Nov 232025
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was “Iolanta” by Tchaikovsky. It’s in one act with four scenes, and is set in the 1400s, which if not exact, is probably close enough to the era in history when Islam had all the good scientists and all the good physicians (although probably not good enough to give vision to someone born blind – but hey, it’s an opera.) Like the opera “Ruslan and Ludmilla”, it’s popular in Russia and little known elsewhere, but the Met did do it for a Saturday matinee some years ago and later televised it, so I have seen it once. It’s very pretty and has a happy ending. The Muslim doctor, I think, has the best line and certainly the most relevant today: “Without inner desire, change cannot take place.” Wikipedia has a great article on it, including (not that I think anyone but me cares) the fact that the name in the Danish play from which the libretto was derived was “Iolanthe” – like the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta – and that both names are forms of “Yolanda” – which makes perfect sense but was news to me. It’s also very short for an opera – well under 2 hours – so I was able to have a little additional treat. My local station, which could not afford the second half od the summer season, decided that instead they would play a recording of a complete opera starting at the same time, so I was able to hear a substantial part of Handel’s “Rinaldo” after “Iolanta” finished. I’ve seen it once – almost certainly during the pandemic, when the Met allowed people to stream a different opera every day/night for free. When I turned it on, it was during a recitative scene, but very soon it went to an aria, and lucky for me, it was the aria which has been frequently performed in concert and recorded away from the opera (including by Celtic Woman), so I recognized it and was able to identify the opera quickly.

“Friday” in this from Democratic Underground was probably the 14th. I didn’t receive it in time for the 16th.

From The Guardian. I am putting this into Sunday’s post as good news because the judge did the right thing. However, I personally have mixed feelings. I was hoping this would backfire – that reducing the number of Republicans in some of the darkest red districts would actually make them competitive and increase our representation, not theirs. Now that will not happen – at least not in Texas.

This was from a local ABC affiliate in New Jersey, but I found it through The Smile. (off topic, but the part of the URL I cut off ended with “bfd.” Yeah, I would say so.)

Randy Rainbow – Parody of “Pink Pony Club”

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Nov 222025
 

I’m being Roman with the date today to mock the MAGAts who are losing it because someone said somewhere on the ‘net that Zohran Mamdami would probably force all the NYC public school students to use Arabic numerals – and there are people losing it. (If you missed the story, see Belle below.) It would be even funnier if it weren’t so sad.

Yesterday, in a surprising turn of events, Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she is resigning from Congress effective January.

Talking Points Memo (this one from yesterday) always covers multiple incidents, but also does a pretty good job of providing the program without which you can’t tell the players (one scumbag is so much like all the others.) The AEA appears to me the most important here, but that’s debatable.

Born in 1945, I lived through the second “Red Scare.” And despite Joseph Welch’s memorable “have you no decency” in 1954, I can tell you from personal experience that there were still people terrified of others’ free speech and of using their own into the 60’s. This article from The Conversation demonstrates its premise that “bold and courageous acts of dissent are critical for protecting First Amendment rights for everyone.” But it doesn’t really do justice to the miasma of fear which lives on long after the judicial principle of freedom of speech is restored.

I had to archive this article from Axios because I only get the “scoops” newsletter, which is free. Jason is not my representative, more’s the pity, but he is from my state. I’m proud of all the veterans who made the video, but particularly of him.

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Nov 182025
 

Yesterday, along with the rest of the world, why Michelle Obama will not run for President. And apparently she has been singing my song – or I have been singing hers – except this is the first time she has said it publicly: “As we saw in this past election, sadly, we ain’t ready. That’s why I’m like, don’t even look at me about running because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. You are not. So don’t waste my time.” She could have added “And don’t kill any career I do want.” And she is absolutely right. We ain’t ready – we aren’t going to be in my lifetime and quite possibly not in the lifetime of anyone who is alive today. Because this societal change has to start with parents – and the parents ain’t ready for the lesson: “If you don’t want your sons to be lonely, stop raising them to be misogynistic assholes.” (quote from John Pavlovitz) Also, I slept late (normal for a Monday) – in addition to normal catching up, I had stayed up to stream the first episode of “The American Revolution” (Passport allows me to stream it through my local station.) I was surprised by how much I already knew – but even more surprised at how much the current GOP is acting like George III’s cabinet “You’ll do what we tell you.” We know what those people want and we can second guess and outsmart them (didn’t work.) “We’ll tell you what you want.” “We’re sending in the troops.” And that’s just the first episode. (And this probably means nothing, but more than a few women were quoted using modern women’s voices, and every single time Abigail Adams was quoted, I knew it was she before the name was shown. That was also true for Phillis Wheatley, but that was only one quote and impossible to miss.) Also yesterday, the Evil Emperor claimed he had changed his mind on releasing the Epstein files. I have a theory as to why, but as yet no evidence.

To me, this Huff Post article is super good news. More Progressives running. They won’t all win their primaries, But at the very least some who do will win the general. And that will be good for all Americans – including the ones too dumb to know it.

Chris Bowers has a point here – but I think it’s also possible to underestimate the Apricot Antichrist, and that we have been doing so for ten tears now – since he first came down the escalator, in fact. Granted his body count for this regime is so far much lower than the body count from the first one (which I don’t think we should forget, nor allow others to forget), it is also far more violent – it is being achieved through direct and despicable action, rather than through inaction.

The only excuse to call this news is that it’s from a newsletter. We all knew it from the instant the election was called – just not the exact names and faces. But this from Common Dreams does have receipts.

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Nov 172025
 

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played cribbage. Most of the hands were mediocre – but Virgil got a perfect 29 hand again, and this time it was for real – I didn’t stack it – no one did. First time I’ve ever seen a real one. Also yesterday, if anyone is interested, COURIER has compiled the 20,000 documents from Epstein’s estate, released by the US House Oversight Committee on November 12, 2025, into an easily searchable repository. It appears one must sign in to google to access it. Here’s the link:

Robert Reich on what the verdict of history should be on the Apricot AntiChrist. I emphasize “should” because I know of too many individuals on whom the verdict of history is wrong. And that goes both ways. I do like Robert Reich’s idea for a monument, but strongly doubt that it will ever come to pass.

Y’all can skip this if you have had enough, but I thought it would be useful to have pretty much all the Epstein stuff that is being emphasized – all of it would be a book the size of the OED or bigger – in one place, and The F* News appears to be it for now (Along with the above database.)

Common Dreams with another reason to be skeptical of AI – which is also another reason for those who are working on it to keep doing so. As long as they don’t force me to work with it, fine.

Belle veto-proof

Dog

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Nov 162025
 

Yesterday, I learned that Steve Schmidt has added an “ugly Christmas sweater” to his merch. I don’t think most “ugly Christmas sweaters” are all that ugly – but this one is – on purpose (and it’s not actually a sweater but a sweatshirt.) In its own way, though, it is humorous. You can see it here. Also, the radio opera was Wagner’s “Lohengrin”, also beautiful, also long, also from Bayreuth. Of the three from there, this was the only one whose starts were big names in the U.S. (I’m pretty sure that some of the stars in the other two were big names in Europe, but not well known here.) The tenor is from Poland and the soprano from South Africa (which I can forgive her as long as she doesn’t spout racist stuff, and she hasn’t so far.) I’m off to see Virgil now and will check in on return.

From The 19th. Like every human institution, the Catholic Church throughout history has often been wrong – and sometimes very wrong. So it’s good to see any representative of the church making amends for that – even small ones (I would call two acres small. On the other hand, it is all they had.)

The Smile referred me to this story, which is nothing if not touching. I’m afraid it’s video only (and I needed to unmute the sound, though that may be just me).

From Colorado Public Radio. I missed this on Tuesday and I don’t think it happened Wednesday. And I’m not sure it’s good news (what does it say about climate change? No one is addressing that.) But it certainly is pretty to look at.

This is certainly good news for those who love animals – especially those who would like to know what they are thinking. It’s from a site called “reasons to be cheerful.”

Billy Simons Jr

Cat

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Nov 152025
 

Yesterday, TPM reported that Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Abency has made a criminal referral to the DOJ of Eric Swalwell for “mortgage fraud” (the same thing James Comey, Tish James, and Adam Schiff have been charged with). Swalwell has been expecting this and ia probably prepared for it. But it’s syill an annoyance, and a huge waste of timw and money, both for Swalwell and for the Government (and that’s our money.)

Somehow, I feel like the Democrats who are retiring should stay while some of the ones who are not – should. OK, Nancy is over 80 and deserves a rest, and I grant Jerry Nadler is 78, but he surely seems younger. It kind of depends on his replacement. Which is why this profile matters. If you’re going to replace someone like Nadler, let’s replace him with someone who has equal potential.-

Perhaps I should have saved this for Sunday – it is good – and it’s easy to grasp the point – but getting there took a whole lot of digging, so much so that just reading it is almost tiring. Besides, good news is welcome any time.

Sheesh. I saw this in The Root’s newsletter, and The Root linked to Law and Crime, which had more medical detail. This happened in Gainesville, Florida (not surprisingly). It appears there aren’t a whole lot of people who can be trusted in Florida, including medical professionals.

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Nov 142025
 

Yesterday, watching Harry Litman‘s video on “Is It Legal To Pardon Insurrectionists), or at least the 15 minutes an unpaid subscriber can watch, I found myself thinking some things I’m not proud of, such as, “If it was possible to kill Jane Stanford and no one knew it for a hundred years, in large part because she was already suffering from old age to the point that her death surprised no one…” and “s combination of morphine and belladonna – death from morphine poisoning is easily recognized because pinpoint pupils, but belladonna enlarges the pupils, making the death appear natural.” Yeah, too many Agatha Christie/John Dickson Carr/Ngaio Marsh/Ellery Queen (and so many others) novels. Sigh. FDR had Smedley Butler. But he also had – or I should say the nation had – an honorable Congress that would investigate and stop that plot. We don’t have that.

I’m essentially sharing this from The Root for the last paragraph, which is a warning. I don’t have a clue what to do about it in advance to mitigate it – but I do take it seriously.

This from the Conversation looks like something which would be really good to know – and maybe even to save.

Sharing Robert Hubbell today because his premise may well be the most important thing we need to do, both as individuals and as a party. And it won’t be easy.

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Nov 132025
 

Yesterday, I got to my main email just about the time Grijalva was sworn in. Yes, that was kind of late in the day, but before I check my main email, I check the old one, and look up the times of sunrise and sunset and record them, and I take my morning meds and make coffee, and even getting dressed is not zero time, plus it’s two hours earlier here. And it’s nice to get up to a little good news, since it is mostly anything but. Also, none of the DOJ’s Epstein Files were released, but three emails obtained by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee directly from the Epstein estate were.

In view of the fact that many people are losing their minds over this or that in it, I thought it would be good for us all to turn to Heather Cox Richardson and get a view of everything that is in it. After that, losing one’s mind will still be on the table (including for me.)

National Public Radio has coverage of an ICE arrest from June but given that Veterans’ Day was just a couple of days ago seems appropriate to revisit now.

This from Axios reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode – “Eye of the Beholder“, to be precise. I was a big fan of TZ, and was 15 when this episode first aired. I think it shocked me more than any other episode of TZ- and I certainly never expected it to play out in my lifetime. But here we are.

Robert Reich’s series to share widely as he requests

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