it’s the first time I’ve actually reported something since 2022. first time I’ve ever reported something on this tight a timeline. and it had everything! issues with people’s microphones, speakers with accents, parties sniping at each other, written testimony not available until afterwards

what a cutie!!

what’s the opposite of a smize? it looks like her mouth is upturned but her eyes are saying absolutely not

he is literally perfect and I would go to war for him.

I hope he can find his way to a home where the people love him just the way he is, and very soon! 🖤🤍

probably so. definitely have safety concerns about driverless trucks too, but I also assume that’s not figuring into their calculations because it never does 🤷‍♀️

it’s not a profession people go into because they love to drive or want to see the country, they do it because it doesn’t take long to get minimally qualified and get to work, and because making some money is better than making no money at all.

a lot of these young truckers are like my dad was for most of his career - long hours, tight deadlines, low pay, and often coaxing substandard rigs to the next stop - but without the benefit of the training he had. and long routes or over-the-road jobs are really hard for people with families.

I’ll feel better when Dad is off the road - he’s hoping to retire in January - but the only reason he’s even in a position to talk about retiring was that he finally got in with a company that takes care of their drivers when he was 41 years old. it was the first time he had health insurance.

my dad always says his time as a truck driver in the Army taught him to do things the right way and be prepared for any number of scenarios. that said, in many circumstances, trucking is still a physically punishing job that often doesn’t pay well.

there’s a national debt clock installed in a bus stop near my office in DC, and the folks who put up/maintain it have put the same data on electronic billboards elsewhere. same principle here, and the infrastructure already exists to get it in front of people’s eyes.

thank you!!

there are still a lot of times during the day where Coal likes to do his own thing, and that’s great! he will ask for attention when he wants it. but I love that he’s just as big a snuggle bug at night now as his brother always has been.

agribusiness scale, related to international commerce. a lot of discussion of phorid flies too 🤢

so the thing I was sitting in on was a preliminary proceeding more for report writing but god some of the participants were so damn petty about what their opposition presented

right! there definitely could be a mental health component (seems likely), but this is a guy who’s said and done whatever the hell he wants for decades, and has been mostly unchallenged doing so. the norms and precedents our past presidents followed don’t mean anything to him.

I have to wonder how much of his present behavior is influenced by the fact that, for years, he has said and done whatever he wants, and no matter how egregious or inflammatory it is, it’s gone largely unchecked. people express disagreement and anger, but there haven’t been real consequences.