{"id":58006,"date":"2025-11-16T15:12:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T23:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=58006"},"modified":"2025-11-16T15:12:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T23:12:37","slug":"open-thread-november-16-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2025\/11\/16\/open-thread-november-16-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Thread November 16 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

From The 19th<\/a>. 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.)<\/p>\n

The Smile<\/a> 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).<\/p>\n

From Colorado Public Radio<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n

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.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Billy Simons Jr
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