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Hear Her Roar: Ecofeminist Author Susan Griffin Isn't Going Away - Cal Alumni Association

For me, the news of Griffin's passing sends me back to her 1992 book, "A Chorus of Stones," and Rosner's newest, "Third Ear." Meanwhile, here's my profile of their 2017 conversation, which which remains (sadly) timely and relevant. end/ alumni.berkeley.edu/california-m...

alumni.berkeley.edu

Feminism has come roaring back, from the recent popular vote to pussy hats and other forms of protest. And so have its opponents. Whether happenstance or part of the Zeitgeist, Counterpoint Press last...

To find inspiration these days, I would suggest returning to both Griffin and Rosner's books which in so many ways knew what was coming, understood the stakes, and proposed spiritually grounded responses to it all. 3/of several

This event was occasioned by Counterpoint Press' reissue of Griffin's book "Women and Nature: The Roaring Inside Her." Also, the reissue and attendant conversation took place about a week after the first Women's March, a global response to the toxic stew that now engulfs us. 2/of several

Yesterday, I learned on Elizabeth Rosner's Instagram post that the great, Berkeley-based author Susan Griffin has passed. Impossible to weigh the loss of her presence with the life-sustaining gift of her books and groundbreaking ideas. 1/of several

BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

Strange time to be traveling. In Bologna for the annual #CinemaRitrovato film festival of restored gems of world cinema. So, we are time-traveling as well. Thinking abt what has been lost, deliberately left behind, or worth saving. Plus, #KatherineHeburn gems curated by author/critic #MollyHaskell!

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BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

Proud to be making my second appearance in the #communityofwriters quarterly, this time with a tribute to author Norman M. Klein. (See "Days of Future Past: Catching Up with Author Norman M. Klein") ogquarterly.org Check it out! #historyofforgettng #booksky #booklover #losangeleshistory

ogquarterly.org

Omnium Gatherum Quarterly – OGQ: A Project of the Community of Writers.

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Neil deGrasse Tyson @neildegrassetyson.com · 17/05/2025

The 80-year recipe stoking America’s Prosperity: 1) Free-market capital investments in brilliant ideas… 2) enabled by Engineering Innovations… 3) based on Science Research in Universities… 4) funded by Grants from the US Government. It’s time more people understood this.

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BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

Why would I need to read Joan Didion's "Notes to John" when I'm already listening to the audio version of Lili Anolik's "Didion and Babitz"? And just, wow, I am loving Anolik's heartfelt, gossipy, well-researched portrait of Eve Babitz. I love Didion, too, always have. But Babitz is the revelation.

Suitcase Genealogist @suitcasegen.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

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Celebrate the power of place this May for #PreservationMonth with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Learn more about this year’s theme, Harnessing the Power of Place, and the countless ways that preservation creates. savingplaces.org/stories/pres...

savingplaces.org

Preservation Month 2025 | National Trust for Historic Preservation

This May, for Preservation Month, we’re celebrating the power of place—and the countless ways, big and small, that preservation creates. The work you do strengthens communities, breathes new life into...

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Elliott Lusztig @elliottlusztig.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

The Supreme Court is issuing 1AM injunctions on a Friday night ordering the Trump administration to stop deporting people to El Salvador.

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BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

I already bought more books than I can carry home and #AWP25 hasn’t even officially started. On the other hand, my friend took me to North Figueroa Bookstore - what was I supposed to do? Wait till we went to Skylight Books? The Last Bookstore? AWP’s mammoth Bookfair? C’mon. Be real. #booksky

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BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Heading to Los Angeles for #AWP25 and listening to the audio version of Didion & Babitz about women, literature, and the storied LA scene of the 60s and 70s. It’s narrated by the author Lili Anolik, who voices this memoir/deeply researched hybrid. An era this hometown girl always finds fascinating.

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BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Took my first class from "Five Things I Learned" w/ poet Matthew Zapruder. Channeling imagination --> production is always a stretch. But now? Much harder. Grateful that M.Z. shared ways to "touch your novel (poem, etc) every day & keep our creative lights on." myfivethings.com/class/metthe...

Poet and author Matthew Zapruder on Zoom as he led a two-hour discussion on "Maintaining a Creative Practice in the Chaos" via the website "Five Things I Learned" Link in post.

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BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

Thanks, @tomandlorenzo.bsky.social! I've much to say about dogs, music, theater, books, history. I'll start with this pandemic-era photo of YOUR BOOK. It was a Xmas present to fellow board members of Rainbow Honor Walk. We all loved your seriously rich scholarship wrapped in a package of fabulous.

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Keith @mosheroperandi.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Yeah, this is not a supply chain that can survive getting gouged 25% every time a part crosses a border.

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Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 24/02/2025

To make yourself less valuable to Meta, @lastweektonight.com recommends EFF's Privacy Badger extension and Surveillance Self-Defense guide to disable mobile ad tracking on your phone: www.johnoliverwantsyourraterotica.com

johnoliverwantsyourraterotica.com

How to Change Your Meta Settings | Make yourself less valuable to Meta. Brought to you by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

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BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Saw @hughryan.bsky.social's photos of today's demo at Stonewall/NPS Historic Site in NYC. I was there June '24 for Pride Month. Thought I'd re-up some photos. Don't mess with historians. This material, like us L-G-B-T-Q people, is EVERYWHERE. No one can erase our history. More details in alt text.

That me in June, 2024, next to a photo of Stormé DeLarverie who historians cite as one of the key figures igniting the rebellion at what is now the NPS/Stonewall National Monument. The pocket park used to be covered in historic photos of the June 1969 event. I'm not mad at any Park Service employee or federal worker. Many of them lost their jobs this week. But we remember our history.

A photographic reminder from June 2024 of the gay-lesbian-bi-and-TRANS history that adorned the NPS/Stonewall National Monument site. A much-loved and hard-earned history that the current Administration is trying to bury. They won't succeed.

A photographic reminder from June 2024 of the gay-lesbian-bi-and-TRANS history that adorned the NPS/Stonewall National Monument site. This photo includes a close-up of trans activist Marsha P. Johnson, who is loved and remembered at sites including SF's #RainbowHonorWalk, #NationalWomen'sHistoryMuseum and in the hearts and memories of countless generations.

Some of our history is written in bronze—and really hard for the NPS to erase! Including this bronze plaque in front of the privately owned Stonewall Inn, now operated by the Pride Live nonprofit commemorating the original site of the historic 1969 rebellion. Say it loud, say it proud: L-G-B-T-Q

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Jason Rosenberg @mynameisjro.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

HAPPENING NOW: AIDS ADVOCATES ARE OUTSIDE THE US STATE DEPARTMENT TO PROTEST TRUMP AND RUBIOS FREEZE ON AID AND ATTACKS ON PEPFAR IMPACTING 20 MILLION PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV WORLDWIDE.

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Ezra Levin ❌👑 @ezralevin.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

When I was a Hill staffer in 2009, a Dem trifecta was trying to pass universal healthcare. In response, Senate GOP released a memo detailing all of the tactics they in the minority could use to delay the effort as much as possible. I'm recirculating that 2009 GOP memo here. Take inspiration from it.

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T. Greg Doucette @gregdoucette.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

➡️ January 20: FAA director fired ➡️ January 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen ➡️ January 22: Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded ➡️ January 28: Buyout/retirement demand sent to existing employees ➡️ January 29: First American mid-air collision in 16 years Making America Great Again!

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Eric Feigl-Ding @drericding.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Do you wonder why you haven’t heard much about this massive TB outbreak recently? Cuz the CDC can’t hold any press conferences or issue public statements of any kind. abcnews.go.com/Health/kansa...

abcnews.go.com

Kansas faces one of the largest tuberculosis outbreaks in US history

Kansas is currently facing one the largest tuberculosis outbreaks in U.S. history with 67 confirmed active cases and 79 confirmed latent cases.

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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Hi that was a coup last night in case no one mentioned that to you. The executive branch seized the power of the purse the Constitution gave to Congress, which is a pretty authoritarian / illegal consolidation of powers move. Time to go yell at your reps, the media, etc.

Hey friends! We're seeing a lot of terrible things. We're not able to cover all of them, but we felt this latest one is a really big deal and needs much more awareness.

Our summary is this: It's an administrative coup. Trump has ordered tens of billions (maybe up to $3 trillion) of budget halted indefinitely in a blatantly illegal move. He's claiming power to halt and potentially redirect funding that's already been authorized by Congress — a classic authoritarian move.

Here's what we know. And we're doing our best to catch up with this story, because it's moving fast.

There's a memo from Matthew Vaeth, the acting head of the Office of Management and Budget. (That's the same government entity who set-up the DEI "snitch" line, that's now been spammed by tens of thousands of our fellow residents.)

In typical Trump-style, the memo gets its facts wrong. It claims in FY2024 the US government spent $10 trillion (actually it was $6.8 trillion). It says money should be used for the administration's priorities — "The use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering policies is a waste of taxpayer dollars that does not improve the day-to-day lives of those we serve." (Again, it's very fact deficient.)

The memo says a pause will begin at 5pm on January 28th where, "Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all Federal financial assistance, and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including, but not limited to, financial assistance for foreign aid, nongovernmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the green new deal."

Anyone promised federal grants might have their money at risk, even states. This is Congressional directed spending and Trump is ordering people to not do it. This funding includes universities for education and research programs, nonprofits, local and tribal governments, disaster relief aid, e…

So what can we do?

It's been a lot. And the shock approach of this administration is to overwhelm us with nonsense and a state of paralysis. We continue to believe the best thing is to stay grounded and keep yourself sane amidst insanity.

At this juncture, three actions we suggest that make sense to us:

1) Urge media to cover this story properly

This is not "possibly illegal" — it's "patently illegal." You can read notes on that here.

It's not "temporary" — it's "indefinite." There's no timetable for ending it.

It's not just a memo — it's an administrative coup.

2) Urge your Representatives to act like this is a big deal

If you know us, this isn't a knee-jerk action we suggest. We think this is a strategic because it's Congress that's being violated — their power is being directly undermined.

3) Continue to support ACLU and Democracy Forward

These groups have been preparing litigation for some time. Unless Trump revokes this, this will certainly make its way through the courts. Our read is even the biased courts will have trouble swallowing this — so it may end up being shut down.

Keep breathing. “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again," Nelson Mandela.

Warmly,

- Choose Democracy

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BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

From today’s NYT: “Biden…commuted the life sentence for Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist convicted of killing two F.B.I. agents in 1975 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota….Peltier, who is 80 years old…[will] serve the remainder of his time in home confinement.”

Veronica Bane @veronicabane.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

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Did your child lose their book collection in the Los Angeles fires? Are you a teacher at a school that lost its library or your classroom library? Whether you need one book or a whole library, we can replace your books. 📚 Everyone else, please boost this post so we can connect with those in need. 🙏

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Saeed Jones @theferocity.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

I just realized that we were (and still are) enduring three US presidential elections at once: 2016, 2020 and 2024 all at the same time.

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BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 29/12/2024

Jimmy Carter’s lost second term in 1980 put us firmly on the bad road leading to the recent election — and so many other awful policy decisions made by the Reagan and Bush I and II administrations. See also: www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/caps...

BTBaum @btbaum.bsky.social · 28/12/2024

The state department’s online portal to renew your US passport is FAST!! They promise 6 to 8 weeks, but we got ours back in 2 (two!!) freakin’ weeks. Government works when staffed with competent, sane people.

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Patrick S. Tomlinson @stealthygeek.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Vaccines are why 1 of every 4 of us didn't die in infancy. Fluoride is why most of us keep our teeth into old age. The ACA is why 21 million of us can see a doctor. The FDIC is why we don't lose our life savings. And a handful of GOP billionaires want to take it all away.

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I wish I had more photos but really, we spent most of our time at the hospital’s CCU on the fourth floor.

One spot that remains outside time is Cafe Nouveau. Here, bouncers admit people into the bungalow’s cozy dining room single file. Classic French advertising posters line the walls. Romy Schneider or Jeanne Moreau do lunch while their agents finalize deals in nearby LA. A thick fog discolors the air.

Ventura (not the highway, but the town) is where Earl Stanley Gardner wrote the Perry Mason novels. He set his first 1933 novel in the Pierpont Hotel which we thought might have a touch of noir. It’s a little down at the heels, although pleasantly close to the water where locals walk their dogs.

As John Lennon sang, life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. This week we’ve been in Ventura/Ojai to support a family member in the hospital. Good news is that he is moving onwards to rehab tomorrow! Nighttime is ours for exploring. It’s an interesting town.