Open Thread October 28, 2023

 Posted by at 6:03 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 282023
 

Yesterday, the mass shooting in Maine reached some other news outlets, including Wonkette. I heard about it a couple of days ago from Joyce Vance. I wanted more detail before passing it on, but her take did inspire me to make today’s cartoon, and bump a different one (which I hadn’t finished anyway). Also, I received the email that my ballot has been counted. I can now display the “I voted” sticker, which was thoughtfully included in the envelope with the blank ballot. And I came across today’s Food for Thought, which is clearly a Public Service Announcement, so by all means pass it on.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Wonkette (Substack) – Search Continues For Whichever Antifa Biden Lib Forced Maine Shooter To Pretend To Be A Right-Winger
Quote – America is picking its way through the aftermath of yet another mass shooting, this time in Lewiston, Maine, where at least 18 people died and at least 13 others were wounded … when another previously law abiding gun owner stopped abiding the law and shot up a bowling alley and a restaurant. The reported casualty numbers … have varied widely, and may well rise. The suspected shooter is still at large as we write this, as law enforcement from all over join in searching for the shooter or perhaps his body and cable news fills time with expert opinion. People in the area have been told to shelter in place until the shooter is found. Businesses and schools are closed in Lewiston and several other locations around the state.
Click through for details – not that they aren’t much like every other details from every other mass shooting ever. Only the names and the numbers seem to change.

The Root – Freddie Krueger Who? Karen is the Real Face of Terror For Black America
Quote – In a world where law enforcement violence against Black Americans is far too common, where stereotypes still abound, the true face of terror is not Chucky or the Nun. It’s Karen…. Doesn’t matter if the Black person in question is a man or a woman. Doesn’t matter if they are strong or weak. Doesn’t matter if they are an adult or a child. Karen can get them. She can still drag them to hell.
Click through for story. Heaven knows people of any hue can find Karens annoying. But white people tend not to think of them as weapons of war. We need to look harder – and deeper. This goes back at leeast to the antebellum south and the character of “Miss Ann.” And it has been, and still can be, deadly.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread October 18, 2023

 Posted by at 6:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 182023
 

Yesterday, this paragraph was in the public radio newsletter: “Colorado said the bridge that collapsed near Pueblo in a fatal train derailment was owned by the railroad company, but the company says the state owns it.” It’s going to be a long wait. Sigh. “Photos and videos posted by authorities showed the partially collapsed bridge with the semi-truck caught beneath in the right lane. The images also show a pileup of train cars and wheels scattered across the scene and loads of coal covering a portion of the highway. Thirty-nine cars of the 124 being hauled derailed, the National Transportation Safety Board said.”

Also, my ballot arrived.  I already knew how I wanted to vote on the two issues, but there is also a school board election.  Five candiedates.  Two vacancies.  At least this time Ballotpedia came through on a couple of them (one yes, one no) and another candidate ‘s name was unusual enough that just her name brought up that she’s registered D.  So I had two that I could vote for, and did.  The other two should have filled out the questionnaires.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

John Pavlovitz – The One Place to Stand in The Israel-Palestine Violence
Quote – As a person of faith, morality, and conscience, I don’t know where to stand in times like these—other than with squandered, brutalized life. That means I don’t get off so easy as to be able to make a tidy little declaration and walk away feeling good about myself. It means I have to leave the shallows of ambiguity and into deep waters of nuance and history and human nature. It means I have to read and learn, to listen and reflect, to pray and wrestle. It means I’ll end up with fewer answers and more questions and I might be sick to my stomach. But this place of staring at the ugly unfigureoutable is where I am, where many of us are.
Click through for full secular sermon – which is what I found it to be. Yes, John is a pastor, but he does his best to speak to everyone, and often succeeds. I think he succeeds here.

Colorado Public Radio – Navy honors sailor who helped stop Club Q shooting
Quote – During a ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 5, Rear Adm. Scott Robertson, director of Plans, Policy and Strategy for North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command, presented the medal on behalf of the Navy…. “I myself can only hope that I would channel the courage in our Navy core values like he did,” Robertson said. “But, we don’t have to wait for crisis to apply core values. We can and should apply them every day. That’s what I am taking away from the lessons you taught us all.”
Click through for full story.  This is a week or more old – I saved it until Pat got back. Thank God Tommy Tuberville didn’t have his way before this occurred – it could have been much worse.

Food For Thought

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Open Thread December 1, 2022

 Posted by at 6:50 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 012022
 

Yesterday, the newsletter from The Conversation had three different articles onn genetics, two of which related directly to conflict during pregnancy between the mother’s and father’s genes, The third focused on how assumptions can disguise the meaning of the evidence as to whether certain traits are genetic or not. Coming so soon after the short take we had on genetic anomalies, I was interested, but a short take will not do justice to the subject. Instead, I’ll provide links to all of them, here, here, and here. I will warn you that the authors use anthromorphism to make some points – genes don’t (as far as we can tell have consciousness, and therefore they don’t “want” to do things, nor do they experience feelings of hostility. But the effects are as if they did.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Report: Feds Are Still Not Concentrating On Domestic Terror
Quote – Although the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have identified domestic terrorism, specifically white supremacist violence, as “the most persistent and lethal terrorist threat,” the federal government has continued to allocate resources to focus on international terrorist threats instead, according to the report.
Click through for article (and a link to C&L’s source.) I can think of reasons – mostly having to do with relative difficulty. But, doggonit, if one thing is more dangerous than another, we need to focus on the thing which is more dangerous, no matter how difficult it is to do so.

Axios – Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes found guilty of seditious conspiracy
Quote – Why it matters: Rhodes, a prominent figure within far-right American politics, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison from the conviction, [and] the jury also found him guilty on other charges…. The big picture: The verdicts may serve as a preview for the upcoming trial against Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and other members who were also charged with seditious conspiracy for their actions around and on the day of the riot.
Click through for details. While technically this does not set a “legal precedent” (but it will, I’m betting – Rhodes lawyer says he will appeal, and I trust it will fail), it will help give confedence to any other prosecutors wh, becaue the last time before not the charges was pressed (in 2010),the jury failed to convict.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 8/24/22

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Politics
Aug 242022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Glenn’s regular video in sequence is a report n a Team Justice get-together. Glenn’s first grandchild was there (cute as a button), but Glenn didn’t make the keynote speech, and it;s long. So I’m substituting this, which includes information not yet covered on “Justice Matters.”
Political Voices Network – No Sweetheart Deals! There Are a Whole Host of Crimes that Apply to Rudy & Trump.

Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Adam Kinzinger MOCKING Trump as whiny ‘victim’

Lincoln Project – Receipts

Really American – Republican endorsement of extreme behavior is proof that they are #GOPTerrorists

Parody Project – THE CRIMES THEY ARE ARRANGING

Beau – Let’s talk about WHO changing names and changing as a person….

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Open Thread August 23, 2022

 Posted by at 7:20 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 232022
 

Yesterday, I slept in about an hour – again. I’ve been having a glitch or two getting to sleep, so that when the alarm goes, I’m not ready to get up. I do realize this is a self-sustaining thing … but it has happened before and usually resolve within a week. I refuse to fret about it – I only mention it in case anyone has noticed I’m running a little late on comment replies. It’s not to worry.

Cartoon –


Short Takes –

Just Security – Trump Associate’s Stated Plan to Publicly Release “Declassified” Documents
Quote – As this article was going to press, ABC News published a report that weeks before the Mar-a-Lago search, former President Donald Trump’s associate Kash Patel “vowed to retrieve classified documents from the National Archives and publish them on his website.” If that scheme involved Trump himself and the Mar-a-Lago documents, it could have significant legal implications for the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal investigation. Any plan to release the documents could potentially trigger specific elements of the Espionage Act and other criminal statutes designed with the core purpose of preventing unlawful dissemination of classified and other sensitive government documents. As I discuss below, credible evidence of such a plan also would likely factor into the Justice Department’s decision on whether to bring criminal charges.
Click through for details. “Just Security” you might say is a specialty news website. I’m linking to their mission statement. (I also bookmarked then, since they don’t call attention to themselves – they just quietly analyze.

Letters from an American – August 20,2022
Quote – When former president Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, he left the participants to continue without the U.S., which they did as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). He also left open the way for a free trade deal in the region dominated by China, called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or RCEP, which went into effect on January 1, 2022. This left the Biden administration with two politically poor choices: try to reestablish U.S. participation in the region through the CPTPP, which would have been hotly contested at home and thus unlikely to get through Congress, or let China dominate the region, with damaging long-term effects. So the administration found a third way.
Click through for background. This is kind of a compliation of who has visited Taiwan from the United States recently, and when, and under what circumstances (not what you probably think from the press coverage.) Also, other recent history, including Trump**’s destructive actions (in my quote).

Food For Thought

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Open Thread August 4, 2022

 Posted by at 7:05 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 042022
 

Yesterday, it was pretty quiet. I did need to get another grocery delivery, as the last one sorted me on green salad. I have plenty of frozen vegetables stocked, but I enjoy sommer meals more and feel better if I have a green salad daily while it’s warm. This time I got everything I asked for, so I’m set for a while. Otherwise, a quiet day. My shoulder is still being annoying, but I have a shoulder brace coming, and I used some arnica gel on it today, which helped..

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Ted Lieu Introduces Act Naming Russia As Terrorist State
Quote – Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) is leading a bipartisan group of House members in sponsoring the Russia is a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act in response to their invasion of Ukraine. Those members include Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Jared Golden (D-ME), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Tom Malinowski (D-NJ).
Click through for story. Ted Lieu may not be Jamie Raskin (but then, who but Jamie is?) or even Eric Swalwell (ditto), but he does have a history of presenting truth forcefully. I appreciate him.

Letters from an American – August 2, 2022
Quote – But this moment increasingly feels like it’s about more than abortion rights, crucial though they are. The loss of our constitutional rights at the hands of a radical extremist minority has pushed the majority to demonstrate that we care about the rights and freedoms that were articulated—however imperfectly they were carried out—in the Declaration of Independence. We care about a lot of things that have been thin on the ground for a while.
Click through for everything. This was the day of the primaries in many states and there is significant news from more than one of them. There is also more new information abut Trump** information sedition. Any of these news items could be found elsewhere, but Richardson wraps it all up nicely and ties a bow on it.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 6/17/22

 Posted by at 12:10 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jun 172022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Day 2 of J6 public hearings: Republican witnesses prove Donald Trump’s criminal intent

The Lincoln Project – Last week in the Republican Party – June 14, 2022

Meidas Touch – Merrick Garland and DOJ ABSOLUTELY watching Jan 6 Hearings (We knew this I think – but it’s still watchable) Prosecutors will be looking for COURT evidence of course. Incidentally, Tish James also watched.

No Dem Left Behind – Have We Lost Our Way in the Past 20 Years? True Americans Must Stand Against the Treason Caucus

Parody Project – Mark Meadows

Beau – Let’s talk about how political parties determine your health….

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Open Thread June 17, 2022

 Posted by at 7:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 172022
 

Yesterday, I went to see VirgilWe kissed (we are allowed 2, one coming and one going) and hugged (ditto), and we also, as we didn’t do for quite a few years, played some cribbage – for some reason we find that having something to do with out hands stimulates conversation, though it took us years ti realze that.. How the Department of Corrections handles games and game playing during visits wold take a whole column, and I won’t start on thet today. I passed on all greetings you all exprressed to Virgil, and he returns all with thanks.

After getting home, I checked my email inbox whch had hit almost 150 emai and then turned to the hearings. I had pre-written today’s posts except for this introduction, so after getting home and making dinner, I was able to jump into today’s hearing. Again, none of the actual evidence surprised me – even things I didn’t know had happened were so in tune with Republican morals and behavior they were not surprising. But I did get two non-evidential surprises – first, that I can now see why those who are not totally disgusted with his political positions might actually like Mike Pence (I will never understand that about Trump**). Second, I was surprised to learn there is one Republican who has not only actually read goodly chunks of the Bible, but understands it well enough to come up with a whole chapter that is extremely pertinent (it was one of his former attrorneys, a Mr. Jacobs, and the chapter was Daniel 6 [which could be differently numbered in the translation used by Catholics – I know that book has some extra stuff in it which is not in the Bible most Protestants use].) Again, I used the recording from the house.gov link here.  And then I goofed around a little and went to bed exhausted.

And – I almost forgot – the email telling me my ballot had been received came in at 11:34 am and the one saying it has been counted came in at 5:35 pm.

Cartoon – 17 Mahal RTL

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – ‘Pack Your Stuff and Get Out of My House,’ Says Patriot Front Member’s Mom
Quote – Amsden said that after her son was released from jail, he told her he’d continue to stand with the group, so she delivered an ultimatum. “I told him, ‘Well, then you can’t live here. You can choose between Patriot Front and your family.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I can’t quit Patriot Front.’ I’m like, ‘Well, then you’ve just chosen. So pack your stuff and get out of my house.’”
Click through for background. Old saying: “desperate times require desperate measures.” This must break her heart (I assume he doesn’t have one) – but I don’t see what else she could have done.

Wonkette – CNN’s New Boss Remaking Network Into Centrist Safe Space For Republicans
Quote – Licht will give existing talent “a chance to prove they’re willing to uphold the network’s values so that they don’t tarnish CNN’s journalism brand.” If they can’t adjust, they’ll presumably join Chris Cuomo on the unemployment line. Axios specifically mentions Jim Acosta and Brian Stelter as being under the partisan microscope[.]
Click through for more. Personally, I would trade Chuck Todd for Acosta in a heartbeat – but I’m not in a position to.

Food For Thought

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