Yesterday, I came across a short post sharing that MSNBC had shown an image of JD Vance over the chron “Look what the cat dragged in.” That gave me a smile. I also attempted making cookies, oatmeal raisin, with a non-wheat flour. I knew I would need more liquid than I normally use on account of the oatmeal (I used instant) but I overdid it a little. So they look odd. But they taste alright.
It may have been done before – but I have not seen this quote about fascism applied to democracy (don’t worry, it’s not negative) in this way – particularly combined with the concept that it happens a lot, in and outside of government in both small and large ways.
(non-paywall link) I don’t know how Rolling Stone does it – but so many scoops that are truly significant seem to start there. The New Yorker used to do that, with reporters like David Remnick and Ronan Farrow, but I’ve lost confidence in them. This story, of course, we’ve known what seems like forever – at least in the general outlines – but the details are now included.
Yesterday, I was able to visit VirgilI arrived late, but he was just as happy as if I’d been on time.The drive was uneventful both ways but I still didn’t get my home safe comment up as fast as I would have liked. I am trying t work withmy Windows 10 laptop, and it is slower than molasses in July at the South Pole. Eventually I gave up and came to the Windows 8.1. It has glitches , but it basicallly works, and I am used to its glitches so I can deal with them. My week off helped. I am encouraged by the speed with which Democrats united behind Kamala, and also with the way younger voters, many of them first-time voters, mobilized in support, including with cash. I’m ready to get behind Kamala as much as I was behind Joe. However, I can’t not be worried about misogyny, which killed us in the Electoral College in 2016. Hemce the link today to Joyce Vance. I’ll try not to let it affect my mood here. I can’t promise to be able to sleep at night without worrying. That’s not really in my control.
Many thanks to Nameless, who put up some splendid memes while i was out – and also to everyone who commented this week.
If this is what has been keeping him going – well, he may still be around for another nine months. (Barf bag alert on article – it describes the syptoms, and links to pictures. Just don’t follow the links to the pictures. The description is more than enough.)
Joyce Vance addresses what I fear most about the election in November. She sees what I see – and has highly positives about how to combat it – some in social media, others IRL.
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Elektra” by Richard Strauss. Itis based on te Greek myth, but I have only ever seen it in modern dress. (The first time may not have been intentional – bot when Chrysothemis had her back to the camera – it was televised – viewers could easily see the zipper in the back of her costume.) It’s one of his early operas, like “Salome,” and, like Salome, it’s all in one act and the heroine dances at the end and then dies. Aside from thet, they’re very different. It was under 2 hours, so when it ended and I turned the stream off and the radio back on, I got to re-listen to the last third of “Rheingold” again.
I like cats (and most other animals.) I don’t like climate change. We used to have permafrost in the Rockies. Back in the late seventies, when I was still living in Alamosa, a former Marine Corps colleague visited with his wife and two kids (who must now be in their late fifties) who had never seen snow. I was able to call the local paper and get directions to a glacial permafrost area within easy driving distance. It wasn’t really snow, but the kids were thrilled. There are concerns about thawing permafrost releasing CO2 – but it’s also known there are viruses in there. I don’t see why this one would not spread to humans, though it hasn’t yet, thankfully.
This by Robert Reich could be very depressing. But it also could be very motivating – it puts additional faces on “We must avoid this at all costs.” If you find that depressing, and don’t need any more motivation, you may want to skip it.
Yesterday, since it was Friday, Robert Reich posted the latest episode in his “DEBUNK” series. Heather Cox Richardson posted a blistering bio of Paul Manafort.
Russian soldiers are, due to the lack of purpose-built vehicles, being compelled to use whatevet that can lay their hands on – such as golf carts – to attempt to attack. I am not pro-violence, and least of all am I pro-enjoying violence – but I have to say that Ukreainians have an excuse. Slava Ukraini!
Robert Hubbell has had it with corporate Democrats, and I don”t blame him. I have too. I am extremely upset with Adam Schiff and several others. I think Hubbell’s advice is excellent for anyone who can follow it. Since I’m obligated to post here, I cannot follow the “Keep your head down” part, but I’ll do my best to keep my blood pressure down at least. This is a two-parter and I’m sharing both parts today. And putting a quote from the second part into a second cartoon.
Yesterday, I got to thinking about how I would change mu initials if I felt I had to. I am blessed (or saddled) with quite an assornment of potential middle names. Starting with the one on my birth certificate, there’s “May” which was my father’s mother’s name, so there’s M. Her full maiden name was May Hurst, and occasionally I’ll use the H. Then there’s “Laura,” which I sometimes say is my Lutheran confrmation name, but actually I just liked it. L is the middle initial on my DD-214. Then there’s “Teresa” which actually is my Catholic confirmation name (I didn’t pick up one when I first became a Catholic since I claimed St. Joan of Arc as my patron – close enough to Joanne). But there is my own maiden name, “Stangenberger”, so I could go all the way up to JMHLTSD if I wanted to – but that seems unwieldy. Any thoughts?
I don’t know about you, but I could sure use a laugh from Andy. And this is a good one.
Heather Cox Richardson’s Letter for July 17 goes back in history to a July 18, and goes into the real life story celebrated in the movie “Glory.” I have not seen the movie, but its sound track is a favorite with clssical music radio programs, so I do know what it is about -but not how strictly it stays with the facts. Heaven knows the facts are dramatic enough. If you don’t know the story and want to read it here, you may need a hanky alert (I always do when this story comes up.)
Yesterday, the biggest news appeared to be that Joe Biden is adding Spureme Court reform to his platform. I expect you can watch, or read about, this development just about anywhere. How very welcome this is can probably be measured by how vitriolic Trump**s remarks about it in his social medium (I made that singular because he only has the one.) Of course, the formation of an agency by NATO is also pretty big. But I’ll let Beau talk about that.
Apparently, we have zebra mussels in our waters. They are native to Russia, as are Siberian elms, another invasive species we have. Grump.
Joyce Vance has some things to say – about the apparent attack on Trump** and reactions to it – on both sides. Normally, IMO, if something is balanced, it is by definition not fair, because both sides are not the same. But she shows it can be done.
Yesterday, There was a thunderstorm warning , not exactly for my area, but for an area I’m on the fringes of. I heard one crash of thunder, but I didn’t see the Lightning, so I have no clue how far away it was. I lost no power, but my modem started refusing to stay connected to the ‘Net. I rebooted it once but that didn’t help – but I then rebooted a second time, this time leaving it disconnected for over an hour, and it’s working now. Fingers crossed it keeps working. Another 9 days of storms like this are predicted, and tha’s as far in advance as they rpredict, so there could be more. So now, though the modem is working, somehow the zoom size of my inbox in my opera browser got trashed. Everything else on that browser works, but can’t read my emails (my main source.) So I’m having to read them on edge. It’s not perfect, but it’s close enough I can make it work with the screen magnifier. So I learned that, according to Axios, there is now evidence tat Netanyahu is working behind the scenes for Trump**. I hope this news reaches some coters who are wanting to not vote for Biden because, basically, he honored a treaty he was legally bound to honor. At least he’s doing his best to hold Bibi back. Trump** will say, “Do whatever the hell you want.” If anything else new comes it, it will have to wait. I need to get this posted while I still can (at least I hope so.)
Steve Schmidt’s response to the shooting at the Trump** rally byposting a video of Bobby Kennedy’s speech in response to the death of MLK. It was a powerful speech then, and it’s powerful now, but what really hit me was one of the comments (which I normally never look at – this must have been the first time in over a decade that I have done so.) A viewer usernamed “@tedb3966” simply wrote, “The greatedt President we never had.” But Steve himself has some powerful things to say too.
I know y’all are alert and atay informed, so you probably know that Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has set his sights on Clarence Thomas. But I also thought youmight be as interested as I was to read about it from a black news outlet.
Yesterday, Trump** announced the selection of J.D. Vance for his Vice President. I’m not sure why people are losing their minds about it. Anyone Trump** selected would have been equally awful, and this selection at least may open a Senate seat in Ohio and give Tim Ryan a second chance {although I admit it does make me want to change my initials). There wasn’t much in my inbox about the Trump** shooting. One petiton asking Republicans who have condemned it to now condemc all political violence. I signed it – but good luck with that. The second half of Heather Cox Richardson’s talk with Secretary of State Blinken has been posted. As I type I haven’t watched it, but by the time you see it, I will have done so. And, apparently, RFKJ is getting Secret Service protection – that, to me, is the worst news – or at least tied with the news that Loose Cannon dismissed the documents case. At least, the factor which pushed the SS to decide this was not a jump in the polls – it was the shooting at Trump**’s rally.
I did get an email from “Oil Change International,” a climate change fighting organization. Their website is here. And here is a source to check how your state is dealing with the issue of “certified gas.” Looking at the map of Colorado, I note that all the emissions events they map occurred in the vicinity of Denver. It’s not clear to me whether Denver (along with its environs) is particularly bad at this, or if it’s just that the population is so much denser there, and so is the usage, that the emissions events in that area are more obvious, more measurable.
This may not the biggest story – but it does, as Ursula says, make a big difference. So I’m posting it in case you missed it. See what you think.
