Jan 302023
 

Yesterday, I did get to see Virgil. It was snowing and cold – but I really had to see him because omething had gone wrong in the phone system; he had tried 3 times to call me Friday but I wasn’t able to accept ythe call and I wanted to tell him it was not I who was haning up on him. Fortunately, he didn’t think that, and I got to talk with the inmate who helps him place calls and tell him what happened. I had called the provider, and I did get an answer – frankly it didn’t make sense to me, but I shared it anyway because it’s not something I can fix, and if they are going to they need all available information – at least. I wasn’t able to finish scraping the windshield before starting out in the morning; I got the driver’s side and part of the passenger side clear, but part of it was just rock solid, despite my having turned the defrost on for over a half hour and of course kept it on while driving. I was worried about having to deal with that before leaving for home, and I was also worried, as by this time the snow had reached Pueblo and was coming down, about getting on to the interstate. But by the time I left, the rock hard ice had melted so thoroughly that a couple swipes of the windshield wipers took care of it, and when I got to the interstate there was a huge gap to get into, and just about everyone was driving slowly anyway, plus it was practically dry, both directions (I don’t know how Colorado snowstorms know to fall most heavily on residential areas and frequesntted commercial areas, and less on highways, but they do a good job of it.) So there are three more proofs of one of my favorite sayings (see right). As usual, Virgil returns all greetings. He does appreciate all of you – he knows, among other things, you are company for me, which he can’t be under the circumstances.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Washington Post (no paywall) – Justice Department asks FEC to stand down as prosecutors probe Santos
Quote – The Justice Department has asked the Federal Election Commission to hold off on any enforcement action against George Santos, the Republican congressman from New York who lied about key aspects of his biography, as prosecutors conduct a parallel criminal probe, according to two people familiar with the request…. “Basically they don’t want two sets of investigators tripping over each other,” said David M. Mason, a former FEC commissioner. “And they don’t want anything that the FEC, which is a civil agency, does to potentially complicate their criminal case.”
Click through for story – From WaPo’s keyboards to God’s iPhone.

Timothy Snyder – Thinking about… – The Specter of 2016
Quote – The reporting on this so far seems to miss the larger implications. One of them is that Trump’s historical position looks far cloudier. In 2016, Trump’s campaign manager (Manafort) was a former employee of a Russian oligarch (Deripaska), and owed money to that same Russian oligarch. And the FBI special agent (McGonigal) who was charged with investigating the Trump campaign’s Russian connections then went to work (according to the indictment) for that very same Russian oligarch (Deripaska). This is obviously very bad for Trump personally. But it is also very bad for FBI New York, for the FBI generally, and for the United States of America.
Click through for analysis. Snyder is a historian and this falls right into his special area, namely Europe. What strikes me here is that we all seem to be laboring under themistaken impression that if a responsible adult is aware that there is a problem under his or her purview, he or she will take some action. That does not appear to be the case Look at the 6-year-old school shooter – other students reported to multiple adults that he had a gun, starting early in the day. One of, I guess, the last to hear, just said, “Don’t worry, the school day’s almost over.” And then there was the entire police department in Uvalde. I understand the impulse, I really do, to mind one’s own business, but we citizens deserve better. Just because fascists want to supervise inappropriately doesn’t mean that we must fail to exercise supervision at all.

Food For Thought

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Jan 182023
 

Yesterday, I did get all the cartoons done for the rest of this month – although a couple of hthem are a little off.  There’s one where I used a date for it which is not usually associated (the usual date is the date then news got out, but the one i used was the date of the initial discovery), and another where I used two related events which happened on the same day but more than a decade apart.  Anywa, now it’s on to February.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – The Traitorous Spooks Helping Putin Crush Their Own People
Quote – As the volunteers were desperately trying to convince Alexander and his mother to leave, three men drove up to the courtyard on mopeds and started taking photos of our group with their phones. Immediately, Darren turned to us, looking genuinely fearful for the first time…. “I’ve spoken to the Ukrainian military about this, and they have specifically told us they have problems with guys on mopeds who will take photos and send them to pro-Russian forces,” Wilson later explained.
Click through for story. Every nation has some of these. Ours are called “far right.” It’s quite possible that every nation throughout human history has had some. And they are the real reason we can’t have nice things. We will never eliminate them completely – but we can do a whole lot better at restraining them. It starts by recognizing who they are – and who they aren’t.

NM Political Report – Proposed legislation would provide tax deduction for teachers
Quote – It is not just students’ parents who buy pencils, paper and protractors; teachers, many times, spend hundreds of dollars to keep their classrooms stocked for the school year. One proposed bill in this year’s legislative session seeks to help curb that expense.
Click through for details. It is, of course, not enough. But that’s no reason not to pass it. It’s a start.

Food For Thought

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Sep 042022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Lindsey Graham loses in court (again) in desperate attempt to avoid testifying about Trump’s crimes

Meidas Touch – BREAKING: White House SLAMS MAGA Republicans Following Epic Biden Primetime Speech

Ojeda Live – This Trump Temper Tantrum is About to End in a Timeout Known As a Life Sentence in Federal Prison

Liberal Redneck – Biden, Trump, and Democracy

Christo Alvalis – Trսmp has ALREADY SOLD his STOLEN FILES?! (Ivana’s coffin?)

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, the DOJ response, and photos….

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Aug 152022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Search warrant shows Trump’s classified documents crimes. It’s time to hold him accountable

Meidas Touch – BREAKING: Top Republicans lie and claim NUCLEAR SECRETS ‘planted at Mar-a-Lago’ and NOT A BIG DEAL

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party Augugt 9, 2022

No Dem Left Behind – The U.S. Economy is Doing Great Globally…

MSNBC – News from Mallory McMorrow – “What Happened In Kansas Is Going To Happen Here In Michigan.”

Beau – Let’s talk about China extending their exercises….

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May 292022
 

Glenn Kirschner – New reporting disclosing Trump’s statement about Pence suggests Trump committed the crime of treason

Meidas Touch – Desperate Republican makes DISGUSTING ATTACK on Stacey Abrams

Robert Reich – Why We Need a Windfall Profits Tax

Farron Balanced – Russian State Media Slams Trump And Calls Him A Fascist

PBS – Trailer for the National Memorial Day Concert – TONIGHT – Check local listings

Liberal Redneck – On the Horrific Texas Shooting

Beau – Let’s talk about renaming military bases….

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Mar 022022
 

Yesterday was a fairly quiet day. I got a little knitting done … but didn’t really push.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Down With Tyranny – Democrats Seem To Think Trump Stole The Documents To Hide Stuff– I Think They’re Naïve And Wrong
Quote – People who think Trump stole the material because he was trying to hide his own misdeeds in office– as many members of Congress I spoke with have told me– are barking up the wrong tree. Trump was peddling the plans for Fort Ticonderoga, 2022 version.
Click through. I fear he is correct, both about what Trump** is doing, and also about the fact that most Democrats are not devious enough to even think of it. (Crooks and Liars also has the story, reprinted.)

There Are Many Words for Vladimir Putin. Is “Strongman” One?
Quote – But Nina Khrushcheva, an international-affairs scholar at the New School and the great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, tells me she isn’t so much concerned about whether the word is euphemistic as she is that it’s misplaced: “Putin was referred to as a ‘strongman’ back in the 2000s when he was a baby lamb compared to today…Putin now has gone far beyond being a strongman. He is a full-blown despotic, ruthless megalomaniac on par with Stalin and Mao, and proud of it.”
Click through for discussion. I think the term they are all looking for is “toxic masculinity.” That does not imply (contrary to Republican whining) that all musculinity is toxic any more than the term “Counterfeit money” implies that all money is counterfeit.

Womens History – Wonkette – Meet Alice Hamilton, The Patrician Woman Who Saved Your Grandpa From (More) Lead Poisoning
Quote – Hamilton was deeply committed to helping the poor. So she moved into Jane Addams’s Hull House. Living with the poor, she became interested in the problems of workplace health and safety — for good reason. Workers lived atrociously unsafe lives on the job. Many jobs were exercises in seeing how long you could live before you died or lost mental or physical capacity due to the poisons you ingested or absorbed. This is entirely besides the dangers of being burned or decapitated or electrocuted on the job. A poor worker in an American factory was one who might well not live long. Hamilton became an expert on industrial medicine, which wasn’t that hard because it was barely studied in an America utterly indifferent to the question.
Click through for story. This is written – how should I say it – more respectfully than Wonkette’s usual style. But then, the subjuect is more worthy of respect than Wonkette’s usual subjects.

Food For Thought:

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Dec 172021
 

Glenn Kirschner – House Committee Votes Meadows in Contempt; Says Insurrection “Runs Right Through Mark Meadows”

Meidas Touch – Fox vs. Fox: Private Messages | #FoxRuse

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party

MSNBC – Warnock To Senate Democrats: Bipartisanship At Whose Expense? (May I say Warnock rocks?)

Don Winslow Films – #NameTheTraitors (Yeah But. Even traitors deserve due process. And these particular ones are so placed as to avoid acountability if they don’t get it.)

Really American – Fox Hosts and Don Jr. EXPOSED re Jan. 6th Lies (I sure could use that emoji.)

Beau – Let’s talk about coup by PowerPoint…..

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