Last night’s opera was “Nixon in China.” It’s the first in John Adams’s American history trilogy; “Doctor Atomic” was the second. “Nixon in China” is fairly straightforwardly historical, until the second act, when a plot point of Mme. Mao making up a clownish exaggeration of a villain as Kissinger in a performance for the guests requires the storyteller singing Kissinger to double. The more you detest Kisinger, of course, the funnier it is. As with “Doctor Atomic,” actual journals and quotes from contemporary interviews were used in the libretto. The only character who is spared some mockery is Chou En-Lai, who at the time of Nixon’s visit was dying of cancer but also ersonally invested in the meeting going well – good reasons to treat him kindly. There is a piece which was contemplated being in the opera but withdrawn which is known as “The Chairman Dances” or, alternatively, “Foxtrot for Orchestra.” (I guess the idea of a mobility challenged Mao dancing for 12 minutes, energetically at that, was simply too much.) I’ve never seen the third opera in the trilogy, because it involves terrorism and ends up getting boycotted. Since I haven’t seen it, I can’t say whether the boycotting is justified, but I suspect it isn’t. Perhaps some day I’ll find out.
Cartoon 
Short Takes –
The Hill – Five takeaways from the Supreme Court’s term
Here are the five: The court is shifting to the right
Still some room for consensus
Religious rights groups extend winning streak
Losing streak continues for voting rights
A ‘warm-up act’?
Click through for details on each.
Yahoo!news – Tropical Storm Elsa is the latest evidence climate change is happening now
I’m not a big fan of yahoo news, but this was the only source I could find quickl which made the link to climate change explicit
Quote – While Elsa, whose maximum sustained winds are 45 miles per hour, is unlikely to inflict the same amount of damage as a stronger hurricane if and when it makes landfall, its formation on July 1 — following Ana, Bill, Claudette and Danny — fits into a pattern in which the changing climate makes conditions for life-threatening storms more favorable.
Click through for the rationale.
Axios – Poll: Americans more worried about restrictive voting laws than election fraud
Yes, I know, this is one of those “file under No Shit, Sherlock” stories. But there’s so much denial of it.
Quote – Why it matters: 67% of Americans — including majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents — said they believed American democracy is currently under threat, though the survey did not ask what they believed is threatening it.
Click through for details.
Food for Thought
Just a little extra – Smithsonian Trivia for July 4. Their quizzes are generally tough but I managed 4 out of 5 on this one.
10 Responses to “Open Thread for July 3, 2021”
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
My Summary of the Roberts Court:
Making It MUCH Harder for You to Vote For Your Representative …
But MUCH Easier for Corporations & the Wealthy to Buy One
I pretty much loathe “Yahoo news” (way too right-wing). But I do think the message that Climate Change is real is finally sinking in.
That Poll is accurate because voter SUPPRESSION is way more common and pernicious than voter fraud. And always has been.
Can’t find your Smithsonian Trivia.
This is one of those rare times when cutting the URL doesn’t work, and I failed to test it. Sorry.
Try this one instead. It will think you are me but at least you will get there.
//I also loathe yahoo news – but, as long as it’s straigh news and not opinion, it isn’t all that bad if you don’t read the comments. And, if they reprint something from a reliable source, as they often do, that’s a fast way to find the reliable source
Cartoon: Yay!
The Hill: Gulp!
Yahoo: Climate change(s) has a lot to do with the severity of tropical storms, and hurricanes. I’ve lived through a few…and the damage done is frightening.
FFT: How awful and sad. Yep, pretty much says it all.
Company due in shortly, so I gotta run. Looks like rain a’comin’ too. Happy 4th! Y’all!
Stay Safe!
Thanks, Joanne for post.
This just in: “Everybody loves what you have to say until you have something to say about them.”
~ Trevor Noah ~
2. “We are proud to support #School Meals For All at the federal level. We urge President @Joe Biden and VP @Kamala Harris to adopt #school Meals for All to ensure every child in the US has access tonutritious school meals to support their academic success. ~ Second Harvest of Silicon Valley ~
3. Former AG William Barr critiqued – “I don’t think there’s anyone in the modern history of the Justice Department who has done more damage to that institution.” ~ Rep. Adam Schiff on the Reid Out. ~
4. “‘The Protect Our Democracy Act’ would strengthen key checks and balances to protect against the presidential abuses we saw under Trump. It will be crucial for the Biden administration to put aside executive branch interests and support these key protections.” ~ Noah Bookbinder ~
5. “Barr is on a rehabilitation tour, but here’s the truth: He enabled the most dangerous president in our history. Repeating his early lies about absentee balloting and weaponizing the DOJ. There will be no rewriting Barr’s destructive role. He will forever be tarred by history.” ~ Adam Schiff ~
TJI#1: Pithy, is that.
TJI#2: Uh, oh! giving them all a decent bit of food could mean that they will be better able to learn! GQP gonna shoot that one down!
TJI#3: Schiff knows whereof he speaketh!
TJI#4: AMEN!
TJI#5: Mr. “The winners write the history!” is going to go down in same right next to Rumsfeld!
TJI #1 – If you allow for the fact the MAGAts take everything you say personally, so they hate everything you say, yeah.
TJI #2 – Policymakers are well aware that such disadvantages in early life affect one’s latr potential. But they will do everything they can to hide that from privileged wypipo. And still, in spite of that, there are highly accomplished and highly achieving people of color. If we even achive full equality, conceptoion to grave, then we’ll find out which groups really have the highest potential. And not a moment sooner. But I have my suspicions.
TJI #3 & 5 – Adam Schiff fot the win.
TJI #4 – The only President who are fixated on protecting the office of the President are those with evil intent.
TJI #3: Barr managed to make us forget all his Trumpian predecessors/successor as (adjunct) AG. Remember Jeff Sessions, Sally Jates, Rod Rosenstein and Jeffrey Rosen?
“Nixon in China,” is the first of what I think of as the new operas.
‘Toon: Did he have his very own McTurtle to battle with, over that?
TH: Biden really ought to expand this farce of a court!
Elsa: So, I sit directly in her path, as per last site’s news. She may swing a bit to the west, and save us any direct blow. It’s been raining here, on and off, often heavily, mostly on, for the last 2 days now, and the ground must be saturated, so the chance of flooding is increasing, imho. Climate change has been obvious, again, imho, for years now. Reports form scientists not in the climate field have been coming in for decades, i believe, talking about plant and animal species, esp. birds, shifting their ranges in response to it. When John McCain responded to the first (1997)U.N. international team’s declaration that it was evident, by saying that the debate about it was over (triggering my first of 2 published letters to the NYT editor), Newt, and the fossil fuel industry doubled down on their BS.
Axios: Aside from the documented report of an Ohio legislative member voting for both his deceased father, excusing it as fulfilling his late father’s last wish!!, the only issue is voter suppression. The GQP, in typical style, blathers about illegal voting as a cover-up for their sadly not yet illegal suppression.
FFT: Exactly!
Smithsonian Trivia: Happy Fourth of July!https://s.si.edu › July4QuizI missed “Uncle Sam” and the ice cream questions.
Thanks Joanne. I’m with Nameless on those patterns in SCOTUS decisions–yet I find it refreshing that they are standing by their LGBTQIA precedents’ decisions. In the meantime, CA is about to impose more donor identification on advertisements requirements via legislation. What the court struck down was how CA nailed a Koch enterprise hidden behind shell organizations on pushing a proposition on the ballot, along with Valero, that would have destroyed Arnie’s environmental, climate change legislation (extra important now that a study identified our fracked oil is dirtier than Canada’s Tar Sands).
With 500 heat deaths in western Canada, 79 in OR and more in WA (haven’t seen CA or other states’ preliminary counts) one article said this is what a climate change hurricane level heat event looks like. Headed into another next weekend.
Biden seems to be the main one using the polls for pushing relevant legislative efforts so far.
Cartoon: I too say YAH.
The Hill: Not looking good….We need to fight back to protect our rights.
Yahoo News: I honestly hope President Biden and his committees can get more done about moving forward regarding Climate Change. We’ve wasted enough time, especially the past four years with tRump calling it fake news. Here we are again with crazy high heat everywhere. Plus these crazy tropical storms creating real havoc. It’s not going to get better on its own.
Axios: The rotten Repugs/Gopiggies are poor losers. Their buddy loss the election fair and square. Again I say we need to fight back and get these rotten Repugs out. They’re not in their for the people. Vote them out.
Food for Thought: That’s exactly the way they think/act…with no brains.
Glad you’re enjoying the operas.
Take care. Thanks Joanne
I hope you get to see the third opera in the trilogy one day, Joanne.
Cartoon: Ah, those good old days of Enlightenment.
TH: Spot on, thou I would have said:
The court is shifting further to the right
The room for consensus has almost disappeared.
YN: In a few years from now, tropical storms of Elisa’s category will be so common that they won’t even be named because meteorologists would run out of time and names otherwise.
Axios: If the poll doesn’t specify what the threat is that 67% of Americans think the country is under, that number is rather meaningless and the reason for it no more than speculative.
FFT: You’ve got that right, Horsey.