Hello Friends. How are you? Did you have a good week? The big adventure at our house over the past few days was snow. Our area is very rainy, but snow is rare, so it was a fun change of pace. It’s also been below-zero cold all week, but will start warming up again on Sunday — next week should be in the 40s and 50s. I’m especially grateful for the coming warmer weather because it makes the renovation work go more smoothly.
This Sunday is Valentine’s Day. To celebrate, we like to host a simple breakfast for the kids — it’s so nice when the 14th falls on a weekend and we can make it a brunch instead. If I get a burst of energy, maybe we’ll make some heart-shaped sugar cookies as well. How about you? Anything Valentines-y happening at your house? (Lots of fun ideas here.)
Ready for a weekend link list? Here are a few things I’ve wanted to share with you:
-Abolish the racist, sexist subminimum wage now.
-Only a very, very small fraction of conservative Americans participate in acts of domestic terrorism. At the same time, Republican voters have stuck with the party despite its recent shift toward move overt and aggressive anti-democratic behavior.
-Gorgeous patterned ancient Roman floor discovered under vines in Italy — and it seems to be in pristine condition.
-American torture. A Virginia prison held a man in solitary confinement for over 600 days.
-Capitol rioters searched for Nancy Pelosi in a way that should make every woman’s skin crawl.
-“Just a generation before us, people kept shotguns and hunting rifles in their cars. They only had them around the home because they needed them for protection against animals. Since the 1960s, this culture of guns has been changing.”
–Pretty cutting boards on Etsy that feel like you picked them up from a French brocante.
Here are some tweets I saved for you:
-All the heart eyes for these little vehicles.
-If cops weren’t scared during the insurrection, they are never scared and should not be allowed to use that as a defense.
-The Big Lie is THE stance of the Republican Party.
-Least hours doing paid work, most hours eating and drinking.
-Funny tweet, plus interesting thread and comments.
-Hundreds of ideas for a bit of joy, coming in under $25.
–Woah.
-This is so cool. Click to see what they made, and to make your own.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I’ll meet you back here on Monday. I miss you already.
kisses,
Gabrielle
Thank you, Gabby. You are truly the best. Have a good weekend!
What a treasure trove of links today!!
One thing I read re capitol insurrection and the capitol police remaining holstered—they said the mob was heavily armed and trigger-happy and they knew no backup was coming, so firing was basically ensuring many police would die as they were far outnumbered.
It makes sense….but also…okay, so BLM protestors should show up heavily armed to provide a reason for cops not to be violent towards them? It’s like a ridiculous mutually assured destruction policy. Reforming the police needs to be a top priority.
Enjoy the snow and the festive weekend. 😊
I totally agree that the Capitol Police were outmatched and knew it, and that’s a prime reason they ended up shooting only one person. I don’t think it’s accurate to assume that they weren’t scared. And if their lack of fear was the reason for their restraint, couldn’t it be because they aren’t scared of white people, but they are scared of black people? Regardless, if they had opened fire on the mob, I think there would have been massive fatalities on both sides. But I don’t think this whole event teaches us much about how to prevent cops from killing black men at traffic stops.
Re tweet: How do people spend their time?
Always glad to see Our World in Data cited. Such a great service, and a pleasure to read simple, honest, researched facts.
https://ourworldindata.org/