Open Thread January 3, 2023

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 032023
 

Yesterday, It had snowed, and, because the day was overcast, there was still a blanket of it when I got up.  But the concrete (like my driveway) was just a lttle damp – except the parts that get no sun at all  Those patches always linger. We are heading into a cold snap, so some of the snow.may hang around, but we’ll see  There’s no new snow in the 10-day forecast.

I was looking up all the music parody and straight satire people for new stuff. There actually isn’t much – looks like everyone wanted to do something for Christmas and are now taking a break. Rocky Mountain Mike does have a new one, but it’s not a parody, but a straight cover of “Summer Wine.” But he clearly is looking to expand his work visually, because the visuals are a dramatization of the story of the song. It’s mostly black and white – color is used just at the end, and whe it shows up, it’s startling. There’s no CC, but the lyrics are available here (if anyone cares.)

If you haven’t already seen this, it may shock you – it did me! Among the few Republicans who have expressed support for Jamie Raskin is – wait for it – Marjorie Taylor Greene. Who would ever have thought she had it in her?

Finally, today is the day the House votes on the Speaker.  I will be surprised, however, if there is any decision made today.  In fact, it’s anybody’s guess how long it will take to come up with a compromise which is acceptable to everyone (this is a full house vote – it’s not  just Republicans.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Arizona Border Containerpalooza Sale!
Quote – Governor Ducey has agreed to pay AshBritt Management & Logistics $76 million to tear down containers they illegally placed on the southern border of Arizona to keep the brown folks out. The problem, in a nutshell, is that the containers were placed on federal land, and the DOJ has sued Arizona to remove them. So after paying $95 million to install them, they will need to be removed.
Click through for details. This would be funny, were it not such a waste of money – taxpayers money – for which there were thousands of better uses.

New York Times (no paywall) – Opinion: Anthony Fauci Quietly Shocked Us All
Quote – Days after the conference, I found myself in Dr. Fauci’s office, along with the ACT UP members Mark Harrington and Jim Eigo, hammering out the final details of our parallel track program, which would allow thousands of people to obtain experimental drugs outside of traditional clinical trials. Within days, a New York Times front page headline about Dr. Fauci read, “AIDS Researcher Seeks Wide Access to Drugs in Tests.” The F.D.A. quickly fell in line. ACT UP had scored its first major victory, with Dr. Fauci’s help.
Click through for OP. It’s not all sunshine and roses, but on balance, it’s a tribute.

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Open Thread January 2, 2023

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 022023
 

Yesterday, I visited Virgil. Most of the time I was the ony visitor, but another one came after I got there (and left before I did.) Virgil returns all greetings as usual – this time he went so far as to say he was “thrilled” (his word) by them. On the way down, before getting on the Interstate, I came to a traffic light which turned green while I was approaching, but no one moved. When I got close enough to see why, it was because we were all waiting for a gaggle of Canada geese to finish crossing the road on foot. We do get a lot of them come through, and not just in the winter. Sometimes one only hears them (from a couple of blocks away – they can be quite loud.) Golf course managers detest them but are not allowed to harm them, thankfully. I do sympathize. Goose droppings are not something one wants on a golf course. But they can be so charming (the geese, not the managers)!

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Aeon – Hail the maintainers
Quote – As the pursuit of innovation has inspired technologists and capitalists, it has also provoked critics who suspect that the peddlers of innovation radically overvalue innovation. What happens after innovation, they argue, is more important. Maintenance and repair, the building of infrastructures, the mundane labour that goes into sustaining functioning and efficient infrastructures, simply has more impact on people’s daily lives than the vast majority of technological innovations.
Click through for complete essay. Aeon has Creative Commons, but only for “idea”s, and this is an “essay.” Otherwise I think I moght have used it for a Furies column. It expresses, far better than I could, what was trying to say in last week’s Furies about not everyone in Congress needs to write legislation to be a successful legislator. Also, there are comments (though you need to bring them up), of which one references the Hindu trinity (the Trimurti) very effectively.

Crooks & Liars – Transcripts: Jared Blocked Biden Transition From Covid Planning
Quote – A former Trump administration official, Alyssa Farah Griffin, told the committee that Dr Deborah Birx, who headed the White House’s coronavirus task force under Mr Trump, had in the days after election day, asked if the Biden team should be looped in to plans to combat the pandemic. “Absolutely not,” Ms Griffin said Mr Kushner had told the meeting. She added: “And then we just moved on”.
Click through for story. You may already have seen it. Well, color me nor surprised.

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Open Thread January 1, 2023

 Posted by at 6:55 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 012023
 

Yesterday, the opera wasn’t an opera, but a collection of excerpts from operas previously broadcast, some more or less recently, some way, WAY back. What they had in common was that each was from the Met debut of a singer(/actor/storyteller – plus one conductor) who later became an international star. Kiri Te Kanawa was one, and another was Latonia Moore (you may remember I heard that debut – she stepped in as understudy and I was, like, “Wow!”) Not all, of course, were quite that “A Star Is Born” dramatic – some stars were pretty well established elsewhere before coming to the Met – but some were (Astrid Varnay and Te Kanama). The range was from Moore (2012), the newest, all the way back to Bidu Sayão on February 13, 1937.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

ProPublica – They Called 911 for Help. Police and Prosecutors Used a New Junk Science to Decide They Were Liars.
Quote – Junk science in the justice system is nothing new. But unvarnished correspondence about how prosecutors wield it is hard to come by. It can be next to impossible to see how law enforcement — in league with paid, self-styled “experts” — spreads new, often unproven methods. The system is at its most opaque when prosecutors know evidence is unfit for court but choose to game the rules, hoping judges and juries will believe it and vote to convict.
Click through for details. You thought facial recognition technology was bad? Hold these p[eople’s beer (And I use the term “people” loosely. I questin their humanity.)

National Public Radio – Why scientists dug up the father of genetics, Gregor Mendel, and analyzed his DNA
Quote – Sequencing his DNA revealed genetic variants linked to diabetes, heart problems, and kidney disease. The variant that most intrigued Fairbanks was in a gene that has been associated with epilepsy and neurological issues. “He suffered throughout his life from some sort of a psychological or neurological disorder that caused him to have very severe nervous breakdowns,” says Fairbanks. “That may well have been an inherited condition – and that was a fascinating discovery that these scientists made.”
Click through for story. At first it sounds morbid – but on reflection, I think he would take it in the sirit of homage in which it was done. (He might have even gotten a chuckle out of it.)

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Open Thread December 31, 2022

 Posted by at 6:56 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 312022
 

Yesterday, I decided that, since almost everyone is doing end-of-year retrospectives, I didn’t have to. Instead, since I have a couple of depressing sories which unfortunately are important, I at least made a satire sandwich. I hope the middle one gives you a chuckle or a grin, maybe even a LOL.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Trigger Warning
Denverite – Migrants in Denver faced horror on their journeys to the U.S., but despite their desperate risks, many will be forced to leave.
Quote – Kevin, who’s 22 and declined to tell us his last name, is one of at least 1,500 newly arrived migrants who’ve been sheltered by the city this month. He’s one of millions who’ve taken dangerous paths through jungles and deserts over the years to ask the U.S. government for asylum, legal and safe passage into the country. But that status is far from a guarantee. “Imagine traveling with your child, then your child dies and you arrive in the United States only to be deported,” he told us in Spanish during a recent visit to a church-run shelter. “You lost your child and you lost your dream. So then it’s difficult.”
Click through for full story, if you can bear it There is a trigger warning.

SATIRE Wonkette – Donald Trump Has Not Turned His Back On Me! He’s Turned His Front Towards Himself! By Sean Hannity.
Quote – I can hear all my listeners out there asking, “Sean, why are you letting the neighborhood children break wooden boards over your head? Is this a Make a Wish Foundation thing? Are the kids all cancer patients whose dying dream was to beat the crap out of Sean Hannity with a two-by-four?” Well, I can assure you it’s nothing like that. I would never do anything nice for a sick child. No, what’s happening is that a bunch of angry MAGA types in the area sent their little brats to beat up on me because they heard I admitted under oath in a deposition that I did not actually believe “for one second” that Donald Trump lost the election due to widespread voting fraud.
Click through – It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. (Try not to overdose on Schadenfreude.)

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Democratic Underground)
Associated Press – Supreme Court asked to bar punishment for acquitted conduct
Quote – A jury convicted Dayonta McClinton of robbing a CVS pharmacy but acquitted him of murder. A judge gave McClinton an extra 13 years in prison for the killing anyway…. McClinton’s case and three others just like it are scheduled to be discussed when the justices next meet in private on Jan. 6.
Click through for details. Even for today’s Republican party, this is jaw-dropping abuse of power.

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Open Thread December 30, 2022

 Posted by at 7:12 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 302022
 

Yesterday, my eyebrows were raised hearing that I25, north of Denver, southbound was closed by a 25 vehicle crash, at about 2:30 p.m. (Then, to rub it in, the station played “Journey through the snow” from the Nutcracker.Clearly, Denver and points north have snow. We don’t. We have dry ground. That shouldn’t be surprising, given that in the years I have lived in Colorado, I have seen things liek an actual line on the roadway with snow north of it and dry ground south of it. Many places in the US and the world use the saying, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.” Only Colorado, in my experience, scan say, “If you don’t like the weather, just move about a hundred feet – in any direction.” Of course, it isn’t always true – but it can be true fairly often.  Also, I did receive confirmation to see Virgil Sunday.  ( was getting nervous!)

Cartoon – (background if you are interested)

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Far Right Turns on ‘Faker’ & ‘Liar’ Marjorie Taylor Greene
Quote – In a phone interview with The Daily Beast, [far-right radio host Stew] Peters said that Greene was “actually a threat to national security” and declared that she would “burn in hell” one day. “Marjorie is NOT America First, but regrettably a faker and a liar who raised millions claiming she would impeach Biden, and now backs a man for Speaker who refuses to impeach Biden,” he said Friday evening. Additionally, Peters—like many other far-right pundits—engaged in an extremely sexist attack referencing the allegation that Greene had an affair with a “tantric sex guru” ahead of her recent divorce.
Click through for details. This may sound like good news – but it isn’t really. The iissue is that she’s not extreme enough for those who are turning against her. We might be able to use that to our advantage in the battle for the Speakership, but I don’t know that our delegation is savage enough to do so.

Crooks & Liars – Blue America Says #DraftLucas
Quote – Blue America started running [a #DraftLucas ad campaign] across Missouri [Monday] morning before dawn. So far, the ads are on Facebook and Instagram. We’re primarily asking people in Missouri to join us in calling to #DraftLucas– and anyone else… please use #DraftLucas on social media.
Click through for details and video ad. This is really for Nameless, as the rest of us aren’t big social media users – but useit when you can (maybe put it in an email signature?)

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Open Thread December 29, 2022

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 292022
 

Yesterday, Jamie Raskin broke my heart with the announcement that he has been diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma, a “serious but curable form of cancer.” I’ve linked to the story which when I received the breaking news alert, said no more than that, because it is a “devloping story,” so when they know more, they’ll share more.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Democratic Underground (highplainsdem) – Warrior of Light: The national costume that will be worn by Miss Ukraine Universe 2022
Quote – The national costume is called Warrior of Light and designed by costume designer Lesia Patoka. It symbolizes her nation’s fight against the darkness, like an archangel Michael with a sword protecting Ukraine. The costume was made in four months, in extreme conditions.
Click through for image. No words can really express it. The amateur (and professional manqué) costumer in me just resonates to this.

The Daily Beast – Republicans Play Chicken With Kevin McCarthy’s Speakership
Quote – The “Never Kevin” camp is small: just five archconservative lawmakers have publicly said they will not, under any circumstances, vote for McCarthy. But if they stick to their guns, five votes is all it could take to throw the process into chaos—and potentially open up an avenue for another candidate to ascend to the top job. The much larger “Only Kevin” camp, meanwhile, has formed to head off that scenario before it even materializes. Dozens of GOP lawmakers, from moderates to MAGA loyalists, have said they will only vote for McCarthy for Speaker, no matter how many rounds of votes it takes. If followed, that commitment to respond to hardball with hardball would basically ensure no other Republican comes close to the gavel.
Click through for more analysis – but, for another, more imaginative (and IMO more likely) take, click here.  At least we can hope.

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Open Thread December 28, 2022

 Posted by at 7:11 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 282022
 

Yesterday, They are tentatively predicting snow for tonight (for anyone who doesn’t use Weather Underground, the ten-day view is a graph. The temperature is a line {red}, but the chance of precipitation is a filled-in area – purple if it’s snow, blue for anything else.) It’s purple from around nine tonight to 4 am tomorrow. But, we’ll see. Farther down the page, they show a predicted accumulation, and those are in the single digit hundreths of an inch.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Conversation – Congress passes legislation that will close off presidential election mischief and help avoid another Jan. 6
Quote – Presidential elections are complicated. But in a move aimed at warding off future crises like the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, the Senate and House have passed legislation to clarify ambiguous and trouble-prone aspects of the process…. [A] bipartisan group of congressional leaders aimed to pass reforms to the 1887 law governing this process, the Electoral Count Act, before the end of 2022. As an election law scholar, I have suggested that Congress focus its reforms on a few crucial areas that could have wide bipartisan support. Now, it has done just that, and the omnibus government funding legislation that includes the Electoral Count Act reform passed the House on Dec. 23 and heads to the White House for President Joe Biden’s expected signature…. With these simple bipartisan solutions, Congress has instilled confidence in future presidential elections.
Click through fpr details. Before you say “It’s not enough,” let me assure you that you are correct. But it does address the main avenues used by Tyrannosaurus Ex and his mob on and up to (and since) January 6th. Of course, in anything run by humans, there will be people with the desire and drive to cheat.

What with Time magazine selecting Volodomyr Zelenskyy as “Person of the Year,” and pretty much everyone except MAGAts being in agreement, I hope I can be forgiven for writing a bit like a fangirl. I’m putting three sources together for this short take. First is a Zelenskyy origin story – I’ve seen it before, but without sourcing, and it seemed too good to be true. But now that I can trace it to Zelenskyy himself, in a video speech, on his own official page, I feel confident to share it. Next, there is the Crooks & Liars announcement of a Crookie Hero Award. Finally, and I warn this is a 45 minute video,here is a link to a documentary based on Dave Letterman interviewing Zelenskyy. Letterman does speak with other people, and gives some of his own impressions of the nation and the war (including the fact that one village he visitied gave him the honor of certifying his beard as the best in the village.) It really is worth every minute, even if you may have to save it for later.

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Open Thread December 27, 2022

 Posted by at 6:55 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 272022
 

Yesterday, I got a “best-of-the-year” email from The Conversation (there are going to be a lot of those from every publication – articles as well as emails) and skimmed it. They asked all the editors what their favority article under their purview was. The answers were not that surprising, but what did catch my eye was that, among their politics editors, they now have a Democracy Editor, new this year. Now that scared me. If democracy is in such peril that they need a specialist just to watch it – cleary, we are not out of the woods. There is a new article on new legislation, which I’ll make a short take for tomorrow.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Happy Holidays! Welcome To Our 2022 Crookie Awards!
Quote – It’s been a long and sometimes frustrating year, but still one of the better ones we’ve had. Thanks to vaccines, we were able to get out and do things even if we had to wear a mask, the January 6 hearings came off monumentally well, and heroes and villains were everywhere. We’ve put together our own list of naughty and nice people this year, along with some overall failures and successes worthy of recognition. All of our staff has been busy at work in the Crooks and Liars workshop writing posts to honor and dishonor this year’s awardees.
Click through – The point of the “Crookies” is to call out crooks and liars (says Captain Obvious), but there are some good person and hero awards too.

CPR News – Club Q [couldn’t] have its annual Christmas dinner tradition this year, so a Colorado Springs church [stepped] up to host it
Quote – Every year, for Thanksgiving and Christmas, Club Q was the home of a special tradition. A community tradition that brought together a lot of different kinds of folks to a place that meant so much to them. They sat and laughed — and they shared a meal…. The [Pikes Peak Metropolitan Community Church] congregation stepped in with an initial plan to host a potluck dinner on Christmas Day — as a stand-in for the Club Q traditional dinner.
Click through for story … which actually gets bigger and better.

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