Open Thread October 15 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 152026
 

Yesterday, we learned that Elon Musk has turned off Starlink to Ukraine – which essentially paralyzes their ability to fully defend themselves. No civilian entity should have the capability to do that. Constitution of the United States, Article 3, Section 3. Not that there will be any prosecution or other consequences under this administration.

This article is too (sardonically) laughable to miss. And I don’t believe for an instant the PAC’s claim that it was a vendor’s error for which they were reimbursed.

Hopefully this link will take you to the article without mention subscribing; but if it doesn’t there shuld be an option to “read without subscribing.” That’s how I got in. It’s [rpbably more than you wanted to know – but it may not be more than you needed to know.

This person claims to have earned a JD from Pepperdine (a school which has never, that I know of, had a reputation among academics which was other than “shady”). We all thought Leavitt was dumb – but I literally have Barbie dolls who are smarter than Zacharia.

This scared the whatnot out of me when I first saw it – but it appears they caught it early – and hopefully got it all. 🤞


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October 10 2026

 Posted by at 6:11 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 102026
 

Yesterday, since I know zilch about Flock (except that I gather it involves cameras), I did a search and found a description at Mashable. Of course that’s the company’s position – I looked in the first place because of a negative article sent to me in an email.

This came out yesterday morning from Robert Reich. Yes, public executions were medieval. But they didn’t stop because of more or less general improvement in the morality of large populations. Now if they stop because people with a professional interest in preventing crime learned that public executions do not defer anyone still living from committing the same crime(s) – although that is certainly true. No, they stopped because the they stopped because the only dramatic entertainment in the Middle Ages was the Mystery (religious) plays – and there were only so many of those – and they were pious. It was only as the Renaissance was coming in that there began to be secular staged plays coming in – and they had plots, and they quickly developed production values – all of which made them far more interesting to watch than a real execution (and the theaters had sections which charged very low prices for admission.) Why would anyone today want to watch an execution by firing squad when he (or she) could be watching a Freddie Kruger movie? Yes, some will watch. But I’m pretty sure they will be disappointed.

This from Adam Klasfeld includes (but is not limited to) a 20-minute video which covers this development, what OCME is, as well as its included agency, ODIHR (pronounced “Oh dear”), how they work, what they have encountered in past elections, and so on. Since it is (comparatively) short, and the issue is so critical, and has been so far under the national radar that I’m leaving out the normal political video out today to make room for this.

(I may have posted this before)

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Open Thread October 8 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Politics
Oct 082026
 

Yesterday, I set my alarm early enough to get up early enough to call to mahe a medical appointment at a facility that closes on he early side – and I still almost missed it. The soonest available was for December 11th – and I took it.

The point in this ruling by a Federal Judge in Florida, of all places, is not that non-citizens can legally vote – because they (mostly) can’t. The point is that the issue is none of the Federal Government’s business – because the Constitution explicitly gives that job to the states.

Some of the opinions (and practices) referenced here are simply insane.

Robert Reich: “The most basic function of government is to protect people from harm” – something that our current regime is both unwilling and unablle to understand- let alone work toward. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible – but it does mean we need regime change in order to put it baxk in place. And that means, in the first place, voting – and, in the second place, nagging the elected relentlessly to do the right thing.

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Open Thread October 4 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 042026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Wagner’s “Das Rheingold” – the first opera of the Ring Cycle – although it was the last composed. The cycle was composed backwrds in relation to its internal timeline. Wagner originally intended Götterdämmerung to stand alone – but on reflection, decided it needed some backstory. And that happened twice more. So, now, there is definitely enough back story to follow the ring from start to finish. With the exception of the Rhine maidens and Erda, no one in it is depicted in a good light. Wotan in particular is exposed as the typical ruler who contracts for a building project and then doesn’t want to pay the price specified in the contract. It’s staged by the Chinese national opera, as every summer season has been ending with for several years now. Which is not to say all the performers are Chinese. Wotan was sung by a bass from Latvia. It worked just fine. Opera singers train meticulously to pronounce all languages – and composers write passions right into the music. Even if one is not just listening but watching a performance – given that the casy includes two dwarves and two giants – no cast is going to capture the visuals of this one. Or at least, not without CGI. Incidentally – be grateful for the Grannies. I almost posted a video with Luciano Pavarotti and Dolly Parton. It has to be AI – but whoever made it understood, I thibk, their true characters – and nailed both. OK, off to see Virgil now – will check in on return. Meanwhile, enjoy the good news.

Echo

Foxtrot

Golf I know Lona has seen this one – but maybe not  everyone has.

 

Hotel

India

Cat

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Open Thread October 2 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 022026
 

Yesterday, and the day before, there was some drama happening in Tennessee. First, a federal appelate court stayed an execustion scheduled for the 30th. Then SCROTUS overrode the stay. Then there was a last desperate call for signatures to get the Governor to stay it (Yes, it must have been a state offense for which death was sentenced, but an 8th amendment lawsuit to bring it into federal court and to the Supremes.) Of course the governor didn’t, of course it was inistated, of course it went wrong. The accused, Christa Pike, survived two doses of lethal injection and was eventually taken to the hospital, and the last I heard was still alive That was Wednesday. Then yesterday, the Tennessee governor halted all executions in Tennessee. This is the second time he has halted all executions. He also called for a third-party review of the state’s lethal injection protocol (again). Of course, having as we do a moral compass, you know and I know that execution is wrong. But one would think that Republicans could at least see that (even if it works) it is also exponentially more expensive than life imprisonment. Yet here we are.

Morning Memo has multiple articles – and of course you are welcome to keep reading as long as you like – but the sections dealing with the curts and the ramificaions end where the topic turns to an ICE shooting.

48% approval is way, way too much, even in Alabama. But you gotta love the billboard.

Yes, I already addressed the Senate’s miserable failure to catch Jack Smith in a perjury trap. (I suppose that it’s incomprehensible to them that anyone would regularly and sonsistently tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But that’s who he is.) But Harry Dunn says so much more, and says it so much better.

Archived from The Intercept – which I was able to reach and read, but it wasn’t at all obvious how to do it. Since I was far from the first to archive it, I figured I wasn’t the only one finding access dubious. And – sincw we know at least some AI agents are acting on their own, I thought it was important.


,

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Open Thread September 30 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 302026
 

Yesterday,

Referred by Vote Vets and archived from the New York Times so I could read it myself (and now everyone can.) Yes, it’s big money. But it’s big money raised from ordinary people who have served or have connections to people who have served, who understand the Constitution and want to preserve it. And isn’t there a saying about fighting fire with fire? I’m worried about elected officials being beholden to billionaires. Elected officials being beholden to people who love the Constitution – not so much.

This is not a premise I am prepared to defend – it’s more of a gut feeling which sometimes (and this is one of those times) strikes me as a possibility. When an individual or a group has an outspoken enemy – or enemies – that are inarguably abhorrent – does that make a valid case that the person or group who is the target of thet enmity are clearly the good guys? For example – every antisemite – every Nazi, historical or modern – puts me in mind of Corrie ten Boom’s father, and his remark about the Nazis of the 1930s – “They have touched the apple of God’s eye.” He went on – I forget the exact wording – to say that they would have to pay for that big time. Every anti-semite – every Nazi – strikes me as evidence that the Jews always were and still are God’s chosen people. Only something supernatural can explain the existence and the intensity of hatred that is so irrational. And I have the same visceral reaction to racism and misogyny. Of course, that doesn’t make it fun to be on the receiving end of any of those. But I think it can bolster one’s courage to persevere. And this would also apply to the irrational hatred currently being directed to Democrats by MAGA. Keep persevering. We are the good guys.

I have no idea what JoJo said (or when – the “where” is probably on Substack, and though she has more than one, it certainly could be this one). But since I was just addressing courage and how to get it and keep it going – this just fit right in – and JoJo has a knack for nailing things.

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Open Thread September 26 2026

 Posted by at 6:14 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 262026
 

Yesterday, I did some searching and saving of animal videos. As always, I ran short on cats compared to dogs. There are more dogs than cats in the US – but not in the proportions I was running short – it’s around 89 million dogs to 76 million cats. I had to dive into the Dodo’s “Cat Crazy” section to catch up. And I may have picked some which will be reruns. It’ll be a while before we get to that point, and I can stretch it out a bit farther by slipping some in which are neither dogs nor cats, but I thought I’ let y’all know we are moving toward that point. Also, Frank Figliuzzi, speaking of the Supreme Court, said: “I’m going to stop calling them the three liberal justices and start calling them the three sane justices.”

Yes, back to back Robert Reich. Both look forward to -hopefully – better days. This first article looks to what needs to be done once we manage to get a sane administration.

This second article looks to how badly our reputation with sane nations has been damaged – an how we are going to need to accept that, and not take it peraonally – because, frankly, they are correct in their assessment. Yes, it breaks my heart also.

Heather Cox Richardson – and the General Accounting Office – know precisely where the waste and fraud are in the current regime – and they are not in Medicare, Social Security, MedicAid, or any other program designed to help citizens who need help.

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Open Thread September 25 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 252026
 

It isn’t a holiday where I am, and it’s probably not where you are. But in California, starting today and in perpetuity (or until some Republican ruins it),, September 25 is and will be Dolly Parton Day. (And why didn’t Tennessee think of that?)

So true – so simple – and so sad that some people need to be told it.

This may ask you to subscribe, but you shouldn’t need to just inorder to read it. I found it encouraging.

No, I wasn’t particularly looking for encouraging news today – I just happened to tripover some in my inbox. This takes me back to the sixties – not that I remember actual candidates for Congress taking this risk then. Outrage and resistance are not dead.

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