Open Thread September 1, 2023

Yesterday, McConnell’s doctor cleared him to continue working (for what that’s worth.) A former Proud Boy (that’s what they said) was sentenced to 18 years for Jan 6 and wept in the courtroom. I received a grocery order with no substitutions and nothing missing (a small one – but, still.) Today is the last day The Nib will publish anything new, but they are making pdfs of all their magazines – 15 issues – available for free. Or if you prefer print, you can order those (except for the four which are out of print) in their store – there’s a link to that on the download page I am providing a link to. They are requesting donations to help keep the archives up on the net (the internet may be forever, but not for free.) I have not always agreed with every cartoonist at The Nib (and that is probably the way it should be), but I shall miss the daily newsletters. So I’ve created a new folder for them on my portable hard drive and started my download.  There are two options – I by far prefer the version without “spreads” but the first one you do, try both ways, and see what you think.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

New Mexico Political Report – Researchers warn that changes in the Permian Basin surface due to oil and gas industry activities are leading to increasing number of geohazards
Quote – In their investigation, the researchers from Southern Methodist University sought to map the surface deformation across the Permian Basin and to quantify the relationship between oil and gas operations and the changes to the surface. They found, on average, the ground in the Permian Basin is subsiding at a rate of three to four centimeters annually, though there are several pockets with larger rates of subsidence. The researchers write in the study that, over the past few decades, the increase in oil and gas extraction has “contributed to the alarming increase in geohazards, sometimes permanently altering the local ecosystem, and is a growing concern for communities and policymakers worldwide.”
Click through for full story. I had to look up the Permian Basin myself, hence the little map. Colorado Springs has been through something similar – In the eighties scars from strip mining were still visible on the mountains, and at least well into the nineties there were many homes experiencing sinking and the damage that comes with it, including both middle and upper class areas. It was a consideratin for me when I bought my home in 2002. I haven’t heard much about it since then,  but that may simply be that I am no longer workingin the property insurance field, and so not hearing about the claims.

The Daily Beast – How Mark Meadows’ Testimony May Have Just Helped Prosecutors
Quote – It’s all the more curious, then, that Meadows decided to take the witness stand on Monday and assert that he was merely doing his job as Trump’s chief of staff when he partook in what Atlanta prosecutors call a pressure campaign to flip the vote there. Because in doing so, he’s essentially pointing the finger at his boss. “He now cannot ever say, ‘I wasn’t doing this for the president, I was acting on my own,’” said Peter Odom, a former prosecutor at the Fulton County DA’s office. Indeed, Meadows’ entire defense rests upon the idea that he was just doing his job, that his efforts to connect Trump with people who would help to overturn the election was at the direction of the former president himself. It’s precisely that point which Fulton County DA Fani Willis is trying to prove: that Trump was at the center of this entire criminal conspiracy.
Click through for explanation.  Every place one touches the Georgia investigation, or the DC Federal one, it’s like touching a calm pool of water – there’s a ripple effect, and you can see it, and you can’t predict where it will end.

Food For Thought