Open Thread May 13 2026

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

Yesterday, I expected to have lab work again. My previous PCP wanted me to do that every three months. Over the winter, my PCP moved, and I tranferred to another provider at the same facility in a phone call. At least that was easy. But – because he hasn’t actually seen me yet (that will happen next week). the lab had no order on file. So that was a wasted trip. Not something one wants to do when gas is about to go up again, and we could run out of our reserve and not be able to get any at all. Today’s political video is longer than Belle’s are, but shorter than Glenn Kirschner’s are. I am trying to keep them down.

Sometimes I get frustrated looking for articles to feature. The ones with the most (and newest) news are too long, and/or too repetetive, either in themselves or of other articles, or just wrong. Then I trip over a history piece which is relevant to what we are now going hrough (not always in an obvious way, but in some way.) idt Steve Schmidt may not be a professional historian like Heather Cox Richardson, but he has a knack of finding and sharing historical events which feel extremely relevant. Here is one. (The General Butler mentioned cannot be Smedley, who was not born until the last year of the Hayes Presidency. My guess is that it was General Benjamin F. Butler, who was, in 1879, running for governor of Massachusetts [he lost] after failing to win re-election to Congress, so he was at least alive at the time and had the right connections.)

I don’t – not intentionally – subscribe to Political Voices Network – not because the folks are not factual )they are both factual and good), but because there are too many of them and I just don’t have the time. But this came into my inbox, and it has some solid facts and some very good questions. If health insurance CEOs are murderers – why aren’t Republicans who consistently vote against Medicare for all, who strengthen private health insurance providers, murderers too? I can’t help thinking of Wendell Potter and his first book, “Deadly Spin.”

This is a few days old, but I thought it could wait – I didn’t see the MSM covering it under this regime. And it’s good news, as far as it goes. I hope it gets past SCROTUS still standing.

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Open Thread May 11 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 112026
 

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played cribbage. He’s still having vivd dreams, but fornow, he knows they are dreams. Eventually he’ll forget that and I’ll have to explain it again. Our 42nd anniversary was last week, on Cinco de Mayo.

Robert Reich on Graham Platner. There are some Democrats who are seriously doubtful of Platner – mostly based on his tattoos, as far as I can tell. He probably got them when he was in the Marine Corps, for 8 years after graduated from high school (he remained a reservist afterwards and was deployed again multiple times.) His highest rank was Sergeant, and since he was in and active more than 8 years, I can pretty well guarantee he is not pro-establishment. I’ve known a whole lot of Marines who were fresh out of high school – they can be incredibly impulsive. And tattoos are probably the most regretted thing one can do as a young person. Anyway, after his initial active duty, he attended George Washington University, which is fairly prestigious. It’s private, so one gets no help from the government except the GI Bill (unless the government is sending you there to learn skills it want you to use for it, as happened to me.) You can get all thr scoop on him in Wikipedia, including some names of his endorsers, including, besides Robert Reich, Elizabeth Warren and others.

From NBC news, referred by Daily Dose of Democracy. This is a different strain of hantavirus from the one we in Colorado are familiar with, which is carried by deer mice and not transmissible from human to human. Given the current regime, I’m surprised that such precautions are being taken – but very grateful. (the mice that were in my house have all been house mice, not deer mice.)

Archived from Mediaite (because they want you to turn off your as blocker.) A little humor to help us keep going.

https://www.theroot.com/a-federal-judge-just-exposed-the-discriminatory-truth-b-2000104507
This is a few days old, but I thought it could wait – I didn’t see the MSM covering it under this regime. And it’s good news, as far as it goes. I hope it gets past SCROTUS still standing.

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Open Thread May 10 2026

 Posted by at 6:10 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 102026
 

the radio opera was “La Fille du Regiment” by Donizetti – the opera which includes Luciano pavarotti’s signature aria – the one with nine high Cs. Lawrence Brownlee did one of the best renditions I have ever heard, and received a worthy ovation. I don’t know whether it was a standing one, but it lasted long enough for him to give an encore (which we sadly didn’t hear in this recording.) Hard to believe that an agent he spoke with before he was famous told him he had no future in opera for two reasons: he was short and he was black. Well, he still is both and opera audiences appear to have no issue with either. But I digress. Sandra Oh played the role once played b Ruth Bader Ginsburg ((Brownlee was in that production also.) Ah, well. Happier times. Off to see Virgil now and will of course check in upon return.

This one‘s on loop so you won’t miss anything.

Kudos to Rita Seibenaler – and thanks to National Public Radio for publicizing this.

An extra (non-video) rescue story from Good News Network.

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Open Thread May 9 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 092026
 

Yesterday was David Attenborough’s 100th birthday. The first email I saw about it had the subject line “100 years of David Attenborough” which made me think we had lost him – but, thankfully, we have not. He is so well known and loved. Some years ago I went to a college theater production featuring the three winners of a contest for one-act plays. The one I remember best had three actors – two were visible and were a boy and a girl mayfly. The third, invisible inside a prop TV set was David Attenborough narratibg a program about the life cycle of Mayflies, which you probably know is in the neighborhood of 24 hours. The two Mayfly characters were getting increasingly panicked that they wouldn’t have time to reproduce. It was very funny. (The second was about Philip Glass tring to place a bakery order in the style of his music. That was funny too, but not as funny as the Mayflies. I don’t remember the third at all.)

From Press Watch. Suggestions to more wimpy news media about how to report on the Evil Emperor

From Bowers News Media. Yes, the voters in Virginia overwhelmingly voted for a [temporary) distrct map skewed Democratic – and the Virginia Supreme Court immediatelu struck it down. Bowers News Media is big on sharing things ordinary people can do – some are always not feasible, geographically or physically or budget-wise.

https://www.propublica.org/article/kids-tear-gas-trump-immigration-crackdown
From ProPublica. The war and some other things have kind of pushed this out of the news. It’s not all video – there are just three to scroll down past in order to get to content.

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Open Thread May 8 2026

 Posted by at 12:26 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 082026
 

Yesterday, I got all the printer software installed, only to find that the black ink cartridge isn’t working. My fault, I fear – I pulled something loose while removing the tape, and assumed it would just stay in place. So today I need a trip to Staples. Fortunately, it’s a pretty straightforward and not too long trip. Again, sorrythis is late.

There’s no reason Andy can’t do straight news when the actual facts are this amusing. Maybe I should have saved it for Sunday, but I prefer to avoid politic completely on Sundays if possible.

Archived from the Independent, which has a photo of the note. See what you think. It doesn’t look to me like the writing of an adult. Most peopl’s writing either leans to the right or to the left pretty consistently. This note leans every which way (which is not the only reason it’s almost illegible.)

Common Dreams addresses Tennessee’s very rushed redistricting (inspired by the Callais decision.)

t

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Open Thread May 6 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 062026
 

Yesterday, Malcolm Nance’s (along with Jacob Kaarsbo and Wajeeh Lion) made it pretty clear that Europe is working seriously to make lemonade from the lemons we are throwing at them. And that includes the UK at one end – Brexit be damned – and Ukraine at the other. And more power to them! In fact, Mark Carney of Canada made a speech for their negotiations which included the opinion tat the international rule of law is not dead, but will be led by Europe in the the future. Also, I spent over three hours setting up the printer/scanner I got to replace my all-in-one which died. I got to the point when I was supposed to insert the disc, and discovered I had somehow unplugged the computer. To get to the outlet, one must crawl under the desk. So Trinette is coming by to help me with that this evening.

For this article I only have one word – hope. Not that we don’t still have to be vigilant about getting free and fair elections in November – but this is still promising IMO.

This from The Conversation could explain a lot. Although I remind all that correlation is not the same as causation.

from Vicky Ward Investigates. Well, this explains why Melania did that speech out of nowhere to distance herself from Epstein. And a few other things.At the time, I didn’t really care why she did it – but now tht I know, I do care – if only a little..

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Open Thread May 4 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 042026
 

Yesterday, I was fairly stressed, and my body responded by sleeping for 12 hours. Apparently, I needed to. After midnight, I emailed Virgil’s facility to schedule a visit for next Sunday (and emailed Trinette to let her know, since ordinarily she would come here that day.)

Apparently, there are 42 Democrats in the House who think the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a good idea. I don’t, and this article nails why I don’t.

Robert Reich writes about different incarnations of capitalism, which one we need to have, and why. I’m pretty sure, of all of them, it’s the one farthest to the left – and this is a discussion in which speaking of left vs. right is appropriate.

Andy Borowitz isn’t always funny. That’s often true on Sundays, when he does interviews, which can only be accessed by paid subscribers. But last Sunday, he decided his topic (essentially the First Amendment) was too important to limit his audience. This is unusual enough for me to want to share it. the video portion is just over a half hour, and there is a transcript. As usual on Substack, you will need to unmute it if you choose to watch. It’s about a documentary – but it isn’t itself the documentary. (A short digression – if we did have over a thousand members of the House of Representatives – maybe they could meet in the ballroom and remodel the House floor for state occasions.)

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Open Thread May 3 2026

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 032026
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin.” I can’t do a better summary than Wikipedia does: “a dandy rejects a young country girl, she successfully grows into a worldly woman, he tries to seduce her but it is too late.” Set during the reign of Catherine the Great (1762–1796 – and she appears briefly in a silent role in some productions – though not in this one), based on a verse novel by Pushkin, it displays (intentionally or not?) issues of the status of women. The opening duet, between Tatiana’s mother and her maid, includes one of the saddest lines ever written: “Heaven sends us habit in place of happiness.” Although Tatiana gets the upper hand by the time the opera ends. I had planned to see Virgil today, but I missed a deadline I didn’t know existed (it’s fairly new, and it was in a form letter I don’t normally read because I know what is says – or thought I did.) Fortunately he phoned last night so I could tell him before he panicked. He took it well. So I’ll be rearranging my schedule.

Archived from The Guardian. This issue – who should hold historical and pre-historical treasures – has been a hot button topic longer than I have been alive – and it still is. I am on Mamdami’s side myself. It isn’t just the Kohinoor diamond that the UK is still sitting on – It also still holds the Elgin Marbles. I do realize that Athens is subject to earthquakes, but I also feel that those  statues must mean more to people who are actually Greek than they ever could to me, regardless of my education.

This video is very short, but it’s on loop, so you won’t miss any of it.

From PBS, referred by Dose of Democracy. Considering how many reactionary bishops we have, this is just a step – but a step in the right direction.

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