Mar 182023
 

Yesterday, I woke up to find that there had been a power failure while I was asleep. I don’t mind resetting the clock and the microwave, but I also had to reset the radio in the computer room, and that is a real pain. Both speakers fell; they weren’t damaged, but the first one knocked a full glass of water off the desk, drenching the desktop, the floor, and one of my sleeves. The one positive consequence was that it stretched me just right so that I didn’t need to use the TENS. Nevertheless, it is NOT something I want to do every day. The luck of the Irish was not with me (not surprising, since I have no Irish DNA – I have one redneck grandparent, but she was English/Scottish.) I did figure out how to send everyone a greeting card directly through the blog, and since TomCat did a two-day Saint Patrick’s Day cartoon sequence, here is your card to go with day two.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Jimmy Carter Asks President Biden to Deliver His Eulogy: Will Trump Show Up?
Quote – Some people go very quickly after pulling all the meds that had kept them alive. Others? Well, they’re tougher, for all we know, Carter could live another six months. But he is preparing now and he asked President Biden, two of the finest men to ever live, to give his eulogy…. These two go back a long time. “When Jimmy Carter ran for president the first US Senator to endorse him was Joe Biden.”
Click through for details and speculation. You may have seen the headline, but, even if you’re as old as I am, you may not realize quite how far back the relarionsship goes. As for TFG, can we hope that some court will take that out of his tiny hands?

Robert Reich – How to stop playing whack-a-mole with the banks [Spoiler: Bring back Glass-Steagall]
Quote – It’s time to admit that banks that take in deposits are public institutions that shouldn’t gamble with those deposits. Regardless of size, no bank has the capital on hand to manage a sudden full-blown bank run. This is why, ever since the bank bailouts of 2008, the biggest banks have been “too big to fail.” And it’s why last weekend the government decided to backstop smaller banks, too…. The Glass-Steagall Act was the law of the land until 1999. It prohibited banks from making profits off of the deposits entrusted to them. I say, bring it back!
Click through for article – He doesn’t mention something I read elsewhere this week – that Glass-Steagall was repealed because “It worked so well, we don’t need it any more.” I wanted something to beat my head against.

 

The best analysis I have seen about the arrest warrant out on Putin (and one of his ministers) is that of Heather Cox Richardson.  In order to get it up fast, I’ll just share the link.

Food For Thought
This is old – about 2 years old – but it seemed like a good time to remember it

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Feb 212023
 

Yesterday, I saw that snow for Wednesday the 22nd, which was predicted a week ago and then not predicted for several days, is now back on the agenda. As far as I know, I’m not going anywhere, so that’s fine. And – I learned that President Joe was in Ukraine “to reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine’s democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.” Who besides me is grateful for him? And speaking of Ukraine, the Met Opera is putting on and broadcasting another Concert for Ukraine this Friday. Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Fifth, and a piece by a contemporary Ukrainian composer, all very accessible (classical term of art for “easy listening.”) My local radio station is broadcasting it at 5:00 p.m. MST Friday. I expect anyone who wants to hear it will be able to find a way to do so.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – Jimmy Carter and the end of democratic capitalism
Quote – For years, the rap on President Carter has been that his presidency failed yet his post-presidency was the best in modern history. This is way too simplistic. During Carter’s term of office, the OPEC oil cartel raised oil prices from $13 a barrel to over $34, resulting in double-digit price increases across the economy. Paul Volcker, Carter’s appointee as Fed chair, was determined to “break the back of inflation” by hiking interest rates to nearly 20 percent by 1981, bringing on a deep recession and causing millions of people to lose their jobs — including Carter.
Click through for full argument. It wasn’t just the Federal Reserve – that might have been enough, but we’ll never know, because there was also the Iran hostage crisis, despicably and corruptly used by the GOP. The Reich on the left, as usual, is right, though, to implicate corporate backlash. I don’t know why we haven’t learned to forestall backlash. We’ll need to if we are ever going to make real progress.

The 19th – Mothers of the movement: Black environmental justice activists reflect on the women who have paved the way
Quote – The communities exposed to human-made environmental hazards were and still are largely Black. Race is one of the strongest predictors of the location of hazardous waste sites, which are consistently located near Black and low-income neighborhoods, according to a study by the United Church of Christ. For Black History Month, The 19th spoke with current leaders in the environmental and climate justice movements, including [Leah] Thomas, about the trailblazing Black women in their own lives who have inspired and shaped their work.
Click through for article. Granted that there is no category of humans who are all perfect, and Black women are no exception to that – I still feel that Black women are an underappreciated Nationa Treasure.

Food For Thought

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Apr 212021
 

Tweet – POTUS and VPOTUS call to Floyd family after vrdict

Republican Accountability Project

Really American – check for CC – also, this has been scrapped

Now This News – what you are not being shown

Lakota People’s Law Project

J Street recognizes Jimmy Carter with the Tzedek v’Shalom Award

Fugelsang – The Inadequate Dictator

Beau “Let’s talk about reaching your right wing family and posture statements” I don’t know how helpful this will be, but we should know about it.

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