Open Thread March 11 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 112026
 

Yesterday, there was a hearing on disciplinary charges brought against Ed Martin by the DC Bar, and the charges were upheld. He is entitled to appeal – I’m not sure to whom but after the process plays out, he could well be disbarred. Also, Alabama governor Kay Ivey of all people commuted the sentence of Sonny Burton. It’s about damn time – but at least it is in time. Finally, Colorado Public Radio reported that one of the Americans killed in this war was one of ours – stationed at Fort Carson here in the Springs.

I have no desire to use AI – I [prefer to keep my HI as fit as possible by using it. But if I did, at this time, it would be Anthropic. But this link is really for the second story – the kerfuffle in the District of New Jersey. By the time you read this, the hearing will be over, but you can still use this link to get there if you wish. Click on the All Rise logo in the upper left and you’ll get the home page. If the hearing isn’t the first story, scroll down a bit.

Well this was certainly not on my bingo card. But it certainly does make sense.

Archived from Huff Post, this article reminded me of a Kipling quote shared by Malcolm Nance, who us a huge Kipling fan – a quote which could easily become our motto for this war: “with an epitaph drear,/a fool lies here/who tried to hustle the east.” Kipling was not free from racial prejudice, but he was bright enough to see that brains of all kind (intwllectual, practical, strategic, etc.) and a passion for self government were not limited to white westerners.

Pete Buttigieg’s speech last weekend in Selma, AL Only 6 1/2 minutes)

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Open Thread March 10 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 102026
 

Yesterday, unsurprisingly, I slept late – but nowhere near the latest I have ever slept. I watched a Substack video about the Halkbank case – a scandal likely to go under the radar, since it pales in comparison to Epstein, but which is, as Adam puts it, “not irrelevant to” the Iran war. There will be more news on Wednesday. And today is the special election to replace MTG. And I received my first Ukrinform newsletter. I’d love to share more than the following tidbit, but (I suspect on account of the time difference) I’m not finding the ones in the newsletter that I’d love to share on line. But this is a bombshell for us Americans who can’t or don’t follow European politics much: on April 12, there is an election in Hungary – and Germany expects Orban to lose big time.

I hardly even know what to say about this. Regardless whether this is out of malice or just boneheaded stupidity (my money’s on malice, but some stupidity seems almost inevitable) there should be massive numbers of Courts Martial on account of it. It’s My Lai on steroids.

So many deaths, so much wrongful detention, it’s easy to forget that there are other ways that fascist governments can abuse their people, whether citizens or not. Joyce Vance writes about some judges who are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore about federal “law enforcement” failing to return personal belongings of wrongly detained people. At least one points out that when those belongings include form of identification, they are made vulnerable to more wrongful detention. How long have I been saying that sure, carry papers, but don’t carry originals, carry copies – certified and/or notarized copies, but copies. I’m Joanne Dixon, not Jeane Dixon, but you don’t need supernatural powers to have seen this coming.

Not every one of the protest photos here shows a sign so good it could be a meme – but some do, and a few have more than one. Since March 28 is coming up, I thought I’d share.

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Open Thread March 9 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 092026
 

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played cribbage. There’s been a change in visiting hours, part of which is having visitation every day of the week, so I’m not surprised (nor aggrieved) that it includes shortening the Sunday hours, which has been 8:00-3:30 and is now 8:30 to 3:00. I had, during DST in previous years, been  getting there at 11:00 and staying to 3:30 – I got there at 11:00 today and stayed till 3:00 when it closed. I didn’t have to sorry at all about sunset, but driving down, the morning sun was kind of punishing. So I’ll have to think about that. Anyway, we had a good time with a wide range of hands. The drive home was easier then the morning drive – but I still got home pretty tired. I didn’t watch Malcolm Nance’s Iran update Saturday, because it was only available to paid subscribers, but I did yesterday. Speaking of cruelty – I think I would rather die fast being hit by a bomb than by being deprived of potable water (and this virtually everything one can drink) for up to sixty days. The amount of Iran which uses between 40% and 80% desalinized water is jaw-dropping. Also, between Mercator projections and general lack of attention, I don’t think may Americans realize that Iran is is close to the size of the United States’ entire midwest region.

At 80, I am old enough to remember when having a baby out of wedlock would brand a girl (or a grown-ass woman) for life. So I do get it that, then, parents were willing to allow their daughters to marry the men responsible, even though divorce was also tougher then. But that was then – this is now. Haven’t we outgrown this yet?

This is what happens when enough voters decide that “come people” don’t deserve rights and refuse to spend tax money on protecting those rights. Not all of these states are red. Oregon is blue, essentially because the coastal part has cities, culture, and higher education, but its rural eastern half is garnet red.

These “Five ways” are pretty much more in practice than just in theory. None of them, for example, involves litigation which he would ignore. But I’m not convinced that any of them is a certainty. Let me know your thoughts on this.

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Open Thread March 8 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 082026
 

Yesterday, much of the snow was gone. It took longer in my back yard, which is on the west side of the house. The radio opera was the second half of Les Troyens, about the Trojans’ time in Carthage before they made it to Italy so (in the myth) their descendants could found Rome. Although the inly singer in both parts was John Vickers, as in the first half, all the solo singers were people I remember fondly, including Judith Blegen, with whom I shared a violin teacher – not at the same time, but later, after the teacher had taken a job at the college (now a university) in Alamosa, where I moved after leaving the USMC. She was as fine a violinist as she was a soprano. (I should say is, actually, since she’s still living, only four years older than I am, but she’s no longer singing in public.) Our mutual teacher is not mentioned in the Wikipedia article, but pretty much all professional musicians have more teaches and coaches than could possibly fit into a brief article. He taught her while she was in Montana. There may still be a debate as to whether or not Menotti wrote “Help, Help, The Globolinks” for her – Menotti denied it – nut there just aren’t very many operatic sopranos who can play the violin at a professional level, so his denial is a bit hard to believe. Off to see Virgil now; will check in.

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/family-reunites-with-dog-lincoln-park/
OK, this story starts with a stupid mistake. But it gets better – and then just keeps getting better.

https://www.witn.com/2026/02/23/pactolus-global-school-principal-greets-students-daily-with-music-grooves/
This story – is a lot of fun. And about how fun can help kids learning.

https://www.cpr.org/2026/03/04/alzheimers-disease-misdiagnosed-rebecca-chopp-former-du-chancellor/
This is long for a Sunday – I try to keep them short and bright – but it is astonishing, at least to me. really though that if we knew how to diagnose anything, it would be this. Obviously I was wrong.

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Open Thread March 7 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 072026
 

Yesterday, it snowed here. It was predicted – for about a fifth of an inch – it looks more like a half inch to me – but that’s just looking out the window. I didn’t measure it. The video today is long – about 48 minutes – but the subject is so huge, I don’t know how it could have been much shorter I won’t get upset if people choose to skip it. Just keep the title in the back of your mind.

This is a supplement to the daily “Chalet of the Two Spies” video update on the war in Iran. It’s no surprise to me. I don’t personally remember World War II (I was born before VJ Day, but only by days), but I remember Korea, and Vietnam, and Desert Storm, and I think it’s safe to say that all wars are subject to Hofstadter’s law (“Everything takes longer than you think it will, even after you have considered Hofstadter’s law.”) Doug and I went to the same high school – I graduated just before he moved to town when his father became a professor at Stanford. But I did meet him at the high school bridge club, which I kept attending because I was not good enough at it to play by tournament rules, which the university club required. (I never got terribly good.) I only have something like 3/8 of a master point.)

I can’t believe that there is anyone who reads here who has not noticed this happening. But Robert Reich says “All this has happened so suddenly that most Americans still haven’t noticed,” and he’s sadly probably correct, which means there are a lot of people who need to learn this. Please share it if you can.

Oh, good grief. WTF next? Will Ukraine ever catch a break? Certainly not from our country in the clutches of the Mango Monster. Ukrinform is on Substack, so I subscribed to it. One more new email every day, but we’ll never learn stuff like this from American media.

BREAKING: Sheldon Whitehouse Details Report On Alleged Ties Between Epstein, Trump, And Russia

Cat

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Open Thread March 6 2026

 Posted by at 5:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 062026
 

Yesterday, Dose of Democracy reported that Kristi Noem is being fired and will be replaced with Markwayne Mullin (R-OK Senate). This is not an improvement. Yes, it suggests that pressure can be effective. But for every demon out there, there are ten more just as bad or worse. Mullin just has a lower profile. (And maybe we can get a special election for his Senate seat.) JoJo from Jerz knows more about the reason. Also. I tripped over a channel on YouTube for “Lauren the Mortician.” I’m not an authority, but the little I do know (not from intuition, but from science) aligns with her points. There are a lot of death and dead people related things that we don’t know and probably should. so if you are wondering about anything death-related, current or old, you might want to give her channel a look. Her communication style is rather whimsical. but the information is substantive.

Robert Reich looks at how much other NATO nations have already become involved with the Saffron Sauron’s illegal war of domination and a glance at the Constitution as to why it is so patently illegal.

John Pavlovitz being a pastor, much of what he writes is religious, so I try to avoid posting his work. But this is about something completely different – our apparent national inability to deal with complex issues. I’ve noticed this too, but have not (probably could not) discuss it so pointedly.

Don’t panic when you see the title. There may well be 1,001, but he only discusses four of them.

The Conversation has many thoughtful and well-researched articles which reflect on the current war. This is one of them. Remember that in 1953 McCarthy was still a Senator (and I was only 8). It was not the America most of us grew up in

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Open Thread March 5 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 052026
 

Yesterday, the Senate refused to take action to restrain the Degenerate Darth Vader’s illegal war in Iran. I, as you have probably noticed, an struggling this week to keep abreast of what day it is. I think that may be at least in part because the first was on Sunday, and, although I consciously know that the week is Sunday through Saturday, I, because school weeks and work weeks start in Monday, subconsciously still see Monday through Friday as one through five. Hopefully I’ll be more on track next week.

I had realized I missed the start of Ramadan, hence the image. It goes until roughly March 19 this year.  The ending date is not totally predictable because the moon has to be in the right position at the time, but Eid al Fitr is predicted for March 20.

Tuesday, this happened. I hope you’ll find it as satisfying as I did. Of course, it’s still just words, no action – but coming from one Rethuglican to another, it’s like music. (Also, Josh Hawley even toreinto her, but I don’t have that quote.)

The first story at this link is the one I am posting -but just about every one is worth at least a look (and they are short.)

I don’t think Joyce is correct about every state. But, sadly, she doesn’t have to be right about every state for there to be fatal chaos. I stopped doing it when it became to much for my mobility, but I did work elections for many years administering elections in Colorado, and that under both Democratic and Republican Secretaries of State and County Clerks, during periods when Colorado was red, and periods when it was blue. The attitude of “If people are entitled to vote, we want them to vote” never changed through the years -though Democrats and Republicans disagreed on almost everything else. But that was then and this is now, and red states (and maybe counties, which might be worse) will ratf*** if they can.

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Open Thread March 4 2026

 Posted by at 5:54 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 042026
 

Yesterday, I didn’t get a response from Pat B. I hope she is OK and just living her life. Also, Axios reported that the Mango Moron plans to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. I hope all the real journalists stay away, because I can’t think of a reason for him to attend other than to collect new names for his enemies list. Can you?

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Lois W, the wife of Bill w, who founded AA, and herself the founder of Al-Anon. She used to say it is the strongest day of the year. Also as expected, I watched Malcolm Nance’s Day 4 of the war, and picked up a quote for today’s meme-cartoon.

Archived from The Lever, which examines possible positions SCROTUS might take, should the question of the legality of the Saffron Sauron ‘s strike on Iran come before then at some point. I doubt there are any surprises in it.

Well, this is interesting. It would have been even more interesting, though, if he had done so before the Cantaloupe Caligula had bombed Iran.

From Talking points Memo. Best of luck to the investigators (no matter how smart they are, a little luck never hurts.)

In case anyone is wondering about the Nectarine Necromancer’s neck (I expect Nameless already knows):

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