The authority of a democratic government derives from the vote of the people. The reciprocal of that is that the responsibility for the actions of that government rests with the people who voted, or chose not to vote. A lot of voters hate the idea of owning that responsibility

There are a LOT of people who are absolutely unwilling to hold voters and potential voters responsible for the results of their choices. I suspect that has a lot to do with people who voted or could’ve voted who do not want to be held responsible for their choices.

One more time, because I can’t help myself. Rein: things used with horses, that you can use to bring them back under control. Reign: what a ruler does from the throne. Often with absolute lack of external control. Remember that it has a G, just like a king. It’s. Not. That. Difficult. Dammit.

Major insurance plans decide off-brand use a popular drug will no longer be covered, suddenly that drug becomes “more affordable” without insurance. Huh. Funny, that. (I have Thoughts about the expanded availability of this particular drug, but that’s another post.) www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

The New York Times has just confirmed that 40 civilians died in President Trump's invasion. This is the aftermath in one area

You don't have to listen to these professional liars who are barely trying. 9 months ago they were saying they were powerless to return a man they illegally sent to an El Salvador gulag because it would violate that country's national sovereignty

And Trump is now saying that America will “run“ Venezuela until “a safe transition“ can be made. That fucker can’t even run _this_ country without fucking it up worse. Venezuela, for the love of all things, don’t let his people anywhere near your government. Trust us on this.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t an act of Congress required to declare war on another country? Or is that just another thing that no longer matters to this country?

Peter Beagle’s A Fine and Private Place, or John Meyer Myers’ Silverlock

“Then they shouldn’t have voted for this!” Bitch, Asheville is a blue college town and the county has gone blue for decades. I am so sick of this “if I pretend disasters only happen to red areas, it means I’m safe because I’m properly on the left!” No. You’re not safe. That’s why we save everybody.

Mamdani has only been Mayor for a day & criminals are already fleeing New York

Rarely has a (non-political) headline made me facepalm so fast. “Swiss bar fire started by sparklers on champagne bottles, officials say.”

Tonight is Bean‘s first “holiday we celebrate with fireworks.“ My thoughts are with all pet owners in similar situations, and especially with those who already know they’re in for a bad night.

also, this happened this year: Following Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the Trump administration’s promise to go after the “radical left” a study showing most domestic terrorism is far-right was disappeared. www.404media.co/doj-deletes-...

As always, I offer you this First Night toast: May we find deep wells of lovingkindness and compassion, even on the days we think we're fresh out. May we find steadiness, even when the world spins chaotic. May we find strength, even after too much has been demanded of us.

Hay, @kenwhite.bsky.social did you see this? Guess it's not RICO after all lol www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/u...

orcas have the chance to do the funniest thing

I don’t do year-end roundups, I don’t make resolutions. What I do, with the new year incoming, is make Plans. I find this has the dual advantage of organizing me for the year, and catching people by surprise. 😈

2025 is leaving the household with year-appropriate parting gifts: the puppy has a UTI and I have a sprained big toe. At least the cat is healthy? (We don’t know, she’s not ready to visit the vet for her baseline yet)

LOUISIANA: ICE officer pleads guilty to sexually abusing Nicaraguan detainee for Months “while she was under his authority”

I've updated my blog post on Amazon's new Ask This Book feature. Possibly in response to concerns from the Authors Guild (not to mention widespread media coverage), Amazon has tweaked the feature to be less expansive writerbeware.blog/2025/12/12/k...

Still mind-blowing that a top admin official was revealed to have taken $50,000 in cash in a paper bag from people looking for government favors, the reaction of the administration was "Whatever losers, this is how it works now" and bigshot news media said "If you say so, we'll forget about it"

What I always hear: “We can’t afford to pay our workers more than $15 an hour.” What I never hear: “We can’t afford to pay our CEO millions of dollars a year.” Funny how that works.

If you live in the United States and use mail-in voting, read this article. Your vote probably depends on it. www.northjersey.com/story/news/2...

OK, it’s NOT just me. We were out this morning and not one but two other dog owners stopped us to ask if Bean was a boxer mix. (That 3% in her mix is doing a lot of heavy lifting, apparently.) Pictured below with her Hanukkah present, baby’s first giant Hedgie.

NEW: DOJ has been to multiple venues trying to shop their criminal case against the people who investigated Russian election interference. And they keep failing. So they're trying to add a grand jury in Judge Aileen Cannon's jurisdiction. youtu.be/W4pImd81anA?...

Meanwhile, DOJ wants to push the first public hearing for accused pipe bomber Brian Cole past the date (January 5) when 5-year statutes of limitation would expire. legacy.www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

I would recommend people read Erin’s letter, I also recommend people read Chuck’s letter. We need to be aware and thinking about this, no matter what field we’re in. Because it’s creeping into (being shoved into) everything.

Some days, Bean does really well with her training. And then some mornings it’s 100% “ooo butterfly!” puppy brain. Cute to watch, frustrating at the other end of the leash. We also discovered she really likes carrot greens, stealing them out of my hand at the farmers market. 🤦🏽‍♀️🐾

I don't know how many times it needs to be said that you absolutely should not let fucking "AI" anywhere near your legal contracts, either in creating them or evaluating them, but apparently it needs to be said at least one more time, so allow me to say it again, here, right now

Read Jim's whole thread! I also want to add some historical context. During the 1918 pandemic, there was so much confusion because many scientists still thought that a bacteria, not a virus caused the flu (because, as Jim notes, we couldn't even see viruses under a microscope yet).

Bean just went for her first professional nail clipping, and absolutely let her 32% shepsky freak flag fly. 😂🤦🏽‍♀️ The staff was absolutely charmed, and gave her “more than her body weight in cookies.“

Welcome to SURREAL WEEK, where calories don't count, drinking is governed by airport rules, no one cares how you're dressed, and marathoning old movies is the norm. You have until January 5th when doing absolutely fucking nothing becomes embarrassing again. Do nothing with it wisely.

No literary agent who is going to get you a deal is going to charge you upfront. They make a percentage. That is how it works. If someone says otherwise or tries to "upsell" you, they are scammers.

Ah, what does a pope know about Christianity, anyway.- every christofascist ever

As a Jew, it’s fun watching the administration post Christian nationalist messages while also saying they are doing everything they can to curb antisemitism.

I worked for DOJ. I don't think people realize how dangerous it is for the White House to takeover the daily operations of the Justice Department.

Merry/Happy Christmas to those who observe! May your cookies not burn, your trees not topple, your lights not mysteriously burn out in the middle of the string, and That Relative not ruin dinner.

Do it. This will be the best $1 of entertainment this holiday. #amreading again, trying to not giggle snort my Chai.

I, um, did a thing. And I haven't even started drinking. Yet. (throw a dollar or two in the tip jar to see the whole thing) www.patreon.com/posts/becaus...

AI is a cancer.

The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5

A girl and her dog. Or a dog and her girl.

Did she need someone to say that torture is good? That we need to abandon all human rights standards? Memorable critique of the bothsiderism of McNeil Lehrer New Hour many years ago: "Now over to you, Mr. Pol Pot, for a positive view of genocide."

This has been made available, so for purposes of commenting on Bari Weiss's decision to spike the story, here's a live-post of that segment. It begins with a "you may recall" summary of the deportation to el Salvador. Describes the admin's claim that it could deport the men without due process

Every update is more pathetic than the last. I'll say one thing, Weiss is certainly a creature of our era of malicious incompetence, elite vulgarity, plutocrat bootlicking, and overall dumbness.

👇🎯 It is a feature, not a bug