What I'm reading today... January 22, 2025
Only 1,459 days to go...
A friend suggested a new app for meditating called Aura. I tried it out yesterday and found it quite helpful. It works pretty well, because you select and highlight your needs: sleep, anxiety reduction, gratitude, etc. I selected anxiety reduction. I know I shouldn’t let the psychopathic #FOTUS get to me. I know I should just tune him out. But … good Lord… this is my country too and it’s disturbing to see the disgusting spectacle he is producing - straight out of WWE.
I get these petitions in my email … yesterday was about signing some petition to save the 14th amendment by notifying Congress. Sometimes it feels like we’re bringing a knife to a gunfight. Our Republican Congress simply doesn’t care — at least my senators, Ted Budd and Thom Tillis don’t. I wrote them letters asking to do their job to “advise and consent” re: the proposed cabinet. Their answers were pretty anemic and showed their spinelessness. They talked about a mandate from the people. (Sorry, less than 50% of Americans actually voted for #FOTUS. I would hardly call that a mandate.) From what I can see, Ted and Thom have already kissed the ring and submitted to the Mob Boss who is living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
I find long walks with Monty are also helpful, but it’s frigid outside and neither of us are enjoying our walks as much with air so cold.
Alas. Today is a new day.
What I’m reading today….
Can Social Activity Be a Form of Medicine?
Social prescribing is about living in the direction of more connection, more awe, more flow states, and more joy. One of the researchers I spoke to talked about how these prescriptions work simply by getting us out of our homes and in front of new stimuli that change the engrained pattern of our thoughts, which can drive some mental health issues. Then the activities activate us and help us feel a part of something bigger or see the world in a new way.
One could go on and on about the fire hose of incoherence that is Donald Trump’s mouth, but at some point you just throw up your hands. We should all know by now to expect nothing higher.
Donald Trump Is at War with America
The inherent tension in Trump’s deportation regime is that if he followed through on his promises and deported several million immigrants, he would hobble the national economy….But there is a way for Trump to have his cake and eat it too: If he targets immigrants in Blue states, he can create a drag on local, Blue state economies while satisfying the anti-immigrant desires of Red state voters. It’s a two-fer. Trump can hurt businesses and make life more expensive for consumers in New York and Illinois—and then attack Blue state mayors and governors for these problems and maybe even help Republican candidates win in those states….Trump understands that Blue states are the last bastions of meaningful popular opposition to his rule, so he will use the federal government to subdue them. That’s what deportations—and tariffs—are for. These are executive powers which can be used in highly-targeted ways to hurt on local economies.
The inauguration of a multi-billion dollar grift
$TRUMP does not only create problems for reckless Trump fans. It means that the White House is for sale. Anyone seeking to curry favor with Trump — including foreign governments — now has a vehicle to transfer a virtually unlimited amount of money to Trump by driving up the price of $TRUMP coins.
‘I Have Been Betrayed By My Country.’ Capitol Police Officers Blast Trump’s Jan. 6 Pardons
“Right now, I think the Republican party owns a monopoly on hypocrisy when it comes to their supposed support of law enforcement because tonight the leader of the Republican party pardoned hundreds of violent cop assaulters,”
Beneath a veneer of calm, Trump’s inauguration holds warning signs for US democracy
The head-spinning developments of Trump’s first day back in power suggested there will be no lack of controversy during his second term. Even after regaining the highest office in the land, Trump continued to lie about his 2020 election loss.
Trump Pardons His Thugs: Lies and propaganda rule on Day One
It’s essential to say here that the January 6 tragedy happened because Trump had, from the moment he lost the 2020 election, lied and lied about how the outcome had been rigged. With one court after another knocking down his claims, his followers, who listened to him and him alone, became ever more enraged. When he summoned them to a rally on the day the election was to be certified, they were primed to act.
Heather Cox Richardson - Letters from an American - January 21
Trump would like the Supreme Court to award him the power to override the Constitution that a previous Supreme Court denied to Congress, but his attempt to overturn our foundational law has already launched lawsuits. Twenty-two Democratic-led states have sued the Trump administration for violating the U.S. Constitution.
Trump’s executive orders can make change – but are limited and can be undone by the courts
Every U.S. president has issued executive orders since they were first systematically cataloged in 1905. In March of 2016, then-presidential candidate Donald Trump criticized President Obama’s use of executive orders. “Executive orders sort of came about more recently. Nobody ever heard of an executive order. Then all of a sudden Obama – because he couldn’t get anybody to agree with him – he starts signing them like they’re butter,” Trump said. “So I want to do away with executive orders for the most part.” Little in this statement is true. Obama signed fewer orders than his predecessors – averaging 35 per year. Trump issued an average of 55 per year.
Trump's J6 Jailbreak: A deep stain on our history
Across the entire television news landscape, the reporting on Trump’s inauguration lacked firepower. The profession’s stable of news anchors and correspondents who branded themselves as truth-telling journalists willing to hold power to account were present on screen, but their fervid spirit had unmistakably evaporated. It was like the invasion of the body snatchers — familiar faces delivering the news, yet devoid of the passion and conviction that once defined them, as if their former selves had been hollowed out.
Trump made America sound like a struggling nation rather than a country with one of the most robust and envied economies in the world. That is his schtick. It’s like Munchausen by Proxy, politics edition. He convinces people things are dire so that he, and only he, can swoop in to be their savior. To bring this point home, he said, “I was saved by God to make America great again.”
How much land do wildfires burn in the US?
After adjusting for state sizes, Nebraska and Oklahoma had the most acres of wildfire per 10,000 total acres, followed by Washington, New Jersey, Oregon, and California.
Book I’m reading today and highly recommend: Revenge of the Tipping Point
“We miss the signs of change, because we are looking in the wrong places.”
~Malcolm Gladwell
Quote of the day:
“I continue to believe that the grant of pardons to a committee that undertook such important work to uphold the law was unnecessary, and because of the precedent it establishes, unwise. But I certainly understand why President Biden believed he needed to take this step in light of the persistent and baseless threats issued by Donald Trump and individuals, who are now some of his law enforcement nominees.” ~Adam Schiff