Open Thread June 25, 2023

Yesterday, the radio opera (again from Vienna) was Richard Strauss’s “Salome.” The libretto is a translation of the play by Oscar Wilde. if you know the Bible story, you know it’s pretty twisted – and more so in the play – and still more so in the music. John the Baptist, who was the good guy in the Bible story, is depicted as a fire-breathing judgmental pseudo-Christian. He does have has some excuse since Herod, Herodias, and Salome are all depicted as spolied, entitled, and perverted billionaires. The only decent person in it is poor Narraboth, a guard who has as much of a crush on Salome as Herod does, but not the means to even get her to notice him. So why is it still popular, after all this time? I would say, because sometimes people need to look, really look, at evil and depravity, and these great artists do not make it exactly palatable, but they do make it possible. It’s not pretty, because it’s not meant to be. Strauss’s “Elektra,” based on one of the plays in the Oresteia (IIRC the second of the three) is similar in tone and succeeds for the same reasons. After those two, he lightened up some. But he never stopped having things to say about people which are not easy to admit.  ALso yessterday, things started to get pretty wild in Russia.   There are too many open possibilities for me to start going into it now.  But if you see something about Russa onsources which are good at breaking news, like AP News the Guardian, NBC (justa few), you might want to pay attention.  And if you see or hear anythig about “Swan Lake,” you difinitely want to pay attention.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – GOP ‘Weaponization’ Outrage Due To 3 Words NOT In Title 18 (Federal Crimes)
Quote – Th[e]se three words aren’t in any criminal statute listed in Title 18 of the U.S. Code. As a result conservative’s knickers are in a twist (more like an atomic wedgie) so they have been and will continue to flood public discourse including the news with louder and crazier claims of Democrats “Weaponizing” government. The mashup of irony and hypocrisy is stunning in and of itself and countess things have been written and said about it that include examples of Republicans having done so so often in the past against Democrats. I won’t rehash it here. Instead, since this is about laws, specifically crimes and federal law I want to as actual lawyers would say keep “on point.” And the point is sharp – federal criminal statues don’t include the words “Except for Republicans.”
Click through for story. i almost said “opinion” – but it’s an opinion well founded in facts.

KRCC* – ‘Why are we having to beg?’ Group of Club Q survivors renew call for Colorado Healing Fund to release money
Quote – Some survivors of the attack on Club Q say they are still pleading for funds raised in their name seven months after the deadly shooting. At a press conference Tuesday in front of Colorado Springs City Hall, a small group called on the Colorado Healing Fund (CHF) to release the remaining dollars in its possession. Jerecho Loveall [for example] was shot in the leg at Club Q. He says he lost his job in February when he had a breakdown after trying to work while still coping with his physical and mental injuries. Loveall says he’s had to submit receipts to organizations that channel money from the healing fund for bills and groceries, sometimes waiting weeks for a reimbursement check to come in to feed his three children.
Click through for details. *KRCC is the radio station at Colorado College, a private college in Colorado Springs. The station has been accepted under the umbrella of CPR (which in turn is under the umbrella of NPR) and is editorially independent of the College, so it can break stories like this.

HuffPost – The Dobbs Decision Unleashed An Unapologetic Abortion Rights Movement
Quote – The last year has been devastating for abortion rights in the U.S. since the Supreme Court repealed nearly 50 years of precedent in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling. The suffering that Dobbs has brought is hard to comprehend on a national scale. But from something so terrible, so unthinkable, came a full-blown resistance that centered abortion rights in the national conversation.
Click though for details. I see it too – I see it in smaller, more private ways, but I agree it is real.

Food For Thought