Conifers & Citrus (Jeff Bull Maroon Jackson 5)
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snackyd.bsky.social
Conifers & Citrus (Jeff Bull Maroon Jackson 5)
@snackyd.bsky.social
530 followers 420 following 5.9K posts
Ironic Hyundai evangelist, lover of books, laugher at life. I follow the Portland Timbers and #MLS, generally, just not in long form. #rctid Pretty excited for the end of 2025, honestly. Not our best year, globally.
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October 19, 2025: Dreaming of the World We Want, Coping with the World We Have

LINK: tinyurl.com/4pjcacfr

Protests, organizing, paranoia and it comes with a movie review to boot. Notes on a weekend.

Also, Good Fortune will make you feel better, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll like it.
October 19, 2025: Dreaming of the World We Want, Coping with the World We Have
Need one for the post... I have a head full of things today (e.g., saw a movie, attended a suburban No Kings protest Saturday, hung out with...
tinyurl.com
October 19, 2025: Dreaming of the World We Want, Coping with the World We Have

LINK: tinyurl.com/4pjcacfr

Protests, organizing, paranoia and it comes with a movie review to boot. Notes on a weekend.

Also, Good Fortune will make you feel better, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll like it.
October 19, 2025: Dreaming of the World We Want, Coping with the World We Have
Need one for the post... I have a head full of things today (e.g., saw a movie, attended a suburban No Kings protest Saturday, hung out with...
tinyurl.com
5) Canadian Crises
Before 54’ 40” or Fight, MVB had to soothe relations with Canadians due to the Patriot War (Canadian rebels operating out of upstate Vermont) and the Aroostook War (basically, a logging dispute in upper Maine). Sometimes talking is good! (7/7)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_...
Martin Van Buren - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
4) When He *Really* Betrayed It
In the same way progressives freak out 21-cenutry centrists, abolitionists panicked MVB like nothing else. He pushed his government to argue against free-ish slaves in the famous Amistad case. Lost that one to John Quincy Adams… (6/7)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_...
Martin Van Buren - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
3) How He Betrayed It
MVB preferred talking over fighting, often to a fault. His opposition to slavery grew to the end, but his love for party and the Union tied him to the accommodationists in his party, e.g., Polk, Buchanan, and finally Stephen Douglas over Lincoln. Norms must hold, etc. (5/7)
2) His Best Side
A protégé/ally of Jackson, MVB ran for president 3 times, first in 1836, again in 1844, then as the candidate for the anti-slavery Free Soil Party in 1848. His opposition to slavery was his best enduring trait. Refused to annex Texas over it. (4/7)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_...
Martin Van Buren - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
1) Election 1836 Was Wacky
While he didn't quite *need* it, MVB eked his win in 1836 when the then-opposition party, the Whigs (kinda, sorta former Federalists), ran 3 separate candidates. They hoped to push the count to the House. Didn’t work. (3/7)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_...
Martin Van Buren - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
At just 5’ 6”, “Little Van” was the only U.S. president for whom English was a 2nd language (Dutch was 1st); Van Buren ran a state-wide political machine called the Albany Regency, which cooperated with Tammany Hall to run New York. Wait, there’s more! (2/7)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_...
Martin Van Buren - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
I have neither forgotten nor given up: it’s Martin Van Buren (“MVB”)…afternoon!

America’s 8th president was a Democrat in a way 21st-century Americans would recognize: strenuously committed to keeping the peace. Possibly too smart for his own good/politics. (1/7)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_...
Martin Van Buren - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Unctuousness in human form.
The only reason to have this smirking weasel on the Sunday shows is to cut his mic and yell at him until he stops smirking.
Mike Johnson: "We congratulate them on an apparently violent-free speech exercise ... but if President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now ... by the way, the Mall was open because President Trump hasn't closed it."
The only reason to have this smirking weasel on the Sunday shows is to cut his mic and yell at him until he stops smirking.
Mike Johnson: "We congratulate them on an apparently violent-free speech exercise ... but if President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now ... by the way, the Mall was open because President Trump hasn't closed it."
We had to find Nicholas’ real body, plus the new replacement for his spare (we were talking to his spare), and then it was a lot of swimming around a grotto and shooting arrows into a ceiling.

Good morning. #Musicsky

spotify.link/4c0Xo2q2AXb
Psychic Warfare
spotify.link
If I win the #MLS bracket challenge, I’ll eat one of those gristly 48 oz. steaks in under 30 minutes or whatever.

Current now. Already thinking about next week and/or year.

Good night, y’all. #Musicsky

spotify.link/8b9OxvMnAXb
I can’t believe the players are as they’ve bad as they’ve been for the past two, three months, so I’m iclined to agree with the theses.
Pushing the moment into a future that never arrives…
Playing for the honor of a three-game series versus San Diego. Going great. #PORvSD #rctid
The Western Conference playoff picture is set.

San Diego tops the Western Conference, Portland drops into the Wild Card match while Dallas and RSL make the playoffs.
3) I Think It’ll Take a Deep Run to Save Phil’s Job

Plenty of issues follow from Portland’s on-field choices, but the shaky design has felt more like a coaching decision, or failure to actually make one, with each passing week.

Phil’s seat should be heating up at a minimum. Oof. #rctid #MLS
2) The Solution’s Solution

I’m not sure who was brought in to be “The Guy” between Velde and Rojas. What I believe is that the Timbers got more out of Rojas tonight.

So far, Velde’s go to move is, “take on two dudes, see what comes next.” Goes about as well as you’d expect. #rctid
More 1)

The Timbers have one move, especially against pressing teams: as soon as any player has time to look up, he must play the ball forward as quickly as possible to the first player he sees.

When done right, this unbalances the defense.

When done wrong, it’s just the next turnover. #rctid
Three Notes.

1) Is There Even an Outline?

Most teams - and this includes San Diego tonight - have some sense of where to find each other on the field. When one option gets defended into irrelevance, players seem to know how to adjust, if just to get the ball out of the defensive. Cont’d….
Final Thoughts:

Barring a profoundly aligning ahuyasca retreat or finding Soccer Jesus, the Timbers won’t play a meaningful role in the 2025 #MLS playoffs. If it comes to it, I’m not sure I see the Timbers surviving the play-in.

Things haven’t been good for weeks (months?). #PORvSD #rctid
Update: Velde isn’t faster than McVey. Someone should tell Velde. #PORvSD
The way San Diego just found De La Torre near the center stripe from inside their area. Portland doesn’t have that ball in their tool kit. #PORvSD
reacting, reacting, reacting.

This is at home heading into the playoffs.

The quality of the…

Hold on, we have another update.

Yes, that’s 0-4.

Two teams on different planets.

Portland has no damn idea what they’re doing, during the 34th regular season game. #PORvSD #rctid