Happy Thanksgiving from TomCat
And from me –
And if you need a lttle something extra to be thankful for, this just might be it. It certainly would have made TomCat’s day – if not his whole year (he would of course wish it had happened in Oregon, but the fact that it happened at all is eexlilarating.)
We know the court date. The other answer we don’t know at time of posting. I want to know too. Also, IF Meadows gets his trial transferred to Federal court, he will still be tried under Georgia law (which is tougher on RICO than the Fed law.)
Glenn Kirschner – Two big court hearings on Monday: Trump’s DC trial date to be set; & Mark Meadows mockery in Georgia
The Lincoln Project – #TrumpMugshot
Thom Hartmann – Is America Run By A Psychopathic Cult? w/ Seth D. Norrholm
Parody Project – WE’RE TRUMPUPPETS – The Maga Theme Song
[Jackson Galaxy] Inmates Find Redemption Through Cats [Long, but worth every second, and the CC is professional]
Beau – Let’s talk about who won the debate….
Yesterday, I once more got the New Yorker’s Name Drop puzzle on the first clue – and I’m willing to bet that most of y’all will or would too. The image of that red coat and sunglasses will take shape in your brain as it did in mine, and the face behind the sunglasses will be very familiar. (In fact, you may get it from just what I have said.) Aside from that, it was pretty quiet. I think I got pretty well caught up on my sleep, but also found a new quote from Robert Reich to console me in case I didn’t. “The sleep fairies do not favor the elderly.”
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
PolitiZoom – Trump’s Calls For Violence More ‘Blatant’ and ‘Overt’ Than Before
Quote – Lofgren brought up Trump’s horrific Truth Social post (that he fortunately deleted) –the one that shows Trump holding a baseball bat right next to a photo of Bragg. She also mentioned Trump’s continual parade of insults and name-calling and his threats of “death and destruction,” coupled with his comments during the rally Saturday. “This is cause for concern,” she said. “We know that certainly not all of his followers are inclined to take up arms, but there’s enough of them who are willing to do battle in his behalf that someone could get killed. And people were killed, obviously, on January 6.”
Click through for details. If you have already noticed this yourself, let me assure you that you are NOT imaginng it. It is real.
The New Yorker – The Myth of the Alpha Wolf
Click through for details. I’m not quoting, because I have a lot to say on this, and if you are paywalled out, let me know – I will send it. It’s been known for some time that the initial “research” which came up with the terminaology in the title werenot carried out on wolves in their wild habitat, but exclusively on wolves in zoos. This is like doing research entirely in prisons and then claim that it applies to civilization as a whole. It’s really no wonder, is it, that almost all of the people who seriously buy the “alphamale” image are actual or potential criminals.
But what is new in the latest research (and which surprised the researchers so much that it sent them looking to other species – and fining similar reaults) is the fact that, when two packs battle, the pack that stands the best chance of winning, by a significant margin, is the pack which contains one or more older wolves. Ant that is the most impostant single factor. Apparently, respect for our elders has actual, solid survival value. I believe we should seriously think about this.
We don’t know whether wolves (or elephants or other species) are vulnerable to dementia, and that does make a difference. No one wants Dianne Feinstein to run again for the Senate. But that’s a matter of health, not simply aging. When we have elders like Joe Biden – Nancy Pelosi – Elizabeth Warren – Bernie Sanders – GRACE LINN – who literally have knowledge of what works and what doesn’t,because they have seen, time and time again, what works and what doesn’t – I think we need to stop talking about age as if it were a disqualifier.
And speaking of wolves (and canines in general) and prisons, here is an extra, which I would have used in the video thread if if had beeen possible to embed it. (The srticle ccontains an embed code, but it doesn’t do anything through my computer, not did it work for Lona, who passed it on to me.) I hope y’all will enjoy it. The Colorado prison system does have a “Prison Trained K9 Companion Program” – in fact they just picked up a bunch a couple of weeks ago who were rescued from a hoarding situation – but no lifers that I know of. So I have also sent information on the article to the DOC (not the live link – they have to be suspicious of links – but the defanged link and the information to find it through a search engine.) Do click through for a sweet story.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, I didn’t get much done. I did some clearing of my desk, but you wouldn’t know it to look at it. I lost some time because there was a phone outage, and I thought I must have done something wrong witth the modem, and it took me a while to realize it wasn’t me. So I ended up staying up a bit late. Oh, well.
Cartoon (also applies to today’s GOp platform) –
Short Takes –
Daily Kos (Aysha Qamar) ‘Huge loss for the community’: Police say Planned Parenthood building fire was intentional
Quote – The fire comes after another incident of hate toward the center in January 2021 during which someone fired a shotgun at the doors of the clinic, shattering the glass and peppering the reception area with holes, the Associated Press reported. In that incident too, the clinic was closed and unoccupied. What’s worse is the incident took place on the anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade case. The recent arson incident comes at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case that could possibly overturn the landmark precedent.
Click through for full story. Or at least, as full as it can be. There is no suspect yet.
New Mexico – State prisons outsource personal mail to inmates to Florida firm, causing concern for some
Quote – Eric Harrison, public information officer for the Department of Corrections, told NM Political Report turnaround time is currently 48 hours for inmates to receive personal mail that the correction facility currently inspects for contraband. He said that when the incoming mail becomes outsourced to Securus Technologies in February, the incoming mail will still be given to inmates in “the same time frame we’re seeing now.”
Click through for differing views. I can tell you the reason they are doing this – it’s the same reason all rules exist – it’s bedause there are always jerks who ruin things for the rest of us. There are jerks who would happily soak paper in drugs befor writing on it and mailing it, so that an inmate can swallow pieces of it and get high. Heck, I’d bet my last pension payment that there are people who would cough on their letters before sending them — even if they knew they had CoViD – in the name of “personal contact.” Even a lipsticked lip print on a letter could be dangerous. Cruel I grant that it is. Ridiculous it is not.
Washinton Post – New York fire that killed 19 likely began with space heater, fire chief says
Quote – Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who represents the Bronx, said that the country has a “crisis” in housing maintenance and that many of the buildings in his area lack basic fire safety equipment, such as fire alarms in every apartment and stairwells with self-closing doors. City housing code requires self-closing doors to slow the spread of fire and smoke from one unit to the rest of an apartment. “There is often a disconnect between the requirements of the law and the actual living conditions of these buildings,” Torres said.
Click through if you aren’t paywalled out. I really don’t have words. I believe Toeers is a caring person. I can’t help but wonder what hice voice sounded like as he used the word “disconnect.”
Food For Thought:
Yesterday was another pretty quiet day. I’ll take all of those that I can get. Incidentally, as it is now a new week, maybe Nameless can get a tech out to look at his computer. I surely hope so. But it’s also the first workday after a holiday week, so it might not be today.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Crooks and Liars – The New Face Of The GOP?
Quote – So try to imagine what will happen if Rittenhouse is acquitted. Trump will issue a statement somehow taking credit for it. Fox News will fly Rittenhouse to New York for triumphant interviews. Social media will erupt with joy, as millions of conservatives cry “Suck it, libs!” He’ll appear on T-shirts and bumper stickers; maybe he’ll speak at the next Conservative Political Action Conference. And don’t be surprised if Trumpist candidates start seeking Rittenhouse’s endorsement and asking him to appear on the campaign trail with them.
Click through for more, including (paywalled) link to Washington Post. The only light I can see at the end of this tunnel is that George Zimmerman eventually got into enough non-political trouble to get dropped like a hot potato, and it’s probably safe to expect that to happen to Rittenhouse also (and maybe even his mother, God willing).
AP News – Workers at federal prisons are committing some of the crimes
Quote – More than 100 federal prison workers have been arrested, convicted or sentenced for crimes since the start of 2019, including a warden indicted for sexual abuse, an associate warden charged with murder, guards taking cash to smuggle drugs and weapons, and supervisors stealing property such as tires and tractors.
Click through for details. I’d file this under “No shit, Sherlock.” No prison is any better than its warden … and in 2019, the warden was Bill Barr (and before him, Jeff Sessions.) Not that that is an excuse, of course.
The 19th – The word missing from the vast majority of anti-trans legislation? Transgender
Quote – More anti-trans bills were introduced in state legislatures in 2021 than in any previous year on record. The 19th reviewed the text of 102 bills in seven states that were primarily designed to restrict access to sports or gender-affirming care for trans youth, like hormones and puberty blockers, and only seven bills mentioned the word “transgender.” Only eight passed, primarily those focused on sports, although legal battles in several states have barred most from going into effect.
Click through for story. Granted there are (probably) fewer transgendered people than just about any other minority group, there are certainly enough to account for a large (and disproportionate) number of suicide and murder victims. And no one is free until and unless we are all free.
Food for Thought –
Glenn Kirschner – Garland Announces DOJ Suing Texas to Protect Constitutional Rights, Addresses Domestic Terrorism
MSNBC – New Grand Jury Activity In Trump Org Case Is Reminder That Investigations Are Ongoing
Thom Hartmann – 50 Years After Attica Massacre Prisoners Are Still Rioting
Really American – Republicans Hate Black People
Liberal Redneck – On Confederate Statues Bein’ Dumb
Keith Olbermann – The Legacy of 9/11 is not those we mourn. It’s cruelty with which we responded which now blights us.
Beau – Let’s talk about the media being surprised by the predictable…. https://www.democraticunderground.com/emoticons/sarcasm.gif