Open Thread January 13 2025

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

Yesterday, after putting everything together, I thought I’d better designate the day as “Outrage Tuesday.” I’ll try to lighten up a little tomorrow, but in the present state of the union, I can’t promise that. Also yesterday, the sun did more work melting snow than it has in days. Not everything is clear and some of the spots on the northern sides of buildings will not likely fully melt until June. But the heaviest parts appear to all be below seven inches now. The warmest day this week is expected to be Thursday, and I’m crossing my fingers we’ll be able to see ground again.

As Virgil’s wife, I get that I need to schedule my visits to him. Even though very few people visit on Sundays (most prefer Friday and Saturday), that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t get overflow on Friday and Saturday (and it’s much kinder to tell people before they get there after what may be a long drive that there’s no room). The visiting room only has 16 visitor tables after all. But I am not there to do oversight. Requiring advance scheduling to do oversight removes all its teeth. Which, of course, is what they want. They have everything to hide. The exception to scheduled oversight taking away the teeth of oversight would be to have a full-time ombudsman – maybe more than one – in every concentration camp. (Colorado does that in its few privately owned prisons, so they have full time on-site oversight.) Maybe we should put that in Yosemite Sam Barbie’s pipe and make her smoke it. Also, there is a lot of information in Adam’s newsletter. He is trusted by the attorneys whom I trust (Glenn Kirschner, Joyce Vance, Harry Litman, and Muchael Popok, to name just four) so I also trust his reporting.

This is from Malcolm Nance, and I’m sorry, I just have no words – not that I need more than he provides. (the included video is very short and no second of it is wasted.)

Steve, like all of us I suppose, is outraged by the the callous disregard for everything good, no matter how big or how small. I can’t argue with that.

Chapter 2 of a series on the Ardennes Counter-Offensive (Chapter 1 was the Battle of the Bulge, shared last week)

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Open Thread January 11 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 112026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini, AKA “The Swan of Catania” (where he was born.) You might say this opera was his “swan song,” as he died the same year it premiered, at the age of 33. I missed most of the first act – I set my alarm but forgot to activate it – but at least I didn’t miss the big mad scene, and even caught the first use of the melody from it. Elvira is very fragile – but if I were being pushed to marry a MAGA who was stalking me I might go a little crazy myself. Not that the Cavaliers were perfect – the British Civil War was between the Bad Guys and the Not Quite As Bad Guys. At least the Cavaliers were not killjoys. The Puritans, when they won, actually outlawed Christmas. But the I Puritani mad scene is IMO the most beautiful mad scene in all of opera – and there is a lot of competition. also, it was Queen Victoria’s favorite opera – for what that’s worth. On the positive side, at least the blog’s scheduling feature appears to be working again – at least it worked for yesterday. off to see Virgil now. Will check in upon return.

Yes, I’m still a sucker for news about veterans. Especially good news.

And I’m also a sucker for good news about young people shouldering responsibility for community.

This is not new and may not be current. If not – well, it was good while it lasted.

This is a “short”, and I don’t seem to be able to embed it without using the block editor, so you’ll have to use the link” https://youtube.com/shorts/DfwZqx05FaQ

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Open Thread December 17 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 172025
 

Yesterday, Malcolm Nance, who was a close friend of the Reiners, published a video eulogy of them on Substack which included advice to both those of us who are grieving them, and those of us who have issues with all or parts of our families. It’s under six minutes. I’d embed it if I could, but I can’t. I can only link to it. And provide a tissue alert.

Also yesterday, I selected the meme just after watching a video about the trial of Judge Duggan, in Milwaukee. for “helping someone evade arrest.” if you want to watch it, here’s the link. It’s under 25 minutes.

This from Common Dreams is an opinion piece, pointing out worship of the rich (for which there should be a word, although I’ve never heard of one –  “plutolatry” is a word, but it means the worship of money, not of the people who have it. May I suggest “plusioilatry”? Whatever it’s called, t is as old as misogyny, and every bit as difficult to overcome. In a book written almost a century ago, Dorothy L. Sayers pointed out that no clergyman ever pointed out from the pulpit that a bank president was “an open and notorious evil liver,” implying that such designations were reserved for the poor (especially poor women). And the illusion was far from new then. There’s history in this article. But I have no idea how to break a lie that has been so ingrained for so long it’s practically in our DNA.

If you are upset, and you probably are, with the Poopy-Pants Palpitine’s destruction of the White House East Wing, You will likely also be less than happy about his proposal to bulldoze the Cohen Building and three more buildings in DC, all with historical significance far beyond his ability to comprehend. I saw an article last week from Backbencher about the murals in the Cohen Building, but I didn’t know enough then to post about it. Now that Heather Cox Richardson has written about the four buildings slated for destruction, and the preservationist Mydelle Wright, who is attempting to take the matter to court, I have an excuse to refer y’all to the Cohen Building’s remarkable art – and its social significance. Granted this is not the biggest story of the moment, what with people being tortured and killed by the same government which is supposed to keep them safe -but it is a story about potentially irreparable damage to structures important for artistic and historic reasons.

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Open Thread November 28 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 282025
 

Yesterday, I hope everyone had a pleasant and a peaceful day. I know I did

Ordinarily I don’t post petitions but this one is on a proposal which is new and shocking – “Doug Burgum, Trump’s hand-picked Interior Secretary, … wants to treat our public lands like a ‘balance sheet’ — turning America’s natural treasures into collateral for national debt.” This could be worse than selling them outright. If a sale were to be proposed, we would at least have an opportunity to protest. As collateral, they could just disappear. Of course Democratic Conservation will request a donation, but that is not mandatory.

Wednesday evening, Joyce Vance did a “catch-up” letter on legal news, much of which I had missed, so I’m linking today in case you missed it also.

Heather Cox Richardson wrote about the origins of Thanksgiving specifically as a national holiday (communal giving of thanks at the time of harvest date back as far as history can tell us, and probably much farther), which has its roots in the Civil War. You can read it, or you can scroll down and watch/listen to (most of) it.

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Open Thread November 17 2025

 Posted by at 5:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 172025
 

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played cribbage. Most of the hands were mediocre – but Virgil got a perfect 29 hand again, and this time it was for real – I didn’t stack it – no one did. First time I’ve ever seen a real one. Also yesterday, if anyone is interested, COURIER has compiled the 20,000 documents from Epstein’s estate, released by the US House Oversight Committee on November 12, 2025, into an easily searchable repository. It appears one must sign in to google to access it. Here’s the link:

Robert Reich on what the verdict of history should be on the Apricot AntiChrist. I emphasize “should” because I know of too many individuals on whom the verdict of history is wrong. And that goes both ways. I do like Robert Reich’s idea for a monument, but strongly doubt that it will ever come to pass.

Y’all can skip this if you have had enough, but I thought it would be useful to have pretty much all the Epstein stuff that is being emphasized – all of it would be a book the size of the OED or bigger – in one place, and The F* News appears to be it for now (Along with the above database.)

Common Dreams with another reason to be skeptical of AI – which is also another reason for those who are working on it to keep doing so. As long as they don’t force me to work with it, fine.

Belle veto-proof

Dog

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Open Thread November 8 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 082025
 

Yesterday, I observed that Nancy Pelosi will retire after the 2026 midterms. But she will always be the speaker in my house, in the character doll I clothed (and styled the hair) of her in the infamous Max Mara coat, with sunglasses. Bo, I don’t yet have a picture. I’ll work on getting one.

From Wonkette, a snapshot from the history of labor in America. Granted that having to pee in a bottle because you don’t get bathroom breaks, as happens at Amazon, is not as bad as getting shot and killed or burned alive, I still don’t think we have come very far.

I found a way to link to one specific part of the TPM Morning Memo, so here it is – early theories of the election. As stated there, it’s early to be sure just what happened, but still interesting. You are welcome to scroll up and down to the rest of the memo if you like.

I don’t suppose that anyone here is even slightly considering a paid subscription to The F***ing News – but just in case, you cannot pay for it with an American Express card. They will not send your payment(s) because the name offends them. But I digress. There’s a bunch in here, but what most interested me was the middle about the “lame duck” era. I found it encouraging. It starts with a header with the Politico logo, and goes down to the two maps of Virginia – maps which clearly show that land does not vote. People vote.

Two videos today because they go together. I was born in San Francisco, but I don’t think I have ever been truly homesick until seeing the first one.

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Open Thread October 25 2025

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

Yesterday, I was very tired out, and yesterday’s thread wasn’t posted. It is now. Also, Trinette came by after her work day ended. She is going home over the weekend, so isn’t available for Sunday. I told her to watch out for ICE agents. Also, it took a bit longer than usual, but my ballot has been received and counted- I got the emails confirming that. And the Social Security COLA will be 2.8% for 2026 (assuming we still have Social Security then.) If you receive Social Security, you probably already know that.

I don’t know about everything every First Lady has done, even just in my lifetime, but I know enough to know that First Ladies are generally not idle trophy wives. I didn’t know how much of their history happened in the East Wing. I doubt whether anyone, least of all Melanoma Melania, cares whether she has an office space. But I do care whether other First Ladies, even some Republican ones, have office space, and about their accomplishments. Someone needs to tell the Mango Menace that he doesn’t need a ballroom – he has more ball room than he could ever possibly need, in his pants.

There are always multiple stories in the Morning Memo, san this is no exception. The headliner concerns what the Nectarine Napoleon is up to in Latin America, and that is not getting a lot of coverage yet, although it appears to be escalating. But there is more, including snippets about Jamie Raskin and Jeff Merkley, so you may want to read on.

Apparently the ICEstapo isn’t gestapo-y enough for the Cantaloupe Caligula. He wants to build one with for more jurisdiction and scope.

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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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