Feb 022022
 

Today is Twos-day (although we have an even bigger one coming on the 22nd.) Yesterday, I got the emails in TC’s PP email inbox down below 6000, which took me back into mid-November. I can only delete 23 at a time max, and skipping isn’t possible, so it’s not as fast as it could be … but I do think I can do up to a thousand a day most days. Fortunately, out of that over-a-thousand I kept less than 20, and 6 of those are backups. So it isn’t requiring too much thought.

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Short Takes –

Mother Jones – School Boards Have Long Been a Tool of White Supremacy
Quote – This is the “local control” that Gov. Parson favors, where a “select” group is given legal authority to rebuke the evils they are convinced critical race theory will impart on white society. Throughout history, the “unpardonable sin” of educators moving toward racial progress without white consent has been atoned for in the same way: disgruntled white people band together on a school board or committee to erase unwanted Black people, texts, and consciousness.
Click through for history and background. Mother Jones also has an article on the Tennessee meeting at which “Maus” was banned.    And a recent Antiaues Roadshow featured a collector whp is cllecting the books which belonged to Prudence Crandall, just to keep her memory alive.  The segment starts at 35:22 and it’s only a few minutes.

NM Political Report – Bill would prosecute parents for allowing kids access to guns
Quote – The Bennie Hargrove Gun Safety Act, named after the student killed in the shooting at his downtown Albuquerque school, would make it illegal for a gun owner to allow a minor unauthorized access to their weapon. The proposed law doesn’t specify how a gun should be stored but says gun owners could be fined $1,000 for storing a weapon in such a way that would allow a minor to gain unauthorized access. If the child used the weapon to commit a crime, the owner could also be found guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Click through for story. It sounds more than reasonable to me. I hope it passes.

About Dr. Yadira Caraveo
Quote from Katie Porter – “I know that Dr. Yadira Caraveo is the best candidate to represent Colorado’s new 8th Congressional District. As a pediatrician, a former union representative, and a two-term state legislator, Dr. Caraveo is a trusted leader and a true reformer. In Congress, Dr. Caraveo will be a strong fighter for families and a critical voice to protect the future of our democracy.”
Click through to Caraveo’s personal info page. Unfortunately I do not live in the 8th District, which is in/around Adams County. But I wish her the best. Anyone supported by Katie Porter has my support too.

Food For Thought:
OMG just wait until they find out about Naked Mole-Rats!

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Feb 012022
 

Glenn Kirschner – DOJ Considering Supreme Court Rejection of Trump’s Executive Privilege Claim in Mark Meadows Case

The Lincoln Project – Abbott Abased

Meidas Touch – Republican tries to explain how gas prices are Biden’s fault. It did not go well.

Republican Accountability Project – Kari Lake: Enemy of Democracy

Rebel HQ – Entitled Idiots Wage War On Science

Parody Project – Ted Lose

Beau – Let’s talk about Maus, Tennessee, and failing a test….

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Feb 012022
 

Yesterday, I managed to change ownership of the site at BlueHost into my name, using the password they had WWWendy assign. I haven’t changed it yet but I should manage that some time today. I have a lot of looking around to do there. All I looked at today besides ownership was email, and I finally found there how to get into the inbox for “tomcat@politicsplus.org.” There are more than 7000 emails in it. I deleted a little over 50, but there are still over 7000. Still, given time, that can now be dealt with.  And now we have time.

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Short Takes –

Rober Reich – Midterm Watch: Why Trump and Gingrich offer the best hope for Democrats
Quote – But if Trump keeps at it — and of course he will —he’ll help the Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections by reminding the public of the attempted coup he and his Republican co-conspirators tried to pull off between the 2020 election and January 6. That would make the midterm election less of a referendum on Biden than on the Republican Party. (Don’t get me wrong. I think Biden is doing a good job, given the hand he was dealt. But Republicans are doing an even better job battering him — as his sinking poll numbers show.)
Click through for full explanation. Counterintuitive though this is, I think he’s right. As a Democrat, I’m not motivated by fantasy fears, but I am definitely motivated by real ones. And this is real.

Crooks and Liars – Strikes Work! Colorado Kroger Workers Get New Contract
Quote – “It shows that where the real power is with the people,” added [Kim] Cordova [president of United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7, which organized the work stoppage], who was part of a panel convened by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) late Monday. “We’re hoping that we set the bar so that other workers in this country follow suit.”
Click through for story. This is good news for Colorado, but also for me personally. I was withing a couple of days of placing an order with King Soopers when I learned about the strike. So I ordered elsewhere (and didn’t get a bunch of stuff.) Now that it’s over, I can order stuff I didn’t get from Kings.

Wonkette – Parental ‘Concern’ Over Masks, CRT And Books Is Being Brought To You By Groups Who Hate Public Schools
Quote – For years, the goal of school privatization advocates has been to oppose funding for education and then criticize the public school system for failing, hoping that this will lead to parents taking their kids out of schools and becoming increasingly supportive of voucher programs and so-called “school choice,” with the ultimate goal being a for-profit education system usurping the public education system.
Click through for argument. It does make sense. (But it doesn’t make much sense that there is a town in Kentucky named “Science Hill.” That’s just wrong.”

Food For Thought:

Rinse and Repeat.  With minor adjustments, can be applied to any government function.

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Jan 232022
 

Glenn Kirschner – More Congressional Subpoenas, But Still No Use of Congress’s Lawful Tool of Inherent Contempt

The Lincoln Project – Gutless

politicsrus – We Are Americans

Remove Ron – Magic Words

American Bridge – 49th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

Puppet Regime – Angela Merkel Off the Grid

Beau – Let’s talk about Republicans learning about Streisand….

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Jan 172022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Oath Keepers Members Indicted for Seditious Conspiracy: Facts Show How Trump Inspired 1/6 Conduct

politicsrus – Let Truth Light the Way Part I

Rebel HQ – Richard Ojeda Reacts To Jen Psaki’s Viral Moment

Ring of Fire – Florida Republicans Introduce Bill To Spy On Public School Teachers

Armageddon Update – The Days Of Omicron

Orphaned Baby Otter Follows Kids Up From River

Beau – Let’s talk about my last day teaching in Virginia…. (despite the upside down cap, you might end up wanting a hanky.)

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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:

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Dec 152021
 

Yesterday, I got email confirmation of my next visit to Virgil, which will be on Christmas Day. We have never had that happen before. I hope the weather will be kind. I also got a paper check from a class action suit into the mail to my credit union. I hate paper checks. But I do have envelopes and postage and deposit slips, and now I have the address on my hard drive where I won’t lose it, so, oh, well. Usually I send paper checks to my USAA account – they provide postage-paid envelopes – but in this suit, USAA was the defendant, and I thought that would be tacky. So the Credit Union it had to be.

Cartoon –

Short Takes

The 19th – ‘Dash for Cash’ showcases lack of pay and resources for South Dakota teachers
Quote – Teachers spent an average of $750 out of their own pocket on school supplies during the 2020-2021 school year, according to a survey of 5,400 teachers administered by AdoptAClassroom, a nonprofit that raises funds for school supplies
Click through. This just makes me want to cry. There is no rational reason why we don’t fund out public schools properly and pay teachers appropriately for what they do. It’s just pure meanness. BTW I promised I’d look up the slam poem on what teachers make – you’ll find it and the transcript in today’s video thread.

Crooks and Liars – What Wingers Are Really Saying When They Say ‘Missing Children’
Quote – That’s what right-wingers mean when they talk about missing children: It’s QAnon Lite, the belief that all their enemies are pedophiles and all their heroes are anti-pedophile warriors. Much of the discussion and activity of these beliefs now takes place with no overt reference to QAnon.
Click thought for full story. I knew exactly what the headline was referring to before reading the full story. Did you? Of course, there exist a number we can’t ever know of people whose brains are wired to want sex with children We can’t know it because most will never act on it, and most of those who do will never be exposed. But, since this kind of sex has a built-in imbalance of power, I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest that most of them are Republicans (using the term for people who think like Republicans, regardless of party registration, if any.)

Daily Beast – The Green Lantern Theory Destroyed Jimmy Carter’s Presidency. Now It’s Hitting Joe Biden.
Quote – The problem with being a president who promises to clean things up after a villainous predecessor is that the press corps treats you like a superhero—which sounds like a good thing until you realize that just means you get blamed for things you can’t control. That’s what happened to Jimmy Carter, and it’s what’s happening to Joe Biden now thanks to what Dartmouth political scientist Brendan Nyhan has called “the Green Lantern Theory” in which voters believe a president can do anything through sheer willpower, like the DC superhero.
Click through for details. Ms. Clift used to be in the McLaughlin Group, so she’s some kind of conservative, but she was never a nutcase, and this is pretty reasonable – if I can use that term for a solid explanatin of unreason.

Food For Thought:
I can’t put the whole presentation here because it’s six panels, each a different “Truth-in-Advertising” re-named Kelloggs product. It starts with “Kelloggs Corp Flacks” and only gets better. I think you’ll want to share it too.

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Nov 122021
 

Glenn Kirschner – This is from the Stephanie Miller show from October 31. So nothing new, but phrased and inflected differently whan he’s talking with Stephanie.

The Lincoln Projrct – Last Week in the Republican Party

Meidas Touch – Kyle Rittenhouse FAKE CRIES on stand as trial goes OFF THE RAILS!! (Sobs but no tears…)

Thom Hartmann – Media Lies Said Youngkin was Education Candidate

RepresentUs – More on Gerrymandered Pizza

Really American – Garland Stalls, Trump and Accomplices Roam Free of Consequences

Beau – Let’s talk about an internal Democratic party debate….

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