Yesterday still pretty calm. I did “bite the bullet” and glued and crimped end caps on 20 strands of very light, very slick, and very thin (about 3/16″) jewelry ribbon for pendants Because they were so slick, I had to glue them in place and let them dry before crimping, or they would have slipped right out. Since I didn’t graduate from Hogwarts, I couldn’t temporarily make me smaller, or them larger, so they’d be easier to handle. But I certainly wished I could. I did get it done, though.
Cartoon –
Short Takes
Politizoom – Thomas Massie Comes Clean About the Republican Party. We Owe Him
Quote – There was an amusing little dust up on MSNBC [a few] night[s ago]. Bulwark editor Charlie Sykes was asked to comment on Thomas Massie’s egregiously tone deaf Christmas card photo of la famille armed for bear, in light of four children being murdered at school last week in Michigan. Sykes called the display a “dick pic” which caused the host to flutter and respond, “Sorry, everybody, I’m not sure we can say that, Charlie!” This was family hour, after all. But Sykes is spot on in his assertion that, “He’s basically trying to show off. He’s trying to trigger to get the reaction.”
Click through if you like. The analogy is exactly on target.
Stuff That Needs To Be Said – Yes World, It’s That Bad Here in America—and Worse
Quote – But here on the ground this malignant sickness has a face, one that is far too familiar – So yes, it’s the staggering cruelty of those holding the power here—but just as much it’s the people we know and live alongside who are so gladly empowering them.
Click through for the full description. See if it doesn’t resonate with you. It certainly does with me. I may just put the link in my email signature in lieu of Rocky Mountain Mike.
The New Yorker – Should We Believe the Stories of Men Mistaken for Gods?
Quote – Who can make a god is as fascinating a question as who can kill one, and Anna Della Subin tries to answer both in her new book, “Accidental Gods: On Men Unwittingly Turned Divine” (Macmillan). Setting Cook alongside the likes of Haile Selassie, Hernán Cortés, Prince Philip, General Douglas MacArthur, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, and even President Donald Trump, she considers why some men are made into gods, by whom, and—the most interesting of the mysteries about Cook and all of his putatively divine kin—to what ends.
Click through for more, including anecdotes. Without reading the book, I’m pretty sure the correct answer is “No.” Or maybe “Hell, no.” (And reading through did not change my mind.)
Food for Thought (OK, I know it’s silly) –
6 Responses to “Open Thread for December 8, 2021”
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Professor Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith) of Hogwarts would be very proud of you, and with your completed work. *Professor Minerva McGonagall is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series & movies.
Cartoon: On December 8, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln offers his conciliatory plan for reunification of the United States with his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.
Politizoom: Good grief. What a bunch of mean ridiculous id’s. srsly!
I’ve read this a few times. Sad. Spot on, John P. Spot on.
FFT: Word.
THIS JUST IN: “Trump put a target on the backs of two nonpartisans election workers. Both got death threats. It’s sick. Sadly, I know what it’s like to be threatened because of trump’s lies. After Jan 6, people need to wake up the the threat of political violence. It’s real and increasing. ~ Rep. Adam Schiff ~
2. Q – “Do you want to get the Build Back Better Act passed by Christimas? ~ Yamiche Alcindor ~
A – “As early as we get it, I want to get it done, no matter how long it takes! ~ President Biden ~
3. “Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama made a surprise visit to Comer Children’s Hospital to deliver gifts to the kids.” ~ Travis Akers ~
4. “If Garland has decided not to investigate Trump, he must tell us, and he must offer his resignation.”
~ Nate Spuewell ~
5. ” No teacher should have to work a second job to make ends meet. We’re going to pay teachers like the heroes they are so that they can focus on that child in front of them.” ~ Beto O’Rourke ~
TJI #1 – Yes, Adam knows that very well.
TJI #2 – Yes.
TJI #3 – I’ll bet they had a whole lot of fun preoaring for this. Maybe even more fun than they had executing it. There are definitely aspects of fun in being oconspiratorial.
TJI #4 – Some people believe he has decided that. OTher people believe he IS invstigating Trump**, through the FBI, and that the silence is compliance with the FBI’s rule of not speaking about an investigation in progress. Some people believe that Democrats are blod-drinking pedophiles. SEriously, the DOJ is not the New York Times. It has no oblifgation to make its investigations public, and if it thinks making the existence of an investigation known will jeopardize it, you can take it to the bank that you will not hear ablout it. I will give the author of this quote credit for using the word “if,” which at least acknowledges that we don’t know.
TJI #5 – I’ve done a little teaching, but only in community adult ed. I’ve also worked with kids in K-12, but only as a Girl Scout leader. Here’s why that’s not the same as teaching K-12: the students in community ed, and the girls in scouting, don’t have to be there. They made a choice that they wanted to be there. That’s not so for K-12 teachers. Which means I don’t have the first idea what it’s like. But at least I have enough imagination and empathy to know that I don’t know. The jerks who want to pay teachers nothing simply don’t have a clue. There was a video floating around from a poetry slam some time ago, made by a teacher, which expressed very well just how clueless they are. I’ll see if I can find it, or a transcript, or both.
Comment from Mitch –
‘Toon: Reading about history, in “These Truths,” by Jill Lepore, I have some more insight into Pre. Andrew Johnson’s dislike for the former slaves,and how he allowed the South to build Jim Crow.
Politizoom: “Triggering memes have displaced the business of governing.” They were not interested in the process of governing before Dumpy
showed up. He, of course, was never interested in that, and only gave them license to drop the façade entirely.
JP: It IS that bad. So, in December, 2021, a year and how much after CoVid first showed up here, I had a brief exchange with a woman, at the gym,2 days ago, about how “They (the Chinese) have really done it to us.” I told her that conspiracy theories help us feel that we know how the world works, and that was the end of that. She made a comment about how we are coming from 2 different political perspectives, not in those words. I did not want to engage her further, at the time, but am sorry that I did not ask about the evidence for her perspective. “Just as religious and national myths become become entrenched in the mainstream when they are felt to provide moral uplift, fake news may go viral when its spreaders think higher values are at stake, like reinforcing solidarity within their own side and reminding comrades about the perfidiousness of the other one.” Pg. 309, Ratiionality….,” Steven Pinker
NYer: The book is now on my reading list. The apparent need for gods seems universal, and like the woman I spoke with at the gym, making them up
helps humans to make sense out of what is, a very random world. We are not comfortable with randomness, because it provides no guidelines, no god-given guidelines, for how to live, provides no easy answer to the BIG questions, “How did we come to be here, and for what purpose?”
FFT: No, not really silly, pointing to some of our major myths, as well as major hypocrisy
Mitch.
Cartoon: Positive move for Abe.
Politizoom: CNN was talking about this today. Despicable to even think they’d tweet/post a Christmas photo of them bearing arms and saying “Santa, Please bring Ammo.” Sick minded fools.
John P.: Good article. Sad reading the true facts John mentions about our World. It’s truly a mess in so many ways and it’s frustrating because the rotten R’s and the GOPiggies are making life so much harder to get things resolved or passed.
TNY: I can’t read it. It mentioned I read my last article and to subscribe.
Sounds like you’ve been having fun designing pretty jewelry pendants. You’ll have to share some photos of your pendants. I’d love to see them.
Hope you have a pleasant evening.
Take care. Thanks Joanne
For your sake, I’m sorry you didn’t get to attend Hogwarts….I’m still waiting to learn about the North American witches academy, but maybe it won’t happen….
Thomas Massie (and now Lauren Boebert) sure don’t follow the Jesus written about in the New Testament….and if they weren’t wealthy and white would CPS be investigating them now?
Can we make a deal? If I find out about a North American Witches’ Academy, I’ll tell you first, and you do the same for me.