“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes,”* Rule of Lawless Dept. 0
Via The Seattle Times, Amanda Cats-Baril hears a rhyme from colonial times. Here’s how her article begins (emphasis added):
That struggle over arbitrary warrants is no longer a historical footnote, now that the federal government is reviving the very practice Otis condemned. An internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo dated May 12, 2025, authorizes agents to enter homes solely on the basis of an “administrative warrant,” without prior judicial approval.
__________________________
*Mark Twain.
Just Desserts 0
In a letter to the editor of the Las Vegas Sun, Tom Harper reminds us that
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Another oxymoronic “responsible gun owner.”
Another exposed portable phallus.
Another child in another hospital.
We are a broken society willing to sacrifice its children on an altar of lead.
Republican Thought Police 0
Now they’re even targeting artificial thought.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
I’ve heard of lap dogs, but, really, lap guns? Not a good idea.
That man was shot in the leg, and another man was shot in the knee.
Guns and stupid, guns and stupid,
They go together like love and Cupid.
Let me tell you, brother,
You won’t find one without the other.
Signs of the Times 0
At AL.com, Kyle Whitmire sees an ominous sign: the banner of Dear Leader Donald Trump hanging from the Department of (sic) Justice. A snippet:
Below his face, the banner says, “Make America Safe Again.”
Somehow, though, the banner doesn’t evoke safety. I can’t think of another instance in history when heads of state hung pictures of themselves from the sides of public buildings that didn’t end badly.
If you know of an exception, please share it with me.
War and Mongers of War 0
In responding to the news of the Trump maladministration’s attack on Iran, Virginia Senator Tim Kaine asks a question to which methinks the answer is clear:
Follow the link for more reactions from Virginia’s Congresspersons.
Stray Thought 0
For the half of the electorate who did not vote in 2024:
If you let an idiot win an election, don’t act surprised when you end up with an idiocracy.
Artificial? Yes. Intelligent? Not So Much. 0
Subversively seductive? At the Psychology Today website, Darren J. Edwards argues that AI may be leading us into its own version of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. A snippet:
Methinks his piece is well worth the few minutes it will to read it.
And Now for a Musical Interlude A Tune for the Times
0
Artie Shaw and his orchestra perform “Nightmare.”
All the News that Fits 0
Thom talks with Mary Trump on what happened to objective, fact-based broadcast news.
Afterthought:
I think Thom makes a great analogy about hoarding disorder.