Farewell Dolly

We have lost a truly Great Person in Dolly Parton. Time for a reminder to live your life like you want to be remembered.

We saw Dolly Parton some years back with her amazing backup group at Wolf Trap VA. She could be cornier than Iowa but simultaneously a fantastic musician. At one point early in the show a female fan called out "I love you Dolly!"; Dolly paused then responded "I love you too!" Later in the show the (apparently) same fan once more yelled "I love you Dolly!" Dolly paused, ever so slightly longer this time, then said "I told you to stay in the truck..."

RIP

To Do Something, or Not to Do Something

Right before I left for vacation I posted some quick thoughts on the continued absence of Mitch McConnell from the Senate (or indeed from the land of the visible for that matter) and the yammering for Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear to take matters into his own hands and DO SOMETHING! After all, we have to FIGHT!

I can’t be the only one here (there are dozens of us?) who thinks that McConnell’s non-presence in the Senate is actually a good thing as it reduces the GOP majority. I mean, sure, the caucus will fall in line but Collins and Murkowski get less of a pass in this situation.

— Roy Batty’s Dove Wrangler (@dmslattery.bsky.social) 10:17 PM · Jul 23, 2026

Meanwhile everyone yammering for Beshear to DO SOMETHING seems unaware that at minimum his magic pixie appointment of a Democrat will be litigated until the end of time, and at maximum he will be impeached and removed by the KY legislature.

— Roy Batty’s Dove Wrangler (@dmslattery.bsky.social) 10:17 PM · Jul 23, 2026

In what I believe is an unprecedented response, someone actually replied substantively to something I posted on Bluesky. Better yet, it was someone who has actually been in my kitchen - two of them, in fact. (Kitchens, not commenters.) His general point (apologies if I misstate) was that obstacles be damned, we have to fight regardless to show we can fight. There was a lot of back and forth so posting all of that would result in a giant-length piece; if you like you can review the fun on Bluesky itself.

Robert Farley at Lawyers, Guns and Money posted this reprint of a news piece from Kentucky outlining the challenges faced by that perspective, then wrote a follow-up piece that gets to the heart of the matter:

This is why “FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT” is a dead end. It feels emotionally satisfying, but it’s not strategic, even as an effort to mobilize the party. You pick fights you can win, you pick fights where the benefits outweigh the risks, and sometimes you pick fights that you know you’re going to lose because the act of fighting has a special meaning to the supporters of the party. Understanding the need to use power carefully and strategically is what made McConnell an effective Senator for a very long time.

Beshear's position is not enviable but going after McConnell and/or his seat more aggressively will not improve it. At any rate, things seem to have quietened down such that a casual search on Bluesky and the web in general doesn't show continued calls for ACTION on Beshear's part.

Raven Samantha Slattery, 2010ish - 2026

In late October 2011 a family - mother, father, daughter and son - huddled disconsolately in back of the Sterling VA Petsmart. They had just lost out on a chance to adopt a dog as the result of a name-out-of-a-hat draw between them and another equally-deserving family. It had been just over a year since the loss of their previous dog, and they were looking forward to bringing another furry ward into their lives.

The full story is here but suffice it to say that Raven entered our lives at precisely that time. She also brought thousands of unexpected friends with her as well as kennel cough, but we all made it through that (except those friends of course) and Raven became a sweet, playful and frankly uncomplicated dog.

Raven lived up to her Whippet heritage by delighting in leading other dogs at the dog park on high-speed, high-maneuvering chases. The only dog that ever caught her was a purebred Whippet who saw Raven zooming across the dirt, seemed to think for a moment and then basically teleported into Raven's side, sending our dog flying. True to her nature, Raven didn't care.

When Scout entered our lives the two got along very well, and teamed up from time to time to hunt rabbits in the back yard. At the time two young girls lived next door so I often had to move fast to avoid having to explain away the "sleeping" bunny. Most of their time, though, was spent lounging on various furniture.

As she got older Raven became (in)famous for her interest, however polite, in other dogwalkers' potential treat supplies; it didn't necessarily help that several neighborhood friends and acquaintances proved to be a soft touch. Indeed, anyone we passed, whether with a dog, just walking by or even getting out of a parked car was a potential snack source.

In fall 2024 Raven began to suffer from extreme balance/vertigo issues as well as plain advancing old age. When we took her to the vet they said "Raven isn't an old dog..." That was unexpected but then they continued "She is a REALLY old dog and there is no science for her" since so few make it that far. At that time we knew Scout wasn't doing well so we steeled ourselves for a rough 2025 dog-wise. At that time of course we had no idea of the everything-else-wise aspects of the coming year.

However, Raven rallied and medication helped with the immediate issues, to the extent that we were able to stop medications later in 2025 with no ill effects. Frankly the drugs were having adverse effects in other ways so in some sense were exacerbating the problem, but again, no science to fall back on for that.

Time, as we learn over and over again, eventually runs out and the dreaded phrase "quality of life" becomes unavoidable and undeniable. So it came to pass with Raven and we said farewell on March 31.

We had so much time with her, but it is never enough.

Raven Slattery runs free across endless grass. She was and is a Good Dog.

Assumption Adjustment

In ninth grade I was in the inaugural class for Earth Science at my high school. As the inaugural class we had supposedly been selected as brighter than average (true enough, thinking back) and our teacher was a seasoned (if not pickled) educator albeit with some notable character quirks. All of these factors resulted in a memorable year and the profusion of running jokes, catchphrases and genuine lore.

One section of the class covered the interpretation of astronomical observations to explain the movement of the sun and planets, to wit, the geocentric vs. heliocentric interpretation of the solar system. Geocentrism, of course, had the religious stamp of approval and the simplest observation, reinforced by human nature, appeared to show everything revolving around us in circular orbits. However, representing the precise apparent* movement of the planets in a geocentric interpretation eventually required a series of epicycles and exceptions, whereas the heliocentric model could represent the same motions in essentially circular orbits.

We are seeing a similar clash of interpretations as we labor to make sense of the actions of the Trump Administration. (I am temporarily letting the rest of the GOP off the hook here because of their passivity in the face of the administration's activity.) The traditional approach to executive branch analysis over the last half-century or so looks at policy preferences, constituencies and the various players when interpreting executive action. It makes a lot of assumptions, as it turns out, but those hadn't been viewed as such since they had by and large been followed. One of the biggest of these is that executive branch actions, whether we agree with them or not, are intended by the President and his Administration to advance the power and status of the United States of America.

We are seeing that the "geocentric" model of executive analysis is struggling mightily to rationalize the following (unfortunately not a complete list):

• America's heel turn regarding Ukraine and NATO in general
• Destruction of US soft power
• Destruction of US scientific and medical research infrastructure
• Economic chaos via tariff wars etc.
• RFK Jr.

None of this makes sense from the traditional approach. I'm not sure if I have seen any actual epicycle diagrams yet but they may not be far behind. How, traditional interpreters ask, does any of this advance US national interests?

******

There is another approach, one where we take the same data and infer** a different model. Here it is:

The goal of the Trump Administration is the de facto destruction of the United States of America and the reduction of its population to an impoverished, disease-prone, poorly-educated lumpenproletariat, the better to be ruled and cowed by an expansive surveillance state.

Trump himself doesn't give a shit about any of that; his sole project is his self-enrichment. Hell, he'd be fine with a second (big, beautiful, cherished) Marshall Plan as long as he got a cut. However, he has unsurprisingly gathered about himself the Worst and the Dimmest who are taking this second chance and are running with it.

There is no action taken by this administration that does not align with that statement. Even the retraction of policy from pushback reinforces the point that the word of the government means nothing.

I get that this is a really hard adjustment to make for a political and media class comfortable with norms and certainties, but the sooner they adjust, the sooner we can stop it.

Just look at the data, is all I'm saying.

*"Apparent" was emphasized by the teacher as part of the scientific method of measurement, observation and inference. We of course ran with that to the extent that anything like "I did my homework" would be countered with "Apparently!" Oh to be young and a jerk again.

**We could not state; we had to infer from the data

Cowards

As I told CRH recently, his post from the first week of April really sums up everything you could conceivably write about with respect to the Republicans; hell, CRH himself could barely get beyond the title. However, it is important to keep writing, to keep pointing at all of this shit if only to say "WTF America" over and over and over again.

For example we need to keep hammering at the fact that Congress and, secondarily, the Supreme Court can stop this at any time. Senator Murkowski's fears are certainly well-founded but she has to recognize that her oath as a Senator requires her to step up and, additionally, her party's role in bringing us to this point makes her personally complicit every day she remains silent (in the "performance of duties as a Senator" sense). Yes, Schumer is an idiot and there are things Democrats can be doing better to slow our descent - for one, we are NOT going to triangulate our way out of this - but the GOP is at the controls and it is on them to act. The fact that a handful - that's all it would take - of Senators and Representatives cannot rouse themselves to act is absolutely damning.

We also need to point - literally as well as figuratively - at those in the law enforcement community who execute the (unlawful) orders wearing masks but no badges, driving around in unmarked cars and snatching US citizens off the streets, out of schools etc. Incidentally you could see this coming in the 1990s when the militarization of the police really took off. A Democrat in the Oval Office is always preferable (with, I grant you, the possible exception of George HW Bush) but Clinton gave a bit too much fertilizer to the seeds of fascism in this country, knuckling under to that paragon of rectitude Newton Leroy Gingrich.

Finally, for today at least, we need to look at ourselves in the mirror. I can tell you that I am scared, though perhaps not quite at General Catburd's level. I know, or know someone who does, at least one of every kind of person/group/etc. currently targeted by the Republicans. I know people who are working actively and enthusiastically to either help the Republican project directly or improve the conditions for its success. And here's the thing: WE ALL DO.

My selfish fear is that I am going to have to Do Something but I don't know what, when or how. Worse is the Whether.

Layout Update: Sprucing Things Up, or Pining for the Woods

In advance of my work during the first Fedex Day I procured a variety of scenery materials including a bag of variably sized conifers*. They look fine if you don't look directly at them or make them the highlight of a scene, but they didn't get included in that round of scenery because other priorities intervened and I was put off by the trunk/roots at their base, which I suppose led me to de-prioritize them further. 

Nice variety of sizes but those roots have to go

In addition to making them look like Christmas trees the flatness of their bases was an impediment to mounting them on the uneven terrain I had created. In that respect at least I had achieved a "natural" result with my scenery!

So they languished in my scenery drawer until the most recent Fedex Day, when once again I put them at the end of the "do something with these" list with predictable results. However, that work got me thinking about them again.

Fast forward (slightly) to my backdrop work, after which I took a look at the corner behind the engine terminal: a gentle slope up to an abrupt meeting with the newly-extended backdrop. That seemed to be a good place for an experiment with a couple of aspects:

• Blending a three-dimensional foreground with a two-dimensional background
• Using forced perspective to heighten the sense of distance from the viewer

For installation, it's a bit hard to see in the photo above but the round trunk between the base and the bottom of the foliage has a consistent width and is of sufficient length to hold the tree steady if stuck in a hole. The trunk is plastic-sheathed wire, so out came the diagonal pliers for the surgery, and pin vise and 1/8" drill bit for the installation:

Snip => Drill => Plant

Once again excitement at having defined the task got the better of me so there are no "in progress" shots, but I ended up planting about a dozen trees in what I hoped was a random arrangement of size and color.

This first draft looked pretty good and achieved the goal of integrating background with foreground, but the start of the forest was relatively abrupt so the next day I Googled "pine forest edge" and got some good ideas for planting some smaller foliage in front of the trees. I grabbed my several bags of Woodland Scenics Clump Foliage (various sized and tinted bits of ground foam) and secured them to the scenery with white glue (the white dot on the upturned container on the track):

Foam => Glue => Position

It was really hard to achieve a random distribution with just a few shades of material, so future efforts will include a greater variety of materials for use.

Here is the scene in its current state, keeping in mind there are always additions/changes to be made:

Objects in viewfinder hopefully look farther away

I have already identified a couple other areas on the layout to plant more forest, including on the relatively steep slope above the mountain lake. There I may have to trim part of the lower foliage off one side so it can accommodate the slope. I will use smaller trees the higher up I plant them as a further exercise in forced perspective.

Not too bad for maybe an hour's work!

*Forgot to add this; good thing nobody reads this! My late father graduated from the NY Schools of Environmental Science and Forestry and not surprisingly knew a lot about trees, so he was usually pretty specific when referring to them. We also had two large Norway Spruce in our front yard when I was growing up so that reinforced the distinction

Layout Update: Around the Edges

Years ago when I installed the photo backdrops on the walls around the layout, there were a couple of issues that got designated For Later:

The full-length backdrops did not extend all the way down the wall by the engine terminal:

Oops pt. 1

More jarring for me, I aligned the backdrops at the level of the yard and engine terminal, setting aside the fact that in the transition section the scenery base is 2" lower.

Do not under any circumstances look behind the bridge

This is exacerbated by the layout being a couple of inches out from that wall, so when you are standing closer to the bridge you see a nice strip of sky blue below ground level. In retrospect Fiona and I should have painted the bottom half of the wall dark green or something less eye-catching, rendering it Somebody Else's Problem.

The first issue was much easier to resolve, as I had some extra backdrops and they are pretty well aligned to flow one into the other. The trick was not to repeat a backdrop in the same field of view, which took some planning.

So, out came the scissors and et voila:

That's better

That got my mind back on track for solving the other problem, which was thornier as it would involve

• What to use for the scenery block
• How to get it to stay in place
• Covering four feet of space
• Minding the gap

At first I thought about using some more spare backdrops, cutting the sky off and reshaping the hills, but I wasn't thrilled with that. I finally decided to dip into the strategic reserve of 6" x 9" Scotch-Brite pads I had picked up long ago with something like this in mind, and scrounged my scrap lumber for four feet of 1x2 and the hardware drawers for mounting bolts. Using Scotch-Brite pads would also fit in with how I screened the interchange track on the rural section.

There were two options for mounting what I am calling the "mediumdrop": to the layout or to the wall behind it. Space and clutter considerations ruled out the first option, but the second option was not without its challenges. The other side of that basement wall is a prime storage spot for tabletops, ladders etc. so all of that had to be moved. Then I had to determine the best height for mounting the 1x2 by looking at a mockup of the mediumdrop from the layout side, but had to measure and drill the holes from the other side of the wall. The wall itself is 1/4" paneling mounted to studs with the studs on the storage side, so I couldn't just lay a yardstick end to end and measure; I had to mark one hole at X and then measure from both sides of the stud to get the proper spacing for the next hole.

(At this point I need to break off and apologize for the lack of in-progress pictures. The combination of finally figuring out what to do and having the time to do it spurred me to get it done with as few distractions as possible. Also my workbench is embarrassingly semi-functional and I did most of the work on the very edge of it.)

I briefly pondered what adhesive would be best for gluing Scotch-Brite (pathologically porous) to wood, but then remembered I have a staple gun which reduced drying time to, well, zero.

With the pads attached I did a test fit and realized that when I did the first test fit of the 1x2s to their mounting holes I didn't take into account the width of the Scotch-Brite pads. Fortunately there was just enough space to fit the assembly behind the layout and get the bolts into position in their holes.

The main goal of the test fit was to establish the minimum height of the pads for cutting the tops into a more natural wavy contour.

And here we are:

That's so much better

This is one of those projects that when you are finished with the basic work, you wondered why it took you so long to just do it.

Eventually I will cover it and the earlier interchange screen (at left in the photo above) with some scenic materials - ground foam, clump foliage, some spare puffball trees - to reduce its two-dimensional appearance. I think I will also insert a spacer below ground level by the yellow structure so it stands a bit more upright. But for the moment it has achieved its initial goal: to make the wall there, if not somebody else's problem, at least not mine.

I Guess Charles Koch is Worried Tarriffs Might Cost Him Money

 Lawsuit Challenges Trump’s Legal Rationale for Tariffs on China

Trump administration sued over Chinese import tariffs

The lawsuit was filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance last Thursday. I would say I couldn't figure out why this is the line in the sand where the NCLA chose to make a principled stand against this administration's abuse of power, but I guess I gave it away in the title.

Can You Believe This Shit?

 Really, I have nothing else.

Scout Simon Cheezit Slattery, 2012ish - 2025

Scout came into our lives on January 4, 2014 after we met him at an adoption event. While he very quickly settled in to life with Raven and the household humans, he was never fully comfortable with outsiders. Similarly, among his canine peers he got along fine, although he had his favorites and, on the flip side, was not big on puppies or younger, more rambunctious dogs.

For most of his time with us Scout was the self-deputized head of yard security, patrolling the perimeter while Raven waited patiently on the patio to see if anything would pop out of the bushes he was working. One of his favorite spots was a clump of tiger lilies from which he could survey the neighbors' yard and our driveway.

What are the neighbors up to

A few years ago we discovered Scout had heart disease as well as a growth on one of his heart valves, with the vets advising us that this could cause trouble at almost any time. Scout held up well during this, although he recently joined Raven in being essentially deaf; like Raven, though, he did not seem to mind. Finally, a few weeks ago, we had to take Scout to the ER and were told we didn't have much time left with him. Even then he seemed to recover pretty well until this past week, when the dreaded phrase Quality of Life could no longer be ignored.

Scout began the next leg of his journey at home on Saturday, March 28, 2025, following a hearty meal of burger and chicken nuggets. The end was peaceful release from his suffering.

Scout Slattery runs free across endless grass. He was and is a Good Dog.

The Cranks Have Become the Levers

The post title is the first one I conceived for the re-launch of the blog, but Events Kept Occurring and I hadn't been able to organize my thoughts around this until now. As often, an external stimulus provided the, uh, stimulus.

A couple of days ago on Bluesky I saw this combination question/judgment posed. I am not linking as it was part of a larger back-and-forth.

All these people who claim to have seen fascism all along, were they also inviting these fascist friends and family over for Thanksgiving and BBQs all along?

Sounds to me like that was permission, and normalizing the depravity to come.

To which I responded:

Yes and I suspect I am not the only one wrestling with this. The difference is now these people are in the driver’s seat instead of being just Racist Uncle or Crank Friend Who’s Fun at Parties.

Frankly I would be surprised if anyone is NOT wrestling with this, unless of course you're on board with the current situation, in which case

I will be Judge Judy and executioner

(Film digression; you're welcome)

I am pretty confident when I say that everyone knows and/or is related to someone like this, which reflects the near-even split in the electorate which btw AGAIN did not deliver an absolute majority to the Republicans.

Before the 2024 election you could compromise somewhat, and I challenge any erstwhile purists out there to search your feelings before casting the first stone on this.

Crank (Racist/Rightwing) Uncle

If you're related there's not a whole lot you can do if someone else is organizing the event and there are other relatives there you really want to see and/or the event is in honor of a relative you like. There have always been Racist/Rightwing Relatives and you become adept at keeping interaction to a minimum. I recall meeting a cousin's boyfriend at a wedding get-together who railed against welfare then admitted, in almost the very next breath, to his family getting Government Cheese when he was growing up.

Crank Friend Who’s Fun at Parties

Similarly I am confident that we all know that one former classmate/co-worker/etc. with whom you've hung out* in various ways for, in many cases, decades. Their politics have always been at least suspect to you but you compartmentalized because I'm pretty sure that's what most people do in these circumstances, plus their spouse is nice so etc. etc.

So what changed? To be fair, the cracks started appearing in the first Trump administration, but now:

(POINTS TO TITLE)

In many/most cases these people are either cheering on the Republicans or, if you are lucky enough, actively and enthusiastically participating in the destruction of the American constitutional experiment. They have declared by their actions that they hate me and will marginalize me, my son but first and foremost my wife and daughter at the first opportunity, because they have been handed the keys.

And do you know what? THAT SUCKS.

• It SUCKS to get hate-filled texts from relatives.
• It SUCKS to have to negotiate a large complex group of friends and acquaintances, some of which are wonderful people and others of which are no longer welcome in your house.
• It SUCKS to have to cancel fun but expensive plans with friends because an unelected illegal immigrant decided foreign aid was unnecessary.
• It SUCKS to have your slowly-growing fear finally confirmed: The US Constitution is just a pinky promise in the absence of seven oath-keeping Republicans (3 in the House, 4 in the Senate).

Maybe that original poster up there had a carefully-curated set of friends and acquaintances with clearly-delineated areas based on political outlook.

Or maybe they are human, just like the rest of us.

Did somebody say Government Cheese?

*wrestled with the prepositional syntax on this one; red-pen suggestions are welcome in comments

You're Next

I have no idea where the current academic discussion stands, but even prior to my college and grad school experience in the Before Times there has been a long-running debate on the nature of totalitarianism vs. authoritarianism: what defines a totalitarian system, how does it differ from "mere" authoritarianism, does it even exist in the wild etc. Personally I think totalitarianism is more of a theoretical concept and not possible in the real world, but at the same time I wasn't like "WHEW, good thing the Soviet Union wasn't totalitarian!" Authoritarian governments are Bad regardless of intensity, which leads me, as you were all fervently praying, to my point.

OK, full disclosure, this was someone else's point but a) I forget where I saw it and b) it's not super-groundbreaking, just insightful:

Authoritarian governments don't need 24/7 oppression of all possible sources of resistance to maintain control. They just need to make periodic examples of easy targets, preferably among the weak but if they aren't available then people or institutions with relatively low public sympathy. So, in the last few years months weeks shit days we have seen two seemingly disparate groups targeted: immigrants and Big Law. More importantly, though, the intentional, even proudly lawless manner in which the Republicans have carried out their actions is the real message here.

It's not actually You're Next; it's You COULD Be Next. That can be enough to make a person or institution consider their next actions, although to be clear it can actually distort thinking. Look at Columbia University, which bent the knee earlier this week. You think the Republicans are going to let them stand upright again? Please.

Once the precedent is established the ratchet begins to turn. Green card holder today, naturalized citizen tomorrow, full citizen after that. (The latter with US citizen parents, as I realize that seal has already been broken.) Paul Weiss today, &c.

Each acquiescence is license to continue, to escalate, to de facto become part of the regime. Moreover, acquiescence may well not be a one-and-done, as I absolutely guarantee Columbia will discover.

Every single one of us, all of our institutions, are under threat. How we respond will determine how much we can save. This is going to be really hard.

"Judge X has made their decision; now let them enforce it"

First of all, is every single goddamn famous quote apocryphal?!

More to the point, I am shocked - shocked! - that the Republicans are poised to ignore rulings that might interfere with their systematic destruction of the United States of America.

"Ricky, I must say I did not see that coming, oh who are we kidding"

Even Dr. Frankenstein John Roberts felt obliged to join the kayfabe. I expect Roberts and Barrett will trade off being Murkowski/Collins in the coming series of 5-4 decisions that ring down the curtain on our constitutional republic.

The leitmotif of all my responses to those expressions of "gosh we didn't vote for this" is WHAT ELSE DID YOU EXPECT HE AND HIS PALS LAID IT ALL OUT IN PLAIN SIGHT. We also had his previous four crime-ridden years to consider, with the response of just enough people being some combination of Eggs are Expensive and Eww It's Those People. Enough of the electorate also felt the appropriate way to punish Biden/Harris for their frankly criminal stance on Gaza was to... vote for the guy who thought we weren't letting Israel make the rubble bounce high enough.

49.8% of the voters fucked around (or worse, voted FOR it), but we are all finding out. As our wet President might put it, "Very Unfair!"

You Say Agent, I Say Asset...

... Republicans could call this whole thing off if they wanted to.

The point, as multiple people keep observing, is not whether the Republicans, collectively and/or individually, are "agents" or "assets" of the Russian security services. It's this, as noted here:

The question here is not whether Trump, his employer/owner Musk, and Trump’s team are witting or unwitting Russian assets. The question is what, if anything, would they be doing differently if they were. And the answer to that is nothing.

You could also ask the same question replacing "Russian" with "Chinese". The Republicans' multipronged assault on immigration, higher education and scientific research, combined with the utter destruction of the US ability to project soft power and the full-throated proclamation that we are not to be trusted, is a rather too comprehensive answer to the question "How would you usher in the Chinese Century?"

The Republicans are providing an enormous amount of aid and comfort to our adversaries. If only there was a word to describe that.