Yesterday, Wonkette referred me to this clip from The Daily Show. I;ve set it to start where he starts on Alito. It is a hoot. Also, I reached my plumber, who will becoming today (and will likelty have come by the time anyone reads this.) Sorry to be so late!
This is noteworthy, particularly in Mississippi. I wish the Supreme Court would take notice.
I knew about this – you may also have read about it – but then I don’t pay attention to what Ursula calls the “Legacy media.”
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Le Comte Ory” by Giacchino Rossini (I could be wrong, but I always figured “Giacchino” was a diminutive of “Giacomo”, which, if so, would make him “Jimmy.” But names translate unpredictably.) You may be wondering why an Italian composer wrote an opera which is obviously in French. And the obvious answer is that he was attempting to build an international reputation, as did many Italian composers in the 19th century. My guess on this one is that it may have been a bit too risque for Italy. It’a about a young count, young enough not to have been expected to go fight in the crusades, who spends the opera doing his durnedest to seduce the faithful wife of another noble who did go off to fight in the crusades. She’s not interested, at least not in him – his page (a “trouser role”) does catch her eye. The count does manage, in Act II, to get into her castle by dressing (himself and all his knights) as nuns (supposedly seeking refuge from horny knights.) He even, in the final scene, gets into her bedroom (and her bed) by faking being terrified, as one does (in Hallowe’en movies.) But the page is there too. I can imagine all kinds of suggestive stage business for this scene – but have never seen any, as modern American audiences are not much like 19th century French ones. In any case – Rossini never let anyone down musically – and that includes Bugs Bunny and the Lone Ranger.
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Atlanta Black Star – ‘I’m Just In Shock!’:Chaos Erupts on School Bus As Two Florida Moms Tussle Over a Toy While Children ‘Cower In Fear’
Quote – As the bus pulled up to the stop on Parkland Circle and U.S. 192, the parents could hear the youngsters going back and forth. Instead of de-escalating the conflict between the children, the video shows the two moms taking it to the next level, forcing their way onto the bus to where the kids are seated. The clip shows the women, whom authorities have not named, throwing fists at each other and boxing each other in the aisle and then later on the blue seats. The students scream loudly, with one child saying, “Mommy, no!” A bus attendant was seen making the students get out of the way and move toward the back of the bus. At the same time, the bus driver and another adult attempted to separate the women. The fight was brutal, with footage showing one of the “ladies” being placed in a headlock. The altercation lasted for approximately 15 minutes.
Click through for full story. Of course, it’s tempting to sggest the whole story is in the word “Florida” – but I’m thinking the wors “Karen” is more to the point – and they are everywhere (and all genders.) And these are the “Won’t somebody think of the children” creeps.
The Root – Sacramento Police Mistake an 8-Year-Old Black Boy for a Teenage Felon?!
Quote – The latest example occurred two weeks ago, when Shanice Stewart, a pregnant Black woman, was driving her 8-year-old son Brandon to football practice late in the afternoon, according to KCRA. Then out of nowhere, Sacramento police officers pulled them over, asking her to throw her keys out of the window and exit the car slowly with her hands in the air. KCRA reported that it wasn’t because Stewart made a lane violation or her tags were out of date. It’s because they thought that her 8-year-old son fit the description of a suspect who’s wanted on two felonies, one being gun possession.
Click through for details, including the detail that Mom is pregnant. I hope she doesn’t miscarry… but,, if she does, I hope she sues them hard (and in any case, I hope she wins therapy costs). A six-year age difference – well, I’m 78, and I would not be hurt to be mistaken for 84. But generally, the difference between 8 and 14 involves puberty. So much is wrong here – not the least being the difference between equality and equity. And don’t even get me started on qualified immunity.
Food For Thought
manly
Yesterday, Mary Trump (Mary L. Trump, to distinguish her from her grandmother) wrote about the Supreme Court, in an essay on Substack she calls “The Lowest Court, Part 2.” She remarks, not just on the ethics issues, but on the contempt shown by the court for the people, which really is reminiscent of France before the Revolution. If you were to tell me that Alito, or Kavanaugh, or even Roberts had said “Let them eat cake,” I’d probably believe it. If you want to look deeper, here’s the link – just remember to look for the “continue reading” and click it.
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HuffPost – Biden Administration Reveals First 10 Drugs For Medicare Price Negotiation
Quote – All told, the 10 drugs on the list accounted for $50.5 billion in total spending in Medicare’s outpatient prescription drug program for the period between June 1, 2022, and May 31, 2023, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. That’s about one-fifth of what the program, known as Part D, spent on all prescription drugs during that period. The announcement represents the first step in a process set to unfold over the coming year, with the government collecting data and public input, and then exchanging price offers with manufacturers over how much Medicare will pay for the named drugs.
Click through for details. Not surprisingly, the article bears the subtitle “It’s the first step in a process that will mean lower prices in 2026 ― unless the drug industry and its allies find a way to block it.”
The Daiy Beast – How One Citizen Fought Back Against a Cop’s Road Rage
Quote – While driving home in his Ford Mustang, [New Mexico motorist Mario Rosales] legally passed a pickup truck, and the other driver started tailgating him. Road rage can be deadly, so Rosales grew concerned. No matter which way he went, the truck stayed in his rearview mirror. Rosales eventually reached his home in Roswell, New Mexico, hoping the truck would keep going. Instead, the vehicle blocked Rosales in his driveway, and the stranger behind the wheel started yelling and cursing at him. At this point Rosales was not just concerned. He was scared for himself and his family members in the house.
Click through for the story, which has a happy ending – this time – finally. Too many do not.
Food For Thought
Yesterday was a good day to play the New Yorker’s “Name Drop” quiz. The first two clues were obscure but suggestive – but any one of the last four would bave been a dead giveaway to me. So I would think that at least one of them would be a dead giveaway to anyone in my generation. Oddly, my cartoon today is a clue of a sort as well. I doubt whether the author knew that – if he had, he might have rescheduled it a day. (And p.S. – first new Randy Rainbow in 5 months in today’s video thread!)
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The New Yorker – When an Anti-Abortion Activist Calls
Quote – I asked for her phone number and said I would call her right back. I dialled the number, and reached a recorded message from a movie theatre. Then I called my doctor, and he told me that anti-abortion groups pay nurses for lists of women who have had abortions, the same way diaper companies used to pay nurses for lists of women who had given birth.
Click through for story. This is a reprint. It’s from 45 years ago. But it could easily have happened yeaterday. And it’s as infuriating, to me at least, as if it did.
Wonkette – How Are We Flaunting Our ‘Qualified Immunity’ Today?
Quote – Scott County immediately and grossly retaliated with an investigation into the molested boy’s parents. Just three months after the boy’s father threatened a lawsuit, a Missouri Department of Social Services manager, Spring Cook (no apparent relation to Brandon), showed up at the family’s home. And so began the harassment campaign…. A lawyer defended the parents pro-bono, and in August 2019, the Child Abuse and Neglect Review Board (CANRB) found that the charges of neglect were “unsubstantiated under a preponderance of the evidence standard.” The nightmare didn’t end here, though. The parents contend that Cook contacted the FBI, which led to a federal investigation into the charges that CANRB had dismissed.
Click through for details – it’s ugly, but shouldn’t be ignored.
Food For Thought
Yesterday, I managed to getnine 30-gallon plastic bags out to the porch, all labeled with the initials of the charity they are getting picked up by. After that, I moved the car out of the driveway and took the recyclables to the edge of the driveway by the street – two actions which between tehm pretty much cleared the drive way. I did this because the charity is “Vietnam Veterans of America,” nd although I don’t remember seeing much, one occupation which puts people int higher jeopardy of becoming an amputee is “combat vet.” And the instruction included the request that everything be capable of bing lifted with one hand (not all at once, of course; that would be silly.) So I just wanted to make it as easy as possible and I figured shortening the distance couldn’t hurt. After all that, my shoulders, back, and knee were still in comparatively good shape.
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Letters from an American – August 22, 2022
Quote – Today’s big news is an eye-popping $1.6 billion donation to a right-wing nonprofit organized in May 2020. This is the largest known single donation made to a political influence organization. The money came from Barre Seid, a 90-year-old electronics company executive, and the new organization, Marble Freedom Trust, is controlled by Leonard A. Leo, the co-chair of the Federalist Society, who has been behind the right-wing takeover of the Supreme Court. Leo has also been prominent in challenges to abortion rights, voting rights, climate change action, and so on. He announced in early 2020 that he was stepping back from the Federalist Society to remake politics at every level, but information about the massive grant and the new organization was broken today by Kenneth P. Vogel and Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times.
Click through for details. Everyone has this story – but I saw it first here – and Heather always has receipts (and insights.)
Daily Beast – Cops Love Immunity—Until They’re the Ones Abused by Police
Quote – Six months after the incident, Burk filed a civil rights lawsuit against the acting officers from the Columbus Division of Police. Predictably, Burk now finds himself on the wrong end of a judge-made doctrine called “qualified immunity.” The doctrine, which the U.S. Supreme Court invented in 1982, shields government employees from accountability for unreasonable actions—unless victims can point to a prior case in the same jurisdiction that clearly establishes the behavior as unconstitutional. The irony of this case is that law enforcement officers like Burk normally love qualified immunity.
Click through for this opinion piece with backup facts. I would hate to think that the only, or even just the fastest, way to get rid of “qualified immunity” is for cops to beat up enough cops.
Food For Thought
