International
DL Open Thread Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024
The Federal Trade Commission sued to stop the grocery mega-merger between Albertson’s, parent company of Acme, and Kroger’s, on the grounds that it would be bad for workers and consumers. I don’t know when that became the standard, but I hope they keep applying it. Not that it will change the narrative – “Biden old” […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2024
Remember Hunter Seefried, the Laurel man who followed his Confederate battle flag-waving father into the Capitol on Jan. 6? Now into the second year of his prison sentence, he has filed for early release, noting that he chased a capitol cop but committed no violence. The 34-year-old also earned his GED and his forklift operator […]
DL Open Thread Monday, Feb. 19, 2024
It’s Presidents Day, so let’s start with the formerly anodyne holiday exercise of Historians Rankiing the Presidents. Let’s see here: Top 5 is Lincoln, FDR, Washington, Teddy, TJeff. Obama No. 7, Biden No. 14, I’m sure Trump is in here somewhere, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling … Here he is, No. 45. Last place. But that’s not […]
Song of the Day 2/7: Randy Newman, “Putin”
H/t Paul As expected, Tucker Carlson has interviewed Russian president Vladimir Putin. The Guardian is reporting that the interview will probably air Thursday. Wherever it eventually appears, I think it should be introduced with Randy Newman’s 2017 paean to the narcissistic strongman, which appeared on his last album, “Dark Matter.” Newman said it was more […]
Song of the Day 2/1: Bruce Hornsby, “Circus on the Moon”
It doesn’t get a lot of coverage, but there’s an international space race going on. Target: the Moon. The most recent inductee to the League of Lunar Landers, Japan, joined the club in triumphant yet slapstick fashion last month. On the plus side, they managed to plunk their SLIM lander with unprecedented accuracy, just 55 […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024
The surest sign that Trump is off his termite-infested rocker: The months-long effort to portray Biden as senile, when of course it’s Trump whose feeble mind is splintering. Last night Trump gave a highly technical description of Israel’s anti-missile defense system: “And they calmly walk to us, and ding, ding, ding, ding, boom, whoosh, boom. […]
DL Open Thread Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024
What is Israel doing? Is it genocide? Ethnic cleansing? Forced migration? A crime against humanity? Such distinctions don’t matter. Even those who support Israel are in agreement: It’s wrong. But it won’t end until Benjamin Netanyahu is removed from power. The source problem is Benjamin Netanyahu. In Israel, two things are simultaneously true: Very few […]
DL Open Thread Monday, Jan. 15, 2024
As the seige of Gaza reached 100 days over the weekend, Netanyahu said, “No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else.” I wish Biden would take that as a challenge, because I know just how he could stop them. Meanwhile, the Houthis in Yemen launched an […]
DL Open Thread Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024
It appears the Biden administration is hellbent on implementing the Saudi-Israeli agreements forged under the Trump administration through the efforts of one Brett McGurk (yes, I’m well aware that sounds like a name Dr. Seuss made up). McGurk is pushing a plan to reconstruct a post-war Gaza through a joint Saudi-Israeli effort that still wouldn’t […]
DL Open Thread Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024
The Israeli attempt to wipe out Hamas has brought widespread condemnation, but since calls on conscience are doing nothing to dissuade Netanyahu from his murderous course. So the focus of criticism seems to have shifted toward worries about the war widening to the entire region, with the new Axis of Evil shaping up as Iran, […]
DL Open Thread Monday, Jan. 1, 2024
Benjamin Netanyahu must think the high road has been mined, because he steadfastly refuses to take it. As the slaughter in Gaza continues, he promised to continue what he calls a war for another year. I think history is more likely to call it a massacre. Frustration makes people say things they haven’t thought through. […]
DL Open Thread Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023
Anyone who still thinks Jan. 6 wasn’t planned from the top down should take a look at the report from the Inspector General of the Department of Interior. That agency’s investigation turned up memos showing that his “spontaneous” call for a march to the Capitol was planned all along. This was from Kylie Kremer of […]
DL Open Thread Monday, Dec. 18, 2023
Somebody should explain to Benjamin Netanyahu that when you’ve lost Chris Coons, you’ve lost the Democratic centrists. It seems even Coons has had enough of the senseless slaughter of Palestinians. He told CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday that Netanyahu “has been an exceptionally difficult partner.” This is the closest Coons has ever come to criticizing […]
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