Elizabeth Huergo

Anniversary of Revere’s ride.

I want to tell you why the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia should matter to you.

The one power you cannot give the executive is the ability to imprison or expel anyone regardless of their legal rights. That is our key check against autocracy. And we are watching it disappear.

Today’s ridiculous sketchbook. It sure is getting harder to smile.

The Librarians is a must-see documentary about the recent history of book banning in the US

A small flycatcher sitting on a branch with red leaves in a blurred background

Eastern Phoebe, our springy flycatcher friend 🪶

Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing

"On Tyranny" is a #1 NYT bestseller again. I wish the moment were different. But I’m glad the book is useful. And grateful for all the kind words about putting the 20 lessons to work.
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

A stunning small bird showcasing a magnificent color palette—warm rusty-brown head, striking bright orange throat, elegant black mask, and emerald-green wings. Its slender, curved black bill is perfectly adapted for nectar feeding. Perched delicately among soft foliage, this beautiful creature's vivid colors stand out against the blurred natural background.

White-fronted Bee-eater at Kruger National Park, South Africa.

#birds #nature 🌿

The Flash Fiction Challenge — nycmidnight The Flash Fiction Challenge is an annual creative writing competition that challenges writers around the world to create short stories based on genre, location, and object assignments in 48 hours.

Join me in the @nycmidnight.bsky.social Flash Fiction Challenge on May 30th! Learn more at nycmidnight.com/ffc

Rewind and be kind: what happens if you do one act of kindness every day? When Bernadette Russell decided to perform one good deed every day for a year, it made a difference to the world around her but also had a big impact on her own life

If, like me, you're feeling overwhelmed and saddened by the news of the day, you may want to read this piece. It contains such a simple but powerful suggestion to counter much of what we're facing, and in fact to change the world.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Tolkien, with a stance all writers might share: “Some who have read [my] book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.”

"Women have served ... as looking-glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size. [...] That is why Napoleon and Mussolini both insist ... upon the inferiority of women, for if they were not inferior, they would cease to enlarge." V. Woolf

Teacher ordered to remove signs from classroom, including one saying 'Everyone is welcome here' “There are only two opinions on this sign: Everyone is welcome here, or not everyone is welcome here,” argues Sarah Inama, a sixth-grade history teacher.

"Despite the district’s ruling, Inama refuses to remove the signs, even if it means risking her job. 'There’s no way I would be able to allow myself to just take it down and roll over to what I feel like they’re asking me to do.'"

The Manchurian Candidate YouTube video by YouTube Movies

In addition to "Alone in Berlin," perhaps watching "The Manchurian Candidate" is a good idea right about now. And, of course, Kosinsky's "Being There." So much irony remains unacknowledged these days.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Zi...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WL9U...

"A good essay must have this permanent quality about it; it must draw its curtain round us, but it must be a curtain that shuts us in not out." Virginia Woolf

The Autogolpe and Other Things Lost in Translation I’m becoming an avid reader of Substack, and one of my favorite sites is Paul Krugman’s. Earlier this month, Krugman, a Nobel laureate in Economics, observed “…that everything Musk and Trump say ab…

"The Autogolpe and Other Things Lost in Translation" came out this morning at Writer Unboxed. If you are not familiar with the site, come explore a welcoming community of writers.
writerunboxed.com/2025/02/25/t...

Alone in Berlin - Official Trailer I HD I IFC Films YouTube video by IFC Films

I watch/read the news and think of "Alone in Berlin," starring Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson, a true story about a working-class German couple, Otto and Elise Hampel, who supported Hitler and then joined the resistance after the death of their son.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQaG...

In "What Are People For?" Wendell Berry quotes William Blake: "'You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.'" Both poets condemn the immorality of excess, and the narrow consciousness nurtured by excess.

Thousands protest against Trump’s war on immigrants after Ice raids: ‘Fight for our neighbors’ Protesters in Colorado express solidarity with the undocumented after dramatic raids throughout Denver Thousands took to the streets on Wednesday and Saturday last week following a series of dramatic raids by agents from Immigration and Customs…

Thousands protest against Trump’s war on immigrants after Ice raids: ‘Fight for our neighbors’

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde appeals to President Trump to have mercy upon immigrants and minorities YouTube video by ONEST NETWORK

I rather admire this sort of courage:
youtu.be/gVInX42IQD8?...

You were missed today at the Ladies' Lunch. Big hug!

"Laboratorio de arte cubano en Fontanar" YouTube video by Fontanar TV

My cousin Ramon Luis is a cinematographer in Cuba. The house is my late Aunt Carmen's home in Fontanar, a neighborhood in l'Habana. The weight of poverty is palpable. So too is the human spirit.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPXl...

I looked up what a group of Blue Jays is called, which is a "party" or "band." So here is a party of Blue Jays. (They do seem to like partying it up and causing a ruckus. I could see "a ruckus of Blue Jays" as a group name working too.)

Thank You to Canada and Mexico Bless you.

California’s on fire, and while the GOP is busy blaming DEI and concocting conspiracies, Canada and Mexico are busy saving lives.

"In the press there is a very human tendency to compromise between giving the public what it wants and giving the public what it should want." Edward Bernays, CRYSTALLIZING PUBLIC OPINION (1923)

Politics is deeply personal. Its role in human suffering real. In 1977, Carter lifted the 1962 US embargo on Cuba. My mother went to Havana to see her mother for the first time in 16 years. That would also be the last time she saw her. Reagan reinstated the embargo in 1982, and it continues today.

Congrats on upcoming release!

CARTOONS OF THE DAY 🫤

(Cartoonists are rallying around @anntelnaes.bsky.social as she leaves the @washingtonpost.com )