Joanne Dixon

Open Thread September 23 2025

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

Sep 232025

Yesterday was reasonably calm and quiet. I still don’t have speakers, but they are on order, and the videos I need to watch to choose from for here all have CC, and I know they are on the way and that I will get emails on their progress. I still don’t have full lighting in the kitchen, but I have an appointment for an electrician to come Thursday, and that’s OK. If they didn’t have an appointment before then, they are booked up, which probably means people like and/or trust them. I made some progress on a sweater I’ve been working on what seems like forever – I think I’ve mentioned it – the one with the yoke and sleeves using ladder yarn. But I’m down to the bottom ribbing, which is the finishing.

Completely off all topics, but too funny not to share. Wonkette had a story about the rapture (apparently many cultists believe it will happen today In a comment, a reader referred to a quote from someone’s supposed vision “I saw Jesus on his throne.” The response was, “So many times I have heard, ‘Jesus Christ, close the door when you are taking a shit.’ I had no idea.”

IIRC, Denis Elliott of Politizoom is a veteran of longer service and higher rank and a MOS closer to battle than I had. So, though I don’t always agree with him, I take this thesis seriously. And I think we should all be aware.

Democracy Docket is not a publication I subscribe to. But when I got this news in an email from the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, a link to the news was not included (they are amicus curiae and requesting donations to help), I did a search and found one. And I didn’t want to wait until Sunday.

This from The Root breaks my heart. Because it is so true. I have written before, though it must be a bunch of years ago, about how even in majority black/all black nations, colorism is so strong that snake oil producers can make a living selling heaven-knows-what’s-in-them” medications” “guaranteed” to lighten the skin of a baby while it is in the womb. And in the same newsletter as this article, there was one about the first international beauty pageant for trans women, and how it was won by an American, and how she is being shunned and dissed by all the other contestants.

Belle NATO

Cat nanny

Open Thread September 22 2025

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

Sep 222025

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and as usual we played cribbage. I may have said before that we count each hand, but we don’t keep a running total. We did when he was at other facilities, and i was careful to make sure he won at least half of the games we played. This can be done with making less-than-ideal discards to the crib. And anyone’s who’s ever played knows that near the end of the game, who wins it can depend simply on who counts first. The way we do it now is a bit easier since I don’t have to constantly watch the board (or the notepad – it can be done on a notepad if one tallies in groups of 5 and is consistent how many groups fit in a row, one can see at a glance who’s ahead). But as I say, just counting each hand without keeping a total, that’s not an issue. Also, if my “tags” look really gossipy today, yes, I took a break from thinking up impersonal issues to call them.

As with Lisa Cook, so with Tish James. Neither attempted t claim that two homes were both primary residences, and both have the receipts. Will that stop MAGA Ed Martin? Of course not.

I didn’t squeeze this into Sunday because it was already full, and also because, though this is a lovely gesture, the circumstances inspiring it are so grim.

Open Thread September 21 2025

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

Sep 212025

Yesterday, I was able to hear the radio opera from my laptop. Even set up to the max, the volume was low, and I hope I won’t need to do it again. Faure was one of the Impressionists like Debussy and Ravel, but is much less known. His best known work is probably the Dolly Suite, written for a little girl nicknamed Dolly. This opera, Pénélope, based on the last part of Homer’s Odyssey (when Odysseus finally gets home), doesn’t sound much like the Dolly suite, but it is attractive. Why it’s not performed more than it is is mostly bad luck. It wasn’t a huge hit in the provinces, but when it made its Paris premier, it was well received by the audience and the critics. But within two months another premier at the same theater stole all the oxygen from everything else – it was a little ballet called “Le sacre du printemps,” or in English, “The Rite of Spring.” It actually caused riots, in which people were physically hurt. And it’s not pretty – but it is a masterpiece. But I digress. It has been so long since I read the Odyssey I had almost forgotten about the lack of trust which was normal back when there were no certain ways to establish one’s identity. Odysseus arrives in disguise, and when recognized, orders the person not to reveal him – because all the dudes waiting around for up to 20 years to try to marry his wife would have killed him (instead, he kills them.) When he does reveal his identity to Penelope, she tests him with a fib about having replaced the bed in the master bedroom (not really possible, because the bed was a four-poster and one of the posts was a living tree, and the room was built around it and the bed), and of course he freaks because he knows that, which establishes he really is Odysseus. Off to see Virgil now – will check in.

You are welcome to argue with me about whether this from The Root is good news – since it’s mostly not new, but history. But I maintain the news part is that someone whose name should have been in people’s mouths along with the names of Rosa Parks, John Lewis, and many others is finally getting recognition – at least from the black community, and it should be from us also. It’s not exactly anyone’s fault it’s coming late. Photographers speak with the images they create, not with their mouths, and images are not physically attached to them, so its too easy to forget the people behind those images.

This was apparently a federal charge; I assume that because it was tried in a federal court house and at the Times there is an implication that the prosecution was by a U.S. Attorney. But it’s good news at any level.

There is a lot of good news in this from Wonkette, and it’s from Thursday, so you may have seen some of it. But probably not all of it.

Open Thread September 20 2025

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

Sep 202025

Yesterday, it occurred to me that I might be able to hear the radio opera from my laptop. But it also might not. This will post hours before the broadcast starts, so I’ll have to update you in tomorrow’s OT Also, yesterday was “Talk Like a Pirate” Day, and I completely forgot. I apologize.

Yesterday, I mentioned being speechless more and more often. And this from Wonkette is a good example. If I spelled out what I think about it, that would only make it more of a gut punch than it already is (and would also be NSFW.) I don’t need or want to do that. But I don’t want to downplay it either.

The regime has removed from wherever it was in the network of federal websites the study showing that “right wing” violence is vastly more common, and more severe, than “left-wing” violence. So, unless you saved it before they did that, it’s no longer available. However, this from The Conversation is available, and is also well-researched. I put left and right wing into quotes because in my opinion left and right has nothing to do with it – the divide in violence is between authoritarian and egalitarian. Left and right refer to economic theories. I grant that with the apparent polarization in our nation, right has become pretty well correlated with authoritarian and left with egalitarian – but that wasn’t always the case, and we may hope it may not always be. Although, without soind civics education, it probably will. And then there’s this. (popup is not a paywall. Just close it.

This from Vanity Fair analyzes the murder of Charlie Kirk from the aspect of how it is affecting MAGA and the rest of the fascist party. That could be important. You can read it at the original source if you’re a subscriber, or in the archive if you are not.

Open Thread September 19 2025

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

Sep 192025

Yesterday, I still didn’t have all my electrics and electronics working, which made progress slow. Addition after scheduling: Rolling Stone has more on the decision to “suspend” Kimmel. It’s not pretty.

When you get good political news from Louisiana, you pay attention. Nancy Landry doesn’t appear to be any relation to Jeff (the governor) or Mitch (former mayor of New Orleans, who also spelled it “Landrieu,” probably the original spelling) – it’s just a prominent New Orleans name for so long that any relationships are too distant to trace. In any case, the statistics she provides are consistent with the Brennan Center’s own numbers, and I trust the Brennan Center.

From The F* News. I just don’t know what to say about this. I’m speechless. Being speechless is happening more often for me because so much that is happening is just inconceivable (and I do know what that means. I even looked it up.)

I don’t know of anyone who is always right. In fact, that would almost certainly be impossible. But given Malcolm Nance‘s experience and expertise, I take any warning from him seriously.

Belle – I still couldn’t hear this, had to follow the CC, but it did give me a smile.

Open Thread September 18 2025

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

Sep 182025

Yesterday, I still couldn’t hear anything from the computer (it isn’t me – I can hear the radio just fine.) I went through all the troubleshooting in settings, and it says everything is just fine. So I’ve ordered new speakers. but they won’t come in time for me to hear Pénélope (by Gabriel Fauré) on Saturday. That doesn’t necessarily mean I shall never hear it – I looked it up on Wikipedia, and there are two existent recordings of it – one with Jessye Norman, of all people. No, I’m not ordering that right away. It would be quite a search, and I don’t have time. Maybe if we manage to survive this régime. Anyway, I will still have to get up earlier than usual Saturday to take my weekly Alendronate.

Robert Reich would like to remind us that no publication of his is sold by amazon. So if they claim to have, for instance, his new book, “Coming Up Short,” don’t buy it (in either sense.)

This is archived from from The Nation, where I didn’t even try to navigate to the full story through all the popups. But I suspect it speaks for all of us, at least in the sense that all of us will probably find something in it that says exactly what we were thinking.

File this from Wonkette under “Credit where credit is due, even if the amount of credit is small.”

Belle – I could not hear this, but I followed the CC as best I could. It seems important.

Open Thread September 17 2025

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

Sep 172025

Yesterday, technology was not kind to me. My radio station was off the air for about an hour and a half – playing static (rhythmic static, but still static); it took me another hour and a half (this time on the phone) to be able to log in to my HRA to provide substantiation for a VISA charge on their card (apparently, when I changed my email address for contacting me but not for my username because the site would not let me) it confused their system so badly it would not let me log in, and I ended up having to pretend I was opening a new account. Then my speaker died. All this was on top of my kitchen light fixture having shorted out (I do have some under-cabinet lights there, but they aren’t a substitute.) Color me irritable.

Yes, we’re past September 13. But Heather Cox Richardson‘s thoughts on narratives are not tied to a particular date. I think they are worth a look and a think.

From Wonkette – and demonstrates one of the reasons I keep subscribing to Wonkette, besides their irreverent style. They do tend to get hold of things that others don’t. Such as what Groypers are (and that they’re not just more right wingers – they have distinct opinons.) And that they have a tendency to violence which may even surpass that of other right wingers. So here it is, and it includes some links to older posts on the same subject. “If they are being opportunistic, we must be as well.” I couldn’t agree more. Incidentally, if the word “sedevacantist” is new to you, here’s a link which goes into that. I agree with Robyn that not knowing they exist and at least generally knowing who they are is “a luxury we cannot afford.”

Open Thread September 16 2025

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

Sep 162025

Yesterday, I really overslept. I’m not complaining – I do need that on Mondays as a rule to make up for sleep lost on the weekend. But it does mean I need to be savage with my inbox. Also yesterday – at one time there was a way to link an image to a website here – but that seems to have disappeared. I am concerned that, between its size and the elongation to images we are experiencing, the cartoon may not be legible – there’s so much in jt. So here’s a link where it can be read larger and in proportion.

Chris Bowers has established an Act Blue page addressed to the points he makes. I’m not intending to push that. What I take from this is, frankly, confirmation that, although we can now successfully elect women to the Senate and to be state Governors, even to be Vice President, we cannot yet elect a woman to be President. And, at least for a while, we should quit trying. Because we have only accomplished three things trying – we have ended one woman’s career and allowed her legacyto be tarnished, and we have damaged another woman’s career path (both outstanding women), and we have handed the country over to fascists. I am not saying there will never be a woman President (although I will not live to see one). I am saying we have done enough damage for a while and we need to rebuild the country first – and to work for changes which are not political but cultural in nature.

I confess I did not watch the video that Steve Schmidt included as evidence in this post. But I have no doubt Steve Schmidt has pretty much nailed it (except that I would say Miller is a full-sized Eichmann, not a little one any more.)

From Harry Litman of Talking Feds. Not so much about law as about history. It certainly clarifies the moment – although the moment is unquestionably a dark one.

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