During Donald Trump’s first term as president, his supporters, MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republicans, started calling pro-democracy folks “snowflakes.” They thought they were being clever. “Har, har, snowflakes are so fragile! They melt with a little heat. Lol!” True, snow melts with heat, as it has been doing these past few days in Minnesota. It’s the middle of February and we’ve got temps in the high 50 degrees Fahrenheit, about 30 to 40 degrees…
The Mini-Manifesto from Gapingvoid Manifestos seem to have been co-opted by the unhinged or extremists, but they are merely public statements of policy aims, beliefs or views. As such, a manifesto is a good way to succinctly state what guides you or your group. In 2006, I wrote a couple of manifestos for my very first blog, Filter & Splice, after reading a challenge from Hugh MacLeod of Gapingvoid to write a manifesto of 500…
See that pink fuzzy critter in the middle of this dried oak leaf? I thought it was some form of caterpillar cocoon. Some, nice cozy home out of which a butterfly or moth would hatch, with the fuzzy form being suitably appropriate to our Minnesota winters. Ha! I was close, but no cigar. This is a gall. Galls are formed by the activity of insects or mites on plants, including oak leaves, however, the galls…