Glenn Kirschner – Trump White House Attorney Stefan Passantino tampers with witness Cassidy Hutchinson
Meidas Touch – DOJ busts INSURRECTIONIST PLOT to ATTACK Investigators
Farron Balanced – Republicans Tout Homeland Security Chief’s Successes While Calling For His Impeachment
Six13 – Elton Johnukah (just barely got it in)
This Perfect Little Baby Is Called A ZEBU
Beau – Let’s talk about responses to Minnesota’s proposed regulations….
Yesterday was Beethoven’s birthday – although, in Eurpoe in his day, no one kept a record of birthdays. Most records were not kept by the state but by the church, and those recorded baptisms, not birthdays (if you are into genealogy you probably knew that.) We assume his birthday was the 16th because he was baptized on the 17th, and it was normal to baptize babies as soon as possible, usually on the day after the birth. Of course we could be wrong. But it’s such a long-established tradition now it would be a shame to have to change it. He would be 252, in case anyone cares. And there was no snow Thursday night (not that I expected any.) Tomorrow, I’ll be going to see Virgil, and yes, I will pass on all the greetings, and thank you very much for them. Last week I mentioned how tickled he was to get a card from my “frosted sister” and I should follow up by sharing that, when I sent her a note of thanks, she reaponded, “I couldn’t forget my brother-in-law at Christmas.”
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Short Takes –
The 19th – The hate hasn’t stopped, Club Q shooting survivors tell House lawmakers
Colorado Public Radio – Club Q co-owner and shooting survivors testified at Congress about the tragedy and rising anti-LGBTQ hate
Quote 1 – Matthew Haynes, founding co-owner of Club Q in Colorado Springs, says he’s witnessed several kinds of anti-LGBTQ+ hate in the wake of the mass shooting there last month that left five people dead. There’s visceral hate, which he says the club, a longtime queer community space, has received through hundreds of vitriol-filled emails and letters since the shooting took place. Then there’s the “subtle hate” — which he identifies as legislation and leaders not respecting LGBTQ+ people or families, and in Republicans who did not vote for the just-signed Respect for Marriage Act.
Quote 2 – “To the politicians and activists who accuse LGBTQ people of grooming children and being abusers: Shame on you,” [Michael Anderson] said…. His testimony was part of a hearing on the rise of anti-LGBTQ violence convened by Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York, who chairs the committee. She said the Club Q attack is part of a broader trend of violence and intimidation across the country that includes the rise in anti-LGBTQ laws in state houses and in Congress.
Click through to one or both for more imformation.Once again I am combining two stories because they are the same, but for different audences. The first was written for a target audience of women and minorities, including LGBTQIA+, and the second for Colorado residents regardless of identity. Both can be painful to read … but I’m grateful for the Oversight Committee under Carolyn Maloney for holding the hearings, despite pushback from the GOP.
The Daily Beast – Discipline Crackdown Freaks Out Parents in Florida Schools
Quote – Two weeks ago, Brevard County, Florida, Sheriff Wayne Ivey stood at a podium set in front of the local jail and its barbed-wire fences and suggested that children were not sufficiently terrified of getting in trouble at school. “They know they’re not going to be given after-school detention, they’re not going to be suspended,” Ivey, whose school-based officers carry long guns, declared. “They’re not going to be expelled or, like in the old days, they’re not gonna have the cheeks of their ass torn off for not doing right in class.” The statement—made alongside newly installed far-right school board chair Matt Susin—ushered into public view a simmering conflict over safety and student discipline at one of the larger districts in the country.
Click through for details. I’d freakout too – even just as a citizen, not a parent. Actually, no matter where you live in the US, there is potential for adults who were damaged by this distrct as kids to move into your neighborhood. (I have no idea whether this sheriff is any relation to the Governor of Alabama.)
Food For Thought
Yesterday, Steve Schmidt posted some history, apropos of the Macron-Biden meeting. I’m sure everyone who reads this blog knows who Lafayette is, but you may still learn some details (including the French for “Lafayette, we are here,” if you don’t speak French.) And I can’t even read the full article (not being a paid subscriber.) Also, I did finish sorting my meds for the coming two weeks.
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Short Takes –
Mother Jones – We Found the Guys Behind the Hunter Biden Porn That Elon Musk Won’t Shut Up About
Quote – I have previously reported on various messages and recordings detailing what Guo and Bannon and their backers were up to in 2020. One thing this material shows is that in October 2020, Bannon—working with Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer—arranged for Guo and his followers to spread salacious videos and pictures from Hunter Biden’s laptop.
Click through for tedious details. Surprise, surprise! (NOT) – Republican dirty tricks.
E & E News – Attacks on grid infrastructure in 4 states raise alarm
Quote – The incidents in the Carolinas followed attacks at six substations in Oregon and Washington in October and November. Local news outlets reported on those events this week. Grid security experts said it’s too early to tell whether the incidents were related or unusual in number, but said they showcase a need for the energy industry to be vigilant and prepared. “It remains troubling and highlights how vulnerable is our critical infrastructure,” Richard Mroz, a senior adviser at the grid security advocacy group Protect Our Power, said in an email, referring to the string of incidents.
Click through for details. You are probably thnking cyber attacks – I certainly was – but it turns out guns can kill people just as effectively when used on power infrastructure which people need to survive.
Democratic Underground (kpete) – A little girl wrote to Los Angeles Dept of Animal Control asking if she could have a pet unicorn
Quote – Thank you very much for your letter requesting permission to have a unicorn in your backyard. I am pleased to tell you that the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control dies license unicorns under the following conditions:
1. The unicorn must be cared for in compliance with all animal caretaking regulations set forth in Los Angeles County Code Title 10….
5. Any sparkles or glitter used on the unicorn must be nontoxic and biodegradable to insure the unicorn’s good health.
Do click through. This is a feel good story we all need – especially after those first two short takes. And there’s more to the story – not to mention some delightful comments.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, the newsletter from The Conversation had three different articles onn genetics, two of which related directly to conflict during pregnancy between the mother’s and father’s genes, The third focused on how assumptions can disguise the meaning of the evidence as to whether certain traits are genetic or not. Coming so soon after the short take we had on genetic anomalies, I was interested, but a short take will not do justice to the subject. Instead, I’ll provide links to all of them, here, here, and here. I will warn you that the authors use anthromorphism to make some points – genes don’t (as far as we can tell have consciousness, and therefore they don’t “want” to do things, nor do they experience feelings of hostility. But the effects are as if they did.
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Crooks & Liars – Report: Feds Are Still Not Concentrating On Domestic Terror
Quote – Although the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have identified domestic terrorism, specifically white supremacist violence, as “the most persistent and lethal terrorist threat,” the federal government has continued to allocate resources to focus on international terrorist threats instead, according to the report.
Click through for article (and a link to C&L’s source.) I can think of reasons – mostly having to do with relative difficulty. But, doggonit, if one thing is more dangerous than another, we need to focus on the thing which is more dangerous, no matter how difficult it is to do so.
Axios – Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes found guilty of seditious conspiracy
Quote – Why it matters: Rhodes, a prominent figure within far-right American politics, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison from the conviction, [and] the jury also found him guilty on other charges…. The big picture: The verdicts may serve as a preview for the upcoming trial against Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and other members who were also charged with seditious conspiracy for their actions around and on the day of the riot.
Click through for details. While technically this does not set a “legal precedent” (but it will, I’m betting – Rhodes lawyer says he will appeal, and I trust it will fail), it will help give confedence to any other prosecutors wh, becaue the last time before not the charges was pressed (in 2010),the jury failed to convict.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Mike Pence utters 7 words that should disqualify him from ever holding public office again
Ojeda Live- What Are The 10 Republican Commandments!?!
Ring of Fire – Polls Show Incoming Republican Majority In Congress Is Already DOOMED
Liberal Redneck – The Results of Rhetoric
Cop Kindly Walks Duck Family All The Way Home (no words)
Beau – Let’s talk about Colorado, stats, and speculation….
Yesterday, we got some additional election results and we did not get others. Some of the results were good. Others not so much. And some of the undecided races are IMO nervewracking (Boebert’s district is still too close to call.) One thing that we do know is that the Georgia Senate race is headed to a runoff, which is the second-best news we could have from Georgia. We do know that Georgia Democrats are very good at getting turnout for runoffs – that is how Rev. Warnock got into the Senate in the first place. I’m sorry that it means more work (and more anxiety) for Georgia Democrats, but it is better than a simple loss, and it gives me hope. I did find a good news story (at least I think and hope so – one never knows what a fascist is going to spring on one), along with one which makes me want to scream. I do have a couple of new nicknames to share (for people I SO wish would just go away so the nicknames would not be needed) – “Pumpkin Spice Lardass” and “DeSanctimonious.” The latter is being credited to the former, but I seriously doubt whether he knows any five-syllable words. Oh, and I got the Name Drop right again – but only because I’m not only so old, but because I was raised by my Mom who was born in 1906 and her Mom who was obviously even older (I called a refrigerator an “icebox” until I was in my 20’s. I had some other paleologisms too.)
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Short Takes –
Axios – Russia announces retreat from key Ukrainian city of Kherson
Quote – Kherson was the only provincial capital captured by Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February. Its liberation would represent a remarkable victory for Ukrainian forces. It marks another major setback for Moscow in the nine-month war, coming after Ukraine recaptured a major portion of Kharkiv Oblast and made significant gains in Kherson Oblast in earlier this fall Russian forces will also cede all of the territory captured on the western bank of the River Dnipro and will organize defensive lines on the opposite bank of the river.
Click through for article. I cannot guarantee that this is good news, but it certainly seems promising..
Crooks and Liars – Man Allegedly Shoots Neighbor Dead Because He Thought He Was A Democrat
Quote – An Ohio man died of multiple gunshot wounds, and according to the 911 call, the victim’s wife said that the armed neighbor murdered her husband because he thought he was a Democrat. The chilling 911 call reveals that Austin Combs had confronted Anthony Lee King, 43, over his perceived party affiliation on multiple occasions.
Click through for the (literally) gory details. I have heard many times people in AA saying, when someone started a sentence with “I thought…” “Did your sponsor tell you you could think?” Seems appropriate to me for MAGAts – except, who is going to tell them? Who would they listen to?
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Oath Keeper Elmer Stewart Rhodes testifies in his own defense at trial and goes full Trump
The Lincoln Project – The Red Mirage
CNN – I don’t like to use videos this long, but this is information (including emotional information) you likely wan’t get elsewhere, and Anderson IMO did a remarkable job of drawing it out. You may need a hanky.
MSNBC – Sean Patrick Maloney flattens Chuck Todd for blaming Biden: ‘The president gets a bum rap’ (Sadly, e lost re-election.)
Watch This Stray Cat Do A ‘Crab Dance’
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, special counsels, advice, and delays….
Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s lawyers believed Clarence Thomas was their best shot at overturning the election results
The Lincoln Project – Country Over Party
Ring of Fire – Popular MAGA ‘Hot Babe’ Influencer Turns Out To Be Chinese Spy (It’s not just because they are easy to fool. It’s because MAGA weakens our democracy. And the more our democracy is weakened, the more of a superior position they are in with regard to us.)
Robert Reich – Debunking the Big Lies Coming From Republicans
Beau – Let’s talk about a message for this week….