Ray
@rayburns.bsky.social
Anishinaabeg, Husband, father, educator, Tolkien nerd
Former Tribal College President... Current Indigenous STEM advocate.
Former Tribal College President... Current Indigenous STEM advocate.
In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.
a close up of a cricket on the floor with the word chirp above it .
Alt: a close up of a cricket on the floor chirping
media.tenor.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:05 PM
In the criminal justice system, sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous. In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.
When anyone in the current administration gets cornered, they immediately deflect by making accusations against their accuser (often unwittingly revealing their own crimes), and trying to gain control of the narrative.
Against a functioning media, this wouldn't work...
Against a functioning media, this wouldn't work...
February 12, 2026 at 6:25 PM
When anyone in the current administration gets cornered, they immediately deflect by making accusations against their accuser (often unwittingly revealing their own crimes), and trying to gain control of the narrative.
Against a functioning media, this wouldn't work...
Against a functioning media, this wouldn't work...
Wow, Homan is really dancing a fine line between comically parsing words and outright lying.
I hope the media calls him on it ... HAHAHAHAHA.
I hope the media calls him on it ... HAHAHAHAHA.
February 12, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Wow, Homan is really dancing a fine line between comically parsing words and outright lying.
I hope the media calls him on it ... HAHAHAHAHA.
I hope the media calls him on it ... HAHAHAHAHA.
You know, I remember when an Attorney General lying under oath to Congress would have been a big deal.
February 11, 2026 at 11:11 PM
You know, I remember when an Attorney General lying under oath to Congress would have been a big deal.
If you're more concerned about an American citizen singing at halftime of the Super Bowl then you are about the Epstein Files, you may need to examine your priorities.
February 8, 2026 at 5:18 AM
If you're more concerned about an American citizen singing at halftime of the Super Bowl then you are about the Epstein Files, you may need to examine your priorities.
Reposted by Ray
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
It's not really a concession if the 'concession' just means doing the minimum of what you were supposed to be doing in the first place
February 3, 2026 at 2:47 AM
It's not really a concession if the 'concession' just means doing the minimum of what you were supposed to be doing in the first place
Is releasing the movie Melania the "let them eat cake "moment that finally starts the dominoes falling? It would be on point if after everything it's something like that that finally does it.
February 2, 2026 at 8:11 PM
Is releasing the movie Melania the "let them eat cake "moment that finally starts the dominoes falling? It would be on point if after everything it's something like that that finally does it.
When Grammy Award winning stars have the courage to voice their outrage while your elected representatives continue to hide behind a false sense of decorum... I think we've found one of the reasons we're in the shit we're in.
February 2, 2026 at 12:49 PM
When Grammy Award winning stars have the courage to voice their outrage while your elected representatives continue to hide behind a false sense of decorum... I think we've found one of the reasons we're in the shit we're in.
If you've ever wondered how Germany and Italy could let it happen *gestures broadly* look around.
January 30, 2026 at 2:20 PM
If you've ever wondered how Germany and Italy could let it happen *gestures broadly* look around.
Doing the same things (and even adding things like long-distance sound weapons) but just being sure not to do it in front of as many witnesses is NOT my idea of de-escalation....
January 29, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Doing the same things (and even adding things like long-distance sound weapons) but just being sure not to do it in front of as many witnesses is NOT my idea of de-escalation....
Boy, the Epstein Files realty must be bad.
January 25, 2026 at 10:35 PM
Boy, the Epstein Files realty must be bad.
If media doesn't say, "In a blatant attempt to lie and mislead the American people, Noem/Miller/Vance/et. al, has issued the following statement..." then they are doing a grave injustice to the American people and are complicit in what is happening.
January 25, 2026 at 3:34 PM
If media doesn't say, "In a blatant attempt to lie and mislead the American people, Noem/Miller/Vance/et. al, has issued the following statement..." then they are doing a grave injustice to the American people and are complicit in what is happening.
Unless people are held responsible for their actions, and in a meaningful substantive way, it will happen again.
January 25, 2026 at 12:08 AM
Unless people are held responsible for their actions, and in a meaningful substantive way, it will happen again.
Reposted by Ray
“Get it all on record now — get the films — get the witnesses — because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945
Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945
January 24, 2026 at 9:24 PM
“Get it all on record now — get the films — get the witnesses — because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945
Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945
Has there ever been a group of people more unprepared and unwilling to step up to the moment and actually do something than Democrats?
January 23, 2026 at 2:23 PM
Has there ever been a group of people more unprepared and unwilling to step up to the moment and actually do something than Democrats?
If 3I/Atlas is an alien ship, they're probably rolling up the windows and locking the door as they go past Earth.
January 21, 2026 at 12:53 AM
If 3I/Atlas is an alien ship, they're probably rolling up the windows and locking the door as they go past Earth.
Just read the 25th Amendment (you know, for kicks, no other reason)... and it's pretty straightforward.
All it requires is that Congress does it's elected duty and determine the fitness of the President and make a decision thereof.
We're doomed.
All it requires is that Congress does it's elected duty and determine the fitness of the President and make a decision thereof.
We're doomed.
January 20, 2026 at 11:38 PM
Just read the 25th Amendment (you know, for kicks, no other reason)... and it's pretty straightforward.
All it requires is that Congress does it's elected duty and determine the fitness of the President and make a decision thereof.
We're doomed.
All it requires is that Congress does it's elected duty and determine the fitness of the President and make a decision thereof.
We're doomed.
Did not have "Iran and Minnesota having so much in common" on my bingo card.
Yes, I know what's happening in Iran involves thousands of casualties, and I don't mean to diminish that... but they're both fighting the same fight against an extreme authoritarian government bent on suppressing rights.
Yes, I know what's happening in Iran involves thousands of casualties, and I don't mean to diminish that... but they're both fighting the same fight against an extreme authoritarian government bent on suppressing rights.
January 20, 2026 at 10:16 PM
Did not have "Iran and Minnesota having so much in common" on my bingo card.
Yes, I know what's happening in Iran involves thousands of casualties, and I don't mean to diminish that... but they're both fighting the same fight against an extreme authoritarian government bent on suppressing rights.
Yes, I know what's happening in Iran involves thousands of casualties, and I don't mean to diminish that... but they're both fighting the same fight against an extreme authoritarian government bent on suppressing rights.
My view:
20% of the public is pro-Maga and fascist and are all on board with what's going on. They're very loud and because of that they have a disproportionate voice in the media (plus the media has abdicated its responsibility to the public just to cater to the loudest voice)...
20% of the public is pro-Maga and fascist and are all on board with what's going on. They're very loud and because of that they have a disproportionate voice in the media (plus the media has abdicated its responsibility to the public just to cater to the loudest voice)...
January 20, 2026 at 5:47 PM
My view:
20% of the public is pro-Maga and fascist and are all on board with what's going on. They're very loud and because of that they have a disproportionate voice in the media (plus the media has abdicated its responsibility to the public just to cater to the loudest voice)...
20% of the public is pro-Maga and fascist and are all on board with what's going on. They're very loud and because of that they have a disproportionate voice in the media (plus the media has abdicated its responsibility to the public just to cater to the loudest voice)...
Trump going to be mumbling "Purity Of Essence" as he wonders around the Oval Office....
January 19, 2026 at 5:22 PM
Trump going to be mumbling "Purity Of Essence" as he wonders around the Oval Office....
Perhaps the saddest part of all this is that there are way too many people who truly don't care about what's going on and/or that they are being deliberately lied to as long as their own personal 'entitlements' aren't negatively affected.
January 16, 2026 at 5:27 PM
Perhaps the saddest part of all this is that there are way too many people who truly don't care about what's going on and/or that they are being deliberately lied to as long as their own personal 'entitlements' aren't negatively affected.
"Ihre Papiere bitte", the original German for what ICE is asking US Citizens now and I guess we're okay with that?
January 16, 2026 at 3:28 AM
"Ihre Papiere bitte", the original German for what ICE is asking US Citizens now and I guess we're okay with that?
What we're seeing ICE doing right now is a dress rehearsal for what they're going to be doing during the midterms.
Don't be surprised when they are reassigned to stand outside polls and intimidate/harass/arrest anyone who dares vote against the approved party line especially in blue states.
Don't be surprised when they are reassigned to stand outside polls and intimidate/harass/arrest anyone who dares vote against the approved party line especially in blue states.
January 13, 2026 at 8:04 PM
What we're seeing ICE doing right now is a dress rehearsal for what they're going to be doing during the midterms.
Don't be surprised when they are reassigned to stand outside polls and intimidate/harass/arrest anyone who dares vote against the approved party line especially in blue states.
Don't be surprised when they are reassigned to stand outside polls and intimidate/harass/arrest anyone who dares vote against the approved party line especially in blue states.
The hardest thing to do is maintain an optimistic demeanor so that my wife and kids aren't sent spiralling into an escalating slide into despair.
When all I want to do is curl up in the corner and beat my head against the wall, or grab Anduril and go out into the streets and do some orc hunting.
When all I want to do is curl up in the corner and beat my head against the wall, or grab Anduril and go out into the streets and do some orc hunting.
January 12, 2026 at 10:28 PM
The hardest thing to do is maintain an optimistic demeanor so that my wife and kids aren't sent spiralling into an escalating slide into despair.
When all I want to do is curl up in the corner and beat my head against the wall, or grab Anduril and go out into the streets and do some orc hunting.
When all I want to do is curl up in the corner and beat my head against the wall, or grab Anduril and go out into the streets and do some orc hunting.