Open Thread November 3 2024

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 032024
 

Well, it’s the time of year for the radio operas to be productions from Beijing. This year there are four of them; two are Italian , one is German, and one is a new commission from a Chinese composer (and librettist. Yesterday was the first, “La Sonnambula” by Bellini. This may be the only opera which has a farther-fetched plot than Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino,” but to make up for it, it at least has a happy ending. Europe in the early 19th century was fascinated by sleepwalking, and medicine was in the stage of starting to look fo causes of and treatments for phenomena which were just beginning to be understood as medical conditions. By 1831, the villagers, who at first have thought the “lady in white” to be a ghost, have learned enough about sleepwalking (actually from the local count, who has been traveling and learning stuff and has just returned home) to know they need to save her first (as she sleepwalks across the framework of the village’s water mill – or across local rooftops, depending on the staging – it could also be the edge of a steep cliff, I suppose) and wake her afterwards, or it would have been a tragedy. A line from her last aria about the flower (of her love) which she did not expect to have faded so soon (having been set up by a rival using her sleepwalking to convince her fiancé that she has been unfaithful) was inscribed on Bellini’s tomb in reference to his having died so young (at 34.) Anyway, the music is gorgeous, as is all of Bellini’s work – there’s a reason he was known as “The Swan of Catania.” This opera was one of many “Bel Canto” operas championed by Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge, and has not fallen out of the repertory since.  Also, I’d like to apologize for being late for Diwali (I didn’t get the email until it was already over.)  Now I’m off to visit Virgil, and will check in in the comments.

Well, the Reich on the left is most assuredly right this time. Not that we needed one, but this is certainly another reason to be voting for Harris-Walz. Lina Khan is doing her job, using but not exceeding her authority, and long may she continue!

This from Crooks and Liars is not as good as it could be – but at least it’s honest and as something to be played at a citizenship ceremony, it beats the holy crap outof “God Bless the USA.” (Not that that is difficult. We actually have had for decades something better than either – the second verse of “This is My Country.” You know, the first verse starts “This is my country, land of my birth,” and the second starts “This is my country, land of my choice.” Both end “This is my country, to have and to hold.”)

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Open Thread November 2 2024

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 022024
 

Yesterday, I picked up a Randy Rainbow for us – a bit late, but i did manage to remove the advertisinf and the tracing as well – I checked the link of course, and it sode work. I have nothing against Ground News – it apparently works very well too – but as long as I’m paying off the new water heater I really don’t need another paid subscription (I cancellted what i already had), even 50% off. I do wish we’d had this one months ago – OK, some of th details are newer than that, but like six months ago he could already have done a great job with everything we already knew. But better late than never. Also, per the Washington Post, the kids who survived Sandy Hook as first graders will all be voting for the first time this year. But please – there are better ways toachieve full participation in democracy.

Mary Trump nails it. Not that that’s unusual or in any way unexpected. But it does leave me without much if anything to add.

Much as it turns my stomach to even think about it, Hickenlooper is in the right. But I’ afraid his advice to Republicand will fall on deaf ears and blind eyes – if they haven’t detached themselves yet, they’re not going to do it by January.

Not only is it next to impossible for people with the attention span of a gnat to remember all the horrors of the Trump** administratin, it’s probably also impossible for them to stick with Robert Reich long enough to get through a list of just some of them. But I applaud him for trying.

Belle Red Mirage

Dog

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Open Thread November 1 2024

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 012024
 

Yesterday, of course, was Hallowe’en. Without writing a novel, I need to provide the background that one of my backups when there’s a program on the radio i don’t like (or static, even worse) is “The Score” – a one hour each week program on film music which keeps a two-week archive on line. I went there today and listened to a program on scary movies rated G. The only one i found truly terrifying, and that really only because he featured its poster, was “The House with a Clock in the Wall” from 2018. Jack Black then just looks way, way too much like JD Vance now. And he was playing the good guy!

From ProPublica. Sure, this is Tennessee. But it’s also a preview of a Trump** second term anywhere and everywhere for anyone whom Tru,p** and his demons consider to be “the enemy within.” No one deserves this.

Sheesh! They are everywhere! Shasta County isn’t in the southern part of California – it’s about halfway between Sacramento and Oregon. The county seat even has a couple of universities. Stupid just is as stupid does.

Three million blind GOPs,”, See how they lie,”, They all ran after the people’s votes, tried to claim they were faked in totes, so much dumber than baby stoats, three million blind GOPs. Pardon me, I can get flaky when I’m mad.

 


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Open Thread October 31 2024

 Posted by at 12:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 312024
 

Yesterday, Common Cause reported that the Supreme Court had legitimized Glenn Youngkin’s illegal last minute voter purge in Virginia. That’s huge news, so you probably saw it. You may not have seen, however, that Common Cause is now on the ground in Virginia working to get all of them who are eligible re-registered. Virginia is a same-day registration state, so this is not impossible, just staggeringly challenging. They are accepting donations at commoncause.org. Also, Carrie Burton (NannyCarrie from Care2 and a long time follower here) sent me an email about a program her grandson Peyton is working with about which she is justifiably proud. (This may be a good time to introduce a new emoji I came up with for “tissue alert.”)

TC used to like to say, “The Reich on the left is right,” And that certainly is true of his analysis in general. When he speculates on thinks which might happen, it’s more difficult to assert “he’s right.” But this is certainly a speculation about which I hope,I hope, I hope he’s right. Incidentally, it also contains a photo which immediately reminded me – whay on earth would anyone ever think that white skin is superior to, or even more attractive than, other skin colors? Yes, you may consider that a barf bag alert.

I suspect this, as reported by Wonkette, has been going on for a long time, actually. But now is definitely the time to encourage more of it. And, in this connection, it would not just be for abortion and voting. Nofault divorce is also under attack.

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Open Thread October 30 2024

 Posted by at 5:53 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 302024
 

Yesterday – wait, I need to give you some background.  A week ago Monday I got my phone and internet provider changed – not my idea, but the old provider is changing and essentially transferred me (and the rest of the county, maybe even the entire front range, eventally). I have five working computers, and no two of them are networked, unless you consider the two which have internet access to be networked through the ‘net, but if I want to move information from any one to any other I use a thumb drive. For a week it worked fine, but this Monday I started getting 404s. I rebooted the modem (the old modem but it’s still part of the connection) which resolved the problem until evening when I had to reboot it a second time. Yesterday morning, rebooting that modem did not work. I tried three times, and it took three hours, before I decided to go look at the newest desktop and see whether there was something going on which I could only see on that one, which is connected directly to the newly installed equipment. And it was. I changed the settings on it, and now the other one is getting on line also. Actually, now it all makes sense (except that that’s three hours I’ll never get back,) and is even reassuring. I’ve never used WiFi at home, only when traveling, and then it wasn’t my own but the hotel’s, and now that Virgil is so close, I won’t be doing that any more, probably at all. So I stressed that, despite the new provider’s pride in their WiFi, I only wanted ethernet. This experience tells me that , even though it may still be available, it won’t decide to take over on its own. To those who are smarter than I about the way computers actually work (my specialty is how to make them do what I want – I used to be the Queen of Workarounds and very popular at work on account of it – that probably sound silly, and it probably is. But that’s OK. Also yesterday, I received a letter from my attroney general full of information about what’s going on in the courtroom with the Alberson-Kroger merger. I searched some to see if I could find the text online, but no luck. I’m aware this is a topic of importance to the entire nation, and would be happy to forward the email to anyone who wants it. If uou get my new-post letters, you should have my email address, but for anyone who doesn’t, the contact button doesn’t work for everyone, but I have put my address into the “About Me” page so it can be cut and pasted.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219622078
This DU link will take you to an embedded video of Bernie Sandersa answering the question, “I disagree with Kamala on Gaza. How can I vote for her?” If you are someone, or know someone, who has that question, this is the answer. I would have been asking it myself, were it not so obvious to be that neither Joe nor Kamala wants to support Netanyahu for a second the nation of Israel, yes, Netanyahu no), but consider us to be treaty bound, either actually or morally, and fear losing other allies if we appear to desert this one. (An Act of Congress might change that, but it will not come from this Congress.) An ally by treaty is not like a Facebook friend. A nation cannot just ghost them and survive. Anyway, I’m citing the embed because if you aren’t a paying member of YouTube the ads are getting obnoxious.

https://www.wonkette.com/p/estranged-family-of-oath-keepers
Of course the political is always personal. But it’s not always quite this personal. I’m grateful to Wonkette for sharing this (apparently Tasha has been in touch with Wonkette for a while – and found compassion there – which, despite their generally snarky style doesn’t surprise me in the least.)

Belle Ukraine

Cat

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Open Thread October 29 2024

 Posted by at 4:56 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 292024
 

Yesterday, I had managed to spend the night in bed. My back hurt when I got up, but far less so than last Wednesday and Thursday, and by the time I got toi the computer in the den, I knew i would not need ice or the TENS. Good thing too – I find my thoughts depressing enough without pain making them any worse.

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-26-2024
Some time ago I downloaded and kept a copy of a training video from World War II called “Dont Be A Sucker.” You can call it propaganda if you like, but if you do, you kind of need to add that if the material in propaganda is true and has the goal of discouraging civilian violence, then propaganda can be positive. Trust historian Heather Cox Richardson to remember that the Army also provided positive propaganda to the tropps – and to share some of it.

https://joycevance.substack.com/p/the-week-ahead-aeb
You know that history is important in relation to what we are experiencing now when Joyce Vance’s “The Week Ahead” starts with history. She discusses and links to a short film comprising archival clips from the 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden. People who aren’t paying attention are likely to be shocked. Personally, I find Trump** rallies to be much more scary, partly because today the language is more coded, and the violence is more open. Who today would use the word “Gentile” at a gathering like this? You know what also scares me? Even people as old as I am, when we think od World War II and America’s part in it, think of Nazis and concentration camps, of orsiners of war in Germany and Americans workinf with resistance groups. But the truth is, if Japan had not bombed Pearl Harbor, FDR would never have been able to get enough backing to send troops to Europe. Our victories would never have been possible. Tere would have been no United Nations. No Geneva Convention. likely 1984 would have been “1984.” Joyce says “But the Greatest Generation didn’t fall into the trap.” i don’t think we know that. We will never truly know what the 20th century would have been like had Japan not forced us intot he war. But I can’t believe it would have been pretty.

Home

Belle Central Park

Dog

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Open Thread October 28 2024

 Posted by at 6:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 282024
 

Yesterday, Trinette came by – besides the normal help with mail, trash, and rcyclables, she also helped with hangin up some drapes which I had finally gotten all the stuff preventing access pout of the way, helpedn me get an old fashined monitor (one of the big ones – remember those?) out of a corner so I can tie it up and put a handle on it, and took in for a refund a product which was an unauthorized substitution (and I already have the email that it’s processing)  I’m short of sleep – but I did mange to lie down for six hours las night and get up without being crippled.  Sorry yesterday’s went up so late in the day.  I’m pretty well useless when I’m not getting sleep.

As a child, Robert Reich had the privilege of meeting Henry Wallace (FDR’s VP in his third term.) He was so young at the time that he didn’t appreciate it them. But he does now. It’s interesting how often in history political figures have been put into place because the inseen party powers believed that those figures could be controlled by them – for good and for bad. Sometimes it has worked, and sometimes not.

At eight days before the election, I’m glad this film (64 Days) in Talking Point Memo‘s report has comeout,but hope it isn’t too little, too late.

Belle gotcha

Cat

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Open Thread October 27 2024

 Posted by at 6:05 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 272024
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was a new one, “The Shining,” by Paul Moravec, whose name is new to me. I never read the book nor saw the movie, but living in Colorado, and especially being married to the grandson of a former caretaker of the Stanley Hotel, on which the hotel in it was based, I did know something about the plot. This opera was based on the book alone, rejecting some concepts introduced by the movie. It was presented by the Lyric Opera of Kansas City. I didn’t previously know any of the singers. The opera has it’s own website at operatheshining dot com, and KC Lyric has some photos at their site from this production from March, 2023. One could tell is was a 21st century opera, not by any dissonance (of which there is very little in operas of today anyway), but by the structure. older operas have arias – standout songs, and the older the opra the more repetition in them – separated by sections of more speech-like music which moves the plot (the older the opera, the closer it gets to actual speech.) This opera was structured like a sung play and also included some straight speech. Danny’s part in particular was all spoken. Incidentally, an opera company whose name includes the word “Lyric” is messaging “please understand we are not the Met or La Scala.” But the production values looked pretty good to me, and the voices held up. (Chicago Lyric dropped the “Lyric” sometime in the last 10 years or so, and rightly so, and about time, too.) Also, if you’re still with me, I want to call some attention to the fact that MAGA spreading lies about groups is not limited to immigtants. They are now spreading lies about Benedictine nuns. The sisters are not amused.

This from Crooks and Liars is hardly breaking news. Probably we could also have guessed the names. But it’s good to see it in print in order to be prepared.

It’s Sunday, and we deserve a good news story. This one from the Atlanta Black Star is pretty darned good, and especially for Texas.

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