Damage – Politics Plus

Open Thread March 20 2026

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

Mar 202026

Yesterday, the “warcast” was so consequential (and it was long because it was so consequential) that I put it with a link into a comment on yesterday’s OT. I hope I don’t have to do that again today, but I might have to. S–t is getting more and more real. And it’s not like we don’t have things to worry about here. I have to be glad my mother didn’t live to see this (not that it was likely – if she were alive today ahe’d be 119.) Happy Eid al Fitr, if it’s today – if not today, it’s tomorrow. Today was predicted, but not certain. Also, my PCP has moved out of town, nd I called and made an appointment with a new provider. Then I got transferred to an RN to ask about symptoms – specifically, if I have two conditions which essentially show the same symptoms, how do I tell the difference? We kind of talked that through – she brought up a lot that I hadn’t thought of, and ended up telling me I am a “bright and funny lady.” Not sure I deserve that, but it was nice yo hear. Too late, I should have told her about “RN” standing for “Real Nice.” Today is Eid al Fitr probably – if it isn’t today, it’ll be tomorrow.

I hope to God Talking Points Memo sent this to Governor Polis. He could use a little starch in his spine right about now.

The current year is not just the 240th anniversary of the United States; it is also the 250th anniversary of “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith. He has been called “the father of conservative economics, but his book is neither conservative nor about economics as we understand the term today. Robert Reich makes that case better than I could.

“Master Plan” is a group of podcasts, now in its second season, created by The Lever to answer the question “How TF did we even get to where we are now?” The first season has eleven episodes with an umbrella title of “Legalizing Corruption,” and a bonus episode with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse. The second season’s umbrella title is “The Kingmakers.” Only one episode is available now, but there will be as many more as they think are needed. Every episode can be listened to from this link. The first season is now available as a book.

JE drugs

Cat

Friday: The Damage & Debris Trump’s Domestic Terrorists Left Behind

Posted by SoINeedAName at 1:26 pm Politics

Feb 122021

Sen. SCHUMER. It is very, very difficult to put into words what has transpired today. I have never lived through or even imagined an experience like the one we have just witnessed in this Capitol…. Unfortunately, we can now add January 6, 2021, to that very short list of dates in American history that will live forever in infamy.

https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2021/1/6/senate-section/article/s18-2?s=1&r=52

We’ve all seen hundreds of photos and thousands of frames of the January 6^th Capitol riots, incited by Trump. And now as his second impeachment trial begins, I felt it appropriate to view the physical damage the domestic terrorists left behind: Splintered wood, shards of glass, pillaged offices, fire extinguisher residue discharged by rioters covering desks and floors.

It’s difficult to know where to start, so let’s just begin with huge amounts of trash the rioters left behind:

Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ) was so distraught over what he saw, he felt the need to help in the cleanup: “What else could I do?”

“I was just overwhelmed with emotion,” Kim, 38, told NBC Asian America. “It’s a room that I love so much — it’s the heart of the Capitol, literally the heart of this country. It pained me so much to see it in this kind of condition.”

So for the next hour and a half, he crouched down and filled a half dozen trash bags with debris. When he finished cleaning up the rotunda, he began working on the adjacent rooms, including the National Statuary Hall and the Capitol crypt downstairs.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/behind-viral-photo-rep-andy-kim-cleaning-midnight-after-riots-n1253519

Afterwards, Rep. Kim received numerous requests asking why he did what he did. He responded with this childhood photo:

Many of you asked me why I cleaned the Capitol on Jan 6. I want to show you this photo. This is my mom, an immigrant from Korea, bringing me to DC for the first time. She took me to the Capitol and taught me to love and care for this nation that gave us everything. pic.twitter.com/PecgTb5HWB

— Andy Kim (@AndyKimNJ) January 28, 2021

And there was lots of broken glass – both involving windows …

And doors – both inside and out …

There was damage and debris that’s not so easily classified:

Although some damage will not be easily washed away or repaired, we must still pay tribute to the scores of hardworking congressional staff that diligently worked to clean up the damage done by Trump’s domestic terrorists – Trump’s thugs who transformed the very center of our democracy into a deadly crime scene.

Your yeoman’s work is much appreciated!

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.