Open Thread March 7 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 072025
 

Yesterday, as if I needed another problem, Yahoo Mail decided to change its format to onw which is completely unacceptable. So, if you have me in your contacts, please change my email address to jvdix@tutamail.com. I’ll have to have the yahoo account open for a while because for at least some things I subscribe to the only way the change the address is subscribe under the new address and unsubscribe under the old one – and there doesn’t seem to be any simple way to transfer contacts. Because I work ahead you can expect new posts for a few days at least – and if I need to take some days off, I recommend checking at one of the following – Talking Points Memo, The Contrarian, or ProPublica. The first two are good at looking at and picking up a wide spectrum of news. The last is strong on doing its own investigations and digging up the dirt. Y’all mostly also have your own sources and may not need to come here, and that’s fine. I’m subbing a Randy Rainbow for Belle today to give myself an extra day’s time – I have started it just after the advertising – but his sponsor, Ground News appears to be another good general source, so there’s that.

Steve Schmidt has a daughter who is a career skiier. After JD Vance went skiing, she sent this rant to her dad, who published it Wednesday. (When I saw the title, I thought of “jerry” as being the World War II term for Nazis among English speaking allied countries. But it is a skiing term and apparently unrelated to the WWII usage.) I find a righteous rant cathartic – if you don’t, feel free to skip this one.

I didn’t watch the State of the Union address Tuesday. I have enough trouble watching speeches by people who are competent. I also figured if I was encouraging my Dem Senators to boycott it (which they didn’t), I was more than justified in doing so myself. I did, after the fact, hear about Al Green, though not in as much detail as here in The F* News, including the details of the consequences and/or lack thereof for comparable acts historically. I think it’s important to give him credit for the courage which so many of our elected representatives in both Houses seem to lack. Of course they have voted to censure him. Barf.

And speaking of attention – certainly any honest outlet (which Axios more or less is) which came upon this information is doing the right thing to release it immediately. But I can’t help but wonder how much of it will disappear in the fallout from the SotU and other distractions.

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Open Thread March 5 2025

 Posted by at 6:07 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 052025
 

Yesterday, The computer I keep the most up to date things on still wasn’t booting. I did some looking up on the other computer, did a little playing around in the system settings, and surprisingly (at least to me) got it to boot. Checking what I did against what I had planned, I hadn’t done too badly. I’m including a few items today which were lost from yesterday, and the rest tomorrow. Thanks for bearing with me. One thing I did fail to mention is that Trinette has been unwell for a bit over a week now – she is getting better, but it’s slow. I’m sure she would appreciate prayers, healing vibes, or however you communicate with the universe (and I would also appreciate on her behalf.)

Heather Cox Richardson from (late) Saturday and including a previously aired interview even older. But some things take time to reveal themselves, and I think this may be one.

Wonkette got the title wrong – it’s clear from the article the correct figure is $2,400 a year. Which makes it even more disgusting that it was blocked. Wealthy people already get a free ride. But they still want even more.

Wonkette is singing my song. Someone should respond to some of these gripes with something like “Tell me you are both ignorant and insecure without telling me you are both ignorant and insecure.” Also, I have noticed (and I never use the phone for anything which can be done by email) that companies are NOT using “Press 1 for English” or anything similar in their menus – haven’t for years. They do have “Press 5 [or whatever] for Spanish,” but it’s clear English is assumed to be the default. If these snowflakes didn’t know that, they can’t be using  phones for personal business much, if at all. Also, with regard to the poster from World War II, I might point out that, in a war, if no one on our side can “speak the enemy’s language,” it is impossible to get any kind of intelligence, which almost certainly will cost lives. That is why the Diné code talkers were such game changers. (It’s pretty easy to tell when something pushes my buttons, isn’t it.

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Open Thread February 27 2025

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
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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Open Thread December 20 2024

 Posted by at 6:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 202024
 

Yesterday, I was having computer issues again. I’m not in the greatest of moods. If this is up in the morning today, you’ll know I managed to get it up – and then essentially quit for the day.

Of course, no single article (probably no single book) can actually go into Every single aspect of patriarchy which makes it both so awful and so unassailable. I don’t even think Wonkette is trying to do that here. But if you are still wondering why Kamala did not win, or why I am saying at every opportunity to say it that Democrats simply cannot afford to sacrifice the best and brightest of our women on the altar of equality, it may give you a glimpse of the answers.

The 19th has some new information about air pollution. I remember a time when one could take the air one breathes for granted. When I say I remember, I mean I just barely remember – and I am 79. I suspect not all of our readers will remember this at all. Humans can be very, very slow learners – a fact which generally only becomes noticed when everyone’s health is threatened – and even then, many don’t notice – or care.

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Open Thread March 17, 2023

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 172023
 

Yesterday, I got an email from Move On, who have an insidious plot. They did not post the contents of the letter so I can’t provide a link, and will summarize. They want to put up three billboards with quotes on the route which Trump** must use to get to the airport, since his Mar-a-Lago heliport is gone. They want each one to highlight a different Tucker Carson text from the trove in which he admittied he does not care for Trump** This, they believe, will cause Trump** to post – let’s say shade – at Carlson every time he takes that road. This will cause Tucker’s viewers to leave him. That’s far more than they say even at the donation site. I think they don’t want the right to get even a hint of it unless and until it’s a done deal. That’s a pity, because it’s quite amusing, but it’s a good strategy. If and when they get the billboards up, we can share the details. Also, I got The New Yorker’s Name Drop answer from the first clue – and actually, any of the clues alone would have given me the correct answer. In this case it was just someone I know so much about that it would have been difficult to wrtie a clue whivh wouldn’t have given me the answer immediately.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

CPR News – As gun deaths rise, Colorado is trying something new — a public health approach to gun violence prevention
Quote – In a first-of-its-kind partnership, the Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is teaming up with researchers from the Injury and Violence Prevention Center in the Colorado School of Public Health. They’ll create and maintain a resource bank of regularly updated and accurate materials regarding gun violence in Colorado. In addition to the resource bank, officials at the new office also developed a grant program to fund evidence-and-community-based gun violence prevention initiatives.
Click through for details. I really thought it was more widely known than apparently it is that guns are a public health problem. It’s too early to say what this iniriative will accomplish, but we can hope

The Conversation – The retention problem: Women are going into tech but are also being driven out
Quote – So, questions arise: Why does the technology industry have a retention problem? Why are women who are employed by the technology industry quitting in such high volumes? What factors contribute to this low retention of women in the technology industry, and what kind of support do women need to stay and succeed in it?… Mainstream media often reports on open-source software’s toxic “tech bro” culture. In recent years, high-profile leaders in open-source software have been exposed for their abusive behavior.
Click through for full article. Back in the day, women who went into male dominated professions knew we had to be tough and we prepared for it. Is it a drawback of greater societal acceptance in general that we don’t sufficiently prepare kids to cross invisible lines?

Food For Thought
Now, this is what I call trolling!

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Video Thread 5/24/22

 Posted by at 11:41 am  Open Thread, Politics
May 242022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Giuliani testifies; friends of Stone are flipping; Ginni Thomas insurrects & Loudermilk gets quiet

Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Bombshell Elon Musk Scandal (This is starting to remind me of an incident in Okinamwa, not too long before I came back stateside – not, I rush to assure you, to me personally, but a story I heard from a reliable source.)

The Lincoln Project – Skin in the Game

MSNBC – Raskin On Giuliani’s Jan. 6 Testimony: ‘Definitely Has A Lot Of Information’

VoteVets – Leader

Guy Visits Dog And Her Friends In The Desert For Over A Year

Beau – Let’s talk about what aliens can teach us about tech companies….

And a little bonus – this is a new kind of video which can’t be embedded, can’t even be stopped, not even at the end, because it is always on autoplay and will take you to the next one (in this case, a rabbit giving birth.) So why am a sharing something so difficult? Because it is a preview of the R Reich – H Jackman cameo on The Simpsons (probably the only way any sense will ever get shown on Fox.)

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Open Thread April 7, 2022

 Posted by at 7:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 072022
 

Yesterday, I heard from Carrie B that her granddaughter-in-law is facing a double mastectomy and is equesting prayers (or however you communicate with the universe) for good results. Also that it is PatB’s wedding anniversary (48 years – Wow!) so we won’t see her comments for a day or two. I’m reminded of a fellow whom Virgil and I met in AA – he used to say, “Life is so daily,” and how right he was. Also, I got an email from Medicare that the second CoViD booster can be taken four months after the first one … which is the information I was waiting for to put it on my calendar.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Vice (Motherboard) – Police Records Show Women Are Being Stalked With Apple AirTags Across the Country
Quote – Multiple women who filed these reports said they feared physical violence. One woman called the police because a man she had a protective order against was harassing her with phone calls. She’d gotten notifications that an AirTag was tracking her, and could hear it chiming in her car, but couldn’t find it. When the cops arrived, she answered one of his calls in front of the officer, and the man described how he would physically harm her.
Click through for details. Did anyone NOT see this coming?

Smithsonian – Libraries
Quote – Books Online – Most books available here are in the Public Domain unless otherwise noted, and are therefore free to download, use, re-use, and re-mix without regard to copyright. Due to the nature of library collections however, it can be difficult to determine copyright status.
Click through and consider bookmarking. If you have this site and Project Gutenberg you can access just about anything that is in the pubic domain. And if you want to quote from them, you can copy/paste and not worry about typos. I have a bookshelf wall and, between them, these can replace most of it. Sigh.

PolitiZoom – Don’t Knock The US/EU/NATO Sanctions. Here’s Why
Quote – Don’t get me wrong. I get the drift here. The biggest bitch about sanctions since day one is that they are not a quick fix, they take months, if not years to ripen enough to have any real effect on the russian people, which is what you’re after, popular pressure on the regime. But things are different this time, for a couple of reasons.
Click through for full analysis.

Food For Thought (see also today’s Beau video):

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