Open Thread for February 1, 2022

 Posted by at 7:19 am  Blog News, Open Thread, Personal, Politics
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.

Cartoon –

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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Video Thread 1/31/22

 Posted by at 12:08 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jan 312022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Judge Orders Stewart Rhodes, Leader of Oath Keepers, Jailed Pending his Seditious Conspiracy Trial
Crooks and Liars – ‘I Think I’m In Love’: Acosta Fawns Over GA Woman Unloading On Greene. At the site, there is a partial transcript – cherry-picked for the best part.

politicsrus – In God We Trust

Rebel HQ – Mike Lindell Has Hit Rock Bottom

Rocky Mountain Mike – Joe Rogan and the Damage Done

Here’s what happened when a non-cat guy adopted disabled kitten

Beau – Let’s talk about how George Floyd may transform the country again….

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Open Thread for January 31, 2022

 Posted by at 7:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 312022
 

Yesterday, I didn’t manage to do much of anything. Somehow I filled that day, though.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Mother Jones – We Uncovered How Many Georgians Were Disenfranchised by GOP Voting Restrictions. It’s Staggering.
Quote – During municipal elections in November, Georgia voters were 45 times more likely to have their mail ballot applications rejected—and ultimately not vote as a result—than in 2020. If that same rejection rate were extrapolated to the 2020 race, more than 38,000 votes would not have been cast in a presidential contest decided by just over 11,000 votes.
Click through for story.I realize this is not news to Freya ot Spy … or maybe anyone anywhere who has been paying attention.

Huff Post – Pittsburgh Bridge Collapses Hours Before Biden Is Set To Talk Infrastructure There
Quote – No one was killed, authorities said, but several people were injured and three were transported to the hospital with injuries that didn’t appear life-threatening. The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear…. “What I didn’t realize, there are literally more bridges in Pittsburgh than any other city in the world,” Biden said, adding, “More than Venice. We’re going to fix them all,” he said.
Clickthrough for details. Wonkette also covered this story in its inimitable snary way, and I alsmost used it, but then I thought if a troll came by they might think the headline was serious, so I stuck with HuffPost.

Department of “You can’t make this stuff up”
QAnon Virginia Candidate Brawls At Texas Butterfly Center And This Headline Is Wildly Insufficient
Quote – Nonetheless, we’ll admit to being a bit surprised when we saw that the National Butterfly Center, a private nature preserve along the Rio Grande, announced it would be closing this weekend due to “credible threats” against the center and its staff. You see, what with it being on the river that forms the US-Mexico border, the Butterfly Center has been previously targeted by the crazies who wanted to build a private WALL, because darned if the nature preserve wanted the butterfly habitat disturbed. That prompted Brian Kolfage, the now-indicted head of We Build The Wall, to accuse the Butterfly Center and a nearby historic church of “promoting trafficking of children,” and specifically accusing the preserve of running a “rampant sex trade.”
Click through. Only in [Trump**’s] America

Food For Thought:

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Video Thread 1/30/22

 Posted by at 11:38 am  Open Thread, Politics
Jan 302022
 

Glenn Kirschner – DOJ Investigating Fraudulent Electors Presents Opportunity to Flip Them Up the Criminal Food Chain

The Lincoln Project – Tucker Carlson Tonight: Moscow Edition

Thom Hartmann – Alabama Cops Are Terrorizing a Small Town

Robert Reich – How Corporate Greed Drives Inflation

Armageddon Update – CoViD Year Three

Ring of Fire – Documents Show Plot To Overturn Arizona Election Results Included Right Wing Media Personalities

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump and the Georgia special grand jury….

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Open Thread for January 30, 2022

 Posted by at 7:20 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 302022
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Rigoletto – the second opera I ever owned a complete recording of. I haven’t seen/heard it as many times as I have La Boheme – but it’s the opera that got me an “A” in Conducting class. (I’m actually a terible conductor, but I was able to really “sell” the scene I chose – possibly the most tragic scene in an opera which is horrifyingly tragic. Verdi did that sometimes – sneaked the climax into the middle – and yet managed not to make the end a let-down. La Traviata is another example. So is Otello. And others. It’s almost as if he wanted to give the aude=ience a premonition – and a chance to warm up their emotions for the finale.) After the opera, I made 6 of the 10 new cartoons I need for February, and set up meds for the next two weeks.

Cartoon – 30 0130Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – After Stephen Breyer, who?
Quote – As a candidate for the Democratic nomination, Biden vowed to appoint a Black woman to the court if he were elected president. (He made the promise at a debate in February 2020, just days before winning the South Carolina primary that helped jump-start his flagging campaign.) The two most likely candidates are Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (who graduated from Harvard Law School and served as a law clerk to Breyer), and Justice Leondra R. Kruger of the California Supreme Court, who graduated from Yale Law School and served as a law clerk to Justice John Paul Stevens.
Click through for more names, any or all of whom would be well qualified (not that it’s difficult to be more qialified than Kavanaugh and Barrett – combined.) I’d love to see a black woman on the court, provided it wasn’t Candace Owens, Diamond, Silk, or the like.

Crooks and Liars – Chuck Schumer Plans Rapid Confirmation For SCOTUS Nominee
Quote – Senate sources also say that the Senate can act on the Biden nominee before Justice Stephen Breyer officially steps down from the court. So Democrats expect to hold hearings and votes before Breyer officially steps aside at the end of his term.
Click through. The article also contains a reference to the Reagan quote (when he appointed O’Conno) which Jen Psaki used so expertly whan asked about “reverse racism.”

AP News – Here, kitty: Bidens welcome cat named Willow to White House
From the article: The name Willow refers to Willow Grove, PA< where Dr. Jill grew up. Willow is a two-year-old [former] farm cat.
Click through for 4 more pix and a link to a video. (I chose this pic to show off hre eyes.) Every cat person knows that you don’t adopt a cat, the cat adopts you – and Willow appears to be no exception.

Food For Thought:

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Video Thread 1/29/22

 Posted by at 11:41 am  Open Thread, Politics
Jan 292022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Newt Gingrich Says Republicans will Jail Jan. 6 Panel Members if Republicans Take Power at Midterms

Meidas Touch – Democrat makes TRANSFORMATIVE pledge to protect voting rights in Texas

The Lincoln Project – Never Again

Thom Hartmann – Are Gun Makers Making AR-15 Assault Weapons for Kids?

Robert Reich – 5 Ways Your Company May Be Exploiting You

Armageddon Update – Stop The Steal

Beau – Let’s talk about what the media is getting wrong about the 6th….

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Open Thread for January 29, 2022

 Posted by at 7:27 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 292022
 

Yesterday, WordPress updated itself while I wasn’t looking, and all our data seems to be fine. But at some point I need to do a manual backup anyway. I need to know how to backup and how to reatore in the event of future changes to “plug-ins” which may affect past information.

Cartoon –

 

Short Takes –

Mother Jomes – Madison Cawthorn Just Became A Legal Guinea Pig
Quote – What makes North Carolina an interesting test case is that apparently they have state law stating that if credible allegations and evidence are presented, then it becomes Cawthorn’s responsibility to prove that he didn’t violate his oath, and is still qualified to run. Which, given his on record statements, is going to be problematic.
Click through for some legat details. It isn’t that complicated. Kudos to the attorneys bringing this suit.

The 19th – Should the ERA be in effect? On a key anniversary, it depends who you ask.
Quote – But the ERA’s addition as the country’s 28th Amendment has been ensnared in questions of legitimacy by opponents who say the last three states that ratified the ERA — Nevada in 2017, Illinois in 2018 and Virginia in 2020 — did so way past deadlines imposed by Congress in the 1970s and 1980s for ratifying the amendment. Litigation has followed, and some attorneys believe more legal challenges are on the way if people believe they can now cite the ERA in gender discrimination lawsuits
Clich through. The fact that it tool so long, and the fact tht there is any dispute about its ratification, are just two of the reasons I maintain that misgyny is stronger even than racism

Daily Kos (Laura Clawson) – ‘There’s something going on very, very haywire’ in Tennessee county’s banning of ‘Maus’
Quote – Like, say, banning a book about the Holocaust supposedly because it says “bitch,” and the schools whiting out all but the first letter of that word just isn’t enough censorship. It’s almost not clear which would be a more disturbing set of reasons for banning a book: discomfort with teaching about the brutality of the Holocaust, or really being so upset by a censored version of a word that is allowed on network television. At least some of the board members—though clearly not all—may be just that narrow and rigid.
Click through for article. The comments are filled with suggestions on “what next” will they ban, including “The Sound of Music.” But the movie was already neutered, dividing the cast into “us” (decent people) and “them” (Nazis.) The stage play includied a scene and a song, cut from the movie, which illustrated how “we” can slip into becoming “them.” Rodgers and Hammerstein knew what they were doing.

Food For Thought:

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Video Thread 1/28/22

 Posted by at 12:02 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jan 282022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Barr Talks to House Select Committee with No Leaks: Two Important Takeaways from this Revelation

American Bridge – Family values are for suckers: Ron Johnson unloads child care costs on families

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party

Thom Hartmann – What Biden Has Done That You Don’t Know! – The URL he gives has “expired” – I’d recommend opening a transcript [via the 3 dots to the right of the line just over the red subcribe button] and copying and printing it.

Rebel HQ – Trump’s Cult Is Full Of Mental Derangement

Really American – Rudy’s t shirts

Beau – Let’s talk about Clyde Bellecourt….

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