Open Thread April 15 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 152025
 

Yesterday, Harvard at least stood up to the regime. I’m pretty sure they are the first (at least the first household named university), but I hope will not be the last. And at that, it decided not to use the language “will not negotiate” in the rejection letter. Axios broke the story and by now has more details. Most of my sources yesterday were fixated on the economy, and I certainly am not trying to blow off the possibility of another Great Depression. But it is Robert Reich, IMO, who has the real story – and it isn’t good.

Robert Reich has the direst warning yet. And I might also refer to Harry Litman. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote during the Civil war: “The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with peace on earth, good will to men.” It’s a nice thought, but peace and good will will not by themselves turn the trick. Accountability is needed. Has our democracy onl exisited up till now because the Nuremberg Trials were held? Would stronger enforcement of Reconstruction have prevented the 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden? Will we ever learn that no consequences means no accountability, and no accountability means the poison never leaves. White supremacists – not all of whom are whie, sadly – ARE the enemy, along with misogynists (and I should add that there is massive overlap.)

This from Heather Cox Richardson on April 9 because that was an important anniversary. Its relevance is not limited to that day – far from it. We are still dealing with consequences of decisions made then.

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Open Thread April 14 2025

 Posted by at 5:56 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 142025
 

Yesterday, John Fugelsang in his podcast had as guests God and Jesus from the “The God Pod” podcast. Like John himself, The God Pod is apparently serious but doesn’t take itself  seriously. I think it will make you laugh; it did me. It’s under 10 minutes and I wished it was longer. Also, Trinette was by to take my recyclables out (and trash if I had enough, but I didn’t.)Some weeks I have more that I need help with … but much or little, we enjoy each other’s company.

I hate to break it to pro-lifers, but – oh, wait, that’s not true. I am delighted to have the opportunity to break this to pro-lifers. There is another situation in which a fetus, or even a baby, is not a person. See today’s cartoon. It doesn’t appear that the medical people are using this as a defense, although they may well be and it didn’t get into the article. But this whole case is a strong argument for not letting celibate men (which, by the way, Scripture does not call for) decide the morality of reproductive matters with no input from women or even from married men.

I would file this CPR story under “No s**t, Sherlock” – but it seems to have escaped a lot of younger people, including highly educated ones, whose education may be somewhat deficient in history. In an autocracy, you don even need to f**k around to find out. Doing your job to the best of your ability appears more than enough.

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Open Thread April 13 2025

 Posted by at 5:56 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 132025
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” – or I should say “Die Zauberflöte,” since it was the full opera and in German – except for a few interpolated jokes by Papageno. Such as, in the second act when he and Tamino were supposed to be refraining from food, drink, and even speech, he whistled and then sang a snippet from “New York, New York,” quoting “These little=town blues,” to be exact. I think Emanuel Schickaneder, who wrote the libretto and was the first to play Papageno, would have loved it (he was quite the card himself, and an improviser.) Today’s audience certainly did. Also yesterday, ProPublica reported that both Leonard Leo and Charles Koch are among plaintiffs (both as parts of groups) suing the the Mango Monster over tariffs. Did you ever expect to be grateful to either of those two for anything – anything at all? I certainly didn’t. Also, I chose the video I did because virtually everyone is riffing on “Who Shot The Sheriff” – besides Don Caron, the Riccardis, Founders Sing and  Patrick Fitzgerald have all covered it – with slightly different lyrics, but the same issue – tariffs.

I’d call this very good news indeed. Colorado appears to contain some very courageous people – and, more importantly, have at least some of them in positions where it is needed.

I don’t want to post a single-source open thread, so I’ll need a third one. But this one even CPR marks as good news – which they can’t do on political stories very well.

Here’s some good climate news from Wonkette. “Doktor Zoom” is the writer there who is most into climate change news, though all are to some degree.

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Open Thread April 12 2025

 Posted by at 6:08 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 122025
 

On this date in 1945, we lost President Roosevelt. But, in spite of having to preside over a World War (which our side won, and I’m not sure we could have done so without him), he pushed for and got legislation which set us up for national prosperity which lasted 80 years. And which it has taken less than three months to trash.

I think I accidentally deleted the Open Thread for Friday.  And I have no backup.  So sorry.  If you had commented, that will also be gone.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/supreme-court-alien-enemies-act_n_67f56408e4b046bb946e0242
The Supreme Court has made several decisions regarding immigration and deportation. including good, bad, and indifferent. The net effect is not all that good. HuffPost explains.

https://www.theroot.com/michelle-obama-has-an-answer-for-those-who-think-her-ma-1851775610
If you are not on social media, and don’t follow black news outlets, you may not even be aware of the rumors. I was aware of them and was also pretty sure they were BS. But then, I have lived through a lot of the same kinds of interactions she has, so I know the territory. The little video in the middle is pretty short and really part of the article so I recommend not skipping it (and yes, the fact that I watched it does mean that The Root has stopped disappearing mid-read for me. Yay!)

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220226632
Be sure to at least scan the comments on the Democratic Underground post. I checked the link to Snopes, but feel free – it is a good solid link. Yes, this is what ICE is doing.

Belle Debit Card

Cat

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Open Thread April 10 2025

 Posted by at 5:53 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 102025
 

Yesterday, I watched the first ten minutes (the part that was free) of a video with Harry Litman who had Paul Krugman as his guest. Obviously, in ten minutes, they did not exhaust the subject, but they covered enough to make it worth watching IMO. I also want to note that so often we have remarked on how fast Presidents – real ones – age while in office. Well, Krugman is aging like a President. I was surprised, almost shocked, by how white his hair has become – all of it. I’m eight years older than he is and mine is not anywhere near that white.

This article is from The 19th, which, to quote their masthead, reports on “gender, politics, and policy.” I have to say that any Jewish Americans or LGBTQ+ Americans who are only now seeing echoes of history in the current regime need to fully wake up fast. And straight cis women should probably pay attention – if they can refuse to issue “X” passports, wat stops them from refusing “F” passports?

The F Team nails the regime – not surprising or even anything new. But cheer up. Axios cites an analyst who says we will likely not see the full impact of tariffs until June. so you still have some time to stock up on whatever you need to stock up on.

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Open Thread April 9 2025

 Posted by at 5:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 092025
 

Yesterday, a Federal judge reinstated AP to the White House Press Corps. Of course the Regime will appeal. You can find the full opinion at Axios (and probably elsewhere.)

This is Harry Litman‘s detailed discussion of the Supremes vacating Judge Boasberg’s order to get Mr. Garcia back from El Salvador yesterday (actually I believe it was two days ago now, but I’m referencing he expression “I want this done yesterday.”) It was a 5-4 verdict, and it caught my eye that it was a men against women split. And there were some caustic remarks in the dissenting opinions, as there should be when a literal group of dicks does something this despicable.

Pro Publica is also up in arms about civil right and DHS abuses thereof – as it should be. I mean, yes, I’m worried from month to month whether I will receive my Social Security funds, but I’m far more worried about people losing their civil rights – which could happen to anyone, any time, and while there may be recourse, recourse is always time consuming. People can and do die waiting.

Steve Schmidt referred his subscribers to this open letter from a Canadian to Americans (of good will – because that’s the only kind who can read it without their heads exploding [which actually reminds me of an old Burma Shave sign verse – yes, I’m that old.) It’s hardly flaming news, but it is something I don’t think most readers here would see without being pointed to it. And I found it inspiring. Elbows up!

Belle Elon

Dog

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Open Thread April 8 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 082025
 

Yesterday, the ACLU was in court defending Rümeysa Öztürk. But they have enough staffers that one could sent out a blanket email asking individuals to urge Congress to vote NO on any bill targeting immigrants and/or international students. In case you didn’t get it (I know many did besides me), here’s a link to the petition. Also, don’t anyone tell the regime, but I suspect SSA is sending payments out a little early (just in case someone tells them not to send them; it can be too late; already done.) Second month in a row. Also, I was in email jail all day. The blood work was easy and quick, but it was the second day in a row I was away from home for a good chunk of time, and things just piled up.

I’ll risk being accused of redundancy and share these four articles, one from Wonkette, another from Robert Hubbell, and the third from Colorado Public Radio. Some euphoria is healthy, particularly when one still has more work to do.  As we do.

A little dose of reality from John Pavlovitz. Not that we didn’t already know, but sometimes a pep talk is helpful.

Belle blame game

Cat

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Open Thread April 7 2025

 Posted by at 6:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 072025
 

Yesterday, I saw Virgil, found a deck of cards, and we played cribbage. We had a range of hands from awful to unusually good. Today I have an appointment to have blood work done again. My original appointment was cancelled and rescheduled twice – after the second time, instead of changing the day, I went back to the original day and changed the location. My original appointment was at the lab closest to me, but they have just undergone major repairs, and are struggling to pass all the inspections. The location I changed to is the one I got lost finding last time – now that I’ve been there once, that won’t happen again. I know exactly where it is and how to get there now.

In case anyone who participated in “Hands Off” didn’t get pictures, here are some samples. It must have been quite a day. There are so many and they are all so good I’m just going to give a string of links. There must have been close to a million, maybe more than a million, in the US. Andy Borowitz says there were half a million just on Fifth Avenue in NYC. And these links are just a sample.
Some here. More here. Also here. And here. Several states here. Several states here too.

I think Robyn (from Wonkette) may be on to something here. The only small town I have ever lived in was Alamosa, and it was a college town (now a university town.) The presence of liberal arts higher education tones down the Parochiality. As, may I add, does the presence of citizen neighbors in large numbers who speak a different language but have nonetheless been there for a lot longer than you have (and many of whom have PhDs.) So I didn’t find it a bad experience. But I’m sure small town exactly like what she describes are more the rule than the exception, and that their primary export may well be Karens.

John Pavlovitz, who always IMO has something to say worth thinking about, makes a confession here which will probably be no surprise to any reader – I think we’ve probably all said much the same at one time or another. But knowing it is not the same as actually feeling the full scope of it. This post and today’s other post are in different ways describing the same thing.

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