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knifeboots.xyz
Jen (they/them) says Free Link
@knifeboots.xyz
3.7K followers 790 following 4.9K posts
GenX, autistic, queer, nonbinary. Caps, Nats, Arsenal, USWNT hockey & soccer. IT nerd. Star Trek, Doctor Who, LOTR, GO, The Witcher, 🏳️‍🌈🏴‍☠️, Cryptid Factor. Parent to adult kids. [email protected] on Mastodon.
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knifeboots.xyz
Alt text.
I was a history teacher for more than 30 years. Happily, I retired before the current move to erase history took hold. In my classroom were students whose families had fled the Khmer Rouge, whose ancestors had been enslaved, whose parents were forced to flee when the ayatollah took over in Iran. My own parents were Holocaust survivors. These horrific events happened. My students saw images of swastikas and representations of the Trail of Tears, the forced displacement of Native Americans. They listened to Billie Holiday sing "Strange Fruit," a song about lynchings in the South, In the safe environment of my classroom, where we all knew each other and had built a framework of trust, students moved beyond the trauma and learned to be comfortable with discomfort, to understand the world better and live in it more productively and more proactively Ignorance is not bliss. It's just ignorance. Liz Zucker Cambridge, Mass.
November 18, 2025 at 4:17 AM
knifeboots.xyz
It's giving
The Mouth of Sauron with a creepily large smile, from Return of the King
November 12, 2025 at 7:26 PM
knifeboots.xyz
With alt text. First Circuit denies DOJ's request for a stay.
RIKELMAN, Circuit Judge. Forty-two million people, one out of every eight Americans, use monthly benefits from the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to buy food for themselves and their families. On October 24, 2025, a few weeks into the current government shutdown, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers SNAP funding on behalf of the federal government, announced it would not provide any funds for November SNAP benefits. The plaintiffs in this case -- nonprofits, local governments, a union, and a food retailer -- sued to require USDA to provide full November benefits using SNAP contingency funds Congress had appropriated for this very purpose, as well as other funds available to USDA. The district court granted a temporary restraining order requiring the government to provide either full SNAP payments by November 3 or partial payments by November 5. The government elected to provide partial benefits. On Thursday, November 6, the district court determined that the government had failed to comply with the order because it did not provide partial payments in a timely manner; it thus ordered the full payment of SNAP funds for November. The government now asks us to stay that order in its entirety pending its appeal. We deny that request.
November 10, 2025 at 5:21 AM
knifeboots.xyz
This is the kind of stuff that the other side puts out. "Reject rage and violence" is pretty rich coming from the party that cheers on brutal ICE raids.
A sign posted by the Republicans outside a voter precinct in Virginia. It reads: Unfit for Office Next to a picture of Jay Jones: "Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves." Next to a picture of Abigail Spanberger: "Let your rage fuel you!" Reject rage and violence Vote Republican Pwcgov dot gop
November 4, 2025 at 2:23 PM
knifeboots.xyz
Been a while since I've wrapped any pendants. Here's one using one of @nora.zone 's cabochons.
An oblong green fused glass cabochon with metallic sparkles and dark green spots, in a netting wrap of silver-plated wire. The bail features a decorative spiral.
October 31, 2025 at 5:24 AM
knifeboots.xyz
You do not have to hand one goddamn thing to MTG, but I wanted to point out something here. She is one of the devoted MAGA, a true believer, 100% sold on the rhetoric. And she is seeing now how much the rest of the party treats it like a farce, a smokescreen, a means to an end. 1/
Tweet from Marjorie Taylor Green: You left out that I said I have no respect for the House not being in session passing our bills and the President's executive orders. And I demanded to know from Speaker Johnson what the Republican plan for healthcare is to build the off-ramp off Obamacare and the ACA tax credits to make health insurance affordable for Americans. Johnson says he's got ideas and pages of policy ideas and committees of jurisdiction are working on it, but he refused to give one policy proposal to our GOP conference on our own conference call. Apparently I have to go into a SCIF to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!
October 28, 2025 at 6:12 PM
knifeboots.xyz
www.aboutamazon.com/news/aws/aws...
A haiku written on a background that is supposed to be reminiscent of Japanese art. The haiku reads: It's not DNS There's no way it's DNS It was DNS
October 21, 2025 at 5:16 PM
knifeboots.xyz
October 18, 2025 at 2:42 AM
knifeboots.xyz
A couple of Jeremy quotes about his Watsons.
Edward is even more remarkable. I'll give you an example. You can publish it or not, it makes no difference to me. When I came out of the asylum, the person who collected me was Edward Hardwicke. He took me to an Italian restaurant. I had a pasta and a glass of red wine. He then drove me back to my home where we sat and had a cup of tea. It was Edward Hardwicke. He is one of the loveliest people, and I suppose he is the best friend that any man has ever had....in life. Which is after all how Doyle describes Watson. (about David Burke) "The last time we finished filming together, I went down to the same train and waved goodbye to him. That was absolutely devastating. I don't know how I got back to the hotel. I thought 'What are we going to do now?' I was so proud of him for going back to his son. There would be more happy marriages if fathers went back to their children. His son was only two at the time."
October 10, 2025 at 3:39 AM
knifeboots.xyz
@standplaatskrk.pl the stickers are here and they look great! The tardigrade is gorgeous and the lines and text are crisp! Might put this on my car since it's a 5" sticker, and order a couple 3" stickers for my water bottle, if that's an option? Thank you again! 💜
Two stickers, one on top of the other. Both are the same design - a rainbow colored tardigrade on a white background. A circle surrounds it with the words, "Just because I can survive harsh conditions doesn't mean I should have to." The circle is a gradient from deep red to purple to blue to teal back to blue to purple to red.
October 9, 2025 at 6:20 PM
knifeboots.xyz
Took a last minute trip to @politicsprose.bsky.social to listen to @marthawells.com talk about her new book Queen Demon. Can confirm she is a lovely person. Also saw this bit of street art on my way back to the Metro.
A hardcover copy of Martha Wells's new book, Queen Demon. There is a Politics and Prose bookmark sticking out of the top of the book. A street mural in Union Market, DC. On the left, a masked ICE gent has Jesus in handcuffs on a black background. On the right is Donald Trump handcuffed with a masked agent behind him with NICE on his vest, on a white background. The two pictures are mirror images.
October 8, 2025 at 12:57 AM
knifeboots.xyz
Carrion's "AI Slop Posters" moderation list was flagged by BlueSky moderation because, according to them, it "appears intended to shame or abuse users", contains "unverified claims", and contains "harmful language such as insults or slurs". Meanwhile it's apparently fine to platform transphobes.
Excerpt of email sent to BlueSky user Carrion from BlueSky moderation: Hi there, Your BlueSky account (carrion.bsky.social) has created a list called "AI Slop Posters" that may violate our Community Guidelines. We've temporarily hidden this list from other users because it contains one or more of these issues: - Harmful language such as insults or slurs - Unverified claims - Appears intended to shame or abuse users
October 7, 2025 at 12:30 AM
knifeboots.xyz
Yeah the second one is one of my favorites and I wear it a lot. And that's exactly how it came out of the tumbler, I did no manual shaping whatsoever. It has a few nicks but I think that just adds to the character.
October 6, 2025 at 2:44 AM
knifeboots.xyz
Here you go! I need to make a beaded necklace for the first pendant. That's the one that would go great with Wings's snowflake obsidian cuff bracelet.
An oval-ish piece of polished snowflake obsidian, wrapped in silver plated wire. Suspended from the bottom on short pieces of sterling silver chain are three 4mm round beads of snowflake obsidian. A triangular piece of polished snowflake obsidian wrapped in silver plated wire, on a necklace made of beads of black jasper, snowflake obsidian, black obsidian tubes, hematite, silver plated tubes and smoky quartz tubes. A closeup of the polished snowflake obsidian pendant from the previous photo.
October 6, 2025 at 2:22 AM
knifeboots.xyz
Done.
Screenshot from a donation email
October 3, 2025 at 5:36 AM
knifeboots.xyz
In contrast, USASpending.gov, USA.gov, and OPM.gov are pretty normal.
Home page of USASpending.gov. A banner at the top reads "Due to the lapse in finding, there may be a delay in the release of data and support for this website. We will resume our normal data publication schedule and support operations once funding is restored. There is additional information at https://home.treasury.gov." Homepage of USA.gov. A banner at the top reads, "As a result of a temporary government shutdown, portions of this website are not being updated at this time. For more information on GSA's shutdown procedures, please go to Operations in the Absence of Appropriations." Home page of OPM.gov. A banner at the top reads, "Washington DC Area Operating Status: Due to a lapse in appropriations, Federal Government operations vary by agency. Applies to All Federal Government, until further notice."
October 1, 2025 at 4:26 PM
knifeboots.xyz
Here's some more.
DOJ:
The home page of DOJ, justice.gov. The banner across the top reads "Democrats have shut down the government. Department of Justice websites are not currently regularly updated. Please refer to the Department of Justice's contingency plan for more information."
October 1, 2025 at 4:14 PM
knifeboots.xyz
The cargo container ship Ever Given, with the shipping company name Evergreen on its hull, stuck in the Suez Canal.
October 1, 2025 at 4:09 AM
knifeboots.xyz
Who's your favorite Jedi, wrong answers only.
October 1, 2025 at 4:04 AM
knifeboots.xyz
This is important, so I'm reposting with alt text. I feel like our federal electeds need to remember that they, too, serve to uphold the Constitution.
LOYALTY TO THE CONSTITUTION The United States boldly broke with the ancient military custom of swearing loyalty to a leader. Article VI requires that American officers thereafter swear loyalty to our basic law, the Constitution. While many other nations have suffered military coups, the United States never has. Our American code of military obedience requires that, should orders and the law ever conflict, our officers must obey the law. Many other nations have adopted our principle of loyalty to the basic law. This nation must have military leaders of principle and integrity so strong that their oaths to support and defend the Constitution will unfailingly govern their actions. The purpose of the United States Military Academy is to provide such leaders of character.
September 30, 2025 at 11:30 PM
knifeboots.xyz
I so much want to reply to @clairewillett.bsky.social 's thread on Granada Holmes because I adore Jeremy Brett, bisexual icon, as Holmes and he was so dedicated to the part. He fought to make sure the episodes were true to canon.
(On deciding he wanted to play Holmes, after rereading the entire canon) "And I discovered all sorts of things that I could do if I had had the opportunity to do it. So I said 'yes!', with enormous temerity, and a certain amount of fear, and an element of excitement. We approached the scripts. I said, 'But you've asked me to do Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. These aren't Sherlock Holmes - Doyle's stories.' I mean, the adapters had gone so far away. And the script editor said, 'Jeremy, you're here to act. Just get on with it'. And I tipped the table over and my Dover sole landed in his lap. And that was the beginning of the tousle. I used to take the whole canon with me to...the beginning of each film, and fight for Doyle. After about a year and a half I said, 'Listen, if you don't start taking care of me I may lose interest', because it was such a tussle. But than Granada Studios stepped in and were so remarkable and wonderful and gave me two weeks rehearsal instead of the one. So the first week I could fight for Doyle and the second week I could work with my fellow actors. And that's basically how it's been ever since. (November 1991 interview)
September 30, 2025 at 7:29 AM
knifeboots.xyz
Here is the script I just used when calling @markwarner.bsky.social and @kaine.senate.gov . Feel free to use it to call your senators.

Cis people, y'all need to take a minute and call your electeds about this. Trans people are less than 1% of the US population. Fucking HELP US.
I am a nonbinary person who has directly benefitted from trans healthcare, and I'm calling to demand that the Senator not allow Donald Trump to take away access to transgender health care for anyone, let alone people with federal or state health insurance. He needs to stand firm on this and not be bullied by the president. Now is not the time to sacrifice people in the hopes of appeasing a power-mad dictator. If the Senator caves and allows Trump to do this to us, I will do everything in my power to ensure he is primaried and never serves another term in Congress.
September 29, 2025 at 7:05 PM
knifeboots.xyz
With alt text.
NickFrank40 @NickyFrank30 My grandfather used to say "and Magda Goebbels made a great strudel" and I never knew what it meant until after he died my grandmother explained some magazine did a fluff interview with Magda Goebbels a few years before WW2 that included her strudel recipe and my grandfather, who hated the Nazis with the passion of 10,000 suns, thought it was an example of the media sanitizing evil people and he would use the phrase when someone asked him to overlook a bad person doing bad things and focus on the good.
September 22, 2025 at 3:22 AM
knifeboots.xyz
With alt text.
Statement from Tino Gagliardi, International President of the American Federation of Musicians on ABC Taking "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Off the Air Washington DC - American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada International President Tino Gagliardi issued the following statement in response to the ABC taking Jimmy Kimmel Live!," which employs musicians from Local 47 in Los Angeles, off the air: "This is not complicated: Trump's FCC identified speech it did not like and threatened ABC with extreme reprisals. This is state censorship. It iSs now happening in the United States of America, not some far-off country. It's happening right here and right now. This act by the Trump Administration represents a direct attack on free speech and artistic expression. These are fundamental rights that we must protect in a free society. The American Federation of Musicians strongly condemns the decision to take Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air. We stand in solidarity with all those who will be without work because of government overreach."
September 18, 2025 at 5:54 AM
knifeboots.xyz
With alt text.
Ben Cohen @YoBenCohen To the Ben & Jerry's Community: It's with a broken heart that I've decided 1 can no longer, in good conscience, and after 47 years, remain an employee of Ben & Jerry's, I am resigning from the company Ben and started back in 1978. This is one of the hardest and most painful decisions I've ever made. This isn't because l've lost my love for the people at Ben & Jerry's. Quite the opposite The folks who show up every day in our factories, scoop shops, and offices are some of the most passionate, caring, and values-driven people you'll ever meet. They are the soul of Ben & Jerry's. What has made their work so important to me, and what allowed the company to be more than just an ice cream company, was the independence to pursue our values, which was guaranteed when Unilever bought the company. For more than twenty years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry's stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice, and human rights, not as abstract concepts, but in relation to real events happening in our world. That independence existed in no small part because of the unique merger agreement Ben and I negotiated with Unilever, one that enshrined our social mission and values in the company's governance structure in perpetuity. It's profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone. And it's happening at a time when our country's current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community. Standing up for the values of justice, equity, and our shared humanity has never been more important, and yet Ben & Jerry's has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power. It's easy to stand up and speak out when there's nothing at risk. The real test of values is when times are challenging and you have something to lose. Love, equity, justice. They're part of who Ben and I are, and they've always been the true foundation of Ben & Jerry's. From the very beginning, Ben and I believed that our values and the pursuit of justice were more important than the company itself. If the company couldn't stand up for the things we believed, then it wasn't worth being a company at all. It was always about more than just ice cream; it was a way to spread love and invite others into the fight for equity, justice and a better world. Coming to the conclusion that this is no longer possible at Ben & Jerry's means I can no longer remain part of Ben & Jerry's. lf I can't carry those values forward inside the company today, then I will carry them forward outside, with all the love and conviction I can. With love, Jerry
September 17, 2025 at 6:02 AM