The Barbarity is the Goal Last week Renee Good, 37 year old mother from Minneapolis, was killed in her own neighborhood by veteran ICE agent Jonathan Ross while peacefully observing ICE activities in the city. Ross shot Good in the head three times, and the numerous angles of video footage clearly show Ross wasn’t acting in self-defense  or fearing for his life. Instead, this appears to be a cold-blooded killing, as R oss’ own footage of the incident shows . The brutality of

Happy New Year, I suppose. This email was originally going to be a review of the awful, some might say catastrophic (and potentially terminal for our democracy) first year of Trump’s second term . We would start the year by cataloging and contextualizing at least a small snippet of the myriad ways in which Trump and his cronies have dismantled and destroyed the apparatus of government built on behalf of the people keeping only the parts which can be used to enrich themselves.

Cruel. Illegal. Unconstitutional. Inhumane. But at least they are morons. Excuse me, idiots.  Brain challenged.  Very very dumb. I refer to the Trump Administration.  Where to begin. The sightly benign.  Trump has added his name to the Kennedy Center.  Tacky/pathetic and ridiculous yes.  And the font that was used in the new signage doesn't match .  But in the scheme of things this is relatively harmless.  The Center will return to the original name at the same time we welc

Editor's note:  This email was scheduled to be sent out last week.  Time Magazine had just chosen their  man  of the year. This year's selection is not surprising. Time is owned by Marc Benioff billionaire, the same guy who asked Trump to send the National Guard to San Francisco .   Time's person  of the year:   AI Architects This is a list of many questions and observations that people will have going forward: Why are my utility bills skyrocketing and why is my water bil

Watch our Zoomside Chat with David Crisa DSOT has another great conversation, to warm your heart during holiday season this time with David Crisafi, co-founder and executive director of Launch for Life ( https://www.thelaunchforlife.com/ ). Launch for Life is a free mentorship program for adolescent and teen boys who are in need of positive role models. In this conversation we discuss David's inspiration for starting Launch for Life, the growing crisis facing America's boys,

Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday celebrating light, miracles and yes chocolate. has now joined the pantheon of Jewish history soaked in blood and sadness. Once a nice addition to end of the year celebrations, it is now marked by the Bondi Beach killings .  Fifteen people were killed and reports state that 27 were injured.  Many critically.  Ahmed el Ahmed, a hero, tackled and disarmed one of the gun men.  He was shot and is recovering in the hospital but stated that he expected to

Wow, it’s awful to watch these corrupt and illegal actions converge and crash. Currently, the United States is killing people in the waters around Venezuela. Bombing small boats.  The official word is that these folks are “narco-terrorists” bringing fentanyl to the United States. Whole treatises can (and surely will) be written on how patently illegal, immoral, mendacious and absurd the above situation is. For starters: Venezuela doesn't produce this drug.  Most of the illic

The Democrats won another election a few weeks back, this one with an horrific backstory but happy- relatively- ending: Calvin Duncan is the new clerk for New Orleans , amassing more than 68% of the vote. Duncan was falsely accused and then wrongfully convicted of a murder that he did not commit.  He was and is a black man in Louisiana. He spent almost 3 decades in Angola prison, truly hell on earth. He honed his skill as an in-house counsel for other inmates and advocated o

The Sparks of a Political Economic Fire Thanksgiving is coming, and for many Americans it will be more expensive and difficult than ever put food on the table . The affordability crisis which is driving more people into precarity and making it harder to afford the everyday necessities of life has reached such a fevered pitch that its political saliency can no longer be ignored. Zohran Mamdani’s relentless focus on affordability in New York, brought him from obscurity to mayo

The Dog that Didn't Bark The federal government reopened last Wednesday evening , after the longest government shutdown in United States history with the capitulation of the ever-feckless Democratic Party. In caving, the Democrats extracted no concessions and further empowered and vindicated the lawlessness of the Trump regime. It was a devastating betrayal after the first signs of resistance against the regime, and while the resulting backlash may finally end Chuck Schumer’s

Watch our Zoomchat with Diana Emerson DSOT has another great conversation, this time with Diana #DSOT has another great conversation, this time with Diana Emerson, executive director of Waverly Main St. Diana has been working tireless to build the Waverly community in Baltimore for years into a vibrant neighborhood. Diana discusses how the Waverly community formed the initial Main St. non-profit, the logistics of growing and maintaining a vibrant main st., as well as the chal

Snatching Defeat From The Jaws of Victory (Again) The Democratic party has done it again reprising their role as the proverbial Washington Generals. This email should have been an accounting of the complete coast-to-coast shellacking of the Republican party and a repudiation of Trump and his extreme incompetence and cruelty. Off year elections can often serve as a bellwether of the electorates mood, in this case it was an overw​helming wave election in which it’s hard to find

This week is a tale of two competing stories: One of despair and cruelty, and one of hope for a new political future. In the first story we see the Trump administration over the weekend illegally stopped disbursement of SNAP benefits to over 41 million Americans, many of them children, who rely on the program to put food on the table each week. Despite two different judges ruling the federal government Must Use the Congressionally appropriated emergency funds to pay out benef

It is estimated that when hydrated - water is yet another story - most people can last 1 to 2 months without food.  Of course, children and people with special circumstances or specific conditions do require nourishment sooner. If food is withheld: There is pain on day one; hunger pangs, the body signaling that it needs fuel but able to continue. As the days drag on, there will be medical issues, and behavioral problems including lack of concentration, fatigue, and finally, d

Together with hope and hugs. Watch our Zoomchat with April Doshier DSOT has another great conversation, this time with April Doshier, executive director of Food and Shelter, Inc. April has been working there tirelessly for the last 16 years in Norman, OK providing meals and housing for the most vulnerable members of her community. In this chat we discuss the history of this amazing organization, Food and Shelter Inc., the changing identities over the years of those coming to

This past weekend between 5.5 and 8.5 million people took to the streets to declare loudly and firmly that there are no Kings in this country. With marches occurring in all 50 states, in over 2,500 cities, towns, counties, and villages across the nation, it was one of the largest single day political protests in United States history, surpassing significantly in size the first No Kings protest earlier in the year. Far from the violent mayhem Trump, et. al. were hoping for, a

The Flowering of Peace? It seems almost surreal to be writing it, but as of this publication there is a ceasefire currently holding between Israel and Hamas. This is the third ceasefire since October 7th 2023, but it does feel the most significant step towards peace in years. All of the remaining living Israeli hostages (20), and over two dozen deceased have been freed. About 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, many held without charge, have also been freed. The bombs have stopped

#DSOT emails content once a week and videos generally twice a month.  But there is too much to cover in this dystopia.i.e. How much we...

The The Community Cost of Fueling the AI Boom  Watch our Zoomchat with Ren Brabenec DSOT has another great conversation, this time with...

And not just against cars trying to kill you. Historically, protests by workers and consumers came rife with untold hardships. The labor...

​ Looking Out For Our Neighbors   Watch our Zoomchat with Mark Parker DSOT has another great conversation, this time with Baltimore City...

When DSOT was founded back in 2018 it was on the premise that this country, and its citizenry, are in fact far more united than divided....

Charlie Kirk is dead . If you didn't know who he was before his violent and barbaric killing this past week, then count yourself lucky....

In this insane post-modern Trump 2.0 presidency, major events happen so quickly, it can be hard to know what to cover. Take this last...

​ Creativity in a Time of LLMs - Re-release   Watch our Zoomchat with Gregg Wilhelm DSOT is re-releasing its fantastic chat with Gregg...

It's Labor Day 2025 in America and it's certainly a tough time to be a worker. This year, Labor Day is not only held under the auspices...

This email is NSFW Warning: disturbing content. Barron: Dad- how did you and Mom meet? Trump: Stop talking about Epstein. Allegedly  ...

For all his bluster and braggadocio at being a great deal maker, Trump in his second term as President has been more typified by...

Katie Miller, the woman who inexplicably married Stephen Miller, now has a podcast.  As most people do. There are no links.   She is a...

The story of Israel and Palestine especially since October 7th 2023 has been one of the most horrifying, tragic, and devastating events...

Every week #DSOT sends out an email focusing on issues and legislation that have a super majority consensus.  Policies that are vitally...

​ Knowledge Brings Us Together, Ignorance Divides Us. Talking with Sylvie Boudreau of Haskell Free Library   Watch our Zoomchat with...

There once was a man who wanted to be a King, or maybe dictator. It was hard to tell with him.  All his life he had money - his and other...

​ Talking Immigration, Community, and Bad Neighbors in Baltimore with Odette Ramos Watch our Zoomchat with Odette Ramos Happy Thursday...

The Trump Administration in Trump 2.0 has been typified by extremism, authoritarian crackdowns, reckless and illegal behavior that...

For the first time in years, Congress did the absolute minimum required of them and passed a budget . An “accomplishment” so meager it...

He has dark skin, and a funny name.  He is actually a Muslim- Barack Obama was not- and he unequivocally backs the people of Gaza, while...

Watch our Zoomchat with Ronda Cooperstein Happy Friday everyone! Today we are joined by Ronda Cooperstein to discuss US Policy and...

S ometimes, you can see disaster coming from a mile away, but you can’t avoid it, the proverbial train can’t be shifted off the tracks....

This past week the devastating violence in the Middle East took a terrifying escalation as Israel expanded its war by preemptively...