Open Thread April 6, 2022

 Posted by at 7:30 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 062022
 

Yesterday, our spring winds started. So did the spring fund drive of my reguar radio station (I’m sure there’s no connection), so I switched over to the one in Denver. Colorado Springs is not seeing any precipitation, nor is Denver (which, though it’s not warm, is having a red flag fire danger day, while up in the mountains there is a winter storm warning, and about 50 miles north a ski area is closed. At least out governor is well aware that climate change is a thing, but there is a limit to what he can do, and so much damage has already been done. Sure, at this altitude we don’t have o worry about sea level rise, but that is far from the only consequence.

Cartoon 06 0406Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – Why Biden’s plan to tax the super rich is moving from unlikely to likely, and why it’s really really important
Quote – Last week Joe Biden unveiled two tax proposals that would revive Teddy Roosevelt’s original vision, and could possibly slow or even reverse America’s march toward oligarchy: (1) a minimum income tax that Biden calls a billionaire tax but would in reality apply to households with a net worth of $100 million or more, and (2) a separate tax at death on gains from appreciated assets, even if the assets are not sold. The odds are growing that at least one of these proposals will get through the Senate in April or May via “reconciliation” requiring only a bare majority (i.e., all fifty Democratic senators plus the vice president). I’m told Joe Manchin is mostly on board (which means the other Democratic holdout, Kyrsten Sinema, will sign on as well).
Click through for the full essay, including some cartoons. I do hope his analysis is correct (not his analysis of the economy, we know that’s correct, but his analysis of the bills’ chances.)

Crooks and Liars – Fox Viewers Paid To Watch CNN Changed Their Minds After 30 Days
Quote – The results: Not only did CNN and Fox cover different things during the September 2020 survey period, but the audience of committed Fox viewers, which started the month with conservative predispositions, changed their minds on many issues.
Click through for methodology and result numbers, as well as a link to the Washington Post story. This may be the absolute best news of the year.  Now if we can only figure out how to use it.

Mother Jones – What Can Indigenous Worldviews Bring to Space Exploration? As It Turns Out, a Lot.
Quote – Language and thought have influenced SETI and science writ large, said Rebecca Charbonneau, a historian at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. During Europe’s Scientific Revolution, the philosopher Francis Bacon described nature as something to be subjugated, she said: “a thing for mankind, in his words, to control. And that’s kind of formed the basis for the way we think about science.”
Click through for thoughtful analysis. If there is carbon-based life (and/or non-carbon-based life – possibly even more important) anywhere we are likely to reach. this kind of thinking is an absolute necessity As good as we are at self-sabotage, however, I’m not convinced we can get there.

Food For Thought:

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Video Thread 4/5/22

 Posted by at 11:42 am  Open Thread, Politics
Apr 052022
 

Glenn Kirschner – NYT: President Biden says Trump is “a Danger to Democracy” and “Should be Prosecuted”

The Lincoln Project – Genocide

Meidas Touch – Trump’s Fake News Rally FACT-CHECKED in real time!

American Bridge – Ron DeSanits: At War with the LGBTQ Community

Ojeda Live – Republicans and Their Aversion to Education

SNL Cold Open 4/2/22

Beau – Let’s talk about some good climate news….

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Open Thread April 4, 2022

 Posted by at 6:46 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 042022
 

Yesterday, I actually managed to place a grocery order in themorning and schedule it for this evening.  And it actually came a little after six (I asked fror a window from 6-8) and by 8 I hadeverything that neded to be put away, put awat.  And no substitutes.  A couple of things missing or shorted, and the dishwashing liquid leaked over a bunch of things, but didn’t actually destroy anything, just made them icky to put away.

Cartoon 04 MLK loaded

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Fortenberry, Convicted Liar And Thin-skinned Bully, Resigns
Quote – Nebraska Republican Congressman Jeff Fortenberry is a convicted liar who has now resigned. Good. But he has never been held accountable for abusing the power of his office to hunt down and threaten the jobs of people who criticized him with a joke. You might remember his Chief of Staff made national news for threatening a state university professor for LIKING a Facebook post of a sign calling him Fartenberry.
Click through for more. While he heeds to be held accountable (and probably won’t) for his bullying, this is still good news. One down, 193 (or thereabouts) to go.

Letters from an American – March 31, 2022
Quote – Today, Judge Mark E. Walker of the Federal District Court in Tallahassee, Florida, struck down much of the new elections law passed by the Florida legislature after the 2020 election. This is the first time a federal court has sought to overrule the recent attempts of Republican-dominated state legislatures to rig the vote, and Walker made thorough work of it…. “This case is about our sacred right to vote,” Walker wrote, “won at great cost in blood and treasure. Courts have long recognized that, because “the right to exercise the franchise in a free and unimpaired manner is preservative of other basic civil and political rights, any alleged infringement of the right of citizens to vote must be carefully and meticulously scrutinized.”
Click through for story and sources. While we can’t depend on this not being appeales, not on keeping the ground gained if it’s appealed, it is still hopeful. Heather, BTW, has been on a roll. I’ll be sharing more of her in the next few days.

CPR – CU Boulder to host UN human rights summit on climate change
Quote – The University of Colorado Boulder will host a global climate summit in partnership with UN Human Rights. Thought leaders attending the gathering will examine climate change as a human rights crisis. CU Chancellor Phil DiStefano talked about the “Right Here, Right Now Global Climate Summit” in front of alumni and students in Washington, D.C. earlier this week. The idea for the summit came out of the UN climate change conference that took place in Glasgow last year.
Click through for story. This kind of thing is why Colorado MAGAts refer to the city of Boulder as “the People’s Republic of Boulder,” which certainly says at least as much about them as it does about Bloulder.

Food For Thought:

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Open Thread March 19, 2022

 Posted by at 6:49 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 192022
 

Yesterday, I had not slept terribly well, and kept nodding off. I did accomplish a little knitting, but not much, and not much else either.

Cartoon 

Short Takes –

Rolling Stone – Manchin’s Coal Corruption Is So Much Worse Than You Knew
Quote – At this point in human evolution, burning coal for power is one of the stupidest things humans do. Coal plants are engines of destruction, not progress. Thanks to the rapid evolution of clean energy, there are many better, cheaper, cleaner ways to power our lives. The only reason anyone still burns coal today is because of the enormous political power and inertia that the industry has acquired since the 19th century. In America, that power and inertia is embodied in the cruel and cartoonish character of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who, paradoxically, may have more control over the trajectory of the climate crisis than any other person on the planet right now
Click through for details – lots of details and links to more. But right now we really don’t have a choice. This is why it is SO important to gain a REAL majority in the Senate as soon as possible.

The New Yorker (Jill Lepore) – Why the School Wars Still Rage
Quote – A century later, the battle over public education that afflicted the nineteen-twenties has started up again, this time over the teaching of American history. Since 2020, with the murder of George Floyd and the advance of the Black Lives Matter movement, seventeen states have made efforts to expand the teaching of one sort of history, sometimes called anti-racist history, while thirty-six states have made efforts to restrict that very same kind of instruction…. While all this has been happening, I’ve been working on a U.S.-history textbook, so it’s been weird to watch lawmakers try their hands at writing American history, and horrible to see what the ferment is doing to public-school teachers.
Click through for story. Besides the “new” stuff, evolution is still a bone of contention. Teachers in the line of fire are very visible – but my biggest worry is what will happen to America whenit becomes a nation whose citizens know noththing of real history.

Women’s History – Wikipedia – Christine de Pizan
Quote – Venetian by birth, Christine served as a court writer in medieval France after the death of her husband. Christine’s patrons included dukes Louis I of Orleans, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, and his son John the Fearless. Considered to be some of the earliest feminist writings, her work includes novels, poetry, and biography, and she also penned literary, historical, philosophical, political, and religious reviews and analysis. Her best known works include The Book of the City of Ladies and The Treasure of the City of Ladies, both written when she worked for John the Fearless of Burgundy.
Click through for bio. Not only did she write and get published in her own name … but she made a living doing it. That was a first for a woman, as far as we know.

Food For Thought:

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Video Thread 3/15/22

 Posted by at 11:44 am  Open Thread, Politics
Mar 152022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Before Putin’s Illegal War Against Ukraine, There Were Trump’s Crimes Against President Zelensky

Thom Hartmann – Crazy Alert: Did the GOP Really Endorse Killer

No Dem Left Behind – Protect our kids from Religious Right extremists and the GQP!

Sum of Us – BlueTriton is the worst company you’ve never heard of.

Really American – Republicans Dine In Moscow: Party Of Treason

Suibhne – The Animated History of Ukraine (17 Minutes)

Beau – [Two videos about the domino effects of war]

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Video Thread 3/7/22

 Posted by at 11:53 am  Open Thread, Politics
Mar 072022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trial of Insurrectionist Guy Reffitt Went from Bad to Worse: Bad for Reffitt but Good for Justice

Lincoln Project – Biden’s Responce to Tyranny

MSNBC – How To Shield Against Russia’s Cyberattacks

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse – Sen. Whitehouse Delivers Floor Speech on Ending Kleptocracy’s March

Ukrainian Armed Forces “Each of Us” (hanky alert)

Republican Accountability Project – Trump thinks Putin is “smart”. What does that make Trump?

The Late Show – This is only 2 minutes, and ends with an impression of Gollum as Putin which really nails it.

Beau -Let’s talk about the most expensive energy auction in US history….

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Open Thread for February 22, 2022

 Posted by at 7:17 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 222022
 

Today is Twos-day: whether you write it 2/22/2022 or 22/2/2022 or 2022/2/22, it’s more twos than we can expect to see for 200 years (and I for one do not expect to be around.) And, to top it off, it’s also Tuesday. And, yesterday, it was a slow news day. So I just posted two short takes (and two videos on that thread) and took the rest of the day off. If Ukraine explodes, it will have to wait until Wednesday. (Not that you won’t hear about it elsewhere.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Nib – Breathless
Quote – When I moved to Calcutta for college, the second largest and one of the most poluted cities in India, I could not see the stars any more. And I could not breathe. One night I stayed up coughing till the sun rose. The following week I was diagnosed with asthma.
Click through for graphic article. I have been somewhat vaguely aware of how much fighting climate change as an individual depends on having money and health and other privilege. But this brings it home in ways no other medium has done for me.

Black History Month – The New Yorker – Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Quote – Perhaps his most important and lasting role has been as a teacher and an institution builder. Gates arrived at Harvard in 1991, and he swiftly recruited an extraordinary concentration of Black scholarship—William Julius Wilson, Cornel West, Lawrence D. Bobo, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, Suzanne Blier, and others—all while reinvigorating the W. E. B. Du Bois Research Institute, which is now part of the Hutchins Center. Gates proved a dynamo of both intellectual energy and fund-raising finesse.
Click through for full interview. Skip is sometimes called “the Black Ken Burns,” and certainly no one has any better right to tht title. But he is also so much more.

Food For Thought:

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