Yesterday, Virgil called and as always, asked how I was doing. I told him I really didn’t want to talk about it, so we didn’t. I’ll see him a week from tomorrow and if I’m up to it I’ll talk with him about it then. There were some explosions in the neighborhood , and it was, after all, the fourth, but it was nothing like previous years. And it may even stop after today, which is also nothing like previous years.
Well, here we are. Steve Schmidt discusses “Alligator Alcatraz” and compares it, not with Alcatraz, but with Auschwitz. H wonders out loud about the process of getting building permits. I would dudprvt there was no such process in Florida. Not that Florida law doesn’t cover it – it almost certainly does, though we have learned through multiple hurricanes that the specs are pretty lenient. But as the brainchild of the governor, I would expect it to have been bypassed.
Y’all know, because of Glenn Kirschner’s video, that Abrego Garcia’s attorneys requested he be kept in federal custody so that ICE could not kidnap him again. That’s one court case involving him. Another is a suit his wife has filed against ICE, and her attorneys have released a filing detailing what he endured while in CECOT. Yes, it’s ugly. And that’s why you should read it and spread it to others who have a milligram of empathy. No need to share it with anyone who will be aroused by it.
On Monday, I finally remembered to re-add images like Lona’s hedgehog and Freya’s angry cat to the media library late enough in the day that the should be the last thing added in June, to make them more convenient to find. Speaking of Freya, has anyone heard from her? It’s been a very long time, not just since she posted here, but since I (and also Evelyn, who is also concerned) got a newsletter from her. If you know anything, please put it into a comment or email me. Then yesterday, I got the news that Jimmy Swaggart has died. I won’t speak ill of the dead, and I assume everyone knows what that is code for.
There have been lively debates in comment sections about this case – which is now over – the baby, a boy named “Chance” was removed by C-section (and while the case it over for the courts, it’s not over for him, poor thing.) But this from The Conversation is about as complete an analysis of the ethics of the case as you are likely to find.
This is from The Brennan Center for Justice on the topic of the Supreme Court. I know in the past some have had issues getting to that site, so here is an archive link in case anyone needs it.
Here is an extra video which left me literally speechless:
Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played cribbage. The drive down was clear and sunny, with the sun high enough not to be a glare issue. But when I left, it was pouring in the parking lot, and by the time I got to the car I was drenched. And I stopped for gas because I has planned to, and really, really didn’t want to run out of it in the rain. Of course that was under cover of canopies. Thankfully, it didn’t last all the way home, but gradually tapered off. By the time I got to the county line I was wishing for my sunglasses, and put them back on at the next red light. Also yesterday, I saw this – has anyone else seen this information anywhere? It seems important.
Emil Bove’s hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee was last week. John Thune intended to “start” voting on the Big Brutal Bill Friday. That may or may not have occupied the Senate all weekend – but while they might work overtime for that, I doubt they’d work overtime for a confirmation hearing. So I figure today to be the first possible day for Bove to face the full Senate. If it hasn’t happened yet, so much the better. Here is advice from Joyce Vance on how to present your objections to him to your Senator(s.
This from The F* News regarding not just Mamdani but specifically how politicians are reacting to him after his primary win is IMO relevant to what David Hogg is trying to accomplish (Mamdani was endorsed by Hogg and may even have been recruited by him). I think it’s pretty clear that party leaders who will congratulate but not endorse him are not taking that position on account of his youth. I don’t think they are even pretending to. Not that they should. Honesty is the best policy, as usual. But it does show we are not as united as we may appear to be because in opposition to Trump**(*) and MAGA, we are united.
This link goes to a donation page at Act Blue which appears to be the only way to see a 16-minute documentary video based on an investigation by More Perfect Union into why a Kentucky county which had voted Democratic for 144 years instead voted GOP in 2024. The report won an emmy, so it’s not just me who thinks it’s worth watching. A donation is not required to do so.
Yesterday, the radio opera was so old that it predates the baroque period. I had never heard it, or even heard of it, but I did learn about that period in music history when they were inventing opera without realizing it (they thought they were bringing back ancient Greek theater.) The opera is called L’Orontea, and starts with a prologue where love and philosophy argue about who has more influence on humans. When in the first act the title character renounces love, it’s not hard to predict she is in for a bumpy ride. Also, there’s a new Betty Bowers video up. It is so merciless that I decided to provide the link rather than post the video. Off to see Virgil now – I’ll check in when I get back.
This is the skinny on the next plan for national protesting. It’s good news because it means we are not stopping – and hopefully we are growing. The article is from Newsweek, but I was routed to it by The Smile.
I think this is a repeat, because i vaguely remember disapproval that she was allowed “wine.” Now that I can demonstrate that the “wine” she is allowed is non-alcoholic and specifically made for cats, I’m letting it run again.
Yesterday, the radio opera was Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin,” which, like “The Queen of Spades” is based on a tale by Pushkin (if memory serves, this one was originally a poem, but I won’t swear to it.) The title character is a jerk, but he does get his comeuppance. Everyone loves the letter scene, which is certainly beautiful, but what stands out to me is Lenski’s aria, which is beautiful and heart wrenching, and immediately after it he gets killed in a duel. Ironically – or maybe just evidence that duels really were that ordinary – Pushkin himself died in a duel. Republicans would probably love to bring them back.
This from Newsweek was passed to me by readthesmile.com on Tuesday. I saved it for today. It’s only one company, but it’s a start – and in Idaho at that.
Granted that this from the BBC is not news – it’s more like history – but it’s good, and it’s good to know. (BTW, the BBC is now on Substack.)
I’ve been getting (and signing) petitions from this PAC. You may have been too, but just in case you haven’t and didn’t know about it, here’s some attention it’s getting.
Not what I expected to post today, but even before looking for parodies, I tripped over this at Democratic Underground If you were wishing for some Schadenfreude, here it is.
Yesterday was the Summer Solstice. I hope all who celebrated had a great day. Also yesterday, an email from Justice Democrats informed me that eight Senators, led by Bernie Sanders, made a statement that voters are looking for for bold leaders, not feckless moderates. And polling backs them up – 70% of Democrats in a recent poll say the same. Of course I had to know who those seven others are, so I did a search and found they are Warren, Murphy, Merkley, Welch, Tina Smith, Markey, and Van Hollen. Neither of my Senators, of course. The only surprise in there is Peter Welch, and that’s only because I haven’t heard of him until now. He is Bernie’s junior Senator from Vermont. Tina Smith and Chris Van Hollen have not been loud until recently, but recently, they have. I could wish for the addition of a few names which are missing, like Sheldon Whitehouse, Alex Padilla (who also hasn’t been loud, but I would think has motivation now), Sheldon Whitehouse, Adam Schiff (who needs to put up or shut up at this point – I’m certain Katie Porter would have been on that list in a New York minute), and you can probably think of others who should have been there. Finally, I will not go deeply into the surreal disorientation I felt while reading about the possibilities of war in Iran while simultaneously listening to Albert Ketelbey’s “In a Persian Market” on the radio. I wonder who programmed that.
This does need to be read and/or heard. One thing that jumped out at me was the sentence “Their stories remind us that in the eyes of MAGA, just being Latino is enough to be treated as a criminal.” Sadly, actual criminals, are generally – are at least supposed to be – treated better.
This link is to a petition which you can sign if you like (it’ll take your signature even if you’ve signed on the same issue multiple times already.) But that isn’t why I’m posting it. I just want to be crystal clear on my source for this quotation:
Because Donald Trump is an egomaniac who will do anything to hurt anyone while helping himself, the bill is structured so that all of the new spending provisions associated with deportations and building up the military, as well as with Trump’s gimmicky campaign promises, expire in 2028. Further, almost all of the cuts to the social safety net, and even some of the cuts to green energy investments, do not go into effect until 2029. Basically, all of the perks happen during Trump’s time in office, while all of the pain will be felt by his successor, thus making Trump look good at the expense of literally everyone else. (Click here to read an article from Politico last month that goes into detail on this aspect of the bill.)
This means that if Democrats can retake Congress and the White House in the 2026 and 2028 elections, they will be able to quickly pass a bill that would block the social safety net cuts and not renew any of the spending related to Donald Trump’s deportations, military build up, and campaign promises. To top it off, they can also end Trump’s tax cuts for wealthiest Americans, thus rendering the bill deficit neutral.
So, even if Republicans do manage to pass this bill into law, the fight to stop it from taking effect will continue on into 2026 and 2028. The is very bad news for Republicans who, unlike Donald Trump, will run for re-election again. As I already mentioned, this bill is very unpopular, and Democrats will be able to legitimately argue in 2026 and 2028 that if you elect them, they can stop the Republican cuts to the social safety net before they ever take effect. Now that is a winning message.
Yesterday, the 2:00-4:00 pm weekdays on my local radio station used her first hour for music about cats (including big ones, like Elsa the lioness.) Hooray for childless cat ladies! I hope your Juneteenth was happy.
Yes, I’m late getting this posted. But I don’t suppose it holds any surprises. It does hold some hard evidence which should be useful in future elections – provided we know how to use it.
This is from the 19th. A couple of days ago, in the middle of the night (which is when many of us, including me, get our most off-the-wall thoughts), I started thinking about transgender and the brain, specifically the two sides of the brain. I have since done a search, and I do realize the differences between male and female usage ouf our brains is not as cut and dried as we were led to believe in the seventies. However such differences do exist. As a child, growing up in a Lutheran household, during the career of Christine Jorgensen (not that I ever saw any of her films), I was told that transgender is when the soul of a woman is born into a male body (or vice versa.) And that made perfect sense to me. I never imagined a time when transgender people would have to fight and defend their very identities. Now that we live in such a time, it occurred to me (as I said, in the middle of the night) that possibly the study of differences between male and female brains could provide transgender people with evidence that their perception is real. Possibly I am totally off base here, and it might even backfire, but it is a thought. Being in a brick-and-mortar prison is bad enough, but at least in that situation one is still oneself. Being in prison inside one’s own body and never able to be oneself has got to be orders of magnitude worse.
This is a new ad from a very outspoken PAC which I guess is new – but they already have a bunch out. This on was featured on Democratic Underground, and I thought it hit like a brick: And there are more.
Yesterday, the DLCC chair sent an email about honoring Melissa Hortman. In case you didn’t receive it – or received it but deleted it thinking it was a donation request (which I almost did), here is the list of suggested actions we can take to honor her memory (hanky alert):
Plant a tree.
Visit a local park and make use of their amenities, especially a bike trail.
Pet a dog. A golden retriever is ideal, but any will do.
Tell your loved ones a cheesy dad joke and laugh about it.
Bake something — bread for Mark or a cake for Melissa, and share it with someone.
Try a new hobby and enjoy learning something.
Stand up for what you believe in, especially if that thing is justice and peace.
And this is why I keep subscribing to John Pavlovitz – and saving his emails. Of course he has a lot to say, but in case anyone else is struggling with morale, this might help.
I don’t often post from the 19th. But this – this is something I had no idea existed, and I expect I’m not alone in that. And we should know about it. And the only other coverage is, at all places, The Borowitz Report.
Clearly this is not a happy news day. And this from the F* News is no exception. And I haven’t even brought up Iran. But I really can’t ignore this.
