilepark @FoxSports
#SeisTheMoment #SeizeTheMoment
Seismogram showing ground motion at T-Mobile Park for game-winning single by Seattle Mariner Jorge Polanco, JP Crawford scores! MLB poster for PostSEAson 2025 that reads Seis the Moment with a small seismogram between the Seis and the The.  Has website for PNSN seismograms of the game. mariners.pnsn.org
marklfilteau.bsky.social
Banana republic comparisons will be complete with that.
marklfilteau.bsky.social
No grand salami though.
Reposted by MLF
vcdgf555.bsky.social
The Seattle Mariners are going to play for the American League Championship! I don't believe it! My Oh My!
marklfilteau.bsky.social
Gone in the playoffs only.
Seattle sports are always heart attack in a plate. Damn. That actually did not surprise me. Hell of a game.
marklfilteau.bsky.social
Wow. Seattle baseball. Am I still alive?
marklfilteau.bsky.social
Seattle teams will give you a heart attack.
Reposted by MLF
angierasmussen.bsky.social
I don’t know who needs to hear this but the CDC is being eviscerated right now. America is not going to have any kind of outbreak response capacity after tonight. Americans’ health data is no longer secure. Say goodbye to federal public health in any capacity. It’s a disaster. We won’t recover.
marklfilteau.bsky.social
Pretty sure you’re actually watching the Mariners game.
Reposted by MLF
coachgowron.com
When we live through difficult times it can be easy to succumb to despair, to see nothing but darkness on the horizon. But one day, in happier times, songs will be sung of those who persevered. Strive to be sung about as one who brought hope, as one who carried light over that horizon.