Open Thread
DL Open Thread: Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Liberal Wins Wisconsin Supreme Court Race. Hope those newly-minted Musk millionaires cashed those checks already: The Democratic-backed candidate for Wisconsin Supreme Court defeated a challenger endorsed by President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk on Tuesday, cementing a liberal majority for at least three more years. Susan Crawford, a Dane County judge who led legal fights to […]
DL Open Thread: Tuesday, April 1, 2025
B-b-b-but Hamas!: Palestinians held funerals Monday for 15 medics and emergency responders killed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza, after their bodies and mangled ambulances were found buried in an impromptu mass grave, apparently plowed over by Israeli military bulldozers. The Palestinian Red Crescent says the slain workers and their vehicles were clearly marked as […]
DL Open Thread: Monday, March 31, 2025
Unholy Patrimonialism: This strikes me as explaining government under Trump–including its fatal weakness: Even those who expected the worst from his reelection (I among them) expected more rationality. Today, it is clear that what has happened since January 20 is not just a change of administration but a change of regime—a change, that is, in […]
DL Open Thread: Sunday, March 30, 2025
Musk/DOGE’s Push For The Privatization Of Public Services: Mail delivery. Real estate. Foreign aid grants. The Trump administration is moving to privatize a sweeping number of government functions and assets — a long-standing Republican goal that’s being catalyzed by billionaire Elon Musk. The slash-and-burn approach of Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service is paving the way for […]
DL Open Thread: Saturday, March 29, 2025
Meyer Signs Bill, Musk Does This. Coincidence?: Elon Musk said on Friday that his startup xAI has merged with X, his social network, in an all-stock transaction that values the artificial intelligence company at $80 billion and the social media company at $33 billion. Because both companies are privately held and controlled by Musk, the […]
DL Open Thread: Friday, March 28, 2025
Trump’s Just Doing Weird Stuff Now. Like this: The “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” order directs Vice President JD Vance to eliminate what he finds “improper” from the Smithsonian Institution, including its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo. The White House fact sheet (irony duly-noted) describing the order said it […]
DL Open Thread: Thursday, March 27, 2025
Yet One More ‘Disappearance’, Captured On Tape: As Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk made her way to an interfaith center to break the Ramadan fast on Tuesday, plainclothes agents, some masked, descended on her. She screamed as an unmasked agent in a hooded sweatshirt grabbed her, security video shows. Within about a minute, the agents […]
DL Open Thread: Wednesday, March 26, 2025
This thread may be shorter than usual. There is just so much to unwind about the House ‘debate’ on the Musk-Pass bill that I found it hard to sleep last night. Then again, this thread may not be shorter than usual. All depends on what I find. Let’s go searchin’. Trump Signs Another Unconstitutional Executive Order. […]
DL Open Thread: Wednesday, March 25, 2025
Everything Falls Apart: 1. Trump Bozos Share War Plans With Journalist Over Unsecured Server. They, of course, had no idea they had invited a journalist. Will Waltz take the fall? Hegseth claims that the war plan wasn’t a war plan. 2. Social Security Office Melts Down: The Social Security Administration website crashed four times in 10 […]
DL Open Thread: Monday, March 24, 2025
Yes, Trump Is Serious About Greenland: Relations between Greenland and the United States sank further on Sunday as the Greenlandic prime minister erupted over what he called a “highly aggressive” delegation of senior officials the Trump administration said it would send to the island this week. Usha Vance, the second lady, and Michael Waltz, the […]
DL Open Thread: Sunday, March 23, 2025
How Scammers Ply Their Trade. Quite the fascinating report: The F.B.I., China’s Ministry of Public Security, Interpol and others have tried to combat scammers, who often lurk on social media and dating apps, luring people into bogus financial schemes or other ruses. Telecom companies have blocked numbers. Banks have issued repeated warnings. Yet the industry […]
DL Open Thread: Saturday, March 22, 2025
Extortionist-In-Chief. Look who caved today: Columbia University has yielded to a series of changes demanded by the Trump administration as a pre-condition for restoring $400m in federal funding the government pulled this month amid allegations that the school tolerated antisemitism on campus. The university released a memo outlining its agreement with Donald Trump’s administration hours […]
DL Open Thread: Friday, March 21, 2025
Ready, Fire, Aim: What, Exactly, Does Matt Meyer Stand For, And Why Does His Staff Keep Saying Stoopid Things? To (half-) wit: In a written statement, Mila Myles, a spokesperson for Meyer, said the governor will be “hands-on, meeting with everyone and taking action so that Delaware continues to be the global leader.” She also defended […]
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