Open Thread January 17, 2023

 Posted by at 6:40 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 172023
 

Yesterday, I looked at my cartoon calendar, and said to myself, “Well, shoot – I really have to seriously get down to making cartoons for the rest of the month – I need nine and the first one I need tomorrow (the 18th).” Also – I know people here disdain Chuck Todd, and with good reason, but he appears to have actually stood up to Sen. Ron Johnson. Stece Schmidt was the first one to say it, and now PolitiZoom is on it too. I don’t know what could have happened to bring it aout – but it’s welcome. If Chuck Todd can grow a spine, I would think almost anyone could.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Conversation – How the distortion of Martin Luther King Jr.‘s words enables more, not less, racial division within American society
Quote – Even after Reagan finally signed the King holiday into law in 1983, he would write letters of assurance to angry political allies that only a selective version of King would be commemorated. That version was free of not only the racial politics that shaped the civil rights movement but also of the vision of systemic change that King envisioned. In addition, Reagan’s version left out the views that King held against the Vietnam War. Instead, the GOP’s sanitized version only comprises King’s vision of a colorblind society – at the expense of the deep, systemic change that King believed was needed to achieve a society in which character was more important than race.
Click through for essay. Certainly this isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a sirprise. If so-called Christians with their “Prosperity Gospel” can distor the words and actions of Jesus to justify their crimes, clearly MLK would not be immune. But it’s definitely sad – and dangerous.

The Nib – Martin Luther King, Jr. Was More Radical Than You Think
Quote:
Click through for full article. Graphics, or any type of visual, can, I think, help to clarifythings that are complicated. This may not be an artice you need – but it may be handy to pass on.

Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance – The Week Ahead
Quote – The past couple of weeks have been intense and draining. It’s clear things won’t ease up as we head into this week. But it’s impossible to live at this level of intensity on an ongoing basis, so if you’re like me, you probably need to ease back off the gas pedal a little. We’ll hit the high points this week but try to have a bit of fun too. We all need the sanity break.
Click through. Despite the intro, she doesn’t let us completely off the hook. She addresses MLK Day in Alabama and also the two Special Counsels.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread January 16, 2023

 Posted by at 6:49 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 162023
 

Yesterday, I got to see Virgil – and we got the deck of cards. It was just us for a while, but by the time I left 5 others inmates had received visitors (the guests included two toddlers, but not more than one at a time. I’m sure no one planned that – it was just a matter of who could get there when and who had to leave when.) Colleen remarked she hoped the weather was nice, and it was – for me. It was cold but not freezing, and there was no precipitation, but lots of cloud cover. I know, it sounds dismal – but it meant I didn’t have to have sun in my eyes driving back, but it was plenty light enough to see to drive. Actually there was a teeny tiny bit of rain, but so little that the slowest wiper speed (the one that is one slow swipe and then a fifteen second pause) took care of it, and it lasted less than three minutes total.

Cartoon –

 

Short Takes –

SPLC – Unhealthy Homes: ‘Gutted’ New Orleans ordinance allows landlords to neglect run-down properties
Quote – “I can’t imagine having to put in a card opposing a healthy homes ordinance offered by the city of New Orleans, but we find ourselves here today after this very effective and very essential legislation has been effectively gutted by the vote you just took,” HousingNOLA Executive Director Andreanecia Morris told Morrell at the city council meeting where the revised ordinance was adopted. “We rise in opposition. What you have today is not good enough. It is not good enough for the people of New Orleans.”
Click through for story. And we all know those most affected will be the most vulnerable. Is there an emoji for spitting in disgust?

Salon – Ex-GOP candidate’s wife hit with 52 felony charges after casting 23 votes for husband: DOJ
Quote – Her actions took place ahead of the June 2020 primary election, in which Jeremy Taylor unsuccessfully ran for the Republican nomination for Iowa’s 4th District Congressional seat as well as during the November general election in which Taylor defeated incumbent Democrat Marty Pottebaum for the District 3 seat on the county board.
Click through for details. More than one election was affected by thiese shenanigans.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread January 14, 2023

 Posted by at 7:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 142023
 

Yesterday, I got confirmation to visit Virgil tomorrow. This is the second visit in a row I’ve had to follow up on my request, but it pays off not to get upset, and I think they are rotating assignments or something because the name in the “signature” was new to me. So I think I’ll just start adding “Thanks in advance for your confirmation” or the like to my emails. It’s easy to do, it’s not insulting, and it could save a whole lot of grief on both ends. I also heard from a friend in California, one town up from where I grew up (but we had to join the Marines and be stationed in North Carolina to meet) letting me know that the rains had been heavy, but that she is fine. That area is separated from the ocean by what they call “the foothills,” although they aren’t at the foot of any mountains, they are just there. They are tall enough that a couple of inches, or even a couple of feet in sea level rise is not going to affect the area, but of course rain is another story. I’ll have to start paying more attention to the weather, beyond my own weather and the big headline storms.

Cartoon – (So many of TomCat’s cartoons were  clairvoyant.  This one is from January 2015.)

Short Takes –

Wonkette – Oh Sh*t, Ohio Student Noticed Top Secret Anti-Racist Message Of ‘The Sneetches’
Quote – This is where we are: You can’t read The Sneetches because a kid might notice discrimination is wrong. And that’s exactly what red state governors and legislators have been accomplishing. She added that the school district is “really not about suppressing any viewpoints or dialogues,” which it did, actually. In addition, so everyone will have something to groan about, she also insisted “We do not ban any books,” which is true, because all she did was ban a teacher from reading one. Congratulations, rightwing hoax-panic over “critical race theory.”
Click through for story. Children, like adults, differ, and not all of them have brains that fit the “tabula rasa” theory. Some are quite intelligent.  So, while I of course would not call any kind of censorship healthy, no matter how hard they try, some facts are going to get through.

Robert Reich – What to do about America’s “labor shortage?” Easy. Pay people more.
Quote – The reason people aren’t working is that work doesn’t pay them enough, given declining wages and the increasing costs of childcare, eldercare, and transportation. Both the Fed’s solution (slow the economy so employers can find the workers they need without raising wages) and the Republican corporate solution (slash safety nets so people are so desperate they have to take any job available) are cruel. They would impose huge burdens on many of the most vulnerable people in our society. If we want more people to take jobs and we wish to live in a decent society, the answer is to pay people more.
Click through for details. I don’t get it. Is it because Reich’s background is technically in the field of labor, not economics, that “serious economists” don’t take him seriously? He is right on this, he is virtually always right, and he has cold, hard facts to back him up.

Food For Thought (Our system can handle gifs, but not, for some reason, this one.  But uyou can see it in moton here.)

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Open Thread January 8, 2023

 Posted by at 6:53 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 082023
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was “Medea,” by Luigi Cherubini. Cherubini ws a contemporary of Beethoven, and was considered by him to be (as one musicologist put it) “the greatest living composer not named ‘Beethoven.'” Maria Callas was a big fan of this opera, and while I was still in the military I found a (vinyl) recording of her performance of it, and snapped it up. From the first measure of the overture (which still sends chills down my spine) I was hooked. While stationed in Washington (DC), I was privileged to see a performance live at Wolf Trap (where we had thunder and a little lightning during the overture – which would not enhance every opera, but did this one.) All of those people (on the record and at Wolf Trap) are gone now. But this cast did not disappoint. The intermission features included the annual review of those singers we lost in 2022. This year there was only one singer whose name I recognized – Maria Ewing – she didn’t sing a whole lot of roles, but during the pandemic one of the videos available was “Dialogues of the Carmelites” in which she sang the leading role of Blanche. Sigh. (Her daughter, Rebecca Hall, was on “Finding Your Roots,” I forget which season.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Mother Jones – American Myths Are Made of White Grievance—and the Jan. 6 Big Lie Is Just the Latest
Quote – [I]t is insufficient to claim that the Big Lie is merely that the 2020 presidential election was stolen or that Trump’s election-fraud conspiracy was the root cause of the riots. As we confront the insurrection on its two-year anniversary, it’s important to remind ourselves of what motivated the rioters that day: the idea that the United States is for white people, whose power must be protected at all costs.
Click through for full article. I might add that the phrase “Christian Nationalism” really means “white nationalism” – as if people of colorwere not as good Christians (they’re usually better, in my experience) as wypipo. “Patriarchal Nationalism” would be closer to the truth.

Denverite – Colorado’s plan to relieve pressure on Denver: busing migrants and state workers volunteering at shelters
Quote – The state said it was partnering with two nonprofits to help migrants move to their intended destinations, where some may have friends or family waiting for them. So far, Polis said, many who have arrived and overwhelmed Denver’s existing and emergency shelters actually planned to be in Miami, New York and Chicago. Migrants do not have to prove that they have friends or family in other cities, but Polis said the local emergency managers are coordinating the arrival of larger groups of migrants with other cities.
Click through for details. Since MY governor is not a Nazi, I want to stress that THIS busing is 100% voluntary, and will be to places they were intending to go to before getting sidetracked. Also that the state employees who volunteer will be doing so on (paid) administrative leave.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread January 4, 2023

 Posted by at 7:17 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 042023
 

Yesterday, I decided, with everthing else here quiet, to give you an update on the mailbox for tomcat@politicsplus.org. After getting it cleaned out initially, I’ve been trying to check it every week, or at least every other week. I tried at one point to close his Twitter account, but was not successful. However, this last week he did not get any emails from Twitter … so maybe Elon Musk suspended him for something (non-payment of the new feea?) I’ll just hope there aren’t any more. I did manage to close his account at Fantasy Pros – the fantasy football site. I don’t think there is enough interest for it, and in any case, I would be incompetent to run it. I am only aware of football when something horrible happens, such as the Bengals-Bills game this week. I certainly hope Hamlin survives, but the longer he has to stay in intensive care, the less likely it is that he will ever be able to play again (in fact he may already be past that point) and that will certainly be hard on him emotionally. Back to TC’s inbox, at this point everything that is coming is is emails from WordPress or their partners such as updates or expirations, many of which I already know about because alerts on the Dashboard have advised me. Besides that, there is only spam, and there really is no way to get rid of that.

These articles are not old news yet, since after 3 failed ballots they adjourned. Anyway, one has to take the Schadenfreude where one can get it.
Black Woman – Beforre Noon – Round 1 – Chaos

Cartoon – 04 0104Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Zelenskyy Delivers Most Powerful Speech Yet To Ukraine
Quote – “Of course it was hard to celebrate fully because we understand that our soldiers can’t be with their family,” Evheniya Shulzhenko said while sitting with her husband on a park bench overlooking the city. But a “really powerful” end-of-year speech by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on New Year’s Eve lifted her spirits and made her proud to be Ukrainian, Shulzhenko said.
Click through. The full video in the headline has a voiced-over English translation, but no CC. But the Twitter clip in the body does have CC. And it’s pretty powerful by itself. I’m not sure I could take much more without melting into a puddle.

Washington Post (no paywall) – White contractors wouldn’t remove Confederate statues. So a Black man did it.
Quote – As a small group of Confederate heritage defenders assembled nearby — at least one of them armed — city safety coordinator Miles Jones lectured the work crew on wearing hard hats and eye protection. And who, he asked, would be the site supervisor? A bearded man in Ray-Ban sunglasses and a Norfolk State University sweatshirt stepped forward. “What’s your name, sir?” Jones asked. “Devon Henry.” “Devon Hen—” Jones began, then dropped his voice respectfully. “Oh, Mr. Henry. Of course.”
Click through for story. This mixes my emotions. Sadness because so many wypipo are so bitter and small minded, but happiness that the statues are coming down and that Devon Green exists.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 12/27/2022

 Posted by at 11:49 am  Open Thread, Politics
Dec 272022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Top line takeaway from J6 committee’s report: there is more than enough evidence to prosecute Trump

The Lincoln Project – Two meetings. A World of Difference for Democracy.

Meidas Touch – Texas Governor CAUGHT LYING about FAILING Power Grid by Furious Texas Paul

MSNBC – Doris Kearns Goodwin: An Extraordinary Week For Leadership

Litter Of Kittens Found Crying In Trash Bag

Beau – Let’s talk about another statue being removed….

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Open Thread December 10, 2022

 Posted by at 7:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 102022
 

Back in the day, when I was in my teens, there used to be a daily syndicated cartoon called “Dondi.” Dondi was a pre-teen refugee from IIRC eastern Europe. He was in America with a foster family. Except that he found that a difficult word, so he referred to his “frosted” family. My Mom and I picked up the term to describe those folks – you know everone has at least one – who are not actually related by blood or marriage but whom you come to consider family. Yesterday, Virgil called all twitterpated to tell me he had rewceived a Christmas card from my frosted sister (of about 64 years standing now.) I think she may be the only person who even knows his address maiing address besides me. She has sent him cards in the past, and (especially with his memory issues) he is as thrilled each time as if it were the first time. I can hardly tell you how grateful I am for her. Aside from that, it was a pretty normal day – spent some time wondering whhether I had the energy to tackle this ir that, and mostly deciding I didn’t.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Trump Losing To Liz Cheney In Red State Utah Poll
Quote – Apparently, Utah Republicans are tired of Trump, and truth be told, probably never liked having a fornicator-in-chief anyway…. In the poll, Rep Cheney, who has built her brand of politics over the last few years around taking swipes at the twice impeached president for his conduct inside and outside the Oval Office, placed second[.]
Click through for story. Don’t get too excited – both are trailing DeSanctimonious bigly – but that does put Trump** into third place.

PolitiZoom – The Perfect Gift For the MAGA In Your Life...
Quote – There is a new MAGA puzzle out and it’s a trick puzzle. It’s got Trump’s face on the box but when you put it together, you get Joe Biden. And MAGA is not amused. No, Sir, they are not.
Click through for a good laugh. I would really have to be angry at someone before I would spend money to demonstrate it – but if anyone is that pissed, this would be great.

Mother Jones – Dem Dysfunction, Tabloid Hellscapes, Crime: How New York Almost Went Red
Quote – [Lee] Zeldin [who lost the Governorship to Kathy Hochul], a 42-year-old Long Island congressman first elected in 2014, and Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid were aligned on the idea that only one issue really mattered this year: crime. At rallies, Zeldin told crowds that he’d use his first minutes in office to declare a “crime state of emergency”…. If the legislature didn’t cooperate, Zeldin promised to unilaterally repeal New York’s 2019 bail reform law, along with other criminal justice measures passed by Democrats. He spent seven figures on a television ad mostly featuring Black men committing violent crimes.
Click throuh for story. The irony here, if one can call it that, is that when a good prosecutor is voted in, one who actually does address crime and public safety, they recall (Chesa Boudin) or impeach (Larry Krasner) him or her. Which makes everything far more dangerous.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread November 29, 2022

 Posted by at 7:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 292022
 

Yesterday, the weather prediction was for snow today – and very cold – with a high below 32°F. Since I start shivering and my teeth chatter at 72°F, I’ll be staying in (not that I don’t anyway.) I also received confirmation to visit Virgil Sunday (and snow is NOT predicted for Sunday.) Also too, I learned that last Saturday was the 100th birthday og Charles M. Schulz. Here’s a link to a page of cartoons, which starts with political ones, but also includes more birthday tributes to the creator of “Peanuts” than you would probably think possible (and one or two are conspicuous, to me at least, by their absence.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Axios – World’s largest active volcano starts to erupt in Hawaii
Quote – Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano — located on the Big Island — began erupting late Sunday night, the U.S. Geological Survey said…. “Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa eruption can be very dynamic and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly,” USGS said…. Webcams for the volcano can be found at https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna-loa/webcams
Click through for developing story. It appers when that say “largest,” they are talking about its perceived height, not the amount of damage it can do world wide. The latter would probably be Krakatoa. And the danger isn’t lava, but volcanic ash particles released into the air, whoch can block sunlight for years, sort of like a “nuclear winter.” Look up the year 536 CE (or “Worst year to be alive.”) Also, I don’t remember the year, but it wasn’t that long ago, when an eruption caused enough particles in the air over Europe that planes couldn’t fly for weeks. You may remember that too.

Wonkette – Buffalo Gunman Pleads Guilty To Hate Crimes, Will Spend Rest Of Life In Prison
Quote – This theory, whether it’s been called that or not, has been around for decades. Most people will date it back to the work of French crackpot Renaud Camus’s 2011 essay “Le Grand Remplacement,” in which he claimed that white citizens of European countries were being replaced by Black and Middle Eastern immigrants, or back to the “White Genocide” nonsense of 1990s white supremacists, but it’s always been there. A major feature of early 1900s antisemitism and racism in the United States was that Jewish people were supporting Black civil rights struggles because they wanted to replace WASPs with Black people and then take over the world.
Click through for more information. Today’s FFT summarizes my thoughts on this pretty well (it ain’t just Mexicans).

Food For Thought

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