Don Davis replied very quickly to my letter. Unfortunately, it’s about what I expected: “I didn’t mean it as support for the policies...” even though his vote funds the policies.
I stand by what I wrote in the letter to him: “Your vote for this clearly communicates that the violence and death detailed above is negotiable.”
His full reply:
“The Trump administration must take immediate and decisive action to put an end to the violence and disorder caused by masked ICE and federal agents who have torn through communities, taken lives, and shattered public trust. It is absolutely heartbreaking, infuriating, and utterly unacceptable to see another family left grieving after a tragic encounter with federal agents. My deepest condolences go to those affected by this devastating event in Minneapolis; yet, condolences alone will not suffice.
People across America are demanding accountability, transparency, and a humane approach to enforcement that respects the dignity and rights of all individuals. An independent, comprehensive investigation into this fatal shooting is essential to uncover the whole truth and ensure accountability. We must not stand by and allow a cover-up.
I want to be clear about my vote on H.R. 7147, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2026. My support for this measure was driven by FEMA and disaster relief funds for North Carolina communities and others across the nation in need, as well as by support for our U.S. Coast Guard. The vote was never an endorsement of ICE’s conduct. It was never in support of ICE's brutality or the excesses of the Department of Homeland Security.
It has been made painfully clear now more than ever that ICE and other federal immigration enforcement agents must adhere to the standards we expect of traditional law enforcement agencies. We must not allow poorly trained, improperly directed, and heavily armed federal agents to operate with impunity on our streets. Secretary Kristi Noem, who has so far refused to take meaningful action to rein them in, must be held responsible.
— email reply from Don Davis, 2026-01-26
I’m so weary of how people have internalized the propaganda that getting viral infections is no big deal.
Currently reading: The Stone Sky by (ISBN 9780316229258)
Want to read: Project Hail Mary by (ISBN 9780593135204)
★★★★★ Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by
This was a fantastic story of human connection spanning decades and the characters really drew me in. While a binding factor is their love for and creation of video games, I think it is still very accessible and hope that won’t put anyone off reading it. Read: it’s not just a story for gamers.
I keep coming back to this one line:
“Humans want so much. I am glad to be a bird.”
Finished reading: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by (ISBN 9780593321218)
Want to read: The Language of the Night by (ISBN 9781668034903)
I enjoyed watching the replay of the Disabled Body of Christ’s Christmas Eve service. I’m reflecting on the prompt: “Where is one place in your life or the world where you want love to be born this Christmas?”
About the service:
“Disabled people are a necessary part of the Body of Christ. This is not a healing service because our bodies are not problems to be fixed and disabled bodies are also part of the Body of Christ just as we are.”
It’s part of the Episcopalian church and streams Wednesdays at 11AM Eastern on TikTok. It is usually about 25 minutes long.
What a lovely post. Thank you for introducing me to this term!
Just learned you can create QR codes pretty easily in LibreOffice:
- Menu: Insert > OLE Object > QR and Barcode
- Enter the URL and tada!
It inserts an object in the document at that point, so it can be resized and moved around. It is not an image that can be exported separately from the document (or at least, I have not found out how to do so yet). This worked OK for my needs, though, which was creating a PDF document with some QR codes in it.
Via help.libreoffice.org page
You tell me not to eat them but then name them things like nugget, c'mon! :)
For today’s IndieWeb Create Day, I finally updated the layout on my article permalinks. Several years ago, I started updating non-homepage pages to use a streamlined template with a smaller header logo and navigation links beside it. I kept putting off the article permalinks because a lot of messy, custom code piled up in it over the years. The end visual result is not a huge difference, but it will make maintenance a lot easier going forward.
I improved some of the layout in the article footer while I was at it. I moved my author card to the very bottom of the page, instead of putting it between the article footer and responses. That let me remove the links to jump to the response, which was kind of a weird experience before. I also set the metadata (published date, tags, syndication links) to be right-aligned, matching the layout on the rest of my posts.
Here is what it looks like now:
Contrasted with how it looked before:
Go Google, give us nothing!
Reference: Know Your Meme
Want to read: Year of the Tiger by (ISBN 9780593315392)
Purity Ring last night was such a good show and refreshing in multiple ways. The production was awesome, with several spinning LED “fans” that showed video, making the video look like it’s hanging in the air in the space around them. There were several of those in front of and behind them, plus a large screen at the back of the stage, so it was a really cool 3D effect. Photos don’t quite do it justice since they pause the spinning, but they still came out pretty cool.
I was also excited for this show because the band requested fans wear a respirator mask and provided them if anyone needed them. I was even more impressed when I learned that they invited mask blocs from each city to table at the event, so my Fan Favorite SD buddies were there and I got to meet a few new people!
The band talked about it briefly, thanking everyone who masked and stressing its importance as an act of community care. 💛😷
As the Mandalorians say, “This is the way.”
Hey Portland, just saw that starting November 1, Heretic Coffee is offering free breakfast to anyone losing SNAP benefits. No proof needed and no questions asked.
I quite enjoyed KPop Demon Hunters. Loved the animation style, quite funny, and some good bops. It’s one I probably wouldn’t have considered without a friend’s recommendation, so I’m passing it along.