LIberation Day

He's imposing tariffs on all countries except Russia and North Korea.  Make of that what you will.

The penguins are not happy about this.

For once I agree with something Mike Pence said.

The stock market has spoken.

This will be bad.  We're going to be sick and poor when this administration is done with us.

Windy Hike and More Badness

Today was a very windy hike.  We got close to the top of the trail, but turned around, too windy.  The gusts were bad, it raises hell with my contact lenses.  So, we surrendered and went back.  It's a good hike.  It's all up hill on the way out.

This is some sort of left over rock formation from Tucson's volcanic era.

The ocotillos are still blooming, all except for ours.  This is a particularly good specimen.  The hummingbirds love these things.

Senator Cory Booker filibustered for 25 hours and 4 minutes, breaking Strom Thurmond's old record.    I'm not sure if it was a standing filibuster, or a floor speech, I've seen it  called both .  Doesn't matter, he made his point that what's being done is wrong.

This is a substack you should read, it will acquaint you with the horrible people who will be running "health care" in this country.  We are well and truly doomed. 

RFKJr laid off a lot of people out of HHS today.  Food inspection, vaccine development, cancer research, and much much more have been gutted. The lead FDA veterinarian working on bird flu - gone.  A scientist developing a Parkinson's treatment - gone.  Europe and Canada have noticed that scientists and doctors are heading for the doors.  Our loss, their gain.  We lost a devastating knowledge base today.  Given what's happening with the universities, I don't know how we're going to recover.  Soon, they'll be teaching that the world is flat.  47 and his friends do not seem to understand the monetary value of research and being a world leader in science.  That will move somewhere else, and we'll be a back water.

It's very depressing today, usually I can keep it at bay, but the HHS cuts really ripped it for me.  As a parting gift, the released people were given a name and phone number to call if they felt their dismissal was unjust, the person to call died a year ago.  

In news of the good, Susan Crawford has won a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, NBC News projects, allowing liberals to maintain their narrow majority on the battleground state’s highest court — and defying Elon Musk after he spent millions of dollars to oppose her.  Unfortunately, the two Florida races were won by the republicans. 

Cactus and the Stupid

It looks like we're leaving for the frozen north April 14.  We still have two teeth cleanings and a trip to the dermatologist to accomplish.  These things are not readily available in Spokane.  Today we hiked, we had planned to ride, but there was a really strong wind out of the west, so we wimped out.  There are photos.

This is actually from the back yard.  It's the bloom of a Fairy Duster plant. Now that he's getting water regularly, he has grown and bloomed a lot.

Today we hiked out to the trail that takes one to the dreaded StairMaster trail, which we did not want to do.  We bushwhacked through a couple of washes, because we thought we could see another trail, but we were mistaken.  So, we then bush whacked back to a known trail and continued on. 

This is a dead soldier out there.  Sad, just sad.

This guy is not dead yet, still making an effort despite losing his head, and his arms twisting to the ground.

Look at the little nubs on the end of the arm.  He's preparing to flower despite his precarious health.

I collected some interesting things on twitter.  Here are a few.

Americans may have moved on from Covid, but I can assure them, it's still with us.  Acute Covid still kills people, and Long Covid is on the rise, as are "mysterious" deaths.

I did not know that Mark Wahlberg is a lunatic as well as Mel Gibson and Elon.  These should be some astoundingly bad movies.  Since Elon's 14 children were all conceived via IVF, and sex selected for males, I'm not sure where he fits on the spectrum of family values.

RFKJr is just the gift that keeps on giving.

Remember Operation Warp Speed, when the vaccine for Covid was developed in very short order?  Dr. Peter Marks oversaw that effort.  He ran the teams that did the science, the development and the human trials.  RFKJr has pushed him out of HHS.  In a line from his resignation letter he says "... it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies."  The link to the full letter is here.  His was an amazing career, and his departure is a great loss to science.

Finally, here is a link to Pete Buttigieg eviscerating JD Vance and Peter Thiel.  It's about three minutes, and worth every second of your time.

A Neighborhood, Perfidy and Weather

Today we drove over to Mercado San Augustin to see what was happening.  We used to ride our bikes through there before we quit riding on the road.  We're too old to get hit by a car, so we don't ride with them anymore.  We visited our favorite neighborhood, I first blogged about it years ago.

 Cactus on a small balcony.

A mural of Freida Kahlo on the side of a house. 
 

It's designed to be a walking neighborhood.  Now that I'm older, that translates to unless I have a unit with a garage I have to haul groceries a long way.  Apparently they are having issues with large photography groups coming through and plugging up the sidewalks.  One house has a sign up that it's a private residence and don't use a flash on your camera (so you can see in to the courtyard.)  It's a cool idea, but it's still to close to student housing.  UofA students are notorious for bad behavior. 

These are large apartment buildings about a block away, I'm not sure where they will all park their cars.  I suspect the hope is that the residents will use the modern street car.

The blue thing in the lane in front of us is the Modern Streetcar.  It's fun to ride, but it's in the traffic lane, so when the cars stop, it does, too.  Note the paint scheme on the overpass.

What is now being called SignalGate has been discussed mightily today.  The Press Secretary has been telling many lies.  She did not wear her cross today, maybe she's afraid it will go up in flames from the lying.

This is from twitter.

The New Republic has an interesting transcript of a discussion of the event.  It's a good read.

Seattle is getting weather.  The ferry service is warning that the rides across the sound may be bumpy.  Hail and a possible tornado are in the forecast.  This is not typical for the area, generally they just get months of gray skies and drizzle.

So, that is what I have to say about things.

This was the radar later on.

A Big Agave and the Usual Perfidy and Malfeasance

It was 95F today.  95!!!  We were out of the house at 9:30 on the bikes, it was a warm ride.  It's going to cool back down in the coming days and happy we are about that.  Apparently I have quit taking photos, I guess there is nothing interesting in my line of sight.  Here is an agave growing in the back yard.  He's different from the Paryii strain.  This strain is susceptible to Agave Snout Weevils.   Our old neighbor lost three large plants to the weevils.  They burrow in, lay eggs, and the off spring hollow out the plant.

By now, we all know about the Signal call that Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in Chief of Atlantic Magazine, sat in on.  Apart from the astonishing fact that he was added to a top-secret, need to know chat stream, is the fact that it was held AT ALL on Signal.  Talking about imminent bombing of a foreign country is supposed to occur in a SCIF.  We know that the people on the chat were using private cell phones, because Signal is never installed on government computers.  Witkoff was in Russia while on the call.  Russia!  The people who snoop everything.  An undercover CIA agent was on the call, and was referred to by name by Ratcliffe, the head of the CIA.  I hope this person is brought home, they're blown as an agent.  Europe now knows the degree to which the US government feels disdain for them.  I do hope they're smart enough, and efficient enough, to quit talking and start making weapons.  We can not be trusted.  A week before this call, the Pentagon put out a mass mailing that Signal is not secure, and don't use it.  They're using Signal because it self deletes in one to three weeks.  So much for the Official Records Act.

Greenland recently held elections.  Currently they have a caretaker government, and while they are forming new coalitions, they don't want visitors.  The US administration tried to say Usha Vance had been invited by the Greenland government, they posted on Facebook that no such thing happened.  Now JD Vance is going up on Friday, he says:  "We want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world.” “Unfortunately, leaders in both America and in Denmark, I think, ignored Greenland for far too long. That’s been bad for Greenland — it’s also been bad for the security of the entire world. We think we can take things in a different direction, so I’m going to check it out.”  I am so certain Greenland and Denmark are interested in Vance poking around in their defenses.  The Hill article is here.  The Greenlanders are planning to protest the visit.

47 has been writing executive orders.  The Constitution gives the states authority to run their elections.  47 has decided to ban mail in voting.  That will end up in court.   He's also going after law firms that he thinks were after him.  

So, same day, different shit from the nation's capitol.

 

Go Read This Now, Please.

This is a must read on how an Atlantic reporter got on a Signal chat group with Hegseth, JD Vance and others, discussing OPERATIONAL DETAILS of bombing the Houthis.  It's a gift article, I don't know how long it will be free.  It's worth your time to go read it.  Just the sheer stumbling incompetence of the whole exercise is amazing.

 

 https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/03/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans/682151/?gift=J_CNpt7Ar1nKEXqJWVh1ulEUSzqbExa4Kxm41rX0EQA&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

Desert, Deer and Cactus

Yesterday we hiked.  We went out the trail toward the big rocks.  There are two huge, deep, washes on the way.  The land rises and falls, the area is a foothill of the mountain.  It's interesting that once you cross the second wash, the desert changes.  It's greener and there is more plant life. 

On the way back, we passed by what we think is the exit if you have gone behind the rocks, up to the ridge, and back down the unpleasant descent.  We're going to start at the exit and walk it backwards, to see if there is a way off the trail, without going to the ridge.

The hike leaves the Tucson Estates trail when you see these.  There used to be three cacti there.

Now there are only two.  The arrows point at the stump of the dead one.

Coming back from the other direction, we used to see this cactus, indicating the walk was almost over.

Now he is this.  The drought has been difficult for the desert.

This morning, the deer came to visit.  She nibbled on the next door cactus flowers.  Then she headed in to our back yard.  After that, she went across the street and ate a large chunk out of their bougainvillea.  They do not have much fear of us.  

That red cactus she's standing by is about to bloom.  Fortunately, she has not yet nibbled on it.

I'm not talking about that man today.  Suffice it to say, today he signed an EO to close the Department of Education.  Hegseth is still removing women and POC men from websites, to include Colin Powell, and is now sending "compliance officers" around the US to make sure only white men are represented on the web sites. 

 

What Are We Outraged About Today?

This.

Here is the link to her bio.  It's a lot.

Clouds

It was a glorious day.  We rode, winds were light.  I think we're going to have to start getting out earlier.  It was in the mid-80s, and while it's not really hot, we were feeling it.  At this point, we're not acclimated to either end of the temperature spectrum.

There were clouds.

There was a sunset.  This is the first good one since we got here last November.  It has been so dry.

I promise, I did not hit the saturate button.

So, that's all I have to say.

Here's a photo Jim took - that's the house.

Hike and Badness

We had decent weather today.  The winds are gone, the sun was out, and there were high, thin clouds to moderate the bright sunshine.  Things always look better when there are a few clouds. More ocotillo are blooming, most are not leafing yet.  I think they're conserving water.

We took a trail that we don't remember well.  So, after walking for awhile, it started coming back to us.  It's the trail that goes up behind the big rocks in the distance.  It crosses the Yetman Trail just below the mountain bike turn around point.  Earlier, we'd lost the knowledge of where the trail behind the big rocks is.  Now we know.  I realize this is not that interesting to you all, but now I have a record of where the trail is.  It's a brutal hike, I'm not sure we'll do it this year.  It's long, there is a miserable descent, and then followed by more long walk.  Sounds delightful, eh?

Now I will talk about the depredations underway to our country.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team has been removed from the web, in order to not have any DEI showing.  “The motto of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team was ‘Go for Broke.’ It is a gambling term that means risking everything on one great effort to win. The soldiers of the 442nd needed to win big. They were Nisei —American-born sons of Japanese Immigrants. They fought two wars: the Germans in Europe and prejudice in America.”  They came out of the Japanese internment camps, banished there by Secretary Simpson and FDR.  They were put there under the aegis of the Alien Enemies Act, of 1798.  The 442nd had 4000 purple hearts, 4000 bronze stars, 21 medals of honor, 5 presidential unit citations.  But, since they're not white men, they do not deserve any recognition for their efforts.  Hegseth and 47 totally suck. Update to post:  the page has been put back.

47 used the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelans to Ecuador.  Many of these people are alleged to be members of the gang Tren de Aragua.  However, since there were no hearings, no investigations, no time spent in immigration court, who knows?  47 is on shaky ground here legally.  From NPR we learn:

Lee Gelernt, the ACLU's lead counsel on the case, said the administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act is illegal because it's up to Congress to declare a state of war that allows detention of so-called "foreign aliens."

"The Alien Enemies Act cannot be used during peace time for regular immigration enforcement," Gelernt said. "Congress was very clear in the statute that it can only be used against a foreign government or foreign nation. It has never in our country's history been used during peacetime, much less against a gang."

Beyond the question of the president's authority, Gelernt also questioned whether the hundreds deported to El Salvador were in fact gang members.

"These individuals did not get a hearing to show they're not members of a gang," Gelernt said.

Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., agreed to block the deportations of the five men on Saturday. He later broadened the order to anyone covered by Trump's proclamation. Another hearing in the case is set for March 21.

Despite the ruling, and the order issued to turn the plane around, the men on the plane are now in Ecuador, in a terrorists prison.  Very bad people are in this place.  Any non-bad people swept up in this deportation will not last very long before being killed.  This is a shameful day for the US.

The NPR article is very good, as is the explainer on the Alien Enemies act.  AP also has a good piece.

Remember a few decades ago in South America, one of the dictators was disappearing people.  In the US, we were all judgy and disapproving of this, but now, that's who we are.  I'm cutting and pasting out of a twitter thread about the recent ICE activities.  These stories have been all over the internet, this guy has the most coherent list. 

• Fabian Schmidt, a German engineer with a green card, was detained for hours at Logan Airport in Boston, where he was stripped, put in a cold shower, sleep deprived, denied food and water and access to medication. He was hospitalized & remains in detention. Go here.

• Jessica Brösche, a German, was tormented for over a month, including 8 days in solitary (torture).  Go here.

• Rebecca Burke, a British backpacker, was picked up at the Canadian border (on her way out), and they held her just to torment her. She's still being held now. Go here.

• Onto ICE's usual diet of colored people. The most notable case is Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder and frankly model Palestinian (he worked with the British Embassy), abducted from craven Columbia and made an example of quite publicly.  Go here.

• Then there's Dr. Rasha Alawieh—a transplant doctor at Brown on an H-1B visa—abducted and disappeared from the Logan Airport. Then she was deported despite a court order halting the deportation, because laws have disappeared also. Go here.

Deportations are supposed to require a hearing before a judge in immigration court.  This does not appear to be happening.  47 has interpreted the Alien Enemies Act to mean that if he thinks they are bad people, even with no proof, he can have them deported.  So much for due process.

In other news of the bad, Black Lives Matter Plaza is being removed.  It may already be gone.  Here is a photo for remembrance.

 
That's it, that's all the doom and gloom I have for one day.

Windy and Evil in the White House

It has been really windy today.  We discarded the notion of riding the bikes, so we hiked.  That got cut short because the gusts were high enough so that when stepping down a boulder, one felt they were being pushed over.  It was very unpleasant.  Phoenix is getting rain, we are not.  It's like Tucson has a protective shield over it. 

That chunk of cloud was moving fast.

So, DEI, the great evil.  It's a hiring thing, one tries to hire a diverse group of people.  Different backgrounds make for different perspectives, and improve decision making.  Now, ending DEI has become a tool to erase non-white men and all women.  Arlington Cemetery has a web site, they're removing non-white men and all women from it, to include Colin Powell.  From this Task and Purpose article we learn the following.

But in recent weeks, the cemetery’s public website has scrubbed dozens of pages on gravesites and educational materials that include histories of prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members buried in the cemetery, along with educational material on dozens of Medal of Honor recipients and maps of prominent gravesites of Marine Corps veterans and other services.

Cemetery officials confirmed to Task & Purpose that the pages were “unpublished” to meet recent orders by President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth targeting race and gender-related language and policies in the military.

Gone from public view are links to lists of dozens of “Notable Graves” at Arlington of women and Black and Hispanic service members who are buried in the cemetery. About a dozen other “Notable Graves” lists remain highlighted on the website, including lists of politicians, athletes and even foreign nationals.

This is disgusting.  Teaching modules are removed, maps to notable minority graves are gone.  To see the website now, you would think that only white men ever fought and died.  Apparently non-white men and women are bad, white men are good.

47 is reiterating his desires to take the Panama Canal, the military has been tasked with planning for an invasion and take over.  He's also still talking about Greenland.  In front of the head of NATO he blathered on about how the US needs Greenland for security purposes.  The stock market continues to express its displeasure with tariffs.  Tesla stock continues to plummet, if it gets low enough the people who put up the money to buy twitter, may call the loans. 

That's all I have the energy to list today.   

Update to post:  there is now a possibility of some rain here.

Random Stuff

The landscapers came this morning to trim the Texas Sages.  Somewhere along the line they were shaped into balls, and they don't grow out of that shape very well.  So, now they are balls again.  At present they look horrid, the inner leaves are dead, you can see through them.  If they don't look better by this time next year, I'm having all of them dug up.  We also had two bougainvilleas removed.  There is one left, and now I am really wishing it was gone as well.  If it's not better this time next year, I'm having it dug up and and something else planted there.  It hides the down spout extender, so something is needed. 

The rosemary bush also got a hair cut.

I have random stuff today.

Once a month for the past 13 years, there have been near misses between planes and helicopters at Reagan Airport.  13 years.  Some of the near misses have been as close as 75 feet of separation.  One wonders why no one thought to change the landing procedures until now.  67 people had to die in the collision between the Black Hawk helicopter and the Bombardier regional jet before this happened.

Grok is the twitter AI.  This would be the AI that consistently identifies Elon as the biggest source of misinformation on twitter.  Anyway, this is what is has to say about recent mortality data.

Young adult mortality rates have indeed spiked since the COVID emergency. Data from 2021 shows a 40% increase in deaths among working-age Americans (18-64), a rate called a "200-year catastrophe" by actuaries. By 2023, 34% more 35-44-year-olds died than expected. Causes? COVID’s long-term effects on organs and immunity are likely culprits, but reduced healthcare access, delayed diagnoses, and societal neglect of public health measures also play a role. Official stats often under count COVID-related deaths, blaming other conditions instead.

These are pretty terrible numbers.  The epidemiologists on twitter have been talking about this a lot.

Canada is working on a new covid vaccine, it's a nasal spray, and is looking very effective because of its entry via the nose, which is where covid comes in, and direct route to the lungs, which is where covid starts its path of destruction.  We will probably never see that in the US.

Elon and 47 spent today hawking Teslas in front of the White House.  This is a big screaming violation of the Hatch Act, but no one seems to care.  Tesla stock is in the toilet, pretty sure today isn't going to help that.  47 has also been berating people for the Tesla boycott. 

If any of you are Canadian snowbirds, staying 6 months 30 days or more, this will affect you if you come back to the US for the winter.  You have to register, then you have to carry your proof of registration on your person the entire time you're here.  The article is here.

Other than this hodge podge of stuff, I have not too much to say.