Open Thread February 5, 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:25 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 052024

Yesterday, Trinette came by (and yes, Nameless, I told her “Hi” from you). She brought in the mail and packages and took out the trash and recyclables. She also started the car (i had been worrying about that) and ran it for a while, then took it out to get filled with gas (which reminds me of a very silly penguin joke).

It was a slow day for email, and there wasn’t much on Black History that I could find. I was attracted to an article in The Root, which was also cited on MSN but not reproduced in full. I’ll share The Root’s link, and hope at least some of you can see it. Its premise was that, while we normally celebrate people and events with praise for the heroes, we maybe should not forget the villains who made the journey harder than it needed to be. I’m old enough to remember George Wallace (shown in the lead photo) and something of Bull Connor, and more recently David Duke and possibly so are some of y’all. I agree with the premise – I think that attempting to change the minds of bigots by convincing them that whoever they love to hate as a group are in no way lesser than they are is non-productive, even counter productive – because on some level they know that, and it scares them more than anything.

Robert Reich turned his Substack over to a guest writer. The title of the column is How to understand the politics of Israel and Palestine? (Query his.) I hope anyone who thinks there is only one side in the current conflict will give it a chance.

Video Thread 6/1/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:03 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jun 012023

Glenn Kirschner – Trump lawyer says he was BLOCKED from searching Trump office at Mar-a-Lago for classified documents

Thom Hartmann – The First Fascist State In America Revealed?

Farron Balanced – Fox News Raided Tucker Carlson’s House And Took His Filming Equipment

From TikTok via Twitter – possible hanky alert

This moved me to tears. pic.twitter.com/7URbXPY5dj

— ✭ 🅑🅤🅑🅑🅐 ✭ (@BubbatheOG) May 29, 2023

Cat stops would-be burglar | ‘Binky went after him’

Beau – Let’s talk about the GOP coming for no fault divorce…

Video Thread 12/11/22

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:59 am Open Thread, Politics

Dec 112022

Glenn Kirschner – Federal judge REFUSES to hold Trump and his team in contempt. Here’s why the judge was right

The Lincoln Project – Gold Medal Ceremony

Ring of Fire – A Fight Is Brewing Between House And Senate Republicans Over Biden Impeachment

Brent Terhune – They’re Trying To Distract Us

Woman Finds Stray Mama Cat And Kittens Outside Her Office

Beau – Let’s talk about running the country like a business…. (I’ve been saying this for decades, but not NEARLY so well. And notice how the Socratic method really brings this home.)

Open Thread for December 26, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:40 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 262021

Yesterday, I visited Virgil. It was special to be able to see him on Christmas, and he returns all greetings including special holiday greetings. The Sergeant who heads up the visitation team got the day off (and I really can’t think of anyone who deserves it more. For part of the time, the warden personally filled in for him. Don’t get me wrong – prison is still prison and no one wants to be there.. But there are some employees who have hearts and consciences. Although the time of sunset hadn’t changed (or rather it changed and then changed back) I left a little later and it didn’t work badly. There are still some (and one in particular) dangwr spots, but with proper equipment most of the drive is much better. The mast ten minutes of my drive were in “civil twilight,” which is when the sun is over the horizon, but there is still enough light to see by – you don’t need your lights on to see better, but you do to be seen better.) I can handle that. It only lasts a half hour, though (both morning and evening). Then there’s another half hour of “nauticak twilight” where there is still some reflected light but you need headlights. There might be more light reflected off of a water surface, but on land it’s not the best time to driver. Sunrise is still getting later, abd some of the drive out is becoming a bit more hazardous, but it should start getting earlier soon, which will also help.

Cartoon –

Short Takes

Crooks and Liars – HERO: All In A Day’s Work For Sixth-Grader Davyon Johnson
Quote – His principal, Latricia Dawkins, told the local paper, “He is just a kind soul and well-liked by his peers and staff alike.” His mom, LaToya Johnson, is proud but not surprised. She said her son wants to be an EMT, just like his uncle Wendell Johnson.
Click through for story. One more good news story can’t hurt.

Democratic Underground – The President and First Lady stop their motorcade to look at a Biden themed Christmas tree...
There are a few words, but mostly pictures Great pictures. Click through for them.

Mother Jones – The Mother of All Vaccines May Be Closer Than You Think
Quote – Now, after three coronavirus-sparked health crises in the last 20 years—SARS, MERS, and COVID-19—researchers are working to develop so-called universal coronavirus vaccines for the next outbreak. While COVID-19 vaccines are an incredible feat of science—they were created faster than any vaccine in history—researchers say it wasn’t fast enough. Kevin Saunders, the director of research at the Duke Human Vaccine Institute, points out that hundreds of thousands of Americans died from COVID-19 infections while vaccines were being developed and approved. If we have a universal coronavirus vaccine ready to go in the future, even if it isn’t perfect, he says, it could cut down on hospitalizations and deaths, and buy researchers time to hone a virus-specific vaccine.
Click through for much more. The Walter Reed team has gone the farthest to date, but they are not alone, and others are also getting close. Now THAT’s good news.

Food For Thought:

Open Thread for November 23, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:53 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 232021

Yesterday, another quiet day.I love quiet days, but it makes it difficult to find much if anything to say about them. I guess that’s all right, though.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

AP News – Native American confirmed as head of National Park Service
Quote – Sams is Cayuse and Walla Walla and lives on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon. There, he gained a reputation for being unflappable. He has worked in state and tribal governments and the nonprofit natural resource and conservation management fields for over 25 years. “He is known for being steady at the helm and taking challenges in stride,” said Bobbie Conner, director of the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute on the 270-square-mile (700-square-kilometer) reservation.
Click through for more details. It took way too lokg to confirm him – but it’s done now.

Daily Kos (Tevye) – Dead Man On The Ground. Bullets Flying. Others Running For Safety. He Ran Straight Towards A Madman.
Quote – As a young man, Anthony struggled with mental health issues and drug dependency. And seven years ago, he quit cold turkey and never relapsed. He went to counseling for a few years, but he regarded two things as his savior…..his skateboarding community and his activism.Any marginalized group in his community, be it those of color, those from the LGBTQ+ community, Jews ( he was Jewish himself ), Muslims, First Nations peoples….. if you were oppressed, you had a friend, advocate and defender in Anthony. He was there for you.
Click through. Hanky alert. I can tell Tevye is angty, but he knows, none better, how to transform that anger into gried, and then into resolution.

Smithsonian – What Kind of Turkey are you?
Quote – More than just a traditional holiday trimming, the turkey is an American icon. Native to our continent, turkeys were domesticated by the ancient Maya, called a respectable “Bird of Courage” by Benjamin Franklin, and have been officially pardoned by Presidents since 1989. The Smithsonian has over 155 million objects in its collections—including a fair number of turkeys. This Thanksgiving, find your inner Smithsonian turkey by taking our short quiz!
Click through to take the quiz. I took it ans was told I am “The Dignified Turkey.” That may be the first time anyone every called me dignified – and it may also be the last!

Food for Thought –

Video Thread for 7/28/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:07 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jul 282021

Glenn Kirschner – House Select Committee Hearing Opens w/Testimony of Heroes: Officers Dunn, Fanone, Gonell & Hodges

Meidas Touch – The GOP is about to be EXPOSED as Terrorists

The Lincoln Project – Heroes

RepresentUs – Sarah Silverman calls out billionaires buying elections

Robert Reich – This 1916 Experiment Made Workers Wealthy

VoteVets ‘Axis of Evil’ Ad Featured on MSNBC During The Rachel Maddow Show

Beau – Let’s talk about Summer fun….

In Loving Memory

Posted by TomCat at 11:39 am Politics

Jul 182020

The world, and especially the US, have just suffered a tragic loss. John Lewis, one of the greatest heroes of our time is gone. I met him, briefly, on two occasions, once coordinating SDS support for a SNCC demonstration in New York, and once in an organizational meeting for MLK’s Vietnam Summer. Seldom have so much moral power and so much gentle humility combined in one person.

John Lewis, who went from being the youngest leader of the 1963 March on Washington to a long-serving congressman from Georgia and icon of the civil rights movement, died Friday. He was 80.

In December 2019, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

As a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Lewis was a committed participant in some of the key moments of the movement — an original Freedom Rider in 1961, a principal speaker at the March on Washington in 1963, one of those brutally clubbed during a 1965 march in Selma, Ala. Through it all, he faced taunts, beatings and dozens of arrests.

“In the face of what John considered the evils of segregation, he was fearless,” said longtime SNCC activist Courtland Cox.

By his middle years, he was in Congress and sometimes referred to it as its “conscience.”…

Inserted from <Politico>

I have to say that Bought Bitch Midnight Moscow Mitch had the audacious hypocrisy to praise Lewis upon his death, while still holding up Lewis’ bill to fix the Voting Rights Act. I have two words for McConnell and Republicans who share his hypocrisy. The second is ‘you’, and the first begins with F, ends with UCK, and rhymes with truck. John Lewis would never say that, but he was a better man than I am.

Let me close with his own words that I heard in person.

Rep John Lewis’ Speech at March on Washington

RESIST!!

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