None of this feels right!

The chaos and division that is consuming democrats right now does not feel organic. It is tearing DU apart, reminiscent of the 2016 take down of DU. It is not helping our party. We were fairly united in purpose, and in our ticket, until that debate went off the rails. That seemed to turn into a catalyst for division, but who is driving it?

This is just my own feelings and observations, so flame me if you will, I don’t really care.

I suspect the billionaire dem donors who chose to abandon President Biden, despite the millions of primary votes he has received, based on a bad performance at a 90 minute debate. Are they courting other powerful dems to do their bidding? If this were so, it goes against our founders dream of a government of, for and by the people. It goes against Joe’s goal of building from the the bottom up and the middle out. It is just the same oligarch bullshit that the republicans have chosen to cave to.

I smell Putin. I smell Musk. I smell Thiel. I smell Netenyahu. I smell Banon and Tucker. It all stinks!

If prominent dems think it is worth abandoning the power of an incumbent President to support some unnamed and unproven alternative, then why can NONE OF THEM put forth a support worthy alternative to abandoning the will of the voters? It’s all just, “Biden need to drop out” without offering a bulletproof alternative. There is no bulletproof alternative…it’s all ratfucking!

I want to live in a democracy. If you’ve got a better plan (yeah, I’m looking at you Schiff!) show us your plan, or else SHUT THE FUCK UP AND SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT! Oh, and don’t even get me started on the horse-race, money-driven MSM!

Rant off

Had an encouraging conversation today

My roommate said, “my daughter called me today. She asked, in a distressed voice, mom, have you heard of Project 2025? OMG!” We got a good chuckle out of that.

End of last year, same daughter was distraught and said she couldn’t vote for Biden because he was giving weapons to Israel to bomb civilians. Not sure she knew that Hamas had attacked Israel. She was just told by her co-workers that Israel attacked Palestine.

I think that girl is seeing the light. She is a HS art teacher and a good democrat (30 something millennial). Think she is starting to get informed. I am encouraged by her awareness, but worry about how uninformed some folks are. Guess we all can’t be political junkies.

Saw Robert Plant and Alison Krause in concert last night

It was a good show. Mostly older crowd. Kind of subdued until the last song. I found this live version from their Montreal show. It is rather long, but I thought it was a stunning bit of music. After this song, the crowd was ecstatic, and after saying goodnight and leaving the stage, they did come back for a short encore.

Penzey's Spices email, Jan 6, 2024

Whelp, just cancelled my NYT subscription

Should have done it a long time ago. I was just reading an article about voters who would vote for Harris, but not for Biden. Interviewing a democrat who says they would vote for Hitler-wannabe rather than Biden. Don't remember ever seeing an article where they talked to an enthusiastic Biden voter, or even informed democratic voters. Always these uninformed, "Biden is too old" or "Biden hasn't done enough" voters. I just snapped. Why was I paying money for this drivel. So I cancelled.

Now I'll have to find another news source.

New York judge lifts gag order that barred Donald Trump from maligning court staff in fraud trial

Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York appeals court judge on Thursday paused a gag order that barred Donald Trump from commenting on court staffers in his civil fraud trial. The trial judge had imposed the gag order last month and later fined Trump $15,000 for violations after the former president made a disparaging social media post about a court clerk.

In his decision, Judge David Friedman of the state’s intermediate appeals court cited constitutional concerns about restricting Trump’s free speech. He issued a stay of the gag order, allowing Trump to comment freely about court staff while a longer appeals process plays out.


Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/new-york-judge-lifts-gag-order-that-barred-donald-trump-from-maligning-court-staff-in-fraud-trial/ar-AA1k2YGe?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=2ea84a2b39e14f91848e5fe835a02914&ei=49

Highly Recommend Muster Dogs

This four part series is an Australian reality TV contest takes five Kelpie pups from the same litter and distributes them to all corners of the continent. The challenge is to train the pup to he a herding or muster dog within 12 months.

I find this very relaxed viewing. The scenery is varied and beautiful. The people are humble and interesting, and the dogs are absolutely amazing.
The show can be found on Netflix. I highly recommend it!

Fact or Fiction? In This War, It Is Hard to Tell.

Social media is full of false and misleading posts. The rise in A.I. is making it worse. And the trust in traditional news sources has declined. Link to gifted NYT article below.

"Snip"

Increasingly, our digitized lives have become an information battleground, with every side in any conflict vying to offer its version. Old images have been recycled to make a new point. At the same time, actual images have been disputed as fakes, including a bloody photograph that Donald J. Trump Jr., the former president’s son, shared on X.

Reliable news organizations used to function as curators, verifying information and contextualizing it, and they still do. Nevertheless, some have sought to question their reliability as gatekeepers, most prominently Elon Musk, the owner of X.

The day after the fighting in Israel erupted, Mr. Musk shared a post on X encouraging his followers to trust the platform more than mainstream media, recommending two accounts that have been notorious for spreading false claims. (Mr. Musk later deleted the post but not before it had been seen millions of times.)

Was just driving home after an evening out

From the time I left home until now, the price of gasoline jumped 60 cents a gallon.
WTH is it this time? OPEC slowing production? Pushback to Biden cancelling drilling leases in Alaska?
Glad I filled up a couple days ago. Geez!

We must keep marching toward Dr. King's dream

Link to Washington Post Opinion piece by President Joe Biden.
(Gifted article, no paywall).


https://wapo.st/3QUSjME