Hi Rhiannon,
How are you these days?. I have been meaning to say hi.

Also I am protesting emojis these days except the rolling eyes on. I usually like your fistbump one. But well I use this one to indicate any not entirely wrathful or negative emotion by now:
;-/.heh
Oh well..

Most days it can feel like I am protesting too damn things to function ;-/.

I hope you’re doing as well as can be expected.

Well okay as a one-off:


Absurd world…

And you nailed it, I'm doing as well as can be expected. Here in Northern New York, the biggest problem we currently face is air quality due to fires in Canada, but that doesn't mean I'm immune to the news and I'm increasingly anxious over the attacks we hear on immigrants and also fellow Americans. It's only a matter of time until this spreads everywhere. This attack on democracy I never expected to see in my lifetime is increasingly a cause for alarm. I sure hope that you're doing well, my friend - and that you remain safe...

Having problems with work still..but I am still hopeful that if I can figure out a specific way to ..as you put it correctly..make myself immune to the daily flood of 😳 with a specific routine so I am not susceptible to it ..


I am doing better than I expected..I figure if one is stuck with Trump one should use the disinhibition that it induces to fight the good fight..to use a hackneyed phrase.

I used to be more superficially repressed..not deeply..but social mimicry and all…handicap of being a loner who always felt a bit out of sync..you are pro-environment and female so you would kinda know.

I feel bad for people who are liberal or left and still have jobs where they have to balance this reality with their views. You worked at CBS right? I have to imagine it’s really hard for democrats in jobs like that where the upper management is kinda mercenary and all the dems are kinda hostages.

Fires in Canada. Wow..that’s how tuned out I am..lol..
You like comedy as do..thought you might like this:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columns/2025/08/03/epa-climate-change-trump-deregulation-emissions/85455461007/

I like Rex Huppke..How does he still have a job?

I am doing okay. I am just worried all the time about my closest friends I am not in touch with daily. And more broadly my colleagues.

One hopes to be anonymous enough in our high surveillance world to not have to censor oneself in stupid ways. Apparently you can’t listen to Enola Gay over there..that one was extra confusing..Is it woke to not be adequately pro Hiroshima bombing? Not clear why..
https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/03/10/dei-enola-gay-wwii/

But earlier this year, I was scrambling to delete any traces of…lol..ever having had an opinion so my colleagues aren’t somehow impacted..if by nothing else some sort of broken machinic thing..That’s an added fear these days.And then I read these columns by Amanda Marcotte and Andrew O’Hehir and thought…you know this is too hard and would take forever..

Now I have to eventually build normal inhibition back ;-/.

Glad you are doing well..Did you see that Colbert thing? Isn’t it awful?
Are you in touch with old colleagues at CBS? This has to be rough on them..

But I'm not counting my chickens - since we got redistricted a few years back, we're no longer considered part of the Capital Region (where I was born and my Dad was originally from) - we're now part of the North Country and we're stuck with national embarrassment Stefanik as a Rep. - and she replaced a moderate Democrat who retired.

Though pretty much everyone I know well would do just fine on DU. And I keep in touch with my cousin in Colorado (she and I are the only females of our generation on that side of the family) and she's thinking of moving since she's stuck with Lauren Boebert as her Rep. since the last election.

As for Colbert, that really is a tragedy. I'm a fan of all the late night shows, but Colbert is my favorite, post his monologue and opening every night - and I've been a fan since he was on The Daily Show. It makes no sense that CBS gave in. TFG was invited to that "debate" he's suing over, but it was his choice not to show up. And it's hardly like they changed anything except a few angles. But that's his thing, suing everybody that he disagrees with, and it's CBS's loss.

And I did used to work with CBS - what my company did was provide the TV listings for the newspapers across the country so I got faxes from publicists or kept in touch by phone. And I wrote the descriptions and made recommendations (like for the NY Times). Sometimes I was lucky and got a "screener" so I got to see a show ahead of time.

The 60 Minutes publicist was one of my favorites. And my main news contact was Dan Rather's publicist and I consider firing him to be another terrible decision. He was, and still is, a brilliant newsman.

Anyway, I'm glad to hear that you're hanging in there, but just listening to the news is painful (and often unbelievable) these days. It's shocking that we have a leader with an unprecedented 34 felonies, was convicted of assaulting women and attempted to overthrow the government! I keep thinking that the damage he's doing can't possibly last for 3 more years since it gets worse every day. But it sure does help to have DU where everyone here feels the same way that I do...

(Or at least suspected of such violation). You are accused of doing "something bad" to the public or an individual.

Yet, Governor Greg Abbott has issued civil arrest warrants in order to attempt to compulsorily return Democrats who fled the jurisdiction of the State of Texas. (The warrants, however, have no power outside state lines and it's unclear to what extent, if at all, Texas law enforcement may and could coordinate with their counterparts in the relevant states. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/showdown-texas-abbott-threatens-democrats-fled-protest-redistricting/story?id=124343408)

He's treating Democrats like women leaving the state to attain an abortion.

And I have some questions:

1. How is Greg Abbott going to find these wayward Democrats? A tip from the Red Roof Inn in Schenectady, NY?
2. Why bother with the search? All he has to do is wait and apply fines.
3. Back to waiting . . . . Can't Abbott try to replace the Democrats with Republicans and see if the courts allow him to do that.
4. It's mock outrage. Haven't Texan legislators done this before? https://www.texastribune.org/2025/08/03/texas-quorum-breaks-history/

As an aside, isn't hypocritical to issue warrants for Texan Democrats who chose not to participate in anti-democratic shenanigans (which holds up "legislation" in government) while January Sixers who stormed the Federal Capitol to halt legitimate duties of certifying the presidential electoral vote counting are deemed protestors and were en masse pardoned by TSF?

Thanks so much for your great synopsis and pertinent questions!