Open Thread September 24 2024

 Posted by at 6:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 242024
 

Yesterday, the defendant in the case of the shooting at the King Soopers in Boulder, CO, was found guilty on 55 felony counts, incluing 10 counts of first-degree murder.  It didn’t even take them a full day to come to that conclusion. I had not been following this story closely enough to have previously seen the names of the victims, but I read it this time, and saw two surnames, both relatively uncommon, which were the same as those of people I had known in Colorado – when I lived in the San Luis Valley. But when I looked then up, there appeared to be no connection in either case. Still, all the victims were known to and kin to and important to someone, and looking that up made the shooting very real to me.

Talking Points Memo’s Morning Memo was hot yesterday. Every time I finished a section and was going to file the email, I’d see the next title and realized I wasn’t ready. I got all the way to the end, in fact. Fortunatel, I can give you a link to the whole thing so you can decide what to skip.

Over the weekend, Heather Cox Richardson reviewed the history of the Electoral College. It’s a history which is little kown, even among people who consider themselves history buffs. And it’s a grand demonstration of how much and in how many ways an institution such as the Electoral College is vulnerable to manipulation – and in how many ways (the Electoral College is the reason we have two Dakotas, for one thing.) I wish that everyone in Amereica, voting age or not, could be forced to read or to listen to it. In whatever language they understand.

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Open Thread July 15 2024

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jul 152024
 

Yesterday, I was able to see Virgil. The drive was uneventful both ways. Bless his heart, he brags about how wonderful I am all the tine to anyone who will listen, and today he introduced me to two staff who wanted to meet me. The first was LeeAnn (don’t know about the spelling), whose two children are both Marines, and we had duty stations in common, so we chatted about that for a while. The second was Robinson,who helps him when he can’t handle the technology to phone me (which I’m afraid is getting more and more frequent.) We did get to play crobbage, and he’s also having more and more difficulty counting the hands. But he’s still Virgil, and seems to be in good health otherwise. And he has no trouble remembering me. I don’t know whether I have said this before, but I am very glad he is in the facility it is in – it’s the one which is solely for inmates with mental issues, whch means they know how to take care of him Far better than I could, actually. And I did get the memo about the shooting Saturday. But I don’t know enough yet to comment.

Heather Cox Richardson has quite literally ben thinking about this for years before requesting an interview with Secretary of State Blinken. Yes, it was under Reagan that the Cold War more or less ended (Putin is still fighting it – and so is Trump**) And since then, with a few exceptions, our Presidents have been mostly Republican. Beau likes to liken the Republican party to a dog chasing a car who catchs it and has no idea what to do with it. I would say foreign policy is one of those cars. In any case, the interview was videotaped, and half of that is in this column. She will follow up with the rest of it – and so will I. And do read the text also.

I would like to point out that “ultra wealthy Christian” is an oxymoron. When the rich young man came to Jesus, Jesus told him to “Sell all that you have and give the money to the poor.” Suffice it to say, he didn’t. It’s in every Gospel but John, but Mark 10:17-31 is one of the citations.

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Open Thread October 28, 2023

 Posted by at 6:03 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 282023
 

Yesterday, the mass shooting in Maine reached some other news outlets, including Wonkette. I heard about it a couple of days ago from Joyce Vance. I wanted more detail before passing it on, but her take did inspire me to make today’s cartoon, and bump a different one (which I hadn’t finished anyway). Also, I received the email that my ballot has been counted. I can now display the “I voted” sticker, which was thoughtfully included in the envelope with the blank ballot. And I came across today’s Food for Thought, which is clearly a Public Service Announcement, so by all means pass it on.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Wonkette (Substack) – Search Continues For Whichever Antifa Biden Lib Forced Maine Shooter To Pretend To Be A Right-Winger
Quote – America is picking its way through the aftermath of yet another mass shooting, this time in Lewiston, Maine, where at least 18 people died and at least 13 others were wounded … when another previously law abiding gun owner stopped abiding the law and shot up a bowling alley and a restaurant. The reported casualty numbers … have varied widely, and may well rise. The suspected shooter is still at large as we write this, as law enforcement from all over join in searching for the shooter or perhaps his body and cable news fills time with expert opinion. People in the area have been told to shelter in place until the shooter is found. Businesses and schools are closed in Lewiston and several other locations around the state.
Click through for details – not that they aren’t much like every other details from every other mass shooting ever. Only the names and the numbers seem to change.

The Root – Freddie Krueger Who? Karen is the Real Face of Terror For Black America
Quote – In a world where law enforcement violence against Black Americans is far too common, where stereotypes still abound, the true face of terror is not Chucky or the Nun. It’s Karen…. Doesn’t matter if the Black person in question is a man or a woman. Doesn’t matter if they are strong or weak. Doesn’t matter if they are an adult or a child. Karen can get them. She can still drag them to hell.
Click through for story. Heaven knows people of any hue can find Karens annoying. But white people tend not to think of them as weapons of war. We need to look harder – and deeper. This goes back at leeast to the antebellum south and the character of “Miss Ann.” And it has been, and still can be, deadly.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 5/11/2023

 Posted by at 12:06 pm  Open Thread, Politics
May 112023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Judge finally issues gag order/protective order, restricting Donald Trump’s speech and posts

The Lincoln Project – This Is Who He Is

Thom Hartmann – Mass Shooters: Ugly Truth About Pathetic Men Revealed By Former Psycho Therapist

Puppet Regime – Putin gets introspective

MAN vs ELEPHANT: Baby Elephant Plays with KBC Journalist

Beau – Let’s talk about Biden, the FBI, and Republican pursuits….

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Open Thread March 29, 2023

 Posted by at 7:13 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 292023
 

Yesterday, Looking at the 10-day weather forcast, I said to myself, “I guess spring is really here.” But for those who haven’t lived in the Rockies, I think I had better qualify that. The predominant spring weather in Colorado is wind. And six of those ten days, including both the 30th and the 31st, showed wind as the predominant weather. So, after coming in like a grumpy lamb, March may go out like a blustery lion after all. (But we can also expect some warmer, possibly up to 70°F.) Also, I found I had overcut the extra yesterday – here’s the correct link (plus it’s now on YouTube.)

Cartoon – 29 Niagara rtl

Short Takes –

The 19th – Nashville shooting suspect’s gender sets attack apart from most mass shootings
Quote – Law enforcement officials in Nashville released the identity of the shooter, whose last name was Hale. Chief John Drake of the Nashville Police said the authorities currently believe that the shooter is transgender. However, local authorities and news media reports have varied on how they refer to Hale’s gender identity, as well as what pronouns they have used. The 19th is waiting on further information related to Hale’s identity before publishing a first name.
Click through for more. Yes, everyone has heard about the shots and the victims. I’m using the 19th because it is not afraid to look at this from a different perspective (and is being very careful not to over-report.)

PolitiZoom – Will Ivana Sabotage Donald From the Grave? SECRET FBI Files Released Under FOIA Reveal Investigation
Quote – What if I was to tell you that I was writing a fiction story about a supposed KGB asset, groomed since the 80’s, and his fashionista wife, whom the FBI has also been watching since the 80’s, and then we fast forward to the 21st century, where the alleged asset has been elected president of the United States, with the help of Vladimir Putin, and then a few years later the fashionista wife tumbles down the stairs of her condo one night when she’s alone and breaks her neck?
Click through for juicy details. This seems pretty far-fetched to me. But then everthing involving Trump** is far-fetched. And Ursula doesn’t even mention the suspicious weight of the coffin considering she was cremated.

Bonus News of the Weird:

Law & Crime – Jurors subject ‘dominatrix’ to potential 25-year prison term for trying to murder lookalike eyelash stylist with cheesecake tainted by powerful Russian benzo
Quote – Nasyrova allegedly fled Russia in 2014 before she could be charged with the drugging and murder of a different friend, this one a man. During a 2018 interview with 48 Hours while she was detained at Rikers Island, the so-called dominatrix Nasyrova was also asked whether it was true that she had also drugged and robbed men she met through dating sites. Nasyrova denied the allegations and said (according to a translation), “I would be happy to comment on that, but I can’t talk about it.”
CLick through for story. The concept of identity theft is not new. It appears in countless fairy tals, certainly from all over Europe – I can specifically pint to one in Czechoslovakia,one in Scandinavia, and at least a dozen in Germany collected by the Grimm brothers. And the victimgenerally either survives or is magically resurrected – fairy tales are big on justice for victims. But the detail of the perp being an alleged “dominatrix” is new.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread February 24, 2023

 Posted by at 7:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 242023
 

Yesterday, the temperature did go up before it went down, although it never for as high as freezing. Today it should, and the next several days should be warmer still. There’s no snow in the forecast for a little over a week.

This article in one of my newsletters caught my eye… and then I saw that it had also caught Mitch’s eye. I know many of y’all are also on his mailing list – and also that the contents are no surprise – but it’s good to see that someone is in a position to prove it.

Cartoon – 24 0224Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – 10 Surprising Lessons of the Ukraine War So Far
Quote – While Ukraine has pleaded for fighter jets for a year, unmanned aircraft have stolen the show … “No Time for Sergeants” was once a TV hit in America. It has been a flop for the Russian army ,,, Speaking of time, it’s time for traditional navies to realize their time will soon be up … Poland is the new Germany. (And Estonia is the new France.) … Vladimir Putin may be a madman, but at least he has the common sense not to want to be obliterated in a nuclear war with NATO … Speaking of Putin, stick a fork in him. He may not be quite done yet, but he will be soon… and besides if anyone deserves to have a fork stuck in him, it’s Putin … TikTok is more than just an annoying teenage time-waster and Chinese espionage plot … Ukraine is already in the EU and NATO whether you (or Russia or Turkey[sic]) like it or not … With friends like Turkey[sic], Israel, the global South and Elon Musk, who needs enemies? … And the most important lesson of all is, as it will be for the remainder of this century, everything is always about China.
Click through for the explanation of each point. I am doing my best to respect the newly preferred spelling of Türkiye. If the UN can do it, I should be able to.

The Nib – The Great Debate: Martin Luther King, Jr. vs Robert F. Williams
Quote – While the debate between King and Williams was waged in dueling magazine columns in pages of the Liberator over the course of 1959, I like to imagine what it would have been like inperson. Maybe I’d be sitting with WEB Dubois, who followed the discussion closely.
Click through for full graphic. The hearts and minds of bigots cannot be won with violence. The hearts and minds of bigots also cannot be won with non-violence. They also cannot be won with legislation, but I believe legislation has the best chance of controlling their behavior, and of at least achieving justice when that doesn’t succeed. But for that to happen we need to elect majorities of sane legislators everywhere and at every level – and we need exclusively sane people in law enforcement and the courts. None of this is easy.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 2/16/2023

 Posted by at 11:57 am  Open Thread, Politics
Feb 162023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Mike Pence will fight a grand jury subpoena to testify about Trump’s election crimes, & he will lose

Twitter – Shannon Watts. It was just a matter of time before there was a two-time survivor.

Thom Hartmann – Biden’s Shocking Net Worth Revealed!

Liberal Redneck – Ohio Train Derailment and Corporate Greed

Brent Terhune – Chinese Spy Balloon

Pittie Begs His Mom To Keep A Pittie Puppy Half His Size

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump’s laptop problem….

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Open Thread for December 5, 2021

 Posted by at 6:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 052021
 

Yesterday was the first day since the oandemic started that the Metropolitan Opera was able to do a live broadcast over the radio (Last season was all re-runs). It was a new opera, “Eurydice,” which tells (I can’t say re-tells because the story is very far out) the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in the 21st century, from the point of view of Eurydice. It’s very accessible (term of art for “easy to listen to, not a lot of dissonance”). Thatt’s a good thing as just following the plot is plenty challenging.

Cartoon – 05 MCel RTU

Short Takes

NPR – Parents of Michigan school shooting suspect are held on $500,000 bond after manhunt
Quote – “They sought multiple attempts to hide their location and were eventually tracked down after they parked their car somewhere a witness saw it,” said Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald. “These two individuals were found locked somewhere in a room, hiding. These are not people that we can be assured will return to court on their own.”
Click through for details.  I thought this was an update we’d all want to see.

Democratic Underground (Eleanor R) – Heartbreaking (tissue alert)
Quote – McClaren Hospital where Oxford community is gathered to supportthe family of Justin Shillings, one of the four teens killed this week. Justin is an organ donor and the crowd is here so that when his body is moved for surgery his family can look down andsee the love and support.
Click through for picture … and comments. Don’t miss comment #15 by barbtries.

HuffPost – ‘Obscene’ GOP Blockade Stalls Dozens Of Biden Nominees
Quote – Republicans can’t actually block all of Biden’s nominees from being confirmed. But they can use the existing rules of the Senate to drastically slow down their appointments, dragging out the process of filling what have typically been uncontroversial jobs in lower-level positions across the federal government. With the GOP refusing to expedite many of Biden’s nominees, placing so-called “holds” on them at the committee level, Democrats must carry out multiple votes to confirm each one, eating up valuable floor time that could be spent on other legislative business.
Click through for story. Dirty tricks and more dirty tricks. All done to “own the libs,” but really all done to hurt the American people.

Food for Thought –



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