Democrats’ larger-than-expected wins on Tuesday briefly knocked the pessimism out of me, but I’m recovering. Your get-well cards no doubt help, along with my mother’s prayers, and the immediate and expected Democrats’ doublecrossing…

No penalties for the crookedest administration in US history?

Yair Lapid, the far-right leader of the Israeli legislature’s opposition to the far-right Likudnik-led governing coalition, posted the following on Xitter, translated by Seattle’s Stranger:

“Hakeem Jeffries will lead the House of Representatives. Chuck Schumer will run the Senate. Both are my friends; both voted with Israel this year even when the majority of their party caucus voted otherwise.”

But there’s hope, right? We have a Blue Tsunami™ of new Democratic faces, incoming Reps & Senators who statistically can’t be worse than most of the Dems they’re joining in DC. I am actually, honestly beginning to like a few of them…

Excerpt: “We are being actively bullied by the dumbest people in the room.”

Me again: The only way this could be more speaking truth to power is if Donald Trump had been there.

And there’s this, but resignations are not enough. There must be prosecutions:

Here’s Stephen Miller, the new White House Chief of Staff

Excerpt: “I don’t think it’s necessary to kill them entirely. We’re not a barbaric people. We respect life, therefore torture is the way to go, because tortured people can live.”

Me again: Miller is a monster and fascist like Trump, only without the charm and stupidity. Anointing him Chief of Staff announces that the cruelty will become even more cruel.

Trump & the Republicans are still in charge, still evil and rotten to the core, and everything’s going to get uglier and more dangerous before it gets better. Buckle up.

Yeah, and pigs might fly out of Trump’s ass.

Disbar and arrest them all.

Can’t remember the specifics, but I read coverage of this elsewhere months ago, and now it’s in the New York Times. That happens a lot.

Excerpt: There are no trans women on the Seattle Reign’s roster or on any other National Women’s Soccer League team.

I usually don’t follow celebrity stuff, but Brand is particularly obnoxious, and you can judge a man by his friends.

Excerpt: Those accusations prompted some of Mr. Brand’s supporters to rally around him, including Donald Trump Jr., and Elon Musk, who wrote on X: “I support Russell Brand. That man is not evil.” Conservative personalities like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly and Charlie Kirk continued to express support after the police charged Mr. Brand.

Dr Oz thinks rape is a knee-slapper

Can’t remember the specifics, but I read coverage of this elsewhere months ago, and now it’s in the New York Times. That happens a lot.

Ain’t wild about this article, and didn’t finish it, because the authors are wandering away from the obvious answer: Don’t suspend rapists from school, prosecute them, and don’t give rapists a stern head-shake and wrist-slap, imprison them.

Excerpt: The incoming scientists represent “a real repudiation of what has been two terrible years for science and public health,” said Shaughnessy Naughton, president of 314 Action, a group that recruits Democratic doctors and scientists to run for office. Her group supported Democratic candidates who ended up winning in the House, as well as two incoming senators: Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist, in Michigan and Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, in South Carolina.

Big Tech has replaced internet search with the propagandized AI internet filter.

Pretty sure I’d never heard of and positive I’ve never used MSN News. It seems to be an amalgamation of sites I don’t trust, with a heavy emphasis on Newsweek and fluff and, because it detects my location, Seattle-area right-wing sources.

Excerpt: The business realities of independent digital journalism have changed profoundly over the years. After careful consideration, we have reached the difficult decision that our publishing model is no longer sustainable.

Me again: My condolences to the unemployed, but I can’t remember any particularly better-than-average journalism from Salon in years.

In 2023, Salon was sold to Find.co, a “performance marketing ecosystem transforming crypto marketing with performance and precision”

“But her emails!”

I ask again (and again and again), why are freezers & refrigerators online?

Excerpt: AI features are now a standard part of Google’s commercially available search engine. “Search and AI are deeply integrated,” said Chris Phillips, vice president for education at Google. If a school has banned AI, he added, students “will not have access to search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available.”

Me again: This is a perfect match for past Google policies that have been deemed anti-trust and wrist-slapped. Apparently there’s no real solution short of arresting the Board of Directors or, preferably, nationalizing the company, and I’d say both are necessary.

Billionaire-math is different, though. This was chump change for Elon Musk. Dude’s a trillionaire — that’s 1,000-billion dollars. He spent half-a-billion buying Republican-friendly ads, which is 1/20th of 1% of his wealth. Based on my bank account, that would be the equivalent of me giving 50¢ to Democrats.

Excerpt: After meeting with the OEO in mid September, Durman’s request was approved on September 25, when the OEO determined it posed no undue burden on his department. Durman continues to perform all of his job duties without using AI.

$2,500 ain’t even a calculable fraction of a fraction of a percent for Citibank, but it’s more than everything for a lot of ordinary folks. Push people too far and they’ll snap.

Again, no known law has been broken, so “return to sender” those letters.

Free parking shouldn’t even be a thing inside city limits. You want to park on the side of the street, you pay. But this — cripes, this is Trump-level stupid.

Excerpt: Several reports confirmed the 56-year-old Trump wasted no time settling back into the small town of her upbringing. After releasing her security detail with a stern, Slavic-accented “You leave now,” she immediately changed out of her Christian Dior pantsuit, threw on an Iowa State sweatshirt, and proceeded to yell at the televised football game as loudly as her uncles, cousins, and 17-year-old brother.

And there’ll be another 1-in-1,000-year event within a few years.

When an inmate dies in jail, it’s (usually) irrelevant what they were charged with. The jailers’ job is to keep prisoners alive and well, and they’ve failed at that.

When an inmate dies in jail, it’s (usually) irrelevant what they were charged with. The jailers’ job is to keep prisoners alive and well, and they’ve failed at that.

When an inmate dies in jail, it’s (usually) irrelevant what they were charged with, but in this case, the charges against the dead inmate are likely to be extremely pertinent.