#todays nicole miller

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

David Horsey, Seattle Times

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

February 7, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Feb 08, 2025

Maya Miller of the New York Times reported today that the congressional phone system has been jammed with tens of millions of calls from outraged constituents contacting their representatives to demand that they stand against President Donald Trump and his sidekick Elon Musk as they unilaterally dismantle the United States government and gain access to Americans’ private information. The Senate phone system usually gets about 40 calls a minute; now it is up to 1,600.

On Wednesday, Nicole Lafond of Talking Points Memo reported that Senate Republicans were not especially concerned about Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team rampaging through the federal government, figuring that Musk won’t last long and that the courts will eventually stop him. Today, Musk posted on X: “CFPB RIP,” with a tombstone emoji. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has recovered more than $17 billion for consumers from fraudulent or predatory practices since it began in 2011.

Trump seems willing to let Musk continue to run amok through the government while he becomes a figurehead. Today he posted on his social media site that he has fired the chair and members of the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center, saying they “do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.” He promised to announce a new board, “with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!” “For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” he wrote.

U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, is less impressed with the direction of the Trump administration. Today, he blocked it from placing more than 2,000 employees of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on paid leave. Trump and his allies have claimed—without evidence—that USAID is corrupt, but Steven Lee Myers and Stuart A. Thompson of the New York Times reported today that the disinformation making those claims on social media posts, for example, comes from Russia.

Senator Angus King (I-ME) took his Republican colleagues to task yesterday for their willingness to overlook the Trump administration’s attack on the U.S. Constitution. King took the floor as the Senate was considering the confirmation of Christian Nationalist Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought, a key author of Project 2025, believes the powers of the president should be virtually unchecked.

King reminded his colleagues that they had taken an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic” and noted that the Framers recognized there could be domestic enemies to the Constitution. “Our oath was not to the Republican Party, not to the Democratic Party, not to Joe Biden, not to Donald Trump,” King said, “but…to defend the Constitution.”

“And…right now—literally at this moment—that Constitution is under the most direct and consequential assault in our nation's history,” King said. “An assault not on a particular provision but on the essential structure of the document itself.”

Why do we have a Constitution, King asked. He read the Preamble and said: “There it is. There's the list—ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” But, he pointed out, there is a paradox: the essence of a government is to give it power, but that power can be abused to hurt the very citizens who granted it. “Who will guard the guardians?” King asked.

The Framers were “deep students of history and…human nature. And they had just won a lengthy and brutal war against the abuses inherent in concentrated governmental power,” King said. “The universal principle of human nature they understood was this: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

How did the Framers answer the question of who will guard the guardians? King explained that they built into our system regular elections to return the control of the government to the people on a regular basis. They also deliberately divided power between the different branches and levels of government.

“This is important,” King said. “The cumbersomeness, the slowness, the clumsiness is built into our system. The framers were so fearful of concentrated power that they designed a system that would be hard to operate. And the heart of it was the separation of power between various parts of the government. The whole idea, the whole idea was that no part of the government, no one person, no one institution had or could ever have a monopoly on power.”

“Why? Because it's dangerous. History and human nature tells us that. This division of power, as annoying and inefficient as it can be,… is an essential feature of the system, not a bug. It's an essential, basic feature of the system, designed to protect our freedoms.”

The system of government “contrasts with the normal structure of a private business, where authority is purposefully concentrated, allowing swift and sometimes arbitrary action. But a private business does not have the army, and the President of the United States is not the CEO of America.”

In the government, “[p]ower is shared, principally between the president and this body, this Congress, both houses…. [T]his herky-jerkiness…this unwieldy structure is the whole idea,... designed to protect us from the…inevitable abuse of an authoritarian state.”

Vought, King said, is “one of the ringleaders of the assault on our Constitution. He believes in a presidency of virtually unlimited powers.” He “espouses the discredited and illegal theory that the president has the power to selectively impound funds appropriated by Congress, thereby rendering the famous power of the purse a nullity.” King said he was “really worried about…the structural implications for our freedom and government of what's happening here…. Project 2025 is nothing less than a blueprint for the shredding of the Constitution and the transition of our country to authoritarian rule. He's the last person who should be put in the job at the heart of the operation of our government.”

“[T]his isn't about politics. This isn't about policy. This isn't about Republican versus Democrat. This is about tampering with the structure of our government, which will ultimately undermine its ability to protect the freedom of our citizens. If our defense of the Constitution is gone, there's nothing left to us.”

King asked his Republican colleagues to “say no to the undermining and destruction of our constitutional system.” “[A]re there no red lines?” he asked them. “Are there no limits?”

King looked at USAID and said: “The Constitution does not give to the President or his designee the power to extinguish a statutorily established agency. I can think of no greater violation of the strictures of the Constitution or usurpation of the power of this body. None. I can think of none. Shouldn't this be a red line?”

Trump’s “executive order freezing funding…selectively, for programs the administration doesn't like or understand” is, King said, “a fundamental violation of the whole idea of the Constitution, the separation of powers.” King said his “office is hearing calls every day, we can hardly handle the volume. This again, to underline, is a frontal assault of our power, your power, the power to decide where public funds should be spent. Isn't this an obvious red line? Isn't this an obvious limit?”

King turned to “the power seemingly assumed by DOGE to burrow into the Treasury's payment system” as well as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, with “zero oversight.” “Do these people have clearance?” King, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee asked. “Are the doors closed? Are they going to leave open doors into these? What are the opportunities for our adversaries to hack into the systems?... Remember, there's no transparency or oversight. Access to social security numbers seem to be in the mix. All the government's personnel files, personal financial data, potentially everyone's tax returns and medical records. That can't be good…. That's data that should be protected with the highest level of security and consideration of Americans' privacy. And we don't know who these people are. We don't know what they're taking out with them. We don't know whether they're walking out with laptops or thumb drives. We don't know whether they're leaving back doors into the system. There is literally no oversight. The government of the United States is not a private company. It is fundamentally at odds with how this system is supposed to work.”

“Shouldn't this be an easy red line?” he asked.

“[W]e're experiencing in real time exactly what the framers most feared. When you clear away the smoke, clear away the DOGE, the executive orders, foreign policy pronouncements, more fundamentally what's happening is the shredding of the constitutional structure itself. And we have a profound responsibility…to stop it.”

King’s appeal to principle and the U.S. Constitution did not convince his Republican colleagues, who confirmed Vought.

But today, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker took a different approach, trolling Trump’s claim that the Gulf of Mexico would now be called “the Gulf of America.” Standing behind a lectern and flanked by flags of the United States and Illinois, Pritzker solemnly declared he was about to make an important announcement.

“The world’s finest geographers, experts who study the Earth’s natural environment, have concluded a decades-long council and determined that a Great Lake deserves to be named after a great state. So today, I’m issuing a proclamation declaring that hereinafter Lake Michigan shall be known as Lake Illinois. The proclamation has been forwarded to Google to ensure the world’s maps reflect this momentous change. In addition, the recent announcement that to protect the homeland, the United States will be purchasing Greenland, Illinois will now be annexing Green Bay to protect itself against enemies foreign and domestic. I’ve also instructed my team to work diligently to prepare for an important announcement next week regarding the Mississippi River. God bless America, and Bear Down [a reference to the Chicago Bears football team].”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

They are killing us. I don’t know any other way to put it. Yeniifer Alvarez-Estrada Glick. Candi Miller. Amber Nicole Thurman.  And now,  Josseli Barnica—a 28-year old mother, whose smiling face in a selfie she took with her daughter made me weep as soon as I read ProPublica’s headline: “A Texas Woman Died After the Hospital Said It Would be a ‘Crime’ to Intervene in Her Miscarriage.”

Josseli died in 2021, before Roe was overturned but after Texas passed SB 8. Even though she was miscarrying at just 17 weeks into her pregnancy with no chance for the fetus’ survival, doctors told Josseli they couldn’t treat her while there was still a heartbeat. By the time her Houston hospital intervened, she had spent two days with a fetus pressed up against her open cervix, exposing her to bacteria. Josseli died of a preventable infection three days later.  I am heartbroken, but more than that I am just so angry. I am angry that this young beautiful woman is dead. I am angry that her now-4 year-old daughter will grow up without a mother. I am angry that we have to live in a country where our lives are treated as disposable. And I am really, truly furious about what I know will come next.  Anti-abortion groups will rush to send out tweets and press releases with phony condolences, insisting that Texas’ law allows life-saving care. They will blame doctors for not acting quickly enough, the hospital for not giving providers clear enough guidance—even pro-choicers for ‘scaring’ doctors out of treating patients. Anything to shirk blame and to wash the blood off their hands. 

We cannot let that happen.  When Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America comes out with a statement promising that abortion bans protect women, I want you to remember that they lobbied against exceptions for women’s lives. When the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (AAPLOG) claims that Josseli should have been given care, remember that the ‘care’ they’re referring to isn’t an abortion—but a forced c-section or vaginal labor. That’s because these groups believe abortion is never necessary to save a person’s life. They use language and push for laws accordingly.  Most of all, I want us to remember—and for all Americans to know—that these organizations and legislators knew this would happen. They knew women would suffer and die as a result of their laws and decided to pass them anyway. There is no press release or talking point that can paper over that truth: they decided our deaths were an acceptable trade-off for a political win. 

When I say that the anti-abortion movement planned for deaths like Josseli’s, I mean it literally. In October 2022, I warned that conservatives had launched a preemptive messaging campaign to blame doctors and abortion rights activists for women’s deaths. Today, two full years later, we’re watching Republicans insist that it’s not bans endangering women, but pro-choice “misinformation” about the laws.  They didn’t just plan to avoid responsibility for our deaths, though—they planned to cover them up. There is a reason that Republicans are disbanding maternal mortality review committees, or stacking them with anti-abortion activists. In Texas, where Josseli was killed, Republicans put a well-known extremist on the state's maternal death board just a few months ago: Ingrid Skop has made a career out of arguing that maternal mortality statistics can’t be trusted and that abortion bans won’t lead to maternal deaths. 

Jessica Valenti wrote in Abortion, Every Day that the anti-abortion movement is gaslighting the people about the deaths caused by strict abortion bans such as Amber Nicole Thurman and Josseli Barnica.

[scrunkly-week]

the character graveyard — a creator's lament

a wall of snow keeps you hidden, it's true.

my hands tainted. I buried you all myself.

some of you live, just barely, breathing through a straw in your graves. an illusion of existence.

some of you never had the chance. your lives extinguished before you could fully form.

massacre.

your god has not forsaken you, I plead.

though I am god and she is merciless. by circumstance, not design.

I come to acknowledge you. you forgotten ones, the ones I hid, the ones who died by my hand and the ones who fizzled from existence before I could reach them. I gather you here today. to recognise you. mourn you. immortalise you.

I raise my chalice to each of you.

here's to the faceless ones. the ones I never named. the ones who had nothing but a name. a vibe. a role. a disembodied something. you hadn't enough love or care. I'm sorry.

here's to the fleeting ones. ones who existed in passing. to assist another's narrative. to enhance the world.

lindsay, erin bray, lynn clerke, jarrod holman. alli, nicole, cam, daniel, alisha. javin daxar, ellin daxar, dalen daxar, damon daxar, kara quillan, zaiden. daron ferris, charlie reid. lennard rose, elisabeth rose, elli. deyan thomson. lucia. sophie, caleb. jeremiah, chris, lukas, troy jackson, zach, linda, mr. woods. kere lockhart. aric jeweller. andrea, stefano. reece, john, demetrius rodriquez, seth reeves. aria, aaron, william, matthew, gaeldon, jonah. julia. sigrae, cassirean, king pyrest of emberia, hakan. dayell, carr kepnar. conrad, mr. stevens, steph, lilian maxwell, evie, vida, erica, david, olivia, andrew, dexter badd, marianne, charles wickham, katherine wickham, james wickham, raiden, calvin, darlene. therese matton, henri matton, geneve matton, madeline matton, mathieu matton, talon debois, lloyd hawthorne. morgan hawksley, aaron hawksley, marcus walters, cassidy donaldson. evan callaghan, mildred callaghan. arthur drover, sybilla drover, harriet drover, vera dustinborough, victoria darkwood, bethly violet, eliphalet lushington, emma. erysibe, kirkos. guiletta lanese, donato lanese, ottavio lanese, benedetto lanese, pietro lanese, vincenzo lanese, matteo lanese, annetta fornari, stefano fornari, adriana fornari, carlo fornari, francesco fornari, augusto fornari, adele sozzi, bettina aliotti, ciro, salvatore sallucci. edmond wickerman, rosalind wickerman, elias starling, hubert cornell.

here's to the strange ones. the 'I made you just because' ones.

scalene, nikia goodrich, ami ruff, riesa gentry and co., zachary bliss, janae lombardi, dawn watts, jay spear, lea cantrell, danny light. cardinal, scar. harmony/chaos. leighton, josh. nick joyce, rosalinda joyce, jasper joyce. emilee, ashli, nadine kathy hemingway.

here's to the old ones. the ones I left behind as I myself grew older.

timothy, kimberly, ash, connor. zoe. gabey mal'lie. raina hardin. zariah mika rose. karli hayes, shaun roberts. bella davis. milaa lockhart. mabel. queen heresa. tāne miller. victor.

here's to the ones who never reached anything past the development stage.

iris. olive. phoenix mars, rose earthen, gem airborne, luna moonbeam, leon king, mattias grey, venus greenwood, scarlet rust, sage bluest, amalthea browner, rialta silverton, jupiter violet. princess seraphine of emberia. the assassin, prophet, serenity. valentino, theokles, fabiola fornari, blair aiden hawksley, james robert callaghan, ruby starling.

here's to the ones I invested my time in, who I write one or two prose pieces and umpteen handfuls of rambles for, only to leave you by the wayside to crumble to dust.

vivian edwards, lucille matton, luciana lanese, alaric joseph drover, alexander wickerman, jinx the kea, hamid, sahar.

here's to my future creations, who may inevitably fall under one of these categories.

the wall of snow may keep you hidden. but I promise, you'll never be forgotten.

Submitted by: our lovely friend, Bee

———

☆ this is hauntingly sweet and I utterly love it !! What a good way to pay your respects to all of these characters <3 I raise my chalice alongside you, to toast to their lives

[bearterritory]

REDWOOD CITY – The No. 4 California women's rowing team dominated the duel against No. 7 Washington sweeping all five races Saturday morning at the Redwood Shores in Redwood City. With the Bears' win in the V8+ race, the Simpson Cup, which goes to the winner of the varsity eight race, comes back to Cal for the first time since 2019. Cal's 2V8+, 3V8+, 4V8+ and V4+ also notched wins in the duel. This marks the second time this season the V8+, 3V8+ and V4+ defeated Washington as the two faced off at the San Diego Crew Classic earlier this month.   "Washington brought out the best in us today," Cal head coach Al Acosta said. "We've done quite a bit of racing and travel over the last three weeks, so I was a little concerned about how much juice we'd have for this one, but the team did an amazing job of going stroke for stroke with the Huskies early and then extending the margin later in the race. Four years ago, when our seniors were freshmen, we got swept by UW, so it's very gratifying to see the seniors get this one. Now that we're halfway through the season I think we're in a good spot, but we have some big races coming up and it's not going to get any easier so we will need to continue to get faster."   In the V8+ race, both boats were even through the first 20 strokes before Cal took a two-seat lead in the first 500 meters. As the boats approached the 1,000-meter mark, the Bears were ahead by a half boat. Cal kept the pressure on over the third 500 meters and extended its lead to a seat of open water. The Bears maintained that margin to take the victory in a time of 6:08.8 and bring home the Simpson Cup.

In the matchup of the 2V8+, it was fairly even off the start with Cal taking just a one-seat lead over the first 20 strokes. As the boats hit the halfway mark, the Bears kept their lead and went ahead by two seats. Cal kept the pressure on over the third 500 meters and went ahead by a half boat before extending its lead to almost a full boat over the closing 500 meters to take the win in 6:20.2.   In the 3V8+ race, it was tight over the first 500 meters until Cal took a four-seat lead at the 1,000-meter mark. The Bears were able to extend their lead to open water over the third 500 meters and held that lead to finish first in a time of 6:33.2.   In the 4V8+ duel, the first 500 meters were close before the Bears took a three-seat lead by the halfway mark. Cal was able to extend its lead over the third 500 meters and went ahead by a bit of open water to take the win in a time of 6:46.9.   In the V4+ race, Cal got off to a good start and went ahead by two seats within the first 20 strokes. The Huskies were able to walk back a seat and pulled nearly even over the first 500 meters. By the time Cal hit the halfway mark, it was ahead by almost a boat length. The Bears continued to press and built an open-water lead over the second half of the race to get the win in a time of 6:46.9.    The Bears will have next weekend off before competing in the Big Row against No. 1 Stanford on May 4 at the Redwood Shores.   Results   V8+ 1. Cal – 6:08.8 2. Washington – 6:12.6   2V8+ 1. Cal – 6:20.2 2. Washington – 6:23.2

3V8+ 1. Cal – 6:33.2 2. Washington – 6:40.8   4V8+ 1. Cal – 6:46.9 2. Washington – 6:50.6   V4+ 1. Cal – 6:46.9 2. Washington – 6:50.6   Lineups V8+ Coxswain - Piper Melnick Stroke: Fien van Westreenen 7: Lotta van Westreenen 6: Minou Bouman 5: Antonia Galland 4: Julia Hunt-Davis 3: Ella Wheeler 2: Star Miller Bow: Amy Furlonger

2V8+ Coxswain: Lily Wieland Stroke: Della Luke 7: Sophie Ward 6: Ella Berger 5: Tabo Stekelenburg 4: Shannon Kearney 3: Izzy Campbell 2: Sammie Henriksen Bow: Katie McDermott   V4+ Coxswain: Charley Griffiths 4: Megan Culbert 3: Lola Crampin 2: Julia Irmler 1: Miya Meskis   3V8+ Coxswain: Emily Nowak Stroke: Lily Pember 7: Zoe McKernan 6: Francesca Hammerer 5: Lily Rausser 4: Nicole Weber 3: Gwyneth Fagg 2: Sophie Fussell Bow: Ella Lewerenz

4V8+ Coxswain: Julia Fullington Stroke: Claire Banks 7: Eve Barrancotto 6: Tyra Hjemdal 5: Molly Gold 4: Annie Brown 3: Sydney Koutrouba 2: Sidney Curven Bow: Kate Nixon   STAY POSTED For further coverage of Cal women's rowing, follow the Bears on Instagram (@calwrowing) and Facebook (Cal Crew).

[beardedmrbean]

A judge appeared disgusted Wednesday with an unlicensed and uninsured driver – with 19 previous traffic citations — who killed a bicyclist last fall, sending him to prison for at least two years.

Julius Hopkins, 32, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a charge of reckless driving resulting in death for the Sept. 23, 2023, crash that killed Nathan Miller, 32. Hopkins had no driver’s license, registration, or insurance when he collided with Miller on Nellis Boulevard near Tropicana Avenue in the southeast valley.

Miller, a BMX world champion, died hours after the crash. Hopkins was driving a car registered to him, records showed. The registration, which appeared to be a temporary Nevada plate, expired last March.

Police cited Hopkins at the crash site and released him. Officers later arrested him Thursday, Oct. 26, after friends came to the 8 News Now Investigators with questions about the crash. The 8 News Now Investigators then aired a report on Wednesday, Oct. 18. At that point, Hopkins was not facing any charges.

As part of a plea deal, Hopkins was eligible for probation, though he has a history of probation violations and convictions, Judge Mary Kay Holthus noted during Wednesday’s sentencing.

The 8 News Now Investigators found at least 19 traffic cases in multiple jurisdictions across Clark County where police cited or ticketed Hopkins dating back to 2010.

“You shouldn’t have been on the road,” Holthus said to Hopkins as she delivered a 28-to-72-month prison sentence. Holthus could have sentenced Hopkins to anywhere from a minimum of one year in prison or up to six years, with parole eligibility as part of the plea deal, documents said.

“I wish I would have stayed home that night, and we wouldn’t be here today, and Nathan would,” Hopkins told the Miller family as Holthus sentenced him.

Hopkins was driving 67 mph in the 35-mph zone at the time of the crash, documents said. Video the 8 News Now Investigators obtained showed the car suddenly jerked to the right and collided with Miller who was riding his bike close to the curb.

Hopkins was in the car with his wife and their child, police said.

“I too wonder what was going on in that car,” Holthus told Hopkins. “No wonder you killed someone.”

The crash report the 8 News Now Investigators obtained reveals an officer deemed Hopkins at fault for the crash, though “no enforcement action [was] taken.” The officer noted on the crash report that neither alcohol nor drugs were involved, however, there was no check box on the form for how the officer made that determination.

Though Miller was near death, fatal investigators did not respond to the crash to start their investigation in the soon-to-be fatal investigation.

Because the case is now adjudicated, the 8 News Now Investigators can file public records requests to gather more information.

“A strict sentence for the defendant has the potential to affect the thinking and actions of others,” Miller’s sister, Nicole Manning, said Wednesday.

Hopkins has 14 traffic cases in Las Vegas Justice Court. His earliest case, filed in September 2010, was on a charge of no insurance, records showed. Several of the 14 cases remained open as of Wednesday as Hopkins had not paid thousands of dollars in fines or had not yet appeared before a judge.

Hopkins also had traffic cases in Las Vegas Municipal Court, which handles such citations within Las Vegas city limits; Henderson Municipal Court and North Las Vegas Municipal Court, records showed.

“How many chances does the court keep giving at whose expense next time?” Miller’s mother, Michelle Dorotiak, said. “How many innocent lives will be torn apart or lost before the judicial system steps in and says, ‘No more?’”

In 2023, a new Nevada law decriminalized minor traffic offenses. The bill also abolished the practice of issuing warrants for failure to pay traffic fines or appear in court. Several open cases have no documented event other than the issuance of a citation.

With credit for jail time served, Hopkins will be eligible for parole in the summer of 2026.

Holthus is the same judge attacked in her courtroom last January.

[sporadiceagleheart]

Today's joy with Rachel Joy Scott Friday edits is for missing kids I hope soon they be found and Brought back home safe and sound Madeleine McCann, Inga Gehricke, Summer Wells, Haleigh Cummings, Morgan Nick, Ben Needham, Timmothy Pitzen, Baby Lisa Irwin, Baby Sabrina Aisenberg, Kayla Berg, Mary Boyle, Jennifer Joyce Kesse, Amy Lynn Bradley, Asha Jaquilla Degree, Brian Randall Shaffer, Brandon Swanson, Lars Joachim Mittank, Maura Murray, Kyron Richard Horman, Rebecca Coriam, Evelyn Grace Hartley, Frederick Valentich, Lauren Spierer, Marjorie West, Margaret Ellen Fox, Joshua Guimond, LeeAnna Warner, Tara Leigh Calico, Cherrie Ann Mahan, Nyleen Kay Marshall, Phoenix Coldon, Laureen Ann Rahn, Johnny Gosch, Sara Anne Wood, Rebecca Reusch, BRANDON LEE WADE, Katrice Lee, Adele Marie Wells, William Tyrrell, Rene Hasee, Jane Beaumont, Dennise Jeannette "Denny" Sullivan, Ember Skye Graham, Tricia J. Kellett, Donnis Marie "Pinky" Redman, Renee Aitken, Dulce Maria Alavez, Jonathan Allen, Victoria Allen, Mylette Josephine Anderson, Erica Nicole Baker, Ava Grace Baldwin, Amber Renee Barker, Brittney Ann Beers, Tammy Lynn Belanger, Alessia Vera Schepp, Livia Clara Schepp, Ilene Rebecca Scott, Mary Lou Sena, Natasha Marie Shanes, Kathleen Ann "Kathy" Shea, Crystal Ann Tymich, Anna[1] Christian Waters, Holly Ann Hughes, Ashley LaShay Jones, Sofia Lucerno Juarez, Amber Jean Swartz-Garcia, Brooklinn Felyxia Miller, Marjorie Christina "Christy" Luna , Lorie Lynn Lewis, Sheri Lynn Johnson, Lauren Maria Pico Jackson, Hattie Yvonne Jackson, Janice Kathryn Pockett, Alice Pereira, Sabine Morgenroth, Daniela Moreno, April Ann Cooper, Catherine Barbara "Cathy" Davidson, Mary Rachel Bryan, Hazel X. Bracamontes, Melissa Lee Brannen, Edna "Bette Jean" Masters, Shaina Ashly Kirkpatrick,

[sonicshipbattles]

Preliminaries + Round One

These images are quite daunting to look at, but don't worry, the full list of matches (along with notes about the match-ups) is listed below. Also, the first set of preliminaries (shown on the left side of grid one) will go live later today, though I'm not sure what time yet

GRID ONE, LEFT SIDE:

PRELIMINARIES:

Amy (Nimue)/Sonic (King Arthur) vs Amy (Black Rose)/Sonic Amy/Sonic (Sonic X) vs Amy (Thorn Rose)/Sonic Amy/Sonic (Nicky) vs Amy/Sonic (Werehog) Amy/Johnny Lightfoot vs Amy (Rusty Rose)/Tekno Amy/Aubrey (Omori) vs Amy/Basil (Omori) Amy (Nimue)/Merlina vs Amy/Tikal Amy/Lanolin vs Amy/Whisper

ROUND ONE:

Amy/Sonic (General) vs [winner of Nimue/Sonic vs Black Rose/Sonic] Amy/Sonic (Modern) vs Amy (Rusty Rose)/Sonic Amy/Sonic (IDW) vs [winner of Sonic X SonAmy vs Thorn Rose/Sonic] Amy/Sonic (Sonic Boom) vs [winner of Amy/Nicky vs Amy/Werehog] Amy/Tekno vs [winner of Amy/Johnny Lightfoot vs Amy (Rusty Rose)/Tekno] Amy/Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony) vs [winner of Amy/Aubrey (Omori) vs Amy/Basil (Omori)] Amy/Brittany Miller (Alvin and the Chipmunks) vs [winner of Amy (Nimue)/Merlina vs Amy/Tikal] Amy/Trip vs [winner of Amy/Lanolin vs Amy/Whisper]

GRID ONE, RIGHT SIDE:

PRELIMINARIES:

Amy (Nimue)/Blaze (Percival) vs Amy (Paladin)/Blaze (Percival) Amy/Blaze/Sticks vs Amy/Blaze/Sticks/Surge Amy/Blaze/Elise/Sally vs Amy/Blaze/Sally Amy/Blaze/Espio/Silver/Sonic vs Amy/Blaze/Tekno Amy/Fiona vs Amy/Scourge Amy/Jewel/Tangle/Whisper vs Amy/Tangle/Whisper Amy/Ricky vs Amy/Sally/Sonic

ROUND ONE:

Amy/Blaze (General) vs [winner of Nimue/Percival vs Paladin/Percival] Amy/Blaze (IDW) vs Amy/Blaze/Silver Amy/Blaze/Surge vs [winner of Amy/Blaze/Sticks vs Amy/Blaze/Sticks/Surge] Amy/Blaze/Sonic vs [winner of Amy/Blaze/Elise/Sally vs Amy/Blaze/Sally] Amy/Elise vs [winner of Amy/Blaze/Espio/Silver/Sonic vs Amy/Blaze/Tekno] Amy/Honey vs [winner of Amy/Fiona vs Amy/Scourge] Amy/Jewel vs [winner of Amy/Jewel/Tangle/Whisper vs Amy/Tangle/Whisper] Amy/Sally vs [winner of Amy/Ricky vs Amy/Sally/Sonic]

GRID TWO, LEFT SIDE:

PRELIMINARIES:

Amy/Shadow (Archie) vs Amy (Black Rose)/Shadow Amy/Shadow/Silver/Sonic vs Amy/Shadow/Sonic Amy/Manic vs Amy/Sonia Amy/Sticks/Surge vs Amy/Belle Amy/Sticks (Modern) vs Amy (Thorn Rose)/Sticks Amy (Black Rose)/Amy (Rusty Rose)/Amy (Thorn Rose) vs Amy (Modern)/Amy (Sonic Boom) Amy/Mina vs Amy/Nicole/Sally

ROUND ONE:

Amy/Shadow (General) vs [winner of Archie ShadAmy vs Black Rose/Shadow] Amy (Rusty Rose)/Shadow vs Amy (Thorn Rose)/Shadow Amy/Shadow (Sonic Boom) vs [winner of Amy/Shadow/Silver/Sonic vs Amy/Shadow/Sonic] Amy/Silver vs [winner of Amy/Manic vs Amy/Sonia] Amy/Surge vs [winner of Amy/Sticks/Surge vs Amy/Belle] Amy/Sticks (Sonic Boom) vs [winner of Amy/Sticks (Modern) vs Amy (Thorn Rose)/Sticks] Amy/Maria vs [winner of Amy (Black Rose)/Amy (Rusty Rose)/Amy (Thorn Rose) vs Amy (Modern)/Amy (Sonic Boom)] Amy/Coral vs [winner of Amy/Mina vs Amy/Nicole/Sally]

GRID TWO, RIGHT SIDE:

PRELIMINARIES:

Amy/Metal Sonic/Sonic vs Amy/Metal Sonic/Tekno Amy/E-102 Gamma vs Amy/X-Robot Amy/Jewel/Surge vs Amy/Surge/Tekno Amy (Classic)/her hammer vs Amy/her love for destiny (tarot) Amy/Knuckles/Shadow/Sonic vs Amy/Knuckles/Sonic Amy/Espio vs Amy/Espio/Silver Amy/Anton Veruca vs Amy/Dexter (imaginary boyfriend)

ROUND ONE:

Amy/Metal Sonic (General) vs [winner of SonMetAmy vs TekMetAmy] Amy/Metal Sonic (Classic) vs Amy (Rusty Rose)/Metal Sonic Amy/Metal Sonic/Shadow vs [winner of Amy/E-102 Gamma vs Amy/X-Robot] Amy/Metal Sonic/Surge vs [winner of Amy/Jewel/Surge vs Amy/Surge/Tekno] Amy/No One vs [winner of Amy (Classic)/her hammer vs Amy/her love for destiny (tarot)] Amy/Knuckles (General) vs [winner of Amy/Knuckles/Shadow/Sonic vs Amy/Knuckles/Sonic] Amy/Knuckles (Sonic Boom) vs [winner of Amy/Espio vs Amy/Espio/Silver] Amy/Bark vs [winner of Amy/Anton Veruca vs Amy/Dexter (imaginary boyfriend)] Match-up Notes: - Ships used in the preliminaries are the ones that received less nominations. In the end, it turned out that ships with 4 or more nominations were the ones safe from the preliminaries for sure, but most of the ships included only received one nomination - Different variations of the same ships have been grouped together as best as I could. Where there were preliminaries, versions of the ship that received low nominations were included in the preliminaries. The reason for grouping them together is so that the strongest version of each ship will go furthest (also to stop a single ship sweeping all corners of the grid lol) - As the most submitted ship, SonAmy has been placed on the top left side of the grid. There were enough variations of it submitted that the whole left corner is SonAmy - As the 2nd most submitted ship, BlazAmy has been placed on the top right side of the grid - As the 3rd most submitted ship, ShadAmy has been placed on the bottom left side of the grid - As the 4th most submitted ship, MetAmy has been placed on the bottom right side of the grid

[misfitwashere]

February 7, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

FEB 8

Maya Miller of the New York Times reported today that the congressional phone system has been jammed with tens of millions of calls from outraged constituents contacting their representatives to demand that they stand against President Donald Trump and his sidekick Elon Musk as they unilaterally dismantle the United States government and gain access to Americans’ private information. The Senate phone system usually gets about 40 calls a minute; now it is up to 1,600.

On Wednesday, Nicole Lafond of Talking Points Memo reported that Senate Republicans were not especially concerned about Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency team rampaging through the federal government, figuring that Musk won’t last long and that the courts will eventually stop him. Today, Musk posted on X: “CFPB RIP,” with a tombstone emoji. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has recovered more than $17 billion for consumers from fraudulent or predatory practices since it began in 2011.

Trump seems willing to let Musk continue to run amok through the government while he becomes a figurehead. Today he posted on his social media site that he has fired the chair and members of the board of trustees of the Kennedy Center, saying they “do not share our Vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture.” He promised to announce a new board, “with an amazing Chairman, DONALD J. TRUMP!” “For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!” he wrote.

U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, is less impressed with the direction of the Trump administration. Today, he blocked it from placing more than 2,000 employees of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on paid leave. Trump and his allies have claimed—without evidence—that USAID is corrupt, but Steven Lee Myers and Stuart A. Thompson of the New York Times reported today that the disinformation making those claims on social media posts, for example, comes from Russia.

Senator Angus King (I-ME) took his Republican colleagues to task yesterday for their willingness to overlook the Trump administration’s attack on the U.S. Constitution. King took the floor as the Senate was considering the confirmation of Christian Nationalist Russell Vought as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought, a key author of Project 2025, believes the powers of the president should be virtually unchecked.

King reminded his colleagues that they had taken an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic” and noted that the Framers recognized there could be domestic enemies to the Constitution. “Our oath was not to the Republican Party, not to the Democratic Party, not to Joe Biden, not to Donald Trump,” King said, “but…to defend the Constitution.”

“And…right now—literally at this moment—that Constitution is under the most direct and consequential assault in our nation's history,” King said. “An assault not on a particular provision but on the essential structure of the document itself.”

Why do we have a Constitution, King asked. He read the Preamble and said: “There it is. There's the list—ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, ensure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” But, he pointed out, there is a paradox: the essence of a government is to give it power, but that power can be abused to hurt the very citizens who granted it. “Who will guard the guardians?” King asked.

The Framers were “deep students of history and…human nature. And they had just won a lengthy and brutal war against the abuses inherent in concentrated governmental power,” King said. “The universal principle of human nature they understood was this: power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

How did the Framers answer the question of who will guard the guardians? King explained that they built into our system regular elections to return the control of the government to the people on a regular basis. They also deliberately divided power between the different branches and levels of government.

“This is important,” King said. “The cumbersomeness, the slowness, the clumsiness is built into our system. The framers were so fearful of concentrated power that they designed a system that would be hard to operate. And the heart of it was the separation of power between various parts of the government. The whole idea, the whole idea was that no part of the government, no one person, no one institution had or could ever have a monopoly on power.”

“Why? Because it's dangerous. History and human nature tells us that. This division of power, as annoying and inefficient as it can be,… is an essential feature of the system, not a bug. It's an essential, basic feature of the system, designed to protect our freedoms.”

The system of government “contrasts with the normal structure of a private business, where authority is purposefully concentrated, allowing swift and sometimes arbitrary action. But a private business does not have the army, and the President of the United States is not the CEO of America.”

In the government, “[p]ower is shared, principally between the president and this body, this Congress, both houses…. [T]his herky-jerkiness…this unwieldy structure is the whole idea,... designed to protect us from the…inevitable abuse of an authoritarian state.”

Vought, King said, is “one of the ringleaders of the assault on our Constitution. He believes in a presidency of virtually unlimited powers.” He “espouses the discredited and illegal theory that the president has the power to selectively impound funds appropriated by Congress, thereby rendering the famous power of the purse a nullity.” King said he was “really worried about…the structural implications for our freedom and government of what's happening here…. Project 2025 is nothing less than a blueprint for the shredding of the Constitution and the transition of our country to authoritarian rule. He's the last person who should be put in the job at the heart of the operation of our government.”

“[T]his isn't about politics. This isn't about policy. This isn't about Republican versus Democrat. This is about tampering with the structure of our government, which will ultimately undermine its ability to protect the freedom of our citizens. If our defense of the Constitution is gone, there's nothing left to us.”

King asked his Republican colleagues to “say no to the undermining and destruction of our constitutional system.” “[A]re there no red lines?” he asked them. “Are there no limits?”

King looked at USAID and said: “The Constitution does not give to the President or his designee the power to extinguish a statutorily established agency. I can think of no greater violation of the strictures of the Constitution or usurpation of the power of this body. None. I can think of none. Shouldn't this be a red line?”

Trump’s “executive order freezing funding…selectively, for programs the administration doesn't like or understand” is, King said, “a fundamental violation of the whole idea of the Constitution, the separation of powers.” King said his “office is hearing calls every day, we can hardly handle the volume. This again, to underline, is a frontal assault of our power, your power, the power to decide where public funds should be spent. Isn't this an obvious red line? Isn't this an obvious limit?”

King turned to “the power seemingly assumed by DOGE to burrow into the Treasury's payment system” as well as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, with “zero oversight.” “Do these people have clearance?” King, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee asked. “Are the doors closed? Are they going to leave open doors into these? What are the opportunities for our adversaries to hack into the systems?... Remember, there's no transparency or oversight. Access to social security numbers seem to be in the mix. All the government's personnel files, personal financial data, potentially everyone's tax returns and medical records. That can't be good…. That's data that should be protected with the highest level of security and consideration of Americans' privacy. And we don't know who these people are. We don't know what they're taking out with them. We don't know whether they're walking out with laptops or thumb drives. We don't know whether they're leaving back doors into the system. There is literally no oversight. The government of the United States is not a private company. It is fundamentally at odds with how this system is supposed to work.”

“Shouldn't this be an easy red line?” he asked.

“[W]e're experiencing in real time exactly what the framers most feared. When you clear away the smoke, clear away the DOGE, the executive orders, foreign policy pronouncements, more fundamentally what's happening is the shredding of the constitutional structure itself. And we have a profound responsibility…to stop it.”

King’s appeal to principle and the U.S. Constitution did not convince his Republican colleagues, who confirmed Vought.

But today, Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker took a different approach, trolling Trump’s claim that the Gulf of Mexico would now be called “the Gulf of America.” Standing behind a lectern and flanked by flags of the United States and Illinois, Pritzker solemnly declared he was about to make an important announcement.

“The world’s finest geographers, experts who study the Earth’s natural environment, have concluded a decades-long council and determined that a Great Lake deserves to be named after a great state. So today, I’m issuing a proclamation declaring that hereinafter Lake Michigan shall be known as Lake Illinois. The proclamation has been forwarded to Google to ensure the world’s maps reflect this momentous change. In addition, the recent announcement that to protect the homeland, the United States will be purchasing Greenland, Illinois will now be annexing Green Bay to protect itself against enemies foreign and domestic. I’ve also instructed my team to work diligently to prepare for an important announcement next week regarding the Mississippi River. God bless America, and Bear Down [a reference to the Chicago Bears football team].”

—

[tamlovesfashion]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Nicole Miller Napkin Ring Holders S/4 Sea Shells Beaded Coastal Gifts.

[yourreddancer]

Dispatches

November 09, 2024 · View in browser

In today's Dispatches: Abortion bans and preventable deaths

Amber Nicole Thurman

28 years old, Georgia

Thurman traveled out of state for an abortion after Georgia banned the procedure at 6 weeks. When she developed rare complications that required a procedure routinely used for both miscarriages and abortion, she went to the hospital — but doctors waited 20 hours to provide it. Maternal health experts said there was a good chance intervening sooner could have saved her life. She left behind a 6-year-old son. 

Candi Miller

41 years old, Georgia

Miller died at home. She had diabetes, lupus and hypertension, health conditions that made carrying a pregnancy to term dangerous, but Georgia’s abortion ban did not have exceptions that covered her situation. She navigated an abortion at home and developed complications. Her family said she didn’t visit a doctor “due to the current legislation on pregnancies and abortions.” She left behind her husband and three children, who are now ages 5 to 16. 

Josseli Barnica

28 years old, Texas

At 17 weeks pregnant, Barnica’s doctors diagnosed an “inevitable” miscarriage. But instead of offering an abortion to stave off infection, they waited 40 hours. She told her husband the medical team said it would be “illegal” to intervene until the fetal heartbeat stopped. Days later, she died of sepsis. Maternal health experts said there was a good chance intervening sooner could have saved her life. Barnica left behind her husband and her young daughter.

Nevaeh Crain

18 years old, Texas

At six months pregnant, Crain needed help for abdominal pain, fever and vomiting. It took three ER visits and 20 hours before a hospital admitted her. As her condition was worsening, doctors spent more than an hour and half performing two ultrasounds to confirm “fetal demise” before trying to treat her, even as her organs began to fail.

These stories were written by ProPublica reporters Kavitha Surana, Cassandra Jaramillo and Lizzie Presser. They’re also already leading to some real-world impact: In late September, project editor Ziva Branstetter reported that Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden sent letters to several hospitals — including the one in Georgia that Thurman went to — as part of an effort to investigate whether they are breaking laws about emergency care. More than 100 doctors in Texas signed a letter urging lawmakers to change the laws so doctors can provide lifesaving care. Our reporting has also led to these women’s stories being shared across the country and the world: They have reverberated through the U.S. Senate, the vice presidential debate and a demonstration outside the Georgia Capitol. In September, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to one of the women’s families alongside Oprah Winfrey.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jessica Valenti at Abortion, Every Day:

Since the end of Roe, we’ve watched women arrested for miscarriages, children forced to give birth, cancer patients denied care, and women stripped of vital reproductive organs. We’ve seen women die.  We now live in a country where hospitals routinely turn away miscarrying patients, and OBGYNs advise pregnant women to get insurance to cover helicopter flights in case they need emergency care that would be illegal in their home state.  All this, so a handful of conservative men can proudly declare themselves protectors of ‘life’. Whose lives, I wonder, are they protecting? Certainly not ours. 

The political leaders tasked to safeguard us instead fight to deny women emergency abortions or pass laws that require us to become paralyzed and infertile rather than end a pregnancy. Even the deaths of women and infants aren’t enough to spur empathy: Since Texas passed its abortion ban, for example, infant mortality jumped by nearly 13% and maternal mortality increased by 56%. How many mothers are they willing to kill in the name of being ‘pro-family’? Because let’s be clear: anti-abortion politicians and lobbyists knew women would die if they overturned Roe, and they did it anyway. They spent years carefully, strategically, and callously planning for our deaths. I mean that literally. Republicans are appointing anti-abortion extremists to maternal mortality review committees or disbanding these boards altogether. At the same time, anti-abortion organizations are sowing distrust in credible maternal death data, while Republicans pass laws that artificially inflate abortion ‘complication’ rates—efforts designed to make it seem that abortion is killing women, rather than the laws prohibiting it.

In fact, there’s an entire cottage industry devoted to hiding how deadly abortion bans are—from anti-choice ‘experts’ who testify in legislative hearings to the organizations churning out dubious studies that conservative lawmakers can use as ‘proof’ that abortion bans are perfectly safe. The tactic I think about most, though, is the one I warned about just over two years ago. In October 2022, I reported that anti-abortion lawmakers and activists were testing out a new talking point in anticipation of the first reported post-Dobbs death. Prompted by stories of burst ectopic pregnancies and women left bleeding for days, Republicans knew it was only a matter of time before someone died. So they decided to get ahead of the inevitable. Suddenly, anti-abortion legislators, activists, and conservative pundits began claiming—almost in unison—that abortion bans don’t stop doctors from providing care. Instead, they insisted women were being denied care because pro-choicers had frightened medical professionals and their lawyers into misreading the laws. “In other words, they set the world on fire and want to blame the people pointing out that it’s burning,” I wrote at the time.

Today, this is the exact anti-abortion response to the deaths of Candi Miller and Amber Nicole Thurman. Legislators and activists alike claim that it’s pro-choice “fearmongering and lies” about anti-abortion laws that killed the two women. We’re supposed to believe—despite a determination from Georgia’s maternal mortality review committee and two years of horror stories—that these deaths have nothing to do with abortion bans. That hospital lawyers across the country don’t know how to do their jobs, and that the laws anti-abortion activists spent decades drafting aren’t being interpreted exactly as intended. Come on. It’s not a coincidence that these messages are echoed, almost verbatim, by conservative media. (When I say this is all by design, I mean it.) The Washington Examiner has blamed “abortion disinformation” for Thurman and Miller’s deaths, while the Wall Street Journal accused Vice President Kamala Harris of “exploiting” a tragedy that had nothing to do with abortion bans. A Fox News article claimed that Georgia doctors were speaking out against “misinformation” about the state’s ban—but it turned out to be an interview of two Republican lawmakers who happened to be doctors. 

[...] Anti-abortion lawmakers and activists think they can distance themselves from what they’ve done to American women—horrors they meticulously planned and continue to try to cover up. They need us to forget or accept what’s been clear every day since Roe was overturned. I don’t know about you, I’m not willing to do either.

Jessica Valenti’s Abortion, Every Day Substack has spot-on analysis that abortion bans championed by anti-abortion activists who have the gall to call themselves “pro-family” under the guise of “protecting the unborn” kill women.

[ernestbruce]

Women Are More Valuable Than Dogs (really)

but many men (and some women!?) do not agree with this

today, in some parts of the United States of America (Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, West Virginia, Florida, Iowa, Utah, and Mississippi) a dog having a miscarriage has a much, much, much better chance of surviving that medical condition than a woman going through the same

. had the now dead Josseli Barnica, from Texas, BEEN A DOG, she would be alive today

DO YOU FUCKING UNDERSTAND HOW CRAZY EVIL AND ANTI-WOMANTHIS SHIT IS?

OR

what does it mean to a little girl knowing that the state where she lives (Texas) just let a woman and mom DIE because she got sick while being pregnant?

. this occurred AFTER it was known to all involved that two women (Amber Nicole Thurman a and Candi Miller) died in Georgia under similar circumstances

. i mean, THE DOCTORS *KNEW* that that young, beautiful and loving mom WAS GOING TO DIE BECAUSE OF THEIR FUCKING NEGLIGENCE AND MALPRACTICE, yes mal-motherfucking-practice (stay tuned)

. now, imagine that the girls mom is pregnant

. i cannot fathom what the wondrous, unlimited mind of that little girl could think about her family's situation, but i am pretty sure it is not what shes going to get for Christmas

Josseli is... was not a dog

. but because she is... was a woman living in Texas, SHE IS NOW DEAD AND HER DAUGHTER IS AN ORPHAN

this is happening in the fucking United States of America in fucking 2024, when we can fix CDF (chronic dick flaccidness) with a little fucking pill

GOD DAMN IT!!!!

but dont ask fucking Ted Cruz or Greg Abbot or Ken Paxton, three fuckers complicit in Josseli's manslaughter, yes, mans-moth.., you know

Teds website provides the answer his sniveling, cowardly ass cannot give

. yes, he is a fucking coward (he is fond of hiding in broom closets when the mob that he and the orange turd invited to pay a visit to his place of work *do* stop by)

. when shit hits the fan, turds hide in broom closets

https://www.tedcruz.org/defending-life/

"Ted has consistently voted for legislation that supports life and against pro-choice legislation including the Women’s Health Protect Act of 2021, which would have allowed doctors to refuse medical treatment to infants who survived an abortion and would allow for unborn children to be aborted by tearing them limb from limb."

. fucking prick

so, let us treat women like we treat dogs

. that would be a great start to Health Equality, Body Autonomy, and plain fairness and empathy

any "culture of life" bullshit will be greeted with a swift slap on the fucking mouth

. when you hear that tired slogan, try answering,

"mothers *make* life, mothefucker!"

. that should quiet those fucking busybodies

RIP, Josseli

. you did not have to die at the hands of evil, hateful, little old men with tiny dicks who were jealous of your power, grace, and vastly superior intelligence

https://www.propublica.org/article/josseli-barnica-death-miscarriage-texas-abortion-ban

[monsterkong]

Empowering Moms with Luxe Labor Gowns: A Conversation with Lindsay Lighthiser

In today’s Wilder Possibilities Podcast, I chatted with my talented friend Lindsay Lighthiser, the brains behind Little Shadows, a line of luxe labor and delivery gowns. 👶💖

Lindsay has an incredible background in fashion design, having worked at Ralph Lauren and Nicole Miller before shifting her focus to interior design and, more recently, launching Little Shadows. Her journey is an inspiring one, filled with moments of clarity and purpose that led her to where she is today.

A New Business for a New Chapter

Lindsay’s business, Little Shadows, was born from her desire to give moms the luxurious experience they deserve during childbirth. The gowns are thoughtfully designed with moms in mind, offering easy access for breastfeeding and a comfortable, modest fit for labor. ✨

Finding the Click Moment

Lindsay’s “click moment” came when she became a mom herself. She realized that while fashion was fun, it wasn’t fulfilling her passion for sustainability or aligning with her values. That’s when she decided to create something that would truly make a difference—luxurious, practical gowns for moms. 🌸

Conclusion Want to support moms with a thoughtful gift? Check out Little Shadows at Shop Little Shadows and follow Lindsay’s journey on Instagram.

[glowreusbling]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: NICOLE MILLER Women's Red 3 Tier Ruffled Tankini Swimsuit Size Large.

[cameracourt]

Review: "Until Our Time Comes" by Nicole M. Miller

Thanks for taking the time to read my review today of a debut novel by new Revell author Nicole M. Miller: Until Our Times Comes. American horse trainer Adia Kensington is living her dream of working at the famous Janów Podlaski stables in Poland, where they breed the best Arabian horses in the world. But her plans to bring the priceless stallion Lubor to the US are derailed when the German army…