Feb 242026
 

Yesterday, I learned a little more about the “State of the Swamp” event (info at defiant.org), including that, earlier in the day, the Portland Frog Brigade is going to visit every Republican Congresscritter’s office and give them a copy of the Constitution, with a note that “This is what you swore an oath to – not a man.” Using Absurdism to fight craziness works for me. But there are also two other more serious alternate events organized by Democrats – and a group which is giving out Bingo cards for the real thing. Eventually I’ll get reports on how the “real” thing went so even though I won’t see it, I’ll have something (or likelier, some things) to say about it.

I’ve been reading that Democratic AGs have been preparing for this – and wonder how they were preparing. Common Dreams got at least part of the answer through Politico and is sharing.

I’ve always felt that “equal time” could get a bit dicey if one or more of those granted equal time were lying. So it’s good to know that the FCC recognizes this in determining what constitutes “time.”

Archived from The Lever. Palantir is a company which has me more terrified than most have. It’s no surprise that they would move if a different state with fewer and looser regulations came along. I might just mention that in he world for which the Palantiri were conceived, they were created by good entities to be used for good. That lasted for centuries – until Sauron got hold of one (there were only 7 or 8 made) and figured out how to corrupt its use – not, actually, by showing false things – but by allowing only truths which would cause despair to be seen. (The Saffron Sauron is not that smart, but I still think it’s a good nickname. And it has the additional advantage that Sauron, before he became the second Dark Lord, had been a servant of Morgoth, the original Dark Lord, who was even more powerful. The Saffron Sauron is a servant of Moscow Morgoth – AKA Putin.)

Robert Reich

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Dec 032025
 

Yesterday, I slept very late. which I hadn’t done on Monday. I knew on Monday that I was still behind, but I guess I didn’t realize how much. And when I did get up, I had 255 emails in my inbox (some of which were old which I needed to hold for a bit.) Using bulk delete, selecting only the ones I could tell from the subject line were cyber week or giving Tuesday (or from a person or group I want to be able to hear from but don’t want every email), I took out more than 200. I hope no one else got hit that hard.

This is from the Alabama Political Reporter, and was forwarded to me by Carrie B. I would say it’s accurate as far as it goes. What it doesn’t address is the way that so many of us – sometimes it seems like the entire human race – is so hypnotized by money and possessions. And not just in our lives, but all the way back as far as human history goes. Until we can break that spell for a majority of us, we will sadly make no progress.

Robert Reich is worried enough about Palantir that he sent out two emails back-to-back about it. This is the second one, and it is the one that has the link .I know everyone here has heard of it because I’ve written about it, but I expect he’s correct that many people have not. If I didn’t already rant about these people have no right to use a name out of Lord of the Rings because they are all servants of Sauron (and that the original palantirs were created for good uses and only used for evil in evil hands), please consider that rant ranted now. You won’t need to read the article if you prefer to watch Robert Reich’s video below. But I hope you’ll share one or the other – or both.

This story from the 19th is, of course, just one of thousands. But it isn’t really possible for one person to feel all the pain in the universe – or in the world – of of any one class of abused people – or even a family. To get just an idea, we need to hear individual stories. (Consider the man in the painting “The Scream.” He is not screaming – he is hearing the scream of the universe – and it is killing him.)

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