Good morning, beloved community. It's Wednesday, January 8th. Today: Republicans grow spines and challenge their king, Colorado's climate scientists face Trump's wrath, Renee Good's blood stains Minneapolis snow, and the wisdom that'll change your fucking week.

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Editor's note: January ice cuts deep—some wounds crystallize into action.

Touch: Feel wooden gavels cracking under unprecedented defiance—House Republicans scheduling votes to override Trump's first vetoes, choosing constituents over king. Lauren Boebert watches her Colorado water pipeline die because she released Epstein files. Carlos Gimenez sees tribal protection gutted after the Miccosukee sued over detention centers.

The damage:

Two-thirds majority needed. Both bills passed unanimously before Trump's rage arrived. Rural Americans lose drinking water infrastructure. Indigenous sovereignty gets trampled. Speaker Johnson backs Trump personally, but nine Republicans already broke ranks. The fracture spreads—loyalty tested when your own people need what the president denies. TheHill

Sight: Picture Boulder's National Center for Atmospheric Research—830 scientists mapping hurricanes, predicting wildfires, forecasting droughts that kill. Now watch Russell Vought call it "climate alarmism" and promise dismantling.

The science:

Founded 1960, NCAR provides aircraft safety data, air quality monitoring, extreme weather warnings protecting millions. International researchers call it America's "crown jewel of scientific enterprise." Governor Jared Polis warns closure means "public safety at risk"—no flood predictions, no fire forecasts, no storm warnings.

Action:

Scientists vowing resistance. Colorado refusing cooperation. This follows Trump halting the National Climate Assessment, reviving coal, gutting air quality standards. Attacking the research keeping people alive during climate catastrophe. Earth dot org

Hear: The crack of gunfire through a burgundy Honda Pilot's windshield, a wife's screams as she watches Renee's body slump against deployed airbags, ICE officers yelling "Back up!" while a physician neighbor begs to check her pulse.

Stakes:

Renee Nicole Good—37, mother, wife, US citizen, poet, guitar player—shot dead by ICE Wednesday morning on East 34th Street, Minneapolis. Videos show her car blocking the road. Agents demand she exit. Car reverses then moves forward. Agent fires multiple shots. Her six-year-old son orphaned—his father died 2023. Trump calls her "domestic terrorist," claims she "viciously" attacked officers.

Movement:

Mayor Frey tells ICE "Get the fuck out of Minneapolis." Governor Walz calls it "totally predictable, totally avoidable." Vigils nationwide. Community mourns a woman defending Somali neighbors, killed by the deportation machine Trump deployed. ThePinkNews

Sexuality labels evolving like wine on tongues learning new flavors—"heteroflexible" exploded 193 percent in 2025, becoming the year's fastest-growing identity. Mostly straight with sexual fluidity. Millennials comprise 65 percent of the shift on dating app Feeld. Dr. Luke Brunning explains some embrace it as authentic self-description, others see internalized homophobia or bi-erasure. Language adapts when rigid boxes fail containing human complexity. ThePinkNews

Cold metal handcuffs clicking on Greta Thunberg's wrists for holding a sign reading "I support Palestine Action prisoners. I oppose genocide" outside London's Aspen Insurance—servicing Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit Systems. Eight Palestine Action members on hunger strike, two hitting 52 days without food, death becoming real. Arrested under Terrorism Act. Released on bail. UN rapporteur Francesca Albanese responds: "The more people you arrest to cover up Israel's genocide, the more decent people stand up." TheGuardian

Salt spray on coral polyps rebuilding after humanity stops pillaging them—overfished reefs producing far below sustainable capacity. Let fish populations recover? Boost yields nearly 50 percent, creating 20,000 to 162 million additional servings yearly per country. Indonesia, Africa, Southeast Asia benefit most. Countries with highest hunger gain most nutrition. Recovery takes 6-50 years. Beyond conservation into food security—rebuilding reefs feeds millions where malnutrition kills. ScienceDaily

Kitchen wisdom: Sauté leftover quinoa in garlic-olive oil, toss with roasted Brussels sprouts and pomegranate seeds, dress with lemon-tahini. Transforms sad grains into crunchy lunch perfection.

Sustainable living: Set phone alarm for 8-minute showers. Every minute saved = 2.5 gallons. Shorter showers, lower bills, less drought contribution.

January citrus cutting winter's grey—blood orange and fennel salad with toasted pistachios. Slice oranges thin, shave fennel thinner, dress with olive oil and flaky salt. Winter's bitter sweetness.

The Hill | Staff. Smell desperation in congressional hallways as swing-district Republicans defy leadership, advancing expired Obamacare subsidies while 22 million Americans watch premiums double overnight, Senate fights over Hyde Amendment abortion restrictions, and Trump demands subsidies go to consumers not insurance companies—healthcare turned political football while families bleed financially. TheHill

Trump's ICE Playbook: Trump sees ICE agent shoot unarmed woman and shrugs. Trump calls murder victim "domestic terrorist," claims she attacked officers. Her name was Renee Good. She was gay. She was a mother. She's dead. Never forget even if Trump wants erasure.

Wonder: 7,500-year-old stone seal unearthed at Turkey's Tadım Fortress—predating Urartu kingdom, proving Neolithic civilizations had sophisticated social structures, property systems, agricultural trade. One carved rock opening portals to advanced societies existing before pyramids, humility tasting like discovery. PopularMechanics

Visual feast: National Geographic photographer Gideon Mendel captured 129 haunting portraits of LA wildfire survivors returning to ash-covered foundations. Forcing stillness amid trauma—people finally crying, processing what $130 billion in destruction means when your only home becomes rubble, five weeks documenting families at the exact moment loss becomes real. NatGeo

Clickbait: Boomers claim millennials can't afford houses because avocado toast? Wrong. Boomers paid 11 percent income for median homes in 1980. Millennials pay 37 percent now. Boomers got cheap necessities, expensive luxuries. Millennials got fucked on housing, healthcare, education—but hey, iPhones cheaper! UpWorthy