Open Thread August 1, 2022

 Posted by at 7:22 am  Open Thread, Politics
Aug 012022
 

Yesterday, I went to visit Virgil – or tried to – but my car broke down and I had to get a tow and a ride home from my roadside assistance program. That went reasonably smoothly, and I have sent an email to the mechanics (they will have it by the time you read this) and a “JPay letter” to Virgil – that is a message which is electronically transmittied to the facility, printed out, and given to the offender – it’s the fastest means of communication from me to him, since I can’t call him, he has to call me. It is faster than snail mail, but not as much as I would wish at times like this.

Cartoon – 01 O2 RTL

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Louie Gohmert Melts Down After Dem ‘Impugns’ His Lies
Quote – Rep. Cicilline then told Republicans to read the documents and stop making false claims. “Good luck with that,” the chairwoman said. This set Louie Gohmert’s hair on fire. “The gentleman … is not allowed under the rules to impugn false statements by this side,” Gohmert said.
Click through for full extent of – whatever it is. Sometimes one wonders whether they are delusional or just plain dumb. Louie is delusional – but this was just plain dumb. [The meeting chair at that point was Madeleine Dean (D-PA)]

Daily Beast – Dr. Oz’s Turkish Nationalist Pals Living in His Secret N.J. Condo
Quote – Dr. Mehmet Oz owns an undisclosed apartment in New Jersey that houses close associates of his who are linked to groups that have denied the ethnic cleansing which occurred in the formative years of the modern Turkish state. Bergen County records show that since 2006 Oz and his wife have owned the condominium in the borough of Fairview, a seven-minute drive from their mansion overlooking the Hudson River, where the county sent the unit’s property tax bill as recently as this year. Yet this apartment is oddly absent from the otherwise exhaustive disclosure Oz made in April as a candidate for the U.S. senator from Pennsylvania…. What was possible to ascertain is who those tenants are: a pair of apparent longtime friends deeply involved in Turkish nationalist activism and connected to groups that have fought to prevent the United States from recognizing the extermination of Armenians on Turkish territory during World War I—which Oz himself has refused to describe as a genocide, despite a consensus among respected historians.
Click through for more. Yes, Republicans lie, and no, other Republicans don’t care. But this is like denying the Holocaust happened. People like that are dangers to democracy.

Food For Thought –

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Video Thread 7/25/22

 Posted by at 12:02 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jul 252022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Steve Bannon – Guilty; J6 hearing reveals Trump was the leader of the coup on January 6

Meidas Touch – BREAKING NEWS: Merrick Garland POWERFULLY AFFIRMS Trump CAN be prosecuted

The Lincoln Project – What It Was

MSNBC – How The Secret Service Became Not Just A Protecter Of The President’s Body, But His Secrets

Ojeda Live – Ojeda BLASTS Pathological Lying MyPillow Guy in This Video!

Beau – Let’s talk about what Greek statues can teach us about American history…

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Open Thread July 21, 2022

 Posted by at 7:18 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 212022
 

Yesterday, I overslept, but it was pretty quiet so I could afford that lost time, and even manage to write a “thank you” note to an old friend from the military for a book that there is no way my eyes and shoulders will allow me to read – and I like and respect her too much to lie to her. So that was tough.. But the news – I do try to limit the outrage in the short takes and feature good news when there is some. Today there is mostly outrage. Take a deep breath and try not to get depressed.

Cartoon – 21 0721Cartoon.jpg

 

Short Takes –

The 19th – How exposure to toxic chemicals in everyday products can impact reproductive health
Quote – PFAS is a developmental carcinogen. We have done a systematic review, which is the best practice for how to evaluate evidence, showing that PFOA [part of the larger group of man-made chemicals known as PFAS] can, through prenatal exposure, increase the risk of low birth weight [in] babies. It also looks like it could be related to maternal health effects; there is some evidence on preeclampsia and on gestational diabetes. It could influence fertility. BPA is an endocrine disruptor that can influence estrogen levels. So in the state of California they have labeled it a reproductive toxin based on its effects on the female ovary. But, you know, there’s also been studies on metabolic disease like obesity and diabetes and on neurodevelopmental effects. There’s been studies looking at effects on fertility. There’s a number of different animal and human studies showing that it affects reproductive function, and it’s shown in animal studies to affect the quality of the eggs in the ovary.
Click through for details. So what the article is saying is, the same white, wealthy, overwhelmingly male minority repomsible for imposing unpopular abortion bans is also responsible for saturating women (and men and children) with chemicals that make abortions more likely to be the only alternative to death. Got it.

NM Political Report – ‘Is your land for sale?’ Alarming offers to buy property in the burn zone
Quote – April Hoogerhuies got the phone call in the middle of packing up her home in Las Vegas, frantically trying to get things ready in case the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon inferno forced her to evacuate. “Is your land for sale?” the caller inquired…. “This isn’t the time or place for this,” she replied. The caller rattled off a company name too quickly to note, but it was clear she wanted to buy a plot of undeveloped property that Hoogerhuies and her husband Daniel own in Manuelitas, just east of Hermits Peak. The couple maintains a greenhouse on the land, where they plant crops like pumpkins, radishes and tomatoes. Hoogerhuies was in a frenzy, packing up papers and medications while also trying to find a place for her elderly parents, in case they, too, needed to evacuate.
Click through for story. The race to the bottom continues.You know – yu just know – that if the vultures make enough calls, they will find someone who is willing to sell – and that that seller will be the person who can least afford to be swinf=dled. (And that there won’t be just one.)

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 7/20/22

 Posted by at 11:59 am  Open Thread, Politics
Jul 202022
 

Glenn – Steve Bannon’s Trial to begin: he promises to go “medieval”; he’s more likely to go out w/a whimper

Meidas Touch – Navy Vet Ken Harbaugh CALLS OUT fake patriotism of Jan. 6 rioters (Ken is the dude who went to school with Greitens)

The Lincoln Project – Texas Power

Ring of Fire – Steve Bannon’s Own Podcast Declares Him Guilty As Trial Begins

Armageddon Update – To Protect and Sanitize

Beau – Let’s talk about Republican judges disagreeing with Trump…

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Open Thread July 17, 2022

 Posted by at 6:16 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 172022
 

Yesterday, I had a rather crowded late morning/early afternoon. The radio opera was Vivaldi’s “Bajazet” which I had never heard of, let alone heard, before. However, atthe same time, Theater od War was mounting a Zoom production of Aeschylus’s play “The Suppliant” (an unusual word in English these days – but think “The Refugees”), as a vehicle to jump start a discussion on Ukraine, and with an all-Ukrainian chorus (including a very remarkable 12-year-old girl.) My final decision was to watch the play (and subsequent discussion) but with the opera softly in the background. So I’m not able to share much about the opera. In the end I made the right choice, I think. There was a note that the session was being recoorded – it is not yet posted at their site, but if and when it is I’ll share the link. Also included were three professional actors whose names you migh recognize – David Strathairn (Danaus), Oscar Isaac (Pelasgus), and Willem DaFoe (Aegyptus.)The play dates to the mid-fifth century BCE (450 BCE plus or minus 10) but so much has not changed. One line: “Those who speak in foreign tongues are never fully welcome.) As are all of their productions, it was very moving. On top of all that, I received cinfirmation to visit Virgil today – so I’ll be around even less than usual. But I’ll be in as much as I can.

Cartoon –


I didn’t know who Mola was either. He appears to have been Franco’s Jeff Clark (or Roy Cohn) but he died in an air crash in 1937 and his name disappeared.

Short Takes –

CNN Politics – Why Republicans want to redefine one word in the Constitution
Quote – The Constitution refers specifically to the “legislature” in each state determining the time and manner of federal elections. Backers of the “Independent State Legislature Claim” argue that since the Constitution doesn’t name other parts of state government — including courts — they should have no power to check the legislature on the subject of federal elections. Even if a state’s constitution or laws give power to courts or a governor, the theory argues legislatures should be able to ignore them.
Clck through for full analysis. The case in question is Moore v. Harper. I don’t want to forget that myself, nor do I want any of us to forget it. After it’s decided, we’ll know whether it’s OK to forget it … or whether we eill never forget it, whether we want to or not.

Mother Jones – Don’t Fall into the Collusion Trap on Trump and January 6
Quote – This question is an important one, but it is also a trap. Trump and his comrades have been rather deft at developing a tactic to protect him from charges of profound wrongdoing: They raise the bar. If Trump is caught holding a match outside a burning house, Trump and his defenders will say, “Do you have proof he doused the interior with gasoline? That’s fake news. A hoax.”
Click through for full explanation. Neither the Committee nor prosecutors are IMO likely to fall into this trap, but since public opinion can help or hurt a case, it still matters.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 7/14/22

 Posted by at 12:06 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jul 142022
 

Glenn – J6 hearing: more evidence of Trump’s crimes AND more evidence of persistent unfairness & injustice

Meidas Touch – BREAKING: Trump caught WITNESS TAMPERING by Jan 6 committee, referred to Justice Department

The Lincoln Project – Herschel Walker’s Green New Deal

The Ring of Fire – Majority Of Republicans Side With Mike Pence Over Trump In Election Feud

Ojeda Live – Ojeda BLASTS Republicans for Rooting for Suffering as an Election Strategy

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, Biden, and baby formula….

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Video Thread 7/13/22

 Posted by at 12:05 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jul 132022
 

Glenn – Steve Bannon’s ruse rejected by Trump appointed judge; Trump still using the big lie to sow division

Meidas Touch – Texas Paul DEBUNKS new Deranged Hunter Biden Conspiracy Theory

The Lincoln Project – The GOP’s Crazy Candidates

Robert Reich – The Secret to the GOP’s Assault on Your Rights | Robert Reich

Brent Terhune – The worst drag race I ever been to

Beau – Let’s talk about dominoes from the Colorado….

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Open Thread July 12, 2022

 Posted by at 6:41 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 122022
 

Yesterday, having done the research on who picks up donations and who doesn’t, I scheduled a pickup with the Vietnam Veterans of America. The earliest date I could get was August 25, but that will work out actually – I can add to it in bits and pieces. It’ll be the first pickup but I’m sure it will not be the last.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

CPR News – A 150-year-old San Luis Valley farm stops growing food to save a shrinking water supply. It might be the first deal of its kind in the country
Quote – Farmers and ranchers across the San Luis Valley face a deadline: Their underground water source is drying up from a combination of overuse and a decades-long drought driven by climate change. To restore a balance of supply and demand, farmers and ranchers across the valley need to drastically cut how much water they pump out of the ground, according to the Colorado Division of Water Resources. If they don’t, the state has threatened to step in and shut off hundreds of wells, which local water managers say would devastate the valley’s agriculture-driven economy.
Click through to understand the dilemma. When I first came to Colorado in 1976, it was to Alamosa in the San Luis VAlley. That is where Virgil and I met and got married. We only left because we couldn’t find work there. CPR says this story is “hopeful and heartbreaking.” I concur.

Robert Reich – How to handle radical Republicans
Quote – Can we get real? There is nothing conservative about these so-called “conservatives.” They don’t want to preserve or protect our governing institutions — the core idea of conservatism extending from Edmund Burke to William F. Buckley and Barry Goldwater. They are radicals, intent on wrecking these institutions to impose their ideology on everyone else. The Supreme Court’s Republican appointees have all but obliterated stare decisis — the conservative principle that the Court must follow its precedents and not change or reverse them unless clearly necessary, and with near unanimity…. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell, are abusing the filibuster and undermining the legitimacy of the Senate.
Clickt through for suggestions. I agree there is nothing conservative about “conservatives” – and there hasn’t been for decades. “Radical” is certainly more adequate, refernceing the “roots” of government and society (which they want to completely tear up.) But radical slao has a positive meaning – wanting to reform government and society from the roots up – so I’, loath to give that th them. “Reactionary” may be the most accurate. Or “extremist” – except that they like that one.

Food For Thought

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