Open Thread January 3 2025

 Posted by at 9:11 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 032026
 

Yesterday, I learned that on New Year’s Day Zohran Mamdani had been sworn in twice. The first time was recorded in the video I posted yesterday with Tish James, and that was the official one. The second one was with Bernie Sanders, which was purely ceremonial, but which also included his (roughly 25 minutes) inauguration speech. Just in case anyone wants to hear it, I’m sharing the link. There isn’t a lot right now to generate enthusiasm, but this appears to be one – to judge from the audience responses. )Don’t scorn it because it’s Fox – it’s not Fox corporate, it’s a local fox affiliate, and they can be surprisingly rational and even honest.)

So this is what Keith Ellison is doing now. Good for him, though I could wish he didn’t need to. One thing the current regime has done which, if they realize that they have done it, I’ll bet they wish they hadn’t – is to make it very, very obvius how important to a state its Attorney General is. Democratic AGs seeking reelection in 2026 will have a lot to campaign on.

Robert Reich on some things that some of us can do in 2026 to help make things better for all of us.

TC used to enjoy joking about how Andy was no satirizing but instead reporting straight news – and it often seems as though he could be dong just that. But in this column, he’s being serious (though it isn’t news at all.) He is following up on a previous column about surviving 2026 by sharing reader comments and additions. I’m sure not everything here will work for everyone – and possibly not anything will work for everyone. But, even though there is repetition, it’s highly likely that there will be something that may stand out and be worth remembering.

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Open Thread January 2 2025

 Posted by at 12:31 am  Blog News, Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 022026
 

Yesterday was, of course, New Year’s Day. I hope yours was both happy and as productive as you wanted it to be. And if that was not at all, that’s great. On New Years Eve, I had it on my calendar to repost “featured images” used by other authors at the end of December so they could be found more easily, and I missed the moment of midnight. As I was cussing myself, it occurred to me that if I temporarily changed the blog time zone from Pacific to whatever they call Alaska and Hawaii, I might be able to put them in in fake December, and them turn the time zone back again and they might stay in December. By golly, it worked. I haven’t tried to use the scheduling feature again to see whether it is working again, but I will again tonight since on Saturdays I get up for the opera – at 9:00 Pacific – so if it’s late it won’t be horribly late.

Joyce Vance explains “Inherent Contempt” and why the House is contemplating using it on Pam Bondi.

Good news for workers in a few blue and purple states – including Colorado, Ohio, and Missouri. Not so good for workers in states who still are stuck with the federal minimums. The article mentions a couple of the amounts by which the minimum changes, but none of the full new amounts. I looked up Colorado, and our new minimum is $15.16, and by law, it increases every year as the CPI increases.

Whether or not this affects you (it doesn’t affect me directly on account of a long series of lucky decisions which turned out to be consequential), it will almost certainly affect someone you care about. Effing Republicans.

Cat

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Open Thread January 1 2025

 Posted by at 12:11 am  Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 012026
 

Well, Happy New Year, everyone. Here’s a link to the complete transcript of Jack Smith’s 8+ hours of testimony to the House Judiciary Committee. There is also a complete video, if you want it.

Robert Reich uses Paul Ingrassia as Exhibit A to demonstrate that the title of this post is an accurate characterization of the current administration. You know, Africa was doing just fine before “white” people decided to start exploiting it. My Exhibit 1 for this is the preview at this link. (Don’t expect the series to be on in February, however – the February the trailer is referring to was years ago. But you can see the full series – if you missed it then or want to see it again – with Passport. IIRC it was Episode 3 which made Professor Gates cry.) As I’ve said before, I can hardly get through aday without saying (or at least thinking) “effing white people” – or “effing pink people” – despite the fact that I myself am white (pink.)

From Common Dreams. I am very proud of my state for standing up to the Apricot Antichrist, and consider his unhinged “statement” a badge of honor. I might point out Peters is not 73 (though she is 70.) Also, if she is sick in a Colorado prison, she is getting medical care – probably not as good as Congress gets, but better than Jeffrey Sterling got in Federal prison. (also, if Boebert is telling the truth, or even close to the truth, this veto can easily be overridden.) Karma is probably already on to ensuring his wish for our officials turns back on him.

This is a video that I normally would not put up, since it’s 3+ minutes over a half hour. But in that half hour, they cover not only what is going on in the Abrego Garcia case, but also what is going in in the pipe bomber case – which doesn’t seem to be getting any coverage from elsewhere – possibly because there was supposedly a confession – which they now question. There is nothing funny about any of this – with the exception of the fact that this DOJ and state Republican officials are so incompetent and their criming and cheating so obvious that it is laughable. (And, sadly, some of it is actually legal.) So if you have the tme, it’s worth the watch and may be a good omen. If not, there’s also a transcript.

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