Open Thread November 5, 2022

 Posted by at 6:52 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 052022
 

Yesterday, it was pretty quiet, but I didn’t have alot of ambition. Previouslt I had made up the cartoons needed through the 10th, and update the one for the 15th because that was simple, but I still need to make them for the 13th, 18th, 21st, 24th, 27th, 28th, and 29th. i have the content ans artwotk, I just have to put them all together, but I really didn’t feel up to it. Oh well, there’ll be time next week. Today, of course, I have an opera to listen to, and will get ready to go see Virgil tomorrow.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Daily Beast – Republicans Are Bad for the Economy. Here’s Why.
Quote – The poll indicated that concerns about the economy and inflation are “much more likely to drive voters towards Republicans.” But that impulse is not only ill-considered, every bit of available evidence makes clear that the GOP is the wrong party to which to turn if you seek better U.S. economic performance in the future. In fact, it is not close. When it comes to the economy, the GOP is the problem and not the solution. If anything, it is a greater obstacle to our economic well-being today than it has ever been.
Click through for article. It drives me crazy that this is not obvious to every man, woman, and child in America. I learned it at mo mother’s knee (Yes, it’s been true that long.)

Robert Reich – Why I still think John Roberts is the worst Chief Justice since Roger Taney
Quote – I do not expect this Court to uphold affirmative action, notwithstanding the clear precedent for doing so. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. — the conservative least likely to champion dramatic change in the court’s precedents — has for his entire legal career opposed what he has called the “sordid business” of dividing Americans by race, including affirmative action As Special Assistant to the Attorney General in the Reagan Justice Department, Roberts argued that affirmative action was bound to fail because it required the “recruiting of inadequately prepared candidates.”
Click through for full opinion. Taney is infamous for the Dred Scott decision. But that wasn’t all.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 11/2/22

 Posted by at 11:54 am  Blog News, Personal
Nov 022022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s taxes; fed charges for Paul Pelosi attacker; Officer Dunn testifies at Oath Keepers trial

The Lincoln Project – Pelosi Attack

Meidas Touch – Sarah Palin makes HUMILIATING ADMISSION about Campaign as it SWIRLS THE DRAIN

MSNBC – Litany Of Trump Legal Entanglements Grows Ever Longer As Trump Org Criminal Trial Begins

Liberal Redneck – Voting Republican to Save the Economy

Beau – Let’s talk about a poll on climate inaction…. [It’s not every day you hear Beau distinguish so sharply between the parties]

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Open Thread October 29, 2022

 Posted by at 7:16 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 292022
 

Yesterday, Paul Pelosi, Nancy’s husband, was assaulted and injured in their San Francisco home. And Joyce Vance was right on it, with an article about the crime of assaulting a Federal official’s family member – before they even had time to question the attacker and report details. By now, of course you’ve likely seen some details. Some of hese Substck subscriptions, even non-paid ones, can certainly make a reader of them look knowledgeable (even when the author is clearly pissed.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Letters From An American – October 26, 2022
Quote – Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) warned banks that surprise overdraft fees and depositor fees for customers who deposit a check that bounces are “likely unfair and unlawful under existing law.” The CFPB is also looking into credit card fees. The Federal Trade Commission has started a rule-making process that addresses surprise fees for event ticketing, hotels, funeral homes, and so on; earlier this year, it brought actions against junk fees in the auto industry that are awaiting finalization.
Click through for column. Its primary focus is the economy, but there are a couple of other topics (the last is amusing.)

ProPublica – That Cardboard Box in Your Home Is Fueling Election Denial
Quote – Dick and Liz Uihlein of Illinois are the largest contributors to Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, who attended the Jan. 6 rally and was linked to a prominent antisemite, and have given to Jim Marchant, the Nevada Secretary of State nominee who says he opposed the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory in 2020. They are major funders to groups spreading election falsehoods, including Restoration of America, which, according to an internal document obtained by ProPublica, aims to “get on God’s side of the issues and stay there” and “punish leftists.”
Click through for article. I had never heard of ULine until a couple of years ago, when they were one of a very few companies which had an unusual item (disposable pipettes.) Not too long after that I heard about the family being RWNJ, and flagged the name in my records.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 10/26/22

 Posted by at 11:51 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 262022
 

Glenn Kirschner – The Trump Organization “show trial” kicks off today. But Donald Trump will not be held accountable

The Lincoln Project – Tyranny

Meidas Touch – Roevember Is Coming!

Katie Porter brings inflation receipts.

MSNBC – Yamiche Alcindor: Felons Who Are ‘Legal To Vote’ May Be ‘Intimidated’ By FL Election Police Arrests

Beau – Let’s talk about the economy and a democratic problem…. (and Beau brings the receipts alsoi.)

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Video Thread 10/24/22

 Posted by at 11:49 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 242022
 

Glenn Kirschner – January 6 committee subpoenas Trump. Will he successfully use the courts to run out the clock?

The Lincoln Project – We’ve Been Warning You

MSNBC – House Member Criticizes McCarthy Over Threats To Cut Ukraine Funding

Farron Balanced – Conservatives Started An Anti Woke Bank And Immediately Went Bankrupt

Armageddon Update – Vote or Die!

Beau – Let’s talk about which party you want during a recession….

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Open Thread October 21, 2022

 Posted by at 6:58 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 212022
 

Yesterday, I did get my ballot into the mail in time for the daily delivery/pickup. So I’ll be watching my email carefully for the “received” and “counted” emails (as if I didn’t always watch my email carefully.) In it (my email) today was a “The Warning” from Steve Schmidt – abbreviated because I’m a free subscriber – with perhaps the most blistering takedown of Kevin McCarthy you’ll ever see without profanity. And one from Jpoyce Vance had an analysis of the court decision on the Trump**-Eastman emails. I also received confirmation to visit Virgil Sunday. He called again also, and was much less confused, which was a relief.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Shadow Government in Putin’s Own Backyard Plots Against Him
Quote – Belarus’ opposition, led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, is plotting to form an alliance with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to try to hamper any hopes that Russia may have of territorial expansion beyond Ukraine and further into Europe. The concern is that Russian President Vladimir Putin is eyeing Belarus much like how he’s eyeing Ukraine—and hoping to envelope Belarus into Russia itself, Valery Kavaleuski, a foreign affairs representative for the Belarusian opposition leader, told The Daily Beast. “Russians are looking at us in the same light as they look at Ukraine,” Kavaleuski said. “‘This is a state that is temporarily dependent. This is the nation that does not deserve to be next to Russia,
Click through for article. I don’t know how much of this is wishful thinking, and – maybe because – I don’t know how much real power Tsikhanouskaya has. I haven’t seen it elsewhere, but it claims to be an exclusive, so that alone does not discredit it.

Crooks and Liars – Paul Krugman: Here’s What Dems Should Do If GOP Gains House Majority
Quote – So what should be done to avert this threat? If Republicans do gain control of one or both houses in November, Democrats should use the lame-duck session to enact a very large rise in the debt limit, enough to put the issue on ice for years. Republicans and pundits who don’t understand the stakes would furiously attack this move, but it would be far better than enabling extortion — and would probably be forgotten by the time of the 2024 election.
Click through for the why, and the backup plan. I haven’t heard much from Krugman lately, presumably because I don’t subscribe to the NY Times. But he has always known what he is talking about, and he is right again. I hope he gets attention from those who need to hear this.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 10/20/22

 Posted by at 11:49 am  Open Thread, Politics
Oct 202022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Prosecutors ask judge to sentence Steve Bannon to 6 months in prison & a $200,000 fine for contempt not long now!)

The Lincoln Project – Social Security

Eric Swalwell’s new ad

Ring of Fire – Conservative Group Loses Bid To Stop Biden’s Student Loan Debt Forgiveness

Liberal Redneck – OPEC, Foreign Oil, Gas Prices, etc

Beau – Let’s talk about a positive note for the weekend…. (…last weekend – I warned you I’d get behind.)

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Open Thread October 10, 2022

 Posted by at 6:54 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 102022
 

Yesterday, I went to see Virgil. I set my alarm a bit earlier than I had been on days I was going to see him, and that turned out to be a mistake. We live and learn. So I’ll switch it back (after I set it for Thursday’s hearing, of course.) Virgil appreciates and returns all your greetings. The weather was fine and the drive both ways was uneventful. Also, I thought I had enough sleep Saturday night. However, I still felt pretty tired upon return.  Oh, yes, and Happy Indigenous Peoples Day.

Cartoon – 10 1010Cartoon.jpg


Short Takes –

HuffPost – What The Weird Conservative Fixation On Electric Vehicles Says About Their Politics
Quote – The Biden administration has made support for EVs a top priority. The Inflation Reduction Act, the spending bill that Biden signed over the summer, included new tax credits for people who purchase EVs as well as businesses that open up charging stations. Greene has been critical of this effort from the get-go, and in February posted a 21-part tweetstorm calling the Biden plan ― which, at that point, was still under discussion ― “a one way ticket to hell.” Greene isn’t alone in making these sorts of arguments. On the contrary, the list of Republican officials who have attacked the Biden administration’s EV agenda in similar terms is long and includes everybody from Florida Sen. Rick Scott to Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw.
Click through for three reasons why anyone with a functioning brain and who doesn’t hate Democrats could be expected to be ebthusiastic about EVs. But, Republicans … What do you want to bet that20 or even 10 years from now they will be all in favors of EVs, and will never admit they weren’t always.

CPR News – As the reparations debate continues nationally, some Denver organizations are stepping up now
Quote – Risë Jones is walking around TeaLee’s, her three-year-old tea shop in Denver’s historically Black Five Points neighborhood. Soft jazz plays in the main seating area with about 10 tables, and in the basement is a bookstore with some hard-to-find titles by Black authors…. Jones is among several Black business owners in Denver who have received grants from groups raising private funds to pay reparations for the centuries of abuse of Blacks forced into slavery…. Jones received an $8,500 reparations grant to open the shop, one of several that have been distributed…. There are several organizations that do precisely that kind of work. One of them is BRIC (Black Resilience in Colorado) a non-profit organization that officially opened on Juneteeth (June 19) of 2020.
Click through and scroll down for the article – it’s below a podcast and the picture. Hey, they’re a radio outfit, of course they like podcasts. But they like articles too. There is so much in it for me as a Coloradan to be proud of (and that TomCat would have loved.)

Food For Thought

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