Mar 132025
 

Yesterday, the first thing I did was check to see whether my Social Security had arrived. It had. So it’s replacement computer time. I’m still working on getting everything I will need either onto a portable hard drive or changed on the Net, Bu I can slow down a little. Incidentally, if you have ever wanted to say SOB (in full) in a different language, I have a few for you:
German Hündinsohn
French Fils de chienne
Italian Cagnafiglio
Greek skýla gios
Ukrainian сучий син (transliterated suchyy syn)
I know enough French, German, and Italian to be pretty sure those work. But my Greek is classical. That’s a transliteration. And my Ukrainian is non-existent, so that’s pure Google Translate. But I thought it would be really handy. (BTW in Italian “gn” and “gl” are pronounced “ny” and “ly” respectively. So, “canyafeelyio.”)

PolitiZoom‘s article speaks for itself. My personal feeling is that anyone who has a personal relationship with the Clementine Caligula should be barred from having any weapons of any kind for life. But that’s probably just me.

Yes, I know Ash Wednesday was yesterday. But I am very proud of my co-religionists for coming up with this, and it’s not too late. It’s never too late to do the right thing.

Several sources of mine have referred to this article from the Atlantic (which I just got around to) in regard to Elon Musk (AKA Dork Vader). I only knew of it as the drug with which Elijah McClain was overdosed with by paramedics – and which killed him. It was the sub-head of the article which grabbed me: “can make anyone feel like they rule the world.” For anyone who doesn’t know, Virgil is a recovering alcoholic (now about 38 years sober) and when we were engaged and first married, I went to a lot of AlAnon meetings, but also to a lot of open AA meetings with him. The latter included a lot of sharing of personal stories. I think everyone who has ever had a drink or two believes they know exactly what it feels like to be “high” on alcohol, and outside of an AA meeting, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone else actually describe their feelings in that condition. But if we think we know something, we may not listen as carefully when it is discussed. I speak from experience. It took me a couple of years to actually hear and process those stories. And they had this in common: every recovering alcoholic said that when they were drinking they felt “in control.” It’s not a big jump from feeling “in control” to feeling “like they rule the world.” Do I even need to say I have never felt anything remotely like that with alcohol? Because I certainly haven’t. If I had ever found anything which did give me that feeling, it would be extremely difficult for me to stop using it. Not that I have ever been looking!

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Mar 112025
 

Yesterday, as I hinted Sunday would happen, I slept very late. But I did have time to discover that at least some merchants will allow a customer to change their email address, even if it is also the user name, without changing anything else in the account. Of course they want a second form of verification, but it doesn’t have to be by text, it can be by email or landline. I didn’t het many changed, but I am quite relieved. And I managed to put this together. I also found a couple of Belle eposide worth sharing, and as I almost always do, looked t=at the end for other videos wich might be ineresting. I was drawn to a speech by David Brooks. I’ve not been a fan of Brooks, but he started with acceptinf responsibility for what he and others of his ilk did to America, and demonstrated that he can laugh at imself, so I stayed. Toward the end, he parapgrased T. S. Eliot in a quote which spoke to me so loudly, I had to look it up, and will eventually put it into a meme. But not today.

https://harrylitman.substack.com
Harry Litman is a contributor – I think a founding contributor – to The Contrarian, but hw he has also kept his own Substack, “Talking Feds.” The attorney who joined Meidas Touch with his “Legal AF” is Michael Popok. And then there’s Joyce Vance (“Civil Discourse.”) All three are former DOJ prosecutors, and very familiar with how it is supposed to work. (I’m not intending to diss Glenn Kirschmer “Justice Matters” nor Andrew Weissman “Andrew Weissman” in the same categories.) In this article he has written a thought experiment rather than news. I won’t say you can find news anywhere, because you can’t, but you do have a lot of resources where you can find actual news. A thought experiment is harder to come by (although it may bee no less depressing.)

And then there’s John Pavlovitz, who wants us to hang on to hope without falling into complacency, challenging as that may be, and is always worthy of attention.

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Mar 092025
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Puccini’s “La Boheme” – a very short and very tragic opera which was the first vinyl recorded opera I ever bought – and then within ten years bought again with a different cast afer the lead tenor in the second recording died – because he – Richard Tucker – was such a legend I was afraid if I didn’t buy it right away it would sell out. It’s short – without intermissions it’s under two hours – but it packs a punch. Also, as is only to be expected at my age, during the broadcast I learned of the death of someone else I cared about – bass Paul Plishka, who I mentioned in passing a while ago while talking about the Kennedy Center. At least he didn’t die young -he had a 51 year career, and left a legacy which includes a reputation for kindness to all but particularly to young (nervous) singers. Rest in peace, Paul. Next week I’ll gave more to say about the opera, which will have the theme of courageous opposition to political corruption (and political revenge.) Also yesterday I was (and still am) coping with changing my email address – and preparing to visit Virgil today. But I’ll manage to check in in a comment as always. Also, I put in a substitute for Belle today – Rocky Mountain Mike – to keep it upbeat. I hope he gives you a chuckle.

This from Colorado Public Radio is a bit on the old side, but since it’s still in the early stages I don’t think that matters. I kind of hope to be around to see the finished project. One thing, no one on this project would censor a military history photo of the “Enola Gay,” which the current administration is doing, for heaven’s sake.

This comes from Democratic Underground, and it’s not exactly news – in fact it’s from prehistory – but it is hard evidence (literally hard) that love transcends time. The farther I read into it, the more deeply I was touched. And you can see from the comments that that was a common response.

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Mar 062025
 

Yesterday, a petition I signed for Care2 reminded me vividly of “The Kennel Murder Mystery,” a Philo Vance mystery by S.S. Van Dine. The Vance novels are not for everyone, not even for every mystery fan. The series ran in the 1920s and 1930a, and in the 1920s it was the fashion for young men of some means to be eccentric, and Vance was probably the most eccentric, to the point that this jingle became what we would today call viral: “Philo Vance/needs a kick in the pance.” (Off topic, but wouldn’t that work nicely with the substitution of J.D. for Philo?) The Kennel Murder Mystery is from the 30’s and one critic said it was the best of the later ones because it was a locked room mystery and because in it Vance was “less unbearably obnoxious than usual.” But I digress. From time to time a petition, particularly one involving dog abuse, will remind me of this novel, and the look in the eyes of the dog in this photo pushed that button. The content in question is in Chapter 19 (or XIX), and i see the link I copied should take you directly to that chapter – but it doesn’t. But putting “As we approached the western entrance to the park” take you right to the place to start. There are several points to stop at, but when Vance says he wants to talk to Liang, the episode is as over as it’s going to get. I went a bit farther and found this quote from Lao-Tzu: “he who abuses the weak is eventually destroyed by his own weakness.” It might make a decent protest poster.

On Monday, I received a “Damn-giver Dispatch” from John Pavlovitz, and decided I needed more. So I signed up for a free subscription to his Substack (“The Beautiful Mess”) When I got there and started looking, I discovered that one of his posts there has been picked up by MoveOn and turned into a petition – not that it’s asking for anything, but to provide a vehicle to get it to the person to whom it is addressed, and to express the number of people who are in agreement. He certainly speaks for me, so of course I signed it. The link here is to the column – the petition link is at the bottom (before the comments). speaking of Substack, I seem to remember when I started linking to Substack articles and the “please subscribe” request looked like a paywall, saying something like “Please get adjusted because this thing is growing so fast that just about everyone who has something helpful to say will be on it.”  Well, I also got an email from Theater of War – and checked the email address – and yup TOW is now on Substack. [The Pavlovitz and the ProPublics article below were intended for Tuesday.]

ProPublica’s weekly “The Big Story” newsletter from Saturday was just packed with news, most of which others are not covering. Fortunately, they provide a “view in browser” link – which as you know not everyone does.

I don’t suppose anyone here doesn’t know this now. Although you may not know just how far back it goes. Evan Hurst with Wonkette also has his own Substack, titled “The Moral High Ground.” Having that mind set, he sees things which other sometimes miss.

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Mar 032025
 

Yesterday, I signed a couple of petitions for LeftClick, which is now using Care2 as a platform, at least sometimes, and at least these two. Both were addressed to the people of Ukraine. Both were offering apologies to them and expressing support. One was for the Mango Monster being an idiot. The other was for the Hillbilly Huckster being a jerk. Both expressed something like “We know you don’t need this, especially when you are fighting for your existence.” Seldom have I been in so much and so passionate agreement with a petition – and I’ve been passionate about a lot that I have signed. Also, is anyone here interested in getting stickers of Trump** saying “I did that!” to put on products ot product labels showing highly inflated prices, or closed federal buildings, or any other indicator of a catastrophe which this administration is responsible for? Progressive Change Campaign Committee is offering them for as little as a $5 donation. Check out the offer at ActBlue. Oh, and the night before the volcano went off in the White House, Mary Trump and Alex Vindman did a live streamed convo on Substack which is now available to all, here (it’s about an hour, but there’s a transcript).

https://www.marytrump.org/p/live-with-alexander-vindman

Well, this from HuffPost is not exactly encouraging – but it certainly is honest. And honesty, integrity, truth are the first steps to ending authoritarian regimes. And at the site of the article was a link to this story, which graphically shows what it looks like.

Yes I realize this news from The F* News is news from last week. I’ll always try to get critical breaking news up when I can (probably mostly in comments since I do work ahead as much as possible), but when I can’t get it to you that fast I go for analysis, clarity, and attitude.


Source and Background

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Mar 022025
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Bizet’s “Carmen.” I doubt I have to say anything about the plot, but this is a recording from 2010 wth Robertu Alagna and Elīna Garanča, which may have been a Live in HD presentation, and if it was, I saw it on television, back in the day when it was easy to get multiple channels without cable. You may laugh at what I remember … but one of the features in the production was that as Don Josê got farther and farther from respectability, they want to show that his hair had grown. (Wigs are nothing new at the Met – many people with perfectly good hair use them, and sometimes a production will require one or more as in this production.) By the time they got to act four it was a wig at or a little below the shoulder. Between the stage business and the lighting, it made Alagna look like Alan Rickman playing Snape. (If you have read the last book and/or seen the last two movies, you know that killing the woman he loved is NOT something Snape would ever have done, no matter how jealous he was.) I know the opera well – have even played second violin in a college orchestra in the seventies (not well I’m afraid, but I worked hard.) If I hadn’t I would have been so distracted I’d have completely lost the plot. I even found an email address for the lighting designer and asked whether that was in tended (it wasn’t. And it’s impossible to predict what people will actually see in a production.) If I’m right, and that’s the same one, it was enough to make me forget Barbara Frittoli and Teddy Tahu Rhodes (there is an actual website called “Barihunks,” and he is one). On another subject, I want to mention “Americans of Conscience.” This is a good site to have in your playbook, especially if you are fit and wanting to do something but don’t know what. Even I, who have issues these days with activity, can find something in their site – in their gratitude section, I can send thank you notes to people who have displayed courage and doing the right thing. I would look at their cookies and opt out of the non-necessary ones, but then I mostly do that anyway. They use WordPress, as do we, so they may already have anything they would collect. In Friday’s email they listed five people to thank and I thanked four of them – I could not bring myself to thank Susan Collins for voting the right way on a Trump** nominee. Had her vote prevailed, I might have, but it didn’t. One other thing – After finding the Ukrainian government’s GoFundMe-like site Friday, I subscribed to it, and yesterday I got the first email from it. They are not letting any grass grow under their feet. They are making 100 Tshirts with this quote from Zelenskyy’s – whatever it’s called when someone is attacked by a mob – Friday: “I’ll wear the costume when this war is over.” And anyone who donates from the email (or possibly just at the website for a limited time) will be entered into a drawing for one.

Wonkette‘s story here is I think mixed rather than totally good. But it does have enough smiles in it that I wanted to share it.

This, also from Wonkette, I consider very good. It’s a little less new, but I hope worth waiting for. I’m not crazy about the point of law on which they based the decision, which is that in order to vacate a conviction the defendant’s constitutional rights must have been violated in some way. And this is almost certainly not the time nor the Congress to ask to pass a law that a conviction may be vacated if there is proof of actual innocence even if there wasa just a good faith mistake. But maybe that’s something to look at.

This is from USA Today, and I would not have seen it had not Faithful America referred me to it. But I’d say it’s good news as far as it goes. It would be better news if there were anyone in this Justice Department who would enforce it (or allow it to be enforced.)

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Feb 282025
 

Today is the day we are all supposed to avoid buying anything, in person or on line. Robert Reich is one of those calling for this action. The more who participate the better, as there will always be some who didn’t get the words, and some who will over-buy just to spite us. Today is also the beginning of Ramadan. It can come at any time of the year, being based on a specific lunar calendar unique to Islam, but when it comes at this time of the year, it can be tempting to think “Oh, that’a the Islamic version of Lent.” It isn’t. Both involve fasting, sure, but with a different approach. With Lent the approach is penitential, and it’s nos supposed to be fun. In Islam, the fasting is approached with joy. And while both come to an end of triumph of some kind, that too is different from the Christian calendar. There’s a big gap between being gifted with the Holy Book and rising from the dead. I am not in any way about to say the one is better – rather I hope to call a little attention to the fact that loving our neighbors becomes easier if we are open to looking at our similarities and differences though others’ eyes and not just through our own.

Mary Trump is, quite reasonably, not happy that main stream media outlets are not taking the danger we are in seriously. And she is right. There are a few people on MSN we can still trust – but we have to wonder for how long. And being able to trust a few individuals does not mean being able to trust the station. I was aware of each point Mary made before reading this, and I expect all the readers here were also. But that’s because we care. So many people don’t – so many claim to “not do politics” and apparently have no idea that politics does them. Sigh.

Robert Reich sums it up. Not everyone on Substack allows unpaid subscribers to read comments – but Reich does. And his readers mange to have actual conversations (which you can see by clicking on the number of replies listed under each post shown.)

ProPublica exposes the collaboration of HUD. Although with all the Mango Monster’s nominees getting confirmed, I don’t expect them to be alone. What’s happening at Defense may be the most obviously scary, but there is plenty of other damage which is being done.

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Feb 272025
 

Yesterday, I discovered that the reason my Win10 desktop will not run or even load any games is that, though it has a 64bit processor, it only has a 32bit OS. Yes, it took me long enough to figure that out. And upgrading the OS is going to be a time consuming and tedious process spanning multiple (not necessarily consecutive) days. At least my 8.1 will still run them, so I can take my time. Rushing something like this is a great way to lose data. (At least, if I scream a lot, y’all won’t have to hear me. 🙂 Also, here’s a link to a petition which, in my not so humble opinion, should have way more signers than it has, or even than the sponsor is asking for. See what you think.

It’s all too easy, with so much chaos here, to forget that there’s a world out there – and that we are being watched and judged by it. But it’s the case. Heather Cox Richardson looks at it – and at the contrast in the way we were seen in the previous administration, as opposed to how we are seen now. Embarrassing as it is, I think this change is a good thing. If the rest of the world, particularly Europe, were to sound approving of us right now, I’d be far more worried than I am.

Well, it’s here. The 19th reports the first death of a child caused by measles from an outbreak in like 30 years (There was an isolated on in 2018 which may have involved international travel in some way, but there was not an outbreak. Now there is – about 129 kids in west Texas are measles patients.) I think the details are such that your reaction, like mine, will be “Well, we tried to warn you.” I still have all my extra masks from CoViD and intend to use them if necessary.

Yes, a third article, this one from Wonkette. I feel like a broken record saying “We tried to warn you.” But here we are.

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