Open Thread March 15 2026

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

Yesterday, the radio opera was Madame Butterfly by Puccini – the first opera I ever saw – I was 8 years old. It’s one of three operas for which Puccini selected the subject after seeing a play in a language he didn’t speak but was still able yo understand everything happening (the other two were Tosca and La Fanciulla del West.) He figured correctly that an operatic subject selected on that basis would make the opera more accessible. I don’t know that I would recommend it as a first opera today, though – Butterfly’s line in the first act “Oh, I am very old – I am fifteen” has taken on too much additional weight in the shadow of the Epstein files.

The work that Ray Brown is doing has never been more important than it is now. He makes me proud to be a Coloradan

I was not surprised to read that mariachi runs in the family – rather, I would have been surprised if it didn’t. Mariachi just does. And not only mariachi. Look at the Romero family of guitarists – now in its third generation.

Technically, I suppose this is not a “good news story.” But it made me smile. (And I still wouldn’t go to a Chick-Fil-A myself.)

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Open Thread March 13 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 132026
 

Yesterday, another mass shooting, this one at a synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. The only casualties were the shooter (killed) and a guard (wounded, not too seriously.) And we have a president who apparently would rather confess to a war crime than be credibly accused of a crime of pedophilia. Think bout that. i desperately hope that, wherever he is, TomCat is having a better birthday than our day. Happy Birthday, TC. We still miss you.

ProPublica discusses the school bombing (which I trust no one here attributes to anyone other than us) in the context of a program initiated during the Biden administration which, if it hadn’t been cut into smithereens, might have prevented it. (On the other hand, Kegsbreath might have ignored it.)

Common Dreams addresses a different atrocity. This one involving a ship, is clearly an atrocity (the school bombing might have been an error – not that I believe that for an instant.) But a ship cannot possibly have been mistaken for a military base.

From Ukrinform. Someone joked this week that the Saffron Sauron “has started World War Two and a Quarter.” I don’t think it’s that funny really – but it does make a point.

Belle War

Dog

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Open Thread March 10 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 102026
 

Yesterday, unsurprisingly, I slept late – but nowhere near the latest I have ever slept. I watched a Substack video about the Halkbank case – a scandal likely to go under the radar, since it pales in comparison to Epstein, but which is, as Adam puts it, “not irrelevant to” the Iran war. There will be more news on Wednesday. And today is the special election to replace MTG. And I received my first Ukrinform newsletter. I’d love to share more than the following tidbit, but (I suspect on account of the time difference) I’m not finding the ones in the newsletter that I’d love to share on line. But this is a bombshell for us Americans who can’t or don’t follow European politics much: on April 12, there is an election in Hungary – and Germany expects Orban to lose big time.

I hardly even know what to say about this. Regardless whether this is out of malice or just boneheaded stupidity (my money’s on malice, but some stupidity seems almost inevitable) there should be massive numbers of Courts Martial on account of it. It’s My Lai on steroids.

So many deaths, so much wrongful detention, it’s easy to forget that there are other ways that fascist governments can abuse their people, whether citizens or not. Joyce Vance writes about some judges who are mad as hell and not going to take it anymore about federal “law enforcement” failing to return personal belongings of wrongly detained people. At least one points out that when those belongings include form of identification, they are made vulnerable to more wrongful detention. How long have I been saying that sure, carry papers, but don’t carry originals, carry copies – certified and/or notarized copies, but copies. I’m Joanne Dixon, not Jeane Dixon, but you don’t need supernatural powers to have seen this coming.

Not every one of the protest photos here shows a sign so good it could be a meme – but some do, and a few have more than one. Since March 28 is coming up, I thought I’d share.

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Open Thread March 8 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 082026
 

Yesterday, much of the snow was gone. It took longer in my back yard, which is on the west side of the house. The radio opera was the second half of Les Troyens, about the Trojans’ time in Carthage before they made it to Italy so (in the myth) their descendants could found Rome. Although the inly singer in both parts was John Vickers, as in the first half, all the solo singers were people I remember fondly, including Judith Blegen, with whom I shared a violin teacher – not at the same time, but later, after the teacher had taken a job at the college (now a university) in Alamosa, where I moved after leaving the USMC. She was as fine a violinist as she was a soprano. (I should say is, actually, since she’s still living, only four years older than I am, but she’s no longer singing in public.) Our mutual teacher is not mentioned in the Wikipedia article, but pretty much all professional musicians have more teaches and coaches than could possibly fit into a brief article. He taught her while she was in Montana. There may still be a debate as to whether or not Menotti wrote “Help, Help, The Globolinks” for her – Menotti denied it – nut there just aren’t very many operatic sopranos who can play the violin at a professional level, so his denial is a bit hard to believe. Off to see Virgil now; will check in.

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/family-reunites-with-dog-lincoln-park/
OK, this story starts with a stupid mistake. But it gets better – and then just keeps getting better.

https://www.witn.com/2026/02/23/pactolus-global-school-principal-greets-students-daily-with-music-grooves/
This story – is a lot of fun. And about how fun can help kids learning.

https://www.cpr.org/2026/03/04/alzheimers-disease-misdiagnosed-rebecca-chopp-former-du-chancellor/
This is long for a Sunday – I try to keep them short and bright – but it is astonishing, at least to me. really though that if we knew how to diagnose anything, it would be this. Obviously I was wrong.

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Open Thread March 6 2026

 Posted by at 5:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 062026
 

Yesterday, Dose of Democracy reported that Kristi Noem is being fired and will be replaced with Markwayne Mullin (R-OK Senate). This is not an improvement. Yes, it suggests that pressure can be effective. But for every demon out there, there are ten more just as bad or worse. Mullin just has a lower profile. (And maybe we can get a special election for his Senate seat.) JoJo from Jerz knows more about the reason. Also. I tripped over a channel on YouTube for “Lauren the Mortician.” I’m not an authority, but the little I do know (not from intuition, but from science) aligns with her points. There are a lot of death and dead people related things that we don’t know and probably should. so if you are wondering about anything death-related, current or old, you might want to give her channel a look. Her communication style is rather whimsical. but the information is substantive.

Robert Reich looks at how much other NATO nations have already become involved with the Saffron Sauron’s illegal war of domination and a glance at the Constitution as to why it is so patently illegal.

John Pavlovitz being a pastor, much of what he writes is religious, so I try to avoid posting his work. But this is about something completely different – our apparent national inability to deal with complex issues. I’ve noticed this too, but have not (probably could not) discuss it so pointedly.

Don’t panic when you see the title. There may well be 1,001, but he only discusses four of them.

The Conversation has many thoughtful and well-researched articles which reflect on the current war. This is one of them. Remember that in 1953 McCarthy was still a Senator (and I was only 8). It was not the America most of us grew up in

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Open Thread March 4 2026

 Posted by at 5:54 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 042026
 

Yesterday, I didn’t get a response from Pat B. I hope she is OK and just living her life. Also, Axios reported that the Mango Moron plans to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. I hope all the real journalists stay away, because I can’t think of a reason for him to attend other than to collect new names for his enemies list. Can you?

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Lois W, the wife of Bill w, who founded AA, and herself the founder of Al-Anon. She used to say it is the strongest day of the year. Also as expected, I watched Malcolm Nance’s Day 4 of the war, and picked up a quote for today’s meme-cartoon.

Archived from The Lever, which examines possible positions SCROTUS might take, should the question of the legality of the Saffron Sauron ‘s strike on Iran come before then at some point. I doubt there are any surprises in it.

Well, this is interesting. It would have been even more interesting, though, if he had done so before the Cantaloupe Caligula had bombed Iran.

From Talking points Memo. Best of luck to the investigators (no matter how smart they are, a little luck never hurts.)

In case anyone is wondering about the Nectarine Necromancer’s neck (I expect Nameless already knows):

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Open Thread March 2 2026

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

Yesterday, the news was of course filled with Iran. The mass shoooting in Austin almost got lost. All I have is the initial breaking release and it’s not all that helpful. I emailed Pat B to ask whether she and hers are all right, but it’s pretty late here and an hour later there so I’m not expecting a reply before Tuesday. Trinette was by – have you ever noticed there are people who can make you feel better just by walking into the room? Virgil called and I reminded him who his case manager is. Hopefully he will remember long enough to ask he the balance in his commissary account.

My first thought when I realized that the Saffron Sauron had bombed Iran was, “He got a taste of the blood of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, and now he wants more.” Even if he is too stupid to realize that being at war means your own people getting killed, and even if Kegsbreath is that stupid, there must be someone who is not. Now, after the first casualties including military of ours have been reported, he has his wish. I won’t be crude, but you’ll likely know exactly what I’m thinking when I say he must be thrilled. If you want to follow this war closely, I mean really closely, your best bet is probably Malcolm Nance’s Substack, called “Black Man Spy.” It’s video, because writing takes time, and it is as up to the minute as possible. He does it along with a Danish spy, Jacob Kaarsbo, who has also worked in the area, so both have insider knowledge about the region. Together, they have far more knowledge than I could ever hope to supply. They do it pretty early in the morning, but it’s set (not all live videos are) to re-post a recording after it’s ended. That usually takes roughly an hour (but don’t give up). Or if you are a subscriber, free or paid, Substack will send an email when the recording is up.

This video is from Saturday morning, right after the bombing of Iran. It’s 22 minutes long

This is what we have done – what the monster we elected has done in our name. I don’t think “I’m sorry” or “we’re sorry” will cut it.

I could go on – and probably will as it goes on. But this is my final statement for today.

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Open Thread March 1 2026

 Posted by at 5:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 012026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Berlioz’s “Les Troyens” – just the first half. It was recorded in 1974, so all the stars are singers whom I remember vividly. It’s a beast to stage, and in fact was not staged in Berlioz’s lifetime. It’s in two acts, and we’ll hear the second act next week. It tells the story of the first four “books” of the Aeneid well – including Laocoon and his sons – which is probably the hardest to stage. The only character who is in both acts is Aeneas, so it’s also expensive to cast. But, if you like Berlioz, and I do, it is gorgeous. I’m not ignoring the fact that the Apricot Antichrist bombed Iran in the middle of the night Friday, and I’ll address that tomorrow. Today is a day of rest – and I’ll need time to go through multiple reports and decide what to stress and why. I did hear the Ayatollah has been confirmed to be dead, but as I type, I can’t vouch for it.

Sharing a story about the demand for tattoos rising as good news was never on my Bingo card. But I find the increasing demand for these specific tattoos both interesting – and encouraging that so many people care that much. Also, I’m impressed at how the owner of the shop is dedicating the increased revenue.

You may have to unmute this (I did), but it’s under 2 minutes, and it’s on loop so you won’t miss anything.

Building community is always good news (well, maybe not if it’s a “Christian Nationalist” community. But most are better than that.) This one sounds like fun – and is reaching more than just its members.

NM Granny

Cats

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