Open Thread November 21 2024

 Posted by at 6:01 am  Politics
Nov 212024
 

Yesterday, the Riccardis took the song “Who shot the Sheriff” and turned it into “I thought the tariffs” and really covered just about every discouraging point. Well done. I also learned that a 2025 commemorative stamp for Betty White will be released sometime in 2025. She’s one of those people who are/were pretty much universally loved.  I also did a little online shopping – I need to get what I need from China before the inauguration while I can still afford to.

Robert Reich on DOGE. I can’t imagine Trump** has the foggiest notion of the other meaning of the acronym – a term from the Italian Renaissance for an absolute ruler. Most people think first of Venice, but other city states also had them, notably Genoa (Simon Boccanegra was one, though the Verdi opera based on him is not 100% historically accurate.) The word is a now obsolete variant of “Il Duce.” Hiding fascism in plain sight. I’d also point out that destroying “bureaucracy” is not an admirable or a desirable goal. As i learned in MBA school, “bureaucracy” was invented to replace partisan government service which had unfairness baked in with a non-partisan, merit based system which would be unbiased. No human institution is perfect, but I would far prefer and always recommend some form of bureaucracy over any other system for running a large country. You might still get screwed by a bureaucrat, but it wouldn’t be for any personal reason. With Trump** and apparently Elno, everything is personal because everything is transactional. (And that part of Verdi’s opera – the dude saying “you gotta reward me because I made you Doge” – and not getting his way and then poisoning Simon – is quite historically accurate, and appropriate to a Trump** administration.)

Robert Hubbell points out that the “red mirage” has not ended, and that the count is still changing – certainly through this week, and maybe longer. More counts will not change the results, because of the electoral college – but we have already seen Trump** fall below 50% of the popular vote, and we may yet see him slip below Kamala’s popular vote total. So much for the “landslide” that really never was anyway.

I don’t know what to do about this -I tried everything I could think of including re-downloading it from my original source, which by the way is here – https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219725786

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Open Thread October 2 2024

 Posted by 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.”)

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Open Thread August 15 2024

 Posted by at 6:03 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 152024
 

Yesterday, I learned there’s a new Randy Rainbow out. I also learned Randy has a sponsor now. I have doctored the URL to omit it – but I might point out that it is “Ground News,” which Trae Crowder has also accepted as a sponsor, so you know it’s going to be a reliable source. If you want the coupon, you can start it at the beginning. The parody is of “The farmer and the cowman should be friends,” from “Pklahoma,”which also is about division, so very appropriate. Here’s the link. With that accomplished, I also requested to schedule a donation pickup – and got today for a date. Well, I was ready; all I needed to do was move the chair I want to keep away from the boxes, and put out a note. Since I was going out to the porch anyway, I replaced my “No solicitation” sign, which was getting pretty worn, and put up a new one (if you are on our Mitch’s email list you probably saw it) “Warning! Retired person on premises. Knows everything and has plenty of time to tell it.”

Brooke Binkowski is new at Wonkette. She is a “counterdisinformationist*. In this article she addresses what counterdisinformation is and why it differs from fact-checking and debunking (both of which are also in her CV.) Even though she writes with Wonkette’s trademark irreverence (Rebecca appears to have a knack for hiring people who take to irreverence like ducks to water) some of her suggestions are quite doable. Of course, the more successful one is at it, the more likely one is to start receiving death threats, so take that into consideration too.

There’s a great deal wrong with people who to remove from society those wom they believe to be the “underclass.” But the one thing that may make them the most likely to rethink this is to point out that, without the “underclass,” they would have to clean their own toilets, scrub their own floors, at the very least harvest, and possibly also grow, their own food – and on and on. No, he’s not running for PResident – yet – but as an adviser th JD Vance, if Republicans win, he could still see the inside of the White House.

Belle Ukraine

Dog

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Open Thread May 31 2024

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 312024
 
Yesterday, the plumber did come and quickly determined that the problem was the water heater, Sadly, water heaters have become quite pricey. Coincidentally, though, my credit union, which issued the card I use the most, just made me an offer to get a large purchase charged in installments, with no interest on the balance, only on the installments as they are charged, That sounds like something I could do and leave my emergency stash intact, and also not touch my one remaining 401(k). And then, of course – I expect like all of you, I did my best impression of a Happy Dance. GUILTY ON ALL 34 COUNTS!
This one s new – but he also did one earlier on the same subject to the tune of “Evergreen.”  I’ve copied thw link which should start right after the ad (which is where the song starts,  Before the ad, there’s only talking.)
I actually do try to be mindful of others. It’s not so difficult wen they are struggling with something I have struggled with, even when it was long ago. But it’s terribly easy to be absolutely gobsmacked when they are struggling with something I have never experienced and never expect to. Such as this. And the articles earlier this week on trans men.

 

Jamie Raskin writes about possible disqualification of two justices in a New York Tmes op-ed. No paywall, Kind of surprising they printed it.

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Open Thread May 24 2024

 Posted by at 6:12 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 242024
 

Yesterday, I picked up a new Randy Rainbow parody, the first one he has made since “Don’t Arraign on My Parade, which was 9 months ago. (He made an “Interview with Mike Johnson,” but it’s not musical.) This one is called “Forty-Five” and based on “Nine to Five.” Here’s the link.

This is just the introduction of a bill. It doesn’t mean it will pass, with or without amendments. But it is IMO a good, even a great, bill and long overdue. Kudos to Elizabeth Warren.

Well, this is – unfortunately – unusual. A littlr more of it and it would be more than Texas which would see improvement.

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Open Thread May 13 2024

 Posted by at 5:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 132024
 

Yesterday, I saw another Parody Project production. I’m not sure it’s new, but it is delightful. (The original song is IMO deplorable, but this may redeem it.) Also, Trinette was by (and returns greetings). I had a whole bunch of stuff- trash, recyclables, and charity – which I needed help getting it out. After seeing Virgil, despite coming home exhausted, I had a burst of energy over the week. That helped me with the decision to start making it every other week to see him.

Just in case you needed, or someone you knw needs, yet another reason to do every possible thing to prevent Trump** from returning to the White House…

This site was down yesterday evening, but should be up today .  (And I don’t want to hear a single word about a PhD candidate using a double negative. There’s more to brains than formal grammar.)

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Open Thread May 1, 2024

 Posted by at 6:21 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
May 012024
 

On Monday, Steve Schmidt’s two related articles got me thinking about the church during my lifetime, in which time there have been 7 popes: Pius XII, John XXIII (the one under whom I became a Catholic), Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and now Francis. Of them, only two IMO were any good: John and Francis (I think John Paul I might have been, but he only lived 30 days after election, so it’s not easy to tell.) “Catholic” is Greek for “universal” or, as we now say, “big tent,” and the bigger the tent, the more likely there will be rogues in it. That’s just a fact. But that’s one of the things the papacy is for – to correct the rogues. Not as was done for so long, by burning them alive, but through counseling. And if that doesn’t work – well, that’s what excomminication is for. Not every Catholic agrees with me on that, and that’s fine – a big tent is supposed to be big. It’s just how I feel, and it may be because I’m more aware of the dangers of – shall we say, allowing poisonous serpents around the house. And stories like this one – well, I’m sure y’all can see where I’m coming from.

Steve Schmidt is pissed, and so am I.  He posted two articles on this, one with more background, the other with more details on this assault.  Grrrr.

I can only hope this “Founders Sing” video (NSFW) about Don Snorleone (AKA the Nodfather) will alleviate some of the sting from the first article.

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Open Thread March 16, 2024

 Posted by at 5:48 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Mar 162024
 

Yesterday, I got very little done. Most of what I accomplished was clearing a way to the best seat to watch the actual television from – now that it’s working again. Escept that when it came time,  the heavy snow we’ve has the last two days had mangled the signal so badly I couldn’t watch  Fortunately , “Dead Man Walking” will be streamed through Passport – but the streams don’t start until the 19th. I was hoping not to have to wait. (I’ve already waited over 20 years just to hear it.) So, yes, this is skimpy.  And i’ll have listened to Turandot and been grateful.

I missed “Pi Day,” so this is a bit late. And this parody is a bit over 8 minutes (about the same as the original IIRC) but it’s worth every second of your time that it takes. It’s upbeat, but it made me reach for a hanky  It says, in a dfferent way, so much of what I have been feeling.  (I even put it into my email signature.)

If you’ve been wondering why suddenly TikTok is neeing named in bills and voted on in the House, and now going to the Senate, this should make it pellucidly clear.

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