Politics Plus – Overcoming Republican insaniTEA, one day at a time.

Open Thread March 17 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Holiday, Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 172026

Yesterday, I got an email from Johns Hopkins University, which just receives an Oscar for its (Netflix) documentary “All the Emppty Rooms,” which refers to the bedrooms of children who after school shootings did not come home. That documentary will be screened in DC on March 25 at their Bloomberg Theater on W Penn Ave. I sent an email to Indivisib;e Colorado and said that we have nine days to get Coloradans to either sign a petition or send individual emails to our Congressional delegation, and particularly to the Republican House members, to pressure them to go watch it. We’ll see if anything comes of that. I don’t have cable, but I assume if any of my readers is a Netflix subscriber, you can see it that way. Also, Glenn Kirschner did a (40 minute) video with Adam Klasfeld on the Halkbank case. I have mentioned it, but it has been pretty much under the radar – a $20 Billion money laundering case involving a bank in Turkey which is somehow tied to US sanctions on Iran and also to the Apricot Antichrist’s “bromance” with Erdogan. Glenn summed it up by saying, “I keep saying it is inexplicable because i look at it, as I do everything, through my justice glasses. But – if I take them off – of course it is perfectly explicable.” So you all probably don’t need to watch, but I’ll give the link anyway. Also – the Prime Minister of Denmark stated that the US is no longer Denmark’s most important ally. Denmark’s most important allies are the Scandinavian nations, the European Unon, and Canada. (I might add that there is an election in Denmark in a week. And that Denmark has always shown up for us in every conflict since WWII.) I got that last tidbit from Jacob Kaarsbo who works with Malcolm Nance (and who is Danish) on the daily war report. That whole report today made me want to repeatedly beat a wall with my head, so I’m not giving that link, but if you want it, say so in a comment and I will put it in a reply, or in an email if I have yours.

An update from Joyce Vance in the Fulton County election records seizure case. I don’t know about anyone else, but the moment the DOJ put their hands on those records I wrote this off on the basis that those records had already been corrupted and would no longer be valid for any purpose whatsoever. But apparently Fulton County thought it was worth taking to court.

A respected reporter writing about an FCC chair who royally disrespect reporters and the media they rode in on. And a couple more stories. Feel free to keep scrolling.

This from Axios was very brief when I collected it yesterday – but sometimes these alerts get fleshed out over time. It concerns me because – although in this regime there are NO adults in the room, she appears to be the closest thing to one that there is. Think about Miller getting promoted into that position. That truly scares me.

Dog

Did anyone watch the Oscars? I didn’t – I think the last time I did was the year Halle Berry won Best Actress. and thst’s been d minute. But Liza Donnelly (a New Yorker cartoonist who is involved in politics as a citizen) did, and linked to what she says is “the one speech from the Oscars that you actually need to listen to.” And I would bet she is right. Here’s that link.

Open Thread March 16 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 162026

Yesterday, Malcolm Nance‘s daily update reported that all eight of the US military whom we have lost were reservists. Not one of them was on active duty before the war – all eight were called up for the war. This report – the one for day 16 – has a lot of strategic speculation (you might say “what ifs”) which appear to me to be well worth knowing – some are speculative, some deduced. And this video, at just over 40 minutes, is shorter than most of them. So I’m sharing the link. Also, Trinette was by – for once I was ready. Always great to see her.

Common Dreams: Well, this is not good. IANAL – but I think I heard somewhere that a lower court decision does not become a legal precedent until it is upheld by a Circuit appellate court. On the other hand, who knows what the Fifth Circuit will do – this is Texas, after all.

The new cartoon doesn’t really inspire me – but the captions for the old one impressed me. I do think the top prize should have gone to the last runner-up – but see what you think.

This from The Hill in not all that interesting, but it was probably the slowest news day I’ve ever seen (I hope it wasn’t just the calm before the storm!). So slow I’m going to throw in a story about a T-shirt.

This link is to a Video with JoJo from Jerz and Harry Dunn. Harry is wearing a Tshirt which you can’t see all of – within the first 30 seconds he pulls it up enough that you can see more of it, but there is still at least one “book” that you can’t. I managed to collect the “titles” of all but the very bottom “book”(s) so here they are:
DREAM LIKE MARTIN
FIGHT LIKE MALCOLM
LEAD LIKE HARRIET
THINK LIKE GARVEY
BUILD LIKE MADAM CJ
CHALLENGE LIKE ROSA
WRITE LIKE MAYA
EDUCATE LIKE W.E.B.
If I ever wore Tshirts, I’d want one – but I wear long sleeves when it’s cold and sleeveless when it’s hot – and there doesn’t seem to be any in-between for me.

Open Thread March 15 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 152026

Yesterday, the radio opera was Madame Butterfly by Puccini – the first opera I ever saw – I was 8 years old. It’s one of three operas for which Puccini selected the subject after seeing a play in a language he didn’t speak but was still able yo understand everything happening (the other two were Tosca and La Fanciulla del West.) He figured correctly that an operatic subject selected on that basis would make the opera more accessible. I don’t know that I would recommend it as a first opera today, though – Butterfly’s line in the first act “Oh, I am very old – I am fifteen” has taken on too much additional weight in the shadow of the Epstein files.

The work that Ray Brown is doing has never been more important than it is now. He makes me proud to be a Coloradan

I was not surprised to read that mariachi runs in the family – rather, I would have been surprised if it didn’t. Mariachi just does. And not only mariachi. Look at the Romero family of guitarists – now in its third generation.

Technically, I suppose this is not a “good news story.” But it made me smile. (And I still wouldn’t go to a Chick-Fil-A myself.)

Open Thread March 14 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 142026

Today being Pi Day, and the rest of the news being so grim, a mathematical puzzle might be in order.

Yesterday, I discovered something – I knew Jim Acosta was on Substack, and I knew that S teve Schmidt was sometimes a guest of his, but I had no idea that Steve was going to be a regular guest every Friday, nor that they were calling this “Oh, Schmidt, It’s Friday.” (Gotta laugh so you don’t cry, right?) Apparently the US death toll is up to 11 now. Or was yesterday.

From The Root. I figure that what Black people need to know, we all need to know.

It appears the shooting I mentioned yesterday, and another shooting, and a hacking, were not home-grown but Iranian retaliation. Robert Hubbell expands on this with multiple citations. He then goes into other ramifications of the war, also with citations.

From the Contrarian – a history and definition of Concentration Camps – so that if anyone tries to tell you they aren’t, you can prove that they are.

Your Earthbound Crew Wishes You a “HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TomCat!”

Posted by SoINeedAName at 1:14 pm Politics

Mar 132026

Open Thread March 13 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 132026

Yesterday, another mass shooting, this one at a synagogue in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan. The only casualties were the shooter (killed) and a guard (wounded, not too seriously.) And we have a president who apparently would rather confess to a war crime than be credibly accused of a crime of pedophilia. Think bout that. i desperately hope that, wherever he is, TomCat is having a better birthday than our day. Happy Birthday, TC. We still miss you.

ProPublica discusses the school bombing (which I trust no one here attributes to anyone other than us) in the context of a program initiated during the Biden administration which, if it hadn’t been cut into smithereens, might have prevented it. (On the other hand, Kegsbreath might have ignored it.)

Common Dreams addresses a different atrocity. This one involving a ship, is clearly an atrocity (the school bombing might have been an error – not that I believe that for an instant.) But a ship cannot possibly have been mistaken for a military base.

From Ukrinform. Someone joked this week that the Saffron Sauron “has started World War Two and a Quarter.” I don’t think it’s that funny really – but it does make a point.

Belle War

Dog

Open Thread March 12 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 122026

Yesterday, I watched/listened to Malcolm Nance’s Day 12 of the war (the only one I have missed was the one I told you was for paid subscribers only) and it was very much about sea mines – and how dumb our regime is being about them. And a few other things our regime is being dumb about. A quote: “Hegseth thinks this is a video game.” I would suggest our entire actual military command structure is stuck in a frozen facepalm – but I feel confident they are doing all they can to avoid useless loss of lives. But their hands are kind of tied.

This may well be more about what to expect in Iran than you wanted to know. But I doubt you’d find it anywhere else expressed in this way.

It’s not as if we don’t know this. It would be nice if someone could tell us how to change it. The people who are responsible for it have zero motivation to change – and appear impervious to our efforts to reach out – which further undermines our motivation to change it. Facts could help – if only the right had not been indoctrinated not to believe facts. That appears to me to be an impasse. We may have no recourse other than waiting for the delusional ones to kill theselves off with CoViD, ivermectin, bleach, measles, suet, and all the other fake nutrition advocated by our current HHS.

This is a letter sent by four Senators (including one Republican) to the GAO demanding an independent audit of the Epstein files by the GAO. They – and victimes of the money laundering by Halkbank, are pissed.

Open Thread March 11 2026

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 112026

Yesterday, there was a hearing on disciplinary charges brought against Ed Martin by the DC Bar, and the charges were upheld. He is entitled to appeal – I’m not sure to whom but after the process plays out, he could well be disbarred. Also, Alabama governor Kay Ivey of all people commuted the sentence of Sonny Burton. It’s about damn time – but at least it is in time. Finally, Colorado Public Radio reported that one of the Americans killed in this war was one of ours – stationed at Fort Carson here in the Springs.

I have no desire to use AI – I [prefer to keep my HI as fit as possible by using it. But if I did, at this time, it would be Anthropic. But this link is really for the second story – the kerfuffle in the District of New Jersey. By the time you read this, the hearing will be over, but you can still use this link to get there if you wish. Click on the All Rise logo in the upper left and you’ll get the home page. If the hearing isn’t the first story, scroll down a bit.

Well this was certainly not on my bingo card. But it certainly does make sense.

Archived from Huff Post, this article reminded me of a Kipling quote shared by Malcolm Nance, who us a huge Kipling fan – a quote which could easily become our motto for this war: “with an epitaph drear,/a fool lies here/who tried to hustle the east.” Kipling was not free from racial prejudice, but he was bright enough to see that brains of all kind (intwllectual, practical, strategic, etc.) and a passion for self government were not limited to white westerners.

Pete Buttigieg’s speech last weekend in Selma, AL Only 6 1/2 minutes)

Older Entries

PHP is a programming language used to build websites. We have it at all through our hosting partner, BlueHost. In order to update it, we have to go through Bluehost. During his life, TomCat was the only one who had access to our account there. I (JD) am now the only one. I have been to BlueHost and investigated updating our PHP to 8.3 or even to 8.1. I found instructions to do so - in fact, I found two conflicting sets of instructions. I went through one set of the steps and got the message that Our site could not handle 8.3, but that it had successfully updated to 8.1. I then went back here to see what it looked like. But I couldn't get in - either as an administrator or as a reader. It was just gone. I had to reach BlueHost by phone. It was determined that Politics Plus is in fact not compatible with any version of PHP newer than the one we have. BlueHost therefore uninstalled it for me, and the site came back to normal. Of course, like everyone else, I care about security. But I also am aware that TomCat elected to use different providers for several of the services that BlueHost provides, for instance backups. We are backed up daily - but not by BlueHost. However, out PHP is through Bluehost. I feel that if they are not worried about the older version, I am not going to worry about it. I believe that our security here is all or mostly through WordFence, whom I trust.