Aug 272024
 

Yesterday, of course, the big news was the NPD data breach, and that a security firm called Pentester (pentester dot com) can tell you whether your Social Security number was compromised or not. I looked at the page they put up to notify people whether or not their SSN has been compromised, and I noted that it asked only for first and last name, state of residence, and year (not the full date) of birth. In other words, you don’t need to provide your SSN, and I can see a legitimate need for those four chunks of data in order for them to be positive, but I don’t see it as enough information to compromise you without also having the number. Before requesting, however, I also read three reviews of Pentester on line. One said it’s a scam. The second gave it a rating of 71.5 out of a possible 100. The third said it is absolutely not a scam. I decided not to send the form. If you are worried, I suggest you look up Pentester reviews yourself and make your own decision. Also yesterday, I got an email from “levi + artie”, subject “WOOF!” which started “we are jawn’s dogs.” It went on to say “will you please chip in 10 dollars (we are told they are a form of human treats but you can’t eat them so we are not sure what exactly the point of that is)” The “jawn” in question is Fetterman. I just had to share the chuckles.

Joyce Vance’s “The Week Ahead” this week starts with today, Tuesday, because today is the day Jack Smith appears in Cannon’s court to appeal her dismissal of the documents case. And there are enough possibilities that it would be a challenge just to make a flowchart. Since Joyce knows what she’s taling about, she makes it as simple as possible. Personally, I would love it if Jack would ask to speak to the judhe in chambers and then give her an earful. But, unless it would be the best thing for the case, he won’t.

Well, dang! There are some sane Republicans left in Colorado! Though you wouldn’t know it by, for instance, Boebert. There are enough to vote to oust the state party chair (a JD Vance lookalike – and apparently the resemblance extends to personality). Apparently he is still refusing to step down, calling the meeting where the vote was taken “illegitimate” and “a fake takeover.” CPR thinks the state party is headed for a schism. I’m for it. The story is still being updated as new events occur, so it’s far from settled.

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Apr 242024
 

Yesterday, I got an email from Katie Porter (not that that’s unusual.) We all know ahe will no longer be in Congress after 2024 is over. But this kind of makes it real, Since she will no longer be campaigning for herself, but only for her PAC, “Truth to Power,” she is liquidating all of her campaign merchandise. There are Tshirts, sweatshirts, socks, hats, lapel pins, key chains, and other stuff, including an actual whiteboard. I ordered her kitchen kit to remember her by (it’s something I will actually use. I use keychains, but already have so many.)  I expect the store to be open, but with either more general merch, or merch for particular candidates, as opposed to merch tied to Katie.

It’s about time that someone made this so clear that most people should be able to see it. (Of course there are always some who can’t – or won’t.)

Talking Points Memo has done a striking summary of the first day of the trial (do I need to say which trial? I didn’t think so) in several sections. Even if you already know most of it, it’s a good summary (and has good links – the ones which aren’t paywalled.)

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May 062023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Proud Boys seditious conspiracy convictions moves the accountability needle closer to Trump & Co.

Thom Hartmann – Divorce Illegal!?! We Told You GOP Wanted To Turn Women Into Property

Farron Balanced – Pathetic Marjorie Taylor Greene Only Reported SIX Donors From Her Own District

Armageddon Update – BYE, TUCKER!

Cat Obsessed With Baby Brother Thinks He’s Also A Baby

Beau – Let’s talk about Brandon, books, budgets, and Biden….

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May 052023
 

Today, Virgil and I have been married for 39 years. No, I won’t see him until Sundey (but you can bet he’ll call,) Now, next year, being a leap year, the day will be on a Sunday. And it will be 40 years. I think that’s cool. (Incidentally, tomorrow’s radio opera will be Puccini’s “La Boheme.” If you were ever curious what inspired “Rent,” this is it. It’s easy to listen to, very melodic [Della Reese recordsed one of the arias with English words as “Don’t you know”] The four acts average maybe 20 minutes each of actual music, though of course with intermissions the broadcast will be longer, and besides the music there’s usually applause. If you don’t know of a local station, cpr.org/classical, kcme.org [both mountain], and wfmt.com [central] are always available.)

Also – Robert Reich is trying to give away the chair which was his official chair when he served in the Cabinet. It’s huge, and looks comfortable, if one is tall enough (I’m not tall, but I seem to have long femurs for my height – I would love it but have no room for it.) Any takers?

Cartoon – 05 0505Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

Pro Publica – What You Need to Know About Stillbirths
Quote – Every year, more than 20,000 pregnancies in the U.S. end in a stillbirth, the death of an expected child at 20 weeks or more of pregnancy. Research shows as many as 1 in 4 stillbirths may be preventable. We interviewed dozens of parents of stillborn children who said their health care providers did not tell them about risk factors or explain what to watch for while pregnant. They said they felt blindsided by what followed. They did not have the information needed to make critical decisions about what happened with their baby’s body, about what additional testing could have been done to help determine what caused the stillbirth, or about how to navigate the process of requesting important stillbirth documents.
Click through (they’ll offer you the newsletter but you can just click on “No, thanks, I’m all set”). Back in the day, there was an expression, “Just the same, only different.” That’s the case with miscarriages and stillbirths. And, with the increased push for men to control women’s bodies, it’s more an more important to understand both. I am way past menopause, but every woman of childbearing age – and all the men in throir lives – need to know this material. So I’m bookmarking it.

Southern Poverty Law Center – MALE SUPREMACY IS AT THE CORE OF THE HARD RIGHT’S AGENDA (caps are theirs)
Quote – The hard right, in other words, wants to revive an older social order, before the Civil Rights Movement, women’s and gay liberation movements, and other social and political transformations upset what was a thoroughly white-dominated, patriarchal society. Gender, then – how it is understood, practiced and described in our laws – is clearly of central concern to the hard right. Their goal is to uphold male supremacy, a movement that scholar of right-wing movements Chelsea Ebin describes as “a complex system that serves to assert, support, and promote the supposed superiority of men,” and subjugate women, trans, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming people.
Click through for details. I’ve been yelling this for years – glad to see someone else yelling too. If we don’t know our enemy, we will lose battles and eventually lose the war. Never forget Hillary. Never forget “Sure, I’d vote for a woman – just not this woman.” I never want to need to say “I told you so,” nor do I want it to need to be said “She told us so” after I’m gone.

Food For Thought

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Apr 192023
 

Yesterday, when I turned on Colorado Public Radio on the computer, what was playing wa Alan Hovhaness’s Symphony #50, which has the subtitle “Mount St. Helens,” and yes, he wrote it literally during the 1980 eruption – he was living within view of it. CPR – both the news side and the music side – are going all out for Earth Day. Today’s newsletter from Mother Jones included a few pointed paragraphs on people who are progressive enough to vote for Biden but not progressive enough to support a housing project of the kind needed to make replacing fossil fuels actually work, because NIMBY (“Not in my backyard.”) I can’t give you a link, since those remarks are in the newsletter only, but I can link to the lead story by a different author with the same theme. It made me think that maybe part of the problem of getting a strong progressive political majority is a kind of Catch-22 – really good education and money tend to go together. But people without money need a really good education in order to see the quakity of and the need for progressive policies. And for those who have both the educatin and the money, the money tends to corrupt. Here’s one ver short quote from the newsletter – “Some on the left continue to be quite acrobatic in their defense of blocking housing, ignoring all evidence that this mostly benefits rich homeowners.”

In other news, Fox and Dominion settled for about $785 milliom.  For anyone who (like me) is disappointed by this, I have ne word – Smartmatic.

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Short Takes –

CPR News – Gov. Jared Polis signs bills protecting access to abortion and gender-affirming care in Colorado
Quote – Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday signed a set of health care bills enshrining access to abortion and gender-affirming procedures and medications, as the Democrat-led state tries to make itself a safe haven for its neighbors, whose Republican leaders are restricting care. The goal of the legislation is to ensure people in surrounding states and beyond can come to Colorado to have an abortion, begin puberty blockers or receive gender-affirming surgery without fear of prosecution. Bordering states of Wyoming and Oklahoma have passed abortion bans and Utah has severely restricted transgender care for minors.
Click through for details. This is the right thing yo do, but it can’t be denied that it will also strengthen Colorado’s medical community, and also bring dollars to the state. It makes me proud of my state and my Governor. But…

CPR News – Colorado Catholic health clinic joins forces with D.C. law firm to challenge state’s new abortion-access law
Quote – In a lawsuit, Bella Health argues that the new law targets religious clinics’ duty to help pregnant women in need — which they say is a violation of their constitutional rights. They say those duties include helping women continue their pregnancies after they take mifepristone, a pharmaceutical drug used in medication abortion, and later change their mind. “We opened [the lawsuit] because of our belief that life is a precious gift from God, worthy of protection at all stages,” said Dede Chism, a nurse practitioner and co-founder and CEO at Bella Health and Wellness, in a release. “When a woman seeks our help to reverse the effects of the abortion pill, we have a religious obligation to offer every available option for her and her child.”
Click tthrough for the other side of the story. I don’t normally use the same source twice, but in this case, the story is not complete without both. This part makes me ashamed of the misogyny and stupidity of – some of us – some people, and no state can claim not to have them.

Food For Thought

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Oct 012022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Stewart Rhodes/Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy trial kicks off in DC. Here’s what to expect.

Meidas Touch – Pete Buttigieg BRINGS THE HOUSE DOWN with epic response to GOP political stunts

The Lincoln Project – Making America Fascist

The Alt-Right Playbook: The Cost of Doing Business This is thr first new chapter in two years. And it’s a hard hitter. (And, sadly, long.)

Parody Project – NO SURPRISE (Student Debt)

Beau – Let’s talk about women’s rights, republicans, polls, and reality….

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Sep 282022
 

Glenn Kirschner – NY judge tells Rudy Giuliani to pay up or get locked up; Ginni Thomas to testify to J6 committee

Meidas Touch – MAGA Republicans MOCK Marco Rubio in new MEGAVIRAL Supercut by MeidasTouch

The Lincoln Project – Kevin’s Plan

MSNBC – The Rachel Maddow Show 9/26/22 Part 1 and Part 2of the fascism segments

Liberal Redneck – Stacey Abrams, Heartbeats, and Georgia

Beau – Let’s talk about the Electoral Count Act of 1887 being clarified….

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Sep 162022
 

Yesterday, The New Yorker’s newsletter informed me that Andy Borowitz has a new book out. It’s called, “Profiles in Ignorance.” In fact, so many newsletters were so informative today on interesting but less-than-earthshaking news the=at I was spoikled for choice. Elijah Cummings potrait was unveiled Wednesday (there’s a grammatical error in this one – it should be “lay in state,” not “lied in state.”) Heather Cox Richardson has a good overview of presidential (including their staff) lawlessness through the years. Axios has a story on the “Twitter Whistleblower,” about whom Beau of the Fifth Column says, “If we were scuba diving together, and he told me my bears was on fire, I’d blieve him.” And The Nib has an extended graphic story on the fraudulent lending practices of the nineties. And, in a story which is all over but can wait, the potential railroad strike appears to have been averted.

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Short Takes –

The 19th – The Affordable Care Act’s biggest gender-based protections are under threat
Quote – After a federal court decided that HIV prevention medication does not need to be covered under the Affordable Care Act, experts fear that many other reproductive health services — screening for sexually transmitted infections, breastfeeding counseling and even contraceptive care — could now be threatened. The ruling’s scope — including the nuances of how it could affect people’s insurance plans — will be addressed at a hearing [today]. If upheld, the case could ultimately reverse one of the most significant reforms established by the ACA, with particular impact on the law’s gender-based health protections.
Click through for full article. These are the same “I’ve got mine, screw you” jerks who think they shouldn’t have to pay union dues, when in fact without the union their pay would be 50% less (and they’d have no weekends.) I think if they don’t want to be a part of the community, we should accomodate them in that by kicking them out.

Mother Jones – The Stigma of “Late-Term Abortions” Is the Point
Quote – As Laurie Bertram Roberts, who runs the Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund, puts it, the seemingly arbitrary 15-week mark “was right there where people start getting a little bit like, ‘Well, why would someone need an abortion that late?’” The reasons why people get them are often not all that different from “early-term” ones; in fact, many patients want to get their abortions earlier—but stigma, paired with the ever-growing net of restrictions pushed by lawmakers who claim to want to “protect women,” creates barriers that push people further into pregnancy before they can get care. Jessy Rosales knows from experience.
Click through for the full reprint. Yes, it’s from 2021, but still needs to be pointed out. As Molly Ivins said, “No pregnant woman ever waddled by a Planned Parenthood and said, ‘Gee, it’s a nice day, I think I’ll get an abortion’.”

Food For Thought

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