Yesterday the first red-winged blackbirds of the season were feeding in our back yard. The snow is almost melted. A warm rain is falling tonight.
And Kristi Noem is no longer head of the Department of Homeland Security. Now there’s a breath of fresh spring air.
Germany, as you may know, has tough social media rules. J. D. Vance has called those policies “Orwellian” and “lunacy.” The Trump administration thinks that rules against antisemitism and racial slurs undercut free speech.
Now Secretary of State Rubio has banned two women from the group “Hate Aid” from entering the United States. The group helps women demeaned on the internet.
Rubio says the women are part of a “global censorship-industrial complex,” whatever that is, and if the women entered the U.S. it could have “serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
This is the same administration that tried to get Jimmy Kimmel off the air, that put out a list of words and phrases like “transgender” and “climate change” that could no longer be used in government documents, that wants to remove certain books from schools and libraries, and that went after college students who carried signs in support of Palestinians. Yeah, that group, so quick to defend free speech as long as it involves demeaning women.
I was about to write “amazing,” but it isn’t. It’s the Trump administration.
See Adam Satariano, “Barred over Helping Women Abused Online, New York Times, (Mar. 4, 2026), p. B1, B6.
Because of a screw-up in the election procedures in Dallas, a judge in Texas extended the polling in Dallas for two hours after the official quitting time. The ruling, as I understand it, only affected the Democratic primary.
Then Texas Attorney Ken Paxton, who is also a candidate for the U.S. Senate, went to a Texas Supreme Court judge and appealed the ruling. That judge then said the votes of anyone after seven o’clock would have to be segregated. There is a good chance they won’t count.
Republicans, who are constantly crying that the elections are rigged, rig elections. I have yet to hear any Republicans complain when they win. Elections are only rigged when they lose.
Hey Bro, THAT’S CALLED LOSING.
Wait. They will try all kinds of subterfuges in November. We must be on guard. That’s their motto: “If you can’t win legitimately, cheat.” It’s part of their mission statement.
In 2011 California adopted the “top-two” system. In the primary election the top two voter getters run in November with no possibility of a write-in. I thought this system was un-democratic. It meant that third parties like the Greens and Libertarians would never be on the fall ballot. Many Democratic legislators, however, supported it, thinking Democrats would benefit.
This is what happens when you put short-term partisan interests above fairness and democratic values. On June 2 the state holds its primary. Polling shows five Democratic candidates for governor in a range between 14% and 10%. No other Democratic candidates has more than 5%. Undecided is at 10%.
What all that means is that the top two candidates will most likely be two Republicans. Remember–no write-ins.
So liberal California may end up with a Republican governor. FAFO.
See “Ballot Access News,” (Mar. 1, 2026), p. 1.
My New York Times was not delivered today. No magazine. No book reviews. No Metropolitan section. No Opinion section, which I really miss. No Style section, but I really don’t care about that one or the section on real estate.
But the front page–the news: I depend on that. So what happened? Did we set up a new government in Iran? I heard that the President, or whatever they call their Supreme Leader, was killed, but is there a functioning government? Are we planning to install one? Did we get all the oil?
I’d like to know.
That’s what if felt like this morning when I heard the news. An attack right after negotiations. No warning. Except this time it kinda feels like we are the Imperial Japanese forces.
A federal District Court judge in Boston ruled on Wednesday that it is illegal for ICE to send detainees to a country that is not their own country. ICE policies are already cruel and unconstitutional in so many areas, but one of the cruelest is to send deportees to countries to which they have no connection, no relatives, not even a familiarity with the language.
Unfortunately the Trump administration has had a history of ignoring judicial orders or appealing them again and again.
Let’s all celebrate our 250th. We have so much to celebrate, don’t we?
