Personal – Page 10 – Politics Plus

Open Thread September 11, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 112023

Yesterday, I was able to see Virgil. When I went over to the game cabinet to see what was avaiable, my jaw about hit the floor – there was a brand new deck of standard cards. It’s amazing how much easier it is to concentrate on, and have fun with, a game of cards when none of them stick together, and none are creased in half to the point of falling apart. When I left, I told the offcer who was supervising, “I don’t know who came up with the new deck of cards, but please tell them they get to go to heaven without doing anything else.” (As usual, that got a smile.) I needed the air conditioning on in the car on the way down, but coming back, it was cooler, and there was even a little rain, so I didn’t. I had to stop for gas on the way home, and yes, it’s pricey here too, but when a single tank lasts me two months I really don’t have a lot to gripe about. As usual, I was exhausted upon return. I think what is going on is that, even when I don’t realize I am, I get nervous about everything that could go wrong – and after it’s all gone fine, and there’s nothing more that could go wrong, I melt with relief.

Also, I did finish the last 2 cartoons in September and was able to look at October. TC made only 2 cartoons in October 2015, for the 30th and 31st, and they were both personal medical mayhem topics. So I’ll need a bunch. There are some images which could be made into cartoons with a frame and a watermark, and I’ll start by doing something with those. I didn’t count them. I did notice that Nameless uploaded images for an exquisite fall foliage post around the 16th. I didn’t look to see whether any were gifs or slideshows – but the images were lovely just by themselves.

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Short Takes –

Projest On Government Oversight – Routine Disqualification: Every State Has Kept Ineligible Candidates Off the Ballot, and Trump Could Be Next
Quote – In addition to the disqualification clause, the U.S. Constitution imposes several qualifications for federal elected offices. Representatives, senators, and presidents must meet minimum age requirements (ranging from 25 to 35 years of age); must be United States citizens (natural-born for presidents); and must live in the state they represent (or in the case of presidents, must have lived in the country for at least 14 years). In addition, the 22nd Amendment prohibits individuals who have already been elected to two terms as president or served more than one and a half terms from being elected president again, and the 12th Amendment prohibits a president and vice president from residing in the same state. The Supreme Court has repeatedly held that these qualifications are exclusive; Congress and the states cannot create additional qualifications for these federal offices. However, as will be discussed in this report, states do have the authority to ensure that candidates for federal office meet the Constitution’s requirements.
Click through for full article. This could have been titled “Everything you wanted to know about disqualification but didn’t know enough to ask.” In addition to general rules, the article includes case studies in several states of diqualification for different offices. Some of them it’s challenging to believe that a candidate not intelligent enough to realize they were unqualified would even apply for candidacy, or challenge the Secretary of State when exceluded.

HuffPost – 6 Things To Know About Biden’s Bad Polling
Quote – 2. The anti-bedwetting brigade is out in full force, and mostly correct. “I don’t worry about any polls a year and a half before the election,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told HuffPost. While his timeline was not entirely accurate, he’s correct to say the predictive value of polls this far out is essentially nil. Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton both came back for clear victories after trailing the leading GOP contenders at similar points in their presidencies.
Click through for all six. Yes, another article on polling. There are two potential negative consequences to overreacting to polls. One can get overdonfident, on the one hand. And, on the other, one can get discouraged enough to fail to vote. In 2024, we can’t afford for any of us to make either mistake. We need to find middle ground. If this doesn’t help, don’t get hung up on it.

Food For Thought

Open Thread August 8, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:15 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 082023

Yesterday, I got a note from James – our lurker who has had so many problems in the last few years, most recently multiple surgeries (and asked for vibes for those.) After six years, he has finally received SSDI. IIRC he had to re-apply once or twice, but even if that only went back to the most recent re-application, that’s still a couple of years back pay. He can finally be confident of a roof over his head, not starving, and being together with his beloved Cinnamon, the last surviving dog in what was once a family of house dogs (for a while he had to board Cinnamon with a friend, not only because of his absence due to the surgeries, but for financial reasons.) So he has freedom at last. Also yesterday – I know Colorado has a well deserved reputation for crazy weather – but can you even imagine a day when the temperature follows the pattern of the red line in the graph at the right? Yes, that was yesterday. Really. Finally, today is the big vote in Ohio nn a proposed highly unconcstitutional amendment to the state constitution. Be sure to keep them in your prayers (or however you communicate with the universe.)

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Short Takes –

Wonkette – Black DA Elected In Augusta Georgia So White County Creates Own Separate, Unequal Judicial Circuit
Quote – Reporter Justin Glawe details in The Guardian how the day after the election, before the results were even certified, Republican state legislator Barry Fleming sent a text to Doug Duncan, the county commission chair for Columbia, one of the three counties in the circuit and by far the whitest. The text asked, “Does the board of commissioners want to be there [sic] own judicial circuit.” (No one has time for spelling when they’re busy screwing democracy!) Duncan thought this was swell, so by December, he’d officially asked the area’s lawmakers to introduce legislation separating Columbia county from the judicial circuit that also included Richmond and Burke counties.
Click through for story. After learning what’s been going on forever in Newbern, AL, this hit me with the realization that stuff like this has been going on, all over, since 1964 and we simply haven’t seen it, despite its being done in broad daylight. Apperently even woke Democrats aren’t woke enough.

Letters from an American – August 6, 2023
Quote – On August 6, 1880, Republican presidential candidate James A. Garfield gave one of his most famous speeches…. Garfield promised that “we will remember our allies who fought with us.” He explained: “Soon after the great struggle began, we looked behind the army of white rebels, and saw 4,000,000 of black people condemned to toil as slaves for our enemies; and we found that the hearts of these 4,000,000 were God-inspired with the spirit of liberty, and that they were all our friends.” As the crowd applauded, he continued: “We have seen white men betray the flag and fight to kill the Union; but in all that long, dreary war we never saw a traitor in a black skin.”
Click through for the untold story. Sounds to me like Garfield signed his own death warrant that night. I know tht’s not what the history books say., but…. Also, we need to add another Republican to the list of good presidents.

Food For Thought

Open Thread July 25, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 252023

Today, had she lived , would have been my mother’s 117th birthday (though that would have been extremely unlikely. ) She was a survivor of childhood abuse, widowhood with a newborn child, and a melanoma on her nose. She was not a woman who talked a lot, but one could generally take anything she said to the bank. When I was in high school and college it was never hard for me to get friends to come over, but sometimes it was hard to tell whether it was her or me for whom they were coming. At her funeral my last surviving sunt (who had always been known to be the most easily offended person in the family) said, that my Mom had been “the most loving person she had ever known.” And, both prior to that and to this day, Virgil has raised many eyebrows by saying that he never really knew what love was until he met his wife’s mother. Of course I miss her. But I would probably miss her more had she not put so much time and effort into preparing me to be strong and independent. Happy Birthday, Mom.

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Short Takes –

Democratic Underground (Zorro) – They Checked Out Pride Books in Protest. It Backfired.
Quote – Adrianne Peterson, the manager of the Rancho Peñasquitos branch of the San Diego Public Library, was actually a little embarrassed by the modest size of her Pride Month display in June. Between staff vacations and organizing workshops for graduating high school students, it had fallen through the cracks and fell short of what she had hoped to offer. Yet the kiosk across from the checkout counter, marked by a Progress Pride rainbow flag, was enough to thrust the suburban library onto the front lines of the nation’s culture wars. Ms. Peterson, who has run the library branch since 2012 and highlighted books for Pride Month for the better part of a decade, was taken aback when she read an email last month from two neighborhood residents. They informed her that they had gotten nearly all of the books in the Pride display checked out and would not return them unless the library permanently removed what they considered “inappropriate content.”
Click through for what happened next.This take is so that Colleen can get bragging rights for her city. The original article was in the NY Times, but I don’t have a gift link, and besides, the comments are pretty good.

Good News Network – Stunned Researchers Discover that Metals Can Heal Themselves ‘Without Human Intervention’
Quote – Scientists for the first time have witnessed pieces of metal crack, then fuse back together without any human intervention, overturning fundamental scientific theories in the process. If the newly discovered phenomenon can be harnessed, it could usher in an engineering revolution—one in which self-healing engines, bridges, and airplanes could reverse damage caused by wear and tear, making them safer and longer-lasting. The research team from Sandia National Laboratories and Texas A&M University described their findings today in the journal Nature.
Click through. I found this through CPR. I don’t often do an all good news day, and I didn’t plan this one, but I figured, since it is Mom’s birthday, I’d let it go.

Food For Thought

I made this. Marthe48 says “Please feel free to share.”

Open Thread April 9, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Apr 092023

Yesterday, the radio opera was Puccini’s “Tosca,” an opera which strikes very close to home in multiple circumstances … including the circumstances the United States is currently in politically (and legally.) The title character is a beautiful, celebrated, passionate, insecure, and rather naive singer who is in love with the tenor, a political activist. The chief of police, the de facto dictator (at least of the city), who is such a jerk that Napoleon looks good to the activists, has the hots for her. He also knows her lover, Mario, is an activist, and therefore wants him dead for both reasons. There is torture, there is extortion, there is desperation, and by the end of the opera all three are dead. It’s quite a trip. It wasn’t the first opera I saw live, but I was quite young when I saw it first – about 18. It was on a Saturday. The previous evening, I had been to a get-together with the professors and other students in the Classics Department (my major.) One graduate student was kind of pushing me to accept an alcoholic drink (but I had driven to the occasion, and would have to drive home), and at one point he said, “Don’t you want to be happy?” I replied, “I am happy already,” “What?” he replied. “How dare you be happy without artificial means?” It was funny, and we both laughed, but it wasn’t so funny the next day when he had been found a suicide. I learned about it maybe an hour before I was to leave for the opera with the friend who had invited me. It really hit home. To this day I cannot see or hear or think about “Tosca” without remembering. I also can’t help loving “Tosca.”

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Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – ‘You Bet!’: Peter Doocy Taken To The Woodshed By John Kirby
Quote – “Proud of the fact that we got more than 124,000 people safely out of Afghanistan? You bet,” Kirby shot back. “Proud of the fact that American troops were able to seize control of a defunct airport and get it operational in 24 hours? You bet. Proud of the fact that we now have about 100,000 Afghans, our former allies and partners, living in this country and working toward citizenship? You bet!”
Click through. there’s a video if tou can stand Doocy’s voice – I can’t. I’m sharing this for John Kirby’s remarks. For an operation which was deliberately set up – by Trump** – to fail, there is indeed a lot to be proud of.

Democratic Underground (littlemisssmartypants) – A “brilliant story about…JustinPearson” from Tennessee.
Quote – When I was a young organizer, we would often sit in [Memphis City Schools] board meetings…. This particular night I noticed a young man who was sitting and waiting to speak…. Once he got to the podium the room completely shifted…. He challenged the Board to answer for why they had such low expectations for his school and his community…. That kid is an adult now and that adult just got expelled from our house floor making national news….
Click through for the full story. I’m not crying, you’re crying. If they hold special elections, his district – both districts – should vote them back in and keep doing so as long as necessary. And then elect both to Congress (Along with Gloria Johnson.)

Food For Thought

Personal Update March 8, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:57 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 082023

Yesterday, I decided whuch urgent care to visit, and went there – unfortunately I ended up walking completely around the building before finding the right door. I didn’t have to wait long. The doctor thought maybe a lipoma, maybe an abcess (I don’t think it’s an abcess – for one thing it’s not hot enough and for another all the abcesses I have seen [granted mostly in cats] hurt more constantly. This spot hasn’t hurt to speak of since last week at this time.) She sent me for an ultrasound and drew a line around the spot, which endeared her to the ultrasound tech (the spot today is the shape of a grand piano lid, except that the distance from thr bottom line nearest the keys to the rounded top is only 4 cm – less than 2″ (Last week this time it was about the size and shape of a standard playing card with the corners rounded off – seems it only increases in size when pain is present.) He did not find any fluid or underlying mass, so it’s still a mystery. I did just manage to pick up my prescription on the way home, and still get home – well, a couple of minutes after sunset, but with almost a half hour of “civil twilight” to spare. But I was exhausted. I have put up a half-sized video thread, using just videos where I have more than one in the queue from the source, in order not to get too behind or have to cut something good. Otherwise, see y’all tomorrow.

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Open Thread January 30, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:41 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 302023

Yesterday, I did get to see Virgil. It was snowing and cold – but I really had to see him because omething had gone wrong in the phone system; he had tried 3 times to call me Friday but I wasn’t able to accept ythe call and I wanted to tell him it was not I who was haning up on him. Fortunately, he didn’t think that, and I got to talk with the inmate who helps him place calls and tell him what happened. I had called the provider, and I did get an answer – frankly it didn’t make sense to me, but I shared it anyway because it’s not something I can fix, and if they are going to they need all available information – at least. I wasn’t able to finish scraping the windshield before starting out in the morning; I got the driver’s side and part of the passenger side clear, but part of it was just rock solid, despite my having turned the defrost on for over a half hour and of course kept it on while driving. I was worried about having to deal with that before leaving for home, and I was also worried, as by this time the snow had reached Pueblo and was coming down, about getting on to the interstate. But by the time I left, the rock hard ice had melted so thoroughly that a couple swipes of the windshield wipers took care of it, and when I got to the interstate there was a huge gap to get into, and just about everyone was driving slowly anyway, plus it was practically dry, both directions (I don’t know how Colorado snowstorms know to fall most heavily on residential areas and frequesntted commercial areas, and less on highways, but they do a good job of it.) So there are three more proofs of one of my favorite sayings (see right). As usual, Virgil returns all greetings. He does appreciate all of you – he knows, among other things, you are company for me, which he can’t be under the circumstances.

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Short Takes –

Washington Post (no paywall) – Justice Department asks FEC to stand down as prosecutors probe Santos
Quote – The Justice Department has asked the Federal Election Commission to hold off on any enforcement action against George Santos, the Republican congressman from New York who lied about key aspects of his biography, as prosecutors conduct a parallel criminal probe, according to two people familiar with the request…. “Basically they don’t want two sets of investigators tripping over each other,” said David M. Mason, a former FEC commissioner. “And they don’t want anything that the FEC, which is a civil agency, does to potentially complicate their criminal case.”
Click through for story – From WaPo’s keyboards to God’s iPhone.

Timothy Snyder – Thinking about… – The Specter of 2016
Quote – The reporting on this so far seems to miss the larger implications. One of them is that Trump’s historical position looks far cloudier. In 2016, Trump’s campaign manager (Manafort) was a former employee of a Russian oligarch (Deripaska), and owed money to that same Russian oligarch. And the FBI special agent (McGonigal) who was charged with investigating the Trump campaign’s Russian connections then went to work (according to the indictment) for that very same Russian oligarch (Deripaska). This is obviously very bad for Trump personally. But it is also very bad for FBI New York, for the FBI generally, and for the United States of America.
Click through for analysis. Snyder is a historian and this falls right into his special area, namely Europe. What strikes me here is that we all seem to be laboring under themistaken impression that if a responsible adult is aware that there is a problem under his or her purview, he or she will take some action. That does not appear to be the case Look at the 6-year-old school shooter – other students reported to multiple adults that he had a gun, starting early in the day. One of, I guess, the last to hear, just said, “Don’t worry, the school day’s almost over.” And then there was the entire police department in Uvalde. I understand the impulse, I really do, to mind one’s own business, but we citizens deserve better. Just because fascists want to supervise inappropriately doesn’t mean that we must fail to exercise supervision at all.

Food For Thought

Open Thread January 3, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 032023

Yesterday, It had snowed, and, because the day was overcast, there was still a blanket of it when I got up. But the concrete (like my driveway) was just a lttle damp – except the parts that get no sun at all Those patches always linger. We are heading into a cold snap, so some of the snow.may hang around, but we’ll see There’s no new snow in the 10-day forecast.

I was looking up all the music parody and straight satire people for new stuff. There actually isn’t much – looks like everyone wanted to do something for Christmas and are now taking a break. Rocky Mountain Mike does have a new one, but it’s not a parody, but a straight cover of “Summer Wine.” But he clearly is looking to expand his work visually, because the visuals are a dramatization of the story of the song. It’s mostly black and white – color is used just at the end, and whe it shows up, it’s startling. There’s no CC, but the lyrics are available here (if anyone cares.)

If you haven’t already seen this, it may shock you – it did me! Among the few Republicans who have expressed support for Jamie Raskin is – wait for it – Marjorie Taylor Greene. Who would ever have thought she had it in her?

Finally, today is the day the House votes on the Speaker. I will be surprised, however, if there is any decision made today. In fact, it’s anybody’s guess how long it will take to come up with a compromise which is acceptable to everyone (this is a full house vote – it’s not just Republicans.)

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Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Arizona Border Containerpalooza Sale!
Quote – Governor Ducey has agreed to pay AshBritt Management & Logistics $76 million to tear down containers they illegally placed on the southern border of Arizona to keep the brown folks out. The problem, in a nutshell, is that the containers were placed on federal land, and the DOJ has sued Arizona to remove them. So after paying $95 million to install them, they will need to be removed.
Click through for details. This would be funny, were it not such a waste of money – taxpayers money – for which there were thousands of better uses.

New York Times (no paywall) – Opinion: Anthony Fauci Quietly Shocked Us All
Quote – Days after the conference, I found myself in Dr. Fauci’s office, along with the ACT UP members Mark Harrington and Jim Eigo, hammering out the final details of our parallel track program, which would allow thousands of people to obtain experimental drugs outside of traditional clinical trials. Within days, a New York Times front page headline about Dr. Fauci read, “AIDS Researcher Seeks Wide Access to Drugs in Tests.” The F.D.A. quickly fell in line. ACT UP had scored its first major victory, with Dr. Fauci’s help.
Click through for OP. It’s not all sunshine and roses, but on balance, it’s a tribute.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 22, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 222022

Yesterday, I heard from my BFF. The colonoscopy went well – she’s good for another ten years. But she has uterine fibroids, and (I guess because of the bleeding?) her medical team is concerned. They’ve changed her hormones and will periodically be administering shots in hopes of diminishing them. It’ll take several months to know, and they may recommend surgery. She appreciates very much any and all prayers (as do I on her behalf). Also, Steve Bannon was sentenced – only 4 months in prison, but that’s still something (and a $6500 fine … which is NOT something.) As I write I don’t know whther or not he was immediately remanded, or given some time to “put his affairs in order” and report. Also, the Fifth Circuit (TX, LA, MS) Court of Appeals ruled that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is inconstitutional, and Public Citizen has a petition to sign about it.

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Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Body Cams Show DeSantis Thugs Arresting People For Voting
Quote – According to the Times, Oliver, who served 18 years in prison for second-degree murder, filled out both a voter registration form and a change-of-address form in 2020 before voting, and the forms were reviewed by the State Department before she was given a voter ID. State registration forms require voters to swear that they have not been convicted of a felony or that their voting rights have been restored, but they do not clarify that people convicted of certain crimes are not eligible for restored rights.
Click through for story. I seriously hope these people sue the State of Florida – or, better, DeSantis personally – for entrapment, and can take him to the cleaners, because I’m sure this was deliberate on his part. Local election officials were working with state-supplied materials which were deceptive, but not the local officials fault, and even the “thugs” in the video (the Twitter one since the YouTube one has been removed) sound awfully polite for thugs.

The Progressive Magazine – The Government Is Actually Doing a Good Job
Quote – You wouldn’t know it from watching the news, but American children are doing better than they were at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, at least when it comes to having their basic needs met…. The child tax credit expansion ended at the beginning of this year. Now, some elected leaders are proposing to reinstate the expanded tax credit…. Regardless of what decision Congress makes, the success of the expansion highlights something else you wouldn’t know from watching the news: The federal government has demonstrably improved the lives of the vast majority of Americans over the last year and a half.
Click through for full article – and don’t keep it to yourself. As the article points out, and as In The Public Interest (who referred me to the article) is constantly pointing out, government run like government, not like a business, always tends tp provide more service at less cost than privatization.

Food For Thought

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