Donald Trump** – Page 22

Open Thread for January 13, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:57 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 132022

Yesterday, like the day before, I tried to be laid back (and pretty well succeeded.) Sometimes, I just need to do that for a few days when I’ve had too many things to think about, so the mental spinning has a chance to stop, or at least slow down. But I did make the FFT (I want to stress that when I have to insert something that isn’t square, I’m not terribly good at it. I think if I had something more like a pen and less like a mouse to hold, I might do better – but maybe not.) At least it gets the point across.

Cartoon – 13 Dreyfus Loaded

Short Takes –

Comic Sands (a George Takei site) – Houston High School Teacher Charged After Infected Son Is Found In Trunk Of Car At Testing Site
Quote – [41-year-old Sarah] Beam reportedly kept her son in the car because he had tested positive for Covid-19. Beam wanted to isolate herself from him on the way to the testing site where she was planning on having him get tested again. The high school educator decided the trunk was the best place to put her son.
Click through for more. Yes, you read that right. SMH.

PolitiZoom – WATCH: Eric Trump, Trump Lawyer Run To Fox and Newsmax Right After Maddow Bombshell. What Do They Know That We Don’t?
Quote: Here’s what happened in just a few hours on Monday the 10th. Come, let us reason together, as LBJ used to say. First, Rachel Maddow announced that Donald Trump’s lawyers have met in person with the District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia. Then Trump’s lawyer showed up on Newsmax and her villain du jour is Letitia James [NY], not Fani Willis [Fulton County]..
Click through for more backgrounsd and even a couple of videos. Rachel reminds us Of TFG’s December 18 rant, calling Democrats in the juducial systems, state and Federal, “thugs who just want to lock people up.” She postulates That that rant and the meeting of his lawyers with Fulton County are related. She may well be right.

The 19th – Lawsuits, complaints and protests are upending sexist school dress codes
Quote – “All of those girls are being framed as dangerous and as disruptive to the ‘peaceful’ learning environment,” said Shauna Pomerantz, author of “Girls, Style and School Identities: Dressing the Part” and associate professor of child and youth studies at Brock University in Ontario, Canada. “It’s a ridiculous idea to think that [editing] these pictures is going to somehow change the culture of the school. If anything, that kind of action is going to enhance rape culture in any school, and it’s going to give people the message that girls are asking for trouble if they show their cleavage.”
Click through for details and more examples.. “Dress codes” are generally written with the underlying assumptions that “boys will be boys” so girls have to hide their bodies to prevent rape But many dress codea are also racist. Natural black hair is often prohibited, and some articles of clothing which are fashionable in the black community are assumed to be “gang symbols.” This may not be the most obvious issue in a country which ia at risk of losing democracy, but it is an issue which dehumanizes people (some people, rather, at the expense of others) and does not lead to the most hmentally healthy adults.

Food For Thought:

Open Thread for January 10, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:21 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 102022

Yesterday, I didn’t get much done. I did some clearing of my desk, but you wouldn’t know it to look at it. I lost some time because there was a phone outage, and I thought I must have done something wrong witth the modem, and it took me a while to realize it wasn’t me. So I ended up staying up a bit late. Oh, well.

Cartoon (also applies to today’s GOp platform) –

Short Takes –

Daily Kos (Aysha Qamar) ‘Huge loss for the community’: Police say Planned Parenthood building fire was intentional
Quote – The fire comes after another incident of hate toward the center in January 2021 during which someone fired a shotgun at the doors of the clinic, shattering the glass and peppering the reception area with holes, the Associated Press reported. In that incident too, the clinic was closed and unoccupied. What’s worse is the incident took place on the anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade case. The recent arson incident comes at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case that could possibly overturn the landmark precedent.
Click through for full story. Or at least, as full as it can be. There is no suspect yet.

New Mexico – State prisons outsource personal mail to inmates to Florida firm, causing concern for some
Quote – Eric Harrison, public information officer for the Department of Corrections, told NM Political Report turnaround time is currently 48 hours for inmates to receive personal mail that the correction facility currently inspects for contraband. He said that when the incoming mail becomes outsourced to Securus Technologies in February, the incoming mail will still be given to inmates in “the same time frame we’re seeing now.”
Click through for differing views. I can tell you the reason they are doing this – it’s the same reason all rules exist – it’s bedause there are always jerks who ruin things for the rest of us. There are jerks who would happily soak paper in drugs befor writing on it and mailing it, so that an inmate can swallow pieces of it and get high. Heck, I’d bet my last pension payment that there are people who would cough on their letters before sending them — even if they knew they had CoViD – in the name of “personal contact.” Even a lipsticked lip print on a letter could be dangerous. Cruel I grant that it is. Ridiculous it is not.

Washinton Post – New York fire that killed 19 likely began with space heater, fire chief says
Quote – Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who represents the Bronx, said that the country has a “crisis” in housing maintenance and that many of the buildings in his area lack basic fire safety equipment, such as fire alarms in every apartment and stairwells with self-closing doors. City housing code requires self-closing doors to slow the spread of fire and smoke from one unit to the rest of an apartment. “There is often a disconnect between the requirements of the law and the actual living conditions of these buildings,” Torres said.
Click through if you aren’t paywalled out. I really don’t have words. I believe Toeers is a caring person. I can’t help but wonder what hice voice sounded like as he used the word “disconnect.”

Food For Thought:

Video Thread 1/6/2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:48 am Open Thread, Politics

Jan 062022

Glenn Kirschner – Bipartisan Jan. 6 Committee Investigates Trump w/Clear-Eyed Determination and Purpose of Mission

Meidas Touch – Michael Cohen recalls when Trump offered up Don Jr. for prison over Ivanka (you may have seen this information in print)

The Lincoln Project – Navarro

Don Winslow – #DonaldTrumpLovesAntifa (TeeHee)

No Dem Left Behind – Richard Ojeda on the Trump Crime Family

Vote Vets – Brig.Gen.(Ret.) Steven Anderson On ‘CBS Sunday Morning’ Discussing Ongoing Insurrection Threat

Beau – Let’s talk about how the US and China’s contest will end….

Video Thread 1/3/2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:11 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jan 032022

Glenn Kirschner – 2021: The Year of Donald Trump’s Big Lie. 2022 Will be the Year of The Big Truth.

Meidas Touch – Michael Cohen draws parallels between ‘Succession’ and the Trump family

Armageddon Update | 2021 Year In Review

Robert Reich – 2021: A Year Defined by Worker Power

PBS – Photojournalists share the stories behind images that defined 2021

NBC – New State Laws To Be Enforced In 2022

Beau – Let’s talk about next year’s news cycles….

Open Thread for January 3, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 032022

Yesterday, I kind of piddled around, pulled out the next sweater I intend to wear to visit Virg and Jewelry to go with (I may wear one weddig or wedding-type ring and one religious pendant inside, and I like to take earringd along to put into my ears when I leave to keep the piercing open) – took out some recyclables (There is room now, it got picked up), found where all the old comments are and figured out how to get to a particular page – checked what os low in the kitchen freezer and moved things from the porch freezer to re-stock – glued some cord ends onto cords – did a little knitting – downloaded some free patterns (with no clear projects in mind, I just liked some ideas) – did a little gaming – just small stuff.

Cartoon –

Short Takes

Politico – FDIC’s GOP chair to resign after partisan brawl
Quote – Earlier this month, the Democratic majority on the FDIC’s board voted to take public feedback on potential changes to the agency’s bank merger approval process. McWilliams did not participate in the vote, and the FDIC in an official statement said the action was not valid. A legal debate ensued over whether a majority of the board can put items up for a vote without the consent of the chair, with Democrats maintaining they had clear authority.
Click through for details. So, now we’ll have a Democratic chair (at least for a while). In what universe canthe top dog invalidate a vote by simply not voting when everyone else does vote? If that isn’t autocracy, I don’t know what is. Even BBM couldn’t get away with that.

Daily Kos – Adhara Pérez, 10, has a higher IQ than Einstein and Hawking. She has her sights set on NASA
Quote – When she was just 5, Pérez finished elementary school. At 6 she finished middle school, and at 8 she finished high school. Today, she’s studying two careers online—Industrial engineering in mathematics at UNITEC and systems engineering at CNCI. The University of Arizona has offered her a scholarship.
Click through for story. Of course it’s a story not without bullying in it. But there seem to be enough people in her corner now to provide her some protection. I hope.

The Guardian – Capitol attack: Cheney says Republicans must choose between Trump and truth
Quote – Cheney told CBS the blame lay squarely with her own party. “Far too many Republicans are trying to enable the former president, embrace the former president or look the other way and hope that the former president goes away, or trying to obstruct the activities of this committee, but we won’t be deterred. At the end of the day, the facts matter, the truth matters.”
Click through. I really do hope they don’t kill her.

Food For Thought: