Open Thread February 16 2026

 Posted by at 5:50 am  Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 162026
 

May I say something about the partial government shutdown which i don’t think is getting enough attention? Congress voted to provide zero funding for DHS in this fiscal year. But it did not vote to rescind any funds already allocated in the big brutal bill, and that bill includes a huge slush fund for ICE (and I think but am not certain also for CBP) – enough to fund them through September 2029, I have heard. So they are not shut down – but the rest of DHS is. The rest of DHS includes FEMA, the Coast Guard, and more – good stuff. I’m not trying to say the shutdown didn’t need to be done – it did, and it may need to continue – it’s a serious bargaining chip. But it isn’t an instant solution to anything. Y’all are smart and may well know all of this. But I guarantee there are a lot of people out there who need to know it and don’t.,

No one needs me to tell them that this is outrageous. It is and/or will be clear to every one who hears about it. Unfortunately, these days, if there’s an outrage, it must be a day that ends in “y”.

This is a story which was featured at the Philadelphia Independence National Historic Park near Independence Hall. Naturally, it was dismantled by our fascist regime. It doesn’t mean that Washington was a jerk who deserves no honor – that would be false. It does mean that Washington was a human being and therefore not perfect, and that he was a child of the era into which he was born. But, to fascists, that’s blasphemy, I guess.

Dog

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Open Thread January 16 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 162026
 

Yesterday, the snow in my back yard didn’t all disappear, though it did disappear on the northern half. The southern half showed patches of the growth underneath the snow, but they amounted to less than half of the area, Joyce Vance did a Substack video with Mark Elias, and she highly recommended his Substack “Democracy Docket,” so I’m giving it a try. He is involved in a lot of anti-regime litigation and therefore someone we should know exists, which does not necessarily mean we should read everything he writes. I’ll follow this up. Also, I learned that Malcolm Nance is going to Greenland to work with NATO training exercises with military from NATO countries. And Robert Reich informed me that the Saffron Sauron threatens to invoke the insurrection act in Minneapolis. And the frosting on the cake is that Maria Machado gave her Nobel Prize to the Apricot Antichrist (I assume  just the medal, not the money.) And then there’s this. Theater of War productions are known for using well known actors to perform – at least they are well known if you watch cable – which I don’t. But I know these people – who are not professional actors, but are lot more interesting than actors IMO. Take a look. It doesn’t say whether it will be Zoomed or otherwise digitally broadcast. Generally their events are Zoomed live (which would be at 5:00 here, 6:00 Central) and one also needs to register in advance ,with Zoom. I’ll follow up and share what I find, if anything.

I’m not sure I’d call what Common Dreams calls “mockery,” mockery. I’m more inclined to call it pure evil.

The saddest thing about this is that Robert Reich believes (rightly) that there are people who need to be told it because they can’t figure it out themselves. Perhaps our species needs renaming – “sapiens” just doesn’t seem to fit any more (if indeed it ever did). Having checked Google translate, may I suggest “homo stolidus”?

Once again, I am reminded by this article from The Root of Igor Stravinsky in Germany witnessing the brutal beating of a Jew by Gestapo going to a court to report it, only to be told by the Judge “In Germany today, such things happen every minute.”

Granted, I’m late with this video. But at least it’s still January – and we may need reminding now more than we did on the first or second.

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Open Thread January 2 2025

 Posted by at 12:31 am  Blog News, Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 022026
 

Yesterday was, of course, New Year’s Day. I hope yours was both happy and as productive as you wanted it to be. And if that was not at all, that’s great. On New Years Eve, I had it on my calendar to repost “featured images” used by other authors at the end of December so they could be found more easily, and I missed the moment of midnight. As I was cussing myself, it occurred to me that if I temporarily changed the blog time zone from Pacific to whatever they call Alaska and Hawaii, I might be able to put them in in fake December, and them turn the time zone back again and they might stay in December. By golly, it worked. I haven’t tried to use the scheduling feature again to see whether it is working again, but I will again tonight since on Saturdays I get up for the opera – at 9:00 Pacific – so if it’s late it won’t be horribly late.

Joyce Vance explains “Inherent Contempt” and why the House is contemplating using it on Pam Bondi.

Good news for workers in a few blue and purple states – including Colorado, Ohio, and Missouri. Not so good for workers in states who still are stuck with the federal minimums. The article mentions a couple of the amounts by which the minimum changes, but none of the full new amounts. I looked up Colorado, and our new minimum is $15.16, and by law, it increases every year as the CPI increases.

Whether or not this affects you (it doesn’t affect me directly on account of a long series of lucky decisions which turned out to be consequential), it will almost certainly affect someone you care about. Effing Republicans.

Cat

h

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Open Thread December 31 2025

 Posted by at 12:42 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 312025
 

Yesterday, I had set my alarm for earlier than I got up on Monday. I plan to set it earlier each day to try to ease into the weekend so that I can at least expect to arise in daylight – which is now moving the right direction for me, if only by a few seconds every day. I did that last week, though I didn’t start as soon, and it seemed to help.

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/if-the-market-were-working-well-we
My local radio station has added a Sunday night show to its lineup – it’s been on for a while now, maybe even more than a year – called “Broadway Rhythm.” Some episodes will run through a full musical, others will follow the career of a composer. Some will focus on the careers of divas (or divos.) A theme might be a particular time period, or musicals which made cultural change – limited only by the host’s creativity. Last Sunday the theme was songs from musicals which became standards. Included was “If I Were A Rich Man” from Fiddler On The Roof. One line in particular caught my ear: “And it won’t make one bit of difference if I answer right or wrong. When you’re rich they think you really know.” Isn’t that the truth – and how the heck do we (and by we I mean the entire human race) get our collective heads out of that septic tank?!?? The only think you can be positive a rich person “really knows” is how to cheat without consequences.

Heather Cox Richardson on the SCROTUS decision which was favorable to us for a change. I may be seeing things. but it has me wondering whether the fascist justices have an organized system of taking turns being the one who gets the be the one who writes a sane opinion, so that when we get the chance, we won’t know whom to impeach. I hope I’m wrong.

This is from All Rise News, which is run by Adam Klasfeld. I only recently heard of him – this is only the second time I have seen him – but both Harry Litman and also Joyce Vance swear by him. Both Harry and Joyce look at any kind of court case which catches their attention, but Adam concentrates on high profile (or should -be-high-profile) DOJ cases. This one concerns Kilmar Abrego Garcia and how it appears that the gang that couldn’t shoot straight has shot themselves in the foot again.

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Open Thread December 25 2025

 Posted by at 1:01 am  Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 252025
 

Yesterday, I watched (but mostly listened to) a conversation with Mary Trump and Ruth Ben-Ghiat (as I’m sure you know, an expert – maybe the expert – on “strong men” governments). It was about 23 minutes – shorter than I expected – but highly informative. (just in case anyone wonders, my substitutes for yoga and getting out into nature are knotting and computer solitaire.)

Well, this is welcome news. Ohio has a Democratic Congresswoman who has a spine. That probably isn’t news to SpyKat. But it’s always nice to see a Congrescritter from one’s own state getting national attention for a righteous reason. I know I was stoked when Jason Crow was on the Jan6 Committee, and again when he was one of the six in what most people probably think of as “Mark Kelly’s video.”

I’m sneaking in a second video by treating this as an article – which, if I hadn’t tripped over a video, I would have had to do as an article. Judge Boasberg appears to be a national treasure. It’s 15 minutes, and worth it.

And here’s another judge who may well be a national treasure. Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. of Nashville.

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Open Thread December 15 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 152025
 

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played cribbage. There were a couple of double double runs of three (or “two double runs of three” as some call it), and a greater than usual amount of two pairs, where the cards of one pair made 15 with the cards of the second pair, even one “full house (if I may borrow a term from poker) where the cards of the triplet made 15 with the cards of the pair. But also a lot of dud hands. Not that any of that matters – we  don’t keep a running score, just count each hand separately. In the afternoon, we discovered that the outer soles of my shoes were coming off. Neither of my feet touched the ground, because the inner sole is strong, and it’s nothing I can’t fix with Shoe Goo, but it was a bit annoying. I got home a little before 4:00 pm, and it took me about 20-25 minutes to get to PP and discover that despite the fact that I had done all the work on the Sunday post, I had failed to schedule it, so I then posted it immediately. If you missed it because I was late, check it out. There’s a new Randy Rainbow.

Yes, I’m a sucker for stories about veterans. Yes, I know many of us are MAGA, Christian Nationalist, or both. But they are not the best of us.

This from Heather Cox Richardson is from last week – Tuesday, to be precise. But it’s not news. It’s more like an investigation, or a research project, and that makes the timing less relevant. What is important about this is what is tells us about cable news outlets.

From Huff Post. Discussion of the Senate filibuster of extending ACA tax subsidies.

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Open Thread November 27 2025

 Posted by at 5:55 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 272025
 

Yesterday, I had about as many emails as usual, but far more than usual of them were selling things, so I ended up with less than usual to read. It was a nice break. And there was this one – Hoo Boy, is this a powerful endorsement! (It came in an email but I’m linking straight to the ad itself.) Also, this news broke. I apologize for putting a damper on your holiday.

Robert Reich: “How to Get Rid of Citizens United.” Starting at the state level.:

From Mediaite, referred by “Daily Dose of Democracy.” I suspect all it really means is that the Kumquat King now has enough of his own installed that he no longer needs outside help to fire people.

Ordinarily I don’t repost John Pavloviyz. But this is not his usual – it a piece of NSFW satire that I think everyone can relate to. I personally particularly enjoyed “No one cares how many followers you have. (Trust me, followers are overrated anyway.)”

Guest video from Americans for Financial Reform

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Open Thread July 4 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 042025
 

Yesterday, as you all know, the House passed the Big Brutal Bill in the Senate version, despite the fact that Hakeem Jeffries kind of brought the filibuster over from the Senate in opposition. I believe there’s some intention of taking it to the courts but that doesn’t give me a lot of hope. Earlier tis week, John Pavlovitz already wrote that the Fourth of July this year is not a day for celebration but one of sitting vigil for the dead. I had already picked out my featured image, which is not current – it is from 2021. But though those people have been disgustingly pardoned, the sentiments hold, at least for me. And the traitors are still around. It’s not strong enough, but I doubt I could find a stronger one, and I’m not exactly feeling creative. I might point out that, with heir glair for deception, the bill is written so that any of the cuts do not take effect immediately – so the bill is also a time bomb. For a while they will be telling us “See? it isn’t so bad,” and that will be a lie. Today, do your best to summon up some joy and hope. You – and I – will need it.

https://joycevance.substack.com/p/the-democracy-index-76b
The Democracy Index is a feature of The Contrarian. There is a team pf highly qualified people who work on it, one of whom is Joyce Vance. TBH, reading or even skimming all the sources I subscribe to doesn’t leave me much time – or energy – to follow the Index. But this one is specifically for the Fourth of July, and today being the fourth, I decided to share it. I note that there is a comment on reading the chart, so I’ll remind everyone that the metaphor here is taking the temperature. Two of the thermometers are at at least 106°F, and one looks to be at maybe 101°F. You may disagree either with the chart or with my guesstimate (I personally think National Security is hotter than that), but it looks to be generally accurate in proportion.

This from Chris Bowers is about what the New York City primary results imply for the Democratic party, particularly in tandem with the recent successes of Bernie and AOC with their touring town halls. I really hope that enough Democrats are paying attention with open minds, because, if too many are not, we may see panicking which will hurt us all.

Yes, this is from the Senate’s vote on their version of the Big Brutal Bill. But I wouldn’t call it old.

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