Open Thread June 6, 2023

 Posted by at 5:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 062023
 

Yesterday, I learned that the Smithsonian has three meerkay pups (aand also that the collective noun for meerkats is “mob.” Boy, does that ever fit!) They don’t have a live cam, but they do have a short (32 seconds) video. The parents are named Frankie and Sadie. The pups won’t be named for a while, because they have not been sexed (hey, this is America) and won’t be for a while because the keepers are staying out of the meerkats’ business. They do offer several photos for download in case anyone is looking for a new wallpaper.

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red

Short Takes –

The Conversation – US Army Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas’ journey from enslaver to Union officer to civil rights defender
Quote – Hundreds of thousands of African American Southerners supported the Union by escaping slavery and serving in the Union army. But there were thousands of white Southerners who also supported the Union. George H. Thomas, known to history as “the Rock of Chickamauga,” is the most prominent of them…. When the Civil War broke out, nearly all the Southern career officers left the U.S. Army to serve in the Confederacy. But, as his adjutant and first biographer wrote in “The Life of Major-General George H. Thomas,” Thomas viewed his oath as an army officer to defend the Constitution as more binding than his feelings of loyalty to his native state.
Click through for full story.  Transformations like this one are not common, but they do happen – perhaps it’s partly because they are rare that we are drawn to their stories.

New Mexico Political Report – Former GOP candidate faces federal charges for shootings of homes of prominent Dems
Quote – In 2022, [Solomon] Peña ran for the state House District 14 seat against incumbent Democrat Miguel Garcia. Garcia won the race with 74 percent of the vote to Peña’s 26 percent. “Refusing to accept his electoral defeat, Peña organized a shooting spree that targeted the homes of four elected officials and their families,” court records state. The shootings took place between Dec. 4 , and Jan. 3.
Click through for details. From a true-blue hearted General from a red state to a blood-red hearted ex-candidate in a blue state. Democrats, progressives, believe that everyone is a hman being and should be treated as such. But in today’s political climate, sometimes even we forget that – especially when it comes to red and blue states.

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Open Thread June 5, 2023

 Posted by at 5:45 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 052023
 

Yesterday, My drive was pretty uneventful except for some pretty heavy rain on the way down. It didn’t last long, but it gave the wipers a challenge on their highest setting while it lasted, and affected visibility. We played four games of Scrabble, not competetively, but with the aim of using allt he letters legitimately – and succeeded on all but thelast one. We were left with 8 vowels between us and the poard so tight that there was really no place to put any of them. He returnes all greetings. Today, both short takes are from substack – I apologize for that, but both of them include Tulsa (the Greenwood massacre) in their contents, and that anniversary is already a few days old.

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Short Takes –

The Good in Us – Black Wall Street
Quote – Since the end of the Civil War, the thing most likely to incite white violence against emancipated Black citizens was their success. Giving Black Americans full rights, beyond the freedom that had so grudgingly been granted to them after the Union prevailed, proved to be a bridge too far for many whites—even Northern Republicans…. In retrospect, it seems self-evident that the driver behind the essential re-enslavement of Black people after Reconstruction was Black prosperity.
Click through for full column. Even before I realized how horribly many massacres there have been in the US, I had begun to realize that, although the impulse for anyone in a marginalized group is to demonstrate their own worth, that is often unsuccessful at best and dangerous at worst. But she says it better than I can.

Letters from an American – June 1, 2023
Quote – In other economic news, the Biden administration today announced actions designed to address racial bias in the valuation of homes. This sounds sort of in the weeds for administration action, I know, but it is actually an important move for addressing the nation’s wealth inequality…. Homeownership is the most important factor in creating generational wealth—that is, wealth that passes from one generation to the next—both because homeownership essentially forces savings as people pay mortgages, and because homes tend to appreciate in value…. There is a reason that the administration has centered its housing policies on June 1. This is the anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre,
Click through for full article. I’m very glad the Biden administration is doing this. I hope they stay on it when it comes to actually making it happen. For more than 150 years we have trusted people to do the right thing and, frankly, that doesn’t work.

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Open Thread June 4, 2023

 Posted by at 5:42 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 042023
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” (The Magic Flute). If you saw “Amadeus,” you probably have an idea what a departure this was from the symphonic and opera seria music on which Mozart had built his career. It was actually addressed to a different social class from the ruling class for whom most of his works had been written. It’s also quite progressive (at least if you can ignore the fact that it’s patriarchal) – it can be summarized: virtue and justice require concentrated effort to obtain, but witht them, the world can be paradise. It premiered just two years after the storming of the Bastille, so revolution was in the air. Of course it is also highly allegorical and includes multiple references to Freemasonry, but one doesn’t need to know that to appreciate it. I suppose everyone has heard “The Queen of the Night’s aria” (Actual title – “Der Holle Rache” and affectionately known to musicians as “The Holy Racket”). But there are many other charming melodies. It’s not necessary to know that the setting is suporsed to be ancient Egypt, nor that the name “Sarastro” comes from “Zoroaster” to appreciate it all.  Well, I’m off to see Virgil.  I’ll check in when I get back.

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HuffPost – 5 Takeaways From The Debt Ceiling Drama
They are: 1. Joe Biden set the terms of debate.
2. McCarthy surprised everyone by taming the Freedom Caucus.
3. Democratic ‘grown-ups’ held their nose and saved the bill.
4. Republicans will take the debt ceiling hostage again.
5. The next big fight over spending is just around the corner.
Click through for more on each. WRT #5, I would say “Be careful what you wish for.” Prior to there being a “debt ceilng, the President had to come to Congress every time he wanted to borrow any money. The debt ceiling was established to give him (it was always him then and so fr still is) some freedom to make borrowong decisions. If we abolish it, we need to make sure we don’t revert to that.

The Daily Beast – GOP School Board Members Bring Book Ban Debate to Newtown, Connecticut
Quote – But Republicans on the Newtown Board of Education sought to have Flamer by Mike Curato and Blankets by Craig Thompson removed from the local high school library as if Connecticut was some benighted red state. After the 20 youngsters and six staff members were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary school, there was a nationwide call for an assault rifle ban. Fools of the far right continued to insist that civilians should have easy access to such weapons of war even as another mass school shooting is followed by another and another and another. In recent years, those same fervent opponents of banning assault weapons have begun to clamor for banning books that professional educators have deemed appropriate for students.
Click through for story. This is not your normal book ban (not that any book ban is or should be normal – but the GQP is trying hard to make them so.)

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Open Thread June 3, 2023

 Posted by at 5:50 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 032023
 

Yesterday, we resolved the car registration issue. Of course i don’t actually have the sticker yet. So when I go to see Virgil tomorrow, I will have in the car a copy of the entire email correspondence to explain the delay and prove i am actually in good standing in case I should be stopped. Of course I hope that won’t ne neessary – but but why take chances when one doesn’t have to? Also – not actually yesterday, but while I was preoccupied – I learned that what used to be “Elderhostel” is now named “Road Scholar.” If you weren’t familiiar with it, it’s a no-profit that books travel for older people. I would not call it exactly cheap (and some of it is downright pricey), but they do make it more affordable than if you were to try to book it yourself. So if anyone you know is considering leaving, not just a red state, but the whole country, it would be a resource to help check potential destinatins out. I did not register – I assume if one does, one would be able to see more than I was able to.  Also yesterday, though, I received a package I wasn’t expecting yet – the window for delivery they gave me when I ordered was June 3 – July 3.  It was 4 pairs of glasses for Barbie dolls (including one pair of sunglasses.)  Hopefully not having to try to make glasses out of jewelry wie will inspire me to get busy on the justice robe for my RBG doll, and then  will only need to make the collar.  (The doll doesn’t look a whole lot like RBG, though she looks very much like the actress who played her in the biopic which IIRC was called “On Account of Sex.”  And the sunglasses – well, I have pulled a bunch of red yarn out of my stash in anticipation of using them. 😉

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Short Takes –

Letters from an American – May 31, 2023
Quote – But, as Josh Marshall pointed out in Talking Points Memo today, the Republican base no longer seems to care much about fiscal issues. Instead, they are pushing the cultural issues at the heart of illiberal democracy: anti-LGBTQ laws, antiabortion laws, anti-immigration laws. Former president Trump is making those themes central to his reelection campaign. Yesterday he released a video promising that on “Day One” of a new presidential term, he would issue an executive order that would end birthright citizenship. Our current policy that anyone born in the United States is a citizen, he claims, is “based on a historical myth, and a willful misinterpretation of the law by the open borders advocates.” He promises to make “clear to federal agencies that under the correct interpretation of the law, going forward, the future children of illegal aliens will not receive automatic US citizenship.”
Click through for full column. Donald Trump** promised/threatened to do away with birthtight citizenship on his first day (if he wins.) Here’s why that is, at the very least, unconstitutional.

emptywheel – LORDY, THERE ARE TAPES [OF TRUMP ACKNOWLEDGING HE HAD STOLEN CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS]!
Quote – First, it’s certainly possible this is one of the documents pertaining to Iran that WaPo has reported were among the ones obtained in the search in August 2022. If it is, then it would be a document that Trump transported back and forth from Florida — something that would make it easier for DOJ to charge this in DC instead of SDFL.
Click through – I’m sure you know the basic part of this story. This may fill in some details.

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Open Thread June 2, 2023

 Posted by at 6:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 022023
 

Yesterday, I had sent my disability certification without the witness signature to the DMV with an explanation, and I received a response that I could sent a photo of ny driver’s license to her and she could sign as witness. What a relief! I had gotten up earlt with not enough sleep and dreading having to go out again. Instead, I got to go back to bed. After getting up the second time, I made time to write a little essay to reply to John Pavlovitz’s email – some thoughts about the Bible I’ve been trying to spread for years in comments on petitions and article but which no one seems to be picking up on. The graphic he sent was so disturbing to me I just felt this was the time. It shows numbers and kinds of anti-transgender legislation in the states, Here it is –

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Short Takes –

KDVR Denver – Polis makes wager: If Nuggets win finals, Disney World moves to Colorado
Quote – Colorado Gov. Jared Polis called for a friendly wager with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney on Tuesday: If the Denver Nuggets win the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, Disney World moves to Colorado…. The Walt Disney World Resort currently resides in the Sunshine State and has since it first opened in the early 1970s. However, recently there have been rising tensions between the amusement park’s parent company and DeSantis.
Click through. KDVR is a Fox affiliate, but as I’ve often said, they are often good at local news. And the quote sounds just like Polis to me.

Vox – A big El Niño is looming. Here’s what it means for our weather.
Quote – El Niño is the warm phase of the Pacific Ocean’s temperature cycle, and this year’s El Niño is poised to be a big one, sending shock waves into weather patterns around the world. It’s likely to set new heat records, energize rainfall in South America, fuel drought in Africa, and disrupt the global economy. It may already have helped fuel early-season heat waves in Asia this year. “A warming El Niño is expected to develop in the coming months and this will combine with human-induced climate change to push global temperatures into uncharted territory,” said Petteri Taalas, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization, in a statement earlier this month. “This will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment. We need to be prepared.”
Click through foor details. Republicans talk about Democrats being big spenders … but with the money they waste on fighting culture wars instead of climate change, we could really save a lot – of money, and of people.

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Open Thread June 1, 2023

 Posted by at 6:02 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 012023
 

Yesterday, I ended up having to go in to my doctor’s office after all to get his signature, and that of one of his staff to certify that she had seen my driver’s license and that I am really me. Unfortunately, she forgot to sign it. I tried one more email with just that page, but I didn’t get home and see it until after the office closed, so I won’t know until today whether I’ll need to go back.

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Short Takes –

Letters from an American – May 29, 2023
Quote – Beginning in 1943, the War Department published a series of pamphlets for U.S. Army personnel in the European theater of World War II. Titled Army Talks, the series was designed “to help [the personnel] become better-informed men and women and therefore better soldiers.” On March 24, 1945, the topic for the week was “FASCISM!”…. “The basic principles of democracy stand in the way of their desires; hence—democracy must go! Anyone who is not a member of their inner gang has to do what he’s told. They permit no civil liberties, no equality before the law.” “Fascism treats women as mere breeders. ‘Children, kitchen, and the church,’ was the Nazi slogan for women,” the pamphlet said.
Click through for more quotes, many highly prescient, and not a lot of take from Heather because the material speaks for itself.

Slate – The Urgent Warning That Got Cut From a Supreme Court Opinion 20 Years Ago
Quote – More than 20 years ago, then–Supreme Court Justice David Souter tried to warn that big money in politics risked turning United States officials into tools of an emerging “plutocracy.” We now know from recently released case files that Souter had to strike the language in his draft Supreme Court opinion in a 2000 campaign finance case, Nixon v. Shrink Missouri Government PAC, as the price to secure Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s vote. It’s too bad, because Souter’s warning is one that American political leaders, including justices on the Supreme Court itself, needed to hear. That warning was never made and thus never heeded. Today, American plutocracy—from Congress to inside the walls of the court itself—is alive and well.
Click through for sad story. And here we are.

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Open Thread May 31, 2023

 Posted by at 5:54 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 312023
 

Yesterday, I spent a fair amount of time struggling with the internet and email – trying to get paperwork to my doctor’s office to get my car registration renewed. His email account is set to reject any email from someone he hasn’t approved. He did approve me,but my email was not going through. Thinking maybe it was the number of attachments, I sent seven separate ones today – one for each attachment. But it was late in the business day, so I’ll have to check again today. They were all jpgs – before retiring I converted them all into pdfs in case I have to resend again. If I can’t get it done in time, I’m going to go see Virgil Sunday anyway (I did get confirmation yesterday; I looked for it Monday but of course that was a holiday.) In less personal news (but still kind of personal, since we all love the Carters), Rosalynn has been diagnosed with dementtia. She is still at home with Jimmy and is able to see loved ones and enjoy the spring weather.

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Short Takes –

NMAI (National Museum of the American Indian) – Why We Serve
The National Museum of the American Indian is one of many institutions which come under the purview of the Smithsonian. There isn’t a lot of information about Native Americans that you won’t find somewhere under its umbrella. “Why We Serve” is a website dedicated to Native Americans in the military – active duty, veterans, and war dead. It’s an online exhibition that you can wader through, just as you would wander through a physocal exhibition on site. I was pleased to learn about NAWW – Native American Women Warrriors – group specifically for women veterans who are native Americans. The Museum’s “Object of the Month” for May is a blue jingle dress worn by Mitchelene BigMan (Apsáalooke [Crow]/Hidatsa) during the 2013 presidential Inaugural Parade. You’ll find it (along with three others) under the topic “War and Peace.”

The Warning (Steve Schmidt) – The distortion and delusion of the MAGA/GOP view
Quote – The greatest crime in human history began with the rise of a far-right political party of losers, crackpots, opportunists and alienation that sowed division, hate, intolerance and grievance against its enemies, status and condition. The Jews were the target of its scapegoating, hate, conspiracies and terror. Ultimately, an extremist political party became the State and then the nation. Hitler’s rise was abetted by countless small acts of moral appeasement and accommodation by people who were appalled by him. Ambition and cynicism fueled a merger of industry with extremism and hate with national identity. All of it was sustained by propaganda, lies, and conspiracy theories. Before it was over human civilization nearly fell.
Click through for column. You’ll probably have to click on “Let me read it first.” It isn’t the full column, since I’m not a paid subscriber, but it’s enough to sound an alarm.

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Open Thread May 30, 2023

 Posted by at 5:47 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 302023
 

Yesterday, I learned something I did not know about the Marine Corps – not all that surprising, since it happened after my time – way, way after my time. But it makes a lot of sense. I just hope some of those mementoes are representative of other faiths. The manger Christans need to respect and in a way emulate is emphatically not the one that Aesop’s dog was in.  And, yes, I did watch the National Memorial Day Concert (a day late) – it’s still available to stream if anyone else missed it the first time.

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Short Takes –

John Pavlovitz – Dangerous Christian Drag Show
Quote – They shamelessly don their cheap, glittery regalia, meticulously transforming themselves into a sickening inversion of who they actually are, putting on an unnatural false persona designed to indoctrinate young minds by passing as something they’re not. It is a vile bait and switch that decent human beings should be sickened by.
The political Right is the worst kind of drag show: that of hateful, heartless bigots pretending to be Christian.
Click through for essay. What can I say? He nails it.

Crooks & Liars – Dem Senator Schools Chuck Todd On Why Congress Can Regulate Supreme Court
Quote – “The Chief Justice has to make this decision, though, right?” Todd asked. “Separation of powers, whether, I mean, it’s pretty established, Congress can’t make a law that does that, right?” Whitehouse informed the host he was mistaken about how the Constitution works. “No, it absolutely can,” Whitehouse laughed. “Well, it doesn’t mean it’s constitutional,” Todd quipped. “Yes, it does,” the senator explained. “It means it’s constitutional because the laws that we’re talking about right now are actually laws passed by Congress. The ethics reporting law that is at the heart of the Clarence Thomas ethics reporting scandal is a law passed by Congress.”
Click through for story. Chuck Todd is far from alone in (apparently} believing the “SC” in “SCOTUS” stands for “Sacrd Cow.” It doesn’t. Whitehouse is a gem.

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