Cats – Page 7 – Politics Plus

Open Thread July 12 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 122026

Yesterday, the radio opera was The Makropulos Affair, based on a 1922 play of the same name by Karel Čapek – the same guy who populized the word “robot.” The opera is about immortality – and why it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’ll just stop there and go off to visit Virgil. And check in upon return (which may take a while – it’s supposed to be quite warm.)

I’m always interested in, and often excited by, medical good news. At 80, I don’t expect to benefit personally from this news, but, having empathy, I can appreciate its life changing nature. And – if this can be done with stem cells (and stem cells can be made from other cells), what else will be possible?

This was recorded a day or two before she arrived. So I can tell you she made it – and broke records – by a lot.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelsey_Pfendler

You don’t often see much good news from The Root – and when you do, it’s likely to be bittersweet, as is this one. But I am always inspired by a celebrity stepping in to console and encourage a child.

Short and sweet. And don’t mess with Bella.

I think this is just as sweet as when both are in the military, and they are reuniting.

Open Thread July 10 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:16 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 102026

Yesterday, the CC on Malcolm’s show was whimsical again. This time it came up with “pete headset.” You gotta laugh so you don’t drown in pessimism. ICYMI, we have torn up the MOU and are back at full-scale war.

https://atlblackstar.substack.com/p/why-one-photo-in-the-nolan-wells
I’ve been the only woman in a group of men. I’ve been the only “anglo” in a group of Latinx. Obviously, I lived to tell y’all about it; both felt a bit odd at the time, but I never felt threatened, and I learned a lot from both experiences. But both were decades ago. Also, neither situation was “just a group of friends.” Both were, in different ways, educational settings. Today being today, I would not want to be the only black person in a melanin-deficient space, and particularly not in Georgia or Mississippi. Obviously, the verdict is not in on either of these cases, and may never be. Not that that makes either of them easier.

https://www.allrisenews.com/p/second-circuit-denies-trump-stay
This is another Substack video (of course with a transcript) and I bring it up because of the coverage of the arraignment of Davey Hearn in Superior Court for, among other charges, removing (stealing) a piece of the new coating on the Reflecting Pool. Popok pointed out that for that to be a felony the piece of coating would have to be worth at least a thousand dollars, which he considered ridiculous. I thought “I don’t know – the contract was for $14 million, so it may not be impossible.” So I looked up the pool’s dimentions and did the math, and he was right, and I was wrong. One square foot of the coating would be worth a few pennies over $39.50. Clearly, based on the speed with which it disintegrated, that’s overpriced, but it’s not a thousand dollars per square footoverpriced.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/supreme-court-chips-away-checks-and-balance
Sometimes we – and the media we trust – get so wrapped up in particular cases that the forest gets blurry while we are staring at the trees. This is longish, and you may want to digest it in pieces, but it’s a good overview.

Open Thread July 6 2026

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

Jul 062026

Yesterday, Trinette was out of town for the holiday weekend, so I didn’t have to be up to welcome her, and slept longer than usual. According to Malcolm’s warcast, Marco Rubio announced that any nation which attended the funeral of Ali Khamenei (the father of the current imam, Muchtaba Khamenei) at any level which receives any kind of aid from the US will have that aid cut off. The Canteloupe Caligula himself said that he coul not understand – was completely baffled – that anyone would shed tears for Khamenei. What a display of sea-bottom-level pettiness combined with rock hard obtuseness of actual human beings. Also on that cast was a picture alleged to show the chief suspect to have put the algae in the Reflecting Pool. I entered it as a replacement for the normal featured image. The cast was cut short on account of audio issues, but they started a second one, primarily to answer questions, but added a bit of additional news, including the fact that the US is in negoiations to, among other things, move US Middle East Central Command from Qatar to Israel. Hoo boy, is that ever going to divide us more than we are already!

If you have been missing John Fugelsang as much as I have, here’s your chance. If not, and if any discussion of any religion at all triggers you, please skip it.

Robert Reich on Democratic primaries. Someone else on Substack who is not an idiot is seriously worried about the result of the Democratic primary in Colorado One. I am not. If it were any other blue district in Colorado, I probably would be. But Colorado 1 contains the University of Colorao Boulder (sometimes jokingly called the People’s Republic of Boulder.) I can’t visualize Democrats there being spooked by the term “Democratic Socialist.”

You can pretty much count on Steve Schmidt to be angry – angry at the Apricot Antichrist, angry at his followers, his de facto slaves, with their poisoned souls – angry at anyone who knows how terrible they are but is not doing enough to oppose them, angry at anyone who is normalizing what’s happening, whether actively or passively. Sometimes angry enough to post a gut punch. This is one. You have been warned.

Open Thread July 4 2026

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

Jul 042026

Yesterday, Adam Klasfeld sent a link to his live reading of Justice Brown-Jackson’s concurrence in the birthright citizenship case, which is now scheduled for today at 12:30 pm Eastern. Generally Substack videos are recorded and available after the livestream ends. I certainly hope this one will be, because the opera will be on, and it doesn’t record. Here’s the link:
https://open.substack.com/live-stream/264623

[Update: It did go live but there was no sound. It did record, and still no sound as of 45 minutes after start. It onlt took 4 minutes 20 seconds so if (and I suspect he will) gets the sound fixed I’ll repost]

Update #2: I got several emails, but the last one, which came up at 12:44 my time (2:44 Eastern) and it is a recording. It is longer than the aborted one – it clocks at 33 minutes 21 seconds Link

By all means laugh at the headline – and laugh more at the subhead about how Robert Reich manages to make it valid.

Not trying to make a hero of John Brennan. But it’s pretty obvious he is not the only innocent (at least of what he’s being slammed with) person in the US who will benefit from the precedent this suit if it is victorious, as it certainly ought to be.

The Root here focuses on black communities, which is fine, because it is a black publication. But poor people of any color are affected pretty much equally, and may be even more invisible. This is why our real fight is not so much a political one as an economic one.

I don’t often post Andy Borowitz, because his articles for unpaid subscribers are usually just one-liners. Consider this a bonus post.

Open Thread July 2 2026

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

Jul 022026

“When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.” – attributed to Jimi Hendrix. Quoted on a banner two people were attempting to fly from the top of the Statue of Liberty. I hope they have survived. I don’t know the whole story as I type – perhaps y’all do by now.

If you know anything about the British Constitution, you know that a King or Queen nactually has far less power than our President – especially this one. The monarch of England, for example, is forbidden by the Constitution to speak publicly about politics. Elizabeth II spent what, over 70 years? – living up to that. I mention this because Robert Reich implies in the video that SCROTUS made our so-called President a King. They did not. They made him into an emperor- or maybe a demigod. An autocrat. A Dictator. But not a King.

This from “We Are The Mighty” is a flashback to World War II which has a happy ending. This quote – “The Nazis took perverse pleasure in trying to destroy anything that their enemies held dear” rings very now to me. Therearestill Nazis – and they are still practicing this.

Archived from the Huff Post. One response to Mike Johnson: “Don’t threaten us with a good time”

I don’t think the subject of this from The Intercept is getting the attention it deserves. Possibly because it doesn’t sound that bad – but the unintended consequences are massive.

sorry the URL is embedded in Paint. But I put it below the image in case you want to read the story and haven’t already seen it.

https://archive.is/ohZGx

Open Thread June 29 2026

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

Jun 292026

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played, you know, cribbage. The weather was good, and my air conditioner was working (Both ways, it waited until I got to my destination to ask me to turn it off please as the engine was starting to overheat. Both times I was happy to oblige. After getting home, I went through my email and, among other things, watched a Substack with Joyce vance and an old friend of hers, also a lawyer, who is suing to get Tommy Tuberville off the ballot for Governor on the grounds that he does not meet the [Alabama} Constitutional requirement to have resided in Alabama for seven years consecutively before the election. I wish Joyce’s friend a crushing victory. Alabama may not know it, but it really needs Doug Jones.

This is ridiculous. And atrocious I could go on, but I expect y’all can too.

Harry Litman of Talking Feds on the “investigation” of Governor Newsom

And these are who Stephen Miller and the rest of the regime want to let into the Us – The scum of the earth. Professional victims coming as “refugees.” Doong their best to poison our brains.

Open Thread June 26 2026

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

Jun 262026

Yesterday, I guess we can be thankful that all the hair on fire about the housing bill and the USPS didn’t spread to forests or buildings. The Apricot Autocrat did not, as far as I have seen, did not say he would veto the housing bill; just that he would not sign it. I’m pretty sure that if he just doesn’t sign it (and provided Congress remains in session), it will automatically become law in ten days. Of course, Monkey Wrench Mikey knows that too and will have no prolem adjourning Congress just long enough. WRT mail in voting (and my state is one which has it for everyone), I was seriously thinking about, as soon as the primaries are over (which would be next Wednesday here), changing my registration to Republican. And then changed it back in November, after voting a straight Dem ticket. If every Democrat did that, it would be like “We are all Spartacus.” Or like MSgt Roddie Edmonds at Stalag IX-A “We are all Jews.” It has a history of working. The enemy may know what you are doing, but has no way of getting the desired information out of it. But then it occurred to me – as it should have sooner, since virtually everything I buy is ordered and shipped, that there are multiple – probably dozens, of small common carriers out there besides (and cheaper than) UPS and FedEx which could be used if and when USPS goes rogue. (And speaking of USPS, Benjamin Franklin is buried in Philadelphia – has anyone heard of any earthquakes there yet?

Like Robert Reich, I’m also seeing an increase in spam and phishing. Fortunately, so far, they are not coming in his name – a name I think we all trust. I will filter carefully anything I out into the blog. But I am not going to be around forever. Y’all who outlive me will need to know this.

A hundred and one is a lot of former judges. Joyce Vance explains what is normal about this and what is – not so much.

This from The Conversation is not hot news, but a step by step explanation of the process used by SCROTUS to decide cases. It might be one to bookmark for future reference – or not – depending on your choice.

Open Thread June 24 2026

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

Jun 242026

No, I did not make a point of finding news which required me to use long and unusual words in the tags. It just worked out that way. And the tags are still shorter than they would have been if I had gone for periphrasis.

Monday, Alan Greenspan died at 100. Here’s a link to Robert Reich’s obituary for him. Of course there are many more, but this one would be my choice. You won’t have any trouble finding others.

I’m aware that many in the military do not vote for persons or issues which will make the United States better for everyone – and also that many misguided people in the military go so far as to encourage this and call it religion. But there are equally many in the military who understand their oath and take it seriously. Either way, no one eligible to vote should ever be disenfranchised. And it does seem to be particularly ironic to blanket disenfranchise people who are willing to risk their lives on behalf of the nation.

This from CPR is not good news – but not bad news, or news at all, except in the sense that you may not have known it (I didn’t). I doubt that it’s widely known. And I found it interesting.

Defend Our Courts dot com shared this in an email. It took a little time to find the actual story (partly because Alito’s article in Wikipedia shows 2 children, but doesn’t provide their names), but I think it was well worth the effort.

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