Open Thread August 14 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 142026
 

Yesterday, the CPR newsletter headline must have been written by Captain Obvious. It read “Drought dries up rivers.” I’m not complaining – I’m well aware how quickly the obvious can get lost, especially when people have strong feelings. As I do about this. A sweet little mountain town whixh leans heavily on tourism is being destroyed. And it doesn’t stop there. The river in question formerly continued on and fed into the Huerfano River, which in turn (I think still, but less) feeds into the Arkansas River, which provides water for the eastern half of the state, where the agriculture is.

From Colorado Public Radio. Weld County is roughly in the northeast corner of Colorado. It is at least ruby red – possibly garnet red. The corporation involved in this venture has no permits – and doesn’t appear to give a f*ck. The parts of Colorado east of I25 don’t get wildfires like the western part, I think mostly because they are low on trees, but they are by no means immune to drought. I think I wrote about the time – which must be more that six years ago, when I had to drive across half the state to see Virgil, I saw a nominal river (more like a creek really) actually burn up before my eyes. Seeing a creek in flames is an experience I wouldn’t wish on anyone. And as far as I know, the creek died in the fire. I never saw water come back to it.None of Colorado’s rivers is as healthy as it was when I came tp the state in 1976, and I’m pretty sure they were already unhealthy then – because our history reports memorable floods before that year, and I know of none afterwards. The last thing Weld County – or any county in Colorado – needs is a data center.

Referred by VoteVets, specifically General Eaton. He sends a daily “Four Star” which includes 4 links to short summaries of news articles regarding the armed forcea. This one has Kegsbreath’s fingerprints all over it.

All I need to say about this article by Robert Reich is “AMEN!”

The cruelty really is the point.

Share

Open Thread August 10 2026

 Posted by at 6:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 102026
 

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we did not play crivvagw – or anyhing else.Before I go into why not, I first want to assure you that have no injuries – not even a broken fingernail or atint scratch – anthe car has only one shallow dent – no scratches and the pain iis intact – and you have to look a it in the right light in order to see it. When I got to the grounds of the state hospital, which the prison Virgl is in is located, the main entrance was blocked with cones and there was a detour sign. I followed the detour, looking for a second sign and not finding it, but knowing there was an entrance on 17th Street (the main one is on 13th) I must have miscounted, because I didn’t see another detour sign at what I thought was 17th St which I turned on to. Considerinh how unpredictable the streets are on the grounds, I didn’t immediately eliminate a dirt road as a possible entrance, and tried one – It rose up to a little hill, which dropped, so I knew that wasn’t right, so I started to back out (I did’t want to atemt to turn around so close to a drop off.) Backing is harder than going forward, and I got too far to the left, and too close to a side slope. When I tried to get out, the the car tilted and rested on a group of Chinese elm saplings (everyone here calls them Chinese; I think theu are more likely Siverian, but I don’t argue.) It happened so fast, and so softly, I was pretty sure there wasn’t much damage to the car, and I knew there was none to me. I tried to call USAA since I have coverage, but they wanted me to access a sifferent website, and I don’t have internet access on my phone, so I called 911 (USAA’s advice if they could’nt help.) Ittook the fire department, the police department, USAA (which the police dispatcher called with a smartphone) to get both me and the car out, but they did. One of the officers called the prison to see what was the latest I would be allowed to enter, which was 2:30. I got there at 2:29. So I didn’t get playing cards out. But at least I was able to see him. And next time (and probably for months), it will be easier. I’m sure that’s more than anyone wanted to know.

Dude has been in prison longer than I’ve been married (counting pre-trial detention, which does count as time served – at least, anywhere civilized.) I could rant for quite some time about this, but I’ll spare you – and myself.

Several days old now, and WaPo (which is paywalled) is still the only place I have seen it. The Guardian probably has it though. (A couple of days after this came out, Faithful America did send an email referencing it.)

This (from AP referred by Allison Gill) is outrageous. I don’t think spouses of military who are not citizens should automatically be granted citizenship, but I do think they should automatically be granted legal residence. (if they turn out to be a spy, it can be rescinded.)

Share

Open Thread June 18 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 182026
 

Yesterday, The Broadview 6 case was dismissed – but that is not the punchline. Instead, the ex-defendants through their counsel have requested the judge appoint a Special Counsel to investigate the DOJ for criminal contempt. My link is to a video, which is about 21 minutes long, which is normal for Glenn Kirschner alone – and here he is with Adam Klasfeld. Also, the Dekleptocracy Alliance reported it is very close to taking its January 6 tracker live, ans requested donations accordingly. I furst reported on this group lasy August, when they were mounting a general Corruption Tracker. Now they are mounting a specific Jan 6 tracker, to follow crimes committed by Jan 6ers afyer they received pardons (and therefore subject to potential prosecution.) It’s not up as I type, but the email suggested it is only “a few days” away.

I kind of feel the moral rot has been exposed for decades myself. But Isuppose if that were true for Americans in general, we woud not be where we now are.

If these crazy-a$$ righties want to give up their votes, I’d let them. But they won’t take mine away.

Jonathan Larson gets a bit fanciful trying to build an analogy between what hospice care actually does for people and what Repubicans are trying to do to hospices. Hopefully that doesn’t get too confusing – because he’s right.

 

Share

Open Thread February 7 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 072026
 

Yesterday, I did my best to get this post finished and up and a dolid head start on tomorrow’s and still get to bed early. I wish I could say it was easy, but I don’t knowingly lie to y’all. But somehow I managed.

I still just have a landline myself. So it shouldn’t be surprising that I find this interesting.

I realize it’s hard to live without Amazon. But it can be done. If you can’t find a specialty online store which sells direct, you can check out etsy and ebay. You might still end up enriching a MAGAt without knowing it – but it will be one individual MAGAt, not a billionaire. I can live with that.

Archived from Huff Post. You could probably see it without, but it would be tedious. It should be no surprise that red states are facilitating, not merely accepting, right wing cruelty. Not surprising – just disgusting.

This is JoJo from Jerz, in case anyone has missed her. The “Siren Podcast” comprises her, Brooklyn Dad Defiant (BDD) and the occasional guest. NSFW.

Share

Open Thread December 20 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 202025
 

Yesterday, I received three packages – none of the via USPS. I was expecting one, since the shipper told me the day before that it w1qould come yesterday, but for the other two, their arrival was a surprise. Also, I watched a couple of Substack videos which weren’t too terribly long. The first was a conversation between Joyce Vance and Mary Trump about Judge Dugan’s trial, conviction and acquittal, and what comes next. I went to it because it seemed like an unlikely combination, but it turned out to be a good fit. If anyone is interested in a deeper dive into the case, the link is here. The second, also with Joyce Vance , was in her “5 questions” series, which is usually closed to free subscribers. Bu this one wasn’t closed, and I think may still be open. She was speaking with a documentary film maker whose latest film, which debuted this year at Sundance, is called “The Librarians” and is about the movements to ban books from libraries, and the hero and shero librarians who are resisting it.

I’m not about to claim that Colorado grows the best fruit in the country, but they are good enough to bring in a fair amount of revenue to the State, and we would definitely be hurting without them. But of course Republicans think that the earth is perfectly capable of running itself, so doing nothing will work out just fine. If that “working out” includes the human race vanishing, they might be right.

Archived from Forbes, referred by Bowers News Media. Like Chris and probably most of y’all, I had no idea what the Kumquat Kleptocrat was talking about Venezuela stealing from us, but guessed he probably made it up. Unlike Chris, I didn’t research it. Apparently there actually is something (probably exaggerated, but something.)

Huff Post didn’t know it would happen so fast. I did – didn’t you? I suppose it might not have been quite this fast if the Supreme Court had not be so complicit – but we knew they would. At least Huff Post is admitting it now.

Share

Open Thread May 30 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 302025
 

Yesterday, Elon Musk apparently resigned as a “temporary government employee” or whatever the “official” title was. But that doesn’t mean “DOGE” is gone. His hand-picked lackeys are still around, as loyal to him as MAGA is to Trump**(*). We aren’t going to escape that easily. Also , Andy Borowitz came out with a jest that I wish (and I expect we all do) was real. Finally, after reading the CPR newsletter, and deciding no one else was about to do it, I put up a petition on Care2. You don’t have to be in Colorado to sign it.  The other side is sending from all over.

One of my core principles is that, if someone does something wrong due to a condition in which you played a part in creating, intentionally or not, knowingly or not, you don’t get to punish them for it. It’s acceptable to take non-punitive steps to alleviate the condition, but that’s it. If necessary to protect the community, it is permissible to apply restraint, but it cannot be punitive. And you must accept your own accountability. This applies to big and small issues equally. There used to be a commercial about a mother helping with her daughter’s wedding, and the daughter acting somewhere between disappointed and disgusted because mom had frequent urination. I used to think “you little brat, she has frequent urination now in large part because she brought you into the world. If you have children and make it to her age, you’ll have frequent urination too, and it’ll be too late to make it up to her.” But that’s really nothing compared to this story – which incenses me as a veteran.

If you have seen this elsewhere, I apologize for making you look at it again. I mean, not that we didn’t know that GOP lies and cruelty go together like syphilis and gonorrhea, but this expands the definition of judicial murder into new territory. What we need now in this country, and in particular anyone in this country who has both a heart and a brain, is more righteous outrage. (And of course more people like Anna Stout.)

Share

Open Thread May 24 2025

 Posted by at 6:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 242025
 

Yesterday, it was a news-heavy Friday – and with the MAGA habit of breaking crap on Friday afternoons and evenings, it may not even have been over when I posted. Anything I missed will have to wait until next week. I do sometimes need time for dealing with clutter. And I am sorry, but I will not cover the “crypto dinner.” It’s been covered enough.

Trust Robert Reich to take a document this big and make a cogent summary of it in terms that are easy to understand, And also to find and point out the big surprise.  (which we probably don’t need quite as much as low-information voters do, but I for one appreciate.)

I could not pick just one of these articles from The Contrarian – so I’m posting the full list. Hopefully one or more will speak to y’all.

Share

Open Thread April 25 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 252025
 

Yesterday, Andy Borowitz was “reporting straight news” again. I won’t say it made me smile, because it didn’t, but maybe it will someone. (And I can’t respond to his question. Free subscribers cannot comment at Substack unless the owner opens the comments to us, and the only one I’ve found so far that foes consistently is Wonkette. But, if I could answer, I’d say Kash Patel. Those eyes – he really looks the part.) Also yesterday, apparently DHS has posted Kilmar Abrego Garcia‘s home address in Maryland, forcing his wife and kids to go into hiding.

It took me a couple of days to get this posted. If anyone knows someone, or knows someone who knows someone else who is an illegally fired Federal Civil Servant, There is a nonprofit called “Work For America” which has set up a program to help them find new jobs. Since this program is new, it’s difficult to check its bona fides. I would start by checking out the list of partners on their home page, none of which I recognize – but then I haven’t been looking for work since I retired either. I grant it sounds too good to be real, and I certainly wouldn’t send them any money without knowing more, but if it is legit it could be a needed lifeline for some very deserving people.

https://19thnews.org/2025/04/supreme-court-children-books-lgbtq-censorship/
This article from the 19th is a few days old – but the issue is not going away any time soon.0

This article at Joyce Vance’s Civil Discourse contains a video which was originally on the other guy’s site – which is why it sounds like Joyce is the guest – because she is. It’s not quite 40 minutes. I found it very listenable. There is stuff in it about their respective religious traditions, and it occurred to me I don’t think I have done this rant here before because I never thought it was needed, and it may not be needed here. So I’ll make it as brief as I can. At many liberal sites, especially those which encourage commenting, I see people all the time pontificating that “religion is the problem.” But, just as alcohol is not the problem in alcoholism, it is not religion which is the problem. It is the abuse and/or misuse of religion which is the problem. (For some specialists in allergy and intolerance, alcoholism has been described as an “addictive allergy,” but I won’t push that metaphor now.) If you can tolerate them discussing what is good in their respective religious traditions, there’s a lot of good advice in the discussion. If not, there’s a short article to read.

And this, also from Joyce Vance, is bad news which we cannot afford to ignore. I’m not saying thet the Civil Rights Division eliminated the stacking of the deck against the most vulnerable, because that would have been impossible. But over the years it has done a great deal to alleviate that deck-stacking, and without it we will be in big trouble.

Share
 Older Entries