Open Thread June 24, 2022

 Posted by at 7:16 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 242022
 

Yesterday, I watched the fifth hearing from the Jan6 Committee. Again, we saw powerful Republicans give testimony about a plot they would not go along with. I know a lot of Democrats are – for lack of a better word – discounting their character because they are still Republicans who voted for him wna would do so again. And that is certainly true – and I would not vote for them certainly. But, especially in the current state of the Republican Party, to me their adherence to their oaths serves to enhance rather than to detract from the courage of their behavior. Sure, there ideas are nuts and I would not want them in the legislature – but in an office such as Acting Attorney General, would you rather have a Jeff Rosen (Republican) or a Rod Blagojevich (Democrat)? Not wanting them to legislate their crazy ideas doesn’t mean I can’t recognize their principles. No one is 100% good or 100% evil (well, except maybe a very few – Trump** and Putin come to mind) and we need to at least look at people as being fully human if we have to deal with them at all – let alone communicate with them.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom (“Murfster35”) – The J6 Committee. The Gift That Keeps On Giving. Even AFTER The Midterms?
Quote – But here’s the McGuffin. The DOJ has a rock hard rule that used to be observed up until the reign of that moron James Comey that the DOJ doesn’t announce either investigations or indictments in a general election season, in order to avoid appearing to put their fingers on the scale. Under Merrick Garland, one can only hope and pray that that rule still holds true. Which could end up being disastrous news for the state GOP caucuses. Because while Trump and his criminal cabal in DC were willing to blab to almost everybody about their schemes, when it came to the states themselves, they were more selective, if not secretive.
Click through for his reasoning. It’s probably true that in most cases, in and out of government, that silence indicates inaction. But that isn’t universal. Murfster could well be correct.

The 19th – Senators are pushing TSA to clarify its rules around breast milk and formula at airport security
Quote – The issue is one of health and safety: Nursing parents typically need to express milk every two to four hours. Failing to pump could have health consequences for the parent, leading to extreme discomfort, pain, plugged milk ducts or a bacterial infection called mastitis. The milk also needs to be refrigerated within four hours to avoid adverse health effects for the baby which could include vomiting, fever and diarrhea. All of that is even more critical now as a nationwide formula shortage continues. It will likely be months before formula stock returns to normal levels in the United States after a major plant closure in February set off massive shortages that have cut into as much as 90 percent of stock in some states.
Click through for story. I have a solution to propose – put the TSA under the Department of Transportation. We have a Transportation Secretary who knows a thing or two about feeding infants. In fact, “Department of Homeland Security” sounds fascost and does unnecessary things, why don’t we get rid of it and relocate its useful functions.

Food For Thought

 

Share

Open Thread June 23, 2022

 Posted by at 7:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 232022
 

Yesterday, I did some recovering and braced myself to be ready for tomorrow’s hearing. I did a little knitting – making some headbands with scraps of corron and cotton blend yarn that will just fir around my head at forehead level, which I can wet down and refrigerate for the days when th ceiling fan in the den isn’t enough. I had tried before, but they were always too big and wouldn’t stay put. but after making three now with smaller stitch counts, I have it right The old, too big ones, though, I’ll wet down and refrigerate to go around my neck, sort of like cowls, if I need that extra. Just for getting cool, they won’t be any use as ice packs for arthritis – they’re not thick enough. It’s was a bit cooler, so it seemed like a good time to make them – no pressure.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Gizmodo – Hundreds of Little Blue Penguins Are Washing Up Dead in New Zealand Amid an Ocean Heatwave
Quote – New Zealand Department of Conservation post-mortem examinations revealed many of the birds were particularly vulnerable juveniles. The young penguins died of starvation and hypothermia, with no fat to help them hold onto heat in the water. Counterintuitively, seabirds dying of cold corresponds with hotter ocean temperatures caused by both climate change and the weather phenomenon La Niña, a Depart of Conservation representative, Graeme Taylor, told RNZ.
Click through for details. The quote uses the word “counterintuitive” (which is actually true of hypothermia in other ways too), and it strikes me that, in so many ways the things we need to do in the face of climate change are counterintuitive as well. Which is why it is so important to get solid science – exactly what people want to ignore. Sigh.

The New Yorker – Putting the Backlash Against Progressive Prosecutors in Perspective
Quote – In San Francisco, Chesa Boudin—a reform-minded district attorney—was recalled by voters by a significant margin last week. Boudin had instituted a number of progressive reforms, from liberalizing bail policies to reducing jail populations through diversion programs. But those changes were buried by the perception that the city had descended into a state of chaos. His recall has been cast as a referendum on crime and on the public’s attitudes toward progressive criminal-justice policies. What were the voters in San Francisco blaming on Boudin? The New Yorker staff writer Benjamin Wallace-Wells recently wrote about Boudin’s recall. He speaks with the New Yorker senior editor Tyler Foggatt.
Click through – it’s a podcast, but you can download a transcript. It did not offer me any file extension, but when I went to open it, my PC gave me a list of programs to choose from; I selected “Notepad” and it opened right up. “Wordpad” also works, but Adobe Reader doesn’t. It’s valuable information for anyone who cares about restorative justice, reforming our legal and prison systems, and the like.

Food For Thought

Share

Open Thread June 22, 2022

 Posted by at 7:12 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 222022
 

Yesterday, I brought up the live hearing, coming in on the testimony of the Speaker of the Arizona House, Rusty Bowers. I then watched the testimony of Georgia’s Raffensberger and Sterling. I had to return later to catch the Georgia election workers Andrea (Shay) Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman. as well as the opening and closing statements. You know, we have been talking about Republicans putting party before country. But with regard to this insurrection, we have been wrong. They were putting prsonal gain – probably in some cases only personal whim – before both party and country. I’ve seen some people on the net saying, “I love it when they eat their oen,” I don’t. I don’t love bottom-of-the-cesspool depravity, and that’s what this is. Disgusting. And also dangerous. If they will eat their own, they will eat anything and anyone. We have also been saying they are moving toward fascism, and by the book they certainly are. But I question whether actual fascism is their goal, or whether tha goal is total chaos – a state with even less predictabiity than anarchy.

When I returned to the hearing at the YouTube link provided at house.gov (to the committee’s channel) I happened to notice that that channel has 29.4K subscribers. I know, not a lot in the scheme of things, but those are only the people who are watching at this channel. That does not include anyone who is watching at PBS, MSNBC/NBC, CBS, ABC, or CNN, or anyone who is watching with The Lincoln Project or Meidas Touch, and that probably does not exhaust the list of sources. Somewhere I also read even Fox is now carrying it (the implication being more than just on Fox Business), but I can’t verify that.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Here’s What the Insecure Insurrectionists Don’t Get About America
Quote – America was not actually built on unlimited individual freedom, as a shocking number of Americans seem to believe it is these days. The foundation of our nation, the bedrock of its multi-century success, is the philosophy of democratic liberalism: the government will not interfere with your pursuit of happiness unless your pursuit interferes with that of other people.
Click through for more (including a point about the poem “America the Beautiful”), but the quote is the bottom line. I also feel that one verse of “America the Beautiful is not enough. I tend to focus onthe second verse (“God mend thine every flaw – Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law”), but the third verse may be even more important.

CPR News – A Colorado startup wants buildings to suck up carbon, one living concrete block at a time
Quote – His company’s proposed alternative is a “bio-cement” first developed at the University of Colorado Boulder. Inside the Colorado company’s warehouse, sand is loaded in block-shaped molds with micro-algae, which binds the material through the same process corals and oysters use to build their shells. The final masonry units feel like hardened sand castles. While the process takes energy, Burnett said algae absorbs enough carbon to make the blocks 90 percent less carbon-intensive than traditional concrete.
Click through for the interview – yes, it’s an interview, but there’s what appears to be at least a partial transcript. It’s good news locally but appears to have potential – and we need every possible step (and may already be too late.)

Food For Thought

Share

Open Thread June 21, 2022

 Posted by at 7:03 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 212022
 

Yesterday was Federal Juneteenth in accordance with the Monday Holiday Law. CPR News reported that, as a rough estimate, about half of workers got the day off. CPR News also cited coverage by Denverite magazine of the Juneteenth Music Festival in the Five Points area of Denver, which, based on the photos and anecdotes, must have been a joy to behold. However, Occupy Democrats cited a Yahoo News story that 26 states have not authorized funding for the holiday That report inspired me to use the cartoon I chose today for Food for Thought. I remember thatit took forever to some states to recognize MLK Day also – and some I belive still haven’t. It’s a sobering thought indeed.

Cartoon – 21 0621Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Raskin Says Trump ‘Essentially’ Confessed: ‘I Did It And I’ll Do It Again’
Quote – “This public admission that essentially he wanted continues after laying out of all this evidence,” Todd said. “Is he confessing?” “Yeah, he essentially saying, yeah, I did it and I’ll do it again,” Raskin agreed, “which is what we have been contending all along, that if you allow impunity for attempts at unconstitutional seizures of power, which is what a coup is, then you’re inviting it again in the future.”
Click through for a little more including a short video clip. I wonder how Jamie got Chuck to ask an intelligent question.

The Daily Beast – This May Be the COVID Variant Scientists Are Dreading
Quote – A pair of new subvariants of the dominant Omicron variant—BA.4 and BA.5—appear to be driving the uptick in cases in the U.K. Worryingly, these subvariants seem to partially dodge antibodies from past infection or vaccination, making them more transmissible than other forms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus…. Eric Bortz, a University of Alaska-Anchorage virologist and public-health expert, described BA.4 and BA.5 as “immunologically distinct sublineages.” In other words, they interact with our antibodies in surprising new ways.
Click through for details. It also may not. But I believe it’s wise to stay on guard.

The Nib (Chelsea Saunders and Tristan J. Tarwater) Harriet Tubman’s Daring Civil War Raid
Quote:

Click through for as much of the story as can be captured in a graphic. The new $20 bill cannot come soon enough for me.

Food For Thought

Share

Open Thread June 20, 2022

 Posted by at 6:54 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 202022
 

Yesterday, a bit of rain cooled us off a little (and today a cloudy dayis supposed to do even more. We shall see.) There was not a lot of email, so I took the Smithsonian’s Father’s Day “Pop Quiz” (is that a “dad joke” or what?) getting only two out of six. As a former costumer, I probably should have gotten the one on neckties, but I outsmarted myself with my general rule “It always happened earlier than you think it did.” This time it didn’t. This link may work if anyone want’s to try their luck.  And I looked through July cartoons and determined I can use enugh from 2014 tha I only need to make 8. Generally, it was a calm day after a frenetic week (and I’m not the only one saying that. Two hearings was overwhelming for many of us who follow politics. But I really can’t wish for fewer in the weeks ahead. Let’s get this done.)

Also, Freya finished and posted the “Sound Off” she’s been eorking on yesterday, here at this link.  Don’t miss it.  (You can also look down at the bottom of the page, under the comments to the left, and click on the title there, if that’s easier.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

HuffPost – Sonia Sotomayor Reassures Liberals As Conservative Decisions Loom
Quote – “When we, as institutions, have made mistakes,” Sotomayor said. “Other parts of the branches [of government]” and “the people have worked to make change. “Dred Scott lost his 11-year battle for freedom,” she said. And yet, with the decision in Brown, “He won the war. That’s why I think we have to have continuing faith in our court system, in our system of government,” she added, noting that that the system allows for constitutional amendments and legislation to address outcomes like Dred Scott.
Click through for more from her speech, and also for a little of what wasn’t in her speech. I absolutely agree we cannot give up.

Robert Reich – The Fed’s big mistake
Quote – I understand the Fed’s urgency, but it has entered dangerous territory. If the Fed continues down this path – as it has signaled it will – the economy will be plunged into a recession. Every time over the last half century the Fed has raised interest rates this much and this quickly, it has caused a recession. Besides, interest rate increases will not remedy the major causes of the current inflation – huge pent-up worldwide demand from two years of pandemic, shortages of goods and services responding to that demand, Putin’s war in Ukraine, and big profitable corporations with enough pricing power to use inflation as a cover for pushing up prices even further.
Click through for full argument.    It’s deja vu all over again for those our age.

Food For Thought

Share

Open Thread June 19, 2022

 Posted by at 6:34 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 192022
 

Yesterday, The radio opera was “The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs”[sic] by Mason Bates, libretto by Mark Campbell, in a recording from the Santa Fe Opera, where it premiered in 2017. My biggest surprise of the week was that it was aired on my local radio station. There had been no promotion for it, and these programs are expensive to air, and the most recent fund drive had not made goal. So maybe it is a one-time broadcast – the most recent new manager had made the one announcer who is as nuts about opera the program director, and this opera is, to say the least, a rarity. It is told with multiple out-of-sequence flashbacks – the composer structured it in a musical circle, in homage to Jobs’s belief that life is a circle. Its characters are real people and it’s based on events which occurred, but it makes no claim to be accurate in detail. It has had subsequent performances, and it has been commercially recorded (in fact, it won a Grammy) One of the things I love about Santa Fe is that they do a premier every season. So many companies are terrified of premiers and a contemporary composer has a had time getting a new opera perfi=oemed. But Santa Fe has been so successful that other companies are now putting on new operas as well. I’ve seen a couple I’d love to see again, and there are some I haven’t seen that I’d love to see – several that I’ve heard and one in particular that I haven’t (but if WFMT is going to keep including premiers I eventually may) – “The Lord of Cries” by John Cotigliano in which he fuses “The Bacchae” and “Dracula” – yes, it wounds weird, but Corigliano is very good at combining stories and making the result seamless. I might just add that WFMT knows that opera is meant to be seem, and works hard to post folders of excellent professional photos of the productions it presents so that one can at least get a feel of the visuals.

Cartoon(s) –



Short Takes –

Robert Reich – What the crypto crash tells us
Quote – Earlier this week, Bitcoin dropped 15 percent over 24 hours to its lowest value since December 2020, and Ether, the second-most valuable cryptocurrency, fell about 16 percent. Last month, TerraUSD, a stablecoin — a system that was supposed to perform a lot like a conventional bank account but was backed only by a cryptocurrency called Luna — collapsed, losing 97 percent of its value in just 24 hours, apparently destroying some investors’ life savings. The implosion helped trigger a crypto meltdown that erased $300 billion in value across the market.
Click through for details. No, I can’t imagine anyone here has “invested” in this stuff – but if you know someone who has. you can pass it on. And, in any case, what a bunch of random idiots do can affect everyone, especially if they do it with money.

Wonkette – The Myth Of The ‘Normal’ Republican
Quote – The Republican Party is very confused. On one hand you have GOP politicians hoping to move forward with their regularly scheduled GOP political terribleness. On the other, GOP politicians are doubling down on being led by a twice-impeached former reality TV host who cost them the White House. In some cases, you have both in the very same GOP politician! Let’s check out a few examples from this week’s Sunday shows.
Click through for examples. In today’s Video Thread, Trae describes certain Republicans as “Team Normal” (As opposed to “Team Bugf**k,” but he also stresses that “Team Normal” is not to be trusted either.

Food For Thought

Share

Open Thread June 18, 2022

 Posted by at 7:26 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 182022
 

Yesterday, I got to thinking about a red flag that hit me in the gut back in the seventis. When I retuend from overseas duty, the Catholic Charismaic Movement was in full swing, as was the evangelical trend in Christianity. Both trends appeared to be good. The Jesus evangelicals then worshipped was then the real one, and many Catholics, wittingly or not, were looking for the same kind of emotional commitment to spirituality that evangelicals appeared to have found a way to achieve (the Cursillo movement was also prominent and was a more intellectual approach but looking for the same kind of commitment.) But the charismatic movement also had its intellectual side, and there was authorized iterature under a heading of “Life in the Spirit.” However, by the end of the decade, “Life in the Spirit” had been officially changed to “You Will Receive Power.” Even though the material was then the same, the change in emphasis struck me as a huge red flag. The way I put it to myself was that the movement was going to attract all the “wrong kind of people” – which sounds bigited, but I didn;t mean any ethnic or gender or any other kind of superficial group, I just meant “people who want power.” And forty years later, here we are.

Of course like everyone else, I grew up with Lord Acton’s “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It’s a good thing to keep in mind, but I think it’s flawed. I think there are two kinds of people – those who want power, and those who don’t (and the latter probably want autonomy – power over one’s own life but not those of others – but I haven’t thought that through so I’ll say no more at this point.) It’s easy to see how the first group would be attracted to public office and public influence, and harder to see how the second group would, but it does happen, thank God. And of course, it’s the second kind we need to be in office if we want to maintain a democracy. Because, not wanting power, they can resist the corruption that comes with power. [After reading and thinking a little more, I came back here to add that, though we need this second type in [ower, we also need them to learn when it is and is not legitimate to use the power they are entrusted with, and must not be afraid to use it appropriately.  Refraining from using it inappropriately is good, but failing to use it when it is needed is not.]  If you have the time and energy, think about that for a little while, and then go back to the hearing and this conversation: Pence: “I wouldn’t even want that kind of power.” Trump**: “Oh, come on, Mike, wouldn’t it be cool to have that kind of power?”

One last observation – people who are driven by wanting powe also respond to others who ae the same. Bullies follow bullies; even if they are not the top bully, they can respond to, and feel that they vicariously share, the bullying power of their leaders. Also, many – maybe most – of us will never learn which kind of person we are (or even what the two types are.) We all tend to think other people think and feel like us until proven otherwise. I apologize for the rant, but I needed to say it.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

HuffPost – The Anti-Abortion Movement Killed People. Now Victims’ Families Face A Post-Roe World.
Quote – From 1977 to 2020 in America, anti-abortion activists committed at least 11 murders, 26 attempted murders, 956 threats of harm or death, 624 stalking incidents and four kidnappings, according to data collected by the National Abortion Federation. They have bombed 42 abortion clinics, set 194 on fire, attempted to bomb or burn an additional 104 and made 667 bomb threats.
Click through for story (which is part of a series). It’s not as if we didn’t know that conservatives and terrorists have a major overlap. Liberals are more likely to attempt to use rational thinking to persuade.

The 19th – Medication abortion and clinics on federal land: Here are Democrats’ ideas to protect abortion access
Quote – To that end, the senators suggested a host of potential actions the administration could take via federal agencies. Among those: educating the public about and expanding access to medication abortion, the two-pill reigmen that can be administered from home to terminate pregnancies within the first trimester; providing vouchers for people who will have to travel out of state for abortions once Roe is overturned; assessing whether abortions can be provided on federal lands, even in states that have restricted access; and using existing laws and regulations to limit cell phone applications’ ability to sell data that might reveal whether someone got an abortion.
Click through for details. Meds are a great option if they’re an option – they aren’t always (and they’re not pain free). I love the thought of clinics on federal land in reactionary states. There aren’t many ways for us to give them the finger that they understand

Food For Thought

Share

Open Thread June 17, 2022

 Posted by at 7:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 172022
 

Yesterday, I went to see VirgilWe kissed (we are allowed 2, one coming and one going) and hugged (ditto), and we also, as we didn’t do for quite a few years, played some cribbage – for some reason we find that having something to do with out hands stimulates conversation, though it took us years ti realze that.. How the Department of Corrections handles games and game playing during visits wold take a whole column, and I won’t start on thet today. I passed on all greetings you all exprressed to Virgil, and he returns all with thanks.

After getting home, I checked my email inbox whch had hit almost 150 emai and then turned to the hearings. I had pre-written today’s posts except for this introduction, so after getting home and making dinner, I was able to jump into today’s hearing. Again, none of the actual evidence surprised me – even things I didn’t know had happened were so in tune with Republican morals and behavior they were not surprising. But I did get two non-evidential surprises – first, that I can now see why those who are not totally disgusted with his political positions might actually like Mike Pence (I will never understand that about Trump**). Second, I was surprised to learn there is one Republican who has not only actually read goodly chunks of the Bible, but understands it well enough to come up with a whole chapter that is extremely pertinent (it was one of his former attrorneys, a Mr. Jacobs, and the chapter was Daniel 6 [which could be differently numbered in the translation used by Catholics – I know that book has some extra stuff in it which is not in the Bible most Protestants use].) Again, I used the recording from the house.gov link here.  And then I goofed around a little and went to bed exhausted.

And – I almost forgot – the email telling me my ballot had been received came in at 11:34 am and the one saying it has been counted came in at 5:35 pm.

Cartoon – 17 Mahal RTL

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – ‘Pack Your Stuff and Get Out of My House,’ Says Patriot Front Member’s Mom
Quote – Amsden said that after her son was released from jail, he told her he’d continue to stand with the group, so she delivered an ultimatum. “I told him, ‘Well, then you can’t live here. You can choose between Patriot Front and your family.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I can’t quit Patriot Front.’ I’m like, ‘Well, then you’ve just chosen. So pack your stuff and get out of my house.’”
Click through for background. Old saying: “desperate times require desperate measures.” This must break her heart (I assume he doesn’t have one) – but I don’t see what else she could have done.

Wonkette – CNN’s New Boss Remaking Network Into Centrist Safe Space For Republicans
Quote – Licht will give existing talent “a chance to prove they’re willing to uphold the network’s values so that they don’t tarnish CNN’s journalism brand.” If they can’t adjust, they’ll presumably join Chris Cuomo on the unemployment line. Axios specifically mentions Jim Acosta and Brian Stelter as being under the partisan microscope[.]
Click through for more. Personally, I would trade Chuck Todd for Acosta in a heartbeat – but I’m not in a position to.

Food For Thought

Share
 Older Entries  Newer Entries