Edited to add: Friends, I wrote this yesterday before news of the plane crash broke. Obviously, we’ll all be watching those developments today. Feel free to thread hijack all you want.
I’ve probably talked about this before here, but if there are any newbies in the readership, here it is again: I’ve always felt a certain not-too-serious sisterhood with Caroline Kennedy. We’re so close in age — she is two days younger than me — that it’s the sort of thing your mom tells you when you’re both little, and her dad is president. What’s more, her younger brother’s birthday is on the same date as mine, three years later. So it’s:
Me: November 25, 1957
Caroline: November 27, 1957
John Kennedy Jr.: November 25, 1960
Mostly this was taken as a joke in my family: “I see Caroline Kennedy is interning for the New York Daily News this summer,” my mom might say, by way of noting that I was spending my break working the cash register in a Mexican restaurant. Caroline went to law school. Caroline has published many books. Caroline has served as ambassador to two countries (Japan, Australia). Needless to say, Caroline lives a cooler life than I do, but that’s to be expected.
This week Caroline made news for a devastating letter she sent to senators considering her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as the president’s nominee to run the Department of Health & Human Services. You can see her read it here. The letter itself was very brave; she described her cousin as a “predator” and a malign influence on others. She scolded him for appropriating her father’s image and family’s reputation for his ridiculous presidential run, before “groveling to Trump for a job.” We’ll see if it has an effect.
But, shallow doppelgänger than I am, I couldn’t help but notice her face. I don’t want to snip copyright photos, so let’s look at the public-domain Wikipedia shot:
That is a 67-year-old, well-lived-in face. (Albeit one with Irish DNA and likely our generation’s casual relationship with sunblock.) And I think we’ve forgotten what that looks like.
We’re so inured to today’s fillered, Botoxed, surgically altered, Instagram-filtered face, we think that’s what older women should do, whether they want to or not. JLo is 55, and has not only no lines, but a 25-year-old’s body. The old ad line for hair color — “Does she or doesn’t she?” has moved from hair to our entire body. And speaking of 55-year-olds (in April), let’s take a look at another older woman:
It’s the new First Sex Worker’s official portrait. In the name of Photoshop, have you ever seen more filters deployed in your life? Not to mention the heavily plasticized body, with the breast implants, the slanty eyes, and god knows what else. Also 55 (although this photo is a few years old:
This photo was singled out for derision when she published it on her Instagram. It says a lot about her, if you ask me.
You can go online and find photos of both these women before they entered the Mar-a-Lago fembot factory. Others, too. Kristi Noem, age 53:
I can hear some of you men, or at least your horny ids, saying so what if Kristi and Kim got a glow-up? That high-necked pink blouse was doing her no favors, and her new hair is sexy. My reply would be: Why did she change her look so drastically? To catch the eye of a known sexual assailant, that’s why.
Speaking of Mar-a-lago:
(Shudder.)
Anyway. I’m watching the RFK Jr. hearing now. I can’t figure out whether Bobby has perma-dyed his skin the color of a walnut, whether he supplements with Bronx Colors makeup like his would-be boss, or if he simply spends so much time outside, maybe flexing his guns on the beach shirtless in a pair of jeans, or what.
Are we doomed? I feel like we probably are.
Mark P said on January 30, 2025 at 9:51 am
Let’s see, my observations:
First, I am relieved that Trump has given us the benefit of his empathy and insight on the crash. When I checked AP News for information on the crash, for one second I thought a headline about RFK Jr, Tulsi Gabbard, and Kash Patel was more information on the crash. I dare not say what I felt for that brief instant.
Second, as a man, I can say without reservation, that I do not prefer plastic women over actual women.
Third, are those two photos actually of the same puppy killer?
Fourth, I have never felt so out of step with my fellow Americans. I cannot understand how people can look at this country and not immediately grab their pitchforks and torches.
Fifth, so now we have an actual plan for concentration camps.
Sixth, I desperately want to wake up.
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Scout said on January 30, 2025 at 11:34 am
The first concentration camp 10 days in. The horrors are just beginning.
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Jeff Borden said on January 30, 2025 at 11:39 am
It should surprise absolutely no one that tRump has eliminated the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, which was formed after the bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. tRump said in announcing this that it was designed to eliminate a waste of resources and give more authority to the Department of Homeland Security.
Now, we’ll have puppy killer Kristi Noem (DHS head) and reality TV personality Sean Duffy, who’s our new Secretary of Transportation. No doubt these two crack intellects will get to the root of the disaster. What a shit show and we’re just 10 days in. Good times!
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Julie Robinson said on January 30, 2025 at 11:53 am
I’ll confess to a sharp intake of breath when I saw the recent pictures of Caroline. I’m 11 months older than her, and I only have very fine lines of wrinkles; indeed my 44 yo daughter has more than I. Lack of tanning ability plus a couple of bad burns meant I embraced sunscreen and face lotion morning and evening.
It is refreshing that Caroline doesn’t seem to care, and also apparently never had orthodontia done?
Yesterday was really hard around here and every time I went online there was fresh horror. Now this plane crash, which affects the figure skating community. They were coming back from a training camp, held right after Nationals, when so many were already in Wichita. It seems to be young teens and some coaches.
A married couple had been world champions in 1994 for Russia, and like so many of their countrymen, had lived and coached here. Their son was born here and came in fourth in the men’s competition. Now he is all alone at 23. Multiply that by all in the crash and your heart has to weep.
And then you know who seems to hit at conspiracy theories. Awful awful awful.
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Jeff Gill said on January 30, 2025 at 11:57 am
A Reichstag air crash, eh?
Note to fellow readers: if you click on the Noem diptych, it shows up in scale.
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Dexter Friend said on January 30, 2025 at 12:24 pm
For the first time ever, I agree with Drumph; what the hell was the helo doing flying straight into the RJ? Why does ATC daily allow 200 feet altitude helos flying willy-nilly under rolling and landing aircraft? On the busiest single runway in the world, as National only has 2 runways? I have flown into LaGuardia before, with the approach mostly over water, but the few times I flew into Washington, it was Dulles. LaGuardia gives much more concern for concern, and National seems just as shaky.
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ROGirl said on January 30, 2025 at 12:57 pm
If Caroline smoked, that could have made her lines worse. I hate looking at my face in the mirror (I’m a year older than you and Caroline), but the Florida trio are scary, and no doubt scarry. They could take their drag queen show on the road.
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MS said on January 30, 2025 at 1:15 pm
I just discovered you/your writing. Thank Frank Bruni.
“It’s the new First Sex Worker’s official portrait. In the name of Photoshop, have you ever seen more filters deployed in your life?” “I can’t figure out whether Bobby has perma-dyed his skin the color of a walnut…” Fabulous! I look forward to reading more!
P.S. Please join Bluesky!
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Dorothy said on January 30, 2025 at 1:20 pm
I can’t even find the words to reflect on what Turd Brain said today about the plane crash so I’ll just leave it there.
I’m almost 3 months older than Caroline, and I too have a little brother three years younger than me – he was born a day before JFK Jr. which happened to fall on Thanksgiving Day in 1960. He was baby #8 for my mom and dad. I have always admired Caroline and her skin/lines are likely a genetic predisposition as well as influenced by sun exposure. I hope she wasn’t a smoker. Her mother was. I welcome any lines on my face that are visible. It shows I’ve lived a long while and that’s a good thing. When I look at the age spots on my hands and the way my hands have changed over the years, I don’t fret. I’ve done so many tasks with those hands and I’m proud of that work.
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Jeff Gill said on January 30, 2025 at 1:23 pm
We’ve earned our age spots, Dorothy. Be proud!
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Heather said on January 30, 2025 at 1:28 pm
If aviation is so much more dangerous due to DEI, as Dear Leader suggested, I wonder why a certain person here has never mentioned it before.
As for aging, I’m of the opinion that for women aging naturally is a radical act. Never say never, but right now I’m not planning on coloring my greying hair or getting any fillers or Botox. About my hair, a good friend said “but it will age you!” Well, no, I’ll look my age. When did that become so horrible?
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Julie Robinson said on January 30, 2025 at 1:46 pm
After coloring my hair for years I embraced the grey, and I would never have fillers or anything else. But skin cancer, that I’m not interested in. Sunscreen it is.
I never had braces either, and my folks probably couldn’t have afforded it. Small teeth made it unnecessary.
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Sherri said on January 30, 2025 at 1:47 pm
I thought gender affirming medical procedures were supposed to be verboten.
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Jason T. said on January 30, 2025 at 1:53 pm
The thing about “Mar-a-Lago face,” as it’s being called, is that it’s so damned artificial-looking and, frankly, unattractive, on both men and women.
It actually looks painful to have your skin stretched in those ways and it’s deeply off-putting. Kristi Noem was a perfectly normal, attractive person, and now she looks like a discount-store mannequin.
I can understand not wanting to look old — I find myself lingering on ads for hair replacement systems — and not wanting to go gently into that good night.
But c’mon, who wants to look like a human sex doll? Ugh.
For a man who pays so much attention (supposedly) to aesthetics, everything he’s done has been ugly and cheap-looking — his buildings, his merchandise, and now, human beings. Every thing he touches, indeed, turns to shit. He’s “King Midas in Reverse,” as the Hollies sang.
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Mark P said on January 30, 2025 at 2:03 pm
I’m sure I have mentioned before about my brother who made some business trips to Japan. He always grew his gray beard out before he left because, he said, the Japanese honor their elders.
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Jeff Borden said on January 30, 2025 at 2:05 pm
I’m sure the aviator is fully on board with anything Fearless Leader does. MAGAts are nothing if not loyal to their great orange deity.
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alex said on January 30, 2025 at 2:09 pm
Caroline looks like people I’ve known who lived their entire lives in places like Florida and Arizona, but I’m sure heredity is a big part of it too.
I was blessed with oily skin. People don’t believe me when I tell them I’m 63, and I smoked like a chimney for several decades and never used sunscreen despite spending as much time outdoors as anyone. So far I’ve had a basal cell lesion removed from my face and will probably have more eventually, but I’m not terribly concerned. My brother is 61 and easily passes for being in his early 40s. And we both still have dark hair with only a few hints of gray. Our parents were mistaken for being in their 40s well into their 60s and lived into their 90s. My dad might even make it to 100.
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Jakash said on January 30, 2025 at 2:34 pm
I saw that photo of Caroline when the news about her letter came out and it just made me sad. Not so much because of how she looks in it, but because it was yet another reminder of how many people who are the same age as I am, or younger, and who seemed stuck in time as “forever young” are now, uh, old. Why, the same thing has happened to me, dagnabbit, and it’s quite disturbing!
Thanks to Jeff G. for the tip about clicking on the stretched photos — I was too clueless to think of that. I agree with Jason — whatever one thinks of her as a person, Ms. Noem was pretty in the photo to the left. The appeal of the viper look, featured in the photo to the right, which is shared by the former nude model above her and so many others, completely escapes me.
As mentioned by the new nn.c reader @ 8 (welcome!), “whether Bobby has perma-dyed his skin the color of a walnut” is certainly a keeper!
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Sherri said on January 30, 2025 at 3:05 pm
As the Senate mulls putting an anti-vaxxer in charge of public health, my clinic was screening for measles this morning when I went in for a blood draw.
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Scout said on January 30, 2025 at 3:13 pm
Caroline’s skin looks exactly like my great aunt’s did. Her sister, my other great aunt, took after a different branch of the family. That kind of aging is hereditary.
Dare we hope a certain assholiator has been jettisoned out into the air lock?
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Dexter Friend said on January 30, 2025 at 4:01 pm
Jack smoked cigars, Jackie was on the cigarettes. Teddy had a plan to ban tobacco advertising that worked just a little. Senator Ted Kennedy was always fighting for health care for all…he really tried.
I started smoking the day after I graduated high school until age 32, on December 19, 1981, a bummed-from-wife Salem 100, 9:30 PM. I tried all brands. I only smoked 2 packs a week. But I had to have those 6 smokes a day.
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tajalli said on January 30, 2025 at 5:09 pm
Wil Wheaton has re-posted an audio version of an essay by Umberto Eco (1995) on fascism that Wheaton read aloud in 2020. A terrific explanation of the origins and underlying nature of fascism as well as it features and behaviors. Eco grew up in fascist Italy so witnessed it first hand.
The blog post
https://wilwheaton.net/2025/01/ur-fascism-by-umberto-ecco/
The Sound Cloud recording
https://soundcloud.com/wil-wheaton-1/radio-free-burrito-presents-ur-fascism-by-umberto-ecco
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Deborah said on January 30, 2025 at 6:45 pm
I love Caroline’s face, her grandmother Rose had similar wrinkles as did at least one or two of her aunts. I have lots of wrinkles now, I don’t think I had that many at her age though. Another woman I respect who has lots of wrinkles now is Ruthie Rodgers, the widow of the architect Richard Rodgers. Ruthie runs the River Cafe in London and interviews interesting people on her excellent podcast. I admire women who let their faces be as they age. I for some reason hate my neck way more than the wrinkles on my face. Like Nora Ephron I feel bad about my neck.
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tajalli said on January 30, 2025 at 6:53 pm
Vogue article on skin cancer’s picture above. Yeah, it’s all about cosplaying as a freelance magician.
https://www.vogue.com/article/melania-trump-official-white-house-portrait-the-apprentice-cosplay
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Mark P said on January 30, 2025 at 7:28 pm
I just saw Trump on the news talking about the airline crash. He blamed it on DEI programs. He is acting exactly — exactly! — like Hitler. Replace “DEI” with “Jews.” It’s Hitler all over again, only this time it’s Blacks, gays and trans people. It actually makes me sick. If this were 90 years ago in Germany, MAGAts would be Nazis. And not just pragmatic Nazis, but enthusiastic Nazis. As I said before, the world would be better off without them. All of them.
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Jeff Gill said on January 30, 2025 at 7:33 pm
Perhaps relevant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eApT2g9klEA
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Sherri said on January 30, 2025 at 8:13 pm
As I read about Trump and Musk destroying the federal government, I’m reminded of two books:
Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, by Katie Conger and Ryan Mac
Imperial Life in the Emerald City, by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
The first describes the playbook that Musk is re-using again to destroy the federal government, and the second is about how the Bush administration installed a bunch of unqualified but politically loyal apparatchiks to run Baghdad.
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Brandon said on January 30, 2025 at 9:20 pm
Bob Menendez sentenced to eleven years.
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Deborah said on January 30, 2025 at 10:03 pm
Jeff G, that woman on the bench in that Barbie clip is a famous costume designer for many movies. I think she did the costumes for the Barbie movie but I could be misremembering that.
I’m glad that Menendez got his due, if only Trump had gotten his.
If I mentioned this before, forgive me, I’m trying to tell lots of people so I keep at it and I forget who I’ve already told. I’m trying to read a book a week during this Trump term, partly to keep from doom scrolling and partly because I love reading and I had gotten away from it for a while there and I missed it. So this is the second week so I’m reading my second book, All Fours by Miranda July. Last week, the first of his term, I read That Old Ace in Hole by Annie Prouxl, which I did mention before. I figure if I keep it up I will have read 200 +/- books at the end of the term, if in fact there is an end. Some of the books will be rereads, books that I read a long time ago and have always wanted to read again. I figure some will take a bit longer and some will be shorter so all in all it should even out. I haven’t decided what I’m reading next week yet, I’ve got a lot of books that I got in the free bins around and I have some credit at a local book store, so I have a lot of options. If anyone has any book recommendations I’m all ears. I prefer novels, but I’m open for biographies or really anything interesting.
I have to say this current Miranda July book isn’t my favorite but it is keeping me reading it, I can’t relate to much of it, maybe if I was a lot younger I would enjoy it more. I’m curious now to see how it ends but that’s about it for me. I have read a lot about the author and I wanted to finally read something of hers. Frankly I don’t get the hoopla.
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tajalli said on January 30, 2025 at 10:51 pm
So far this month:
The Man with the Silver Saab, AM Smith
Witch King, Martha Wells
Playground, Richard Powers
The House of Broken Bricks, Fiona Williams
The Wild Robot Escapes, Peter Brown
Denison Avenue, Christina Wong
The Discrete Charm of the Big Bad Wolf, AM Smith
Black Dove White Raven, Elizabeth Wein
The Strange Case of the Moderate Extremists, AM Smith
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, James McBride
My Thoughtful Valentine, AM Smith
The Dissonance, Shaun Hamill
and currently, Severance, Ling Ma (not the TV series story line).
The Alexander McCall Smith titles were audio books that I’d already read. They were especially enjoyable for the soothing accents for the readers. And of course for his tongue in cheek humor.
I’ve got Miranda July’s All Fours on hold, it seems to be wildly popular so I’ve joined the herd. 🙂
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Sherri said on January 30, 2025 at 10:51 pm
RFKJr thinks that Black people should be on a different vaccination schedule than white people, because their immune system is stronger.
JD Vance thinks Christians, or at least Catholics, are supposed to love people in a particular order, those we know more than those we don’t, the ordo amoris. Now, I don’t take a lot of my personal theology from Augustine, but I don’t think that’s what he meant, and I really don’t think it matches with what Jesus said about loving your neighbor and who your neighbor was.
But then I also read someone trying to claim that because back when Jesus was teaching, nobody ever interacted with strangers, neighbor didn’t really mean everyone.
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Mark P said on January 31, 2025 at 12:31 am
Yeah, don’t those stinkin’ Samaritans know their place?
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Jeff Gill said on January 31, 2025 at 8:11 am
Deborah, that was Ann Roth — my sister had met her professionally, and that scene made her cry! A lovely touch.
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Jeff Borden said on January 31, 2025 at 9:08 am
Anyone looking for a great read should be diving into “James” by Percival Everett and “The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store” by James McBride. Actually, pretty much any book by these two. Damn, they are good.
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Suzanne said on January 31, 2025 at 9:19 am
Right now I am reading Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver, which is quite good.
I am also rereading Katherine May’s Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age (non-fiction). I liked it the first time but am getting more out of it the second time around.
If you like poetry and essays, try Christian Wiman’s Zero at the Bone: 50 Entries Against Despair. I got it from the library last summer and it hit me so hard that I bought it to reread. It’s not a fast, easy read but worth it. It’s also one you read a bit at a time.
I am in a book club and we last read We Begin at the End by Chris Whitaker, which got rave reviews all around but none of us in the book club liked it. I never do understand how some of these poorly written books get so popular.
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Dorothy said on January 31, 2025 at 9:50 am
This morning on TODAY Paulina Porizkova called facial lines the map of your life. She’s right!
Deborah look for Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? by Alyssa Mastromonaco. She worked for Obama in the White House most recently, and previously for Bernie Sanders and John Kerry. It’s very good.
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SusanG said on January 31, 2025 at 10:20 am
Though not WASP, CK has the patrician vibe down pat-the voice, the hair, the clothes, and yes, the leathered look that signals plastic surgery is for the hoi polloi. The disgust in her voice and on her face when she mentioned RFK JR’s groveling in front of Trump for a job is priceless.
Years ago, it was known Jackie O did not want her children around Ethel’s. My fave Jackie bitchy snipe about Ethel was “she would cover Louie Quatorze chairs in chintz.”
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Jenine said on January 31, 2025 at 10:21 am
Yay book recs! I’m currently enjoying Deathless by Catherynne Valente. It weaves Russian fairy tales and history together. I also loved The Bear and the Nightingale by Arden, a different take on Russian myths and religion that surprised me with its depth.
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alex said on January 31, 2025 at 11:09 am
I continue subscribing to the Journal-Gazette because I want to support local journalism, but it’s such a diminished rag that I hardly bother to read it.
And now I’m pissed because they debited my account for hundreds of dollars and I can’t get through to a human being and can’t get a call back to explain what’s going on. This was on top of the monthly $21 and change that they get on auto pay.
Anyone else having this issue?
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Bitter Scribe said on January 31, 2025 at 11:23 am
Speaking of Melania, I wonder if she’s going to even bother to do the “First Lady Pet Cause” thing this time around. I hope not. She doesn’t really want to, and no one really wants her to. What would the theme be anyway? “Be Even Bester”?
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Mark P said on January 31, 2025 at 12:10 pm
I’m pretty sure Melanoma will become the head of the NS Frauenschaft. Those three trumpettes may become part of her goonette squad, although they look pretty fragile for wet work.
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Jeff Borden said on January 31, 2025 at 12:46 pm
Sean Duffy, the new transportation secretary, says DOT decisions will be guided by birth and marriage rates when it decides where to spend its resources. Duffy and his wife are giving the creepy Duggar family a run for their money with nine kids. It will surprise no one that this benefits red states exclusively. Dammit, women! Get busy! Your job in MAGAland is to churn out babies and make sandwiches for your man.
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Heather said on January 31, 2025 at 12:49 pm
Book recs: I’ve been on a Kate Atkinson roll. Great character-driven novels with lots of literary references, my favorite. I loved Life after Life and its “companion,” A God in Ruins. There is a TV version of Life after Life that I thought was so-so. I also loved Pond by Claire-Louise Bennett.
I just got back from Hawaii and am glad it’s rainy and 40 degrees instead of 15 in Chicago, but it’s still a tough re-entry. I loved Maui. It’s crazy expensive but so, so gorgeous and chill. We were lucky enough to have a close encounter with some whales on a boat tour (it’s migration season) and see lots of beautiful fish and sea turtles while snorkeling.
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Dexter Friend said on January 31, 2025 at 12:59 pm
Trump posted that MLK Day, Black History Month, Juneteenth, and many, many other days commemorating certain peoples will no longer be recognized, I guess. Cable people are trying to dissect this. Can Trump decertify government holidays like MLK Day? Right now, it seems this whole issue is crazy. Right?
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Mark P said on January 31, 2025 at 2:12 pm
@Jeff Bordon — Prioritizing funding to states with high birth rates is another plan right out of the Nazi playbook. Women were supposed to be wives and mothers, and having babies was encouraged. So, now we have planned concentration camps, demonizing certain groups to blame them for all problems, and encouraging procreation, presumably for cannon fodder, either literal or metaphorical. Germany in the ‘30’s is a blueprint for the MAGAt movement.
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Jeff Borden said on January 31, 2025 at 2:18 pm
MAGA is and always has been deeply racist at its core. I wonder how black and Hispanic QOPers feel after working their tails off to reelect the felonious rapist. They’re not getting anything from tRump or the party.
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Peter said on January 31, 2025 at 5:26 pm
OK, I have to put my misogynist 2 cents worth into this debate: I know you want to dress to impress and relate to the people back home, but all Kristi Noem had to do was get a nice professional looking white blouse and visit a beautician instead of getting her hair done at the army base and she’d look much better at a fraction of the cost.
Speaking of Kristi Noem and Melania – that picture of Melania looks like my Mom staring at our dog after he peed on the carpet. He died falling down a flight of stairs, and even if it was 50 years ago, I still sometimes think that it wasn’t accidental….
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Sherri said on January 31, 2025 at 5:42 pm
Reportedly, SBF’s parents are reaching out to contacts in Trump land to see if a pardon can be arranged for their son, since Trump is crypto friendly. (In other words, they’re finding out how much it would cost.)
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David C said on January 31, 2025 at 7:57 pm
I just had the creepiest of thoughts. Would anyone be surprised if tRump let Musk play Dr. Mengele with his stupid Neuralink? I sure wouldn’t.
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Sherri said on January 31, 2025 at 8:44 pm
Remember the days when running your own email server was the worst possible transgression? Hillary should have just had her biggest donor take over the entire computer system.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-aides-lock-government-workers-out-computer-systems-us-agency-sources-say-2025-01-31/
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Deborah said on January 31, 2025 at 9:20 pm
I’ve been busy reading all day so I haven’t gotten up to speed on the day’s events yet. It sounds deplorable already though. I finished my second book of my goal of a book a week during this Trump term, actually a few days early, the Miranda July one. I sped through it because I wanted it to be over but also because I wanted to find out what happened in the end, it was definitely a kind of book I’ve never read before, somewhat about creativity and celebrity and a lot about midlife crisis for women. Tomorrow I will start my third, I can’t decide yet if it will be The Underground Railroad by Colin Whitehead or Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Mainly because I already have them, I got them a few years ago or so in the free bins somewhere and have yet to read them. I’ve enjoyed reading all the lists you all have passed on in this thread, I’ve copied them all and will definitely be reading many of them in the future. Thanks.
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Sherri said on January 31, 2025 at 9:27 pm
I used to say “if we can’t count on the full faith and credit of the US Government, we’ve got bigger problems.”
We’ve got bigger problems.
https://newrepublic.com/article/191014/trump-elon-musk-treasury-purge
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Suzanne said on January 31, 2025 at 9:38 pm
Sherri, that story among others has left me completely demoralized today. I truly believe the US experiment in democracy is over and it terrifies me. Our son-in-law is an immigrant, perfectly legal, but the MAGA crowd won’t care. Same with my sister-in-law’s husband. Cancer research is certain to end from lack of funding. Our son is a federal worker for the VA. Everything we know and love could be gone in the next few months and Congress seems unable or unwilling to stop any of it.
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Heather said on January 31, 2025 at 10:38 pm
We really seem to be on our own. The only leadership I’ve seen is from AOC and Pritzker. It’s amazing how our leaders in every sector are either silent or falling in line.
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Sherri said on February 1, 2025 at 12:18 am
If, as our resident aviator claims, people voted for Trump because of the cost of groceries and gas, well, too bad for them, because Trump’s tariffs are going to make both more expensive.
I think that’s just ex post facto justification, though. I think they support Trump for a different reason. To paraphrase Margaret Atwood, Trump supports fear us because they worry that we’ll laugh at them, while we fear them because we worry that they’ll kill us.
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Sherri said on February 1, 2025 at 2:11 am
Trump bragged about sending the military to turn the water to flow to LA. What really happened is that the Army Corps of Engineers released water from federal reservoirs in the Central Valley that wouldn’t normally be released, because it’s water stored for irrigation, and they had to be talked out of releasing as much as planned because it would have flooded the area.
The water didn’t flow to LA.
https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-01-31/trump-california-dams-opened-up
Let’s note that the Central Valley is full of Trump voters, and Trump couldn’t care less if he screwed them in not solving anything.
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Jeff Gill said on February 1, 2025 at 7:05 am
Re Barbara Kingsolver: Prodigal Summer good, Demon Copperhead better!
Also Jane Smiley; we’re all living through “A Thousand Acres” right now, with Larry Cook played by D.J.T.
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Suzanne said on February 1, 2025 at 9:32 am
A Thousand Acres is excellent! I read it while living in a rural farming community and Smiley had the rural farming mindset down pat.
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Deborah said on February 1, 2025 at 9:51 am
I read Demon Copperhead the summer before last, I thought it was excellent. I read A Thousand Acres a while ago, that’s one I should definitely reread while Trump is president.
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Deborah said on February 1, 2025 at 10:26 am
My niece sent me an interesting email this morning, about a theory she read that Trump’s reason for the sudden 25% tariffs is to throw the markets out of whack and then he and the billionaires can “buy on the dip”. I guess that’s possible but I’m not sure, I think it’s just something blown off the top of his head as he’s having a toddler tantrum.
I read that the auto industry will come to a devastating halt, since a lot of auto parts come from those countries.
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Julie Robinson said on February 1, 2025 at 10:26 am
This year I’m attempting to go lighter with books, but of course that’s not entirely possible. Of the ten I read in January, I would recommend Close to Death by Anthony Horowitz; a murder mystery with a wink and a nod, and a crackling good plot. The Stationery Shop by Marjan Kamali tells the story of the Iranian Revolutions of 1953 and 1979 through the eyes of a young couple falling in love. It’s not exactly light, but the writing pulled me in and the story is quite beautiful. Yesterday I finished Jodi Picoult’s By Any Other Name, which posits that a woman wrote many of Shakespeare’s plays. It’s quite a departure from her usual plots and if you swore off her, swear back on.
Husband and mother still want to watch the TV news and I’m heading off to the bedroom. Right now I’m working my way through Somebody Somewhere, and when that’s done I’ll be looking for other series that are short to fit the time slot, and funny if at all possible. So many are 50 minutes, but I’m looking for 30 or 35. Suggestions?
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Dexter Friend said on February 1, 2025 at 12:15 pm
Somebody Somewhere episodes are 22 minutes of air time. A few days ago I posted here that I had just finished “Say Nothing”, a docu-drama about The Troubles. I can’t shake it out of my head it is so damn good. Powerful, jaw-dropping, but no humor at all.
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Dave said on February 1, 2025 at 12:18 pm
Julie, have you seen A Man on the Inside on Netflix, Ted Danson as an undercover amateur detective in a rest home. There’s eight episodes that’re about half an hour long, we’ve restricted ourselves to one a week and have two left. Sally Struthers has a supporting role and she obviously hasn’t had any work done, choosing to age naturally, well, other than the blonde hair, most likely.
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tajalli said on February 1, 2025 at 1:06 pm
Today February 1 is Imbolc, the quiet celebration of the returning of the light in anticipation of the coming of spring. It’s a time of entertaining thoughts of the return of the life energy of the sun, an opportunity to contemplate what thoughts we entertain to nourish our direction in life, independent of the external appearances of the present time of winter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL3KG2L-evE&list=PLAE496328B9819C23&index=8
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alex said on February 1, 2025 at 1:29 pm
Gift article that explains our fucked up world:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/magazine/anna-lembke-interview.html?smid=url-share
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Sherri said on February 1, 2025 at 2:42 pm
I said four years ago that I didn’t think Biden and the Dems would do what was necessary to save democracy, and they didn’t. There were some obvious things to do, some radical (expand the court, add DC and Puerto Rico as states), some not so radical (protect voting rights, end the filibuster, reinstate legal abortion, protect immigration), and they did none of those. They did actually save the economy, despite what you read. But they didn’t protect the institutions of democracy, because they thought that simply winning one election was good enough.
And here we are. They still don’t get it. AOC is the only one who seems to understand the stakes and how to fight against it, and Dem leadership is almost as scared of her as they are of Trump. They still seem to think we can go back to the days of Obama, or maybe the days of Kennedy, I can’t tell.
The Dems have no power over the levers of government, but they seem to be afraid to use any levers of power. Especially after everything that’s happened since Trump took power, they need to be acting like an opposition party. They need to be doing everything they can to stop, slow down, throw sand in the gears, shout about what Trump is doing, blame Trump for everything as loudly as possible, and don’t just do it in the halls of Congress, do it on social media, podcasts, YouTube, everywhere you can get attention.
I’m going to send a message to my Congress member, Suzan DelBene, who is also head of the DCCC, that my checkbook is closed to incumbents and I will be supporting Dem challenges unless I see a change in tactics from the Dems.
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Julie Robinson said on February 1, 2025 at 2:54 pm
tajalli, what a lovely idea. Sun and warmth returned here this week, and I have spent time absorbing the life energy.
We all loved A Man on the Inside. Ted Danson is a charmer.
We have an uncomplicated financial life, and no state taxes, so I was able to file our taxes today. I get an endorphin boost from it.
I tried to use the IRS Free file system, but after 15 minutes working on what portion of our social security was taxable, I gave up and bought TurboTax. I kinda hate the way they try to upsale you on every page, but I’ve been using it for years and it remembers all your info from previous years.
If you are Costco members it’s on sale through Feb 7. I bought it online through Costco and they sent me the download code. It’s good for 5 filings, so my mom and kids can use it too.
It did feel like giving up instead of using Free file. But I was probably going to need it for Mom’s taxes anyway; at 92 she still has a variety of investments.
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Sherri said on February 1, 2025 at 2:58 pm
We’ve been lectured about the importance of civility for years, yet now we’re hearing that certain people don’t want to be constrained by civility. They don’t want to have to avoid using certain words (retarded? really? they couldn’t get by without that? you know that’s just a stop on the way to the n-word).
It’s never been about civility. It’s never been about abortion. It’s never been about anything other than resentment that white men didn’t feel automatically most important.
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Jeff Borden said on February 1, 2025 at 3:17 pm
I highly recommend you Google David Honig and negotiations. Honig is an adjunct law professor at Indiana University specializing in negotiations. He describes two kinds of negotiations — distributive and integrative. Lumpy favors the former, where there is a clear winner and loser. It’s very 17th or 18th century thinking. Integrative offers a payoff for all involved and is the model for the 21st century. It’s a very clear assessment without political snark, but it’s very unsettling because Honig argues the big winner will be China and Russia. You may already be aware China has canceled almost $700 billion in U.S. products. The last time the felon played Tariff Roulette, taxpayers shelled out $28 billion to America n farmers to make up their losses. Expect it to be worse this time.
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Sherri said on February 1, 2025 at 3:29 pm
I wonder, does our very blue collar aviator think Trump and Musk won’t destroy the NTSB and the FAA? After all, the leopards would never eat his face, would they?
Or maybe he thinks our air safety record is all done to our heroic flyboys, and would actually get safer without all those pesky government regulators telling everybody where to fly and making sure they’re licensed and their planes are well-constructed?
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Sherri said on February 1, 2025 at 3:40 pm
This is a good summary of where we are:
https://open.substack.com/pub/programmablemutter/p/doge-is-ripping-out-the-guts-of-government
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Jeff Borden said on February 1, 2025 at 4:36 pm
Perhaps he believes he’s an ubermenschen, lol.
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Brandon said on February 1, 2025 at 5:50 pm
All this talk of people of a certain age getting work done and no mention of Madonna.
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alex said on February 1, 2025 at 6:27 pm
All this talk of people of a certain age getting work done and no mention of Madonna.
Nobody mentions her anymore because nobody recognizes her anymore. Maybe some wag will come up with a good nickname for her in the same vein as “Bride of Wildenstein.”
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Mark P said on February 1, 2025 at 6:32 pm
I don’t see how you can explain Trump’s actions any other way than that he intends to destroy not only the functioning government, but the country as well. If we make it though the next four years without starving to death or dying of preventable diseases, I think we will see a world, including our former allies, that has left the US behind as irrelevant, and where China has taken our place. If things continue as they are, I think the best we can hope for is partition.
I have some doubts that the EU can manage to avoid some of the fascist tendencies we have here. Who would have thought a few years ago that China would be the rational alternative to the US?
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Sherri said on February 1, 2025 at 6:56 pm
Garrett Graff, author of an excellent book on Watergate, writes up how our current situation would be covered were it happening in a foreign country:
https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/musk-s-junta-establishes-him-as-head-of-government
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alex said on February 1, 2025 at 7:49 pm
Deborah, Paul Krugman has a little different take on how Trump is grifting on the tariffs. He’s going easy on China because it just bought tens of millions in $melania and $Trump crypto, while Canada and Mexico are constrained by the rule of law and can’t pay the shakedown.
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Sherri said on February 1, 2025 at 8:45 pm
Man who personally benefits from billions in government funding can now decide whether anyone else gets those government checks, as new Treasury Secretary hands over control of payment system to Musk.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/us/politics/elon-musk-doge-federal-payments-system.html?unlocked_article_code=1.t04.ju1U.qAeqtUjrcE_-&smid=url-share
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Dorothy said on February 1, 2025 at 9:20 pm
Dexter I read “Say Nothing” a few years ago on the recommendation of my son. It is indeed a powerful story. I’ve only watched the first episode so far. Too many things to keep up with these days. I’m glad Severance is back. I re-watched half of season 1 to get caught up and allow season 2 to make sense.
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Deborah said on February 2, 2025 at 10:32 am
They’re coming for the Lutherans now https://bsky.app/profile/bubbaprog.lol/post/3lh77ekgdas2h You have to be the “right” kind of christian now.
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Icarus said on February 2, 2025 at 11:06 am
Sherri @ 66: Tuberville was able to grind the Senate to a virtual halt. From the minority. Over the opposition of even his Republican colleagues.
The Dems are secretly enjoying the fact that they don’t have to do anything for 2 years while the campaign contributions come in. They have the perfect cover for things they might silently agree with like privatizing the Post Office.
While I’d like to believe the Democratic Party is progressive and all that, I’m sure those who claim AOC is too left-wing and radical really mean a POC and woman is getting too far ahead of herself.
Julie Robinson @ 67: if you want to recoup some of that dough and have an extra filing, I can take it off you hands. if that is too convoluted an endeavor, no worries. Our taxes should be simple since we only had one income for the majority of 2024.
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basset said on February 2, 2025 at 11:27 am
Sherri, thanks for posting the Musk junta link… which took me down the rabbit hole for about an hour and a half with more to come.
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FDChief said on February 2, 2025 at 11:52 am
Well, dunno about my fellow retirees but I’m certainly reassured that two-thirds of my income is now in the sweaty grasp of a ketamine-addled neoNazi illegal immigrant from apartheid South Africa whose “genius” now appears to be hoovering up federal funds while being a ginormous asshole. Don’t see a downside there, nope, this is fine.
I think the big problem with the MAGAts behind this band of greedy scum is they see the alternative of “government” as “freedom” instead of the reality; that they (and we) are in the clutch of the wealthy. The Republic falls and what ensues isn’t anarchic liberty but warlords and oligarchs and theocrats.
But since the alternative was voting for a woman of color and having to put pronouns on your email signature we obviously couldn’t have that.
Oh, and remind me; how’s that whole “price of eggs” thing going?
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susan said on February 2, 2025 at 12:10 pm
Amazing that a bloodless coup, taking down the United States of America, was so easy and QUICK to orchestrate. Less than three weeks (and 50 years). Done.
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Jeff Borden said on February 2, 2025 at 12:20 pm
David Brooks, who I don’t particularly like, has a good column today about how everything tRump is doing is just stupid. In fact, he lists the six principles of stupid as represented by the orange cancer and all his little inept sycophants. (This doesn’t include Elmo, who is quietly intent on siphoning off as much federal money as his soft, lily white hands can grab.) A key Brooks quote is this: “People who behave stupidly are more dangerous than people who behave maliciously. Evil people have at least some accurate sense of their own self interest, which might restrain them. Stupidity dares greatly!”
However comforting it is to see the lower strata of MAGA morons suffering for their ignorance and bigotry –Mexico produces 63% of vegetables sold in the U.S., so the tariffs are going to increase the costs of feeding their families– we’e all losing so much. This nation will be eclipsed and quickly by China, India and other nations. tRump thinks it’s the 19th century and ‘Murica can dictate policy, but his ignorance prevents him from realizing many other nations can supply the same things we do. When he put heavy tariffs on China, Xi just bought soybeans from Brazil, Argentina and other countries. He’s so stupid he doesn’t realize how frequently products made and sold by U.S. companies go back and forth between Mexico and/or Canada. The auto industry is a great example.
The MAGA reign will only ensure ‘Murica is never great again. We’re going to be going very fast in reverse while the rest of the world marches forward. How will we ever catch up? And, as FDChief notes, all because a bunch of whiny, bitchy, candyasses didn’t like the black lady.
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Mark P said on February 2, 2025 at 12:36 pm
And while I’m talking about the unlikelihood of China being an attractive alternative to the U.S., who would have thought that current-day Russia would be the model for our new society? Say what you will about China, at least it works.
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