Karen James

@kejames

Environmental geneticist & outdoorswoman into eDNA, botany, evolution, space, sci-comm, skiing, Outlander & kindness • auntie • cat mom • she/her “I would teach my feet to fly” Banner art by @truelovebirch@bsky.social 📍Unceded Wabanaki land (aka Maine)

2,631 Following8,651 Followers4,368 Posts

Instagram YouTube YouTube YouTube Bluesky

alt

Is this your profile?Claim it and kejames.dirty.social is yours.Claim profile

Karen James@kejames· Jul 4

Omg hahahahaaaaa. (If you don’t get it, here’s the context you might be missing/forgetting:)

Screengrab of tweet by Pixelated Boat:
The whole internet loves Milkshake Duck, a lovely duck that drinks milkshakes! *5 seconds later* We regret to inform you the duck is racist

Karen James@kejames· Jul 1

This is what my back-of-the-hand IV bruise looks like 6 days post-surgery, in case that’s of interest to people for whatever reason. 🤡

The back of my hand with a plum-sized bruise on it.

Karen James@kejames· Jun 29

Me, every grand slam

Man in office wear gesturing in front of investigation board

Karen James@kejames· Jun 26

Proof of life

Selfie wearing shoulder brace and looking zoned out

Karen James@kejames· Jun 21

I am heartbroken that we had to say goodbye to our sweet little girl Harlequin, Harley, Harles, Harli le Chat Noir, muffin bean, runner bean, little bubbah, etc., yesterday. So grateful we found a vet who does end-of-life housecalls. I might have to revise my stance that I don’t believe in angels.

Floofy tuxedo cat in a window with a bookcase in the background

Tuxedo cat with her tongue sticking out and floofy bloomers on prominent display

Close up of tuxedo cat’s face with a hand under her chin, showing off her diamond shaped white markings

Top down pic of me on my side in bed with the covers pulled up and tuxedo cat tucked up behind my shoulders

Karen James@kejames· Jun 20

Cool Sankey diagram of the ranked choice voting results of Maine’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. Think how transformative this could be if more states adopted it.

Colorful diagram showing the flow of votes after each round of elimination with the title, “Sankey diagram of the Democratic gubernatorial primary ranked choice tabulation”

Karen James@kejames· Jun 19

I was looking for Vigil, saw this and thought, “1,000 years, eh? Maybe they’ll actually cover pre-contact history,” so I clicked, and the first words were, I kid you not: “The United States of America, once nothing more than four thousand million square miles of extreme wilderness…” WTF, BBC?

“America 1000 years of history” BBC documentary website

Karen James@kejames· Jun 18

Small world! Eagle Lake you mean? It’s pretty spectacular.

Karen James@kejames· Jun 10

This crop in particular

Cropped version of the photo linked in the above post of cars on fire in a Belfast street

Karen James@kejames· Jun 7

Underneath the rat specimen, there was a sign that read:

Pest Control

Recently discovered specimens of the common sewer rat have shown some remarkable new characteristics.

Attributed to an increase in junk food waste, ambient radiation and hardcore urban rap music these creatures have evolved at an unprecedented rate. Termed the Banksus Militus Vandalus they are impervious to all modern methods of pest control and mark their territory with a series of elaborate signs.

Professor B. Langford of University College London states "You can laugh now.... but one day they may be in charge."

Karen James@kejames· Jun 7

Banksy did in fact grace the museum with one of his pieces, back in 2004. I’m delighted to have seen it with my own eyes before they took it down (which they shouldnt have done, IMO). www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/apr/...

A taxidermied rat wearing a tiny backpack and with a spray paint can, with a tiny spray-painted message next to him reading “our time will come”

Karen James@kejames· Jun 5

The Witch Hole Pond carriage road loop. Early evening is the best time; I almost always see at least one. This was around 6pm and I saw three. (The carriage road itself is a very dim line in this screengrab.)

Map showing the location of my beaver photo between the Hulls Cove Visitor Center and Duck Brook Bridge in Acadia National Park

Karen James@kejames· Jun 5

Close-up

Karen James@kejames· Jun 5

Timeline cleanse: handses! Video captured on my after-work walk today in Acadia NP, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot territory. Be sure not to mistake the tail for a lily pad.

Karen James@kejames· Jun 5

TW: DV Please consider what it means that a man can grab a woman by the shoulders hard enough to hurt her, to leave marks, drag her out of a car, twist her arm behind her back, and lock her in a room, then later she will take pains to clarify that he didn’t *break* her arm.

But she said he regularly grabbed her by the shoulders — sometimes hard enough to leave marks - and, on one occasion, yanked her out of a cab by her wrist after an argument when she wanted to stay in the car.
During one argument, she recalled, he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn't get out, telling her to remain there until she was "calm."
Eventually, Ms. Fifield said, she fell asleep and left the next morning.
"It hurt," she said. But she added: "It didn't cause an injury, it didn't break my arm."

Karen James@kejames· Jun 5

A couple of bonus excerpts… dishonorary mentions, if you will.

Lyndsey Fifield, 40, a Virginia conservative who has worked for right-leaning groups and Republican campaigns, recalled him as
"cavalierly contemptuous of women's emotions, of our 'weakness:" Ms. Fifield, who dated Mr. Platner from roughly 2013 to 2015, said that his offensive online posts "reminded me of just how much he hated women."

Mr. Platner, who had overlapping relationships with other women while he and Mo Fifield dated, also referred to women as "hatchet wounds" Ms. Fifield said, a crude term for female anatomy.

Karen James@kejames· Jun 5

Here are the four most disturbing (to me) excerpts from the NYT piece about Platner. I don’t know how we can conclude anything form this other than he is a violent misogynist and a liar. Gift link in quoted post.

But she said he regularly grabbed her by the shoulders - sometimes hard egpugh to leave marks - and, on one occasion, yanked her out of a cab by her wrist after an argument when she wanted to stay in the car.

During one argument, she recalled, he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn't get out, telling her to remain there until she was "calm."
Eventually, Ms. Fifield said, she fell asleep and left the next morning.

He had what she described as a "warrior ethos" and would fantasize about killing
people he deemed a threat, she said. She said he told her that rape was about power.
It was something that stuck with her through the years, Ms. Fifield said.
"He said this a lot: If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them," she recalled, saying that he added that it would not be in "a sexual
way, not in a gay way."
"He was like, I would rape them to show them that I'm dominant," she said.

"It was not until I started hearing from reporters and D.C. insiders that I realized this tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol," Mr. Platner told Politico in a statement in October. "I absolutely would not have gone through life having this on my chest if I knew that - and to insinuate that I did is disgusting."
Ms. Fifield called that a lie.
Mr. Platner, she said, knew when they were dating years ago that the tattop was a Nazi symbol, and that he called it thy Totenkop'
"I would never have known what that was," she said. "He would joke about it being a Nazi tattoo."

Karen James@kejames· Jun 3

The east coast of North America is known for its kaleidoscope of fall colors, but what most people don’t realize (and I did not realize until I moved here) is that there is a corresponding kaleidoscope of greens in the spring.

A multi-green-hued wooded mountainside behind a lake

Karen James@kejames· May 29

Also, their claim that “we wish we didn’t have to do this” conflicts with this, imo.

Not bound by convention
Do it our way. Our success—and much of the fun-lies in developing new ways to do things.

Karen James@kejames· May 29

Justice
Be just, equitable and antiracist as a company and in our community. We embrace the work necessary to create equity for historically marginalized people and reorder the priorities of an economic system that values short-term expansion over human well-being and thriving communities. We acknowledge painful histories, confront biases, change our policies and hold each other accountable.
We aspire to be a company where people from all backgrounds, identities and experiences have the power to contribute and lead.

Karen James@kejames· May 20

Oh, and this is interesting; when you click through to the transcript on the WaPo app, it erroneously names Megyn Kelley as the host instead of Megan McArdle. What happened, @washingtonpost.com? Did you use AI to write the transcript and not check for accuracy, or…?

Screengrab of podcast episode transcript naming Megyn Kelley as the host.

Karen James@kejames· May 20

Not The Onion.

“Megan McArdle. Men are falling behind. Let's talk about it.” Alongside a thumbnail of the author.

Karen James@kejames· May 15

Saskatoon (Cree) a.k.a. Amelanchier, shadbush, serviceberry, and many more common names, is flowering here now on Mount Desert Island, Maine. You’d be forgiven for not noticing the tree at other times of year; this is definitely its moment!

A delicate tree with pinkish white flowers in front of a pond and a forest

Karen James@kejames· May 12

I have another “Not The Onion” post for you, friends. This one is a lot lighter than yesterday’s, thankfully. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Picture of a red truck tipped over in a home, with the caption, “Lorry gets stuck in hole it was sent to fix in Somerset. The Guardian”

Karen James@kejames· May 10

Please enjoy this tom turkey having a little rest in our front yard

A turkey sitting in the gravel with some juniper bushes behind

Karen James@kejames· May 9

Here’s a picture of me mocking the statue of Vladimir Lenin in Yakustk in 2017. No, this post is not at all related to that “golden” statue of Trvmp, why would you ask?

Karen James@kejames· May 9

Since re-emigrating in 2010 I've used a VPN and my old login deets to watch BBC content. I always said if they offered an international subscription, I'd gladly pay! FF to 2026, & they finally do! So, I sign up, pay, and go to watch the David Attenborough tribute at Royal Albert Hall, and... 🫠

Screen grab: "Sorry, BBC iPlayer isn't available in your region."

Karen James@kejames· May 8

Found another one! The Attenborough Arboretum in Leicester www.attenborougharboretum.com

The arboretum was
opened on 23 April 1997.
About 20 local schools had helped with the initial planting phase in March 1996, and over 40 attended the grand opening ceremony, conducted by Sir David Attenborough, after whose family the arboretum is named.

Karen James@kejames· May 2

Banksy does it again. One of his best ever IMO. www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

Statue of man in suit about to walk off a plinth. He’s carrying a flag that is blowing back to cover his face.

Karen James@kejames· Apr 30

Not great. 😢 Yesterday was 6 weeks and I still have a lot of pain, instability and lack of mobility. It’s probably a SLAP tear or something else of that kind.