Open Thread June 13 2026

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

Yesterday, Malcolm’s show was called the Taco Warcast. Jacob Kaarsbo (Danish intelligence Middle east) pointed out “it tells you all you need to know about Trump and US credibility at the moment. when you have to wait for announcements to be confirmed by Tasnim” (Tasmin is the IRGC media in Iran.) Also, Judge Brinkema in Alexandris, VA turned her temporary injunction against the “weaponization” slush fund into a preliminary injunction which is essentially permanent. She will not let the matter go unless she receives a statement signed by Todd Blnch AND the Secretary of the Treasury, under penalty of perjury, that the fund is dead and will not be resurrected. Finally, Frank Figliuzzi remarked that, unser the currect regime, a total of 1600 people have been allowed into the US (which seems a very small number to me to begin with), and that 1300 of them have been white South Africans.

I bumped this a day so as not to double up on Robert Reich. His analysis is IMO sound, and I don’t think it’s too soon to have it. What if a new Congress makes inpeachment ot the 25th viable? Or what if Dear Leader dies in office?

I hope this from The Conversation isn’t too depressing. How do sane people counter this kind of mentality? If only we knew.

And this from The Lever is also kind of depressing, and for the same reason. How do we counter the irrational? (I do feel any theory which does not address racism and/or misogyny is at best incomplete.)

Grift Certificate

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Open Thread June 8 2026

 Posted by at 5:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 082026
 

Yesterday, after saying it was a slow day, Malcolm had to come back and make an emerbency sequel when Iran attacked Israel. To steal one of his expressions – “not healthy.” As I type, Ihave noclue what will be happening today.

Remember what I said last week about Graham Platner’s tattoos a while ago, based on my experience with young male Marines? This quote, from a former Marine who served with him and got tattoos with him, says the same thing, only blunter: “No, we did not purposely get hateful fucking shit because we’re racist people,” he said. “We got matching tattoos because we were in our 20s, drunk in Croatia, and that’s it. That’s all that fucking happened.” I had to laugh. It really took me back to the day.

https://robertreich.substack.com/p/whos-most-responsible-for-the-monopolization
This from Robert Reich is history. But it’s history I don’t think is terribly widely known, even if you know the players. I admit it surprised me.

https://thefrankfigliuzzi.substack.com/p/i-see-dead-people-and-the-friday
This Frank Figliuzzi video is from Friday, and I assume most won’t watch the whole thing, or maybe any of it, but there is a full transcript. Scroll down to the line below Frank’s picture on the left, and the last opyion before the three dots is “Transcript.” Frank’s presentations re like a whole newspaper (a real one, back in the day), so skim through it, and you are likely to find at least one thing no one else has covered. Plus there is good news at the end.

https://www.theroot.com/13-organized-plots-against-black-america-that-are-worki-2000109731
This, straight from The Root, is also from Friday, and is also history

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Open Thread May 21 2026

 Posted by at 6:10 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 212026
 

Does anyone else find it ironic that a Broadway musical did a better job of encapsulating our Fouders’ intentions (the good ones and also the not-so-good ones) than our current regime can provide? I hope it gets a lot of air time on multiple channels during July – and maybe the last week of June too. I might have it – if so, probably on VCR.

No, I didn’t choose this from POGO to match the next one. Though similar, they involve different agencies but the same principle: let peons die – it’s cheaper than getting medical care for them.

It shouldn’t be surpriing that Kegsbreath killed at least one military member by omission. But it can still be, and should be, appalling.

Common Dreams also had an article featuring Jeff Bezos as a Bond Villain, which was tempting. But I think this is more consequential.What was it again that Zuckerberg called people who trust him? Oh, yes. “Dumb fucks.” If I may digress (or as HCR calls it, “go down a rabbit hole”), “Zucker” is the German word for sugar, and “berg” – with an e – means “mountain” (with a “u”, it means “city”). Rock candy is made with white sugar and water, but the water is removed in the process of crystalization, so what’s left is just sugar. With a little stretch, you could say Zuckerberg” means “Rock Candy Mountain.”

This video is a “short.” The speaker, Morris Pearl, is himself a millionaire, and a member of Patriotic Millionaires.

Cat

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Open Thread April 20 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 202026
 

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played cribbage. A good number of hands were outstanding, and about the same number were awful. I think we had less decent average hands than usual. You can’t predict that kind of thing. It just happens. The weather was lovely, and I wasn’t fighting the sun either going or returning. So I think I can be getting there from 10:30 to 5:00 – in other words, get my half-hour back by leaving home a half hour earlier, at least into fall. Of course, in the winter the sun squeezes the time at both ends. Happy 4/20 today to those who celebrate!

https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2026/03/world/expose-rape-assault-online-vis-intl/index.html
Between CNN, UltraViolet, and John Pavlovitz, I was able to use CNN after searching for and finding a readable article. I really would have hated to use a video.

https://theconversation.com/about-half-of-young-americans-cant-name-a-single-holocaust-site-repeating-a-pattern-of-ignorance-seen-in-postwar-germany-278507
Even though I was not born until after VE Day (and less than a month before VJ Day), remembering the Holocaust comes to me almost as natural as breathing. But – I got an education – not just in school, but also through reading, and even movies and television contributed. It isn’t merely the loss of knowledge of the Holocaust which has degreaded our education since then – but that is a teribly important part of what we have lost.

The Corporatization of Public Schools


How long will it take for people to learn that any kind of privatization (including so-called public-private partnerships) will always cost more and provide less than just letting the government do what government does?

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Open Thread April 18 2026

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

Interesting opera scheduled for today – called “Innocence,” by a Finnish woman composer, conducted by a Finnish woman conductor, libretto in six or seven languages. Set at a wedding reception. The waitress there is a woman who lost a child in a school shooting. The groom turns out to be the brother of the shooter. No spoiler from me – I have not looked up where it goes from there. But it certainly sounds like something which would be powerful. Tomorrow I visit Virgil.

Robert Reich dismisses the 25th Amendment for one of the same reasons I do – getting the approval of the majority of this cabinet is just a fever dream. But now, I think we are both wrong on this point. The 25th Amendment strategy which the Democrats are now considering (which still needs to wait until we have majorities) is to appoint an independent commission – an alternative authorized by the 25th Amendment in lieu of the Cabinet. Kudos to those who wrote the Amendment.

Archived from The Military Times, which does not appear to have a paywall, but does want you to turn off your ad blocker. Referred by VoteVets, which now has a Substack (probably has for some time, but I only recently found it.) I have not seen this bit of information anywhere else, and it is an excellent illustration of why the DoD should be run by people who know what they are doing. not by people who can just do pushups and pullups.

This by Harry Litman could well be the headline any time a Republican is replaced with another Republican. Which is one reason why I am so lukewarm on impeaching or 25thing the Orange Ogre. I will say, if we had done it during his first term, it might have worked better than now. Then, there were a few adults in the Cabinet, even though they were Republicans. Now, there are none.

A bonus, because it’s good, for a change.  From Democracy Docket, referred by The Smile. A bit of political good news, though I must say it took long enough.

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Open Thread April 15 2026

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

Monday was the fourth anniversary of “Russian warship, go fuck yourself.” (Malcolm was there, in Ukraine.) And “go fuck yourself” was not a completely accurate translation from Ukrainian. (“Go find a dick” is closer.) Hopefully remembering that can inspire us. Maybe not as much as it inspired Ukraine at the time, but there is a whole lot of room beneath that extremely high level. Also, Eric Swalwell announced he will resign from Congress but provided no effective date.

Here is incontrovertible evidence that some Muslims are better Christians than some Christians – translated from Farsi (not by me): “Your Excellency Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex), on behalf of the great nation of Iran, I condemn the insult to Your Excellency and declare that the desecration of Jesus (peace be upon him), the Prophet of peace and brotherhood, is unacceptable to any free person. I wish glory for you from Allah.” – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian (quoted by Daily Kos)

What the Brennan Center for Justice is doing now to protect the midterms in November, by Michael Waldman.

If you are looking for an exact moment when we lost the Iran war, the closest you can probably come is the moment we started it. MajGen Paul Eaton (Ret), the leader of VoteVets analyses pretty much everything we have done wrong, which is pretty much everything we have done. Unless, of course, you are an insider trader, in which case you can laugh all the way to your Trumpcoin.

Murdoch beats Trump’s suit on WSJ’s Epstein exposé: What’s next?

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Open Thread April 13 2026

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

Yesterday – was interesting. In the sense that “May you live in interesting times” is a curse. Eric Swalwell was accused of sexual misconduct, and has dropped out of the race for Governor, though maintaining his innocence. A quote: “I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made–but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.” The Iran negotiations crashed, and the UnPresident announced a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz (I realize that is so absurd that anyone who knows anything about it would crack up laughing, but unfortunately it’s still “interesting.” Guess we’re going to experiment with piracy now. But it’s still “interesting.”) Trinette was by to save my sanity. I hope y’all have something at hand to save yours.

Let me tell you a story about charismatic Christianity (which is not a denomination, but exists across many denominations. While stationed in Okinawa, I started attending a charismatic Catholic prayer group. The people there were clearly doing their best to live as Jesus had taught, and I was comfortable. There was a church-approved pamphlet called “Life in the Spirit” which was used for instruction, and without going into detail, it was sound. When I left the USMC and moved to Alamosa, the Catholic church there had a charismatic prayer group also, which I also attended. It also used the “Life in the Spirit” literature. Until one day, the group leader received a bunch of new booklets intended to replace “Life in the Spirit.” The English ones were entitled “You will receive power” (the Spanish ones were titled “Recibirán Poder.” I was 30 at the time, which is not terribly old, but I was a grown-ass adult.” I immediately saw that this new emphasis – biblical though it was – would be the beginning of the end. Because it would attract people who want power (and put off those who don’t.) People who want power are the last people in the world who should have it. I left the group. The “charismatic Christian” in this article sounds like a case in point. People who want power do so because they believe that, with it, they can do anything they want – with no negative consequences. Reality simply doesn’t work that way.

Archived from The New Yorker. Just in case you thought there was nothing worse than MAGA.

At least this from Robert Reich is good. If you can stand another story – my dead friend Fred, who was an announcer at my favorite radio station and who died not that long ago (and the station played recorded tributes to him from co-workers, former co-workers, listeners for what seemed like a month, and who was an atheist and the kindest, most generous person I have ever met) was Hungarian-Italian-American – he would have been so happy about this.

From Andy Borowitz: “Ghost of Pope Francis to Viktor Orbán: ‘I Warned You Not to Let Vance Near You!'”

OK, I was wrong. The previous episode wasn’t the last one.

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Open Thread April 10 2026

 Posted by at 5:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 102026
 

Yesterday, per “Black Man Spy,” Kegsbreath said something on the order of “Our warriors are preparing for our next conquest.” “Conquest” is a word which has a range of meanings. but in its original basic meaning, it is a war crime. If you go into enemy occupied territory in a war they started, and you take the territory, such as occupied France in WWII, that is not conquest – it is defense. But if you go into someone else’s territory with the intention of taking it order – that is conquest. That is what, for example, Hitler did to Poland in 1939. It’s what Cortes did to the Aztec empire. That is what white Americans did to Indian territories. That is what Britain did to India. All just examples – since throughout history, way too many nations did it to too many other nations and thought it was a good and honorable idea. Put that on the ground and it will make the flowers grow. The warcast also went into how new alliances are being formed leaving us out – which is (though they didn’t use these words) going to make us a pariah state allied with no one. Except maybe Israel. Which, under Bibi, is already a pariah. Speaking of Bibi, who is at least as crazy and evil as our un-president – and even more “Nobody can tell him anything that will change his mind” than ours. If you want a cease-fire including Israel, you need to discuss it with Bibi personally. Accept no one else’s word for it.

Democrats aren’t always bizarre. But when we are – we are within out constitutional rights, and we don’t maul or abuse anyone. The Intercept has the story.

What a mess. Decisions like these are difficult enough when everyone is on the same page. With misinformation flying around like a plague of cicadas, decisions re xlose to impossible.

And this article may be worse than the last one. At least vaccines, and the diseases they protect against, are tangible. Gender orientations are not, although they are very real. You can’t prove that a person is gay like you can prove that a chiled has measles. There are no blood tests for it. Nor for transgender – genitalia may be tangible, but they may also lie. Depression and suicidal feelings ae also intangible – unless they are acted on – and then it is too late. My state was doing the right thing. SCROTUS is not.

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