DL Open Thread: Saturday, August 16, 2025
A Collective Sigh Of Relief–No Title Changes At Alaska Armageddon:
After meeting for nearly three hours, Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin left Alaska without announcing any deal or any specific areas where they made progress. Though Mr. Putin said the leaders reached an agreement to “pave the path towards peace in Ukraine,” Mr. Trump made clear there were still areas of disagreement.
Mr. Putin scored a win even before he arrived in the United States. After years of being ostracized by the West, he returned to American soil for the first time in a decade, welcomed by American fighter jets, a red carpet and a ride in the Beast, Mr. Trump’s armored car.
Mr. Trump did not appear to come away with much — at least, not much that was clear when their meeting ended far earlier than anticipated — but he did get two things he valued.
One was the chance to once again, and with the world watching, denounce the investigation into whether his campaign conspired with Russians in 2016, when, according to the U.S. intelligence community, Russians interfered in the election. Standing feet from Mr. Putin, Mr. Trump proclaimed it a “hoax,” and a shared and unfair torment for both men.
For his part, Mr. Putin praised his counterpart and said that he could “confirm” something Mr. Trump has repeatedly claimed: that Russia’s incursion into Ukraine in early 2022 would not have happened were Mr. Trump in office at the time.
Left unanswered was why Mr. Putin is pressing ahead with his war — and demand for land — now that Mr. Trump is back in power and calling for it to stop.
Everything was left unanswered:
“Many points were agreed to, and there are just a very few that are left,” Mr. Trump said. The two men took no questions from reporters, who had been expecting to quiz the two leaders. Several had their hands in the air during what turned out to be Mr. Trump’s closing remarks.
Noem recently moved into Quarters 1, a spacious waterfront residence at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington where the Coast Guard commandant typically resides. She did so because of concerns over her safety after the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, published photographs in April of the area around Noem’s residence in Washington’s Navy Yard neighborhood, DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said.
Noem pays no rent to live in the commandant’s house, according to an official familiar with the matter who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.That’s a departure from how other Cabinet secretaries have handled similar arrangements. Other Cabinet officials, including during both Trump administrations, have paid to use military housing that otherwise would be occupied by top generals and admirals.
Yet more proof that satire is dead:
McLaughlin defended Noem’s living arrangement in an email to The Washington Post, saying it was necessary because the secretary had been “so horribly doxxed and targeted that she is no longer able to safely live in her own apartment.” (I thought that was the other task Noem had assigned to her cuddle-bunny, Corey Lewandowski. In fact, take this headline anywhere it will take you. I’ll meet you there.)
She added that it was “sad” for a Post reporter to “suggest a rancher should have to pay a second rent because of a reporter’s irresponsible decisions to dox where she lives.”
“If you cannot find humanity in another human’s safety and security, I invite you to find it here,” she said, including a link to Washington National Cathedral.
You’re smart. You know that ‘not finding humanity in another human’s safety and security’ is precisely what Noem lives for.
You’re smart. No comment about this video is necessary. From me, anyway:
Let ‘Em Learn Football–More Wasting Of Education Dollars In Texas:
For about eight years, a Houston private school has followed a unique pattern when appointing members to its governing board: It has selected only married couples.
Over 200 miles away, two private schools in Dallas have awarded more than $7 million in combined contracts to their board members.
And at least seven private schools across Texas have issued personal loans, often reaching $100,000 or more, to their school leaders under terms that are often hidden from public view.
Such practices would typically violate laws governing public and charter schools. But private schools operate largely outside those rules because they haven’t historically received direct taxpayer dollars. Now, as the state moves to spend at least $1 billion over the next two years on private education, lawmakers have imposed almost none of the accountability measures required of the public school system.
If held to the same standards, 27 private schools identified by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune through tax filings likely would have violated state law. The news organizations found, and three education law experts confirmed, more than 60 business transactions, board appointments and hiring decisions by those schools that would have run afoul of the state rules meant to prevent self-dealing and conflicts of interest if they were public.
“It’s frankly astonishing to me that anyone would propose the massive sort of spending that we’re talking about in these school voucher programs with, at best, minimal accountability,” said Mark Weber, a public school finance lecturer at New Jersey’s Rutgers University who opposes vouchers. “If I were a taxpayer in Texas, I’d be asking, who’s going to be looking out for me?”
I’m not astonished. Are you?
Global talks on curbing dangerous plastics pollution ended early Friday without agreement on a comprehensive treaty. Divisions over whether to mandate enforceable limits on plastic production were too deep to bridge.
The red lines highlight the deep division between the two blocs. One group of about 80 to 100 countries, including the European Union and numerous developing countries and island nations in the Global South, is calling for global action to address all aspects of plastics pollution.
A smaller group, including fossil-fuel producers, said they would not accept a treaty with limits on production. Gas and oil are the primary raw materials for plastics. The United States doesn’t consider itself aligned with either group, but its positions at the latest round of talks place it closest to the one blocking action.
To a growing number of people involved in international environmental talks, that’s a sign that the consensus-based system is not working. At Geneva, hallway conversations increasingly explored options for voting on key provisions in the treaty, including whether production and consumption should be addressed.
“A bad process doesn’t lead to good outcomes,” said South African marine biologist Merrisa Naidoo, attending the Geneva talks for GAIA Africa, part of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.
“We only care about the achievement of consensus,” she said, speaking during a press conference on Thursday. “But consensus is not democracy. It ignores the will of the vast majority of member states, and has unfortunately started to cater to the wish list of the petrostates and fossil fuel industry.”
About Bleeping Time–Winos, of whom I am one, rejoice:
The wait is over for Delawareans who have long wanted wine shipped right to their homes.
With the Harvest Ridge Winery serving as backdrop, Gov. Matt Meyer signed House Bill 187 – which would allow wine producers to obtain a license and ship wine directly to Delawareans – into state law on Aug. 15.
This new law pertains to wine producers who have a valid license in Delaware or another state, and it permits direct shipments so long as they are done via “a common carrier with a carrier permit.”
The law also requires producers to pay the necessary taxes “commonly due for wines,” limits the amount of wine direct shippers can sell to individual households to three 9-liter cases each year and restricts the total amount of wine transporters can ship directly to First State customers to 1,800 9-liter cases yearly, among other guidelines.
Our youngest daughter lives in Oregon. When we visit, we often visit wineries we’ve grown to love over the years. Some in the Willamette Valley, some in the Columbia River Gorge area. We’ve gotten to know and like the winemakers during our visits. These are small wineries. They don’t mass-produce. They don’t offer their wines in stores across America (although I have suggested to my friends at Moore Brothers that they might want to reach out). I remember years ago asking then-ABCC Commissioner Jack Cordrey (Jack used to be one of our Senate Attorneys when I worked in Dover) why he opposed the bill, and he said something about teenagers possibly abusing the system. The argument was absurd on its face as we’re talking about pretty high-priced boutique wines, but I realized that the argument was merely a fig leaf, probably protecting the monopolistic interests of the distributors.
Anyway, here are our faves. Feel free to share your own or, more likely, to keep them secret: Native Flora. J. K. Carriere. Domaine Pouillon. Dominio IV. Not only are the wines great, the people are at least equally so.
What do you want to talk about?
Alcohol use among Americans has dropped to a record low of 54%.
https://www.npr.org/2025/08/13/nx-s1-5501668/americans-drinking-alcohol-study-gallup
Yeah, we’ve cut back. Come up with some pretty good mocktails over the last year.
But a good wine that is worthy of savoring is still on our dance card.
The pot drinks are gaining a larger share. Plus no problems hitting the gym in the am
That Texas post on self-dealing is a humdinger. No wonder they want to take all the congressional seats so they can steal all the money that’s appropriated for the good of the many. This is a fight that will split the country.
Im very fine splitting the country. The white south has always been a drag on the rest of the nation. Lazy people with parasitic economies and mythic delusions of greatness supported literally on the backs of others. Sorry if that makes me a coastal elitist but the proof is in the pudding when I see some alabaster pig spilling out of his golf shirt. Have fun in the swamp.
The only verifiable loss is Coca Cola. It’s tough to think of anything else.
It’s why I find the whole “return to manufacturing” very funny. Where were many of those great jobs again? Oh yes. Mostly in “blue cities”.
I’m not going to take lessons on greatness and hard work from those losers. I doubt they’re suddenly going to find work ethic.