Leslie Burns

US copyright attorney, primarily for photographers and other visual artists. WAY- Leftie. LGBTQ+ ally. Feminist. Supporter of Black and other PoC voices. Poor-person’s Martha Stewart. Drives a stick-shift, usually too fast. Rides a Triumph. Dabbles in linguistics. Hates fascists. Bad Buddhist.
[Was on legal.social until recently, in case you think I look familiar]

Public Key

npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz

NIP-05 Address

leslieburns_at_esq.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs89sk6xlkmlrxw6q0megcmr5ztpfwz7q58kj8akz2gue3q0na094gpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds5uf7jx

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1wtpd5dldh7xva5qlhj33k8gykzju9upg0dy0mvy53enzql867t2swqrrxz

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Last Notes

2026-07-29 19:35:11 UTC

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Copyright is not the enemy here. Don't go there--the enemy are these heartless, greedy companies that are trying to EVADE the protections of copyright (etc.) which should have (but failed to) save these actual books.

2026-05-11 23:08:40 UTC

Men get concierge medical care including imaging and medication for a sore muscle, but a woman complaining of flu-like symptoms after being exposed to hantavirus is told it’s anxiety.
I fucking give up.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/11/french-womandoctors-hantavirus-symptoms-hv-hondius

2026-04-28 00:43:05 UTC

A variation on a basil elderflower gimlet that, afaik, I just invented.
Muddle a few basil leaves in a shaker then add
2.25oz vodka
.5oz elderflower liqueur
.5oz lime juice (estimated here… a very small lime from my tree)
.5oz Lillet Rosé
Shake and strain through fine mesh.
You smell the basil first then taste the elderflower and then finishes brightly.
I need a name for it…pink elderflower basil gimlet is too sterile…
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/116/479/524/006/604/446/original/0814cf8050af70b8.jpeg

2026-04-27 16:16:42 UTC

Online Dating Follies, No. 39248
Profile includes...
"We'll get along if...You're a sapiophile conservative adventurer..."
and
"Decades a lawyer then felon. Seek a blue eyed [sic] woman nearby who can accept Trump."
It would be faster to just write
"Disbarred Jan 6er looking for Aryan mistress."

2026-04-17 17:45:16 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@randahl/116420461487009518
Oooh, love her. "Doctor Jesus" is a good line, but that's not what you wait for here. 😉
#note19fp…jypc

2026-04-13 19:18:29 UTC

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That is a misreading, IMO. The criteria for participation were, "Men were eligible if they self-identified as men, were in the age range 18 to 34 years, and reported having had a sexual encounter with a woman in the past 2 years."
Also, if it were only for those who admittedly coerced, etc., then the percentage would have been 100, not 95.1.
@npub1d0q…sr7c

2026-04-11 17:37:27 UTC

Back on carbs and baking for it. The brownies are made with sourdough discard. It’s a King Arthur recipe but I add nuts (pecans this time). The boule is my usual.
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/116/387/268/837/084/732/original/31ebbf5bb87ff492.jpeg
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/116/387/268/929/368/253/original/9f357ed26460d25a.jpeg

2026-03-23 21:42:29 UTC

Daily Beast headline:
Charlie Kirk's 'Mentor' Dies After Freak Pickleball Accident
Not on any bingo card, I'm betting.

2026-03-15 03:36:47 UTC

RE: https://social.ketupat.me/@huey/116230628785311844
Yikes.
#note1mhc…6y0v

2026-03-03 21:10:42 UTC

I had to run some errands so I took the Triumph. It was one of those rare, perfect days. Not just the weather--70ºF, sunny, not windy (sorry people not in SoCal)--but one where I felt one with the moto. Smooth turns and shifts, unweighting at just the right time over bumps...just magical. And, despite a ton of Teslas and even a WankPanzer, not a single stupid driver move.

2026-02-11 00:59:59 UTC

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And the inside of the card…
4/
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/116/049/248/122/087/207/original/2ebeb5ad1725631b.jpeg

2026-02-11 00:59:59 UTC

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And when I opened the card, these fell out. 3/
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/116/049/232/908/753/478/original/571e52586ff0863a.jpeg

2026-02-11 00:59:59 UTC

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Unsigned. No idea who it was, but I have been weeping since I read it. ❤️❤️❤️🙏💪
This person has no idea who I am but he gave me so much support in my craziness with the signs, etc.
This is the second time I have received anonymous thanks. I am so very touched.
/end

2026-02-11 00:59:58 UTC

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Inside was this card. 2/
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/116/049/222/592/538/486/original/d463cbdb414bf1bd.jpeg

2026-02-11 00:59:58 UTC

Holy shit.
I was just sitting on the sofa, considering what to do about dinner, when some guy whose face I didn’t see came up my steps and put something in my mailbox. He had a blue heeler waiting at the water bowl. By the time I got up and opened the door, they were gone. And this was in the box. 1/
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/116/049/217/416/387/924/original/19ae3fb2337921a7.jpeg

2026-02-09 21:45:26 UTC

Big surprise…they ripped off artists for some of the movie’s music.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/melania-movie-phantom-thread-music-jonny-greenwood-anderson-1236500497/

2026-01-29 18:00:31 UTC

When I was in college and living at home with my father, he announced that some distant relatives were coming through town. They were Canadians, Albertans to be exact. Rancher/farmers. I loved pretty much everything foreign so I was excited to meet them.
Until I did. I had never met such cold, racist, narrow-minded folk in my life--and I lived in Ohio so that's saying something. I was stunned they were Canadian!
So, I'm not surprised to see Albertans be MAGAt. Sad, but not surprised.

2026-01-28 21:09:39 UTC

There is a Latina walking around our neighborhood, handing out tree service business cards. She spoke Spanish to me when she gave me one.
I am scared for her and, at the same time, super impressed with her bravery.

2026-01-12 23:47:43 UTC

Just got a survey from AARP asking what issues I am interested in. I replied there is only one issue: The USA being turned into an authoritarian state/the loss of our democracy. I said AARP needed to get off its ass and join the fight against the Nazis--nothing else matters, for now.

2026-01-12 21:49:25 UTC

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Seriously! Just did an image search and virtually all of the photos look that way! The only photo where he's sort of smiling (his Wikipedia page)? He not only still looks like he's going to cry (albeit happy tears) he makes Dukakis in the tank look butch:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Bovino

2026-01-12 20:56:24 UTC

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@Sheep_Overboard/115884075714651502
He always looks like he's about to cry, no?
#note1hz4…z7cg

2026-01-09 17:58:11 UTC

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Instead of saying things like "Human-made" make the default term assume humanness. Turn non-human and "content" stuff into the other. Call non-human-made "art" "artificially-produced content."
Devalue it in language. In the long run, it will help.

2026-01-09 17:55:31 UTC

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So now, art is of little value because people think it is content and anyone can make content so why should they pay (much) for it? And AI-"art" is just the same as human-made.... *hurl*
But, of course, art (and I am using that word for all the creative realms) is so much more than content. Creating art means tapping into something deeper in the human spirit/mind/soul.
But fighting for its value requires paying attention to the language we use for it.

2026-01-09 17:48:46 UTC

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Thinking more on this...back around the turn of the century (2000ish) I started hearing the word "content" replace "art" or "writing" or "photography" etc. and immediately said that was a very bad thing. "Content creator" replaced "artist" (and its variants). Worse.
Now, anyone who takes a selfie is a content creator and a content creator is the same as an artist in the population's mind. UGH.

2026-01-09 15:39:41 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@augieray/115865594690560460
I'm always surprised that people do not get how incredibly important language is...
#note1nrh…y592

2026-01-07 20:33:09 UTC

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I'd love for a general strike but requiring signing up won't make it happen. Signing up is ridiculous and a threat, frankly, since the data can be used nefariously.
Either call for the strike or don't.

2026-01-06 03:36:37 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@verge/115846034538043672
JFC, ladies, do not ever do this. It sounds like a masked tool for the Patriarchy/Xian Nationalists to find breeders.
I am not saying it is, but, if I were still pre-menopausal, I would never ever ever ever ever ever want my cycle-related hormonal data out there, just in case. I’ve read Atwood.
#note10zz…vn9w

2026-01-01 16:11:45 UTC

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BTW, there are other requirements besides the agent registration; but that one is the “big” one. The law is 17 USC §512 (several subsections apply, esp. c) if you want to try to parse it. Also, this is a decent explainer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Copyright_Infringement_Liability_Limitation_Act
Best to talk you your own attorney to make sure you’re doing the right things for your situation—check out Lawyers for the Arts chapters for cheap/free advice.

2026-01-01 04:32:19 UTC

If you run an instance, don’t forget to register a DMCA agent with the US Copyright Office. If any of your users posts infringing materials, you can be held liable even if you had nothing to do with it; but, if you have a registered agent (and follow the other steps in §512) you are immune.
Happy new year from a copyright lawyer.

2025-12-19 15:55:23 UTC

Online Dating Follies, no. 682
My profile includes, "I'm not a fan of camping or the desert." Because I don't like camping and I don't like the desert.
Some dude sent me a message with "Well, that's an obvious critique of Burning Man. BTDT. Where are some places you want to camp?"
I didn't know one could both over-read and under-read in one go.

2025-12-11 16:23:47 UTC

In the last century, I was the studio manager/producer and rep for the photo-illustrator who got me into this whole industry. Magazines would call with story ideas and he would come up with how to illustrate them; ad agencies would hire him to create images for their clients' marketing pieces. And he respected and encouraged my input, without ever pulling the "I am the Artiste!" ego crap.
We had a great working relationship.
1/

2025-12-08 18:14:41 UTC

I felt like this was needed today, so I just wrote it by hand on the back of another of my signs.
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/115/685/300/994/434/964/original/539e2faca5d2f625.jpg

2025-12-07 19:36:59 UTC

Bummer.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg5m0mnvnvmo

2025-11-30 02:23:28 UTC

Online Dating Follies, no. 666
Pick your screen name wisely: HotJackrabbit lets us know you’re lousy in bed.

2025-11-25 16:47:07 UTC

Did one of my favorite cleaning hacks today: cleaned my silver jewelry with aluminum foil, baking soda, and boiling water. Make sure to use a glass bowl, put foil in, add baking soda (I guess I used like 3 tsp?), put items in making sure each touches the foil, add boiling water so all is underwater, and wait a couple of minutes. Most of the tarnish transfers to the foil! Remove items, wipe with microfiber, and done.
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/115/611/316/631/226/392/original/7e8928e7bcbf9c60.jpeg
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/115/611/343/979/121/448/original/20ede7e2d17a7943.jpeg
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/115/611/316/608/358/882/original/973efba6202088c5.jpeg
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/115/611/316/623/374/453/original/55669c9893fc4c39.jpeg

2025-11-19 19:34:46 UTC

As a woman of a certain age and a proud driver of a car with a manual transmission, I felt this in my bones.
https://mastodon.social/@warandpeas/115576732764231113

2025-11-05 19:37:05 UTC

Perfect.
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/115/498/770/376/184/421/original/2c99320c3a13d67c.png

2025-10-24 21:11:56 UTC

I drive a small car and ride a motorcycle; this is terrifying.
https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/115430589566016907

2025-10-23 23:29:18 UTC

I had no idea a woman wrote it, but it makes sooooo much more sense that it would have been a woman. RIP madam.
https://flipboard.com/@thr/entertainment-news-4oomc2vmz/-/a-SmY8SuGTQmysmbxJef_KTQ%3Aa%3A1833297402-%2F0

2025-10-16 17:49:34 UTC

Just checked my health insurance rates for next year.
Essentially doubling.

2025-10-09 15:51:19 UTC

Am I the only human who finds reading early text-ese super annoying now? I mean in spaces that aren't character-limited.
An actual text or, heavens forbid, email with "Hope ur doing well" instead of "Hope you're..." sets my teeth on edge.

2025-09-28 21:27:10 UTC

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Because doing repairs and maintenance stuff is therapeutic for me. Also, doing that stuff when I had been waiting on the Ex to much of it (empty promises) is extra therapeutic. I’m not some frail, dainty thing who can’t handle a screwdriver but rather a capable, creative, and resourceful old broad.

2025-09-28 21:27:09 UTC

Got up, did yoga, meditated, got the ladder out and ripped off the year-old duct-tape “temporary” fix (Ex’ temp = forever) for two leaky windows on opposite sides of the house, caulked them (fixed, hopefully; paint needed in a week or so), removed and prepped the wall furnace covers for painting, painted them, needed more paint so got that and red samples to consider for an accent wall in the kitchen, stopped at the bodega for ice cream (for later), finished painting covers and cleaned up.

2025-09-22 14:26:34 UTC

I will laugh my ass off (in fury, actually) if it turns out the actual cause of autism (not whatever Sideshow Bob says) is something related to sperm and has NOTHING to do with the mother taking anything, much less Tylenol.
Women always get blamed for “faulty” children; but sometimes it’s the man who contributes the wonky genes and it is often the man who creates a traumatic household…
Misogyny, much?

2025-09-18 01:47:19 UTC

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I’m cool with the antenna but I can’t get TCM without some sort of subscription and it is the only channel I really really really want. Poo.

2025-09-18 01:13:16 UTC

Trying to figure out how to get TCM without Hulu or YouTube… looks like going back to cable or getting Sling, which makes some local channels antenna-only. Hmmm….
Literally will need a spreadsheet to figure this out. Cutting the cord was yet another boondoggle...

2025-09-11 16:44:05 UTC

Dowd’s firing is ridiculous and a very bad sign of just how screwed up our “journalism” is now.

2025-09-11 15:39:45 UTC

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The whole Democratic party’s leadership’s inability to understand that one can be both against the violence and STILL HOLD A LINE is crazy. One can say “It is a shame that Kirk’s rhetoric so inflamed that someone thought it necessary to resort to violence” or “While I do not condone violence, the victim is not a saint and should not be mourned as a good American—he was not.”
Why they can’t get that… ugh.

2025-09-11 15:32:05 UTC

Schumer is such a part of the problem…sadly.
https://flipboard.com/@pbsnewshour/headlines-81am25uuz/-/a-Gq8RQJJqT2GBlrGJ5oRTBA%3Aa%3A2651838374-%2F0

2025-08-23 23:04:20 UTC

The Ex announced that he and his (adult) daughter and her boyfriend will be moving his stuff into the storage/shipping cube on 9/6. Hopefully he will be out himself shortly after, but I’d not put money on it.
I will say that living with an ex for 2 months (and maybe more) after being dumped should earn one a medal. No matter how much one may want to be decent, etc., it’s damn hard to move forward until one of you moves out.
Thank the gods for good therapists.

2025-08-21 20:02:25 UTC

New sign.
🙏💪
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/115/068/533/830/313/042/original/98caf13799688e76.jpeg

2025-08-20 16:47:06 UTC

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Oh, let’s be fair, here… he won’t do that because he thinks the Trojan War was about the condoms.

2025-08-14 00:06:11 UTC

When I was perusing men’s profiles, I was surprised at the number who said they were “apolitical.” How is that even possible, today?! I’m pretty sure that’s code for “I’m a republican but don’t want to admit it because I won’t get dates” or, maybe, “closet libertarian” (same effect).
Whatever, if I were actually looking, “apolitical” = hard pass.

2025-08-08 17:04:28 UTC

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Why do they keep calling these things “settlements?” What is being settled? If (big if) there are individuals with claims of discrimination, there is a process and this ain’t it. These are just empty threats that are coercing payments; i.e., extortion.

2025-08-01 23:57:54 UTC

I was hesitant to have my usual Friday dirty martini, drinking when upset being not a good idea, but then I justified it with keeping my routine.
https://cdn.hosted.spacebear.ee/sb-0c534200fd1ed1e9736751b247241226/media_attachments/files/114/956/213/152/136/680/original/114984a2371baf82.jpeg

2025-07-25 14:56:17 UTC

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As an American, it is heartbreaking and infuriating. As a lawyer on top of it… I’m feeling like everything I know and worked for doesn’t matter anymore.
Frankly, I feel like stabbing MAGAts on sight; and, as a (bad) Buddhist, that is a horrible sense to live with.
So many people are suffering. Worse, though, is that so many people don’t just not care, they apparently actively enjoy that suffering.
We’re going to make Nazi Germany look like amateurs, I’m afraid.

2025-07-17 17:36:35 UTC

A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo of the neighbors with the US flag with tiny thumb-up T-bag on it, flying over the flag of Israel. Today when I walked by , the flags were still up but the nextdoor neighbors were flying flags of Ukraine and Palestine.
I need to go over there sometime and hug them. It’s got to be awful to be next door to those fascists.

2025-07-16 19:16:05 UTC

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As a lawyer, I can’t imagine doing work I am so ashamed of that I would need to hide myself. And I’m someone who has received actual threats for my work! Ugh.

2025-07-10 14:07:11 UTC

Our next door neighbors (H/W/2kids) have been in the UK, her birthplace, for a few weeks—a mostly annual trip to visit her parents. We are now seriously concerned that she, a director of a private school here, may not be permitted re-entry as they have been active in protests, etc.
Maybe the twins (8yo) too (they may have been born there--we’re not sure).
Horrifying that this is even possible.

2025-07-06 22:41:12 UTC

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is on TCM at 5p PT/8p ET (east feed); 8p PT/11p ET (west feed).
You’re welcome. ☺️

2025-07-04 19:42:42 UTC

ICE is not Gestpo. They don’t have the brains. They are the SS: hateful, unthinking thugs who get pleasure from theeir power and the suffering of their victims.
The FBI/DoJ is the Gestapo: methodically plotting the best ways to cleanse America of its “infestation.”

2025-07-02 22:47:29 UTC

Stop using the fascists’ language. Using their words enables them and normalizes the atrocities.
They have branded the concentration camp “Alligator Alcatraz” so DO NOT CALL IT THAT. I choose to call it #AligatorAuschwitz.
Not ICE: stormtroopers or secret police
Not DoJ: Gestapo
They’re not “illegal” aliens they are merely undocumented.
Every word they choose is done deliberately. Do not comply.

2025-06-24 19:34:17 UTC

FABULOUS! We needed some good news and the Venetians gave it to us.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0vjr07570o

2025-06-19 22:19:11 UTC

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Padres fan here…I hate that I kinda hafta like the Dodgers now. 😜

2025-06-15 14:44:29 UTC

SD Union Tribute reports police estimate $60K+ at the San Diego downtown march. Yay us! That’s over 4.5% of the population!

2025-06-08 19:44:40 UTC

Why, the fuck, is the National Guard wearing masks? The Fiancé was in the NG in California during Rodney King riots and he said a mask was not issued gear, then. As a vet, he’s super pissed about this deployment now (duh).
https://hcommons.social/@hestes/114649129353072466

2025-06-05 23:35:11 UTC

So you have the Insane Elon and the Orange Douchebag going at it, but we are forgetting the axle between these two: Stephen Miller, the Balding Nazi Cuckhold. He’s the key to this whole shitstorm—like the worst best girlfriend of whom you should never ever ask relationship advice...

2025-05-23 14:19:40 UTC

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Btw, this is all just to try to get the final version of a settlement agreement, so that it can be signed and my client can get their money.
I sent it to State Farm over a MONTH ago and, after 2 weeks, they proposed 2 minor changes which I immediately made. And yet they still haven’t approved the final.
Can’t help but think about Luigi right now...

2025-05-23 14:14:01 UTC

OMFG… I have a matter that is being handled by State Farm for the defendant. They have changed their phone system recently so that you have to speak the claim number, which it NEVER gets right, before you can do anything. When that fails, it tries to check by phone number, but since I’m not the claimant, that doesn’t work. The whole time I HAVE THE EXTENSION NUMBER FOR THE SF EMPLOYEE, but I can’t enter that until I’ve hit # about 100 times, cussed, and almost stroked out.

2025-05-21 18:19:59 UTC

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I love mine because it is high so Ruthie does not paw in it so I don’t have to change the water often (but I do give it all a good clean every week). Battery (rechargeable) operated and motion activated, too. Had it for a couple of years and it holds a charge well, still. https://www.tronssien.com/aspx/main/productc.aspx?id=23

2025-04-16 16:44:25 UTC

Judge Boasberg has thrown the gauntlet.
Good.

2025-04-15 17:05:44 UTC

There are a shitton of US people in power, like members of Congress and SCOTUS, who really need to watch Judgment at Nuremberg. NOW.
Good synopsis here http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/nuremberg/JudgmentAtNuremberg.html

2025-04-15 00:16:12 UTC

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If one is deported, they are merely kicked out. They are not put in chains and put in jails/facilities in other places.
Look up the definition of the words you use. Please.

2025-04-15 00:14:31 UTC

PLEASE stop saying “deport” when what is happening is not kicking out or exiling but rather TRANSPORTING to a third country…like the Nazis did not deport the Jews (et al.) but rather transported them to death camps, often in other countries.
Words matter.
Especially now.

2025-04-15 00:10:06 UTC

The Fiancé’s daughter is in a masters program for landscape architecture at CalPoly Pomona. Last night at our lovely dinner she told us that her cohort were mostly sane but the undergrads were mostly MAGAts, which (as she pointed out) makes no damn sense especially since so much of their work is about climate change and its effects. 🤷‍♀️😔

2025-04-14 19:48:49 UTC

Revolution is sounding more and more like the only way out of this. The people have got nothing to lose if the MAGAts are going to start arresting and transporting (it is NOT deporting—use the correct language, please) anyone they choose to prisons in other countries. The Orange Bastard has floated his awful thing balloon to do this to citizens as well as legal residents, etc., which is what he always does before actually doing an awful thing.

2025-04-14 16:13:01 UTC

This morning already I’ve seen at least three Monty Python-based memes relating to the Trump admin. That’s got to be some sort of record; it certainly is telling as to precisely how insane the admin is.

2025-04-12 17:25:14 UTC

The Fiancé’s daughter and her boyfriend are coming to an early grilled chicken dinner tomorrow so I’m cleaning like mad. Not just because I want the place to look nice: she’s super-duper gluten intolerant and, since I bake, I want to get as much of the stuff off any surface as I can for her. Started with the oven since I’m making pots de crème for dessert (today, so they chill overnight) and we’re baking potatoes tomorrow.