Apr 242025
 

Yesterday, The Mango Moron accused Volodymyr Zelensky of “sabotaging [the] U.S. peace plan for Ukraine” because of course he did. And a disagreement between Elon Musk and Scott Bessent “erupted into [a] West Wing shouting match.”

There’s a reason why Dan Froomkin calls his Substack “Press Watch” – because it’s all about, not just truth, but how truth should be presented. In other words – it should be read by journalists so that we don’t have to read it. Unfortunately, that isn’t happening. This article is a case in point.

I’ve never been a “first let’s kill all the lawyers” person. I do appreciate the jokes, and I may just tell one (with a slight twist) – but the lawyers we see on YouTube such as Glenn Kirschner, Michael Popok, and Harry Litman are honest and dedicated defenders of how the rule of law is needed to – and needs to – define and maintain democracy. This from Harry Litman I’m going to call a full disclosure post. (And may I suggest that the signers are in general also lawyers who can be trusted.) OK, joke. A man goes into a curio shop (in a place like Galveston, Atlantic City, or San Francisco – you’ll see why) and is fascinated by a brass rat. The owner advises him the rat has mysterious properties and warns him the price is non-refundable. He buys it anyway and leaves and continues walking around the city. Soon he notices he is being followed by rats, and that the number is increasing. As he continues walking the number of rats continues to grow, and he starts to run. The rats also start running, and there continue to be more and more of them. He speeds up and runs to the beach. When he gets there, he throws the brass rat as far out into the ocean as he can. All the rates follow it and drown. He then returns tot he curio shop, where the owner says, “I told you no refunds.” The man says, “I don’t want a refund. I want to know if you have any brass Trump** voters.”

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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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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.

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Jan 122025
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was “Rigoletto” by Giuseppe Verdi. It was the second opera I ever owned on vinyl. It’s also the opera from which a scene got me my A grade in conducting class. It’s notoriously dark, it had trouble with censorship (which was routine when everywhere was governed by an absolute monarch, and they were all terrified of looking bad, even just by proxy, so to speak), and the music is exquisite (and in places heartbreaking.) Noteworthy was the tenor, who is the very first opera singer born in Samoa, in his Met debut. Hearing him, I suspect his delay in singing at the Met may have been due to his being so in demand elsewhere that they just couldn’t get him. But all the principals were impressive. It’s an opera which draws tears, and then they piled on by picking this week for the annual review of people we lost last year. Somehow I missed the deaths of Seiji Ozawa and Lucine Amara (among others.) But it’s Sunday, so I’ll stop here and share an Andy Borowitz take on more current events. And, if anyone is interested, Robert Hubbell has transcribed Judge Merchan’s complete remarks from the sentencing Friday. Not that the Canteloupe Caligula will hear, understand, or care. But he was pretty clear in distinguishing between the public office and the person who holds it.

well, this is something new. I know we have at least a few readers who ar into astronomy, and that light pollution is a problem for anyone who wants to watch the stars, planets, galaxies, etc. I would also warn anyone over 50 that the San Luis Valley is mostly more than 7500 feet above sea level, and if you have any heart or respiratory issues, you should consult your medical team before planning a trip (and it isn’t open yet anyway.) Living at 6500 feet as I do, it would almost certainly not bother me. But it isn’t, sadly, possible to make lenses which would allow me to aee what everyone else sees when they look at the sky, so it would be wasted on me. Still, I’m all for it. And Mosca is a good location. Roughly 15 miles north of Alamosa – a college (excuse me, now a university) town – close enough to get to easily and far enough to provide a good dark sky.  And now I’m off to see Virgil, and will check in when I get home.

It’s telling that the only good news I noticed this week was from Colorado Public Radio (at least this week, CPR is cpr for the soul). And I’m well aware that people close to my age (and many of us are), old enough to remember “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, are going to be very skeptical. I was. But this treatment appears to be working very well for this young man, and the smile on his face in the accompanying photo is evidential. Especially compared to the second photo. I wish him and his family the best.

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Dec 272024
 

Yesterday, Colorado Public Radio newsletter sent this. A little late. I knew this existed, and the origin story, but there’s more detail in the article. Fortunately there are still enough people who have the Christmas Spirit to keep it going. And enough kids to enjoy it.

I find it difficult to believe that anyone at The F* News would believe in any kind of miracle – and this isn’t one IMO – the 46% he and The Conference Board refer to are all people who voted for Kamala, or would have had they voted. But it’s an eye-catching header. We can hope that it gets widely read and quoted.

Harry Litman of Talking Feds calls this a “change of pace” post, which is certainly an understatement. But I have no problem taking time to recognize that these people to whom we go for expertise and wisdom are also human, and have human likes and dislikes. And he also has a list of podcasts he has made and will be continuing to make, which “dive deep into seven critical areas where Trump will be looking to attack government as we know it.” Four have already aired, but are still available (and I assume transcripts are also. At least I hope so.) The next one, coming up Monday – well, I’m thrilled that he considers my state’s attorney general to be “pure gold.” I certainly do, but what do I know.

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Dec 262024
 

Yesterday, I continued knitting, finishing a couple of small things. I also tried a cup of coffee flavored with Torani’s white chocolate flavor syrup. The flavor of white chocolate seems to me such an unobtrusive, mild flavor that I wasn’t expecting much, but they nailed it ) Earlier this month they sent me an email announcing it was their 100th anniversary. I’ve dealt with them before – they’ve always made more flavors than you’ll ever see in the stores, but I wasn’t prepared for just how many they do make. I splurged on a sampler pack of flavors designed to go with coffee, and the white chocolate was one of those. Also, I stepped away from the computer for a while because the mouse I am now using is one that you never have to change the battery, but you do have to charge it periodically, and it ran out of charge. It’s charged now obviously, since this post is up. I hope y’all had as peaceful a day as mine, whatever, if anything, you celebrate.

This, by Marc Elias, was recommended by Joyce Vance a few days ago, and I put it aside until after Christmas. Maybe I should have put it aside until after New Year’s Day, hoping we would all gather more strength by then to grasp it and act on it. But here it is. I have to hope that he is at least correct in not expecting us to have a full-blown fascist government. I am not so confident.

Heather Cox Richardson on the history of polarization in the United States, starting with Nixon. To my mind she omits the one thing Gingrich did which had the most dire consequences, although there is plenty of evidence without it. (He removed the requirement for Congressfolk to maintain a residence in DC. Yes, that could be reinstated, but it would take far longer to build trust back again than it required to deteriorate it.)

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Dec 162024
 

Yesterday, I visited Virgil and we played cribbage. The deck of cars was practically brand new – I suspect it was brand new and just had a small defect, about a quarter inch tear in the side of the 3 of spades. If anyone remembers the “Bicycle” brand of playing cards, you may or may not now that nowadays they are going by “Motorbike.” That gave me a chuckle. Also, besides the yo jokers, they now add a third non-playable card with tips on how to tell if you are playing with someone who fakes cards. Sigh. Virgil continues to get more forgetful, but we still love each other and enjoy each other’s company, including card playing, and neither of us forgets that.

This is from Jezebel, to which Wonkette pointed me. Too bad Luigi Mangione is otherwise engaged. The Idaho government needs a visit from him or someone like him.

Wonkette also subscribes to Campaign Trail which posted this. Karma is only a bitch to you if you are a bitch to her. but if you are a bitch to her, she’s a real bitch.

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Nov 112024
 

Yesterday, I didn’t accomplish much. Trinette came by and I nad no trash to take out – only recyclables, and not that much of those. But at least I has baked the gluten free oay flour cookies so I was able to share them with her. This Wednesday, I have a medical appointment which I am a bit on edge about, so I may not be as conscientious with typos etc, (and goodness i have enough pf those even when I am doing best conscientious.) After almost 30 years with the same PCP it’s tough to be looking for a new one. I think I’m prepared, but I not even all that crazy about nice surprises, and I certainly don’t want any which are not so nice.

HuffPost may be jumping the gun by a couple of months, but that short time is relatively zero in the scheme of things. Ugly as it is, we need to look at it.

This is from The F-ing News. I have not seen it elsewhere. Feel free to scream.

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