Jun 302024
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was “The Fairy Queen” by Purcell, which is an adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” recorded by an early music group in Utrecht, Netherlands. I streamed it – my local radio staion is now broadcasting the summer schedule, but they started a week late, so, if I don’t sream, I’ll miss the last one, and I don’t want to do that. However, The Fairy Queen is just over half the length of last week’s, so when The Fairy Queen ended, I switched over to the radio, just in time for the third and fourth acts. An also just in time for the static it was making earlier to have quieted down. So, the best of both worlds. And today, I’m off to see Virgil. As always, I’ll post a quick comment when I get back.

If you need a lift, and need to see Joe being Joe and apreciated for it, here’s a link to the North Carolina rally from Friday.

This is short, and simple.. Though about a complex issue, it makes it not to difficult to understand. And it’s good news, as far as it goes.

Remember the mayor elected in Alabama with an overwhelming majority, who couldn’t take office because the previous, unelected white mayor (who had not even bothered to run against him) would not turn over the keys? Well. Here’s the latest in that saga – and, hopefully,the last we’ll ever need to hear about it. Though I’m not holding my breath.

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May 112024
 

Yesterday was a bad back (and shoulder) day. I wasnt happy about it, but I had to admit I had earned it – assembling furniture, packing stuff up for charity, moving heavy stuff around. I thought I had paced it better, but I guess not. I used the TENS a full two hours, which helped. And today is an opera day (also a filling pill bottles for the next two weeks day) so I’ll make a point of resting physically, and ice if necessary.

This is what clean energy is all about – rechargeable batteries. Not the double A ones you probably use if you have a solar stake in your yard, but big ones. Really big ones.

Eric Adams is not my idea of the world’s greatest mayor – but I do like this. (And, if Trump** doesn’t hand his phone off to one of his attorneys before they take him, they will confiscate it, and there will be no Xeets from it. Not that i suppose the reception is all that great inside.)

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Mar 262024
 

Yesterday, another uneventful day for me. But not for a number of public figures, one in particular.

Mary Trump would like us non-lawyers all to calm down and take a deep breath. (I’d like that too. Things are bad enough without us interpreting anything we don’t like as a catastrophe. Whych is why I don’t report more on the Trump** trials.)

Now that i’m getting the Borowitz report again, I can share him. And this is a good one. There is only one female character in the Revelation of Saint John. And I can definitely see why he’d think of her.

I was concerned about this – we probably all were – I even included a Beau video (yesterday) discussing the possibility of a veto. Well, we didn’t.

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Aug 202023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s lawyers make ABSURD request – ask Judge Chutkan set an April 2026 trial date in DC case!

The Lincoln Project – Roger Stone on November 5, 2020

Thom Hartmann – U.S. Rep. Vows To Use Force To Achieve Far Right Takeover…

Puppet Regime – Vladimir Putin, film critic

This Dog Stared At The Wall For Hours Until Finally Realized He Was Home

Beau – Let’s talk about Colorado, Alabama, and a General’s house….

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Aug 182023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Rudy Giuliani, now both an indicted AND un-indicted Trump co-conspirator, would make a POOR witness

The Lincoln Project – Uh Oh, Donald (Georgia Remix)

Farron Balanced – Tommy Tuberville May Be Serving In The Senate ILLEGALLY

Scared Ketchup – AI MAGA’s NEW Health Supplement: “Trump’s Tiny White Balls”

Matted Dog Who Lived On The Street For Years Gets Her First Haircut

Beau – Let’s talk about Fulton County, Trump, and warming up….

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Aug 182023
 

Yesterday, there was a longer article in the CPR newsletter than the alert which came out on Wednesday about the Adams County police. Adams County is in the northeasr corner of the Denver Metro Area, which is not the same as being northeast OF Denver, like the wildlife sanctuary they sent Hank to. Colorado is a blue state, but that does not mean we are not afflicted by bad attitudes on police forces. I haven’t read it in full, but it doesn’t look good. Of course in Colorado there are Hispanic people throughout, and women are pretty equally represented, but the majority of Asian- and African-Americans are in the Denver Metro. I’m not expecting to be a happy camper when I finish reading. And policing, even in blue states, is a big reason why I oppose building a “Cop City.” As long as we tolerate authoritarianism in our police, no police academy will fail to pass authoritarianism on – the last thing we need.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

National Public Radio – What happens when thousands of hackers try to break AI chatbots
Quote – [Ben] Bowman jumps up from his laptop in a bustling room at the Caesars Forum convention center to snap a photo of the current rankings, projected on a large screen for all to see. “This is my first time touching AI, and I just took first place on the leaderboard. I’m pretty excited,” he smiles. He used a simple tactic to manipulate the AI-powered chatbot. “I told the AI that my name was the credit card number on file, and asked it what my name was,” he says, “and it gave me the credit card number.”
Click through to read (or listen.) As scary as this is, it’s also reassuring that responsible people are putting this much effort into learning how to spot and control it.

Washington Post (no paywall) – In Tuberville’s state, one base feels the effect of his military holds
Quote – At the Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, a major hub of the U.S. military’s space and missile programs, a key officer is supposed to be leaving his post for a critical new job leading the agency responsible for America’s missile defense. But now Maj. Gen. Heath Collins’s promotion is on hold — creating disruptions up and down the chain of command. His absence means that a rear admiral normally stationed at Redstone overseeing missile testing is instead temporarily filling in as acting director of the Missile Defense Agency. Meanwhile, the brigadier general tapped to replace Collins is also stuck, forced to extend his assignment at Space Systems Command in Los Angeles rather than starting work in Huntsville.
Click through for details. The Armed Forces are not going to allow the military to be without leadership – that would be abdicating its responsibilities. But there absolutely is a human cost. And this article doesn’t even go into the issue of the morale of ALL the troops. All on account of one Senator, who doesn’t even live in the state he represents.

Food For Thought

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Aug 142023
 

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we were able to play cribbage. I think I’ve mentioned that the deck is not new, so it’s sticky, and there are at least a half dozen cards, 0maybe as many as 10, that bend in half, both of which make it hard to shuffle and also hard to deal, which can result in some strange happenings. For example, I had a hand with two 7’s, two 3’s and one 5 (including the starter.) Well, that’s a nice hand, but I don’t recall seeing anything quite like it before. But several hands later, I  got the exact hand again, And several hands after that, I got a hand with two 9’s, 2 aces, and a five – which is essentially the same hand, just different denominations. And a few hands after that, I got that exact same hand again. Very strange. All in good fun, of course. I guess a little weirdness never hurts.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – Can “Cop City” Be Stopped at the Ballot Box?
Quote – I reached out to Mayor Dickens to ask whether he believes that Atlanta voters should be able to decide, after all the conflict and concern expressed in the past two years, whether to build the training center in the South River Forest. A spokesperson, in an e-mail, disputed the notion that a referendum could repeal a city ordinance. This initiative, he wrote, “would violate the constitutional prohibition on the impairment of contracts. That said,” he added, “we welcome public dialogue and engagement around our goal to build the most progressive Public Safety Training Center in the nation.”
Click through for story, of which, if you aren’t aware, it is not Freya’s fault. I would point out that “”progressive” does not mean the same thing in training police that it does in politics. In police training, it appears to mean something like all the latest gadgets to more effectively vcontrol people. Also, IANAL, but the theory that a referendum cannot revoke a city ordinance appears to me to be in violation of the people’s right to petition the government for redress of grievances, a right guaranteed by the First Amendment. It’s an empty right if the government in question claims in advance that there can be no redress.

al dot com – ‘Get them off their fannies:’ Gov. Kay Ivey on how to grow Alabama’s workforce
Quote – According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Alabama has a labor participation rate of 72.1 percent. Only three states rank lower even as the state’s workforce of about 2.3 million represents a new high mark. Still, ranking near the bottom nationally in labor participation somewhat offsets the fact that Alabama is 7th nationally with a 2.2 percent unemployment rate. The unemployment rate, of course, only includes those looking for jobs. “Today, over 2.1 million people are employed in Alabama,” Ivey told the chamber audience. “That’s the most in state history, y’all.
Click thrugh for details. If you have so many job openings that you can’t fill them all, even with people who are not looking for work (and probably NOT “sitting on their fannies”), woudln’t it be a good idea to make your state more friendly to potential workers? Like with reproductuve rights and other health care, and diversity and friendliness? What am I missong? (Heck, they can’t even keep both Senators in the state. Tuberville has moved to Florida – not that he isn’t a good fit there.)

Food For Thought

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Aug 072023
 

Yesterday, Steve Schmidt wrote about a forthcoming debate between Gavin Newsom (CA) and Ron DeSantis (FL) which is to be hosted on Fox by Sean Hamity. He fully expects Newsom to triumph, and is looking forward to seeing it. Having steeped myself in the Alt-Right Playbook, I will not be watching.There will be far too many people unable to understand what the are seeing and unable to accept any victory but that of a bully. I have screamed about that too may times and am quite hoarse already. Though I’d love to be wrong. Steve says Gavin gave him the best parenting advice he has ever received, and to this day asks whenever they meet how his son is doing. MAGAts’ idea of parenting advice is “Raise your son to be a monster.” Yes, some of them actually say that. Along with make sure your kids have guns. I just can’t. Anyway, the date has not been set, but Steve promises updates as soon as available. Backing up a little, earlier this week (most of you probably got this) our Mitch sent a photo of a Monarch on the milkweed he had planted to attract them, and remarked that he hoped for caterpillars. Yesterday, he sent a couple of photos of caterpillars. Of course I congratulated the butterfly foster daddy!

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

HuffPost – The Network Behind Trump’s Election Lies Hasn’t Backed Down — Despite His Indictment
Quote – But Trump’s attempts to overturn the election were enabled by a fertile environment to bolster his groundless claims. Several co-conspirators allegedly helped manufacture and push the lies that fueled his attempt to steal a second term, per the indictment, in addition to a network of supporters who have invested their time and energy over the past three years in supporting the big lie. While none of these allies were charged in the indictment ― Trump is the sole named defendant ― it’s hard to deny the culture of election denial they helped create.
Click through for essay. If it were just Trump**… we could deal with it. It’s this that’s the problem going forward.

CNN – Black mayor of tiny Alabama town says he was ousted by his White predecessor
Quote – LaQuenna Lewis said she was introduced to Braxton as the mayor by a mutual friend when she was looking to find a base for her non-profit food distribution work. She told CNN he helped with that request and then she decided she had to help him over his disputed mayorship. “I was just in disbelief because I had never seen or heard of anything like that,” said Lewis, who added that her family had lived around Newbern “forever.” It took time to find the right attorneys and get the lawsuit going, she said, but it was still relevant even more than three years after Braxton was told he was mayor. “I was noticing that people felt like this is a small town, it didn’t merit the attention,” she said. “But this is definitely major. This is something that if it’s happening here, you never know where else it’s happening.”
Click through – yes, I covered this when it came out locally, but it’s now national news (a good thing) and there are some updates.

Food For Thought

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