Blogathon Update

So two weeks and a day from now, Saturday at 7 a.m. (MDT), I’ll be kicking off my Blogathon effort. I’ve spent a little time reviewing what I did last time out, and have come up with plenty to natter about (I actually had topics left over last time). Getting templates set up, etc. and so on. Should be fun, and I look forward to seeing you all there.

Hee-hee — if you go to the Blogathon blogger list and sort alphabetically, guess who shows up on top. Nice.

Meanwhile, I have five donors for $170 … which works out to about $7 or so an hour. Surely the protection of our digital rights and privacy is worth more than that to my studio audience …

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***Dave Does the Mastodon

1 day ago

There are all sorts of reasons to think that a lot of #Trump's first-day executive orders are illegal and will be struck down by the courts.

Unfortunately, that requires (a) the courts to actually do so, all the way up to (presumably) #SCOTUS, and (b) him and/or his appointed lackeys to pay any attention to what the courts, vs the #DearLeader, say.

https://reason.com/volokh/2025/01/20/trumps-illegal-first-day-executive-actions/

1 day ago

I left out, of course, #pettiness, #racism, and #nationalism

2 days ago

#Trump doesn't miss a second for #rudeness, #revanchism, and #PerformativeImperialism.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-rename-gulf-of-mexico-denali/

2 days ago

#Donald, #Melania, and #crypto... a match made in Zany Town.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-meme-coin-immediately-crashes-after-melanias-cryptocurrency-launch/

6 days ago

German industrialists and captains of industry didn't like, let alone trust, Hitler. But they worked with him because he was the guy in charge, they figured they could control him, and it gave them an advantage over their peers who didn't.

They eventually learned who was managing whom. But by then it was too late.

https://www.semafor.com/article/01/15/2025/trump-musk-dined-with-microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-at-mar-a-lago

2 weeks ago

Racist MAGA idiots ranting

Four *decades* ago, I was working with my company's HR to track race among job applicants. Because you know great way to show you are being racist in your hiring efforts? By documenting a racially diverse applicant and hiring pool.

Remarkably, you can even do that even while accomplishing your mission statement, just like you can provide insurance, or remove snow from walkways.

Suggesting LAFD's #DEI program has killed people is (typically) disgusting.

2 weeks ago

The GOP won't cut Medicare and Social Security...

... but other programs are on the chopping block.
... but qualifications will be made stricter.
... but they won't be increased, either.
... until #Donald decides they should.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/johnson-cuts-social-security-medicare-fund-trumps-agenda/story?id=117420630

2 weeks ago

I saw someone make a reference to this, and #Greenland, and, especially, the whole #GulfOfMexico / #GulfOfAmerica thing, calling it "Performative Imperialism": #Trump gets most of what he wants (donations, accolades) through sheer bullying bluster or acts that cost him nothing.

2 weeks ago

#Trump 's spitballing about #Canada is just that: random bloviating that (a) irritates his opponents, (b) excites his knee-jerk supporters, (c) costs him nothing, (d) lets him bully people, and (e) holds the prospect of, should some infernal twist of fate cause it to happen, making him famous for something other than his criminal record.

There's also probably some hidden way it makes him money, too. Like selling signed USA+Canada maps to the yokels for US$ 250 a pop.

3 weeks ago

Californians who were trying to follow up on an Amber Alert issued by the CHP were blocked when it turned out the CHP alert linked to the agency's #Xitter account for full details, and to see the alert people would need to sign into Xitter.

Completely predictable, if infuriating. Public agencies depending on #ElonMusk 's Xitter platform are doing the public a disservice.

https://www.wired.com/story/amber-alert-paywall-california/

3 weeks ago

TIL The name "Dante" (as in the guy who wrote "Inferno" etc.) is short for "Durante," meaning "enduring", "lasting," or "durable."

3 weeks ago

A low-key New Years Eve this year at our house -- fewer people over than usual, and a lot of fatigue and low spirits, not to mention an utter lack of good expectations for 2025.

Hoping the reality turns out less dire than the fear.

#HappyNewYear

3 weeks ago

For those who can't get enough Holiday Letters this time of year, here's ours (with color commentary). Because what else is the Internet for?

https://hill-kleerup.org/blog/2024/12/31/2024-in-review.html

4 weeks ago

"'GO TO HELL!' #Trump tells inmates with commuted sentences in #Christmas Day post"

Weird.

Also dishonest.

And very much un-Christmas. But, then, #MAGA is post-Christian.

https://turnto10.com/news/nation-world/go-to-hell-president-elect-donald-trump-tells-inmates-with-commuted-sentences-in-christmas-day-post-joe-biden-truth-social-moratorium-federal-executions-death-penalty-congress-house-senate

4 weeks ago

Prime Minister #Musk wants to define who is or isn't a #MAGA #Republican.

https://www.axios.com/2024/12/27/elon-musk-contemptible-fools-maga-doge

Legal Lingo

The views expressed by me on this weblog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer, my church, my party, my candidate, my community, my wife, my friends, or, on occasion, myself.

Views expressed by others are, well, theirs. I reserve the right to delete them, but it’s usually better to let the marketplace of ideas hold sway, even if some packages are long past their expiry date.

Stuff I link to? Sometimes it’s because I agree with it. Sometimes because I disagree with it, but want to point (mockingly, in some cases) to my sources regardless; I have a liberal arts background; I believe in citations. And linking to stuff is what the Internet is about.

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