Yesterday, I slept late, wnt to bed early-ish, and accomplished very little in between. I can’t say I feel bad about it – it was clearly needed – but I was finding it difficult to describe it. I guess this is as good as anything. Now, tomorrow – on the 31st – I will load all the contining logos and images that we use. I was in no shape to do it on December 31, but on January 31st, I’ll have no need to stay up late to do it. And I won’t have as many as I did a year ago either.
While this is good news, it is also too little, too late. Between the systemically excluding black jurors (from the jury pool – they never made it to voir dire) to the truly outrageous use of a blind man as an eyewitness, this case should have been laughed out of court before it started.
Another gift from my cousin. The Post calls this an opinion piece – but I see very little opinion accompanied by a lot of history and Constitution (which might actually be a good rule for opinion pieces in general, mightn’t it.)
Yesterday, what I mostly did was finish two knitting projects – one fair-sized one on which I’ve been working for some time, and one so small I started and finished it after finishing the large one. Not exciting, but there it is
Crooks and Liars has posted a video by Cliff Schecter which really points up the difference between the time when the Republican Party had Joe MacCarthy, and now, when all Republicans are Joe McCarthy. And you may learn something about the Illinois loyalty pledge too. It’s under 7 minutes, and if you watch it at C&L you won’t have to pay YouTube to avoid ads.
Margaret Atwood has been using her Substack to share a multi-part history of what the French Revolution (which she calls “The French Revvie”) was really like. This link it to Part IV – subtitled “The Vengeance.” I used to warn that if we didn’t make some corrections – and quickly – we’d have another French Revolution. And, yet, when I saw it, I didn’t recognize it. Margaret did. No surprise that she is smarter than I am.
Yesterday, as I said, the radio opera was “Carmen” by Georges Bizet. Though Bizet was French (some of the most Spanish of Spanish music written in the 19th century was written by Frenchmen) evryone thinks “Spain” about Carmen, and it is set in Spain – but Carmen is a Roma. So are her two closest friends. So are pretty much all the smugglers Romani. That kind of hit me in the face when i realized that yesterday was Holocaust Remembreance Day – and theRomani were as much a target of the Nazis as the Jews. Trying to read up in the Roma quickly is a little like trying to collect syrup in your hand – a little sticks, but more slips out. They are the largest ethnic minority in Europe, but they also live all over the world. They have been called “gypsies,” but they are not from Egypt. They have been called “Bohemians,” but they are not from what is now Czechoslovakia. Neither are they from Romania, but originally from northwest India. They have endured slavery along with other forms of abuse. I’m linking to both Steve Schmidt’s Substack – it’s not new material, but a collection of links to his earlier writings on antisemitism – and to The Conversation, to an article which addresses some of the ways in which the Jews and the Roms were linked by the Nazis (I needed a hanky. But it’s all very well to mourn the lost – it doesn’t do too much to prevent it ever happening again.)
Heather Cox Richardson’s Friday night letter did quite a decent job of summarizing highlight from the week, including a couple I hadn’t heard. If you have time, I recommend it.
Over the weekend, someone on DU shared the information that under New York law, you can appeal a civil suit, but if you do, you must first deposit the full judgment plus a small percentage with the court. I don’t know whether the legislators were thinking of interest, or court costs, or justice delayed – possibly all three. But if Trump** is going to appeal the most recent judgment, he will have to deposit $99 million with the court.
Yesterday, I didn’t have to prepare for today’s opera – it’s “Carmen” by George Bizet. I’ve heard it a lot of times and seen it several times as well. For one production, I played second violin in the pit orchestra. All the string parts are extremely difficult, mostly because Bizet liked to run very fast scales starting in the basses and running all the way up to the first violins umpteenth position, and then back down again just as fast. I did my best (which wasn’t very good). But even then, I can’t say it was a bad production. There may not be such a thing as a really bad production of Carmen. And today’s radio cast is outstanding. Now, next week will be another story.
This certainly doesn’t surprise me. We have simply got to stop believing everything a Republican presents as fact. They just make things up.
I know there are many Democrats who think that, like Manchin, Jon Tester (D-MT) is useless other than for keeping our Senate majority (which is oretty thin.) I would invite all of those Dems to read at least parts of this article about two Republicans, one of whom will be in the Senate if Tester loses his reelection bid. Sheehy is the crazier of the two, but Rosendale is close behind.
By now everyone will have heard this, because it is, to quote the article’s headline, “a big non-fracking deal.” And it certainly took climate experts by surprise. Bill McKibben said, “[I]f it’s true, and I think it is, this is the biggest thing a U.S. president has ever done to stand up to the fossil fuel industry.”
Yesterday, I got up somewhat earlier than I had been doing… which means I also got sleep earlier than I had been doing. But I did accomplish this. And we shall see whether this attempt to change the shape of my day works or not (i expect it will through opera day, and not much if any after.)
OK, this isn’t really news – it’s a recap and overview of the House Dems campaign to make the House Oversight Committee look like a multiple of The Three stooges. Not that that’s difficult, but I don’t know that we have ever seen such a coordinated effort from elected Dems before – and guess who is masterminding it. Three cheers!
Now this really is news, and about GD time too. My link is to Democratic Underground, but this DUer got it from Reuters, so in case you want more detail, that’s where to go.
Yesterday, sadly, so much of the news was about the New Hampshire primary – which means it mostly wasn’t news at all but opinions. I was going to say “uninformed opinions,” but all these people have plenty of information and apparently no idea what to do with it. So I’ll pass.
Ordinarily I don’t write about entertainment (except for opera, and that’s purely personal) but I think it’s good news for the nation that Jon Stewart is returning the The Daily Show – only on Mondays as a host, but full time as an executive producer.
Yesterday, it became fairly obvious that, if Trump** should be re-elected, The US can kiss Alaska goodbye – and the EU can kiss Ukraine goodbye. If you agree with me that this must not happen, raise your hand.
If you are concerned about the latest data breach (which seems to be mostly, if not all, recycled data from previous breaches), i’d recommend this article at DU. It quotes from Forbes, and provides a link to a site where you can check to see whether any of your data is included. This is sourced from Forbes, and I would trust Forbes – if you’re concerned, I’d look for it on Forbes (it shouldn’t be hard to find) directly.
I’m going to put a trigger warning on this in case anyone is phobic about needles or asphyxiation. And if you do read it, it will make you angry. One thing struck me about this story was a legal point. Ex post facto legislation is outlawed because historically it has been used to take rights w=away from people. But sometimes legislation gives rights to people. I worked over 10 yearss in insurance, and one thing people who haven’t probably don’t know is the principle of liberalization. It works like this: if you have an auto or homeowers policy which I issued, and at some point during your policy term I decide (or laws change and require me) to rewrite some coverage in it, it onlt goes into effect for you immediately if the change benefits you. If it costs you, either by loss of coverage or increased premium, it will not go into effect until your polisy renews. Now, that is not out of the goodness of our hearts. It’s because it cuts down on lawsuits, and the ones which do go to litigation are easier not to lose on account of it. But IMO it’s a principle which should be applied in law as well. On account of the newer legislation thatjudges can no longer do what his judge did, he ought to have his sentence commuted automatically. Clearly Republicans aren’t worried about lawsuits.
I’m trying to limit the videos. This one is by Robert Reich. I doubt it will tell anyone here anything they don’t already know, but it might be useful for sharing,
Yesterday, I got an update from Carrie. Barry ended up losing parts (only) of two toes. The surgery went well and he was home by late afternoon. He goes back to the doctor Wednesday for evaluation and a dressig change, and after that the dressing changes will be handled by home health care. She also said Barry has been in a great mood (no, she didn’t mention whether the anesthetic used was nitrous oxide, and I would certainly doubt it – I’m just being silly to even bring it up) which is good, particularly since Barry has also been having some cognitive issues, which is always worrying.
Maybe I’m seeing this through rose-colored glasses (though I told my optician “no tinted lenses,” I was ignored.) After all, “Cognitive dissonance” is one of Republicans’ many middle names. But it appears to me that this ruling is good news as the Court takes up Loper Bright v. Raimondo, since that also is a Feds v. lower levels case which the Feds need to win lest we lose a host of protections. At least I’m sure lawyers for the federal government will not miss the connection.
You all have probably seen more about the issue about Fani Willis than I have (especially since I’ve been mostly avoiding stories due to the dearth of facts.) This article still has a dearth of facts regarding what, if anything, happened, but it has plenty of legal facts to bring to bear. It was Robert Hubbell on Substack who refereed the article, and this quote from him is not a bad summation: “Do I wish the allegations were not made or had no basis? Sure! But Willis is legally entitled to continue with the prosecution—and she should.”
And you may find this obituary elsewhere. But elsewhere, it may not be this comprehensive.
