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Reposted by Ralf W

rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 9h

It's been really, really nice seeing the Catholic social justice tradition in the US feel like it's empowered to spread its wings again without risking censure after a long time of being suppressed by US Catholic leadership, and it's exactly what I was hoping for from Pope Bob.

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Reposted by Ralf W

rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 9h

But in case you missed it, Fr Dowling's statement takes the time to make it explicit: "Father, forgive the ones who do not know what they are doing. Have mercy on the souls of those who know exactly what they're doing."

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Reposted by Ralf W

rahaeli @rahaeli.bsky.social · 9h

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!

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 5h

The most incompetent Administration since ... 2016!

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 5h

Yes, please.

Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 2d

I'm going to borrow a phrase that I'd usually recoil from:

They need to repent.

I'l take the secular def: "2. a : to feel regret or contrition" and add, they need to _publicly_ repent.

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 9h

As a campaign ad!!

Holy smokes! That Mamdani puts it on the line, that he's serious about sanctuary and protection because he understands they terrible past (and dangerous present).

Deeply inspiring.

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 9h

Watching it made me think that maybe, just possibly, the United States may not be destroyed by the GOP.

Seems lofty? Yeah, but I mean: A pol who so far has shown impeccable instincts goes out and does an absolutely gorgeous and factual and heartfelt history lesson on the trans experience in NYC

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

This is absolutely remarkable. I've never seen anything like it in a mainstream, ultra high visibility Democratic campaign.
Wow. 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

Until It's Done: Sylvia Rivera

YouTube video by Zohran Mamdani for NYC

youtu.be

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

I kinda think this is bullshit. Strikes me as a dumb ass attempt to put some daylight between the ethically void decision to charge and AG Bondi.
Maybe she's starting to think about what comes after Trump, and whether the bar will maintain her admittance.

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Silvia Secchi @profsecchi.bsky.social · 1d

Illegally firing the CDC experts while he gets the latest COVID vaccine is really beyond the pale.
Marie Antoinette level of vibes.

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

It's an abhorrent abdication of basic reporting.

Portland is 133 square miles. From what I've read, approximately two to three city blocks encompass the conflict area.

To "Whocouldpossiblyknow?" this situation is a CHOICE.

It's siding with power and against truth.

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

Serious question: Special Ed families are definitely not all liberal. What do R voter parents do now?
Nothing?
Try to find special educational support at parochial schools only? At what price?

Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

Said this before: Republican families have kids with special educational needs at the same rate as Indies and Dems.

In MN in the past, GOP families have lobbied hard to keep or expand access.

What now, Republican parents? What's your plan? How will you tolerate Trump-Vought and their wreckage?

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

Said this before: Republican families have kids with special educational needs at the same rate as Indies and Dems.

In MN in the past, GOP families have lobbied hard to keep or expand access.

What now, Republican parents? What's your plan? How will you tolerate Trump-Vought and their wreckage?

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

I'd love for someone with some skills (and not AI) to come up with a logo for the Times"Newspaper to the end of the world".

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

The observable world: Anything you want to to be!

This sayeth the NYT. Newspaper to the end of the world.

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Reposted by Ralf W

Sam Youngman @samyoungman.bsky.social · 12h

Trump went for a Covid shot and then set the CDC on fire.

If that ain’t that asshole in a nutshell.

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

I once again congratulate Mitch McConnell. He, more than anyone in government, has the power to stop Donald Trump (via an impeachment conviction) and caved – after correctly apprising the failed man.

Now the polio survivor gets to watch old epidemics sweep the nation again. What a legacy!!

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 10h

The mass layoffs of federal workers on Friday night swept up the top two leaders of the federal measles response team, even as the nation grapples with the most cases recorded since 2000, when measles was declared eliminated in the U.S.

C.D.C. Layoffs Included 2 Top Measles Experts Amid Rising Cases

Scientists who focused on other infectious diseases, like an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, also were let go.

nyti.ms

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

"Television is a fad, everyone loves radio!"
--1939

Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

It seems the pepper-shooting of a protestant clergy has gotten the attention of some righteous Catholics.

Hoping this signals an increasing rift between Republicans and the many believers outside of the Christianist hardcore right!!

amanda moore 🐢 @noturtlesoup17.bsky.social · 14h

Outside of the Broadview ICE facility, a state trooper tells the delegation attempting to have communion with detainees that ICE has denied their request.

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Reposted by Ralf W

Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 14h

They have fired the staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, who are disease detectives that respond to outbreaks around the world.

I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

Also since bathrooms were stocked with said sandpaper (or really more like unbleached crepe paper), I think the idea was to use TP first, then scooch over.
I was not even in elementary school when we moved to a bidet-less US, so the memories are faint.

Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

When I was a kid we had wash mitts that accompanied the bidet. And hand-towel size bidet towels.
I guess we were very fancy people (who lived in Geneva, where the TP was basically sandpaper in the 60s).

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 10h

A result implies a conviction.
The longstanding joke about how a D.A. could indict a ham sandwich applies here.

All Trump has succeeded at is gross harassment via abuse of prosecutorial privilege!!

(WaPo is just wrecked. Worse than Tiger Beat on the Potomac.)

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Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 11h

They know we peons are very mortal.

Ralf W @raflw.bsky.social · 11h

I specifically remember how Republicans attacked Obama relentlessly when like TWO people had Ebola in the US.

What Trump/Vought/RFK are doing now puts Americans at ridiculous risk!! 🫤🤯

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 12h

Lots of Epidemic Intelligence Service officers ("disease detectives") gone.
In-country staff in Africa (including those helping to manage the current Ebola outbreak) are fired.

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