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Dekleptocracy

Posted by admin at 1:00 pm Politics

Aug 022025

The Dekleptocracy Alliance is a 501c(4) out of Austin Texas. There is also a Dekleptocracy Project out of Virginia which is a 501c(3). But they are, if not the same thing, at least related, because the email I want to share from Kristofer Harrison has both.

I would give you a link to the full text, but there isn’t one. So all i can do is quote the email. I am including a link to donate, but not asking anyone to. There is of course a bunch of information on the Dekleptocracy websites on what else they do. Here’s the email:

The anti-corruption tool they’re terrified of is almost complete

When a corrupt official cuts a shady deal and walks away unscathed, it’s not an accident.

The powerful have built our country this way by design, free from accountability and oversight.

They’ve made it a point to hollow out our newsrooms and outgun our local watchdogs.

We here at the Dekleptocracy Alliance are taking back control — permanently.

For months, we’ve been developing a first-of-its-kind anti-corruption tool that will track public corruption wherever it rears up in towns, counties, and cities across America.

Here’s an early preview:

With this tool, you can directly contribute to solving real problems in your community, making a tangible difference.

This system consolidates reports and local stories that otherwise slip through the cracks. It flags shady deals. It builds case files. It connects the dots between campaign donations, no-bid contracts, sudden zoning changes, and government favors that just don’t add up.

Once we launch it, you’ll be able to search, follow, and act on those patterns yourself.

And we’ll give it to you for free on release; we just need help to get it over the finish line.

HELP US BUILD THE TOOL

This tool will help power the work of journalists, watchdog groups, honest public officials…and pissed-off citizens who are done letting this stuff slide.

Imagine walking into your next town hall open forum armed with the data you can pull up on this dashboard:

We’re 80% finished with the tool now, thanks to the help of supporters like you, and we’re itching to go live.

The corrupt don’t deserve to stay hidden, and now they won’t be able to.

Thank you,

Kristofer Harrison
President, Dekleptocracy Alliance

Open Thread August 1 2025

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

Aug 012025

Yesterday, I got an email that Jeopardy is now on Substack When I said (and it must be over a year ago) that eventually “everyone” would be on Substack, I certainly didn’t imagine that. But here we are. Today marks the end of a difficult month-and-a-half for me, which is uncomfortable every year. Today I am not longer the same age as the Apricot Antichrist. And in three days it will be Barack Obama’s birthday. If you didn’t get an invitation to sign a digital birthday card for him, this link should take care of that.

There are federal agencies, some of which are intended to be “independent” in the sense that they are supposed to decide policy on the basis of expert knowledge, not on any political opinions. And then there are Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), which like every other good thing, are now in danger. There is much more in this memo, but it’s this first section for which I am posting it.

Joyce Vance looks at history (since she is a lawyer, it is legal history and a judge.) This was in my lifetime, so I have memories of it, but I was also more than half a continent away from it and very young, so I didn’t have all these details. I also do not remember newspapers publishing court judgments the way not just Joyce but many communicators do now on the internet. It might have been better if they had done so.

And this is why I subscribe to The Root. Some stories are mainly of interest to people of color – but now and then one of those stories will – or should – be of interest to everyone who is human. It’s a pity Missouri can’t just out all its Republicans in government at every level.

Open Thread July 8 2025

Posted by admin at 6:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 082025

Yesterday, I got up late, having had a somewhat difficult night, but somehow I got everything done that I needed tp do and a tad extra. Of course I would have liked to do more and have a little cushion, but at least I’m no farther behind than I was.

Wonkette covers most of the reasons why the Times story is BS. Mamdani was a teenager at the time, There was probably no box on the application that fit him, so he checked the closest. Then, to clarify it, he wrote “Ugandan” on the application. Incidentally, he was not accepted, so he gained nothing from anything on that application. Never forget that the New York Times is no longer “The paper of record.” There is no longer an American “paper of record.” The closest think I can think of is The Guardian, and it can only retain accuracy because it is not American.

In “The Week Ahead,” Joyce Vance includes addressing Social Security and the extremely misleading letter sent by the Social Security Administration regarding taxation on Social Security income. It’s all twitter-pated about ending taxation on Social Security income. Let me provide a little insight here from a Social Security recipient. My monthly check is not large, but it’s enough for me to live on if I am careful (and by “live on,” I mean to pay my mortgage and utilities, including trash and recycling pickup, electricity and gas, water and sewer, landline phone and internet.) For the last ten years or more I have been using a company in the IRS’s FreeFile program (not the same as direct file, which appears to be going away before it even gets started, but similar – Federal is free, but they can charge to file in your state.)I receive the data on my Social Security earnings on a 1098 form, and I put it in, and the program puts it on my return but does not count it as taxable income. I have never paid a penny in taxes on Social Security. I grant that I might not be able to live on it if I didn’t have an HRA – but I do. Still, anyone getting federal tax relief on Social Security from this bill must be getting payments in between what I get and what billionaires get.

After several years of not getting newsletters from Daily Kos, despite regularly checking that I have been signed up for them, I am now receiving them again, and this one included a story on something which has been bothering me – Abrego Garcia, his wife, and their legal issues have been getting substantial coverage – and they should be – but what about all the other innocent people?

Open Thread June 5 2025

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

Jun 052025

Yesterday, it came out that the DoD is going to rename every Navy ship in the John Lewis class (and probably also the class.) And it hit me that everything they do is some kind of backlash. No actual governing principles at all, just kick down at decent people. We elect a black President, they bring back (or morm likely, just go public with) lynching. We nominate a woman for the Presidency, they overturn Roe. We rename some military bases so they won’t commemorate traitors, they do this. Even the whole dictatorship thing is essentially a return to the feudal system. Not an original thought in the entire party.

Remember when I said I was surprised the DOJ was pushing this prosecution, until I saw that the suspect’s name was Muslim? Well, The F*News got a photo of him, and he’s white. Now the Turmeric Tyrant wants to drop the charges but deport him.

This is one paragraph from a long newsletter because I don’t know how to link to just it. I apologize for the pun in the last sentence.
A Milwaukee man allegedly tried to get a witness in the armed robbery case against him deported so he wouldn’t be able to testify. Seizing on anti-immigrant fervor, the man sent letters in the name of the witness threatening to assassinate President Trump. The witness was arrested, but law enforcement eventually figured out the scheme and have filed new charges against the imposter, but not before DHS Secretary Kristi Noem trumpeted the initial arrest.

Belle golden dome

Cats

Open Thread February 23, 2024

Posted by admin at 6:15 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 232024

Yesterday, I had a visit from an old peoples’ services organization whom Trinette referred me to. She was very pleasant, but of course time was consumed

Certainly one doesn’t need to study the book (or the movie) to be able to see clearly what is happening,just based on published news (some true, some not so much). And just think how much more the FBI knows. With Trump** or without him, it’s not going to get any better unless it gets actively contained. And I have no idea how that’s to be done.

Open Thread February 22, 2024

Posted by admin at 6:06 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 222024

Yesterday, After getting a quick note from Nameless that the site was borked, I spent over an hour on the phone (much of it waiting, and much of it being told we needed a developer and they couldn’t help), I had to ask for a supervisor (I felt like an awful Karen, but it did the trick.) It’s working normally now. Also yesterday, I received the email that my ballot has been counted. If you haven’t already done so, be sure to check out Monday’s Open Thread, because it contains an update on Colleen. Also, this will be kind of short, not just due to BlueHost, but I lost time on some other things too. Mama said there’d be days like this.

I’d like to hope you will see, or have seen, this story elsewhere than the Black Star. But I wouldn’t bet any important body parts on it.

From Mary Trump’s keyboard straight to God’s monitor!

Hello world!

Posted by admin at 6:43 pm Uncategorized

Feb 152010

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

PHP is a programming language used to build websites. We have it at all through our hosting partner, BlueHost. In order to update it, we have to go through Bluehost. During his life, TomCat was the only one who had access to our account there. I (JD) am now the only one. I have been to BlueHost and investigated updating our PHP to 8.3 or even to 8.1. I found instructions to do so - in fact, I found two conflicting sets of instructions. I went through one set of the steps and got the message that Our site could not handle 8.3, but that it had successfully updated to 8.1. I then went back here to see what it looked like. But I couldn't get in - either as an administrator or as a reader. It was just gone. I had to reach BlueHost by phone. It was determined that Politics Plus is in fact not compatible with any version of PHP newer than the one we have. BlueHost therefore uninstalled it for me, and the site came back to normal. Of course, like everyone else, I care about security. But I also am aware that TomCat elected to use different providers for several of the services that BlueHost provides, for instance backups. We are backed up daily - but not by BlueHost. However, out PHP is through Bluehost. I feel that if they are not worried about the older version, I am not going to worry about it. I believe that our security here is all or mostly through WordFence, whom I trust.