Personal Update December 19, 2023

 Posted by at 10:25 am  Politics
Dec 192023
 

I’m having issues getting my HSA moved to a new provider, and with it I’m having issues keeping my part D on track.  I think the Part D is resolved now, but the HSA is going to require a phone call and they say the best times to call are Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. (The Part D required a phone call too, but I was able to make an online appointment with them to call me, which they did.)

I realize this article, with all the comments, is basically an echo chamber of random people who belong to Democratic Underground. But it’s an echo chamber I agree with on almost every point.

This article, on the other hand, is the product of informed analysis and should you happen to be talking to anyone who is rational could be very helpful.

Here is Beau with some reporting from Pro Publica. He says it will get picked up widely, and this is already starting.

God, how I miss real journalism! Yes, ProPublica does it, and they do it well, and I’m grateful to them for it. But I still miss being able to count on it – being able to read a newspaper for facts – or turn on the TV and see Walter Cronkite or Edward R. Murrow and be confident the reporting had been researched and confirmed – and in the rare instance something did slip through, there would be retractions and apologies. Remember those days?

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Personal Update December 18, 2023

 Posted by at 5:56 am  Politics
Dec 182023
 

It’s a quiet weekend . but I wanted to share this ad – I may have mentioned it, but it wasn’t easy to find in a form I could embed it fully and without interruptionn – and without enriching Elon Musk (not that YouTube is much better, if at all, but at least they don’t interrupt embeds – yet)

This is from Mothers for Democracy, and it must have been hard to make, because it’s hard (at least for me) to watch.  But it’s necessary to be this blunt.  And it’s about time someone was.

Here’s a thought for the season (and I’m betting that everyone gets it) …

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Personal Update December 16, 2023

 Posted by at 6:18 am  Politics
Dec 162023
 

Yesterday, after posting here (including the update), I felt enough better to look up today’s radio opera – it’s “The Magic Flute” in the abridged English language version aimed at kids – and who doesn’t love that! There are five-year-olds out there getting kicks out of singing the Queen of the Night’s aria (and pretty durned well, most of them.) Sure, it’s sexist, but no worse than Disney, and it does have goodies, baddies, and figures of pure humor of both genders, which even Disney doesn’t consistently do.

I also listened to the full RBG CD. You know how CDs come with booklets with some backstories and with lyrics sometimes – this comes with two booklets – one of each, lyrics and backstories. The poems were selected to give a mixture of history, humor, and heart. I thought the funniest one was about Ruth’s son Jamie stealing the elevator at his prep school (yes, the same James who now owns the record label which put it out) and the most heartbreaking was Marty’s note to Ruth written in hospital shortly before his death. But I will not argue with anyone who thinks the pot roast recipe is the funniest (I’d surely love to taste that pot roast.)

Also, Robert Hubbell put out a second day of analysis. I know it’s not the same as getting my take, but at this point, he is paying attention and I’m not.

And Mary Trump posted and emailed this – I held it for a couple of hours but have found out it is a real story – it was carried at least by CNN and y’all may have heard it – but her viewpoint really is like no one else’s

I was thinking about looking for a cartoon … but so little happened on December 16 through history that “On This Day” was reduced to reporting that, on this date in 1997, Bill Clinton named his Labrador Retriever “Buddy.”

Here’s a Christmas vid for the animal lovers –

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Personal Update December 14, 2023

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 142023
 

I have a donation pickup coming today and I don’t know when (between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm.)  It’s all ready, but I have questions so would like to be there. So I did this yesterday afternoon.

I know I am worried about 2024, and I believe we all are.    I don’t think  this article – “Democrats’ Secret Weapon in 2024” – should 100% neutralize that.  For one thing, it’s based on public information, and is therefore no secret – although the extent to which it has been and is being underplayed by the media may make it seem like one.  for another, it’s from the DLCC – and it’s their job to elect ane re-elect Democrats.  Ane when one wants something that badly, it can be hard to see straight.  But it does makes some good points.  It does NOT mean we can stop working.

If Republicans will not go public with their [lack of] evidence to impeach Joe Biden, then by God, Hunter Biden will.

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Personal Update December 13, 2023

 Posted by at 5:55 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 132023
 

I’m typing this on the 12th, but the 12th is almost over, and the article/email I want to share didn’t come in until late.  It’s from Joyce Vance, and it’s in regard to Kathy Griffin.  Griffin and Vance are personal friends, which would probably cause Joyce to recuse from the case (in an abundance of caution) if she were a judge, but IMO should not prevent her from weighing in on the legal merits, and legally speaking there are two issues, one being the first amendment, and the second being jurisdiction.  In fact, the title of her piece is “Can A Court in Tennessee Rule Against You If You Live In California?”

It’s no news to anyone here (and probably no news to anyone anywhere in the country) that Kathy is outspoken and woke, and outspoken about wokeness.  I can’t help wondering how much this lawsuit is prompted by misogyny (misogyny which was amply displayed in the incident which ultimately led to there being a lawsuit.)  Of course, hate, being an emotion, can’t very well be illegal, or made illegal.  The law can only deal with the actions it inspires.  I’ll just leave opinions at this point for y’all to decide.

I still haven’t listened to the RBG album yet.  I have read through the composer bios and the lyrics – there is much in both to inspire laughter, tears, or both at once.  (The last one is her big aria from Scalia/Ginsburg, sung by the composer.)

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Personal Update December 7, 2023

 Posted by at 1:36 pm  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 072023
 

I missed a positive story last week, and am just picking it up today.  The Colorado state Peace Officers Standards and Training board has voted, unanimously and without debate, to strike the controversial diagnosis “excited delirium” from all training documents starting in January.  Yes, this is a move which is long overdue – and is srill long overdue nationally (although every state which does the right thingh helps) – the whole idea is not just a dog whistle but an extremely loud one – and eliminating it will certainly not replace the injustice of the treatment of Elijah McClain’s killers (five were charged, three have been tried of whom two were acquitted and one convicted of a lesser offense, two – both EMTs – are yet to be tried.)  But it is one small gleam of light in a far too big darkness.

Here are two cartoons about Pearl Harbor Day, both drawn from a column filled with them – here’s the link if you can handle the rest of them.

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Personal Update November 29, 2023

 Posted by at 12:01 pm  Politics
Nov 292023
 

I can’t remember a time in my life when I have just been so tired (and also sleepy – they aren’t the same thing). Not that I have ever been exactly a ball of fire, even as a child, but this is getting ridiculous. I am hoping (not without reason) that most if not all of this is related to having been off my meds for so long and the difficulty in catching back up (and delays in getting refills are not helping.) I was also off of OTC (but doctor approved) supplements for all of that time, and one or two of those are also energy related, but at least those I have more control over. Thanks for your patience and wish me luck.

I’ll leave you with this cartoon, which actually choked me up, revealing so plainly, as it does, everything which is wrong with “conservative” claims to be “Christian” – with just two pronouns. Do you suppose any of them would be smart enough to get it (assuming they would be anywhere they might see it?)

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Personal Update November 26, 2023

 Posted by at 6:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 262023
 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Mine was pleasant and quiet.  And there was an opera yesterday – Pelleas and Melisande, by Claude Debussy (an imprressionist), based on a play by Maurice Maeterlinck (a symbolist), and by the time those two got through with it – well, there are events – at least things do happen – but it’s all so dreamlike I wouldn’t call it a plot.  The music is pretty and the cast was amazing.  There’s only one more left in the summer series – it’s a 21st century opera by Rhiannon Giddens (not a person one would expect to be writing an opers, but it won this year’s Pulitzer.)  After that the Met takes over, also with a new opera.

I’m still not up to writing (or researching, which is the real time-eater) yet, but I did want to share this – it’s a resource for keeping up with all the cases, and only the cases, where someone or some group or some state is attempting to use Section 3 of the 14th Amentment to keep Trump** off of the ballot – any and all ballots.  Trump** himself is such an attention grabber that he tends to suck the oxygen out of everything else, so it’s good that someone is paying attention to this.

And here’s something from Trae Crowder –

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