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Posted by Julia Wendling

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/ig01-charted-the-escalating-destruction-of-u-s-wildfires/

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/?post_type=sp&p=195607

Published

11 minutes ago

February 19, 2026

Julia Wendling

Graphics & Design

Athul Alexander

Line chart with trendline showing the escalating damage of wildfires in the U.S., using data from the National Interagency Fire Center

The Escalating Destruction of U.S. Wildfires

Key Takeaways

Wildfires in the United States are becoming more destructive as climate conditions intensify and development expands into fire-prone areas.
The area burned by wildfires has trended upward, with many of the most severe seasons occurring in the past decade.
In 2024, nearly 9 million acres were burned, far exceeding the 40-year average of approximately 5 million acres.

Wildfires across the United States are becoming more destructive and more costly. Data from the National Interagency Fire Center shows that the annual area burned has increased over time, with several of the most severe wildfire seasons on record occurring within the past decade.

Created in partnership with Inigo, this visualization provides visual context for the rising impact of U.S. wildfires.

Wildfires Are Burning Hotter and Spreading Wider

Across the country, rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, and stronger winds are intensifying fire behavior, even as housing development pushes further into fire-prone areas.

In January 2025 alone, California wildfires burned 64,038 acres, the third-highest January total on record. The figure shows that extreme fire conditions are no longer limited to peak summer months.

Year	Acres Burned
Jan.-Oct. 2025	4,711,179
2024	8,924,884
2023	2,693,910
2022	7,577,183
2021	7,125,643
2020	10,122,336
2019	4,664,364
2018	8,767,492
2017	10,026,086
2016	5,509,995
2015	10,125,149
2014	3,595,613
2013	4,319,546
2012	9,326,238
2011	8,711,367
2010	3,422,724
2009	5,921,786
2008	5,292,468
2007	9,328,045
2006	9,873,745
2005	8,689,389
2004	8,097,880
2003	3,960,842
2002	7,184,712
2001	3,570,911
2000	7,393,493
1999	5,626,093
1998	1,329,704
1997	2,856,959
1996	6,065,998
1995	1,840,546
1994	4,073,579
1993	1,797,574
1992	2,069,929
1991	2,953,578
1990	4,621,621
1989	1,827,310
1988	5,009,290
1987	2,447,296
1986	2,719,162
1985	2,896,147
1984	1,148,409
1983	1,323,666

Although the most destructive wildfire years occurred across several decades, the broader pattern remains unmistakable. The long-term trend in acres burned is steadily rising.

In 2024, nearly 9 million acres burned, far exceeding the 40-year average of just over 5 million acres. Only two years in the past decade recorded fewer acres burned.

Why Exposure Is Compounding

The expanding overlap between people, property, and high-risk terrain is amplifying both human and economic exposure. Over the past decade, wildfires damaged one in four buildings that stood within a previous burn zone, highlighting how rebuilding in the same areas can magnify future losses.

Insurers, property owners, and policymakers can no longer treat wildfire risk as a regional issue confined to the Western states. It is a national challenge reshaping how communities build, insure, and recover. As climate volatility increases, understanding where fires are occurring and how risk is accumulating will be critical to managing future losses.

Explore the data behind emerging global property risks.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/sp/ig01-charted-the-escalating-destruction-of-u-s-wildfires/

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/?post_type=sp&p=195607

snickfic

Wuthering Heights (2026). Young woman is torn between her love for the best friend she grew up with and her wealthy new-money neighbor.

I enjoyed this a lot. Emerald Fennell's visual spectacle is always on point, and in particular the costumes and sets are fantastic. There are a bunch of amazing set pieces, and the artificiality of Linton's mansion and the wardrobe he gives Cathy vs the organic squalor of her home and childhood were really effective IMO in contrasting several different binaries at once. I loved every single ridiculous dress. I was also really into Cathy and Heathcliff's starcrossed love. Heathcliff is so gone on her, and even when he's trying to be manipulative, he mostly comes across as desperate. (When he approaches Linton's ward Isabela in hopes of making Cathy jealous, he is the most gentlemanly ravisher you have ever met.) And Cathy is clearly equally gone on him, even if she gets in her own way sometimes.

I think the script could have used some work. For one thing, several secondary characters' motivations were left as exercises to the viewer (Cathy's father and especially her companion Nelly); like yes, I can form theories about why they did what they did, but maybe a little less subtlety here is in order. Also, just to make Cathy and Heathcliff feel a bit more complex as characters and/or to just make their relationship more toxic or at least complicated. Honestly, my main criticism here is that Fennell, against all expectations and especially considering her work on Saltburn, doesn't go nearly as weird and batshit as the story could support. The visuals yes, the character dynamics no.

Overall, though, a good time. I ship it and immediately went looking for fic. (There were 15 fics in the tag, half from before the movie even came out, and half the new ones were crossovers. RIP.)

--

The Tunnel (2011). An Australian mockumentary about a news crew that goes into abandoned subway tunnels underneath Sydney looking for a story.

I'm always interested in mockumentary horror, as opposed to your standard found footage, so I was excited to check this out. Unfortunately, the longer I sit with it, the less I like it. First of all, the whole point of the mockumentary aspect is to add depth, context, and contrast to the found footage, but IMO the interview clips here were almost extraneous. There were one or two nice moments, like when they have the anchor listen for the first time to what another crew member in the tunnels had heard through his head phones, but there was very little else that we couldn't have gotten from the found footage itself. The news investigation framing all felt a little off as well; the supposed pretext for going into the tunnels feels a little overheated. "Politicians fail to give updates on big proposal" does not feel like the red flag for a huge scandal, and various other aspects that were treated as potentially newsworthy just weren't, IMO. Also, surely the most terrifying part of underground horror is the threat of getting lost? I was astounded by how little a concern this was in the movie, even when they were running around without any care whatsoever for where they were.

What really killed this for me, though, was the gender politics. As with so many found footage type movies, there's one female character, the news anchor, and everyone else is male. (Why is this????) There are repeated assertions from the guys both in the found footage and the interview segments that the anchor doesn't know what she's doing, doesn't deserve her position, and probably is fucking the station director. And what do you know, they're right, several people die because of her ambition and poor judgment, not to mention how she goes into crying hysterics several times. In 2011!! Just brutal.

There's a behind the scenes doc about the movie that I managed to watch five minutes of, and before I turned it off, it was entirely about what genius fundraisers the creators were, and how they "disrupted" the Australian film funding model by "inventing NFTs before they were big." (They raised funds by ~selling frames of the movie to donors.) So... yeah.

The movie isn't entirely without merit; there's some great found footage moments. If you just want to watch people stumble around underground being chased by unknown monsters, you could do worse. But a very qualified rec.

--

Prince of Darkness (1987). Per Shudder, this John Carpenter movie "follows a group of quantum physics students in Los Angeles who are asked to assist a Catholic priest in investigating an ancient cylinder of liquid discovered in a monastery, which they come to find is a sentient, liquid embodiment of Satan."

NGL, I watched this because I really really wanted to see a movie about the liquid embodiment of Satan, and now I have, I guess. This was just bad. There are some memorable moments; I loved the dripping fluid floating upwards and that the canister (OF FLUID) was locked to "only open from the inside." The dream transmissions for the future were honestly rad. The bugs and creepy-crawlies everwhere were really effective sometimes. There's also a fun sense of claustrophobia as the night goes on and things close in around the characters. Also, frankly, the devil and Jesus as extraterrestials who came to take over and warn Earth, respectively, was neat! I wish the movie had gone harder on that!

OTOH, the eventual romance began with the guy being such a creeper that I was sure he was being set up as a villain, and then he's a big old sexist to her right before he asks her out, and I hated that. The demon instapregnancy was so predictable and tedious. One of the guys repeatedly has homophobic comments made to and by him, and also he's weirdly racist to one of the girls, and this is all for no apparent reason except as a characterization note. And overall the movie was just slow and lacking in charm. I would love to see this exact premise from someone who was actually good at writing characters.

I definitely wouldn't recommend this to anyone unless they were interested in specific elements of the plot or if they're a John Carpenter completionist.

kaberett

I have introduced my mother to this, I have introduced the Child's household to this, I am writing it down because clearly It Is Time for me to do so.

( Read more... )

musesfool

In what is likely the only time I will be all "USA USA" about these Olympics (or basically anything these days), the US Women's hockey team won gold in OT over Canada! 🏅🏅🏅🏅🏅

Hilary Knight with the game-tying goal with 2 minutes left and the goalie pulled - she became the all time leading US scorer at the Olympics! GOATed! (She also got engaged yeserday{? I think it was yesterday? to a lady speed-skater} so she's having a time in Milan!) And then Megan Keller won it in OT - right through the 5-hole on Desbiens (who I do feel bad for - she had herself a game today after getting pulled in the previous US-Canada game)! What a sick goal!

(I don't think the overtime in a GOLD MEDAL GAME should be 3-on-3, but at least they were scheduled to play a full period - no shootout in the gold medal game.)

Of course, I was supposed to be working so people kept emailing me and calling me and I couldn't be like, "Don't you know the US women's hockey team is in OT against Canada in the gold medal game!??!" so ugh. work.

In other news, last night I was struck with a mighty strong craving for an Orange Julius, and i had an unopened 11 oz bottle of OJ in the fridge so I stuck it in the freezer, and then this morning I pulled out the blender to make it, and I think the part that defrosted enough to get scraped into the blender was all water, because it had only the vaguest of orangey taste. But I have the other half of the bottle left, so I will try again tomorrow. I'm sure nostalgia is playing a part, but there was something so amazingly good about an Orange Julius at the mall when I was in high school.

*

Current Mood: excited

flemmings

Terminal hubris yet again took me out to the nearer supermarket, yes on a garbage day, yes after that 10 cm dump. Possibly the Whatever that flattened the sidewalk by me yesterday also did down the block and the snow/ ice piles were from people cleaning off their cars. But possibly the Whatever couldn't touch the ice because people put salt down before the sleet stopped falling which naturally led to an unmoving ice sheet. A common mistake in these parts. But I needed milk onaccounta indulging in daily hot cocoa, and tomorrow will be 5C ie melt, plus rain, which means even more slop, so out I went. Really must get an all-terrain walker, though no guarantee that would handle slush any better.

This is also the reason why, after going to bed last night, I got up and cancelled tomorrow's physio. If the sidewalks are passable I'll see if the spot is still open but I strongly suspect they won't be.

However having prudently put one of the Thermacare disposable heating packs on my grumpy back, I was able to clear the rest of my frontage of the ice layer. Wasn't enough to do NND's but at least it's a start. Only because I did this after coming back from the super I was getting light-headed from all the exertion and needed to rest and do deep breathing from time to time.

A come by chance setting on my tablet which I can no longer find allows you to switch up the wallpaper of one's login. I selected landscapes so now, in the brief interlude before inputting my PIN, I have vistas of forests and meadows and deserts and rivers and mountains. My sadness is that they don't tell you where these places are, and that I only get three seconds to view them before the screen goes black again. But they're a nice little pleasure to offset the annoying FUBARs of this new update.

flowing_data_rss_feed

Posted by Nathan Yau

https://flowingdata.com/2026/02/19/coding-on-the-train/

https://flowingdata.com/?p=81181

Paul Ford, for NYT Opinion, on his outlook for making software by vibe coding:

My industry is famous for saying no, or selling you something you don’t need. We have an earned reputation as a lot of really tiresome dudes. But I think if vibe coding gets a little bit better, a little more accessible and a little more reliable, people won’t have to wait on us. They can just watch some how-to videos and learn, and then they can have the power of these tools for themselves. I could teach you now to make a complex web app in a few weeks. In about six months you could do a lot of things that took me 20 years to learn. I’m writing all kinds of code I never could before — but you can too. If we can’t stop the freight train, we could at least hop on for a ride.

The simple truth is that I am less valuable than I used to be. It stings to be made obsolete, but it’s fun to code on the train, too. And if this technology keeps improving, then all the people who tell me how hard it is to make a report, place an order, upgrade an app or update a record — they could get the software they deserve, too. That might be a good trade, long term.

The trouble is that we don’t know where the train is headed. Some paint a hopeful picture of some kind of utopia, and others point towards a dystopia where a few benefit at the expense of everyone else. I have no idea. I remain cautiously pessimistic.

Tags: code, New York Times, Paul Ford, technology, vibe-code

https://flowingdata.com/2026/02/19/coding-on-the-train/

https://flowingdata.com/?p=81181

cosmolinguist

I thought I'd just get dropped off at the train station after our session (and the all-important debrief in Costa) was finished. But I should've known: my lovely colleague has sight loss herself and assured me that they -- she, her husband/PA, her guide dog -- would wait until I was safely on a train.

But first, I needed to pee, so I got directed to the gents' and I was only gone for a few minutes but when I walked back up the platform I saw those two (three, counting Flick the dog) standing with two other ladies chatting away. As I got closer I'd have guessed they were people R knew from work; one of them mentioned another charity that's known to us. I was happy to chill while they did that "Oh you know Nick?" kind of thing. But it turns out they didn't know each other; these women had just been at some sight-loss related event but one of them just spoke up when she saw the guide dog because she always does and is clearly the kind of person who'll talk to anyone. They had made friends at a local society for blind people, and had just come from, of all things, a funeral for someone they knew from that group. The chattier one told us about her eye condition, Homonymous Hemianopia -- and R and I said "that's the one we couldn't say before!" when we were going through a list of them at the session earlier; we both know about hemianopia but neither of us could get the word out at the time.

Then the other person said "And I have optic nerve hypoplasia."

And then I said "Shut up!" because I was so surprised. That's what I have! And even among other blind people, no one's heard of it. It's an odd, rare thing. I literally don't think I've ever met anyone else who's got it.

They and I ended up getting on the same train for the first 15 minutes or so, by which point the chatty one had made friends with the conductor and exchanged numbers with me.

My hypoplasia pal lives in Runcorn and says she comes to Manchester regularly; I said she should let me know if she wants to hang out.

Such a goofy coincidence, but an uplifting end to a day that could've gone better. (It was fine, it just...well, I'm too tired to explain it now. But it was fine. Just, could've been better.)

mekare

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ysabetwordsmith

New sodium ion battery stores twice the energy and desalinates seawater

A surprising breakthrough could help sodium-ion batteries rival lithium—and even turn seawater into drinking water. Scientists discovered that keeping water inside a key battery material, instead of removing it as traditionally done, dramatically boosts performance. The “wet” version stores nearly twice as much charge, charges faster, and remains stable for hundreds of cycles, placing it among the top-performing sodium battery materials ever reported.

This is super exciting because of its double benefit: battery materials and drinking water. Also awesome, unlike rare minerals used in many batteries, sodium is something Earth has in great abundance. \o/

Current Mood: busy

stonepicnicking_okapi

Come Let Us Be Friends by Sarah Lee Brown Fleming
Come, let us be friends, you and I,
E’en though the world doth hate at this hour;
Let’s bask in the sunlight of a love so high
That war cannot dim it with all its armed power.

Come, let us be friends, you and I,
The world hath her surplus of hatred today;
She needeth more love, see, she droops with a sigh,
Where her axis doth slant in the sky far away.

Come, let us be friends, you and I,
And love each other so deep and so well,
That the world may grow steady and forward fly,
Lest she wander towards chaos and drop into hell.

To a Friend who sent me some Roses by John Keats
As late I rambled in the happy fields,
What time the sky-lark shakes the tremulous dew
From his lush clover covert;—when anew
Adventurous knights take up their dinted shields:
I saw the sweetest flower wild nature yields,
A fresh-blown musk-rose; ’twas the first that threw
Its sweets upon the summer: graceful it grew
As is the wand that queen Titania wields.
And, as I feasted on its fragrance,
I thought the garden-rose it far excell’d:
But when, O Wells! thy roses came to me
My sense with their deliciousness was spell’d:
Soft voices had they, that with tender plea
Whisper’d of peace, and truth, and friendliness unquell’d.

visualcapitalist_rss_feed

Posted by Gabriel Cohen

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/worlds-most-harvested-crops/

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/?p=195893

See more visuals like this on the Voronoi app.

Ranked: The World’s Most Harvested Crops

See visuals like this from many other data creators on our Voronoi app. Download it for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

Nearly 2 billion metric tons of sugar cane were harvested in 2024, making it the world’s most harvested crop.
Third-place finisher rice is the staple food for over half the world’s population.
Many of the world’s largest crops are used as much for animal feed and biofuels as for direct human consumption.

Nearly 2 billion metric tons of sugar cane are harvested globally each year, making it the most-produced crop on Earth by a wide margin.

This visualization highlights the scale of global crop production in 2024, showing how staple foods and key commercial crops compare. The data for this visualization is sourced from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

While some top crops are dietary staples, others support large industries such as biofuels, sweeteners, and packaged foods.

The Main Crops Grown Each Year

Sugar cane stands as the dominant crop grown globally at 1.94 billion metric tons, far surpassing all other crops.

Maize follows at 1.22 billion tons, while rice and wheat—two of the world’s most essential food staples—come in at 820 million and 798 million tons, respectively.

Rank	Crop	Metric tons produced in 2024
1	Sugar cane	1,939,782,021
2	Maize (corn)	1,218,205,574
3	Rice	820,223,277
4	Wheat	798,481,711
5	Oil palm fruit	418,696,914
6	Soya beans	397,671,688
7	Potatoes	390,428,972
8	Cassava, fresh	341,905,934
9	Sugar beet	293,624,598
10	Tomatoes	188,498,383
11	Barley	141,996,861
12	Bananas	139,413,684
13	Onions and shallots, dry	108,260,011
14	Watermelons	104,959,426
15	Apples	97,880,076

Brazil is notably the top producer of both sugar cane and soybeans, while Eurasian giants like China, India, and Russia are the main wheat growers worldwide.

Lots of the crops in question have regional production hubs; soybeans, for example, tend to be produced in China, the U.S., and South American countries like Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay.

Our Sweet Sugar Craze

More sugar cane is harvested in Brazil each year than in the next three largest annual producers. Sugar cane is not only processed into the table sugar you buy at the supermarkets, but also refined into biofuel, molasses, and other sweeteners.

Meanwhile, over 294 million tons of sugar beet were grown in 2024, accounting for roughly 20% of global sugar output. Sugar beet is grown specifically for sugar extraction and refined sugar.

The Corn Industry

Corn, also known internationally as maize, is the runner-up for global agricultural production, with the United States as the top grower worldwide. Most corn today, especially in the U.S., is harvested for use in animal feed or the production of biofuels such as ethanol. The U.S. has maintained large corn subsidies for over half a century.

The Corn Belt is a geographic region of the U.S. dominated by the corn industry, and is centered around the Midwestern state of Iowa. Today Iowa grows three times more corn than all of Mexico, the country where corn was first harvested in pre-Columbian times.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

If you enjoyed today’s post, check out The Big Four American Crops Compared to Entire Countries on Voronoi, the new app from Visual Capitalist.

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/worlds-most-harvested-crops/

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/?p=195893

chopwood_carrywater_feed

Posted by Jess Craven

https://chopwoodcarrywaterdailyactions.substack.com/p/chop-wood-carry-water-219-90b

Hi, all, and happy Thursday!

Happy arrest-of-Prince-Andrew Day also.

Per NPR:

U.K. police have arrested a man in his 60s on suspicion of “misconduct in public office.” U.K. media reports that this man is Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew. Police have investigated whether Mountbatten-Windsor shared confidential government information with his late friend, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, while he was U.K.’s trade envoy. Mountbatten-Windsor admits to ties to Epstein and settled a lawsuit with one of Epstein’s underage victims, but denies wrongdoing.

Prince Andrew is the one who, among many other things, allegedly raped Virginia Giuffre. Today she is at least partially redeemed. It’s a big deal.

I know it feels like justice for Epstein’s victims is coming all too slowly—if at all—but I do think this is a monumental step in the right direction. Many, many others are losing positions of prestige and/or stepping away from responsibilities they’ve long held. (I posted a carousel containing some instances here.) This is progress! Meanwhile New Mexico lawmakers have launched a new investigation into allegations of trafficking and sexual abuse at a ranch outside Santa Fe once owned by Epstein. Paris prosecutors opened two new investigations into his activities yesterday. More will come!

It may be precipitous to say the dam is breaking, but it is accurate to say that cracks are emerging everywhere. Enough cracks, and the entire structure destabilizes. That’s just physics. So let’s keep at it, raising our voices about this ever louder until real justice comes. And while that justice is the top priority, there’s a secondary motive here that also critical: the more we expose Trumpland’s culpability in Epstein’s abuses, the weaker they become.

It’s also important that we frame this moment in a way that’s appropriately damaging for them. It’s not difficult, either—after all, there’s a theme here, isn’t there? I talked about it with Anat Shenker-Osorio on Monday. It is this: Wherever Trump and his people are we see the abuse, assault, and abduction of children. Whether it’s ICE agents maiming teenagers, deporting babies while they’re sick, and imprisoning toddlers, or whether it’s the Epstein class’s unspeakable assaults on children, this “abuse, assault, and abductions” theme is THE common thread.

So everyone who cares about kids must use it often. We must keep drawing those lines for those who can’t yet see them.

OK, all. Lots to do today, so enough talk! Let’s get busy!

Call Your Senators (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is ______.

First, I know Reps. Khanna and Massie are going to force a House floor vote next week on an Iran war powers resolution. I want the Senator to propose something similar in the Senate. The American people do not want Trump to take us to war with Iran. Congress needs to do its job and stop him.

Second, I wholly oppose the SAVE Act, the Save America Act, the MEGA Act, or any GOP bill that will block millions of American citizens from voting. Non citizen voting is a non-issue—a Heritage Foundation database found 85 cases of it between 2002 and 2023—and most of those were green card holders. That’s amongst billions of votes. These bills are no more than a Republican attempt to suppress votes because they know Americans hate their policies. It’s despicable. Vote no. Thanks.

Call Your House Rep (find yours here) 📲

Hi, I’m a constituent calling from [zip]. My name is _______.

First, I know Reps. Khanna and Massie are going to force a House floor vote next week on their Iran war powers resolution. I expect the Congressmember to support it. Do NOT allow Trump to take us to war with Iran.

Second, Pam Bondi needs to resign or be impeached, and the rest of the Epstein files must be released immediately with no perpetrator names redacted. Prince Andrew was arrested today—we cannot see the US remain the one place where abusers continue to escape accountability.

Finally, I understand that DHS is overpaying massively for the detention warehouses it’s purchasing—new reporting says there’s a 33% to 323% markup on these facilities compared to fair market values. I want to know who is pocketing those profits and why that money isn’t going to help Americans instead. We don’t need these detention centers, in which people are dying in alarming numbers. We need healthcare. We need housing. We need affordable utility bills. I urge Congress to immediately block funding for warehouse detention expansion, demand full public disclosure on all contracts, and hold oversight hearings on the waste, fraud, and abuse we’re seeing from DHS. Thanks.

Extra Credit ✅

Let’s contact the International Olympics Committee and demand that Casey Wasserman be removed as the chair of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics Board. He exchanged suggestive emails with Ghislaine Maxwell while he was married; it’s inappropriate and outrageous for him to still be leading this effort.

Their contact form is here.

I said:

I’m writing to urge the IOC to demand the removal of Casey Wasserman as head of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics organizing team. Mayor Bass has called for him to step down because of his ties to Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell. You should, too.
Epstein’s victims are being re-traumatized by the lack of concern the Trump administration and some institutions are showing about the horrific abuses committed by Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and others. Justice is slow to come, but come it will if these horrific assaults cease to be normalized or ignored. The Olympics Committee, then, has a choice to make: will it stand with the victims or will it side with the perpetrators? Because by allowing Wasserman to stay on you are very clearly doing the latter.
I don’t want to boycott the 2028 games, but I will if they are tainted by the Epstein stench. Insist that the LA28 board remove Wasserman now. Thanks.

I couldn’t find a direct contact address for the LA28 board but I did find a press email: press@la28.org. I customized the above letter and sent to them as well. Let’s deluge them! Accountability will only come to Trump when it’s come to everyone below him. This matters!

Get Smart! 📚

Learn How to Write an Effective Letter to the Editor with Represent US.

You can reach potentially thousands of people with just one letter. And Represent US is here to help. Join them on February 26 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT for a letter to the editor training to educate others about why Congress needs to have courage, including stopping the SAVE America Act and holding ICE accountable.

They’ll discuss:

What makes a compelling letter to the editor, and why they matter
How to find the right outlet for your letter to the editor
Talking points about what Congressional courage looks like, the harms of the SAVE America Act, and what it means to hold ICE accountable
And more!

The op-ed section is the most read part of the newspaper, so let’s make our voices heard.

RSVP here.

Give 💰!

Join me and Markers For Democracy for an event with the States Project!

Come learn how joining a giving circle and taking other concrete actions can help keep you sane during these fraught political times. Please join us on Zoom on Monday, February 23, from 7:30–8:30 p.m. ET for a special Markers For Democracy Giving Circle event featuring:

Jess Craven, author of the popular Substack “Chop Wood, Carry Water”
Mandara Meyers, Executive Director, The States Project
Melissa Walker, Principal Strategist, Giving Circles, The States Project

Markers For Democracy is once again working with The States Project to support state legislative candidates in Pennsylvania and Arizona for the upcoming elections in November 2026. Hear about The States Project’s critical work flipping state legislatures across the country and learn how joining a giving circle is one of the best ways not only to spend your political dollars, but also—along with other actions—an effective way to maintain your sanity.

Get in the Streets! 🪧

Minnesotan organizers and neighbors are calling us to action February 25 – March 1 for a week of action. A week-long Twin Cities gathering will include political education, rapid responder, and legal observer trainings as well as opportunities to join a range of protests targeting ICE and their collaborators.

Can’t make it to Minnesota? No problem – a national day of action against detention centers, on Saturday February 28.

Community members and anti-ICE organizers in Minnesota invite you to join mass resistance to keep building the national movement to Abolish ICE! Join us:

In the Twin Cities Wed, February 25th to Sunday, March 1st or
Join the national call for actions against detention centers and plan an action near you on Saturday, February 28th. And fill out this form to let them know you’re planning something!

Win Races! 🗳

Activate America is making a last call for postcard lists for the vital North Carolina Senate election.

The deadline to mail postcards is February 24th. That’s less than one week away. Request your postcard lists HERE.

Democrats have been tantalizingly close in statewide elections in North Carolina for many election cycles now, with Governor Roy Cooper (now candidate for U.S. Senate) and President Barack Obama (in 2008) our greatest success stories.

When we lose statewide in North Carolina, we lose narrowly. It’s all in the numbers. If we can get low propensity Democratic voters to vote in the primary, they will almost all vote in the general election. In other words, our work now is changing the makeup of the electorate that will determine who wins this election.

Without winning in North Carolina, it’s hard to see how we take back the U.S. Senate. This is a must-win state to put meaningful checks and balances over the lawless Trump presidency.

Again, to request your postcard lists, sign up HERE.

Resistbot Letter (new to Resistbot? Go here! And then here.) 💻

[To: all 3 reps ] [H/T ] [Text SIGN PSKAUN to 50409, or to @Resistbot on Apple Messages, Messenger, Instagram, or Telegram]

(Note that for the most effective RESISTBOT it’s best to personalize this text. More about how to do this here. But if you’re short on time just send it as is using the above code.)

Broadcast licenses cannot become leverage against political speech.

After FCC Chair Brendan Carr issued guidance questioning whether certain late-night and daytime talk programs qualify for the longstanding “bona fide news” exemption to the Equal Time Rule, CBS blocked Stephen Colbert from airing an interview with Texas state representative and U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico.

The Equal Time Rule, rooted in Section 315 of the Communications Act, requires broadcasters to provide equal opportunities to legally qualified candidates. For decades, however, programs classified as bona fide news interviews — including talk shows — have operated under a recognized exemption. That exemption has not been formally revoked.

Yet the FCC recently stated it had not been presented evidence that certain talk programs qualify for the exemption and suggested the agency may review them. No rulemaking has eliminated the exemption. No enforcement action has been finalized.

Nevertheless, CBS lawyers reportedly instructed Colbert to cancel the interview and initially not to mention its cancellation. On air, Colbert noted that the FCC chair had merely said he was “thinking about” revisiting the exemption — but the network acted as though the change had already occurred.

That is the textbook definition of a chilling effect.

[Read the rest here.]

OK, you did it again! You’re helping to save democracy! You’re amazing.

Talk soon.

Jess

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February 2026

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visualcapitalist_rss_feed - Charted: The Escalating Destruction of U.S. Wildfires
snickfic - movies: Wuthering Heights, The Tunnel, Prince of Darkness
kaberett - [food] the kale thing
musesfool - the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat
flemmings - (no subject)
flowing_data_rss_feed - Coding on the train
cosmolinguist - What are the odds? And some of us are very odd
mekare - threesentenceficathon
slashmarks in fandomcalendar - Multifandom: Goreswap 2026 Sign Ups Open!
ysabetwordsmith - Energy
stonepicnicking_okapi - February LOVE-fest: Day 19: two poems about friendship
visualcapitalist_rss_feed - Ranked: The World’s Most Harvested Crops
chopwood_carrywater_feed - Chop Wood, Carry Water 2/19
profiterole_reads - Specimen by C. Quince
atamascolily - Fic Reflections: "Somebody Else's Missives" (Hitchhiker's Guide/Dinotopia)
chickenfeet - TSO and Opera Atelier season announcements
princessofgeeks - Question about HR TV canon
ysabetwordsmith in birdfeeding - Birdfeeding
ysabetwordsmith - Birdfeeding
forestofglory - Media Roundup: Even More Sequential Art

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Asakiyume mita

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The Escalating Destruction of U.S. Wildfires

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Wildfires Are Burning Hotter and Spreading Wider

Why Exposure Is Compounding

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Ranked: The World’s Most Harvested Crops

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OK, you did it again! You’re helping to save democracy! You’re amazing.

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