Aug 142021
 

So yesterday I attempted to get my new noise generator up and running … and coudn’t get a peep outof it. So I fired off an email to customer service. In the eantime, the travel size works just fine. As far as weather – we’ve been hotter – but our air quality is the pits. We are a large, smoke-filled room. I’m staying in, thanks.

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Short Takes –

The Hill – Census shows US growth driven by minorities; white pop falls under 60 percent
Quote – A part of that decrease comes as a result of a new effort by the Census Bureau to measure the number of people who identify as multiracial, a population that skyrocketed over the last decade. But much of the drop in the white population, experts and demographers said, stems from an aging demographic that is producing fewer children later in life. “Whites, no matter how you count them, declined since 2010,” said William Frey, a senior demographer at the Brookings Institution.
Click through for exact numbers and ramifications. I consider this to be excellent news, but you know you can hear RWNJ heads exploding all over.

HuffPost – 3 Former Cops Charged In Wrongful Conviction That Sent A Man To Prison For 25 Years
Quote – It is exceedingly rare for law enforcement officials to face criminal prosecution in relation to their roles in wrongful convictions. But reviewing wrongful convictions has been a key agenda item for Krasner, one of the leaders of the progressive prosecutor movement. In 2018, his office created the Conviction Integrity Unit, which has helped secure exonerations for 22 people. At least 18 of the exonerated were Black men. The detectives charged on Friday worked on at least four of the cases that the Conviction Integrity Unit has helped overturn.
Click through for details, including (trigger warning) description of initial interrogation and also the Grand Jury findings document. This is why I actually sent money to Krasner’s campaign. Not much, but some. Oh, and there’s a little video too.

Reuters – U.S. Homeland Security warns fresh COVID-19 restrictions could spark violent attacks
Quote – In an interview with CNN, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said his department considered domestic violent extremists to constitute “the greatest terrorist-related threat to our homeland.” He said the Department was seeing expressions of extremism fueled by “false narratives” and “ideologies of hate.” U.S. Representative Bennie Thompson, chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, welcomed the DHS warning but said it was “troubling that the terrorism threat increasingly is based on grievance-based violence and conspiracy theories, especially related to the election and former President Trump.”
Click through. Dam right they “could” (read “will.” They won’t be happy unless they can kill all of us – but they’ll settle for any of us (and even some of themselves.) Here’s just one example. 

Food for Thought –

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Aug 132021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Part 2 of My Conversation w/Rep. Eric Swalwell: Is Accountability on the Horizon for Trump & Company  (If anyone is a member of YouTube and wants to leave a suggestion in a coment there,  – Adam Schiff.  Val Demings.  Jamie Raskin.  Ted lieu.  And of Course others.  The delegate from USVI – is her name Stacie Plaskett?)

Christo Alvalis – Judge Calls Trump a DIRTY ROTTEN LIAR in Court

The Lincoln Project – Back to School

Now This News – Jen Psaki Takes on GOP Debt Ceiling Talking Points

This video was made for the Democrat running to unseat him. But that doesn’t mean it’s purely partisan. There’s good, strong evidence behind it.

Drew Morgan – Social Media Coach

Beau – Let’s talk about hurricanes and vaccines….

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Aug 122021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Is the FBI/DOJ Criminally Investigating Donald Trump? Here’s Why the Answer is Almost Certainly YES! (I guess the rest of the Swalwell interview must wait.)

Meidas Touch – We heard about this, but we had not seen video here. Well, here it is …

Now This News – AOC Reveals January 6 Sexual Assault Fears

Grab Your Engorged Hose! LAFD Training Is Dirty – more on Titus’s sister (self-described badass

Ring of Fire – Former Trump FDA Official Gets Schooled For Saying Being Unvaccinated Doesn’t Hurt Anyone

“Belugas are the trolls of the sea.” I wouldn’t blame a beluga sturgeon for trolling, but we don’t steal the beluga whale’s babies for caviar. Maybe it’s a form of solidarity, however.

Beau – Let’s talk about Rand Paul needing a remedial civics lesson….

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Aug 122021
 

Yesterday it was cooler again.That and tha fact I went into it with more and better sleep than i have been getting lately ade it a good day right from the start. And then, I filled up the Short Takes quite early and even have a head start on tomorrow. So I spent some quality time untangling tangled yarns /s. OK, that really isn’t quality time … but it’s good to have it done.

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Short Takes –

Second Nexus – Dems Hilariously Troll GOP Senator by Unanimously Voting for His Petty Infrastructure Amendment
Quote – Once the bill was brought to debate, the first amendment offered came from Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, who proceeded to rail against the Green New Deal—an ambitious climate policy overhaul championed by progressives as the only viable option to significantly curb the climate crisis…. [Bernie] Sanders told Barrasso: “As a supporter of the Green New Deal, I have no problem voting for this amendment because it has nothing to do with the Green New Deal.”
Click through for giggles. This is from George Takei, though it may have been published elsewhere.

The 19th – Cuomo’s exit puts two women in New York’s highest offices
Quote – Lt. Gov Kathy Hochul will soon become New York’s first woman governor, ushering in a historic first for women’s political leadership at the state level. New York state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins is next in line to replace Hochul as lieutenant governor. She would be the first Black woman to serve in the role in New York — and her appointment to the position would mark the first time in U.S. history that a state has been led by a woman governor and a woman lieutenant governor. Stewart-Cousins was already the first woman Senate majority leader in the state’s history.
Click through for story. Talk about unintended consequences (which apparently aren’t always bad). Who knew Andy Borowitz was a prophet (in the colloquial sense)?

Crooks and liars – YouTube Suspends Rand Paul For 7 Days Over Mask Disinfo
Quote – Senator Rand Paul, who has already had COVID, used an online video to attack Dr. Fauci and all CDC guidelines regarding masks. That got him kicked off YouTube for a week.
Click through for the rest. I guess after you suspend a former President, suspending a Senator comes easier. (Also, Marjorie’s off Twitter for a week.)

Food for Thought –

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Aug 112021
 

Yesterday I was kind of bleary, because my portable noise generator, though it worked, didn’t last all night. (However, I did learn valuable information about what to do differently – found out it does run on house power and how to make that happen.) And the new one should come before the weekend (and it will run on house power.)

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Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – USPS Board Won’t Quit DeJoy — Or His Disastrous Plan
Quote – The arrangement, amazingly, was cleared by ethics officials the Postal Service according to a previously unknown inspector general report requested by lawmakers. He filed all the right paperwork, according to the IG. That doesn’t mean there’s anything that doesn’t stink about this. (DeJoy, however, remains under investigation by the FBI for his political contributions and company activities involving XPO.)
Click through for probably more than you wanted to know. Very little is good about this. However, President Biden’s latest nominee to the Board was just confirmed yesterday and that should help,

The Hill – The 19 GOP senators who voted for the $1T infrastructure bill
Quote – The passage of the bill comes just before Democrats take up a budget resolution that greenlights their ability to pass a separate $3.5 trillion spending plan, packed with the party’s top priorities, later this year without GOP votes. No Republicans are expected to support the budget resolution or the subsequent spending package, which is unlikely to get voted on before late September.
Click through for complete list. Don’t forget there’s another infrastructure bill in the House, and that Reconciliation will be invoked. This $1T bill is not the one we want (and we may not get the one we want, but we can expect to get closer to what we want than this.) Also, as Lona pointed out, this vote is going to go to Manchin’s head. It shouldn’t. These Senators are voting for it because they know something good is going to pass and they want to be able to claim credit.

HuffPost – Pentagon Issues COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate For All U.S. Military Members
Quote – Austin’s decision reflects similar moves by governments and companies around the world, as nations struggle with the highly contagious delta variant that has sent new U.S. cases, hospitalizations and deaths surging to heights not seen since last winter. The concerns are especially acute in the military, where service members live and work closely together in barracks and on ships, increasing the risks of rapid spreading. Any large virus outbreak in the military could affect America’s ability to defend itself in any security crisis.
Click through for story. If, like me, you were wondering what they were waitin for – it was FDA approval. But they decided it was too important to wait any longer (with which I concur – for what that’s worth.)

Food for Thought –

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Aug 102021
 

Yesterday I got my grocery delivery and put all the perishables away – probably today I’ll put away the toilet paper and glue, and the bottled beverages. If I have room. I also placed an order for a new noise generator, because the one I have has been, for the last couple of nights, starting and stopping unpredictably which interferes with my sleep.  I’m aware it may not be the machine but the cord – but I can’t check that out without moving my mattress and I haven’t felt up to that. Besides, they are not terribly pricey. I just got a class action settlement which will cover it twice over (and you know how skimpy they are LOL.)

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Short Takes –

Reuters – Prehistoric cave paintings in Spain show Neanderthals were artists
Quote – Pigments were made in the caves at different times up to 15,000 and 20,000 years apart, the study found, and dispel an earlier suggestion that they were the result of a natural oxide flow rather than being man-made. “The importance is that it changes our attitude towards Neanderthals. They were closer to humans. Recent research has shown they liked objects, they mated with humans and now we can show that they painted caves like us,” he said.
Click through for story.   I always like to stick up for the Neanderthalers. I’m convinced our worst traits as a species are not from them, but from ourselves.

Former Acting A.G. Jeffrey Rosen May Be Trump’s John Dean
Quote – Following the closed-door testimony, Senator Blumenthal stated that Rosen “discussed previously reported incidents, including his interactions with Mr. Clark, with the Senate Judiciary Committee. He called Mr. Rosen’s account ‘dramatic evidence of how intent Trump was in overthrowing the election.'” Additionally, Senator Blumenthal said that Rosen “presented new facts and evidence that led him to believe that the committee would need to answer ‘profound and important questions’ about the roles that individuals in Mr. Trump’s orbit played in the effort to undermine the peaceful transition of power.”
Click through for train of thought. Of course it’s pure speculation, at best an educated guess. But it would be nice.

LA Times – Why are vaccination rates so low? We found the worst county in each state and asked the politicians
Quote – Among the mayors who supported vaccination, the dominant sentiment was that they had done all they could to raise the rates and were never going to succeed.
Click through if you like, The response rate was low, and those who answered, asnwered exactly as you would expect. But the chart is interesting. I had to turn off my ad blocker, so I put the chart into a Word documebt (and I can make a pdf from it in seconds if that is preferred) and can send it easily.

Food for Thought – I like the way he conceptualizes.

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Aug 092021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Justice Matters Recap of the Legal Stories of July 2021: Trump’s Election Conspiracy Unravels

Meidas Touch – Malcolm Kenyatta SLAMS the Unhinged Radical Right: “Stupid is as Stupid Does”

MSNBC – ‘A Complete Betrayal’: January 6 Responders Not Willing To ‘Just Move On’

Now This News – Farmers in Senegal Plant Drought-Resistant, Circular Gardens (May The Force Be With Them)

Puppet Regime – The Real Star of the Tokyo Olympics

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, kingmaker of the Republican party…. (It’s over now … but there were several primaries and I’m not sure which one Beau was thinking about. If it was the 15th, Trump’s pick did win.)

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Aug 082021
 

Yesterday Iit was a little warmer, but not too bad. I just kind of took things slow and easy as much as I could.

Cartoon –

Short Takes

The Hill – Supreme Court decision could set off gerrymandering ‘arms race’
Quote – To be sure, the courts will continue to have a role to play in the looming redistricting fight. At the federal level, for instance, it remains illegal to carry out gerrymanders based on race. According to Parsons, however, state lawmakers will be particularly careful to frame their map drawing as motivated by party interest, as a way to side-step federal litigation. “In the wake of Rucho I expect many states will pack districts quite aggressively and explicitly argue that they are doing so based on partisan affiliation and not race,” he said.
Click through for deets and implications. This is not good. And saying, “Hopefully, Congress accepts that invitation before it’s too late” is not helpful. The House has written and passed the For The People Act which would address this. The Senate will not allow it to move forward – barring a miracle. So let’s not blame “Congress.” More than half of the states have some legislative or costitutional protection which could challenge attempts to gerrymander (or preclude them before they start) – but it only needs a few heavily gerrymandered states to poison the entire House and/or Senate. Ballotpedia and the National Council of State Legislatures have state-by-state information if anyone wants to check their own state.

The Week – The USPS awarded a $120 million contract to a company with financial ties to the postmaster general
Quote – “There’s no question he’s continuing to profit from a Postal Service contractor,” said Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Even if DeJoy complies with legal requirements, Canter added “it does create an appearance issue about whether it’s in his financial interest to continue to make policy that would benefit contractors like XPO.”
Click through for story.

CBS News – Florida breaks record for new daily Covid cases for third time this week
Quote – “This is real. And it didn’t have to be this bad,” Nikki Fried, Florida’s commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, tweeted Saturday. “We need everyone to do their part — #GetVaccinatedNow & #MaskUp. If not for yourself, for your friends, family, and neighbors. For our kids. For our doctors & nurses. For Florida.”
Click through for more info. You will be happy to know (even though it means he’ll be missig here) that our Mitch is outta there for a bit under a week (and having fun.)

Food for Thought –

 

 

 

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