Saturday, February 7, 2026

Reflections on Saturday Morning

                

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Reflections on Saturday Morning


This morning feels heavier than most.

I recently learned that Wendy Russell Mendelsohn passed away in December. Wendy was one of the very first ten people who believed in what would eventually become the MeidasTouch Network, back in 2020, before it was even a network at all, when it was just an idea, a few voices, and a conviction that speaking clearly and honestly still mattered.

Wendy was known to many of you as “Meidas Wendy.” She believed in the vision of MeidasTouch from the very beginning. Not because it was popular or established—it wasn’t—but because she believed in democracy, decency, and the responsibility to stand up when something is wrong.

That kind of early belief stays with you.

When you build something like the MeidasTouch Network, you don’t forget the people who were there before there was momentum, before there was validation, before there was safety in numbers. Wendy didn’t just follow—she believed. She believed this work mattered, that it was worth supporting, and that the fight ahead, however long and difficult, was worth engaging in.

Thinking about Wendy this morning brings a sober clarity. This work has never been abstract. It’s about real people who care deeply about the direction of this country and who choose to show up anyway—quietly, early, and without expectation of recognition. Wendy represented the very best of that spirit. We will miss her dearly.

The fight ahead is not easy. It demands seriousness, endurance, and resolve. Remembering Wendy is a reminder of why this exists in the first place and why it must continue.

If you believe in the mission of the MeidasTouch Network, and you want to help sustain this work as we move through what lies ahead, becoming a subscriber is one meaningful way to do that.

More than anything, thank you to everyone who has supported this effort—then and now—and who believes this fight is still worth fighting.

We are winning this fight now. We will win this fight in the future. We take our country back. We will never forget Wendy. She will always be in our hearts and in the spirit of this network.

Meidas+ is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



Bad Bunny's Backlash Against Trump | The Coffee Klatch for Saturday, February 7, 2026

               

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Bad Bunny's Backlash Against Trump | The Coffee Klatch for Saturday, February 7, 2026

With Heather Lofthouse and yours truly, Robert Reich


Friends,

Today Heather and I examine the unchecked power that now pervades our political system — starting with the Justice Department’s (and Trump’s) unwillingness to turn over more than 3 million of the more than 6 million Epstein files in its possession (in which Trump is already mentioned 5,300 times). We then examine the continued lawlessness of ICE and Border Patrol, despite the public’s (including many Republicans’) growing revulsion against these rogue agencies.

Which leads us to Democrat Taylor Rehmet’s astounding victory in a special election for a seat in the Texas state Senate — in a district Trump won by 17 percentage points in 2024 but Rehmet won by 14 percentage points this past week, a 30-point swing. And Trump’s increasing anxiety about the 2026 midterm elections — leading him to threaten to “take over” the voting.

And, of course, tomorrow’s Super Bowl, featuring Bad Bunny at halftime — and Bad Bunny’s memorable acceptance speech at last Sunday’s Grammy Awards.

All this, and more, on today’s Coffee Klatch. Please pull up a chair, grab a cuppa, and join in the conversation.





Mass. unemployment system underperforms and four more stories

              

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Welcome back to the Saturday Send, a weekly digest of stories from CommonWealth Beacon that you may have missed.

This week, reporters Chris Lisinski and Jordan Wolman delve into the state's sluggish delivery of unemployment benefits to Bay Staters. The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance has improved by some metrics since last year, but still remains one of the slowest in the nation.

Plus: the number of unsheltered homeless individuals hits a record high in Holyoke, Nahant and Northeastern go to court over a land grab, thousands gather in Boston to protest ICE, and decision to use "millionaires tax" to fund perennial investments over new programs leaves some scratching their heads.

Check out those stories below, and, as always, thanks for reading.

— The CommonWealth Beacon team

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The Bay State boosted its rate of timely unemployment payments in November and December, but it still ranked in the bottom three states in that span, and legislative leaders are mostly silent on the issue.

 

The state and federal funding landscape continues to shift while homelessness in Western Massachusetts has reached unprecedented levels in the aftermath of the pandemic. Holyoke had the highest unsheltered count in all of Hampden County this year, according to preliminary numbers.

 

The justices grappled with when it might be necessary for them to probe the intentions of a town meeting, in this case by digging into whether Nahant is trying to make legitimate use of eminent domain power to preserve coastal land for public use or engaged in a cynical attempt to block future development.

 

Protestors called for the state to end all collaborations with ICE, and to take further steps to protect immigrant communities.
excerpt: 

More than 3,000 people beared 15-degree weather to attend a rally in front of the Massachusetts State House today, protesting the federal government’s mobilization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against undocumented migrants, legal residents, and US citizens. It was one of several protests occurring nation-wide in solidarity with the residents of Minneapolis, which has been the focal point of a massive ICE operation that led to the deaths of two American citizens and at least 3,000 arrests according to the Department of Homeland Security.

 

Gov. Maura Healey’s spending proposals has reopened debate about whether voters intended for the surtax on high earners to fund only new investments or anything related to transportation and education.

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This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon senior reporter Chris Lisinski hosts Viviana Abreu-Hernandez of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center and Jim Stergios of the Pioneer Institute for a discussion about Gov. Maura Healey’s fiscal year 2027 state budget proposal.

LISTEN NOW

 
 
 
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Reflections on Saturday Morning

                 LOTS OF POSTS IGNORED BY BLOGGER..... ALL POSTS ARE AVAILABLE ON MIDDLEBORO  REVIEW AND SO ON Reflections on Saturday Morni...