Aug 272022
 

Yesterday, the redacted affidavit from the Mar-a-Lago search warrant was released. So much was NOT redacted that I suspect all that was redacted was any information which might tend to identify the witnesses, or otherwise compromise DOJ sources (and also, just maybe, other Federal laws they are investigating him for). Yes, there are some all-black pages – but by my count they make up just under half of the complete document. Like all legal documents, the phrasing and vocabulary are as unsensational as possible, but the facts are there and are made clear. Of course MAGAts would not be convinced FPOTUS did anything wrong even if Jesus came back to earth and denounced him. But anyone with an open mind who can manage to get through the legalese should get it.

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Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance – Tomorrow Before Noon
Quote – Here’s the bottom line. Kemp delayed testifying, despite the DA’s persistent efforts—first voluntary and then by subpoena, to bring him in. Now, months into the process, he says she shouldn’t be able to make him testify before his election in November, even though he’s responsible for the delay. But Kemp is a fact witness. If he’d observed a car wreck and was called to testify, would he argue he shouldn’t have to before the election? Of course not. It’s a bad argument, tantamount to asking for special treatment because he’s on the ballot and doesn’t want to have to testify against the former president before the voting starts. And I’m sure that if the court permits him to delay past November, Kemp will find fresh reasons to claim he can’t testify after the election. Kemp also argues that he has sovereign immunity as the state’s governor, which should prevent his grand jury testimony. But again, Kemp isn’t a target of the investigation, he’s just a fact witness, so that doctrine shouldn’t apply.
Click through for details. Like Richardson, Vance sends her newsletter late at night, so “Tomorrow” in her title is now “Yesterday.”

Robert Reich – My father and Senator Joe McCarthy
Quote – During the Army-McCarthy hearings, McCarthy’s chief counsel was Roy Cohn. Cohn had gained prominence as the Department of Justice attorney who successfully prosecuted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for espionage, leading to their execution in 1953. The Rosenberg trial had brought the 24-year-old Cohn to the attention of J. Edgar Hoover, who convinced McCarthy to hire Cohn as chief counsel for McCarthy’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where Cohn became known for his aggressive questioning of suspected communists. My father thought Roy Cohn almost as despicable as Joe McCarthy. After McCarthy’s downfall, Cohn proved useful to a young New York real estate developer named Donald Trump who was then undertaking several large construction projects in Manhattan and needed a fixer and mentor. Cohn filled both roles.
Click through for story. Although I’m almost a year older than Robert, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as television until the nid-fifties, and we didn’t have one for a lot of years after that. I’m glad he did, and was old enough to remember that occasion. But … we are still (not again, still) fighting the same ogre today.

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Aug 262022
 

Yesterday, the pickup got picked u – Yay! My body was still complaining, however, so I had to do some self czre. The right shoulder was probably not the worst, but it was definitely the most annoying. But – have traffic lanes again – and more room to start on the next one. Assoon as I feel up to it. Meanwhile, I’ll be seeing Virgil again Sunday

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Daily Beast – Conservatives Milk Story of Amish Farm Tied to Fatal Listeria Outbreak
Quote – Viewers of Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show were greeted Monday with dire news. The Biden administration, Carlson said, had launched a war on small farmers, starting with a U.S. Marshals “raid” on an Amish farmer in Pennsylvania named Amos Miller…. “Maybe if he promises to put more chemicals in the milk to turn kids trans, they’ll lay off,” Carlson said.
Click through for story. I’m actually in favor of natural foods in general – but that’s different from zero hygiene. Here’s more information on listeria if anyone’s interested.

Letters from an American – August 24, 2022
Quote – Republicans have warned that the massive investment the Democrats have made in the country during Biden’s term would rack up enormous deficits. But, in fact, today the Office of Management and Budget forecast that this year’s budget deficit will decline by $1.7 trillion, the single largest drop in the deficit in U.S. history. (The record deficit was $3.13 trillion in 2020, during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.) This number is simply a benchmark, and the deficit remains at $1.03 trillion, but it suggests that numbers are currently moving downward.
Click through for the full letter. The midterms, the deficit, and student loan forgiveness are tied together here.

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Aug 252022
 

Yesterday, I managed to getnine 30-gallon plastic bags out to the porch, all labeled with the initials of the charity they are getting picked up by.  After that, I moved the car out of the driveway and took the recyclables to the edge of the driveway by the street – two actions which between tehm pretty much cleared the drive way.  I did this because the charity is “Vietnam Veterans of America,” nd although I don’t remember seeing much, one occupation which puts people int higher jeopardy of becoming an amputee is “combat vet.”  And the instruction included the request that everything be capable of bing lifted with one hand (not all at once, of course; that would be silly.)  So I just wanted to make it as easy as possible and I figured shortening the distance couldn’t hurt.  After all that, my shoulders, back, and knee were still in comparatively good shape.

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Letters from an American – August 22, 2022
Quote – Today’s big news is an eye-popping $1.6 billion donation to a right-wing nonprofit organized in May 2020. This is the largest known single donation made to a political influence organization. The money came from Barre Seid, a 90-year-old electronics company executive, and the new organization, Marble Freedom Trust, is controlled by Leonard A. Leo, the co-chair of the Federalist Society, who has been behind the right-wing takeover of the Supreme Court. Leo has also been prominent in challenges to abortion rights, voting rights, climate change action, and so on. He announced in early 2020 that he was stepping back from the Federalist Society to remake politics at every level, but information about the massive grant and the new organization was broken today by Kenneth P. Vogel and Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times.
Click through for details. Everyone has this story – but I saw it first here – and Heather always has receipts (and insights.)

Daily Beast – Cops Love Immunity—Until They’re the Ones Abused by Police
Quote – Six months after the incident, Burk filed a civil rights lawsuit against the acting officers from the Columbus Division of Police. Predictably, Burk now finds himself on the wrong end of a judge-made doctrine called “qualified immunity.” The doctrine, which the U.S. Supreme Court invented in 1982, shields government employees from accountability for unreasonable actions—unless victims can point to a prior case in the same jurisdiction that clearly establishes the behavior as unconstitutional. The irony of this case is that law enforcement officers like Burk normally love qualified immunity.
Click through for this opinion piece with backup facts. I would hate to think that the only, or even just the fastest, way to get rid of “qualified immunity” is for cops to beat up enough cops.

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Aug 242022
 

Yesterday, as I try to do every weekday, I played The New Yorker’s “Name Drop” game. The idea is to figure out (or guess) whom the puzzle is describing in six clues or less. And they are mostly hard. Very hard.  If I get them at all, it’s usually on the last or at best second-to-last clue. I consider it to be a very god day if I get the right person by the third-to-last clue. But twice now, I have gotten the answer on the very first clue. Both times that success was made possible because the clue referenced an opera (surprise, surprise.) The first one was Gandhi, several months ago. Today it was Handel. Aside from that, I mostly worked at getting bags secured and labelled (fortunately not the contents, just that they are for pickup.) Tomorrow is pickup day so I’ll have to schlep them out today. And then do one last rearrangement of what’s not going to make sure it is separate from what is going, and also that the path is clear.  And I was late responding to comments yesterday doing all that – and I will be again today.

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Politico – POLITICO Playbook: Ron Klain says ‘season of substance’ could save Dems
Quote – “We now have a presidency where the president has delivered the largest economic recovery plan since ROOSEVELT, the largest infrastructure plan since EISENHOWER, the most judges confirmed since KENNEDY, the second largest health care bill since JOHNSON and the largest climate change bill in history. … The first time we’ve done gun control since President CLINTON was here, the first time ever an African American woman has been put on the U.S. Supreme Court. … I think it’s a record to take to the American people.”
Click through for interview. I realize Politico leans right, but this appears to be a straight interview with a strong messenger in a position to message. As a bonus, I’m linking to a DU article with a comprehensive overview of things individual Democrats can do to help.

Crooks and Liars – Navy Vet Faced Death Sentence From Religious Zealot
Quote – In July [20]17, he was assigned to Dr. Fred Cheron, the first VA doctor who did anything for him. “I had no choice.” Rinsem said in a followup email. “I had to tolerate him pushing his God and Jesus on me or give up on all healthcare.” But finally, after a particularly bad appointment on July 25[, 2022], he’d had enough…. [O]n August 13, Rinsem filed a formal complaint…. “They severed all of my provider relationships. That’s punishment for having filed the complaint,”
Click through. This is outrageous. I realize that makes me Captain Obvious, but what else is there to say?

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Aug 232022
 

Yesterday, I slept in about an hour – again. I’ve been having a glitch or two getting to sleep, so that when the alarm goes, I’m not ready to get up. I do realize this is a self-sustaining thing … but it has happened before and usually resolve within a week. I refuse to fret about it – I only mention it in case anyone has noticed I’m running a little late on comment replies. It’s not to worry.

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Just Security – Trump Associate’s Stated Plan to Publicly Release “Declassified” Documents
Quote – As this article was going to press, ABC News published a report that weeks before the Mar-a-Lago search, former President Donald Trump’s associate Kash Patel “vowed to retrieve classified documents from the National Archives and publish them on his website.” If that scheme involved Trump himself and the Mar-a-Lago documents, it could have significant legal implications for the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal investigation. Any plan to release the documents could potentially trigger specific elements of the Espionage Act and other criminal statutes designed with the core purpose of preventing unlawful dissemination of classified and other sensitive government documents. As I discuss below, credible evidence of such a plan also would likely factor into the Justice Department’s decision on whether to bring criminal charges.
Click through for details. “Just Security” you might say is a specialty news website. I’m linking to their mission statement. (I also bookmarked then, since they don’t call attention to themselves – they just quietly analyze.

Letters from an American – August 20,2022
Quote – When former president Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, he left the participants to continue without the U.S., which they did as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). He also left open the way for a free trade deal in the region dominated by China, called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or RCEP, which went into effect on January 1, 2022. This left the Biden administration with two politically poor choices: try to reestablish U.S. participation in the region through the CPTPP, which would have been hotly contested at home and thus unlikely to get through Congress, or let China dominate the region, with damaging long-term effects. So the administration found a third way.
Click through for background. This is kind of a compliation of who has visited Taiwan from the United States recently, and when, and under what circumstances (not what you probably think from the press coverage.) Also, other recent history, including Trump**’s destructive actions (in my quote).

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Aug 222022
 

Yesterday, I basically tried to keep things slow and calm. It was a pill-organizing weekend, and everything runs out at different times, so there is literally never an occasion when I don’t have to run to another room for a new bottle of something OTC or order a prescription renewal – I generally do that in advance for the following fortnight so I can at least get the bottles filled and capped without interruption (otherwise this klutz would be knocking them over and using choice language.)

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The 19th – Magnolia Mother’s Trust marks a history-making three cycles of paying Black mothers $1,000 a month
Quote – The Magnolia Mother’s Trust is now the longest-running guaranteed income program in the United States. But the program, which gives Black mothers in Jackson, Mississippi, $1,000 a month for one year, no strings attached, was never meant to last forever. “I don’t think that’s the systems change we need,” said Aisha Nyandoro, CEO of Springboard Opportunities, which runs Magnolia Mother’s Trust and provides programs and services to families that live in federally subsidized affordable housing. Instead, the goal of the trust is to model what could be, in a more just and fair society.
CLick through for story. If Republians really wanted a world with more happy and healthy people, this is what they would be doing (which of coursethey don’t.) Likewise, if they really wanted a world of people who would fall easily into categories and be content with that, they should be emulating Brave New World  – the ohly dystopia I’m aware of in which the characters aren’t aware that it’s a dystopia. But Republicans don’t want that either. They aren’t happy unless someone is getting hurt.

Vice – Scientists Achieve the Impossible, Safely Destroy Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’
Quote – In a new paper published [this month] in the journal Science, a team of researchers have uncovered a new way to dispose of a class of these chemicals under comparatively mild conditions, including ambient pressure and temperatures as low as 176 degrees Fahrenheit. William Dichtel is a lead author on the paper and a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University. He said in a press conference about the work on Tuesday that one of the exciting benefits of this discovery is that the reaction leaves no damaging products in its wake. “We were pleased to find a relatively low temperature, low energy input method where the one specific portion of these molecules falls off and sets off a cascade of reactions that ultimately breaks these PFAS compounds down to relatively benign products including fluoride ions… that are in many cases found in nature already and do not pose serious health concerns.”
Click through for background and more info. Nobody saw this coming – even the scientists were pleasantly surprised. And good news is always welcome.

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Aug 212022
 

Yesterday, the opera was “Boris Godunov” by Mussorgsky, from the Vienna State Opera. The advance promo described it as a combination of historical drama and psychological study, the main character being “hauned by [thoughts of] the child he murdered to gain the throne.” Well, Mussorgsky may well have seen it that way, and if so, it’s to his credit. But all one has to do today in the US is look around to see that people who will do anything for money and power (especially power) are never hauntes by thoughts of people whom they hurt on the way up.The only thing that troubles them is fear of being caught out and facing consequences. Interpreted that way the opera does, I think, work (and it also helps if one doesn’t know any more Russian than “da” and “nyet.”) I doubt, however, that Putin would be impressed. Fear of being caught implies fear of consequences, and he appears to be pretty well insulated from consequences.

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Short Takes – another “News of the Weird” day

Axios – Denver Art Museum brings back its “Singing Sinks” exhibit
Quote – The faucets — found in the bathrooms of the Sie Welcome Center on Level 2 of the freshly renovated Martin Building — belt out a harmonious chorus of “Row Row Row Your Boat” as you wash your hands. Each sink is equipped with an interactive sound system that pipes in the music through the drain, offering a “voice in the plumbing” effect.
Click through for background. Silly as this may sound, it has won the museum an award for “Best Museum Bathrooms.”

Daily Beast – Bodies Discovered in Suitcases by New Zealand Family Are Children
Quote – Vaaelua said initial postmortem examinations of the bodies revealed the remains found in two suitcases are that of two primary school-aged children. “Early indications suggest these children may have been deceased for a number of years before being found last week,” Vaaelua said in a statement obtained by The Daily Beast.
Click through for story. Very little is actually known, and they are being cagey with what they do know until they can establish a next of kin

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Aug 202022
 

Yesterday, although I know I have to rest today (being an opera day), I tried to rest, and especially to rest my shoulders and knee. I’m succeeding in managing them, but it’s delicate, and I want to be sure to be able to get all those bags out for the pickup Thursday. Some things I can put out in advance – but even the heaviest duty 30gal (that’s 113 and a half liters) bags will deteriorate if left outside for more than a day or two. And I want to be sure I can get them all out by the end of Wednesday.

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Democratic Underground (kpete) – The forever war has been cut back by like 95 percent and Biden has gotten no credit for it
Quote – [E]very time I point this out the main reaction is astonishment. both Biden’s people and the press are falling down at communicating a real basic fact about the world
Click through for more. This is a compilation (links provided) with readable charts and facts which need to be more widelt known.

CREW – Secret Service held onto Pelosi threat until after insurrection
Quote – On January 4, Secret Service agents discovered a Parler account, which we’ve chosen not to name, posting a series of violent threats towards lawmakers. Other profiles with the same name appeared on Twitter, MeWe, Bitchute, Youtube and Facebook. On December 31, the account posted, “January 6 starts #1776 all over again…Fight for EVERYTHING” and listed “Enemies,” including Pelosi. At 5:55 pm on January 6, after hours of defending the United States Capitol from a violent mob, the United States Capitol Police received the post along with a message from the Secret Service: “Good afternoon, The US Secret Service is passing notification to the US Capitol Police regarding discovery of a social media threat directed toward Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Click through for full story. After Trump** fired a number of IGs for telling the truth about his lies, Joe promised not to fire and IG, and I get it. But Cuffari needs to go. A ongressional investigation might accomplish that, keep Joe out of it, and perhaps even make the wrongdoing more public than CREW can.

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