Open Thread May 9 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 092026
 

Yesterday was David Attenborough’s 100th birthday. The first email I saw about it had the subject line “100 years of David Attenborough” which made me think we had lost him – but, thankfully, we have not. He is so well known and loved. Some years ago I went to a college theater production featuring the three winners of a contest for one-act plays. The one I remember best had three actors – two were visible and were a boy and a girl mayfly. The third, invisible inside a prop TV set was David Attenborough narratibg a program about the life cycle of Mayflies, which you probably know is in the neighborhood of 24 hours. The two Mayfly characters were getting increasingly panicked that they wouldn’t have time to reproduce. It was very funny. (The second was about Philip Glass tring to place a bakery order in the style of his music. That was funny too, but not as funny as the Mayflies. I don’t remember the third at all.)

From Press Watch. Suggestions to more wimpy news media about how to report on the Evil Emperor

From Bowers News Media. Yes, the voters in Virginia overwhelmingly voted for a [temporary) distrct map skewed Democratic – and the Virginia Supreme Court immediatelu struck it down. Bowers News Media is big on sharing things ordinary people can do – some are always not feasible, geographically or physically or budget-wise.

https://www.propublica.org/article/kids-tear-gas-trump-immigration-crackdown
From ProPublica. The war and some other things have kind of pushed this out of the news. It’s not all video – there are just three to scroll down past in order to get to content.

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Open Thread May 7 2026

 Posted by at 6:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 072026
 

Yesterday, my exterminator came and said all my rooms have much less activity – and so does the yard. It actually snowed a little Tuesday, which is exactly when they would try to get inside out of the cold, so that’s all good. Then Trinette came by – and it took us a while to find where the plug had come out of the computer, but we did, and it works. So I can run the disc now, and hopefully I’ll be back in business.

Thirty seven minutes of discussion about Louisiana v. Callais – and the procedural mandate SCROTUS released late this Monday (a little less if you skip the part at the beginning when knitting and animals are discussed. The first few minutes of Substack videos are always off topic because viewers don’t all join at once, and most presenters wait until at least 1000 have joined to address the topic.) Once I started watching instead of reading, I have continued when possible because watching, you can’t skip, so I don’t miss things by trying to read too fast. And also, because depth of the the presenters’ feelings on the topic come through more clearly. But if you really prefer to read it, scroll down a bit – I’ve se the link so the transcript will already be up.

Under a regime which does not care whether people live or die, nor how they suffer –this could not have happened at a worse time. Not that there is a good time, but there have been times when the federal government would at least have tried to minimize tragedies.

Robert Reich points out a billionaire who is making a case for a wealth tax. But he’s not doing it intentionally. I’ve often wondered whether, if millionaires and billionaires woul just pay their political contributions into the IRS as conscience gifts instead of giving them to politicians, we could fund Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP, and other similar programs just fine.

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Open Thread May 4 2026

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

Yesterday, I was fairly stressed, and my body responded by sleeping for 12 hours. Apparently, I needed to. After midnight, I emailed Virgil’s facility to schedule a visit for next Sunday (and emailed Trinette to let her know, since ordinarily she would come here that day.)

Apparently, there are 42 Democrats in the House who think the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a good idea. I don’t, and this article nails why I don’t.

Robert Reich writes about different incarnations of capitalism, which one we need to have, and why. I’m pretty sure, of all of them, it’s the one farthest to the left – and this is a discussion in which speaking of left vs. right is appropriate.

Andy Borowitz isn’t always funny. That’s often true on Sundays, when he does interviews, which can only be accessed by paid subscribers. But last Sunday, he decided his topic (essentially the First Amendment) was too important to limit his audience. This is unusual enough for me to want to share it. the video portion is just over a half hour, and there is a transcript. As usual on Substack, you will need to unmute it if you choose to watch. It’s about a documentary – but it isn’t itself the documentary. (A short digression – if we did have over a thousand members of the House of Representatives – maybe they could meet in the ballroom and remodel the House floor for state occasions.)

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Open Thread May 3 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 032026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin.” I can’t do a better summary than Wikipedia does: “a dandy rejects a young country girl, she successfully grows into a worldly woman, he tries to seduce her but it is too late.” Set during the reign of Catherine the Great (1762–1796 – and she appears briefly in a silent role in some productions – though not in this one), based on a verse novel by Pushkin, it displays (intentionally or not?) issues of the status of women. The opening duet, between Tatiana’s mother and her maid, includes one of the saddest lines ever written: “Heaven sends us habit in place of happiness.” Although Tatiana gets the upper hand by the time the opera ends. I had planned to see Virgil today, but I missed a deadline I didn’t know existed (it’s fairly new, and it was in a form letter I don’t normally read because I know what is says – or thought I did.) Fortunately he phoned last night so I could tell him before he panicked. He took it well. So I’ll be rearranging my schedule.

Archived from The Guardian. This issue – who should hold historical and pre-historical treasures – has been a hot button topic longer than I have been alive – and it still is. I am on Mamdami’s side myself. It isn’t just the Kohinoor diamond that the UK is still sitting on – It also still holds the Elgin Marbles. I do realize that Athens is subject to earthquakes, but I also feel that those  statues must mean more to people who are actually Greek than they ever could to me, regardless of my education.

This video is very short, but it’s on loop, so you won’t miss any of it.

From PBS, referred by Dose of Democracy. Considering how many reactionary bishops we have, this is just a step – but a step in the right direction.

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Open Thread May 2 2026

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

Yesterday, I learned in passing that – at least for now – TACO (T* Always Chickens Out) has been replaced by NACHO (Not A Chance Hormuz Opens).

I’m posting this from Colorado Public Radio, not so much as Colorado news, as that I’m pretty confident this happening all over the country. Because why wouldn’t it.

I swear I am not making this up.

You can read the letter – or you can listen to Heather read it (under 14 minutes) – they have identical content. I’ve checked enough times to be confident, but I checked this one anyway.

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Open Thread April 30 2026

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

Yesterday, SCROTUS eviscerated the Voting Rights Act. I’m not providing a link because the news is everywhere. I am not saying this in its defense, because there is no defense. But I presume they are looking at Clarence to justify their illusion that people of color are less intelligent. (If they would look at Ketanji, they would not be able to hold on to that lie.) Also yesterday, I received an email which included a poll. I almost never respond to those polls which are sent out, for the simple reason that they include no way to express one’s specific feelings about a person or an issue, and my feelings are generally far more nuanced that the possible responses provided. But this poll had a response which actually nailed my feelings, and even allowed me to add s few words explaining why, so I did respond. If that piques your curiosity, here’s the link. You need to scroll down below the petition to get to the poll part, but not far.

This article comes with a roughly 45 minute video which covers in detail corruption which is a matter of public record but which has been under the radar for at least 30 years. You don’t need to watch it – I’m just telling you so you can make a more informed decision.

This feels like a good day to post an article titled “Six Solutions to Fix the Supreme Court” = particularly when it’s from The Brennan Center.

https://archive.is/h1zxW
Archived from The Lever, the brainchild of David Sirota, a former campaign manager for Bernie Sanders, and a Substack personality in his own right. It’s in the category of “investigative journalism.” The case in the title is a civil suit in Maine. There’s a link to the actual complaint, but the complainants are three named groups and the defendants are six individuals, in their capacities as elected or appointed officials of the state of Maine. Heaven only knows what the short name will end up being.

Dog/Squirrel

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Open Thread April 27 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 272026
 

Yesterday, my inbox was reachable again. It took me a while to delete over 350 emails, though, even without reading almost all of them. But I am assuming today there is only one story – one which has multiple possible takes. I’m bumping to Wednesday a story or two which I had in mind for today. See you then.

This is from an attendee of the other party – the one for independent journalists – the people we should all be reading, or watching, if possible. (Not all of them – no one has that kind of time – but some of them.)

This is from The New Yorker. This attendee was at the Correspondents’ party.

https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/the-real-victim-of-the-white-house
Robert Hubbell writes about more than the shooting, including the California Gubernatorial primary, for which he proposes a strategy which highly recommend (assuming it becomes necessary – and it certainly might.) But what caught my eye was his headline point that truth id the chief victim of the WHC dinner shooting – as it is of everything about the current regime.)

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Open Thread April 25 2026

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

Yesterday, I wanted to use the cartoon below, but I also wanted to make sure everyone got it. It is titled “Orangemandias” and is a riff on Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias.” If you were ever exposed to it, you probably remember the gist of it. If not, or if you just want a refresher, here it is at The Poetry Foundation. Sorry it’s so hard to see. If you open it in a new tab or window it’s clearer.

From The Root. Long, yes. But please scroll through and read all the names. Especially those whom other Democrats are demanding resign. There are definitely times when public servants need to be forthcoming and detailed about their strategies, including potential ones. This may not be the time – or, on the other hand, it may be but corporate news may not be sharing.

From The New Republic. I didn’t even know Clarence had given a speech until I saw the video with retired Judge Luttig’s take on it. I don’t (ad I’m sure y’all don’t) agree with the Judge’s politics, but despite that, he is a man of honor, and all this must be terribly painful for him. He is proof that it is possible to be an honorable Conservative – and, sadly, also proof that it is bloody difficult to do – since it is so rare.

From The 19th. IANAL, nor a historian, but I do know some things about patriarchy in the Roman Empire. If you had a wife she was property. If you had children, they were property. You could legally kill them, You could rape them, You could sell them. Heck, you could even kill our mother. But you couldn’t legally murder another male Roman citizen – and if you killed your father – Katie, bar the door. The punishment for patricide, called poena cullei, was to be “sewn up in a leather sack, with an assortment of live animals including a dog, snake, monkey, and a chicken or rooster, and then being thrown into water,” where you would drown, unless of course the animals got you first. By the time of Hadrien, there was an alternative method of being thrown to the beasts in the arena. I don’t know whose option that was, but it wasn’t the convicted person’s. I expect very few on the far right knoe about this, allergic to history as they are. But it is the kind of patriarchy they want to bring us back to.

HCR – pious coprolites!

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