Hillbilly_Ivy_League
LightNews LightNews
rossman81.bsky.social
Hillbilly_Ivy_League
@rossman81.bsky.social
690 followers 410 following 1.3K posts
WV raised / Ivy League educated. No better and no worse than anyone. Opinions always my own and the result of critical thinking. Humanist. Feminist. Fan of dogs and this resilient Mother: 🌍
Posts Replies Media Videos
rossman81.bsky.social
And the owner of the shop, herself a Chinese immigrant, went out of her way to provide comfort to her community. She is also a hero.
Michelle Cheng, owner of Ceremony Tea, said she was able to find lodging for several students at a nearby apartment complex as the shelter in place continued. “This is so messed up,” she said through tears. “I left everything at home to my husband and raced over because we need to be here for our customers.”
December 14, 2025 at 10:18 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
The potential of peaceful, non-transactional contribution has long been underestimated, often on the basis that it is not financially self-sustaining, or that some of its benefits are hard to track. But what if these imagined liabilities are actually assets? What if these so-called weaknesses foster the strengths upon which the thriving (or even survival) of our civilization depends? What if the fact that some of our organizations are vulnerable can itself be a powerful engine for our generosity? What if acts of service that we can feel but can’t always measure expand our capacity for connection and trust? What if care is a way for all of us to make a difference in leading and shaping our countries? Votes are not the only way to show what we’d like to see more of in our societies. There are many ways to influence how we move through the world, and where we land.
December 10, 2025 at 4:51 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
Excellent, but we can do better.
New Trump poll from a credible pollster (American Research Group) revealing a 35% approval rating and 62% disapproval. I drew a heart over these results.
November 22, 2025 at 12:27 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
To messers. Nehemiah Dodge, Ephraim Robbins, & Stephen S. Nelson, a committee of the Danbury Baptist association in the state of Connecticut. Gentlemen The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of the Danbury Baptist association, give me the highest satisfaction. my duties dictate a faithful and zealous pursuit of the interests of my constituents, & in proportion as they are persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more and more pleasing. Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties. I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection & blessing of the common father and creator of man, and tender you for yourselves & your religious association, assurances of my high respect & esteem. Th Jefferson Jan. 1. 1802.
November 18, 2025 at 12:34 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
This is why elections matter, especially this election and this candidate. 🥹🥹🥹
From a new york times report: “Diversity Square, in the heart of Jackson Heights, is unusually empty. Residents have instead gathered in nearby restaurants and bars to watch the TV screens displaying Mr. Mamdani’s victory. Inside the Shanai restaurant, a group of three high-school seniors who have been campaigning for Mamdani since February described themselves as “excited,” “overstimulated,” and “very hopeful.” Before volunteering for his campaign, 17-year-old Mahbuba Mohini said, “I didn’t know what politics really was. I feel like everyone’s voices, everyone’s efforts do make a change.”
November 5, 2025 at 3:29 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
❤️‍🔥Latest sticker acquisition.❤️‍🔥

Artwork by: Shapelessflame
Sticker that shows a cute cartoon image of West Virginia’s finest, the Mothman. Mothman is wearing a red bandana around his neck to symbolize what striking miners wore at Blair Mountain (origin of the term “redneck”) . In his one hand he is holding a boot with heavy treads and in the other hand he is holding a yellow rattlesnake from the Gadsen flag. The message on the sticker reads: “PSSST….Y’ALL… THEY’RE TREADING ON YOU!”
October 23, 2025 at 2:16 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
I always find this chart interesting/baffling/enraging.
Graph comparing Trump’s favorability versus unfavorability from 2017 through 2025. The graph shows a fairly consistent unfavorable percentage through nearly a decade with a notable exception during the months around the 2024 election where it shows favorable and unfavorable percentages nearly even.
October 22, 2025 at 3:33 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
October 21, 2025 at 4:09 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
Results of an AP-NORC poll that shows Trump disapproval rating of 61% and approval rating of 37%
October 18, 2025 at 12:41 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
Image of a wikipedia entry for USAID showing that its annual budget was $34 billion
October 15, 2025 at 5:20 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
Our civil war needs more Pikachu.
A video still of a person dressed in an inflatable Pikachu costume protesting in Turkey in March of 2025.
October 10, 2025 at 4:56 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
My god I’m so tired…
Headline from new york times article that reads: “Trump has his eyes on the Nobel Prize. Will he get it?” The photo in the article is am image of donald trump delivering his unhinged speech to the U.N.
October 10, 2025 at 1:53 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
What is this photo between the two trumps?
Zoomed in portion of presidential portraits hanging on wall with an unidentifiable framed image hanging between two presidential portraits of trump
September 24, 2025 at 6:09 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
Your Winston is very cute and sweet looking. Here is a picture of my Winston whom I miss a lot these days. 🤍
September 20, 2025 at 8:02 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
I love Only Murders in Building but I hate fascism more. 🥺
September 18, 2025 at 1:00 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
🚨AUTHORITARIAN CAPITALISM DOESN’T CARE ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS; IT CARES ABOUT YOUR MONEY. THE BIGGEST PUSHBACK YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW IS TO CANCEL YOUR DISNEY, HULU AND ESPN ACCOUNTS.🚨
September 17, 2025 at 11:49 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
I don’t have a Disney account—just Hulu—but still felt good. At this rate I’ll be saving thousands a year on content. 😖
September 17, 2025 at 11:31 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
nd the king wanted an inscription good for a thousand years and after that to the end of the world? “Yes, precisely so.” “Something so true and awful that no matter what happened it would stand?” “Yes, exactly that.” “Something no matter who spit on it or Laughed at it there it would stand And nothing would change it?” “Yes, that was what the king ordered his wise men to write.” “And what did they write?” “Five words: This too shall pass away.
August 2, 2025 at 7:22 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
I would but this is my Republican representative.
Photo of a fascist politician who is married to a Latina woman standing in front of illegally detained Latino men in a facility in which lawsuits now show are torturing detainees.
July 3, 2025 at 2:53 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
This wig is definitely the most Karen one.
Kristi Noem poses for a portrait wearing a wig that is short, cropped, and asymmetrical and which makes her look like she wants to speak to the manager,
July 2, 2025 at 2:49 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
Sinclair Broadcasting, y’all. 🤬
Screen grab of a national news desk article published on a Sinclair Broadcasting local news platform. The headline reads “VOTE: Should the federal government spend more money to combat Anti-Semitism?” with a photo of a smiling Zohran Mandami surrounded by a supporters, many of whom are Black.
June 26, 2025 at 3:45 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
We’re starting to dip more reliably into approval ratings in the high 30s. I still think the floor is 25%.
A list from the New York Times of reliable polls listed chronologically that depict sinking approval ratings. Three of the most recent polls show approval in the upper 30s.
June 23, 2025 at 11:17 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
This is America. 🇺🇸

( 📸: Grant Hindsley for the NYT )
A man joyfully leans out of the drivers side of a vehicle waving an American flag. He is smiling, wearing a t-shirt that reads “fearless” and also wearing a paper crown with the phrase “no king” written on it.
June 15, 2025 at 12:23 AM
rossman81.bsky.social
I agree… from the Washington Post
Washington Post article about the protests and the subheadline reads that “thousands” are protesting across America, which severely underestimates actual numbers.
June 14, 2025 at 9:47 PM
rossman81.bsky.social
June 14, 2025 at 1:33 AM