Open Thread March 26, 2023

 Posted by at 6:53 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 262023
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was “Norma,” by Vincenzo Bellini, who died young, but during his lifetime was known for his long flowing melodic lines; at a time when everyone was wrtting long, flowing melodic lines (the bel canto period), he was nicknamed the Swan of Catania. Norma’s plot is quite intense, and yesterday the intensity was heightened by the illness of the intended soprano star, which led to the debut of a relative unknown (here. She’s very well known in Australia and Europe.) This does happen in real life, not just in the movies, and sometimes it is a triumph, but it’s not guaranteed. Judging by the applause after her opening aria, “Casta Diva,” at the very least this performance will open doors for her here, and deservedly so.  Had she been married to a conductor (as Sutherland was) we would have heard of her long before now. The plot of “Norma” is a love triangle, but an unusual one. the sisterly relationship between the two women turns out to be stronger than either of their relationships with the tenor, and in the end Norma’s principle is stronger than both. (In fact both women are principled, which confounds the tenor, who is accustomed to having women do as he says, and here there are, not just one, but two, who don’t. I find it refreshing.)

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Colorado Public Radio – Colorado Springs mayor says Trump told him he was holding Space Command decision until after the election
Quote – Outgoing Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers wrote to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall earlier this month to air his concern that former President Donald Trump’s decision to move Space Command Headquarters to Alabama was a political one…. Suthers said he decided to write the letter after talking with Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper. “Senator Hickenlooper suggested that it may be important for me to weigh in and relate these conversations because they do clearly show that it was [Trump’s] perspective, this was gonna be a political decision,” Suthers said,
Click through for story – I have lived in the Colorado Springs area since 1991, but outside the city lmits since 2002 so its mayor does not affect me. As Republicans go, he keeps a low profile, but I still would not have expected him to confide in Hickenlooper, let alone take his advice. Not that we needed any more evidence that Trump** cannot keep his mouth shut.

Wonkette – Li’l Nebraska State Sen Lady Machaela Cavanaugh Sets Up Early Bid For BADASS OF THE YEAR!
Quote – Last month, Nebraska state Senator Machaela Cavanaugh declared that she’d filibuster every damn bill the Republican-controlled legislature put forward unless it pulled proposed legislation banning gender-affirming health care for transgender youth…. Cavanaugh wasn’t shy about her intentions. She said, “If people are like, ‘Is she threatening us?’ let me be clear: Yes, I am. I am threatening you.” She added, “If this Legislature collectively decides that legislating hate against children is our priority, then I am going to make it painful; painful for everyone. Because if you want to inflict pain upon our children, I am going to inflict pain upon this body.”
Click through for details. I’m glad this came out in Women’s History Month, because it’s more proof that we are not done with making history.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread March 25, 2023

 Posted by at 6:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 252023
 

Yesterday, well, actually a few days ago, so you may have seen it, Disney fired a shot at DeSantis by announcing that Disney World will be hosting a “major summit on gay rights” in September. And Steve Schmidt made a rare exception and released his entire column to unpaid subscribers, I presume because the ignorance of the Constitutional law displayed by Republicans, including members of Congress, impelled him. I’d bookmark this one, or print it out, for when I encounter talking points which make out the Constitution to be whatever Republicans want it to be.

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Robert Reich – What connects Trump’s likely arrest with the bank bailouts?
Quote – Thiel and other wealthy self-described “libertarians” want Trump to be re-elected president in 2024…. Charges of hypocrisy have been leveled at Thiel and other wealthy depositors who claim to be libertarians but were rescued by the government. There was nothing hypocritical about it. Thiel and others like him aren’t really opposed to government, per se. They’re opposed to democracy. They prefer an oligarchy — a government controlled by super-wealthy people like themselves.
Click through for story. I might suggest that it is indeed htpocritical to call yourself a libertarian when you are in fact an oligarchist. But there’s certainly a precendent in Ayn Rand.

Civil Discourse – A nightmare for women in Idaho could be coming to all of us soon
Quote – Bonner General Health wrote that it was forced to take the step because of physician shortages and a downturn in births. Then it explained the context in which it was being forced to shut down its labor and delivery unit: “Idaho’s legal and political climate – Highly respected, talented physicians are leaving. Recruiting replacements will be extraordinarily difficult. In addition, the Idaho Legislature continues to introduce and pass bills that criminalize physicians for medical care nationally recognized as the standard of care. Consequences for Idaho Physicians providing the standard of care may include civil litigation and criminal prosecution, leading to jail time or fines.”
Click through for details. Translation: When government tells doctors how to practice medicine, that is a threat to ALL doctors practicing ANY kind of medicine, and they will go elsewhere. If this spreads, the ENTIRE United states could lose ALL its doctors and medical facilities.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread March 24, 2023

 Posted by at 7:13 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 242023
 

Yesterday, there was a very odd story out of Russia – first a bit of background: “eternal flames” are not unknown here, but apparently in Russia there are a gazillion of them, relics of the Soviet era. In a town in the Moscow region but not Moscow, a fifth-grade boy apparently had had enough of the one there, and literally estinguished it. Using a fire extinguisher of the type that are required in cars there), he didn’t spray it (which would not have worked) but tossed it into the flame. An explosion ensued and the flame was gone. I guess there are bunches of dissatisfied people just about everywhere, and some will go to ridiculous lengths to make it known.)

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Crooks and Liars – Dark Money Groups Sue To Remain Anonymous
Quote – At the heart of the lawsuit is the argument that anonymous political speech is protected by the First Amendment. Terry Goddard, a former Arizona attorney general and the driving force behind the Voters’ Right to Know Act, said the arguments against disclosure aren’t new — and have been rejected by courts.
Click through. Because of course they do. If you were pouring money into taking away other people’s money so you could kep more of yours (and keep getting more), you’d not want anyone to know who you are either.

ABC News – What is gender dysphoria and what does transgender youth care consist of?
Quote – Across the country, Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation that restricts transgender health care for minors. At least eight states have passed laws or policies restricting this care, and 23 more state legislatures are considering similar legislation of their own. Medical experts say that understanding transgender identities, gender dysphoria and how gender-affirming treatments work is key to understanding the impact these bans may have on patients.
Click through for details. I’m counting this as a women’s history month article. That’s because I have a theory that LGBTQIA+ phobia ia all based in misogyny. Anything other than straight male is othered. (And if we could eliminate all fear of LGBTQIA+, misogyny would remain.) But we must keep trying. All of us.

CPR – The beloved musical ‘1776’ is coming to Denver, and its cast is as diverse as the Second Continental Congress was not
Quote – A reimagined take on a Broadway classic is coming to Denver, and it’s challenging audiences to think about our country — who we are and why — with a new perspective…. When it premiered on Broadway in 1969, the musical “1776” won three Tony Awards, including Best Musical. This iteration of the musical still depicts the Second Continental Congress meeting in the summer of 1776 to write the Declaration of Independence. But, this new production — by directors Jeffrey L. Page and Diane Paulus — features a diverse cast reflecting many representations of race, gender, and ethnicity. That is to say, it’s not all white guys.
Click through – in a way this is fluff – which is why I made it an extra – but I bring it up not because it’s Denver, or because it’s a musical I love, but because of the inclusivity.

Food For Thought
(I wish this were actually from Campbell’s. But “Customer Service” ia a private account, a person or geoup that loves returning the finger to those who give it to “woke” products.)

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Open Thread March 23, 2023

 Posted by at 7:17 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 232023
 

Yesterday, I learned from The Daily Beast that PBS has completed and is airing an episode of its “American Masters” series about Dr. Fauci. My recollection is that most of those have been about people in the arts; if so, I find this noteworthy. It was first aired Monday, but could be aired again or available on Passport.

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Democratic Underground (bigtree) – No one should minimize the anticipated arrest of this former president for lesser crimes
Quote – There’s no precedent to the former leader of the U.S. facing criminal prosecution which will likely include felony charges. Trump will also be the first major presidential candidate under indictment seeking office…. Manhattan prosecutors are also deliberating whether to charge Trump with falsifying business records in the first degree for falsifying a record with the intent to commit another crime or to aid or conceal another crime, which in this case could be a violation of campaign finance laws. That is a Class E felony and carries a sentence of a minimum of one year and as much as four years. [emphasis mine]
Click through for essay. this is an opinion piece, so it may or may not align with your opinion. Certainly not all the comments align with it, some vehemently.

Colorado Public Radio – She marched with Dr. King, and her work for civil rights marches on to this day
Quote – When Minister Glenda Strong Robinson of Longmont skipped class in 1968 to march with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., there were many things that she couldn’t have foreseen: That the Memphis sanitation workers’ strike she was supporting would become iconic in civil rights history. That Dr. King would be assassinated within days. And that 55 years later, she would receive a lifetime achievement award in his honor.
Click through for history. I don’t doubt there are women like this in many states, possibly every state, and perhaps the dheeer numbers are a factor in why we just don’t hear about them.

Democratic Underground (Baked Potato) – Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Finds A Tunnel From Mar-A-Lago to Palm Beach Airport
Quote – Described by DEA spokesperson Rollie Wokenshire as “… a rather robust tunnel system, comprising a light railroad, incandescent lighting, great air conditioning, and cutouts with a latrine and multiple dining areas… this tunnel had it all, including a decadent gold-tone livery on the main engine, enclosed in wreaths, marked ‘John Baron Express’.” … Trump’s current TV lawyer, Jim Quessadilla, recently bloviating on MSNBC stated, “President Trump would never travel by rail, end of @#&% story.”
Click through for all the punch lines. I thought a little satire might be a refreshing extra.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread March 22, 2023

 Posted by at 6:55 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 222023
 

Yesterday, someone over at DU pointed out that the closest thing we have to a precedent for charging a President or a former President is the “arrest” of Grant for speeding (in his horse-drawn carriege.) I had forgotten about it, but, yes, this really happened. Grant, however, accepted accountability and paid the ticket. Since this happened in the open, there were no walls, but who would not wish to have been a horsefly on site in order to have seen it?

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Robert Reich – The Undeserving Rich
Quote – Markets depend on who has the power to design and enforce them — deciding what can be owned and sold and under what terms, who can join together to gain additional market power, what happens if someone cannot pay up, how to pay for what is held in common, and who gets bailed out. These are fundamentally moral judgments. Different societies at different times have decided these questions differently. It was once thought acceptable to own and trade human beings, to take the land of indigenous people by force, to put debtors in prison, and to exercise vast monopoly power.
Click through for full article. Is the idea of “The Deserving Rich” a real thing? I think not. But it’s been around for a long time. If you remember Jesus’s remark about the rich getting into heaven is like a camel getting through the eye of a needle, you may remember his listeners were sghast, and aske, “If they can’t get in, then can anyone?” The name “Prosperity Gospel” may be new but the illusion is not.

The 19th – Nearly 300,000 women served during the Iraq War. Two decades later, they remain ‘the invisible veterans.’
Quote – Theresa Schroeder Hageman, a political science instructor at Ohio Northern University who served as a nurse in the Air Force from 2005 to 2010, said that she’s noticed that veterans like herself who served during the post-9/11 conflict years don’t always claim the veteran status. Schroeder Hageman said she cared for active-duty and veteran patients at one of the country’s largest Air Force hospitals, but she was never deployed overseas. “Sometimes I don’t claim the status because I didn’t deploy, so I feel less than, which is silly,” Schroeder Hageman said. “You think, ‘I’m not a real vet.’ Some women who were deployed but didn’t serve outside the wire will say they’re not a real vet.”
Click through for story. I would say to vets like Schroeder Hageman, “Claim it. It may get ignored. Claim it anyway.”

Food For Thought

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Open Thread March 21, 2023

 Posted by at 6:47 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 212023
 

Yesterday, I got an email that Al Franken is hosting the Daily Show this week. If you are a regular viewer, you probably already know that. If not, you will have missed a show by now, but they probably can be streamed through The Daily Show’s YouTube channel – if not in full, at the very least highlights (and the guest was only Lindsay Graham anyway). You’re welcome. I also got confirmation to visit Virgil Sunday.

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Short Takes –

Steve Schmidt – Donald Trump: innocent until proven guilty
Quote – I am saying these things because I am about to make an important point — and I want to remind people of my bonafides to make it on the eve of Donald Trump’s long-overdue arrest. Donald Trump is innocent. Let me say it again. Donald Trump is innocent until proven guilty. This moment requires restraint from Donald Trump’s fiercest and most committed antagonists, of which I am certainly one. This moment requires Trump’s most ferocious opponents to be better than his most committed fanatics. This moment requires those of us who despise Trump the most to be the loudest voices for his constitutional rights to due process.
Click through for full article. It is extremely easy to forget this point of law, particularly when the defendant in question is someone you despise, and even more so if you feel that you already have evidence. This reminder is coming from someone who is in both those categories, and is therefore, I believe particularly compelling.

Pro Publica – This Georgia County Spent $1 Million to Avoid Paying for One Employee’s Gender-Affirming Care
Quote – When a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia’s Houston County sought surgery as part of her gender transition, local officials refused to change the department’s health insurance plan to cover it, citing cost as the primary reason. In the years that followed, the central Georgia county paid a private law firm nearly $1.2 million to fight Sgt. Anna Lange in federal court — far more than it would have cost the county to offer such coverage to all of its 1,500 health plan members, according to expert analyses…. In 2016, the county’s insurance administrator recommended changing the policy to align with a new federal nondiscrimination rule. But Houston County leaders said no.
Click through for sad story. It’s nearly always cheaper to do the right thing. Seriously, if an insurance administrator suggests spending money, you can take it to the bank that that spending is going to save you money in the long run.

Food For Thought

The fact that someone found this content offensive is quite a self-own by that person.  For a transcript, highlight the following with your mouse :  Being LGBTQ is not a choice. Being black is not a choice. Being the child of animmigrant is not a choice. Being a Christian IS a choice. Being a busybody IS a choice. Being a Christian busybody IS a really annoying choice. Mind your own business. Learn to leave others in peace.

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Open Thread March 20, 2023

 Posted by at 10:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 202023
 

Yesterday, I managed to get the weekly email out before sunset, and was able to slow down a little and saw a headline in the ProPublica newsletter of a follow-up to the story of the teens who don’t want to be sent back to their abusive father. Under pressure from public opinion and a couple of prosecutors, the judge has (at least temporarily) vacated his order, and the kids will be able to see the light of day while this is being hashed out. It’s not a total victory, but it is a cease-fire and allows them to breathe.

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Crooks and Liars – Jack Smith Subpoenas The Maids At Mar A Lago
Quote – That includes Mar-a-Lago staff like a housekeeper and restaurant servers, as well as Trump political aides like Margo Martin, who was a press assistant in the White House and then stayed with Trump as he relocated to Florida after leaving office. The prosecutors, led by special counsel Jack Smith, are “casting an extremely wide net—anyone and everyone who might have seen something,” an unnamed source told CNN.
Click through for details. This takes me back to Agatha Christie and other detective novels featuring the British upper class. I don’t know why, but it appears to be unsurmountably difficult, not just in fiction, but IRL, for the wealthy to grasp that nothing is secret from the help.

Civil Discourse – Courage
Quote – After all of the speculation over whether there might be some type of standoff at Mar-a-Lago if charges are filed against Trump, we get this quiet concession from the lawyers. It’s an early acknowledgment that Trump isn’t above the law in these anticipated proceedings. He will have to follow “normal procedures” just like anyone else who is charged with a crime. Of course, he will be doing it with a Secret Service agent at his side. The agent will presumably go through all of the booking procedures with him and accompany him in court. That’s a good reminder that we are in uncharted territory from here on out, but unprecedented doesn’t mean the procedural rules don’t apply to Trump. It’s a good sign that his lawyers have been forced to concede that before charges are even filed.
Click through for full article. Of course I can’t possibly track the entire internet and every newspaper in the country – but, to my knowledge, Joyce Vance is the only attorney to publish a matter-of-fact description of what may be expected if and when. I think it’s worth sandwiching in.

The 19th News – The radio divide: How airplay reinforces the gender gap in country music
Quote – The year 2015 was especially emblematic, [Jada Watson,… the principal investigator of the SongData project,] noted, with Gary Overton, then the chief executive of Sony Nashville, saying, “If you’re not on country radio, you don’t exist.” After that came “Tomato-gate,” when radio consultant Keith Hill told an industry publication, “If you want to make ratings in country radio, take females out,” before going on to compare women artists in country to the tomatoes, not the lettuce, of the salad of country radio. These remarks were “pretty indicative of how the industry mainstream works,” Watson said of country radio in the years following the fallout surrounding The Chicks. “If you’re not a White, cisgendered, heterosexual, able-bodied male, you’re not on air and you’re not on the radio and so you don’t exist within that space. There are multiple barriers to access to [the country music industry] and the biggest one is radio.”
Click through for analysis. I don’t hate country music, but am not a huge fan. I do, however, highly appreciate many of its performers, past and present, who understand what love of country means – and act accordingly. To name just a few, Woody Guthrie, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley. It’s the fans who are shallow, not the genre.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread March 19, 2023

 Posted by at 6:55 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 192023
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Richard Wagner’s “Lohengrin,” which is a sequel to his prior opera, “Parsifal.” Parsifal is identified with Sir Percival of the Round Table and both names are associated with the Holy Grail. Neither of these two operas is racist, but both are misogynistic to a degree. But anyone who can handle the misogyny in Disney, and the story of Cupid and Psyche, can probably handle these. While the Met was free streaming during the pandemic, I watched a production of it, and it had no trouble holding my attention. I was about to type “It has a bittersweet ending,” and I stopped to think, and the fact is most of Wagner’s operas do not have the kind of catastrophic endings for which opera is famous. If his are not exactly gleeful, at the very least they are triumphant. Even the end of the Ring cycle, with Siegfried murdered and Brunnhilde dies along with her horse in his funeral pyre, and the day of the gods is over, the balance of nature is restored when the Rhine maidens get their god back and the age of humans begins. I would not call that a total loss. I wonder whether that was one reason he didn’t want them called “operas” but “music dramas.” Anyway, the story – Elsa is accused of murdering her little brother after their father died, making the brother the Duke of Brabant. This was in the 12th century, when the custom was trial by combat, and Elsa has no one to fight for her until this dude shows up, in a boat powered by a swan, and says he will fight for her and marry her, but she must never ask his name. He wins, and spares the life of the other guy (not really a mistake as the real villain is that guy’s wife) and marries Elsa. That other dude’s wife (whose name is Ortrud) works on here like Fox News and gets her to ask his name. Just at that moment the guy who lost the combat breaks in and the anonymous groom kills him in self defense. He then calls a town hall, explains he must now leave, reveals his name (Lohengrin) and that he is the son of Parsifal, and denounces Ortrud. Ortrud is all “Durned right I’m a witch, and I did all that and also turned the Duke into a swan.” At this point he goes over to his swan, kneels, and prays, and the swan turns into Elsa’s brother, very much alive. Ortrud is outgunned. Lohengrin still has to leave, though – the knoghts of the Grail lose their powers when they cease to be anonymous – but it is certainly a happy ending for the people of Brabant who get their rightful Duke back, and Elsa loses her husband but gets her brother back, and no one gets killed but the bad dude.

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Mother Jones – “This Was My Baby”: The Family of Black Man Killed By Cops While Experiencing Mental Crisis Speaks Out
Quote – According to [the family’s attorney, Mark] Krudys, the video at Central State Hospital shows Otieno seated on a chair at one point and then lying on his stomach on the ground, however it’s unclear whether or not he got there on his volition. For nearly 12 minutes, Krudys said all seven officers were on top of him, ultimately asphyxiating him. Virginia State Police weren’t notified about his death until three hours after the fact, according to [Prosecutor Ann] Baskervill.
Click through for story. It didn’t take very long to send the case of the seven officers to a grand jury, nor to charge three of the hospital staff. This is a case which is likely to get a lot of national attention.

The 19th – Toni Morrison is the face of the new Forever stamp from the U.S. Postal Service
Quote – Morrison is the newest face of the Forever stamp from the United States Postal Service. Set against a gold background, a photo of the “Beloved” author with a cherry-red smile, thick gray locs and silver orb earrings graces the stamp revealed last week at a Princeton University ceremony attended by her son Ford Morrison and other relatives. A faculty member from 1989 to 2006, Morrison was the Robert F. Goheen professor in the humanities at Princeton and part of the university’s creative writing program. Each year, the Postal Service chooses up to 30 people to feature on a stamp, selecting them from a list of 30,000 individuals recommended by the public. Morrison made the cut because of her “extraordinary and enduring contributions to American society,” a Postal Service spokesperson said in a statement.
Click through for more. I have used the stamp as today’s FFT. It won’t actually have the black line through “Forever” – that’s to prevent counterfeiting.

Food For Thought

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