Early-afternoon Sunday here in California’s Central Valley.
A quick-snap view of some current goings-on (and an attempt to slowly start posting again) — first, the horror of Ukraine:
— George Conway ???? (@gtconway.bsky.social) 2025-08-24T15:34:09.281Z
Straight-faced lying is mainstream nowadays, from T-Rump to the Russkies:
Lavrov’s response 3 times is to insist that Russia has “never, ever targeted civilian sites.” So the apartment buildings and hospitals we see in flames every day and bodies of civilians is all made up apparently. This is who they are – liars and barbarians.
— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) 2025-08-24T17:34:02.319Z
The twists/turns of the Epstein saga continue:
Andy is a terrific reporter who has covered all sides of this story. Don’t get mad at him because he’s following all the leads even when they include the Clintons.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) 2025-08-24T16:26:15.857Z
Further:
Virginia Giuffre's family: "The content of these transcripts is in direct contradiction with felon Ghislaine Maxwell's conviction for child sex trafficking. During DAG Todd Blanche's bizarre interview, she is never challenged about her court-proven lies, providing her a platform to rewrite history."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) 2025-08-24T16:11:46.663Z
Via NBC News:
Family members of a prominent victim of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse said they were “outraged” by the Justice Department’s decision to release transcripts from Ghislaine Maxwell’s testimony last month to a federal prosecutor, arguing it provided Maxwell a “platform to rewrite history.”
“The content of these transcripts is in direct contradiction with felon Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction for child sex trafficking,” the family of Virginia Roberts Giuffre said in a statement. The family added, “This travesty of justice entirely invalidates the experiences of the many brave survivors who put their safety, security, and lives on the line to ensure her conviction, including our sister.”
And a blast from the immediate past:
Remembering today when pro-GOP media erupted with outrage over Kamala Harris' warning that Trump had plans to militarize the national guard and deploy them on the streets of US cities. Indeed, he had such plans. And now he's implementing them.
— Scott Horton (@robertscotthorton.bsky.social) 2025-08-24T16:32:44.579Z
The Pentagon has for weeks been planning a military deployment to Chicago as President Donald Trump says he wants to crack down on crime, homelessness and undocumented immigration, in a model that could later be used in other major cities, officials familiar with the matter said.
The planning, which has not been previously disclosed, involves several options, including mobilizing at least a few thousand members of the National Guard as soon as September to what is the third most populous city in the United States.
The mission, if approved, would have parallels to the polarizing and legally contested operation that Trump ordered in Los Angeles in June, when he deployed 4,000 members of the California National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines despite the protests of state and local leaders. The use of thousands of active-duty troops in Chicago also has been discussed but is considered less likely at this time, said two officials who, like others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The Chicago effort would further expand Trump’s use of military force domestically, even when state and local authorities call the idea unwelcome and unwarranted. Administration officials have defended such deployments, arguing that they are taking necessary steps to bring back law and order.
Kamala, where art thou?
And to close us out:
Darkness into light, or not, yet here we are once again …
(Illustration out front: Edvard Munch‘s ‘The Scream,’ lithograph version, found here.)