Nougat

Drank some coffee while the dog romped in the first snow of the year. Made him come back in when he started a bark party. Too early for that.

If I tell him to, he knows to stop at the mat just inside the patio doors so I can get down on the floor and dry his feet off with a dog-specific towel thing we have. He loves getting dried off.

Propaganda of the deed, or propaganda by the deed, is a type of direct action intended to influence public opinion. The action itself is meant to serve as an example for others to follow, acting as a catalyst for social revolution. It is primarily associated with acts of violence perpetrated by proponents of insurrectionary anarchism in the late 19th and early 20th century, including bombings and assassinations aimed at the state, the ruling class in a spirit of anti-capitalism, and church arsons targeting religious groups, even though propaganda of the deed also had non-violent applications. These acts of terrorism were intended to ignite a "spirit of revolt" by demonstrating the state, the middle and upper classes, and religious organizations were not omnipotent as well as to provoke the State to become escalatingly repressive in its response.

The four boxes of liberty is a 19th-century American idea that proposes: "There are four boxes to be used in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and cartridge. Please use in that order."

In between his posts on Truth Social announcing nominees for his incoming administration, President-elect Donald Trump urged Republicans Wednesday to nix a bipartisan bill that would give journalists greater protections under federal law.

Protect the Fourth Estate.

Realpolitik ( ray-AHL-po-lih-teek German: [ʁeˈaːlpoliˌtiːk] ; from German real 'realistic, practical, actual' and Politik 'politics') is the approach of conducting diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly following ideological, moral, or ethical premises. In this respect, it shares aspects of its philosophical approach with those of realism and pragmatism.

While generally used as a positive or neutral term, Realpolitik has been also used pejoratively to imply political policies that are perceived as being coercive, amoral, or Machiavellian.

Homeowners association stuff. The builder deeded some land to the association that they were supposed to deed to the village, and we have to fix that.

“The biggest act of resistance that trans people can do in this country is to refuse to die," said one trans person who fled Texas with TikTok's help.

I'm personally a bigger fan of "elbow grease" assistance over financial assistance, because there will be scammers who take advantage. But it's absolutely true that financial assistance is something that people definitely need in order to stay safe.

If you choose to participate in this kind of essentially anonymous mutual aid, be careful, be diligent.

While sitting in his truck, McElroy was shot at several times but hit only twice—once by a centerfire bullet and once by a .22 rimfire bullet. In all, there were 46 potential witnesses to the shooting, including Trena McElroy, who was in the truck with her husband when he was shot. Nobody called for an ambulance. Only Trena claimed to identify a gunman; every other witness was either unable to name an assailant or claimed not to have seen who fired the fatal shots. The DA declined to press charges, and an extensive federal investigation did not lead to any charges either. Missouri-based journalist Steve Booher described the attitude of some townspeople as "he needed killing."

Class war sounds ugly, but it’s exactly what Republicans and their billionaire backers have been waging against working class Americans for 43 years now. It’s damn well time to fight back by declaring a class war of our own.

This article lays out a pretty good argument for a way to start getting through all this, if there's the political will to put it into action. It seems to me that the response to the UHC CEO death signals that people are primed for it.

Some of us have the luxury of being able to openly call out bullshit. If you are one, do that where and when you find it, do that for the people who don't have that luxury and need to hunker down and get ready for the worst.

A recent neo-Nazi rally in Columbus, Ohio, drew national attention—but it was just one of dozens that increasingly-emboldened white power groups have held this year.

This is why resistance is necessary.

The Schrader valve (also called American valve) is a type of pneumatic tire valve used on virtually every motor vehicle in the world today.

You can get valve core tools for real cheap at any auto parts store or bike shop, probably hardware stores, too.

Probably not a bad idea to keep one of these handy, and some valve cores, too, just in case some miscreant decides to use their valve core tool to steal yours. Of course, you'll also want to have your own tire inflator handy to reinflate all four of your completely flat tires afterwards.

Without this preparedness, you could find yourself with a disabled vehicle.

Now I never have to think about the porch lights again.