Joanne Dixon

Open Thread July 30 2025

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:53 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 302025

Yesterday, this showed up on Democratic Underground. I usually prefer to go to the original source, but this is such a coherent summary, the USL provided is already cut so doesn’t need cleaning up, that I thought I’d just use it. Also yesterday, Roy Cooper announced for the US Senate👍. And, sadly, Tom Lehrer has died. He was 97. Finally, here’s a link to a Meidas post – no video, no article, just photos of Scottish protest signs which met our Führer when he disembarked there.

OK, this from Robert Reich is from last week. But it’s still accurate, and it doesn’t look like it will get any better any time soon. Really, the readers here are so informed that there’s not much point to me covering the top stories unless I have a spin on them that’s not getting attention. Instead, covering the stories that will otherwise be missed is our mission. That’s not to say I will always guess correctly what is big – or get hooked into a big story for some reason – after all, I’m only human. But that’s my goal.

Heather Cox Richardson only comments on this story by setting it next to a story from 1955 (a story which y’all are probably aware of). And that is all that is needed. As a nation – we haven’t come very far.

From Wonkette. No way to tell at this point whether this had any effect at all on those who are addicted to lies, but it is still refreshing.

This is not a cartoon, nor is it new – it was painted by John Gast in 1872. It is named “American Progress,” and the blonde giantess represents “Columbia” (still a synonym for “The United States” almost a hundred years after the Revolution.) If yo see it credited to Thomas Kinkade, that is false, although DHS, which posted this at their website, also posted a picture by Kinkade, without permission from his heirs, who have protested. The Kinkade is fairly innocuous, but this image, propaganda for the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, is chilling when you think about how many totally innocent people were killed for it.

Open Thread July 28 2025

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

Jul 282025

Yesterday, I certainly didn’t mean to scare anyone, and I hope I didn’t. I pulled into my driveway at 4:30, but it was after 5:30 by the time I got the “home safe” post up. And a huge part of that was temperamental computers – three of them. I think it was about the fifth time trying to start it that was the charm for the desktop, and that didn’t happen until I was getting my dinner out of the crockpot. In the meantime I tried the laptop, and I got in in about five minutes, but could not open my Opera browser. I got it open with a workaround, but then it wouldn’t go to any of my speed dial sites. Finally I went to the 8.1 desktop, and managed to get it posted. I grant that some of the delay was for my personal comfort – It was 95°F outside, and I was wearing a heavy sweater (not heavy enough to keep me warm for the visit, though – it seemed unusually cold in the visitation room where it’s always colds, and Virgil thought so too.) But if my main desktop had started right up, I would have been able to post first and cool off afterwards. I suspect it was a random outage. (I certainly hope so.) Anyway the cribbage was good, and we got an update on the dog (he’s wonderful.) Late in the day, another inmate came in to use a tablet (they may use tablets for video phone calls to family/friends if the contact has a camera and mike – I don’t, and I don’t think Virgil could possibly learn to use the tablet, so I’m not planning on getting either) and Virgil said “He’s in my area. I think he’s a [jerk.] He does a lot of pissing and moaning.” and I said, “And you don’t?” and he laughed with a big smile on his face. A lovely, sunny smile. Of course that’s a big reason I fell for him in the first place, and also that we have been together so long – he can genuinely laugh at himself and enjoy it.

Heather Cox Richardson also saw the (full) South Park opener, but she discusses a lot more than that here.

Meidas Touch videos are too long for me – but here’s an article of theirs with just pictures – of Scottish protest signs.

In honor of World Tiger day, World Wildlife Fund is making four wallpaper-sized photos available for desktop or phone free. They had a contest, and the baby won it of course, but they have decided to release all four finalists. In case any cat people missed this, I wanted to share it.

How many times have you heard “Follow the money”? Joyce Vance explains exactly how real investigators accomplish that. Most of us don’t have the appropriate access to do it effectively. Senator Wyden (D-OR) does. Oregon leading again.

Open Thread July 27 2025

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

Jul 272025

Yesterday, the radio opera was the third of the three based on “Manon Lescaut” – loosely. This one is by Puccini. I’d translate parts of a couple of the arias, but if i did I’d be flippant, so I’ll pass. There’s enough unintentional humor in the fourth act. When Manon Lescaut the novel was written, the Louisiana Purchase was not even a twinkle in Jefferson’s eye, and it included a great deal of land not in Louisiana today. For instance, it reached as far west as both panhandles (Texas and Oklahoma) and even a corner of New Mexico. So she actually could have been deported to “the deserts of Louisiana,” and die there. But you’d be hard put to find even a square inch of desert in Louisiana today, so it sounds pretty funny. Off yo see Virgil – will check in on return.

This was released Wednesday, and the full article covers more of this Senate race than just Roy Cooper. So if Roy does announce this week, that will be even more good news.

I had to squeeze this in. The cat goddesses are united and in good form, as always.

I’ve never had cable, so I’ve never watched South Park, but I couldn’t have avoided knowing a little about it even if I had wanted to. And I enjoyed every second of this video (which is not the actual episode, but a commentary on it with multiple clips)., even the rehashes of stuff we know from straight political news. I think you will also. (It is so good that, just in case it got taken down before you could see it, I downloaded software so I could download it and upload it to our library if I needed to. It is so good that there’s a petition to thank South Park for it.)

Open Thread July 26 2025

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

Jul 262025

Yesterday, I had a good night’s sleep – and a little more energy than I’ve been having (though not as much as I would like to have.) Incidentally, does anyone remember that before I was in the hospital, and I was putting up two posts daily, including one just for videos, one of the creators I used was retired Major Richard Ojeda? Well, he is now running for Congress in North Carolina. He may not be young, but he is a fighter, has zero tolerance for BS, and tells it like it is “without fear or favor.” I hope he wins.

I don’t see anything surprising in this from the Intercept, unless it’s the focus on Personal Protective Equipment – when there are so many other behaviors they could criminalize. Like giving people food and/or water, as was done in some states at the last election.

I apologize for posting legal – stuff – on a Saturday, but at least you will be amused by some of the colorful similes. With any other court, this is so extreme that I’d just laugh and delete it. But with this court, who knows?

Open Thread July 25 2025

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 252025

Yesterday, I got the email from Families First (via Americans for Tax Fairness) that there will be another national protest event tomorrow. Cleaning up tie URL did not remove or change the locations it was showing me, so you may need to select “Filters” and scroll down a bit and enter your location. I realize this is short notice – but you can also filter by date and find future events, and also filter by other criteria. Also, yesterday, I got multiple emails with “Trump’s name is in the Epstein files” in the subject line. But – you know – it might not be – or at least, if there is a “client list”, it might not be in that. They were such close friends that Epstein might not have charged him. Today, had my mother lived, she would have been 119, so it is a blessing that the didn’t. For someone who lived through Roosevelt’s terms – all of them – this would be devastating.

This is from Press Watch – which means there is at least one journalist who can/will do what he is asking others to do. But I’m afraid there’s little we can do to straighten out the ones who won’t. Either they are themselves i the cult, or their publications are owned by wealth people who, whether or not they are actually in the cult, want the country to be so. There’s your answer, Dan.

This article from Wonkette – I can’t describe it any better then the title, “creepy-ass” – shows the extent to which soe men will go to have (or believe they have) total control over a woman’s body. Some men. Not all men. I might point out that Plutarch, who lived mostly in the first century CE (and into the second) tells the story of Timoclea of Thebes in two of his books, one a history of Alexander the Great, the other titles “Virtutes mulierum” [The virtues of women], which suggests that he approved not only of her but of Alexander for respecting her. The little attorney of the creepy-ass plaintiff is no better. Perhaps there are wells (dry ones would do) near where they live which could be put to good use.

Open Thread July 24 2025

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

Jul 242025

Yesterday, Malcolm Nance and Bryan Cunningham did a video on Substack including a visit from Lev Parnas. It’s about an hour and a quarter long, and there is a fair amount of profanity, but little time is wasted, and a lot of details discussed, while not new, are new to the public. Many are in Nance’s book, but his knowledge is so far ahead of pretty much everyone else’s that it must have been hard to read or even to listen to. I might add that there is some content on which the participants don’t agree on what is going to happen. IT really is worth the time in my opinion. 1700 people watched it live – which is apparently big for Substack – but small compared to the number of people who should learn about it.

As Robert Hubbell points out, one doesn’t have to go to another country to be in exile. At this point all the good and decent people in the US are virtually and politically in exile.

I considered putting this story in Sunday’s post, but decided to post it today – because, although the hero of it is a good man indeed, and deserves credit (actually for all his accomplishments), the does not resolve into a smooth good news ending.

Open Thread July 23 2025

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

Jul 232025

Yesterday, Virgil did call, and I broke the news to him about Joe’s death. He took it well. As I said, it was not unexpected. Today is his birthday, so I also told him Happy Birthday early. I also have a card on the way to him – it has attitude, but it is perfect for him since he so often tells me I am the best thing that ever happened to him. It says “Happy Birthday from the best decision you ever made.” I’m sure it will give him a smile.

Robert Reich puts the use of non-government individuals to influence power into the context which now exists, and addresses how that is different from the lobbying system we had all become so accustomed to, and how much more it is like the reign of the “Sun King.”

This article is from Malcolm Nance’s Substack “Special Intelligence.” If you aren’t familiar with Malcolm Nance, it’s time you were, so I am also linking to the Wikipedia article on him. The dude knows what he speaks and/or writes about. And even though what he writes about here is next to impossible to take seriously, it’s still important. MAGA and/or QAnon people have taken action in the past about propositions which were too ridiculous to take seriously, and people have been endangered and hurt, even killed, by those actions.

Open Thread July 22 2025

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

Jul 222025

Yesterday, as is usual for me on Mondays when possible, I relaxed a lot. I did order a grocery delivery for the evening, and received most of it, and put away most of what I received.

It’s been a long time since I heard from Margaret Atwood. She has written a new post called “The Woman Thing, Part 1”. Her starting point is pretty much where she left off earlier – the French Revolution (or Revvie.) That’s because she has been invited to create a video audiobook, has agreed, and has chosen “A Tale of Two Cities.” But I expect her to move on from there and provide insights few people could.

Joyce Vance takes on misogyny. We tried our best to warn people about all of this too. Someone in the comments, probably close to my age, says it is exhausting to think about having to do it all over again. Yes, it certainly is.

https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/obama-posts-video-of-trump-actually
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-barack-obama-ai-video_n_687dff31e4b0502d85e56715

This by Steve Schmidt is the big truth bomb of the day. Not that anyone should be surprised. Allow me if you will to compare humans to pit bulls. Pit bulls are basically big sweet goofballs. But pit bulls can be trained for dog fighting to be vicious killers. The people in charge of ICE detention are like pit bulls trained for dogfighting – all their grievances, both real and imaginary, have been catered to and they have been assured that nothing in their lives they don’t like is their fault, and that they have been terribly wronged. I dont suppose they have been taught much if anything in the way of specific torture techniques, but they are filled with anger and it’s not difficult to translate that into cruelty – in fact, it’s harder not to. Encouraging them to focus on wanting revenge (rather than actual improvements in their lives) has turned them into dogfighting pit bulls. Or, to use a different analogy, if anyone remembers, like those entities in Star Trek episodes who fed upon human misery and needed it to survive. I don’t know how to untrain them, or if it is even possible, but decent people need to know about evil things being done in our name.

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