Open Thread October 15 2025

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

Yesterday (I am going to be silly here) Huff Post responded to the Pentagon’s new press rules by saying that they had left their response with Helen Waite. So, if Hegseth wants their response, he’ll have to go to Helen Waite. (Told you it would be silly. Sometimes silly is necessary)

I expect everyone here who plans to participate in No Kings this Saturday has signs. But just in case, here’s an article followed by a lot of possible suggestions. I probably should add that Liza Donnelly will authorize you to put one of her cartoons on your sign, provided you follow her simple and reasonable rules – don’t change anything, include her signature, and use for protest sign only.

“In It To Win It” at Democratic Underground found this at Raw Story probably got it elsewhere (they usually do). It would be good news if anyone on the Court would pay attention to it (anyone other than the three who already know it, of course I mean.)

This Wonkette article is not a piece of analysis, but a collection of short factual anecdotes. Read as much or as little as you wish, but the one I am posting it for is the last one, “You Say You’re a Citizen?” I am constantly – multiple times daily – being reminded of the anecdote I’ve quoted here more than once told by Igor Stravinsky of his time in Germany, where he witnessed an atrocity, and when he tried to report it, was told by a magistrate judge, “In Germany today, such things happen every minute.” Well, dammit, in America today such things happen every minute. If we blow them off for that reason, because it isn’t us they are happening to, then we are the Nazis, and not just in the eyes of the world, but for real.

This is a guest video from More Perfect Union. It’s probably of most interest to people who have kids and grandkids. Although I don’t, and still found it very informative.

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Open Thread October 4 2025

 Posted by at 6:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 042025
 

Yesterday, I awoke with the joint where my right thumb meets my right hand just throbbing. I rubbed some cold formula sore muscle rub on it, which helped, and I put on an arthritis glove, which also helped. But I haven’t had full use of it all day – so of course this was the day that FIVE packages came, and one was very heavy. I managed to get them all into the house but not all opened. One of them was my new speakers about which I’ll say more when I can type better (and have tried them out.) I forwarded an email to a few of you – not all, because I don’t have my mailing list complete, and I didn’t send it to anyone outside the US. It was an email warning that ICE is now actively looking for immigrant children. Here’s the link that Daily Dose of Democracy provided for more information. If you have children, or grandchildren, or great-grandchildren down to age 10, you need to see it. If you know anyone who does, you will probably want to share it. Also, Don Froomkin of Press Watch says the Chicago apartment raid needs more attention. Here’s the link to his analysis, and here’s another to Heather Cox Richardson. I haven’t read both through as I type, but but the time you see this, I may have managed to read through both. But maybe not.  Tomorrow I’ll be going to see Virgil.

This from The Root is directed to the Black community. I don’t want anyone to panic, but it appears to me that everyone should be aware of this, not just people of color and in other underserved groups.

Some of that silence was just protocol. Generals don’t applaud (or at least, not when in uniform. See the Hatch Act.) But the further they got into the meeting, and especially with the two jerks soliciting applause, the louder a statement it became.

When the ACA was passed, I had coverage from prior employment as a retiree, and soon after that from Medicare. As y’all probably know, Medicare is complicated enough, and I wasn’t working in insurance (I never actually worked with life or health insurance anyway), so I depend on journalists to give me a sense of who qualifies for what and why. Wonkette is not the obvious journal to go to for that, but I think Robyn has done an impressive job of clarifying this.

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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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Open Thread August 29 2025

 Posted by at 7:32 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 292025
 

Yesterday, I received an email from Dr. Barber and others containing a copy of a letter they prepared in response to the Apricot Antichrist being quoted as saying he wanted to get into heaven. It is totally honest, while at the same time being kind and filled with love. God help the person who has to read it to him (he’d never be able to read it himself. It’s too honest, has too many words and ideas he wouldn’t grasp – you get the picture, I’m sure.) But if anyone who has never met or even seen a real Christian is interested in knowing how one thinks and at least aspires to act, this would be a good place to look. I don’t have a link but am saving it as a reminder of who I am supposed to be. Also yesterday – remember Trey Gowdy? One of the candidates for dumbest Congressman and IIRC also showing up in Separated at Birth memes, though I forget with whom (possibly the Malfoy brat?) He’s on Fox now, and under fire for suggesting that it might, just possibly might, be a good time to discuss gun control. And, speaking of guns, one more thing – yesterday NPR reported that the Mississippi Department of Archives and History has acquired the gun with which Emmett Till was shot

Two hundred fifty years after the birth of our nations, and after many amendments to the Constitution (and I’m proud to say that all of them have been to expand the voting population), there are still people who say “My vote doesn’t count.”

Joyce Vance is correct – it isn’t just our history of slavery which condemns us – our history of internment is not much better, if at all. I might suggest that fear is a somewhat less venal and more understandable motivation than financial gain, But neither is exactly moral high ground stuff.

I had to squeeze in this from Wonkette. I don’t really have words for it. My state is another state which is prone to wildfires.

P,S. – Obviously this did not get scheduled and is therefore being posted about 15 hours late.  I would like to say it won’t happen again, but I am afraid it will.  Since getting started with my new PCP, my thyroid dosage has been lowered three times, I have been instructed to give up anti-inflammatories (I can have acetaminophen), I have been instructed to give up omeprazole (I can have Pepcid), and I must now take alendronate sodium weekly. Every one of those changes has normalized my blood work – and every one of those changes has negatively affected either my energy level of my pain.  I wasn’t surprised – acetaminophen has never worked for me any better than a sugar pill, I tried all kinds of acid relievers before I found omeprazole, and Pepcid was the best I found prior, but there was really no comparison.  And of course thyroid is directly related to energy. I am far from the first person in the world who has been instructed to give up or cut down on something that makes me life better (it’s just that one doesn’t expect those orders when it’s not something obvious like alcohol or nicotine or heroin or cocaine or meth – I’m sure y’all can think of others.) So I’m sure I can expect ore days when I conscientiously prepare the post, put it into the blog, activate the links, and possibly even fill in the time to schedule if for but then fail to hit the “schedule” button.  Please try not to worry, and feel free to send me an email, or, if yu are an author or an administrator, to just go into the dashboard and post it.

 

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Open Thread August 25 2025

 Posted by at 5:54 am  Politics
Aug 252025
 

Yesterday, going to see Virgil was easy and being with him did raise my spirits. Coming home, on the other hand – it was perfectly clear skies and sun until I got on the Interstate – and from there it was rain and/or hail all the way. Several people (probably with more sense than I have) pulled over to wait it out. Those of us who persevered – none of us was going faster than 60 in the 75 zone, and some of us slower. There were actually very few scary moments, and I got home safely well before 5:00 pm.

It was actually Saturday I read about this. There’s no longer any effort, it appears, to disguise the malice as anything decent at all. It’s just revenge and retaliation – in this case retaliation for truthfully making public that the regime makes mistakes.

From The Intercept. I really do not know what to say.

 

ProPublica‘s investigations do turn up the least expected and often the least publicized things – with one thing in common – injustice.

Well, this from The F* News – which you may not see elsewhere (possibly The Guardian, but not in U.S. MSM) won’t surprise anyone here – but it should be shouted from the rooftops.

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Open Thread July 22 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 222025
 

Yesterday, as is usual for me on Mondays when possible, I relaxed a lot. I did order a grocery delivery for the evening, and received most of it, and put away most of what I received.

It’s been a long time since I heard from Margaret Atwood. She has written a new post called “The Woman Thing, Part 1”. Her starting point is pretty much where she left off earlier – the French Revolution (or Revvie.) That’s because she has been invited to create a video audiobook, has agreed, and has chosen “A Tale of Two Cities.” But I expect her to move on from there and provide insights few people could.

Joyce Vance takes on misogyny. We tried our best to warn people about all of this too. Someone in the comments, probably close to my age, says it is exhausting to think about having to do it all over again. Yes, it certainly is.

https://www.borowitzreport.com/p/obama-posts-video-of-trump-actually
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-barack-obama-ai-video_n_687dff31e4b0502d85e56715

This by Steve Schmidt is the big truth bomb of the day. Not that anyone should be surprised. Allow me if you will to compare humans to pit bulls. Pit bulls are basically big sweet goofballs. But pit bulls can be trained for dog fighting to be vicious killers. The people in charge of ICE detention are like pit bulls trained for dogfighting – all their grievances, both real and imaginary, have been catered to and they have been assured that nothing in their lives they don’t like is their fault, and that they have been terribly wronged. I dont suppose they have been taught much if anything in the way of specific torture techniques, but they are filled with anger and it’s not difficult to translate that into cruelty – in fact, it’s harder not to. Encouraging them to focus on wanting revenge (rather than actual improvements in their lives) has turned them into dogfighting pit bulls. Or, to use a different analogy, if anyone remembers, like those entities in Star Trek episodes who fed upon human misery and needed it to survive. I don’t know how to untrain them, or if it is even possible, but decent people need to know about evil things being done in our name.

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Open Thread July 21 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 212025
 

Yesterday, an email from the Dekleptocracy Alliance (AKA anticorruptionaction.org) pointed out that Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, Grok, has a $200 million contract with the Pentagon and is “is now being embedded inside our most sensitive military infrastructure.” It is an email only, so I cannot link to the full letter, but it does go on, and it doesn’t get better. It’s just an email, not a post, and there is no link to the full text; if there were, I would have posted it. Also, Trinette came by, to take care of some stuff that I can’t. And Virgil’s aunt called to say his stepfather had passed away. This was not unexpected, as he was 100 last December. I can’t call Virgil, but when he calls me I shall tell him. He’s been expecting it and I’ve been telling him that when it happened his aunt Donna would let me know.

If this reminds you of the opening of LesMiz – you are not alone. That was the first thing I thought of. “Look down, look down, sweet Jesus doesn’t care.” Rümesa Oztürk is Muslim, but the principle is the same.

I know there are hundreds and thousands of stories much like this. But one person’s story can speak louder than the numbers. You can be confident ProPublica is looking into as many as they are aware of.

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