Sep 042024
 

Yesterday, Joyce Vance decided that her (paywalled) post from last Friday was “so timely and so important that I’ve taken it out from behind the paywall” and republished it here. I do realize not everyone knows someone in high school, or a parent with a child in high school, or a grandparent. But lots of people do, and even if one doesn’t – I don’t – it’s still good information to have, and good to know that people are working on it. When more people vote, we win.

Well, this was certainly not on my bingo card. But I like it. A lot. I really hope there is a Democrat somewhere who is just goofy enough to run with it who has, or can get, the funding for it. It might not even need to be a very large run. Just one, with the right publicity, would do teh trick.

Robert Reich takes on mergers – and specifically the proposed Kroger-Albertson’s merger. I expect you all already knew this was a terrible idea. But possibly not all the details of just how terrible an idea it is.

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Aug 212024
 

Yesterday, I read an email from Colorado’s Attorney General which had me in tears – good tears for the accomplishment, mixed with sorrow for the lost time. I lived in the San Luis Valley from the time I got out of the Marine Corps (1976) until 1991 when the jpb situation thre pushed me and Virgil to move to Colorado Springs. That was the time of my life when I was a real cat lady. I don’t recall opiates being a problem there then. Alcohol, yes. But the big medical thing was diabetes and the fact that it hit Hispanics so much harder than non-Hispanics. Unfortunately I can’t link to the email, but I can link to the article in the Valley Courier – still in print thankfully – which tells the story also. He’s a Democrat, so I have always voted for him any time he was on my ballot. I hope he stays in office for a long, long time.

Steve Schmidt – a couple of days old – but unless his prediction has alread come to pass, not too old. And we should be ready for it, and then, even if it turns out to be wrong, we’ll be fine.

Personally I would

but I’m glad someone is saying it out loud. because there are people who do not realize how bad it actually is. And you cannot fight something if you don’t know it even exists. I think we can do this, but we cannot forget for a moment what we are up against.

This is the good news. The bad news. of course, it that it’s today’s courts it will have to go through, not, for example the Warren Court (I’m pretty sure no relation to Elizabeth.) Kroger and Albertson’s being the only two big conglomerates is already a monopoly (technically it’s a duopoly, but these two are like-minded like Charlie and David.)

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Sep 152023
 

Wednesday, I received an email from my cousin with s gift link (= no paywall) to a story at the Washington Post which totally charmed me. I guarantee it will charm you if you enjoy the animal videos, and even if you don’t, this probably will charm you anyway. Also Wednesday, i checked out all the cartoons I have made for dates in October, There are 10, but 2 of them are for the same day, so that means I have 9. Then i gathered all the ones I have made which don’t apply to any particular date. I found 10 of those, which mweans i need 12 more. Probably this weekend, I’ll start looking through the historical calendar and see whaat events really grab me.If there are more than 12, I’m home free. Going through all the cartoons I have made, I noticed a lot with November and December dates, so October may end up being the hardest for the rest of this year. Then, yesterday, I got an email from Faithful America with a link for resources for “talking to Christian Nationalists” which includes responding to their comments on the internet or replying to their letters or emails. “Talking” isn’t always necessarily face to face. Yes, it’s designed for [authentic] Christians, but if that isn’t you, it could still be useful. And one other thing – Hunter Biden was indicted on gun charges. Now, I may be misremembering, or just wrong, about this, but my understanding was that the Judge who rejected the plea deal was not upset about the deal itself but about some missing steps and/or paperwork. If that’s the case, this may only mean that the special counsel is housekeeping.

Cartoon – 15 use Republican Education (+JNY)

Short Takes –

Robert Hubbell – Biden’s five-day world tour
Quote – After a grueling schedule and multiple diplomatic successes, the leading story in much of the media is the press conference that was tucked into the schedule in Vietnam on Sunday after eleven meetings over the prior two days. The NYTimes (which covered Biden’s trip fairly and focused on substance) described the press conference as follows: “Although Mr. Biden fielded questions on a range of foreign policy issues, including China’s economic troubles and climate change, he spoke softly and appeared tired. To make a point about climate deniers, Mr. Biden rambled into a familiar story about liars in a John Wayne movie, which left some in the audience deeply perplexed.” That’s it. That is all it took to set right-wing media sources aflame with proclamations that “Joe Biden is too old” (or worse).
Click through for full article. Mr. Hubbell’s point, of course, is that what Joe just did would tire anyone out, even people who are not yet forty, and it should be – absolutely is – evidence for his fitness, not against it.

Colorado Public Radio – Kroger and Albertsons agree to sell more than 50 stores in Colorado as part of merger plan
Quote – Albertsons and Kroger have reached a deal to sell hundreds of stores, including more than 50 in Colorado, to a New Hampshire-based wholesaler. The sale moves the supermarket giants a step closer to completing a $25 billion merger. The companies, which own King Soopers and Safeway in Colorado, are offloading 413 stores across the U.S. to C&S Wholesale Grocers. The deal ensures that no stores will close as a result of the merger, no frontline jobs will be lost, and all current collective bargaining agreements will be upheld, according to a joint statement from Albertsons and Kroger.
Click through for article. Of course this affects me. But since they intend to include “hundreds of stores,” it probably also affects you if you live in the US. Both chains have been deliberately concealing the extent of their monopolies by ceasing to change the names of stores in smaller chains they have bought. Even if you have neither an “Albertson’s” nor a “Kroger” in your neighborhood, you are likely to have one under a different name which they own, Or more than one.

Food For Thought

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Sep 142023
 

Yesterday, the sun shone, and the temperature barely broke 70, so the yard got done. Mitt Romney announced he will not run for re-election. Liz Cheney had some choice words for what she calls “the Putin wing of the Republican Party” (AKA the Sedition Caucus.) In Pennsylvania, they found and captured the escaped prisoner. And I picked two ery different short takes from very different sources, and – surprise, surprise! – They’re both on Substack. So crank up your mouse to click on “continue reading.” Everyone on Substack whom I have seen talk about it is very happy to be there – it’s easy for authors to use, and it saves them a lot of money compared to other venues. So I don’t see any of them moving away from it any time soon.

In case you noticed Nameless missing a few days, he’s healthy, but tied up with taxes, in his own state and in the state in which a relative lived from whom he received an inheritance. He’s on an extension, but the date for that is getting closer faster than he would like

Cartoon – On 14 September 1867 —

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – Who’s most responsible for the monopolization of America?
Quote – Yet the federal courts have been reluctant to do anything about this and are pushing back against the Biden administration’s efforts. Why? Because of a man named Robert Bork…. I first met Bork in September 1971, when I took his class on antitrust at Yale Law School. I recall him as a large, imposing man, with a red beard and a perpetual scowl…. We kept challenging his view that the only legitimate purpose of antitrust law was to lower consumer prices…. Even in our mid-20s, we knew this was bullshit.
Click through for history. If you didn’t already know, you will learn why “borked” is now a synonym for “inoperable,” chaotic,” or even “SNAFU.”

Wonkette – Lauren Boebert Kicked Out Of Theater For Acting Too Lauren Boebert-y
Quote – U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was escorted out of a Sunday night performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical in downtown Denver, accused by venue officials of vaping, singing, recording and “causing a disturbance” during the performance. VAPING. The woman was VAPING. The paper says they got warned during intermission that others around them were complaining (LMAO), so clearly it was time to shape up and sit nicely with our hands folded in front of us, even though it is a fun show like Beetlejuice. We can go to Chuck E. Cheese afterward, OK? The incident report states that after receiving the intermission warning, about five minutes into the second act security officials received “another complaint about the patrons being loud and at the time (they) were recording.” Taking pictures or recording is not permitted at shows. Tacky.
Click through to read embarrassing details and see optional surveillance footage. The part in italics is direct quotes from the Denver Post.

Food For Thought

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