mother of vivacious twins, Latin teacher passionate about her students' learning, eternal lover of all things Roman, Armenian, American West.
Joined February 2011
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Michele Bertaud retweeted
In 1805, a young man fell to his death on a mountain in England. When they finally found him, three months later, he wasn’t alone…
His name was Charles Gough, a young artist who set off that April to cross Helvellyn, one of the highest mountains in the Lake District, taking his little dog Foxie with him. Somewhere on the way, he fell and died, far from any path or house, and for weeks nobody knew what had happened to him. Then, on 27 July, a shepherd working near the lonely mountain lake of Red Tarn heard a dog barking. When he followed the sound, he found Gough’s body, and beside it, still keeping watch, was Foxie. She had stayed with her master through all those months, alone on the mountain, and she had even given birth to a puppy there, which sadly didn’t survive.
The story moved all of England: two of the greatest poets of the day, William Wordsworth and Walter Scott, each wrote a poem about it without knowing the other was doing the same, and Scott wrote these lines as if he were speaking to the dog herself:
"How long didst thou think that his silence was slumber? When the wind waved his garment, how oft didst thou start?"
More than twenty years later, inspired by Scott’s poem, the young Edwin Landseer painted the scene and called it Attachment. It depicts a dead man lying among the rocks, and a small dog pressing herself against his chest, as if she could still wake him…
Foxie didn’t understand death, but she understood love better than most people ever will. She didn’t know her master was gone, she only knew that he was hers, and that she would not leave him. And that is the miracle every dog offers us, whether we deserve it or not: a love that lasts forever and asks for nothing. Wordsworth said it best, and his words are still carved on a memorial stone on the mountain today:
"How nourished here through such long time
He knows, who gave that love sublime;
And gave that strength of feeling, great
Above all human estimate!"
Michele Bertaud retweeted
Today, supporters of APOEL Nicosia from Cyprus displayed a banner honouring Archangel Michael, the Commander of the Heavenly Hosts, whose feast day is celebrated every year on November 8 in the Orthodox Church.
A beautiful display of faith and Orthodox tradition! ☦️
Michele Bertaud retweeted
It starts with your dog. Then it’s how you dress. The hemline. What you can wear on the street before someone decides it’s a problem. Then it’s the LGBT community. The bars. The music. And before you know it, you’re wondering whether you can still walk around New York at night like it’s your city.
This is just the beginning of what you voted in. I hope some of you are going to watch this video and finally ask yourselves, “What the fuck did we do?”
Around 3 a.m. in Murray Hill, two NYPD officers stopped a nurse while she was walking her leashed dog. The officers said she was in the street. She said she had the walk signal. One of them grabbed her arm, and you can hear her telling him he was hurting her. Bystanders started filming, called 911, and demanded a supervisor. Even with people asking them directly, the officers never clearly said what law she’d broken. She kept her dog.
I hope she goes after both of them hard. The two officers in the video are Asfak Mahmud, shield 10087, and Mohammed S. Ahmed, shield 22523, both of the NYPD’s 17th Precinct.
I’d file complaints with NYPD Internal Affairs and the Civilian Complaint Review Board and talk to a civil rights attorney about a possible lawsuit against the officers and the city. I want to hear exactly what justified putting hands on her.
Michele Bertaud retweeted
Dear Dave Matthews - @davematthewsbnd,
You closed your excellent Chicago United Center show last night by noting some people were happy with Tuesday’s results—big cheers—then calling to “hold their feet to the fire.” Sort of a buzzkill to an otherwise great show that allowed us to escape the battle cries of politics.
Your utopian rhetoric lacks awareness. The “affordability” message that helped Democrats (and sealed another term for Pritzker in Illinois) almost always becomes the vehicle for higher taxes, bigger government, and the rest of the progressive package.
In Illinois, residents already face some of the highest property tax rates in the country, layered on top of a high overall state-and-local tax burden. More “investments” in housing, childcare, healthcare, and the rest will be paid for by the same taxpayers who were promised relief. History shows the bills go up while the results lag.
The same coalition that cheers “affordability” has also pushed policies that weaken Title IX and girls’ sports by prioritizing gender identity over sex-based categories, expanded sanctuary protections that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, and aggressive climate mandates that raise energy and housing costs. Illinois has leaned hard into the sanctuary approach under Pritzker; the incentives and costs don’t disappear just because the rhetoric focuses on grocery bills and rents.
“Hold their feet to the fire” sounds good on stage, Dave. And when you live in homogenous liberal enclaves with high income and write and sing songs about love and dope, this all tracks with your luxury beliefs.
In practice, the track record in places like Illinois is higher taxes, more spending, less protection for women’s sports, more sanctuary policies, climate-driven cost increases, and a larger state role in daily life (note my work on the latest mental health screenings in Illinois schools).
The Dave Matthews song “Ants Marching”: “They all do it the same -- They all do it the same way.”
The cheering crowd may have thought Tuesday was a change. The ants just keep marching the same direction.
But I'll say the show was great. The violin needs to be a permanent part of the tour; no question.
Stick to the art, not the politics.
Respectfully,
A longtime fan, taxpayer, and voter of anyone but Pritzker
Michele Bertaud retweeted
These are the most important words a White House Chief of Staff have ever spoken…
Listen. You know I am right.
Michele Bertaud retweeted
My full speech at the @OxfordUnion debating whether the west is right to be suspicious of Islam.
I needed a security team to attend and we were spat at, bullied and heckled by a baying mob.
But I will not give up on free speech.
I will not submit.
Michele Bertaud retweeted
This is what they do to enemies of the state in the Britain our forefathers died for.
Shameful.
Tommy Robinson could face up to 10 years in jail after being found guilty of harassing two journalists
trib.al/xX5atBc
Michele Bertaud retweeted
Look at them still lying saying they exposed my riots shame , I didn’t encourage violence or riots. The facts are I appealed for calm the whole time . There was no truth in their story back then and there is no truth in it now .
Tommy Robinson found guilty of harassing Daily Mail journalists after jurors heard he used 'bully-boy tactics' to intimidate reporters who exposed his UK riots shame trib.al/j2NkflG
Michele Bertaud retweeted
An Illinois mom was home alone with her infant late at night when paroled burglar Shelby Hurd forced entry into her Joliet home.
She hid the baby in a bedroom closet, armed herself with a handgun, and shot him in the head as he entered the room. Police found Hurd wearing gloves and carrying a screwdriver. He had a history of burglary convictions and had only been released on parole months earlier.
Nice aim.
The woman, who remains anonymous, cooperated with investigators and faces no charges. Police treated it as a justified self-defense shooting.
This is a prime example why we don’t give up our guns.
Michele Bertaud retweeted
IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY!
Hello, Chicagoans!
Today is my birthday, and I have one birthday wish: please come sign my petition and donate to my campaign!
5113 S. Harper Ave., Chicago, IL
3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
We’ll be DOWNSTAIRS, so you can quickly pull up, sign, and get back in your car.
That’s the only birthday present I’m asking for today!
To support my campaign with a birthday donation, dannicformayor.com
Thank you for the birthday love, prayers, and support!
Danielle Carter-Walters
Candidate for Mayor of Chicago 2027
🇺🇸 CHICAGOANS FIRST! 🇺🇸
#HappyBirthdayToMe #DanielleCarterWalters #CommonSenseCarter #ChicagoansFirst #Mayor2027 #DanniForChi
Michele Bertaud retweeted
Katie is in a grave. She was only 20, visiting friends at the University of Illinois campus when she was violently killed on the streets of Sanctuary Urbana, Illinois.
And we’re supposed to believe the rhetoric about public safety while ignoring the consequences of the policies?
Measure the outcomes, not the words. Follow the results, not the claimed intentions.
The arrogance, the gaslighting, the absence of humility or self-reflection are staggering. Words ring hollow when the results contradict the promises.
Were these outcomes by design or incompetence? Neither is acceptable.
We need to stop rewarding policies that incentivize the wrong behavior and leave innocent people exposed to the consequences.
Refuse to be lied to. Demand accountability. And when elected officials cannot govern competently, show them the door.
Even when it feels like there isn’t enough to overcome the Illinois machine, inherited wealth, and special interests, if we refuse to accept the status quo and demand better, what feels like not enough can become more than enough to change Illinois.
Michele Bertaud retweeted
QUIT YOUR BITCHING!!!!!!
Grandpa didn’t have a $90 month internet bill, a $130 phone bill, seven app subscriptions at $72 month, an Amazon addiction for $200 month, he didn’t have Netflix, Paramount or HBO for another $112 month and his haircuts didn’t need a ‘stylist’!
I’m worn out hearing people moan, “Our grandparents could buy a house on one paycheck, but now we can’t even afford rent on two!”
Yeah, maybe because Grandma wasn’t dropping half her income on $14 iced lattes and avocado toast shaped like art projects. Back then, if they wanted coffee, they boiled it at home in a dented pot. It tasted like burnt rubber and regret — but it woke you up and cleaned your pipes.
And Grandma wasn’t “out to brunch.” You think she had time for mimosas and hashtags? She was making something called whatever’s left in the fridge and feeding six people with it.
Don’t even start with Uber Eats. You think Grandpa was out here paying $38 to have a burger delivered three blocks away? Please. He grilled mystery meat on a rusted barbecue, and everyone called it dinner.
Now people cry about being broke while sitting in a house full of gadgets. Two SUVs in the driveway, six streaming services, three air fryers, and matching tattoos that cost more than their light bill. You think Grandpa had a tattoo? He did. It said “Korea, 1951,” and it came with trauma, not Instagram likes.
And the kids—Lord help us. “We can’t make ends meet, but Brayden needs the new iPhone!” No, he doesn’t. You’re handing an $1100 device to a child who still eats crayons and forgets to flush.
When we were kids, there was one phone. It hung on the wall like a family relic. The cord stretched just far enough for you to whisper secrets before someone yelled, “Get off, I need to make a call!” And guess what? We lived.
The TV? One. In the living room. With three channels and a dial that clicked like a safe. And if Dad wanted to watch bowling, you were a fan of bowling, end of story.
Now there’s a flat screen in every room, the baby’s got an iPad, the dog’s got a camera, and everyone’s wondering why they can’t afford rent.
Because you’re living like rock stars on retail salaries, that’s why.
Grandpa wasn’t leasing Teslas or buying $12 smoothies called “Green Zen Awakening.” He drove a truck that coughed smoke, rattled like a storm, and smelled like oil and hard work.
They lived within their means. Whatever Grandpa brought home on Friday — that’s what they had. They weren’t keeping up with the Joneses; they were keeping the lights on.
So yeah, Grandpa bought a house on one salary. But he also didn’t have a gym membership, three delivery apps, and emotional support crystals on his nightstand. His only support system was Grandma, who told him to quit whining and mow the yard.
Nowadays, everyone’s broke, anxious, and “manifesting abundance” while ordering tacos on DoorDash for the fourth time this week.
It’s not the economy — it’s the lifestyle.
Wake up, turn off your subscriptions, make your own coffee, and maybe—just maybe—you’ll smell the truth.
It’s truth....God is Good, God is Great, I thank HIM for this day and everything I have!!
Michele Bertaud retweeted
Imagine Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in the mid-1300s, traveling from his home in Prague along the busy Golden Route toward the imperial city of Nuremberg — and back again, many times. Just before the last stretch he reaches a small river island. There he builds himself a nice water castle (Lauf Castle).
That’s why above the main entrance they later placed a statue of Saint Wenceslas, the great Czech patron saint, and the Bohemian lion.
And so in this idyllic Bavarian town this beautiful island castle makes one feel thrown 700 years back into the everyday life of a traveling medieval king and emperor.
Michele Bertaud retweeted
Caravaggio was born on this day in 1571.
The Cerasi Chapel in Rome’s Church of Santa Maria del Popolo is home to two masterpieces by the Baroque master: The Crucifixion of St Peter and The Conversion of St Paul.
Michele Bertaud retweeted
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has a scholarship program for people to learn to become activists and only illegals and foreigners are allowed to apply. No American-born citizens. How is this legal?? @AAGDhillon
No legal status required: Boston is paying immigrants $575 to learn political organizing, and US-born residents can't apply
massdailynews.com/2026/09/26…
Michele Bertaud retweeted
Hey, Javier Bardem?????
Where is YOUR OUTRAGE? Where is YOUR PROTEST STATEMENT about this WOMAN ARTIST GETTING BEATEN IN IRAN??
I guess if it’s not a criticism of Israel, you don’t care!
