Racism – Page 23 – Politics Plus

Open Thread for November 7, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:10 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 072021

Yesterday the radio opera was Carmen – an opera set in Spain, by a French composer. The Carmen was from Georgia (not ours, the one in Asia.) The Don Jose was from Poland, and the Escamillo from Germany. The performance was done in Vienna, Austria, and the radio station broadcasting it is in Chicago. I suspect Republican heads would explode.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PoliticusUSA – Adam Schiff Confirms That Trump’s Staff Are Flipping On Him
Quote – When MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell asked if any of the nearly 150 interviews conducted by the 1/6 Committee contained Trump officials, Rep. Schiff answered: They do include people from the former administration. They include people in the private sector. They include people are experts in some of the — for example, the social media issues that we’re investigating. So they run the gamut.
Click through for a little more. Of course he can’t name names at this point.

Crooks and Liars – Rittenhouse Juror Dismissed After Telling Racist Joke
Quote – To make matters worse, the jokester tried to defend himself by claiming that the so-called joke had nothing to do with the current trial, showing how utterly clueless the juror was not only to what the trial was about but to his own inherent racism.
Click through for story, including complete “joke.” I am so glad the bailiff reported him …

Politizoom – Thank You Brandon Trends As October Jobs Report Is So Stellar Not Even Fox News Can Spin It
Quote – Revenge may be best served cold but Crow is a dish that Fox News really does not digest well at any temperature. Be that as it may, they’re eating a lot of it. The October jobs growth exceeded the original prediction of 450K and came in at 531K. People are rejoicing, and right-wing media is not sure quite what to do.
Click through for more detailed good news. If you have no idea how “Brandon” got into this, you can look here (NSFW).

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for November 1, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Nov 012021

Yesterday was the first day of COP-26. Having been to a conference or two in my life, I am assuming that means today is the first full day of it. So I am trying to feature climate. You may have noticed we all are. Speaking of which, it was overcast and wet here. Since it was, and it’s expected to stay wet for at least a few days, I pushed myself to go out and put down some iris food. And to being the trash/recyclable carts to where they live. And to deal with the mail from the car and the mailbox (most of which went straight to recycle.) Incidentally it was also cold with a high of 36°F.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Toni Morrison’s 1998 Interview Speaks To ‘GOP Mom’
Quote – Youngkin tweeted a campaign video on Monday that featured the outrage of Laura Murphy, a white mom who years earlier tried to get Morrison’s classic novel, Beloved, banned from her son’s Advanced Placement English curriculum.
Click through – in case you mised Youngkin’s incendiary Tweet (recalling the infamous “Willie Horton” ad), it’s there. Sigh.

Reuters – G20 offers little new on climate, leaving uphill task for COP26
Quote – Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who chaired the Rome gathering, hailed the final accord, saying that for the first time all G20 states had agreed on the importance of capping global warming at the 1.5 degrees Celsius level that scientists say is vital to avoid disaster. “We made sure that our dreams are not only alive but they are progressing,” Draghi told a closing news conference, brushing off criticism from environmentalists that the G20 had not gone nearly far enough to resolve the crisis.
Click through for details.

AP News – ‘Last, best hope:’ Leaders launch crucial UN climate summit
Quote – Government leaders face two choices in Glasgow, Patricia Espinosa, head of the U.N. climate office, declared at the summit’s opening: They can sharply cut greenhouse gas emissions and help communities and countries survive what is becoming a hotter, harsher world, Espinosa said. “Or we accept that humanity faces a bleak future on this planet. It is for these reasons and more that we must make progress here in Glasgow. We must make it a success.”
Click through for more. If only today’s lead (right after Glenn) video would come true.)

Food for Thought –

Video Thread 10/31/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:57 am Open Thread, Politics

Oct 312021

Glenn Kirschner – Bannon Indictment Watch Day 8: DOJ Has Yet to Indict Bannon for his Crime of Contempt of Congress

Meidas Touch – Let’s WIN Virginia! | 50K Doors in 50 Days

The Lincoln Project – Critical Race Theory

Robert Reich – What Happened to the Party of Limited Government?

MSNBC – The Purge Of GOP Truth Tellers Claims Its Biggest Trophy Yet (This is actually scarier than I was looking for…)

Hallowe’en – Vincent Price Performs The Thriller Rap Live 1987 Enhanced HD

Beau – Let’s talk about a leading cause, #SaferStorage, and T4CIP…. The date on this is 10/27, in case anyone wants to make a note of it. I have said for over 40 years that gun owners – responsible gun owners – should draft model legislation for public safety, or at least encourage it being drafted – because if they won’t, the resy of us most (and they will not like it.) Beau is the girst gun owner I have ever heard actually speak in this way.

Video Thread 10/28/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:54 am Open Thread, Politics

Oct 282021

Glenn Kirschner – Unjust Ruling in Rittenhouse Case; Can’t Say “Victims” But Can Say “Looters, Rioters & Arsonists” I’m very glad Glenn addressed this. He is nicer than I would be, but that’s enough.

Meidas Touch – We BROKE Trump! (I did post the ad previously, but here’s some context.)

MSNBC – January 5th Footage Turned Over To Authorities Yes, the FIFTH. You read that right.

Remove Ron – Inhumane

Really American – Congressmembers Caught Aiding Coup Attempt

Cracked – If Hard Seltzers Were Honest | Honest Ads

Beau – Let’s talk about nonsense and a Florida man jobs experiment….

Open Thread for October 28, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:27 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 282021

Yesterday, I figured I couldn’t wait any longer, and started looking for cartoons to re-use for November. To be pellucidly clear, I started, randomly, in 2013, and have just stayed with that year, and my plan is to move up thrugh time, re-using when possible, and coming up with something new if the one for a particular day is hopelessly dated (for example, there’s one about Harry Reid’s balls.) It looks like I’ll need to come up with 6 new ones in November, and three of them are in the first teo weeks. So I stated looking at history. I found events for all 6 of them. I made the first one and found pictures for the next two before I ran short on time. But that’s a good start.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker (Borowitz Report) – Trump Tells January 6th Panel He Has Diplomatic Immunity as Russian Official
Quote – While Trump waits to see if his claim of diplomatic immunity succeeds, he is also prepared to argue that, having once hired Rudolph Giuliani as his attorney, he would be justified in pleading insanity.
Click through. Good luck with that. (BTW, unlike many of Andy’s reports, this one is clearly satire. For it to be straight news, Trump** would have to have told the truth, and that’s imposssible.)

Oh Sh*t, Dallas Teacher Did A Critical Race Theory To The Texas Wingnuts!
Quote – There’s not the slightest hint of CRT in having students read and analyze a text; if the lesson was supposed to “indoctrinate” the students, it didn’t work, since if anything I think the kid goes a little too easy on Cato’s methods, and doesn’t seem especially bothered that the email urges district employees to report on each other — then again, that’s a common enough method of enforcing discipline among students, so perhaps the kid doesn’t know just how creepy the tactic is.
Click through for details. It would be great if this teacher could be cloned and placed in every high school in t America. Teaching critical thinking skills “has not been tried and found wanting, but has been found difficult and left untried” (G. K. Chesterton) for a long time. This shows it can be done. I particularly like SPACECATS.

How commercialization over the centuries transformed the Day of the Dead
Quote – In 2019, I talked to a grandmother building a Day of the Dead ofrenda, an altar with offerings for her family’s dearly departed that included candles, food, flowers, and festive decorations. For years she’d tried to get her grandchildren to help her erect the altar for their ancestors, to no avail. It wasn’t until they watched Disney’s “Coco” and saw sugar skulls at Target that they took interest in the holiday. Now they eagerly help their grandmother build the altar. Commercialization is and has been transforming Day of the Dead. But, from what I’ve seen, it’s also giving a new generation a chance to be proud of their culture.
Click through for story. It’s a good point. Also, a pet peeve pf mine is that people criticizing advertising for a holiday too early don’t cut purveyors of craft materials and supplies any slack. If I am going to make a hiliday gift, a week before is not enough time. If I am making several, so much more so. There are 99 (at least) things to criticize Hobby Lobby about, but advertising Christmas too early is not one of them.

Signature-worthy IMO:
Bill Pascrell and Elizabeth Warren are looking for co-sponsors to nail Trump** et al.
https://action.billpascrell.com/crimes/?source=211026_bp_crimes_b1&link_id=1&can_id=dd94559fa9486ce8a4824766af6a024f&email_referrer=email_1336070&email_subject=will-you-sign-on-as-an-official-citizen-cosponsor-of-my-political-crimes-act-with-sen-warren-to-hold-donald-trump-accountable
I can’t shorten it or it won’t get you there, sorry. After you sign you’ll be asked for a contribution but it isn’t necessary.

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for October 27, 2021

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

Oct 272021

Yesterday, after a couple of overcast days, the sun came out … and so did the wind. There’s a NSFW quip about why it’s so windey here – it’s because Utah blows and Kansas – mphmmm.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Mother Jones – I Played This Climate Change Game—and Lost Everything
Quote – [F]acts about humanitarian crises averted can feel abstract unless you face them, or at the very minimum role-play as someone who must confront them. I did so myself. And I lost my beans. Paying for Predictions is an experiential learning game designed for the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre by Boston University visiting fellows Pablo Suárez and Janot Mendler de Suárez. Players can gain an appreciation for the importance of preparedness and early action, the use of weather and climate projections, and disaster resilience and climate risk reduction.
Click through for story. Nameless and I were chatting about computer and phone games recently … but we weren’t thinking of anything like this. This gaming could really help. I only hope there’s enough time for it to help.

Democratic Underground – Remember Sen Grassley’s tweet about filling in for Pence?
Quote – Remember Sen Grassley’s tweet about filling in for Pence? Grassley tweeted Jan 5 that he’d be filling in for Pence during certification of electors since Pence was not expected to be there. His office quickly announced that he meant IF Pence wasn’t able to be there, but I wonder if the first version wasn’t more accurate. Could that be how they planned to get around Pence’s refusal to cooperate? Just have him taken somewhere else for a while? Sounds crazy, but then recall the story that came out about Pence not leaving the Capitol that day because he didn’t trust the driver?
Click through for speculation and comments. Yes, it’s speculative, but sometimes putting small things together can lead to big questions. Now if we only had answers.

HuffPost – 2020 Had The Most Reported Hate Crimes Since 2001: FBI Data
Quote – The FBI’s 2020 data came from 15,138 law enforcement agencies around the country. Roughly half of all hate crime incidents reported were classified as intimidation, 27% were simple assault and nearly 18% were aggravated assault (which the FBI defines as “physical attacks intended to inflict severe or aggravated bodily injury”).
Click through for more stats. It’s not hard to see why. Mr. China-virus-illegal-immigrants-not-sending-their-best no doubt had something to do with it.

Food for Thought –

Video Thread 10/25/2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:23 pm Open Thread, Politics

Oct 252021

Glenn Kirschner – Here are the Consequences to Democracy if AG Garland/DOJ Refuse to Prosecute Trump’s Election Crimes

Meidas Touch – Former Ohio Dem Chair takes on MAGA FREAKSHOW Josh Mandel

Now This News – What Obama’s Speeches Sound Like as a Symphony – Cue Racist heads exploding n 3… 2… 1…

Ring of Fire – Black Cop Gets Immediately Fired For Calling Out Police Brutality And Racism. I don’t always agree 100% with Farron. This time I would not alter a syllable.