Cartoon – Page 4 – Politics Plus

Open Thread October 8, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:05 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 082023

Yesterday, the radio opera was “Jephtha,” by George Frideric Handel. (If you want to use the German form, that’s Georg Friedrich Händel, and the King quite possibly did, since I don’t believe he learned English, but everyone else used the English form.) Jephtha is an oratorio based on the Bible, and it was presented as one in this live recording from September 2022 by Music of the Baroque. It’s one of those old Dude-in-dire-straits offers to sacrifice the first living thing he encounters if divinity will save him, and that turns out to be his child – in this case, his daughter. Scholars differ in this case as to whether the sacrifice involved death or instead a lifetime commitment to serve the temple. There is some evidence for either. Handel went with the service one, complete with an angel to command Jephtha to resolve it that way, which isn’t in Jodges, but does recall the Genesis story of Abraham and Isaac. It’s late Handel, likely the last thing he wrote, and his compositional skills were just fine, as was his hearing, but his eyesight was going, and he had to stop writing when he could no longer see the page. I don’t know how anyone who didn’t know that could deduce it, though. The music is definitely accomplished, beautiful, and baroque.

If I wait for all the other juicy Beau videos to be posted before posting this one from yesterday, it will be too late. It might not even get seen. So here’s a link to the video on events in the Middle East from the dude some of his viewers are starting to call “Beaustradamus.” Off to see Virgil now – will comment later.

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Short Takes –

Robert Reich (Substack) – Capital vs. labor under Biden
Quote – Today, this struggle takes the form of giant corporations that have monopolized their markets and workers who are trying to organize labor unions. This is why you’re hearing so much about the Federal Trade Commission and the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department going after Amazon and Google, respectively. (They’re also going after Ticketmaster and Live Nation, Kroger and Albertsons, and a wide range of other giant corporations and proposed mergers.) And why you’re also hearing so much about strikes — the UAW, writers and actors, nurses, workers at Kaiser Permanente, Starbucks baristas, and others. And about attempts to organize Amazon and other anti-union companies.
Click through (to Substack) for full article. Yes, you are hearing about Biden supporting labor. But you are getting it piecemeal rather than as an overarching theme, and you are not hearing about the basis of the struggle, nor about the meaning of the struggle. This is a good, solid look at all of that. You might even want to bookmark it.

Democratic Underground (sheshe2) – Joe Biden: According to a new book
Quote – According to a new book by Franklin Foer, Joe Biden isn’t just the president of the United States, he is the West’s father figure, whom foreign leaders call for advice and look to for assurance. Foer writes: “It was his calming presence and his strategic clarity that helped lead the alliance to such an aggressive stance, which stymied authoritarianism on its front lines. He was a man for his age.”
Click through for DU article. Ordinarily I wouldn’t run just a book review, or if I did I would at least cite the original source for the review. But I don’t have and haven’t seen the book, and the original source is Xitter, and I just thought the DU article had good news.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 7, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:57 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 072023

Yesterday, now that we’re a week into October, Wonkette posted a link to the 20 Most Haunted Places in the World (not a Substack site.) Many of them, maybe most, are quite beautiful – if I were a ghost there, I’d likely stay too. Also, here’s a link about an incident from World War II which demonstrates just how dangerous classified informmation can be in the wrong hands (and mouths.) Finally, I received an email from Eric Swalwell advertising a closeout price on a Kevin McCarthy Catnip Toy: “While Kevin’s on his way to the litter box to try and salvage the mess he’s made of the GOP, our team’s throwing Kevin the celebration he deserves: A clearance sale. Our Kevin McCatnip toys are now marked down to just $15, so you can watch your cat bat Kevin around the living room the way you’d like to!” Tomorrow, I’ll be seeing Virgil, and will post when I get home as always.

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Short Takes –

Grist – How does climate change threaten your neighborhood? A new map has the details.
Quote – If you’ve been wondering what climate change means for your neighborhood, you’re in luck. The most detailed interactive map yet of the United States’ vulnerability to dangers such as fire, flooding, and pollution was released on Monday by the Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University. The fine-grained analysis spans more than 70,000 census tracts, which roughly resemble neighborhoods, mapping out environmental risks alongside factors that make it harder for people to deal with hazards. Clicking on a report for a census tract yields details on heat, wildfire smoke, and drought, in addition to what drives vulnerability to extreme weather, such as income levels and access to health care and transportation.
Click through for article and map. I see the South is expecting below-freezing temperatures this weekend, except for Florida’s peninsula, whereas I’m expecting some warming. Go figure. I actually seem to have made a pretty good choice of where to live in view of climate change – not that anywhere is perfect, of course. Literally the entire world is endangered.

Wonkette – Jimmy Carter’s Solar Panels And The Mellow Allman Brothers Climate Paradise That Could’ve Been (OK, some of that headline may not be scrupulously fact-checked.)
Quote – Reagan reversed the clean energy initiatives Carter had put in place, a far more concrete rejection of renewable energy than the symbolic removal of the panels. Solar panels would return to the White House eventually. In 2002, the National Park Service installed solar electricity and water heating systems elsewhere on the White House grounds, although the George W. Bush administration chose not to publicize that. In 2014, Barack Obama installed a photovoltaic system on the White House roof. And in 2017, Jimmy Carter installed a solar farm on 10 acres of his peanut farm; it provides about half the electricity for Plains. Carter, who’s now in hospice care at home, celebrated his birthday quietly at home with Rosalyn, his wife of 77 years, and with his children and grandchildren. I’ll assume the party was lit by solar, too.
Click through for full article. In 1976 none of us who weren’t scientists were all that accurate on what the answers were – and what they weren’t – and the scientists weren’t telling – or at least, not the truth. Jimmy was trying. Ronny rejected it all. I’ll go to my grave beliebing that the 1980 Presidential election was a catastrophe and a creator of more catastrophes – and I think I”ll be correct. I’ll for sure be in good company.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 6, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 062023

Yesterday, Colorado Public Radio reported that it’s mating season for tarantulas in southeastern Colorado – way southeastern – a good hundred miles from where I live. In and around La Junta, which is holding a Tarantula Festival. Before they started moving Virgil around last year, I used to drive through La Junta to see him, but I never saw a tarantula. Don’t click the link if you don’t like spiders, but if you can tolerate them, it’s kind of cute. I wonder whether they feature tarantella bands. Nah, probably not. Also, I received a grocery order.

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Short Takes –

Lauren Wilson – The Immigration Situation – It’s Nuts!
Quote – Before September 21st, an asylum seeker could not get a work visa for 6 months. In my mind, that has to be the dumbest law imaginable. These people want to work. They want to find homes, become a part of society, take care of their families. They are not happy to live in tents and shelters in NYC when it is about to get cold. Although this is the law and only Congress can change it, Biden has circumvented the law to allow the Venezuelan asylum seekers to immediately apply for work visas. It is hoped that this will address the problem in New York City. But it does nothing for the Cubans, Nicaraguans, or Haitians. To say that immigration is going to be a major platform issue in the 2024 presidential election is an understatement. Republicans are already pressuring Biden to \”Close the Border\” and there are Democrats who agree. But those of us who are humanitarians want to find other solutions. Immigrants are people, not problems. If the policies are problems, let’s figure out how to fix them.
Click through for article. Lauren is a DU’er who is looking to expand her personal blog’s readership. With articles like this, she should be able to, if people just know where to look. It’s clear she is a competent researcher of both history and current events.

National Public Radio – The growing racial gap in U.S. census results is raising an expert panel’s concerns
Quote – “There’s always going to be error in a census,” says Teresa Sullivan, a sociology professor and former president of the University of Virginia, who chaired the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine panel that was commissioned by the Census Bureau. Still, the panel’s report, released Tuesday, urged the bureau to take steps to learn from the shortfalls of the 2020 census and improve on the next constitutionally required count. Those statistics are set to be used to determine each state’s share of congressional seats and Electoral College votes, as well as redraw voting districts for every level of government and guide more than $2.8 trillion a year in federal money for public services across the country.
Click through for details. Yes, there is always going to be honest error in the census. But, though it may be possible to avoid some dishonest error, some of thet is also going to creep in. I do beieve we can cut down on it, but not without having some kind of ethics qualification for Census workers – specifically the ones who only work as temps for one Census. Don’t get me started on my own experience as one.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 5, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:51 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 052023

Yesterday, Kamala Harris swore Laphonza Butler in to the Senate. Jim Jordan, Steve Scalise, and James Comer announced themselves to be candidates for the Speakership. The Daily Beast published an article purporting to be about the opera “Dead Man Walking” which is really about Sister Helen Prejean, her experiences, her mission, her passion. It’s long necause there is so much in it. Here’s a link in case anyne wants to follow up on the status of the death penalty in America.

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Civil Discourse – About Merrick Garland
Quote – Asked about his objective as Attorney General, Garland said it was to “pass our democracy on, in working order, to the next generation.” That would have been mere pleasantry from any of his predecessors. For Garland, it’s serious business, and it’s important to hear him say it out loud. Joe Biden’s Attorney General was always going to be in a tight spot, no matter who he chose for the job. The weightiest of choices, whether to indict a former president, was always going to rest on their shoulders. And that decision was going to be made in the context of a Justice Department that had lost much of its credibility with the public despite the diligence of its employees, due in no small part to the deliberate efforts of Donald Trump to undermine the country’s confidence in the Department. Merrick Garland has been the subject of more criticism and outright disapproval by members of the party that appointed him than any other attorney general, at least since Watergate. And of course, he’s been the subject of criticism and abusive and sometimes dog-whistling antisemitic commentary from the other side.
Click through for article. Joyce Vance is a former DOJ prosecutor who raises silky chickens (and a few other breeds) and knits. How could I not like her? In this case I think that her point = that there is a whole lot that we don’t know, much of which we will likely never know, and the bottom line is we can’t know enough to make character judgments from the little we do know. Of course we can have opinions. But presenting our opinions as fact is as disingenuous as – well, as a Republican.

PolitiZoom – He’s a Hoochie Coochie Man – Secretary of State Anthony Blinken Rocks the State Department
Quote – As the ever enraging Orangeutan addressed fake Union Auto workers in Michigan and the also-rans for the Republican Nomination insulted ea[ch] other, First Lady Jill Biden and President Johnson’s Great Society from the Reagan Library in California, [Secretary of] State Anthony Blinken pulled out his Stratocaster and launched the Global Music Diplomacy with Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters in attendance. Blinken will not be opening for The Rolling Stones anytime soon, but it was a laudable amateur effort:
Click through for details. I confess that, not that I had any doubts about Blinken, it makes me feel even safer to know that he has this side.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 4, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 042023

Yesterday, Trump** exhausted the patience of Judge Arthur Engoron by doxing his clerk, getting her name right, but calling her “Chuck Schumer’s girfriend,” which was and is a lie. Unfortunately, the gag order Engoron issued appears to only apply to mmembers of the judge’s staff. But it is something. Also, from Beau of the Fifth Column (I won’t post the video), if you have a second phone or any phone for your personal safety which other members of your family, or people who live with you, do not and must not know about, the Emergency Alert System today is runing a test which is likely to reveal it unless you turn it off – not on silent, but completely powered off. The test will be run in the time frame of 2:20-2:50 pm Eastern (11:20-11:50 am Pacific). Noone else (except perhaps someone who has such a phone for illegal reasons) needs to worry. If you need to know more, here’s the link. Also, McCarthy was ousted as Speaker – and says he will not run for that position again. I never quite know what to do when most people are breaking out the popcorn – I guess knitting would be the closest thing for me. But I’ll have to do it. This is going to be – interesting.

Cartoon – 04 new OrientX

Short Takes –

Civil Discourse – Looking Ahead: The Supreme Court
Quote – While the Court has come a long way from its earlier incarnations, with women and people of color now among its ranks, this is going to be a challenging term. It starts off with a bang, in a case called Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Community Financial Services Association that will be argued on Tuesday, October 3. You may recall Elizabeth Warren’s tireless work before she became a senator to create a federal agency that would protect consumers from powerful financial interests that were unregulated and under-regulated. That’s the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency that protects students, military families, people doing business with payday lenders, and so much more. The CFPB has been in existence for just over 12 years and has done profoundly impactful work in that time to make sure Americans are treated fairly by banks, lenders and other financial institutions. But now, powerful forces who encouraged Republican senators to deny Warren the opportunity to lead the agency she worked so hard to create—she was nominated but the Senate refused to confirm her—are trying to put an end to the CFPB altogether. The legal issue is a technical one about whether the funding mechanism used for the CFPB, which is somewhat different from the usual path than for most federal agencies, is unconstitutional.
Click through for column. Yes, it came Sunday, and this is Wednesday, but they are hardly even getting into their stride yet. I think it’s pretty current – and some of it is future anyway.

Wonkette – NC Classical Station Scandalized By Operas About Anti-Death Penalty Nuns, Gay People, Malcolm X
Quote – A classical music station in North Carolina, WCPE, has announced that it will not be airing several of the Met’s productions this season, citing violence, adult themes (largely code for “gay people” or “racism, but not the kind of racism that is usual for the genre”) and, in one case, being “non-Biblical.” The stations general manager, Deborah S. Proctor sent out a letter explaining this to its patrons in late August…. Champion (which I look forward to seeing this year at the Lyric), is Terence Blanchard’s “opera in jazz,” telling the true life story of bisexual welterweight boxer Emile Griffith, who notably killed his rival Benny Paret in the ring, after the homophobic boxer had taunted him with anti-gay slurs. It’s an incredible composition — and it would be one thing if it were just an issue with the language, with not wanting to broadcast swear words on their classical music station, but Proctor’s suggestion that it’s an “unsuitable theme”? It’s pretty clear what that’s about…. Um. This woman runs a classical music station. Has she not heard of Tosca? I mean, I love Tosca, but there’s a whole lot of rape, murder and torture in that one as well. Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, which the station did decide to broadcast this year, is literally a comedy about a woman and her fiancé trying to trick her boss into not raping her before she gets married…. Dead Man Walking is, actually, the story of Sister Helen Prejean, a Catholic nun and anti-death penalty activist. The story of a Catholic nun is just too racy for Deborah.
Click through – I just had to share this. I like to say that opera is all about sex (including rape, adultery, and incest), death (including murder, both with and without torture, and suicide), treachery and betrayal – what is there about it not to like? (And I might add child endangerment, as in Hänsel und Gretel, for instance.) What they don’t like is pretty much everything that has me excited about the season. Sigh. I would love to publicize all over North Carolina that you don’t need a local radio station to listen to the Met’s Saturday Matinees for free. You can do it on the Internet.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 3, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 032023

Yesterday, Laphonza Butler, the president of Emily’s List, was revealed to be Governor Gavin Newsom’s choice to fill the remainder of Dianne Feinstein’s term in the U.S. Senate. It was not yet official (nothing is official without paperwrok), but it was carried by virtually every news outlet and was not contradicted. Ms. Butler originally entered politics as a labor leader, and is now being described as a “power player.” Of cpurse thre have been complants from the usual suspectssince Newsom announced that he would choose a black woman should there be a vacancy – the term used was “limiting himself.” Yeah. right. What would be really limiting oneself would be looking for a white male, all of whom who are any good are already in ppsotons of power (as are many who areno good at all.) Any minority group will have a good-sixed pool of people who far surpass available white malesbut have never been given a chance to prove it – or have made their own chances with blood, sweat, and tears against all odds. And, of course, that is what white supremacists cannot stand. I’m confident she’ll be fine.

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Short Takes –

[SPLC] SPLC Launches Hate Crimes Awareness Month to Highlight Epidemic of Bias Incidents
Quote – The nation has seen this kind of attack against communities of color and LGBTQ+ people many times in recent years. The Jacksonville murders, in fact, came just weeks after the fourth anniversary of the white supremacist attack in El Paso, Texas, where 23 people were killed in a bias-motivated hate crime. As in numerous other cases, the El Paso gunman was inspired to kill by racist rhetoric based on the false “great replacement” conspiracy theory and what he claimed was a “Hispanic invasion” of the U.S. – harmful extremist ideas that are frequently echoed by mainstream politicians and right-wing media figures…. The FBI’s most recent hate crime report – one that counts only a small fraction of the real number – identified 10,840 hate crime incidents in 2021, the most since the agency began collecting the data in 1991. More than 60% of those were carried out because of hatred toward the victim’s race.
Click through for details. We are living in the 2020s, but for all the hate crimes, we might as well be living in the 1920s. So SPLC has selected October to be Hate Crimes Awareness Month, and plans to mount a campaign every year to raise our knowledge of what is happening. Good.

New Mexico Political Report – Trump supporter shoots someone attending peaceful rally
Quote – One young man continued his efforts to enter the area, and it quickly escalated into a scuffle. One of the people protecting the altar [an empty pedestal which had held a statue of a war criminal] seemingly backed the young man against a wall to prevent him from moving forward…. That’s when the shooter pulled a gun out of his waistband, and shot the person blocking him from moving toward the slab. The man, who identified himself as Ryan Martinez to the Albuquerque Journal, ran immediately after, according to sources at the scene. He was later taken into custody, the Rio Arriba Sheriff’s County Office confirmed.
Click through for story. This did not happen in Albuquerque, or even Santa Fe. This happened in a small town (pop. 10,495 in 2010) in a blue state. New Mexico, like Colorado, has had features named to memorialize war criminals. Both states are trying to clean that up. Not everyone is on board

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 2, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 022023

Yesterday was National Coffee Day. I couldn’t help remembering that some believe that Bach’s “Sheep May Safely Graze” was originally written for his “Coffee Cantata” as a metaphor for patriarchy – “God is our shepherd and I, your father, am your shepherd, and as your shepherd, I am telling you, my daughter, to stop drinking coffee!” I’m not sure that that’s true, and if it is, it might have been intended as satire of the pearl-clutchers of the time – there have always been some, and they have always been loud – but it does make a good story. I was also reminded I have a brand new coffee mug – so I made a point of using it. Yesterday was also Jimmy Carter’s birthday (although they held the party Saturday, just in case there was a shutdown, which would have kind of rained on the parade.) It was also Julie Andrews’s birthday (she’s 88), which I would have forgotten had it not been for Wonkette.

Today’s cartoon is the first of four I’ll be introducing over the month. After the fourth, I hope to get opinions on which one is the most effective – and/or if it would be more effective to use an element from one with an element from another.

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Short Takes –

Common Dreams – Democratic Senators Sound Alarm Over Koch-Backed Plot to ‘Eviscerate’ Regulatory State
Quote – Hours before ProPublica revealed new details about U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ relationship with the Koch network, a group of Democratic senators filed a brief on Thursday warning that Koch-backed entities are closely involved in an upcoming case that could further gut the federal government’s regulatory power—and enhance the strength of the conservative-dominated high court. The case in question is Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, which stems from a New Jersey-based fishing company’s challenge to a law requiring certain fishing boats to carry federal compliance monitors to enforce regulations.
Click through for article. I’m glad these Senators are on this. I will concede that it is possible to over-regulate, but it’s clear that, as long as one person is being hurt by under-regulation or unenforced regulation, we are not even close to over-regulation. (Off topic, but I think that’s the first picture I have ever seen of Charles without the you-know-what-eating grin. If that means he is less happy – good.)

London Daily – British Writer Pens The Best Description Of Trump I’ve Read
Quote – “Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”… [W]hile Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Click through for every last detail. I have seen this before – I think most recently during the actual Trump** administration – but it is very detailed and every detail worth savoring, so it’s time to re-share it.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 1, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 012023

Yesterday, the radio opera was brand spanking new – the world premier (which was recorded, and that’s what we heard) was within the last three months – in July, at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. The composer was Sir George Benjamin, and the title is “Picture a Day like This.” The premise is that a woman whose child dies is offered a chance at a miracle if she can find one person who is truly happy and cut a button from that person’s sleeve. I was not familiar with any of the singers, but the composer was, and wrote it specifically for their voices. There is no way of knowing at a premier whether or not an opera is going to “take off” – become part of the repertory – but still, it feels like listening to history – being present when history is made. I found it easy to listen to. It’s in a single act with seven scenes, and runs under an hour and a quarter (the program was almost an hour and a quarter but that includes all the opening summary and credits and closing credits.) It was a good day for the opera to be a short one, because later in the day I was able to watch and listen to Margaret Atwood reading her story “Patient and Impatient Griselda,” loosely based on “Patient Griselda” from the Decameron but told as it should have happened, through a narrator, an alien who looks like an octopus. It was Zoomed thanks to Theater of War productions, as part of their new domestic violence project. So I ended up spending almost three hours chained to internet entertainment after all. (I did get my next 2 weeks of pills bottled, though.) The House also got something done – voted to delay a shutdown for a month and a half. Let’s see how fast the Senate can get it to Joe to sign. I decided to tell “A Tale of Two Jamies” today. I’m very glad Raskin is on our side. Dimon, of course, is on no one’s side but his own.

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Short Takes –

Robert Reich – When Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, phoned me
Quote – So I want to talk about something else that’s brewing that could become an equally large problem: another banking crisis — and how powerful monied interests on Wall Street are opposing attempts to ward it off. When interest rates rise as fast as the Fed has raised them, banks have to pay more for deposits or borrowing. But what the banks earn on their loans and bonds they own hasn’t risen nearly as fast. This is causing a huge squeeze. With the shift to working from home, commercial real estate is a disaster — and another giant headache for the banks. Banks may not have enough capital on hand to weather an economic storm. The near failure of several middle-sized banks last March shows the continued frailty of the financial system.
Click through for narrative. I’m not a banker myself, but the Reich on the left makes it uncomplicated to see what’s going on. I don’t think we should be expected to bail out these jerks – AGAIN – when it can be avoided.

AlterNet – Raskin rips GOP over impeachment inquiry: ‘Flying monkeys on a mission for the wicked witch’
Quote – Congressman Raskin, a former constitutional law professor who served as the lead prosecutor for the second impeachment of Donald Trump, told the Committee, “like flying monkeys on a mission for the Wicked Witch of the West, Trump’s followers in the House now carry his messages out to the world: shut down the government, shutdown the prosecutions. But the cultmaster has another command for his followers, which brings us here today.”
Click through for details. The first rule of insulting effectively is, don’t call them whay you hate most. Call them what they hate most.” That’s no doubt why so many Democrats are picking up on calling MAGA “children” (with or without qualifying adjectives.) I doubt whether “Wicked Witch” and “Flying Monkeys” will do it – but “Cultmaster” might hit hard. The very best insults get picked up and used over and over until eventually they change meaning- “villain” today, for instance, has only a shadow of its original punch when it meant “country bumpkin” – including all the attributes that go with that stereotye: poorly dressed, poorly washed, poorly mannered, and poorly educated.

Food For Thought

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