Open Thread February 23 2025

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 232025

Yesterday, The radio opera was Verdi’s last opera, “Falstaff,” written when he was about my age. (His second-to-last opera had been “Otello.” He really loved Shakespeare, and in his late 70s he was rich and famous enough to indulge that love.) Falstaff is based on “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” which is said to have been written because Queen Elizabeth I wanted to see “Sir John in Love,” an impossibility given his character – even “Sir John in heat” would be almost impossible so she had to settle for “Sir John attempting to seduce faithful wives in order to extort them foe money to pay his bills.” The opera follows the play as closely as possible, given that singing takes longer than speaking. The plot, the duplicate love letter which give away hos game, the laundry basket thrown into the Thames, the young couple disapproved of by the girl’s father, the suspicious husband hiring Falstaff to seduce his wife to find out how virtuous she is, the fairies in the forest – it’s all there. This presentation was selected by the Met’s principal conductor because it was conducted by Leonard Bernstein (so you know it’s older than a minute – in fact it was presented and recorded in 1964 and was Bernstein’s Met debut.) The music and the cast were stellar – many names I remember loving in the sixties and some beyond. The male half of the young couple was sung by Mariano Caruso – absolutely zero relation to Enrico – I looked that up, as I’ve been burned too many times thinking unrelated people were related (in my defense, so have announcers.) My email wasn’t bad, so I got through it all and even managed to post a letter the same day I received it. Now I’m off to see Virgil. I will of course check in.

https://apnews.com/article/president-jimmy-carter-2025-grammy-awards-0b8a1c1fa8c8887b945a2b893b7e59e5
This is not all that new, but given that all of our eyes have been on our Democracy, I though some might have missed it. Jimmy Carter – WOW. Everything he did, he did with excellence.

https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/education/metaphorse-montrose-horse-therapy
I’ve posted about horse therapy before – but this is a new twist, and one that I for one would never have expected. And one which is at least as important as any other method of self-defense.

Patrick Fitzgerald filling in for Belle – at least he’s amusing.

Open Thread January 11 2025

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 112025

Yesterday, my attention was drawn to a story which everyone in Las Vegas, NV, probably is aware of but which seems to be going under the radar (literally as well as figuratively) elsewhere. It probably doesn’t help that the name of the company involved, owned by the Boer MuskRat, sounds like someone’s idea of a joke. But it’s pretty much a given that as a result of this project people will die, not to mention the property damage (less important unless one is the property owner, as the entirw population of Los Angeles County would probably tell you if you asked.)

Also yesterday, Heather Cox Richardson quoted from all the eulogies for Jimmy Carter. If you weren’t able to watch it or listen to it, as I wasn’t, you might find that Carter can be as inspiring in death as he was in life.

Joyce Vance explains why the government’s position on the documents case report is a “heads the people win, tails Trump** loses” kind of thing. Not that we really win overall, but both alternatives she discusses will be unsatisfying to the Tangerine Palpatine. Good.

For anyone with a short memory (probably not needed by y’all, but you might know someone who needs reminding), Wonkette has an article which help to refresh that memory – assuming we can get anyone who needs it to read, or listen. Republicans have no clue what they could be getting themselves (and all of us) into, and that goes double for elected and appointed Republicans who think they are untouchable by virtue of their positions and/or their money. The Nuremburg rallies were eventually followed by the Nuremburg trials and people were hanged. But that didn’t happen without a whole lot of destruction in between the two.

Open Thread January 9 2025

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:05 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 092025

Yesterday, although it has taken a while for them to do so, Faithful America has decided to send a card of welcome and congratulations to Sarah McBride. Of course I signed it. It’s the least we can do. Also yesterday, Los Angeles, California, was in flames (and I assume still is). But y’all probably knew that before I did. Also, I may have jumped to conclusions on the story that was yanked from CPR yesterday. Today’s newsletter says it was a scheduling issue and it will be available next week. We shall see. Today is the day of Jimmy Carter’s service in the Washington National Cathedral – hence the cartoon with his tool belt. Very few people would even be able to lift it, let alone use it.

Joyce Vance combines the fire[s] on Los Angeles and the nerve of the Apricot Antichrist thinking he can (or should) annex Canada in a comparatively short rant with a fine point. Also, in case anyone cares, the full name of the city is “Ciudad [or maybe El Pueblo -historians aren’t agreed] del Rio de Nuestra Señora Reina de los angeles en Porciuncula.”

Wonkette has the most backgrounded story on Los Angeles which I have yet seen – not that I have made it through all my emails as I type – but if I find something better I’ll replace this with it. I note that it mentions the story about many hydrants having no or minimal water pressure and that being due to low reservoirs originates with one billionaire – the one she defeated for the mayoralty – so the fact that it is all over social media now doesn’t necessarily mean it is true. In fact, Wonkette has some evidence that at least the part about low reservoirs is false. (But Steve Schmidt fell for it hook, line, and sinker.)

Open Thread December 31 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:05 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 312024

Yesterday, I was still in shock over Jimmy Carter’s death. But at least the news sources I read were all respectful – I hear the New York Times brought up the “killer rabbit” story. That’s not his legacy. His legacy is one of goodness and decency and service – and out of all of them, I’ll link to Robert Hubbell. But in case anyone wants it, I will provide a link from Steve Schmidt to a CNN documentary on Carter’s life. I haven’t seen it, and I don’t know when it was made, but Schmidt speaks of Carter with respect, so there’s that. To change topic, I was dreading today after the avalanche of year-end email yesterday, all requesting donations, and fearing today would be worse. We’ll see how that turns out.

Wonkette is one of not a lot of news outlets mentioning the bird flu – and cats – and Louisiana. CPR touched on the bird flu but only as it affects Colorado, which is not a whole lot. Crooks and Liars did pick up the Louisiana angle, as did The F* News (am I seeing a pattern here?) and large numbers of people disregarding the advice of health professionals, regarding vaccinations and masks, certainly had a big part in spreading the pandemic farther than it needed to be.

This from Heather Cox Richardson has gotten coverage, but I haven’t seen any as detailed as her version – taking names and kicking – well, you know.

Open Thread December 30 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 302024

Yesterday, we lost one of the only two Presidents (of my lifetime – because I wasn’t the ones before that through good chunks of their lives. I have thoughts but no evidence.) whose entire lives were marked by a deep love of, and an equally deep commitment to, pure goodness. I’m just not able to process it yet. Nameless, however, has posted an In Memoriam – you’re on the home page just scroll down one post, and if you are on the page which allows comments, go back one post with the direction under the comments section. (And, after that, do whatever you did one more time to read a new “Sound Off” by Freya. I’ll try to send a letter out but don’t know whether I’ll be able to. As nearly as I can tell, he died while Virgil and I were playing cribbage (and enjoying it immensely.) I don’t believe he would have minded that one little bit.)

I do wish Robert Reich would take a look at The Political Compass. Yes, I realize everything is linked – but for those of us not as smart as Robert (and I am certainly one), looking at them all at once is distracting. And, frankly, the pictures help. I would have no problem to adding civic morality to economic systems and government style to make a three dimensional graph – which I guess Windows can now do that. (Adding personal morality would alienate far too many Americans.) Also, I disagree with myth #11. I’m afraid that one’s true. I grant they may not have been ignorant before they started following Trump** – but having done so for eight or nine years – they are ignorant now.

h
Christmas is over, but Hannukah continues, Kwanzaa has begun, and New Year’s Day awaits. So it’s still the holiday season. (And Robert Hubbell also has a surprise holiday gift in the astrophotography today.)

Jimmy Carter, 39th US president, Dies at Age 100

Posted by SoINeedAName at 4:16 pm Politics

Dec 292024

A Life in Pictures

1946 — Wedding

1977 — Inauguration

1977 — Oval Office

1978 — Fishing

1980 — Official Presidential Portrait

1992 — Habitat for Humanity

1993 — Woodworker — His Chess Set

1994 — His Faith

2002 — Nobel Peace Prize

2013 — Celebrating MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech

2018 — Taking a Walk with Rosalynn

2019 — Injured but Still Working

2021 — 75th Anniversary

2023 — Rosalynn’s Funeral

Open Thread October 2 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 4:58 pm Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 022024

Could have sworn I posted this before now – guess I didn’t.

Yesterday was International Coffee Day. Generally when Virgil calls me he has a cup of coffee in his other hand. So when he called, I wished him a happy International Coffee Day – and guess what, he had a glass of milk in hand instead. Irony lives. Also, I received a grocery deliviery, which was late, so I was late starting the debate. I observed that at least one mod was doing minimal fact checking. But I was so repelled, I couldn’t stand it and quit early. I’m not worried you won’t find out what happened, since it will be all over the net the second it is over. In any case, Walz is absolutely transparent and Vance shoots off his mouth so much, that the 19th was able to put this together before either one stepped on “stage.”

I get so accustomed to simply remembering that everything that comes out of a Republican mouth is a lie that I tend to forget how painful, how damaging, and mostly how misleading they are. Heather Cox Richardson reminds me why I shouldn’t do that.

And a little parody from our friends in Australia that we didn’t know we had (We knew we had Lona – but she doesn’t know “The Juice.”)

Open Thread March 18, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:51 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 182023

Yesterday, I woke up to find that there had been a power failure while I was asleep. I don’t mind resetting the clock and the microwave, but I also had to reset the radio in the computer room, and that is a real pain. Both speakers fell; they weren’t damaged, but the first one knocked a full glass of water off the desk, drenching the desktop, the floor, and one of my sleeves. The one positive consequence was that it stretched me just right so that I didn’t need to use the TENS. Nevertheless, it is NOT something I want to do every day. The luck of the Irish was not with me (not surprising, since I have no Irish DNA – I have one redneck grandparent, but she was English/Scottish.) I did figure out how to send everyone a greeting card directly through the blog, and since TomCat did a two-day Saint Patrick’s Day cartoon sequence, here is your card to go with day two.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Jimmy Carter Asks President Biden to Deliver His Eulogy: Will Trump Show Up?
Quote – Some people go very quickly after pulling all the meds that had kept them alive. Others? Well, they’re tougher, for all we know, Carter could live another six months. But he is preparing now and he asked President Biden, two of the finest men to ever live, to give his eulogy…. These two go back a long time. “When Jimmy Carter ran for president the first US Senator to endorse him was Joe Biden.”
Click through for details and speculation. You may have seen the headline, but, even if you’re as old as I am, you may not realize quite how far back the relarionsship goes. As for TFG, can we hope that some court will take that out of his tiny hands?

Robert Reich – How to stop playing whack-a-mole with the banks [Spoiler: Bring back Glass-Steagall]
Quote – It’s time to admit that banks that take in deposits are public institutions that shouldn’t gamble with those deposits. Regardless of size, no bank has the capital on hand to manage a sudden full-blown bank run. This is why, ever since the bank bailouts of 2008, the biggest banks have been “too big to fail.” And it’s why last weekend the government decided to backstop smaller banks, too…. The Glass-Steagall Act was the law of the land until 1999. It prohibited banks from making profits off of the deposits entrusted to them. I say, bring it back!
Click through for article – He doesn’t mention something I read elsewhere this week – that Glass-Steagall was repealed because “It worked so well, we don’t need it any more.” I wanted something to beat my head against.

The best analysis I have seen about the arrest warrant out on Putin (and one of his ministers) is that of Heather Cox Richardson. In order to get it up fast, I’ll just share the link.

Food For Thought
This is old – about 2 years old – but it seemed like a good time to remember it

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