What Wendy's Doing: Drinking coffee, and wondering—when was the last time we sunk a drug boat? It seems weird that we aren't going after drug boats now that Trump has taken over Venezuela. Why is that exactly? Cuz Drug boats.
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❄️ Weather Check ❄️
New York: 19°F, sunny and brutal—the kind of cold that makes your bones file for divorce from your body
Kansas City: 32°F, cloudy with a high of 56°—Mother Nature's having another goddamn identity crisis
Atlanta: 33°F, mostly cloudy climbing to 45°—southern winter pretending it knows what it's doing
San Francisco: 55°F, partly cloudy hitting 67°—smugly perfect while the rest of us suffer
Detroit: 9°F, cloudy with possible snow—feels like the inside of a freezer that's given up on life
The Daily Gathering
Grounded wisdom for curious souls
Good morning, beloved community. It's Thursday, February 5th, 2026. Today: Republicans watching their Senate majority circle the drain, European cities telling fossil fuel companies to shove their billboards, a Texas professor fighting back after being fired for acknowledging trans people exist, and the life hack that'll change your fucking week.
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Editor's note: February keeps doing that thing where it's both the shortest month and feels like it lasts six years.
The GOP's Electoral Diaper Fire
Visceral Thoughts: You can almost smell the flop sweat through their Brooks Brothers suits. Senate Republicans gathered Tuesday to hear NRSC Chair Tim Scott try not to sound too alarmed about their 2026 prospects—the political equivalent of a flight attendant calmly explaining that "slight turbulence" as the oxygen masks deploy.
The damage:
Trump's approval sits at a delicious 42.2%, with disapproval at 54.6%. A Harvard CAPS/Harris poll shows 51% of voters think Trump is doing worse than Biden. Let that marinate.
Democrats just flipped a Texas state Senate seat that Trump won by 17 fucking points in 2024—a 31-point swing that has GOP senators calling it a "wake-up call." (Spoiler: they're still hitting snooze.)
The party's eating itself alive: Ken Paxton might knock off John Cornyn in the Texas primary, potentially handing Democrats their first statewide win in 30 years. Republicans would have to spend $100-200 million defending Texas. In a year where they need every dollar for actual swing states.
Response: GOP Senators are privately freaking out while publicly doing absolutely nothing different. Senator Thom Tillis, who bailed on reelection after Trump trashed him on social media, warned that if voters' economic views don't shift by Q2, Republicans are "in for a rough election night." Bold prediction from a guy who just quit. Meanwhile, Democrats recruited Roy Cooper in North Carolina, because why not twist the knife? The Hill
Amsterdam and Florence Tell Big Oil: Go Fuck Yourself (On Billboards)
Sensory Thoughts: Picture this: you're walking through Amsterdam's cobblestone streets, past the canals, the bicycles, the coffeeshops—and for the first time in decades, you're not being assaulted by ads for cruise ships, cheap flights, and gas-guzzling SUVs. The silence is almost obscene.
The science:
Amsterdam became the first capital city in the world to fully ban fossil fuel and meat ads, passing it 27-17 last month. The ban kicks in May 1st and covers flights, petrol vehicles, gas heating, and yes, meat—across all public spaces including transit.
Florence followed Tuesday, becoming Italy's first city to adopt the ban with an 18-3 vote. City Councilor Giovanni Graziani called it "a necessary cultural and symbolic shift to address the climate crisis."
Over 50 cities worldwide have now restricted these ads. Spain could become the first country to ban them entirely.
Action: The timing is chef's kiss—this comes as Greenpeace calls out the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics for letting Italian oil giant Eni (one of the world's biggest polluters) sponsor an event threatened by checks notes lack of snow from climate change. UN Secretary-General Guterres has called for fossil fuel ad bans "in the same way they restricted tobacco." Your move, America. Earth.org
Music To Get You Through
Texas A&M Professor Fired for Teaching Children's Literature. Yes, Really.
Human Thoughts: Melissa McCaul taught children's literature at Texas A&M. Her course, which trained future educators and counselors, mentioned that trans people exist. A conservative student secretly recorded a class conversation, posted it online, and anti-LGBTQ+ State Rep. Brian Harrison—because of course—demanded her firing. The university complied, also removing the dean and department head.
Stakes:
McCaul's lawsuit states she was "terminated for exercising her academic freedom guaranteed under the First Amendment"—not for violating any law or policy. She's seeking reinstatement, back pay, and punitive damages.
The Texas A&M system's board of regents now requires campus presidents to personally sign off on any course that could be seen as involving "gender ideology or topics related to sexual orientation." They recently blocked a philosophy professor from teaching Plato's fucking Symposium because it acknowledges gay people exist. PLATO. A 2,400-year-old dead guy.
Dean Angie Hill Welsh, who refused to fire McCaul when the student demanded it (explaining the university trains people who might work with LGBTQ+ individuals), was forced to resign.
Movement: McCaul said in a statement: "There's no satisfaction in doing this, only sadness. I had hoped to keep doing that work for many years to come." Her lawyer called it a "chilling message" to educators everywhere. This is what Musk-funded, Trump-enabled fascism looks like in education: thoughtcrime enforced by student informants. LGBTQ Nation
Life Survival: Silence
"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow."
— Alice Walker
Alice Walker knew what erasure tastes like—bitter and familiar, like a word caught in your throat before it can become dangerous. Carry this today: the people worth keeping are the ones who make room for your full self, not the convenient parts. In the grocery store when someone misgenders the cashier, in the argument with your mother about "politics," in the quiet moment when you choose visibility over safety—remember that your voice existing is its own form of resistance. Silence isn't peace; it's just quieter violence.
Community & Culture
Dove Cameron opens up about her late father's sexuality on the Call Her Daddy podcast, sharing that her dad was "at the very least not straight" and her parents' marriage was complicated by his inability to fully accept himself. Her father died by suicide when she was 15. Cameron, who came out as queer in 2020, continues to honor his memory by living authentically. — Grief doesn't end; it evolves. And so do we. PinkNews
Brandi Carlile establishes $25,000 grant for Minnesota ICE detainees, partnering with The Advocates for Human Rights to provide free legal assistance. The lesbian singer-songwriter wrote: "What affects one of us, affects all of us." — When artists put their money where their values are. PinkNews
Nature & Science
The ocean's most abundant bacteria has a fatal flaw. SAR11 bacteria make up 40% of marine bacterial cells and evolved to be incredibly efficient—but scientists discovered that extreme efficiency becomes a trap. When environments shift, these microbes can't adapt: their cells keep copying DNA but fail to divide, creating abnormal cells that die. Climate change could devastate these organisms, with ripple effects up the food chain to krill, whales, seals, and penguins. — Even nature's overachievers have breaking points. Science Daily
Every second breath you take depends on ocean iron. New research from Rutgers confirms that marine phytoplankton—tiny algae producing half our oxygen—need iron dust to function. Without it, 25% of their light-capturing proteins disconnect, photosynthesis crashes, and populations collapse. Climate change is reducing iron delivery to oceans. — The invisible ingredient keeping us all alive is disappearing. Science Daily
Life Hacks
The kitchen drawer chaos → Corral loose twist ties, rubber bands, and clips inside an old mint tin or magnetic container stuck to the fridge. The feeling: That exhale when you open a drawer and things don't attack you like tiny angry snakes.
The meeting-that-could've-been-an-email spiral → Before accepting any meeting invite, reply with: "What decision needs to be made?" If they can't answer, suggest async communication instead. Saves an average of 4.5 hours weekly for chronic meeting-sufferers. The feeling: Reclaiming time like it's stolen property—because it was.
The "did they mean that?" relationship loop → Before spiraling, text: "Hey, I'm reading [X] in what you said—is that what you meant?" Give them 24 hours to clarify before building a prosecution case in your head. The feeling: Your nervous system remembering what trust tastes like when you actually verify instead of catastrophize.
Food & Nourishment
Blood oranges are peaking right now → Slice thin, fan across a plate with burrata, drizzle with good olive oil and flaky salt. The sweet-bitter-creamy combination at room temperature is the closest legal thing to a religious experience.
Corporate salad kit bypass → Save your herb stems in a freezer bag all week. Sunday, blend with olive oil, garlic, and whatever nut you have into a rough pesto. Costs $0.40 versus $6 for the sad plastic container. This is food sovereignty—one freezer bag at a time.
The "I have nothing but random shit" transformation → One can of white beans, drained. Handful of whatever greens are wilting. Garlic. Lemon. Parmesan rind if you saved one (you should). Simmer 12 minutes in broth or water, mash some beans against the pot for thickness. Boring → Italian grandmother energy.
Life Survival: Be Yourself
"The most revolutionary thing you can do is be yourself."
— Gloria Anzaldúa
Anzaldúa understood borders—physical, cultural, and the ones we build inside ourselves to survive. Being yourself isn't passive; it's a daily act of reconstruction against a world that profits from your conformity. Send yourself into today armed with this: every authentic choice you make is a brick in a wall you're building not around yourself, but around your own becoming. The revolution isn't coming. It's happening every time you refuse to shrink.