I hope your holiday is filled with great food and spirits, warmth and pleasant company.

I think that there actually are a few things we can be thankful for this year -- but we are not yet out of the woods: The good news is the narcissist who posed the biggest threat to our democracy in the last century (at least) has slipped to the back-burner and faces legal hurdles at every turn, from his removal of documents from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, his or his legal team's attempts to overturn the 2020 election, especially in Georgia, troubles over his and his corporation's taxes, a pending civil lawsuit for sexual assault, and probably more.

More good news is that vaccines and new COVID treatments have lessened the likelihood of severe illness and death the past several months. [More...]

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It's official. Elon Musk has closed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. He started by firing some of the company's chief honchos. I don't think it's a good investment. Technology will leave Twitter in the dust someday, to be buried with blackberries, palm pilots, and VCRs.

I read fewer and fewer Twitter accounts, especially those written in this country. I don't like seeing other people's "likes" show up on my page, or most retweets, not to mention the increasing number of ads. On the other hand, it's still pretty good for some international things like the Middle East. I actually like Turkish President Erdogan's feed, he's always talking about accomplishments rather than problems (after all, he's running for re-election.) I also like that he's doing the exact opposite of the rest of the world to fight inflation and stop the hemorraging of the Lira --He's lowering interest rates instead of raising them. Other countries thinks he's nuts, but I don't. (Then again, I know nothing about the economy. I only know about crime and the hype over it is too depressing to write about right now). [More...]

Three weeks ago, the Stones had to postpone their show in Amsterdam because Mick, at 78, tested positive for COVID-19. Here he is today, three weeks later, dancing and prancing at Hyde Park.

I'll have what Mick's having. [More...]

Happy 80th Birthday to Paul McCartney. He gave a concert last week at New Jersey's Metro Life stadium and who showed up to lead the audience in singing Happy Birthday? Jon Bon Jovi.

He also brought out Bruce Springsteen and they sang Glory Days.

Tonight (U.K. Time) Paul is headlining at Glastonbury. He's the oldest performer ever to headline the show. He's already brought out Dave Grohl (they sang "And I Saw Her Standing There") and Bruce Springsteen. And he performed a tribute to the Rolling Stones. Here is the full schedule and information on how to watch live.

I'll be back later this weekend with my thoughts on yesterday's Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v Wade, and a post on Ghislaine Maxwell's imminent sentencing and the absurd amount of time the Government has asked the Court to impose on her, and the battle over whether women not involved in the case or the charges she was convicted of have standing to speak at her sentencing.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Washington Post this week has two long-form news articles that contain far more detail than any of us need to know. The first is (in my view) a clear example of just how far off the deep end some Americans have jumped. Irrational and uncivilized behavior seems not only to be the norm for these people, but they are teaching and promoting it to their young children, passing the violence off as a "sport."

If it didn't contain the names of American cities, I would have thought the article was referring to Brazil, El Salvador, or Indonesia. This is no sport -- it's savagery. It's the kind of violence you would expect from caged animals. Only it's children who are in the cages.

The parents who not only endorse, but pay for their kids to engage in this violence, and who attend and cheer on their kids, don't deserve to raise kids. Maybe we could ship them all to El Salvador to live for a year, after which authorities check in with them and see if the kids still think that beating the sh*t out of another kid is cool, and if the parents are still cheering when watching their kid get their as* kicked by a gang member with no training. [More...]

A major snow storm on May 20? We've got one here. From the National Weather Service:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Denver CO
650 PM MDT Fri May 20 2022

...LATE SPRING STORM TO BRING HEAVY SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS, FOOTHILLS, AND FRONT RANGE URBAN CORRIDOR...

Heavy snow will continue to spread south across the mountains and foothills this afternoon and early evening. The heavy snow will accumulate on trees, causing some tree limbs to break and produce scattered power outages. Do not park under trees and avoid walking under snow laden trees.

....Consider altering your travel plans. Heavy snowfall is expected to make travel very difficult to impossible.

The snow has been coming down fast and furious since 1:00 p.m. At least it isn't sticking near Downtown yet. Although it will soon turn to sleet, and that's bad for driving.

I hope the weather is more cooperative in your neck of the woods.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

It's too bad we can't send him back to New Jersey.

I can't think of any Supreme Court Justice that TalkLeft argued against more at the time of his nomination. All to no avail. And now, we pay the price. And the price of the losing the 2016 election to the albatross who still wants to hang around our necks (who gave us two more conservative Justices).

Here's a post about Alito's Roe v. Wade comments during his confirmation hearing. And People for the American Way's 155-page report on his Judicial Philosophy written at the time of his confirmation hearings.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Yesterday, U.S. federal judge in Tampa, Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, appointed by Trump ruled the masks aren't necessary on airlines. Then today:

the Biden administration announced that the Transportation Security Administration will no longer enforce the federal mandate requiring masks in all U.S. airports and on board aircraft.

Effective immediately, masks are optional for all airport employees, crew members and customers inside U.S. airports and on board all aircraft domestically, as well as on most international flights.

Is anyone here canceling airline flights because of it?

Looks like we need a new open thread. Here it is, all topics welcome.

"I'm Old Not an Idiot" from the New York Times. Does anyone besides me sympathize with this Spanish gentlemen who has launched a successful protest against ageist bank policies like closing branches and forcing people to use smart phones to conduct serious business?

When will we get approval for a 4th dose of the vaccine? I'm ready. Australia and El Salvador approved it today. And the new variant has been detected in Colorado's wastewater.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

A whole week and I've had nothing to write about. I was hoping to read Ghislaine Maxwell's Motion for New Trial based on the chatty juror who disclosed he told the whole jury about his own childhood abuse experiences, after which some changed their position from leaning towards "not guilty" to guilty on the sex trafficking of a minor count. Unfortunately, the motion and exhibits are all filed under seal.

I also don't understand why the media harps on going after the "john does" who had sex with the underage girls, but is willing to give a pass to them as women, when several of them have testified that as girls, they recruited other underage girls for Epstein. Every time their recruitee visited Epstein they got $200.00. Why isn't that p*mping? Especially for the ones who recruited minors after their 18th birthday. I don't doubt the ones who both serviced Epstein and recruited for him worked hard for the money, but why do they get a complete pass, from the media and the prosecutors? [More...]

New Year's Eve seems very somber tonight.

In Boulder, the fire has been devastating. Here's a few second video from the West Metro Fire department. Updates are available at the Boulder Office of Emergency Management.

In Europe, the Wall St. Journal has a report on how Antwerp, Belgium has become the "Miami of the 1980s" with respect to money coming in from cocaine. It's a "cash tsunami". (free link). The Mayor says,"Every layer of society is infected.”

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Happy Thanksgiving to all. Personally, I find the media depictions of large and mostly maskless crowds at , at grocery stores, airports and public events concerning. I would have thought by now we all know what comes next - another round of mutating Covid viruses.

Colorado happens to be one of the states with a high number of new COVID cases and increased deaths. [More...]