Open Thread March 18, 2023

 Posted by at 6:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 182023
 

Yesterday, I woke up to find that there had been a power failure while I was asleep. I don’t mind resetting the clock and the microwave, but I also had to reset the radio in the computer room, and that is a real pain. Both speakers fell; they weren’t damaged, but the first one knocked a full glass of water off the desk, drenching the desktop, the floor, and one of my sleeves. The one positive consequence was that it stretched me just right so that I didn’t need to use the TENS. Nevertheless, it is NOT something I want to do every day. The luck of the Irish was not with me (not surprising, since I have no Irish DNA – I have one redneck grandparent, but she was English/Scottish.) I did figure out how to send everyone a greeting card directly through the blog, and since TomCat did a two-day Saint Patrick’s Day cartoon sequence, here is your card to go with day two.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Jimmy Carter Asks President Biden to Deliver His Eulogy: Will Trump Show Up?
Quote – Some people go very quickly after pulling all the meds that had kept them alive. Others? Well, they’re tougher, for all we know, Carter could live another six months. But he is preparing now and he asked President Biden, two of the finest men to ever live, to give his eulogy…. These two go back a long time. “When Jimmy Carter ran for president the first US Senator to endorse him was Joe Biden.”
Click through for details and speculation. You may have seen the headline, but, even if you’re as old as I am, you may not realize quite how far back the relarionsship goes. As for TFG, can we hope that some court will take that out of his tiny hands?

Robert Reich – How to stop playing whack-a-mole with the banks [Spoiler: Bring back Glass-Steagall]
Quote – It’s time to admit that banks that take in deposits are public institutions that shouldn’t gamble with those deposits. Regardless of size, no bank has the capital on hand to manage a sudden full-blown bank run. This is why, ever since the bank bailouts of 2008, the biggest banks have been “too big to fail.” And it’s why last weekend the government decided to backstop smaller banks, too…. The Glass-Steagall Act was the law of the land until 1999. It prohibited banks from making profits off of the deposits entrusted to them. I say, bring it back!
Click through for article – He doesn’t mention something I read elsewhere this week – that Glass-Steagall was repealed because “It worked so well, we don’t need it any more.” I wanted something to beat my head against.

 

The best analysis I have seen about the arrest warrant out on Putin (and one of his ministers) is that of Heather Cox Richardson.  In order to get it up fast, I’ll just share the link.

Food For Thought
This is old – about 2 years old – but it seemed like a good time to remember it

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Open Thread March 17, 2023

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 172023
 

Yesterday, I got an email from Move On, who have an insidious plot. They did not post the contents of the letter so I can’t provide a link, and will summarize. They want to put up three billboards with quotes on the route which Trump** must use to get to the airport, since his Mar-a-Lago heliport is gone. They want each one to highlight a different Tucker Carson text from the trove in which he admittied he does not care for Trump** This, they believe, will cause Trump** to post – let’s say shade – at Carlson every time he takes that road. This will cause Tucker’s viewers to leave him. That’s far more than they say even at the donation site. I think they don’t want the right to get even a hint of it unless and until it’s a done deal. That’s a pity, because it’s quite amusing, but it’s a good strategy. If and when they get the billboards up, we can share the details. Also, I got The New Yorker’s Name Drop answer from the first clue – and actually, any of the clues alone would have given me the correct answer. In this case it was just someone I know so much about that it would have been difficult to wrtie a clue whivh wouldn’t have given me the answer immediately.

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Short Takes –

CPR News – As gun deaths rise, Colorado is trying something new — a public health approach to gun violence prevention
Quote – In a first-of-its-kind partnership, the Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is teaming up with researchers from the Injury and Violence Prevention Center in the Colorado School of Public Health. They’ll create and maintain a resource bank of regularly updated and accurate materials regarding gun violence in Colorado. In addition to the resource bank, officials at the new office also developed a grant program to fund evidence-and-community-based gun violence prevention initiatives.
Click through for details. I really thought it was more widely known than apparently it is that guns are a public health problem. It’s too early to say what this iniriative will accomplish, but we can hope

The Conversation – The retention problem: Women are going into tech but are also being driven out
Quote – So, questions arise: Why does the technology industry have a retention problem? Why are women who are employed by the technology industry quitting in such high volumes? What factors contribute to this low retention of women in the technology industry, and what kind of support do women need to stay and succeed in it?… Mainstream media often reports on open-source software’s toxic “tech bro” culture. In recent years, high-profile leaders in open-source software have been exposed for their abusive behavior.
Click through for full article. Back in the day, women who went into male dominated professions knew we had to be tough and we prepared for it. Is it a drawback of greater societal acceptance in general that we don’t sufficiently prepare kids to cross invisible lines?

Food For Thought
Now, this is what I call trolling!

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Open Thread March 16, 2023

 Posted by at 6:43 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 162023
 

Yesterday, I noticed the high for today should be 69°F – and tommorw, we drop back into the deep freeze for four days. March came in like a lamb here (a geouchy lamb, but still a lamb), which means it’s supposed to go out like a lion. Maybe a tame lion? I’ll just have to wait and see.  Incidentally, today is the 55th anniversary of the My Lai massacre, and Steve Schmidt has some thoughts.  I don’t know whether a hanky alert or a trigger warning is more appropriate, so I’ll just offer both.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

NM Political Report – Bill to protect LGBTQ individuals from discrimination heads to Guv desk AND Gov. signs safe gun storage bill into law
Quote 1 – The bill updates the language in the Human Rights Act, which was written in the 1970s. The updated language replaces the word “handicap” with “disability,” and updates the definition for sexual orientation and gender identity. It also ensures that public bodies, which receive public dollars, cannot discriminate against LGBTQ individuals. An individual who alleges discrimination would take their grievance to the state Human Rights Commission.
Quote 2 – Supporters have dubbed the bill the “Bennie Hargrove Act,” in honor of the 13-year-old Hargrove, who was shot and killed at Washington Middle School in Albuquerque in August 2021 as he tried to intercede in a bullying incident. Authorities say the boy accused of shooting Hargrove brought his father’s gun to school to commit the crime. “This bill would hold people accountable for their firearms,” Molina said during a news conference held at the Capitol on Tuesday.
Click through for one or both. When Susana Boxwine was Governor, we very seldom got stories about actual legislative accomplishments of any kind. Besides the conten of these two, I’m impressed just at how much they are getting done.

Remembering former Rep. Pat Schroeder in Colorado and beyond
Quote – President Joe Biden said Schroeder “stood up for basic fairness, sensible policy, and women’s equal humanity. “I saw firsthand Pat’s moral compass, legal mind, and political savvy when we worked together on the Violence Against Women Act,” Biden said in a statement. “She was the primary sponsor in the House; I led the charge in the Senate. Together, we got it done. With Pat as my partner, I never doubted that we would.”
Click through for full obit. There’s a lot in it that I didn’t remember, and one or two things maybe missing that I did remember. She was first elected in ’72, I settled in Colorado in ’76, and Focus on the Family was founded in ’77. Would I have come if I had known about that last one? I don’t know. It’s quite possible, certainly.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread March 15, 2023

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 152023
 

Yesterday, between spending Monday sleeping late even for me, and having my BFF ome over to help me with some – for me – heavy lifting (and when we get together, it never stops with the object of the meeting. We always have lots to talk about. For one thing, she just completed training and qualified as a notary), I had to start from scratch. That’s rare – I almost always have a little something left over. But I also did some catching up (or getting ahead.) One of today’s short takes is from Substack, and if you aren’t a sybscriber, it will probably present you with a popup with the choices “Subscribe” and “Let me read it first.” Just click on the latter.

Cartoon – 15 J Caesar RTL

Short Takes –

In the Writing Burrow (Margaret Atwood) – What Is This Health Care, Earthlings? #2
Quote – Tommy was keen on publicly funded health care because as a boy he almost lost a leg to osteomyelitis. His parents couldn’t afford to pay for advanced treatment, but an expert orthopedic surgeon treated him without charge and saved the leg. As he said later, “I felt that no boy should have to depend either for his leg or his life upon the ability of his parents to raise enough money to bring a first-class surgeon to his bedside.” We do tend to take things for granted once we have them. But what was it like before public healthcare? Well, my children, I can tell you. I was there.
Click through fpr article. Ms. Atwood’s style is lively (as if we didn’t know that from “The Handmaid’s Tale”) but her areticle on Canadian Medicare – and what Canada was like before Canadian Medicare – is revealing. (To read Pat #1, click on the top line – “In the Writing Burrow” You may have to scroll once.

The New Yorker – What We Still Don’t Understand About Postpartum Psychosis
Quote – Postpartum psychosis tends to come on suddenly, often within four to six weeks of childbirth, around the time of weaning, or following a period of extreme sleep deprivation; it is sometimes presaged by anxiety and insomnia. A woman experiencing postpartum psychosis may show signs of mania, depression, or both; she may have aural hallucinations, paranoia, or delusions; she may stay awake day and night. She may, for stretches of time, appear to be perfectly normal.
Click through for details. I had heard of postpartum depression, but not of postpartum psychosis. But I also haven’t rread about postpartum depression for a long time. This appears to be yet another way in which the patriarchy short-changes women (and ignores the welfare of children.) Yes, there are women working in medical research today, as there are in virtually any field. But can you name one profession/occupatiuion in which the ethics have altered as a result of the influx of women? I can’t/.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread March 14, 2023

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 142023
 

A few days ago, the newsletter I get every week from the Project on Government Oversight included a request for me to edit, sign, and send a letter to President Joe asking him to fire the IG of DHS. Most of the time I am not able to add much of anything to the letters that groups draft asking for change. This one was different. I never liked even the idea of a Department of Homeland Security – it seemed too nationalistic to me from the get-go. And the longer it exists, the less I like it. If we must have an agency that combines the functions which come under DHS (as opposed to having those functions split up, as we did before it was formed), then it absolutely needs to be subject to the State Department. Our national security is totally contingent upon our foreign relations, and those are not helped by DHS continually and blatantly breaking international law. I do get it that with the nation so ridiculously divided now may not be the best time to absorb DHS into State. But at the very least, it needs a tough IG of unimpeachable integrity, and Cuffari, the current holder of that post, is exactly the opposite. And I put most of that into the letter before sending it. Here’s the link, and besides the letter, there is some background on Cuffari and his – I’ll be overly generous and call it incompetence (but I absolutely believe there’s also malice there.)

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Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Epstein’s Brother: Jeffrey Ran From 45 Because Trump Was A Crook
Quote – According to what Jeffrey’s brother, Mark, told Business Insider, his now-deceased brother distanced himself from Trump because the former President was “a crook.” Imagine being too slimy for a pedophile. And there is unaired footage of an interview by Jeffrey Epstein conducted by Steve Bannon after his brother forwarded it to him in the spring of 2019.
Click through for story – it’s short. Just for the benefit of anyone whose first reaction is, “Mark is his brother. Of course he would try to put Jeffrey in the best light [or in this case the least awful light],” some people’s families do tell the unvarnished truth about them. Stephen Miller. Paul Gosar. That does not necessrily mean I believe Mark, but I won’t just dismiss what he says either.

Robert Reich – The real story behind the Silicon Valley Bank debacle
Quote – The surface story of the Silicon Valley Bank debacle is straightforward. During the pandemic, startups and technology companies enjoyed heady profits, some of which they deposited in the Silicon Valley Bank. Flush with their cash, the bank did what banks do: It kept a fraction on hand and invested the rest — putting a large share into long-dated Treasury bonds that promised good returns when interest rates were low. But then, starting a little more than a year ago, the Fed raised interest rates from near zero to over 4.5 percent. As a result, two things happened. The value of the Silicon Valley Bank’s holdings of Treasury bonds plummeted because newer bonds paid more interest. And, as interest rates rose, the gusher of venture capital funding to startup and tech companies slowed, because venture funds had to pay more to borrow money. As a result, these startup and tech companies had to withdraw more of their money from the bank to meet their payrolls and other expenses.
Click through for details. Responsible parents teach children self – discipline, not only for the sake of society, but to help their children to succeed, because, without self-control, you won’t. Responsible governments regulate – and that’s really for the same reasons. This case may be less egregious than some others we have seen. What will it take to convince people that regulation is NOT a bad thing?

Iterestingly, HEather Cox Richardson also concentrated on the bank failur in he Letter from an American.

Food For Thought

Let’s see them do this with those other constants.

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Open Thread March 13, 2023

 Posted by at 6:56 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 132023
 

Yesterday, I overslept – slept through my alarm, I think, although I haven’t yet checked to make sure I actually set it to come on; it took me a whle to set it to the time I wanted because the clock zeroed out. It does that sometimes, which is annoying, but it keeps good time otherwise, and it really doesn’t take long to set, especially considering how many functions it has. I did manage to arrive just at the time I had said I would, but a lot of things I normally do were not done. I did greet Virgil for everyone here, as well as for my frosted sister in Florida, who dropped me an email to letmeknow that hew new hurricane windows, ordered in August, which arrived in October, were finally installed, and that her daughter had done some interior painting for her. (My response to her had included my taking offense on her behalf about the water being slandered, and she replied to that with some highly negative evaluation of her governor, along with a greeting for Virgil.) Of course he returns all greetings with appreciation. They have not yet replaced their lone deck of cards, but I found a Scrabble set, and that’s something we can play (we would both prefer UpWords, but they don’t have that.) We had to be told that visitation was over – and that’s a good thing. So it’s going to be Scrabble unless their game inventory changes.

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Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Kids Do Better In Schools With Teachers Unions
Quote – Research shows that teachers unions are positively associated with student achievement. Researchers Eunice Han and Jeffrey Keefe found that this effect is particularly strong for Hispanic and Black students. And economists Eric Brunner, Joshua Hyman, and Andrew Ju have found that districts with strong teachers unions increased spending on public education, which leads to larger increases in student achievement.
Click through for story. Just off the top of my head, I can think of many reasons why this would be so, and very few why it might not. (Customers aldo do better when dealing with businesses whose workers have unions. CEOs may not get quite such huge bonuses, though.)

Robert Reich – Psst! An urgent message for Jerome Powell
Quote – You and your colleagues on the Fed’s Open Market Committee are considering pushing interest rates much higher in your quest to get inflation down to your target of 2 percent. You believe higher interest rates will reduce consumer spending and slow the economy. With due respect, sir, this is unnecessary, and it would be unjust. Over the past year, you’ve raised interest rates at the fastest pace since the 1980s, from near zero to more than 4.5 percent. But consumer spending isn’t slowing. It fell slightly in November and December but jumped 1.8 percent in January, even faster than inflation.
Click through for full opinion – yes, opinion, but 100% fact based. After the shellacking Elizabeth Warren gave to Powell in committee (it was in a video thread here) perhaps this shouldn’t be necessary. But it probably is.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread March 12, 2023

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 122023
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Verdi’s “La Traviata,” an opera which I have never gotten tired of yet. Based on “La Dame aux Camélias” by Alexandre Dumas fils, first as a novel, then as a play (the play in English speaking countries is usually referred to as “Camille” – ironic because in French speaking countries “Camille” is a man’s name). The Greta Garbo movie was called “Camille.” Neither the play nor the opera was performed as being contemporary when they were new (the mid-nineteenth century), being considered too scandalous. They were often set in the 18th century. An Art Nouveau (gilded age) poster survives which shows Sarah Bernhardt as Marguerite (Violetta in the opera) in gilded age dress. In the 2000’s a German director, Willy Decker, staging it for an Austrian music festival, created a production in which the stage was very minimalistic, Violetta wore a sleeveless, full skirted (just about to the knee) red dress and red spiked heels, and literally everyone else wore modern male clothing, including the women, except one dude in the third scene who showed up in drag in a mockery of her dress, emotionally kicking her when she’s down. Her doctor, who only sings in the final scene, has mute business at different points throughout, including during the prelude, often conected with the huge clock face which dominates all the scenes except the one where she enjoys her brief happiness – because in addition to being her doctor he also represents the death which is inevitable for her, always hanging over her. People either love it or hate it, and I kind of did both. I hated the isolated scenes I saw of it first, but when I was able to see the whole thing – now I don’t think I want to see it any other way. (But I can still listen to it.) Here’s a review of the Decker production when it first came to the Met, if anyone cares. It is no longer being used at the Met, which has gone all the way back to the 18th century for now. Also in the broadcast was an interview with the general manager about the plans for next year, and there will be 4 Late 20th or 21st century operas never before presented at the Met, plus two more repeated from the last two seasons. Opening night will be “Dead Man Walking.” We won’t hear it then, because the radio season doesn’t start till over a month after the house opens, but I hope and trust we will hear it sometime – and hopefully all the others too.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Daily Beast – She Used a DNA Test to Identify Her Dad—and Her Mom’s Rapist
Quote – Cruz eventually sought help from [her attorney, Susan] Crumiller, a well-known legal advocate for sexual abuse survivors. They worked together to devise a legal strategy that would reopen the statute of limitations and allow them to seek justice. Then, in May of last year, New York passed the Adult Survivor’s Act, which opened a one-year “lookback window” for complaints of sexual abuse that were past the statute of limitations—complaints just like Cruz’s…. “My mother has had a hard life, and I hope this lawsuit will help her get the care that she deserves after OPWDD failed to protect her from her attacker 37 years ago,” she said in a statement.
Click through for story. The motto of the Daily Beast is “Truth is a beast” – and this story certainly demonstrates that.

Raw Story – Election denier Tina Peters found guilty — and could be going to jail
Quote – Peters, a pro-Trump conspiracy theorist, is best known for being indicted last year on completely separate charges of election tampering and misconduct, after she allegedly breached voting equipment to try to prove the 2020 presidential election was stolen. While her case was underway, she ran for Secretary of State of Colorado, and lost the GOP primary. She then had another arrest warrant issued against her after allegedly violating the terms of a protective order by contacting her former Mesa County office to demand a recount of that election.
Click through for details. As far as I know she’s no DNA relation to Lauren Boebert, but they are certainly two of a kind – the law doesn’t apply to them – just ask them.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread March 11, 2023

 Posted by at 6:47 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 112023
 

Have you ever heard of Susie King Taylor? Neither had I. Yesterday, I got an email from Theater of War which introduced me. She was the first Black nurse to serve in the Union Army during our Civil War. She wrote a memoir later, describing her experiences then and in the later Jim Crow era, and ToW is doing a presentation of selections from that memoir featuring Samira Wiley. That sounds like it could very well blow the roof off of the venue – except that the venue is Zoom. I also found it interesting that Margaret Atwood, who has played Tiresias a couple of times (“a crabby old prophet who is alwayr right – type casting”), has a Substack newsletter herself. I don’t necessarily want a personal newsletter just because I like the person, but I definitely signed up for hers.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Denverite – Why homelessness solutions aren’t working and what the unhoused need, according to 828 people experiencing homelessness
Quote – In recent political debates, some candidates have speculated that many unhoused people simply don’t want housing. The results of the survey suggest that isn’t true in the vast majority of cases. “Between 93% and 99% of houseless people want some form of housing,” the report states. But four walls and a roof aren’t necessarily enough. People want safety where they’re staying, their freedom and community, according to the report. Housing needs to offer residents the basics: the ability to control the temperature, restrooms with showers and accessible locations.
Click through for story. If you work with the homeless, or know anyone who does, you can follow a link to the group (HAND) which produced this, then to their “2023 report” page, and download the whole thing. It’s 130 pages, but that isn’t all that many bytes – less than 32 MB, in fact, and I doubt whther you can even find a thumb drive any more smaller than 32 MB.

The Nib – The Long Road to Women’s Suffrage
Quote – On January 10, 1878, Republican Senator from California named Aaron A. Sargent introduced the “Anthony Amendment” – 29 words to amend the 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and grant American women the right to vote…. It was named after the prominent suffragette, Susan B. Anthony, co-founder of the National Women’s Suffrage Association, an organization of which Senator Sargent’s wife, Ellen Clark Sargent, was treasurer.
Click through for full graphic. It was a long and hard battle – and there’s not really a happy ending. None of the three who worked so hard on this could see past whiteness – and none of them lived to see the 19th Amendment ratified. We all need to continue to grow in what reactionaries would call “wokeness.”

Food For Thought

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