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.

Share
Apr 052025
 

Yesterday, Meidas Touch Substack posted a (just over 20 minute) video of a conversation between Ben Meiselas and Gavin Newsom. If you have raised your eyebrows over a few remarks he’s made or things he’s done lately, this might be a good place to come for clarification (though you may still not agree). I didn’t find a transcript, but there is a text summary and a large load of comments.

Colorado Public Radio (although just about everyone has the story) provides evidence that bipartisanship may be on its last legs and gasping for breath, it’s not dead yet. And if it’s saved, it may well be women who save it.

This from Democratic Underground (originally from the Atlantic) has been around for a couple of months. It doesn’t appear to me to have aged at all, so I’m putting it out now.

This from DU, on the other hand, is new. It puts us, and particularly our government, to shame.

Share
Apr 022025
 

Yesterday, both Steve Schmidt and Wonkette singled out the same Senator for praise – Cory Booker. Both are on our side, but they are not the same, so I find this noteworthy. Both were focused on his talking filibuster. I hope this praise will both call attention to how many voters approve of bold action, and inspire other Congressional Dems to do more of it. I had already noticed that it is starting to look as though the Tangerine Palpitine’s regime is getting a little pushback, and likely to get more, from at least some of the Courts. Jen Rubin at the Contrarian ran through some of it on Monday – and pointed out that there is more she did not mention. I am not (nor is she) suggesting we count on the courts to save us. For one thing, the Courts themselves will need loud public support. They won’t get it from this regime.

If I’m reading Harry correctly, and I think I am, he is making the point here that it’s not the individual lies, however disgusting and calumnious they may be, that make the Mango Monster’s regime so very dangerous, as it is the lack of respect for truth itself which is so fatally destructive to democracy. And in the long run he is certainly correct. I really think there are way too many Americans who don’t care much about truth in the abstract and don’t realize how important insistence on the truth is to all our (and our children’s and grandchildren’s) futures. And, incidentally, the House gave its middle finger to Mike Johnson over proxy voting.

And, here at The F* News, is exhibit A. The headline is absolutely correct. The number of people who are saying so (and that includes God knows how many people said so once but no longer are) is staggering. If you give up on truth, you give up on literally everything.

Share
Apr 012025
 

Yesterday, I received a petition from Faithful America. Here is a link. I’m not specifically asking anyone here to sign the petition, though of course you can if so moved. Instead, what I want y’all to see here is the back story, and specifically the words of the church’s pastor. TomCat would have been as proud of this statement as I am. He from time to time wrote about authentic Christians as opposed to pseudo-Christians. Both kinds are all over, without regard to denomination or the frequency with which they “go to church.”

This is a guest post to Wonkette by Ali Davis. I don’t know the correct pronouns, so I’ll use they/them. Ali has their own Substack, which appears new, (only 2 posts there including this one), but appears to be speaking toRepublicans, particularly Congressional Republicans, who are closet ant-Trumpers. I don’t know how to get their posts in the attention of the intended audience (I’m pretty sure that Wonkette is not it, but I appreciate Wonkette republishing it so we can read it), but between this one and the first one (which I found by clicking on the live link on their name at the bottom of the post), I can say they address the real issues that no one else is speaking about to that intended audience, and quite frankly too. If you have a Republican Congresscritter or Senator who at least used to be halfway sane, you could do worse than sneak a copy of either article, or both articles, to them.


I may not need that sarcasm tag for this blog, but I want to be sure no one has even a single-point rise in blood pressure from The F* News here. Certainly as you read you’ll see where he’s going with this – “put up or shut up” and there’s nothing to put up. It’s cleverly done, certainly.

Share
Mar 302025
 

Yesterday, The radio opera was Jake Heggie’s “Moby Dick.” I was a little deflated that two of the six main singers has been replaced, but it’s really more of an ensemble piece than a star turn, plus the other four were still there. Heggie and his librettist chose to call the narrator “Greenhorn” until the very end – but uses the same music for when he does sing “Call me Ishmael” at the end to open it. Twelve years ago (Wikipedia gives the date as 2013), I saw this opera on TV performed in San Francisco in, quite possibly, the same production, one which used a vertical cyc which could be climbed to suggest the depths of the sea. That’s probably not a technically correct description. but this photo from the Met’s web page surely looks like what I remember.

It was that production which is on the DVD – I think even the same performance. And very powerful both then and now. Also yesterday, I was finally able to confirm that today is in fact Eid al-fitr, and not tomorrow. It depends on the sighting of the moon which can’t be done in advance. I can’t reference any dates, as the entire Muslim calendar is so dependent on the sightings of the moon that Ramadan and Eid al-fitr can be literally at any time of the year. Also yesterday, Steve Schmidt called the Mango Monster’s administration “the Trump** Regime” and will refer to it by that term from here on out.

https://www.getty.edu/news/medieval-feminist-manuscript-getty-acquisition-christine-de-pizan/
I’d say it’s good news that the Getty Museum is putting this book from the 15th century by Christine de Pizan on display in Women’s History Month, which some of us still celebrate despite the barbarians in the palace. But maybe not so much for the obvious reason. Rather, because it’s good to be reminded of just how deep misogyny has always run, still runs, and will coninue to run unless we take the right steps to oppose it – if it’s even possible to make a dent. Yes, a few people will “just come around.” But the vast majority will never come around, although they may shut up for a while if pushed to the wall. But they will still vote. It’s barely 70 days into the Jsckfruit Jackass’s regime, and already Democrats are talking about nominating a strong woman in 2028. Apparently they still cannot see that this would be the surest way to seal and deliver permanent authoritarianism to the United States. I hate that that is true. But when did good ever come of refusing to see truth?

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/publishers-roundup-11
I’d call this very good news indeed from Norm Eisen, cofounder and publisher of The Contrarian, and a colleague. You might find the information elsewhere, but probably in bits and pieces – and it’s the roundup which makes it so inspiring, at least to me.

Share
Mar 282025
 

Yesterday, Ilhan Omar announced that she is proposing Articles of Impeachment for Hegseth, Waltz, and Ratcliffe over Signal-Gate. That was a scoop from Axios – I went to the site but what more they has was mostly possibiities and speculation. Of course, by today they may have more. Meanwhile (also from Axios), in the Senate, sixteen Dems led by Jacky Rosen have signed a letter proposing a massive investigation of the debacle. And at least one Republican Senator has called for an IG inspection (do we still have any IGs though?). Finally, in an unrelated piece of news, the Sundance Festival will be moving to Boulder, CO, in 2026. Colorado film junkies and residents of Boulder are over the moon.

Something that happened Wednesday and which y’all may have missed is I believe worthy of note. A Turkish PhD candidate on a student visa was essentially kidnapped off the street by DHS agents for an op-ed she published in the college newspaper last year. The F* News (an alum of that college), Wonkette, and Talking Points Memo all have the story, as does the Associated Press (which provided this video) but I haven’t seen it elsewhere yet. It’s hard to say whether we will see it elsewhere. “In [the United States] today, such things happen every minute.” The student’s name is Rumeysa Ozturk.

https://substack.com/home/post/p-159929854
Well, this didn’t take long. I wish the plaintiffs the best of luck – since they are representing the Constitution, and therefore us. I might also recommend a video conversation on Substack between Harry Litman and Malcolm Nance, mostly about the gravity of the situation, but also addressing the merits of potential remedies.

One more article on Signal-Gate, this one from Robert Hubbell. Except it’s not so much about Signal-Gate as it is about messaging, and what we can learn about messaging from Republicans, even though handicapped by our need to stick to the truth. We might at least consider replacing “But her emails” with “But his Signals.”

I don’t suppose Robert Reich says anything in here that we don’t already know. But I like lists. They tend to put raw data into an order, making it easier to digest and easier to discuss as well.

Share
Mar 262025
 

Yesterday, ProPublica released the results of an investigation they did into “Terrorgram.” They worked in cooperation with PBS’s “Frontline,” and if you watch it regularly, you saw this last night. if not, you can read about it here, and or pick up links to YouTube, the PBS a[[, and Frontline’s website, and watch it at one of those. Only by knowing how these – people – operate can we hope to detect them and report them. Also yesterday, Louis DeJoy resigned – at the worst possible time. Just at the right moment for the Valencia Vlad-the-Impaler to appoint a lunatic who will buy and privatize the Postal Service. Is Philadelphia having earthquakes? Benjamin Franklin is probably finding that turning over is not enough, and taking up break dancing instead.

Yeah, “The Week Ahead” is late. But she has put together a number of related ideas that are being mentioned, but mostly not together, and personalizing it from her own experience.

Also late, and also from Joyce Vance, a discussion of something Judge Boasberg might do (or, of course, might not, but he seems like someone who might.) Incidentally, if you see anyone refer to him as “Jeb” Boasberg, J.E.B. are his initials. There is precedent for the nickname.

This is old from Wonkette also. But it is so surreal that I couldn’t resist.

Share
Mar 232025
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was a double bill of Ravel’s “L’enfant et les sortilèges” (on the one hundredth anniversary, to the day, of its premier) and Poulanc’s “Les Mamelles de Tirésias.” The former “is the story of a rude child who is reprimanded by the objects in his room, which he has been destroying. After being scolded by his mother in the beginning of the opera, the child throws a tantrum, destroying the room around him and harming the animals nearby. He is then surprised to find that the unhappy objects in his room come to life.” (Wikikpedia) The latter is absurdist, in the literary sense, which was written and performed right after the first World War. It takes off on the idea of Tiresias having been “the only human ever to have experienced being a man and also being a woman” (without surgery – since Tiresias was a mythical character dating from about 1000 BCE). Its premise is to convince French people to be as fertile as possible in order to replenish the population losses of the Great War. It has a plot, but that plot is so absurd I’m not going there.  Off to see Virgil now – will check back in in a comment.

Yes, I’m having to go to sites like Good New Network to find anything calm enough for Sundays. And, while current, this story harks back to history – not just the obvious WWII history, but back to the Middle Ages. Take that, “Monument Men.”

Colorado Public Radio  often has good news, but I’m behind (surprise, surprise!) on reading their newsletters. I found this story from Grist by searching sites which specialize in finding good news – a particular site which additionally specializes in finding happy stories written by proven, experienced, real journalists. It’s about what locals are doing to speed recovery from the devastating wildfires in California so recently.

Share