Open Thread October 3 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 032025
 

Yesterday, the details of an ICE raid on an apartment building in Chicago were published, including by Wonkette. It appears they simply broke down every door in the building, detained everyone, then after some hours released those they had been able to confirm were citizens. If you don’t want to read about it, I don’t blame you but here’s the link anyway.

This from The Conversation goes along with the article earlier this week about learning to be defiant. If a serious, dedicated scholar can be as far off about what the Third Reich looked like from inside, the rest of us need to take notice now.

Wow. Just Wow. Wonkette – well, it isn’t actually Wonkette which nails it – it’s District Judge Young, but Wonkette serves it up. And it inspired me to use a cartoon I have been holding, because it makes it so clear that it isn’t words, and certainly not words alone, which make terrorists.

This HuffPost article sheds some light on the Federal shutdown. And also on the messaging. Our messaging is pretty clear, and self explanatory, if anyone who needs to hear it will ever hear it (and believe it – they are so accustomed to believing six impossible things before breakfast that getting their belief is not exactly guaranteed.)

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Open Thread October 1 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 012025
 

Yesterday, I did sleep late, although not as late as I dreamed I did (I dreamed I slept until today.) I saw several emails in my inbox leading to reviews of the Hogsbreath debacle, but Wonkette gave it the respect it deserved. Today is apparently the first day of a government shutdown. Expect pain – but what form it will take, I don’t know.

This does not by any means redeem the New York Times. (For one thing, I find it difficult to believe that the people who need to read or hear this the most actually read well enough to be bothered to read the Magazine section.)

Anyone who reads The Guardian is already aware of this. If you don’t read The Guardian, Wonkette will bring you up to speed. Not that it should be any surprise to anyone, of course. There’s a saying that people under 40 have the face they were born with, while people over 40 have the face they deserve. Miller just turned 40 this year, but I think he’s had the face he deserves for a very long time.

I’m not familiar with Futurism, so I looked it up at Media Bias/Fact Check, which says it is pro-science and mostly factual in reporting (not that I don’t also take that with a grain of salt.) I’m aware most people, including journalists, think this is Stephen Miller’s job, and I’m sure that it is, to an extent. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be others. And they may be working together, or in competition, or just separately.

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Open Thread September 26 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 262025
 

Yesterday, the electrician came and fixed my kitchen light in about 20 minutes. the problem was in the switch. He said that outlets and switches generally last abut 20 years (and I am at 23 – I had everything rewired before moving in in 2002.) And added that my switch box panel is in good shape (they last 30-40 years.) He only charged for a service call (I would have been happy with up to 3x the amount, or at least would have if parts had been needed.) It’s good to have light!

Last might Carrie B (NannyCarrie from Care2) emailed that her husband Barry is in the hospital with what they think is a brain stem stroke.  He can’t breathe without a ventilator.  She is terrified and asks for prayers, vibes, or as TC would say, however you communicate with the universe.  If anyone wants her email please let me know in a comment.

Well, we don’t have to go back to the Third Reich to understand the politicization of the military – the seventies and eighties are well within the lifetimes of most of us.

This link is to a petition, but scrolling down brings you to the article explaining why the petition. Please read that first. Then, if you want, feel free to sign. My goal is for you to be aware this is happening.

Since RFK Jr is so hung up on prenatal acetominaphen being the cause of autism (though autism has been around a whole lot longer than acetominaphen has), when I read this (and all of the comments -they contain many more stories as well as gratitude), I thought it might be good for us to have something more accurate – and more sane – to read on the subject

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Open Thread September 24 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 242025
 

Yesterday, another quiet day – which is wonderful, Heck, any one day under the current regime is more excitement than I need for the rest of my life.

Apparently Jimmy Kimmel was back on TV last night (as Wonkette and others expected). But that doesn’t matter in connection with what Robert Reich has to say about the whole kerfuffle, both here and in his video for Inequality Media (below).

Dan Froomkin from Press Watch thinks the Old Gray Lady may be reverting to actual journalism. I think the key words are “may be,” but he does have some examples to share. I note that this does NOT apply to the Washington Post.

This from the Talking Feds Substack is, of course, an opinion, but I have seen a fair amount about this, and thought about it. I would never support shutting down a government which is working well. But this one isn’t. It is in fact actively harmful. And I think Talking Feds is on to something. To shut down the Government and make it count, we need to make it about fascism. I think we can, and I think we should.

A guest video today from Robert Reich – not just OK but encouraged to share.

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Open Thread September 22 2025

 Posted by 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.

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Open Thread September 20 2025

 Posted by 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.

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Open Thread September 18 2025

 Posted by 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.

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Open Thread September 17 2025

 Posted by 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.”

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