Yesterday, I essentially got ready for today. That didn’t leave much time free. By the time this posts, I’ll be on the road, and by the tie the video thread posts, I’ll be in the middle of my visit. See you all when I get back.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Crooks and Liars – Pattern Of Democratic Clean-up On Aisle Republican Deficit Continues
Quote – Now we have the Biden economy doing what Trump had promised, but without having reversed any of the Trump
tax cuts (yet). Just think how much better off our national finances could be if at least certain Democrats (cough, Sens. Manchin and Sinema, cough) would acknowledge that and help the president take the obvious next steps.
Click through for column. It’s short but meaty.
Mother Jones – The Owners of the Democrats’ Big Data Firm Have a Side Gig: Working to Elect Far-Right Republicans
Quote – The involvement of TargetSmart’s owners in electing right-wing Republicans has remained unknown among the political professionals within Democratic and progressive campaign circles. Informed about this, a former technology specialist for the Democrats says, “This is not a good look for TargetSmart.” And a union official notes, “This is pretty damning…In the world [TargetSmart] occupies, it couldn’t be much worse. A lot of Democratic consulting firms do work for corporations that don’t always support Democrats or progressives. But to have a sister company working on behalf of Republicans is not good for its standing.”
Click through for full story. Sadly, the cold fact is that big successful businesses and Republicans go together We all would be better off to stay aware of thet.
The Revelator (Center for Biological Diversity) – A Nose for Science: Conservation Dogs May Help in Search for Endangered Franklin’s Bumblebee
Quote – The quest to save a rare pollinator from extinction has just gained an unlikely ally: a mutt named Filson. A six-year-old Australian cattle dog mix with black and tan fur and oversized ears, Filson will soon join the mission to find the endangered Franklin’s bumblebee (Bombus franklini). The fuzzy pollinator, which no one has observed in 15 years, became a federally protected species this summer.
Click through for more, and not just bees. This really is exciting for anyone who realizes how connected we all are.
Food for Thought –
Bonus – a comment from the Wonkette newsletter:
A Journey Of One Thousand Miles Begins With A Single Baby Step. And we really do have a thousand miles to go when it comes to fixing America’s infrastructure, and this bill that was going to be a giant stride forward is ending up to be just one step. But it is a step, in the right direction for once. And we should embrace that, and own that, and harken back to a time when all the steps were backwards, into authoritarian nativism, which really wasn’t all that long ago.
11 Responses to “Open Thread for October 30, 2021”
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Hope you have a nice visit and that your trip to and fro goes well for you. Take care. Hi, Virgil !!
Cartoon: I remember my parents talking about this. Was scary back then.
C&L: Unfortunately the R’s could care less, unless it helps them, through thick and thin.
The Revelator: Such a great story. I have every confidence that Filson will do the job that he was given. Most dogs usually do.
FFT: Good grief!!!
THIS JUST IN: “During a 2020 Texas highway confrontation between a “Trump Train” and a Biden campaign bus, Democrats asked San Marcos police for an escort. A lawsuit says officers dismissed the requests and “joked about the victims and their distress.” ~ Texas Tribune ~
2. “The same people who want Alec Baldwin prosecuted want Kyle Rittenhouse exonerated. That’s how MAGA morally inverts human beings. ~ John Pavlovitz ~
3. “I’m sick and tired of hearing about healthcare workers, cops, EMTs, firefighters and other frontline providers who bitch and moan about vaccine mandates. If they don’t care enough about protecting the public to get a shot, they should find another line of work. Who agrees?” ~ Jon Cooper ~
4. “I back House Progressives. We need to agree on bill text for Build Back Better to be sure we are all on the same page. Literally. This sounds like an inside issue, but it’s about making sure Democrats deliver for Americans.” ~ Senator Tina Smith, MN ~
5. “I’m working with @SenTinaSmith to push for additional support to address the opioid and substance use disorder epidemic, which has significantly worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic.” ~ Senator Tammy Baldwin, WI ~
TJI #2 – It continue to amaze how Trumpkins & the rest of the GQP have adopted 1984 “War is peace / freedom is slavery / ignorance is strength” rationale.
TJI #3 – ME!
TJI #1 – I admire and appreciate your willingness to put your home state on display, “warts and all,” as the saying goes. Sorry you have to live with the warts.
TJI #2 – I guess it is an inversion – it always appears to me as complete blindness.
TJI #3 – I do – and I know Beau does – and there are lots of people on Diaily Kos and Democratic Undergroud whp also do (the DU-ers may be a trifle more outspoken about it.)
TJI #4 – Well said.
TJI #5 – I wasn’t familiar with Sen. Smith. Guess I’ll have to look her up
TJI #3: Agreed!
Actually, the “War of the Worlds” broadcast did NOT cause mass panic. The rumor was spread to discredit radio. In reality, not that many people listened to it, and the station repeated disclaimers that it was a dramatic presentation.
Pattern Of Democratic Clean-up On Aisle Republican Deficit Continues
The Owners of the Democrats’ Big Data Firm Have a Side Gig: Working to Elect Far-Right Republicans
Better vetting, please.
Conservation Dogs May Help in Search for Endangered Franklin’s Bumblebee
You learn something new everyday. Actually I learned TWO new things:
[1] How important frass actually is
[2] WTH frass means
So now I can boldly tell any Trumpkin I meet: “Eat frass and die!”
Republicans’ interest in the local, national, or global economies begins and ends with rewarding their donors. I do it too, but it’s nonsensical even to call them “right wing” because that means an economic position, which they don’t have. They don’t care about left and right. they care abput up and down (Authoritarian as opposed to anti-authoritarian.) If you neither know nor care what something is, you are not going to be good at it.
Hi all – got hme safely. I didn’t have a visor extender yet, but what I did have was a fistful of catalogues. I found one stiff enough to hold up on my left while keeping the car’s visor in front. It definitely helped. Virgil rteurns (amd thanks for) all greetings.
Comment from Mitch –
‘Toon: How much more proof did we need that people are super gullible?C&L: Maybe Biden ought to go on the stump, use his “Bully Pulpit” to announce and denounce the GQP’s strategy/pattern.
MJ: That this is now out, ought to be good for the Dems. That large corporations do not mind mining both sides of the track
at the same time is not a special surprise. The very capitalism that seems to have helped build this country, may well destroy it.
I would guess that Ferguson is dissembling, at best. On one hand, if a company has developed the capacity to do what TargetSmart
does, I can see its people not wanting to hobble its potential by selling its services to only 50% of those who might be interested in
using those services. “Hey I’ve got this fantastic body soap, here, but I will only market/sell it to those folks who bathe before going to bed,
not those who do so in the morning?” Still, it seems like a good thing that this is out on the open.
Wonkette: It is a shame that the 2 Dem. dirt-bags have so much leverage, but if this bill goes through, it might help bring more Dems to congress
in the midterms. We sorely need that!!!!!!!!! And to rimary the hell out of Sinema!
FFT: It is not a stretch, this house of cards metaphor.
Mitch
Good to see you back home safe and well, Joanne. That was a neat trick with the catalogue and the visor.
Cartoon: Republicans have scared the 💩 out of their base with their fake news ever since.
C&L: Why people continue to vote against their best interests is beyond me. They have been doing so since they were allowed to vote, so perhaps it’s just a bad habit they can’t break.
MJ: Opportunism is the operative word here.
Revelator: It’s amazing what dogs can sniff out; from drugs at the airport, explosives in the war on terrorism, diseases in humans and bees and scat from just about anything. Real working dogs and they enjoy it too.
FFT: The house of cards is a nice way of saying we’re sitting on a timebomb with a much shorter fuse than we originally thought.
Wonkette: It’s a shame that that first step still needs to be taken and every attempt to take it reduces the size of the step. If it’s not taken soon it’ll turn into a step back.
People vote against their own interests because they are deluded as to what their best interests really are. Occasionally you will find someone who will “vote against his/her best interests” for a reason like “I don’t have any kids in school, but I have a responsibility to the community to support yhe schools,” and I can respect that and won’t aregue, but they really are not voting against their best interests – it is in everyone’s interest to live in an educated community.
But what we usually see is people who vote against anythng that might help “poor people,” even if it might hel them – even if it would help them a LOT more – because they truly believe it is in their best interests not to help people they think “don’t deserve help.” Those are the ones to worry about. But reasoning will not break through to them.