Yesterday, Malcolm Nance apologized for failing to do a scheduled Substack video – because he had had to do interviews on three BBC entities and on ABC (down under.) Apparently I am far from alone in respecting his experience and analysis (and also his choices of co-hosts – Jacob has been missing for three says because he was doing interviews, not just in Denmark, but all over Europe.) Fertilizer was in the spotlight. I am no chemist, but a huge component of fertilizer is urea which is a major (or the major) source of nitrogen for fertilizer. Aren’t we all running around every day full of urea, and flushing most of it? Is it time for someone who is a chemist to come up with some way to capture that and refine it? Or am I dreaming?
Harmeet Dillon’s name has not yet, as far as I know, come up from the White House as a potential AG. But if Robert Reich thinks it is a possibility, I’m confident it is a possibility
Jesse Wegman is part of the Brennan Center for Justice. He has some thoughts about the courts here, and at least one of those thoughts is colorful.
We may as well look at this. The devil, as they say, is in the details.
Yesterday, Malcolm Nance speculated (and this is pure speculation, but it is history based – Malcolm’s life is packed with history) that, since the US tends to attack between midnight and 4 am local time, and because Friday is the Muslim Sabbath, that the strike which will put boots on the ground is likely to land in that (local) time frame this Saturday because our “leaders” will think no one is awake or active. But those like Hegseth and possibly Miller are ignorant of jihad tradition, in which Muslims literally anywhere in the world can be assigned to respond – in which case the surprise would be on us. In war, as in any other endeavor, ignorance is a sure way to get into trouble (and not good trouble.) And the treasured and cultivated ignorance of white supremacists may well be the most dangerous kind of all. I can almost guarantee that, if this is not the time that gets proven, nevertheless, that time is coming. Also, JoJo from Jerz (with “Brooklyn Dad Defiant”) started this weekly conversation by showing maps of No Kings events confirmed for Saturday – including events in Mexico and Europe. It will take less than 3 minutes of your time to see those maps here. And finally, the US Treasury declared that the United States is currently insolvent. Multiple sources, including Fortune magazine and Yahoo news.
On Tuesday, Heather Cox Richardson had a conversation with Timothy Snyder, mostly about his latest book, “On Freedom.” Something went wrong (Facebook failed), so Heather posted the video which gets made on to You Tube. It is 41 minutes exactly (at full speed), which is a lot less time than it would take you to read the book or listen to the Audiobook, though both are good ideas.) They did allude to his earlier book, “On Tyranny,” near the end, and I would guess that the two books would make good companions.
From Talking Feds. Not, certainly, the least bit surprising. But what it lacks in surprise, it more than makes up for in disgust.
As obvious as this from Robert Reich – and he is far from the only one, including people you would never expect to get financial advice from – one still isn’t going to see it unless one is looking at it. Let’s take a look.
Yesterday, Dose of Democracy reported that Kristi Noem is being fired and will be replaced with Markwayne Mullin (R-OK Senate). This is not an improvement. Yes, it suggests that pressure can be effective. But for every demon out there, there are ten more just as bad or worse. Mullin just has a lower profile. (And maybe we can get a special election for his Senate seat.) JoJo from Jerz knows more about the reason. Also. I tripped over a channel on YouTube for “Lauren the Mortician.” I’m not an authority, but the little I do know (not from intuition, but from science) aligns with her points. There are a lot of death and dead people related things that we don’t know and probably should. so if you are wondering about anything death-related, current or old, you might want to give her channel a look. Her communication style is rather whimsical. but the information is substantive.
Robert Reich looks at how much other NATO nations have already become involved with the Saffron Sauron’s illegal war of domination and a glance at the Constitution as to why it is so patently illegal.
John Pavlovitz being a pastor, much of what he writes is religious, so I try to avoid posting his work. But this is about something completely different – our apparent national inability to deal with complex issues. I’ve noticed this too, but have not (probably could not) discuss it so pointedly.
Don’t panic when you see the title. There may well be 1,001, but he only discusses four of them.
The Conversation has many thoughtful and well-researched articles which reflect on the current war. This is one of them. Remember that in 1953 McCarthy was still a Senator (and I was only 8). It was not the America most of us grew up in
Yesterday, the news was of course filled with Iran. The mass shoooting in Austin almost got lost. All I have is the initial breaking release and it’s not all that helpful. I emailed Pat B to ask whether she and hers are all right, but it’s pretty late here and an hour later there so I’m not expecting a reply before Tuesday. Trinette was by – have you ever noticed there are people who can make you feel better just by walking into the room? Virgil called and I reminded him who his case manager is. Hopefully he will remember long enough to ask he the balance in his commissary account.
My first thought when I realized that the Saffron Sauron had bombed Iran was, “He got a taste of the blood of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, and now he wants more.” Even if he is too stupid to realize that being at war means your own people getting killed, and even if Kegsbreath is that stupid, there must be someone who is not. Now, after the first casualties including military of ours have been reported, he has his wish. I won’t be crude, but you’ll likely know exactly what I’m thinking when I say he must be thrilled. If you want to follow this war closely, I mean really closely, your best bet is probably Malcolm Nance’s Substack, called “Black Man Spy.” It’s video, because writing takes time, and it is as up to the minute as possible. He does it along with a Danish spy, Jacob Kaarsbo, who has also worked in the area, so both have insider knowledge about the region. Together, they have far more knowledge than I could ever hope to supply. They do it pretty early in the morning, but it’s set (not all live videos are) to re-post a recording after it’s ended. That usually takes roughly an hour (but don’t give up). Or if you are a subscriber, free or paid, Substack will send an email when the recording is up.
This video is from Saturday morning, right after the bombing of Iran. It’s 22 minutes long
This is what we have done – what the monster we elected has done in our name. I don’t think “I’m sorry” or “we’re sorry” will cut it.
I could go on – and probably will as it goes on. But this is my final statement for today.
Yesterday, I got my car back. It starts instantly and runs nicely – I will have to readjust the seat of course – It was the end of the work day and I didn’t want any more dark. I did make it home in civil twilight. Congress passed the SAVE Act. Andy Borowitz’s headline was “Mark Kelly Records Video Telling Bartenders They Are Allowed to Refuse Hegseth’s Orders” And I found out why the FAA put on a ten day stop on flights and then rescinded it the same night. See the cartoon
Robert Reich points out that DHS is not even close to arresting “the worst of the worst.” I would point out that this isn’t the real point – which is that NO ONE deserves the treatment they are getting, Not even anyone convicted of a violent crime. People convicted of violent crimes are still human beings – and not even an animal – not even an Australian box jellyfish – deserves this treatment either. Republicans must not be allowed to get a pass by claiming they are animals.
Not the most transformative news of the day from All Rise – but encouraging that the judge feels so strongly.
Common Dreams is hot again. I probably could have used any of the stories in their newsletter
“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.”* Yesterday, I slept until after sunset. However, I had been up until almost sunrise, and Saturday night I had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep. I’m not kidding when I say that I’m not a morning person. That quote is from Act II of “The Tempest” where it is also a quote – Ariel is telling Prospero what the first guy said who jumped from the king’s ship when he (Ariel) made it sink in the storm. No one died in that storm, because it sank so close to shore the drew and passengers could practically walk to the shore – but it was still scary to them. We, on the other hand, have seen people die, and have seen the devils who pulled the triggers.
I can’t improve on Robert Reich. He has the facts and he explains them more clearly (and with more evidence) than I could.
I think Malcolm Nance makes a valid point here. Not that I’m certain where exactly we need to be going with it.
I have a quote here from the 19th which I cannot link to because it was just in the newsletter, and there’s no link to it, or any indication that it’s in an article at the 19th or elsewhere, but it struck me as significant:
A local doctor remembered him on social media as someone who “used to tell people off when they made sexist comments to female physicians … he made a point to teach medical residents without judgement [sic], but with a smile on his face and a joke.”
BTW, Renee Good was from Colorado. Alex Pretti’s parents live in Colorado. I am beginning to take this debacle personally.
From Rocky Mountain PBS. This is a great idea, although I am far from certain that federal Courts will uphold it, particularly in the cases of Federal Agents – who are the only kind of law enforcement likely to attempt it (unless there is another pandemic, which heaven, karma, and the cat goddesses forbid.)
Yesterday, Robert Reich had this to say. It has zero to do with Dr. King, and it’s not even really funny because it’s too real. But it is definitely clever. This from Andy, on the other hand, is funny – sort of – an appealing idea but not really able to be implemented. And then there’s this – from Sunday, so we knew about it. But this is in their own words.
Since the Mango Moron does not understand cause and effect any better than he understands anything else, he would not recognize a consequence if it came to the door and showed RealID. And those of us not in the military or veterans, and even some veterans, have no experience of the signs of impending war, and would not recognize them either. But Malcolm Nance does know about them, and wrote this to give us knowledge to interpret what is happening as it happens.
You may have seen this news – I saw a reference to Laura’s story somewhere else, but it was very incomplete. (And Democracy Now is not on my radar) Mary Trump has all the details.
https://wolvesandsheep.substack.com/p/the-three-reasons-donald-trump-backs
This by Chris Bowers is a thoughtful piece. I’m not sure we have enough information to generalize from, nor how much the information we do have applies to the Saffron Sauron and how much applies to his handlers. Nor how much we can actually bring about. But it’s worth thinking about.
I don’t know how many episodes of this Richardson has planned – this is episode three = but I expect there will be more.
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.
