Jan 032025
 

Yesterday, I expect everyone knows that a couple of Cybertrucks were uses in incidents in which people were injured or killed or both. There’s a lot of speculation, but what appears to have been confirmed is that the two drivers – a white man from Colorado Springs who drove the truck to Las Vegas, NV, and a black man from Houston who drove the truck to New Orleans, rented the trucks, both from the same company online, Truro (or Turo – I didn’t verify which was correct.) We need not to jump to conclusions. In better news, my state’s Attorney General, Phil Weiser, announced that he is running for Governor. That’s good news, and gave me some hope. I’d been worried about that since our current Governor is term limited out, and I couldn’t think of anyone else who had the necessary visibility who hadn’t already served (and been term limited.) Phil has a real chance, and, while I’m now worried about the Attorney General position, I feel this is more important.

As a non-subscriber to Crooks and Liars, I find it difficult to read their stuff. And this particular one I wanted to save, since it has a lot of advice I’ll want to keep on hand, at least for the next four years – including a few Substacks (and I remind you that you can subscribe to any of those for free). I didn’t want to print it, even just to a PDF, so I used Ctrl A followed by Ctrl C to copy everything – then Ctrl V to put it into a Notepad file, and deleted everything before and after it (in simple text, it isn’t hard to tell when it starts and stops. If y’all subscribe, you shouldn’t need to do that. But it works for me.

Robert Reich could easily have written this years ago. It’s too bad he didn’t. Not that it would have changed much except a few people’s minds, and people not powerful enough to change much at that.

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Jan 012025
 

Yesterday, my prediction was not wrong – I received well over 200 emails (180 just by noon.) The number I actually had to open, however, was about the same  as usual – between 40 and 50. I managed to deal with them. A few were unexpected. Otherwise the day was pretty calm. Which is fine with me. Every day being calm is my idea of living my best life.

Harry Litman of Talking Feds addresses the development of disagreement going on in the Republican Party, particularly in the Trump** administration (including potential administration if he can get them confirmed, which doesn’t look like a certainty – although any of the current rogues’ gallery of nominees is too many.) My feeling is that, since I don’t see how we can look for anything positive from (or under) this administration, the best we can hope for from is “presidency” is nothing at all. I would think internal feuding would make that increasingly likely – so I just hope they all eat each others’ faces.

The headline post from The F* News – “Sanders Calls Trump’s Bluff” is already promising, and does not disappoint. But there’s also more in the post. Read as much as you like. Not bad for a slow news day.

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Dec 302024
 

Yesterday, we lost one of the only two Presidents (of my lifetime – because I wasn’t the ones before that through good chunks of their lives. I have thoughts but no evidence.) whose entire lives were marked by a deep love of, and an equally deep commitment to, pure goodness. I’m just not able to process it yet. Nameless, however, has posted an In Memoriam – you’re on the home page just scroll down one post, and if you are on the page which allows comments, go back one post with the direction under the comments section. (And, after that, do whatever you did one more time to read a new  “Sound Off” by Freya.  I’ll try to send a letter out but don’t know whether I’ll be able to. As nearly as I can tell, he died while Virgil and I were playing cribbage (and enjoying it immensely.) I don’t believe he would have minded that one little bit.)

I do wish Robert Reich would take a look at The Political Compass. Yes, I realize everything is linked – but for those of us not as smart as Robert (and I am certainly one), looking at them all at once is distracting. And, frankly, the pictures help. I would have no problem to adding civic morality to economic systems and government style to make a three dimensional graph – which I guess Windows can now do that. (Adding personal morality would alienate far too many Americans.) Also, I disagree with myth #11. I’m afraid that one’s true. I grant they may not have been ignorant before they started following Trump** – but having done so for eight or nine years – they are ignorant now.

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Christmas is over, but Hannukah continues, Kwanzaa has begun, and New Year’s Day awaits. So it’s still the holiday season. (And Robert Hubbell also has a surprise holiday gift in the astrophotography today.)

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Dec 282024
 

Yesterday was another day I didn’t do much. I enjoy being idle, but I’d also like to get more done. Oh well, if I don’t, then I’m the one who has to live with it.

Robert Reich – the reich on the left – is right. How right is he? So right that I feel the need to emphasize it by meming a quote from it for today’s cartoon.

Christmas Eve is past, but, as Joyce Vance points out, this is too important to ignore. I suspect some (not here, but elsewhere) may be thinking that at least he’s turning his crazy on someone besides us. But at a veteran, I have to point our that out military IS us – and when you include the families and colleagues and friends in whose circles veterans, active duty military, and those now considering enlisting live, that involves a lot of us.

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 16: Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich testifies before the Joint Economic Committee January 16, 2014 in Washington, DC. Reich joined a panel testifying on the topic of “Income Inequality in the United States.Ó (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Dec 252024
 

Yesterday, I considered starting a crockpot, but decided against it. Instead, I did a little knitting – very little and not really necessary, just a short flurry of mild OCD. But nonetheless satisfying.

I’m not thrilled to be sharing negative news on Christmas – but it won’t hurt to know a little more about the Georgia case, from Harry Litman at Talking Feds.

If you have been wishing for a recipe for a holiday cookie (I say holiday because her family celebrates both Christmas and Hanukkah, and I’m not sure which tradition this comes from. I suspect Hanukkah but could be wrong), Joyce Vance has you covered. They sound quite decadent. I can figure out a substitute I could use for the flour that I could have, but, although I’ve been collecting information on egg substitutes, I’m not sure about that one. Also, there’s no need to go to the linked article she recommends, since I’ll be using it tomorrow.

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Dec 232024
 

Yesterday, Trinette came by and took out my trash and recycling (for once I had more trash than recycling), changed a light bulb, brought me a Christmas card, and then we chatted. It’s always so good to visit with her.

Rebecca Schoenkopf, the original (and current owner and publisher of) Wonkette, is pissed. And I believe rightly so. Elon Musk claims to support free speech – and means “as long as you agree with him.” Substack actually practices free speech – by not censoring or in any observable way even suggesting they might have an opinion on subject matter produced by a Substacker otherwise eligible, and now this. Rebecca puts it better than I would (and not only because the knows more in the subject from the inside – she’s also a better writer.) It would not surprise me if Substack were very soon to become the main source for people to get their – without their needing to distinguish fact from fiction – because anyone can pick and choose to whom they will subscribe – and there’s very full range. And it’s free. Sure, you can gat a paid subscription and get some extras – but you don’t have to. I have six free subscriptions, not counting the subscriptions to Wonkette, Talking Points Memo, and others who post as groups rather than as individuals), and it doesn’t cost me a dime. Read or skim Rebecca’s rant and see what you think.

Wolves and Sheep is a Substack which I don’t subscribe to, but Chris Bowers, who is connected with it, has started sending me newsletters of his own, and one of them included this, and I found it worth sharing. It really would be terrible if Democrats, buth elected and unelected, started acting like Republicans. I question whether life would even be worth living were that to happen. That said, that doesn’t mean we can’t take some tips.

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Dec 212024
 

Yesterday, Steve Schmidt had this to say about Elon Musk. It’s short, and it’s painfully humorous, as only dumb-criminal-level stupidity can be. So I’m throwing it in as an extra. Also the Talking Points Memo compared Congress to pro wrestling.  Happy Solstice to all who celebrate!

 

As Heather Cox Richardson points out, last Monday, actual President Joe Biden designated a new national monument in honor of Frances Perkins, secretary of labor under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She deserves it. Much of what FDR achieved was due to her ideas and her pushing for them. Almost everything which os keeping us alive (certainly what is keeping me alive) was her concept and promoted by her. Every human being in America should rejoice at her getting a National Monument. Sadly, too many white men (no, not all not by a long shot, but still way too many) are doing their best to make themselves inhuman in the name of “masculinity.”

This article from Lawfare was referred to me by Talking Points Memo. I’m sharing it because it addresses my own biggest worries about a second Trump** administration, and that is that we are going to lose some battles, and it’s not predictable which battles they are going to be. And a big part of that is because we are going to have to pick the hills we are willing to die on. And that is at least in part because there are only 100 Senators, and only about half of them are Democrats. Steve Schmidt for one is saying we must fight hard against everything, and he is not alone. And I would love to be able to do that – but it simply is not going to be possible.

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Dec 192024
 

Yesterday, I saw yet another reference to Mike Johnson as a Christian with no quotation marks or query mark or qualification (for example, MAGA.) In my lifetime I’ve read a lot of literature from a lot of periods, and, at least in the first half of the 20th century, people had no problem using the word “soi-disant” when someone’s claims were questionable. Yes, it’s French, and the basic meaning is “They say they are [whatever], but it’s not provable from their conduct.” The closest English term is “self-styled.” But I haven’t heard or seen either term for decades. And yet, there are just as many imposters, if not more, even percentage-wise, as there were in the early 1900s. When did being tolerant and accepting turn into being mealy-mouthed? Justice, including social justice, still needs truth in order to function properly. [End of rant.]

I have never been a fan of Rahm Emanuel. But I do believe humans are capable of learning (that they choose not to doesn’t mean they couldn’t if they chose to), and if Steve Schmidt says Emanuel has learned a lot, I’m willing to listen (actually, to read, but the principle is the same.) And I have to admit it’s interesting.

From Heather Cox Richardson, another reminder that there used to be Republicans who were not moronic or insane. Who actually cared about public health. Who actually did something about it. It hasn’t always been like this.

Belle foreign policy

Dog

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