Jul 232021
 

This is the 71st week that the Metropilitan has been streaming full operas free of charge nightly, and it is the last week of this program. I am sad to see it go, but hopeful that they will be able to hold the complete season they are planning startin gin September. What with the Delta and Lambda variants, that appears to me to be far from certain. In any event, I watched “Tales of Hoffmann” last noght, and plan to watch “A Masked Bsll” Sunday night, which will be the very last one to appear.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Republicans Protest Lack of Rioters on January 6th Commission
Quote – “Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked Democratic panel members all have one thing in common: none of them took part in the riot,” McCarthy said. “Without an equal number of rioters on the panel, we’ll never get to hear both sides of this thing.”
Click through for the rest. Sure, that’s why we included Al Qaeda members on the 9/11 commission – oh, wait.
Related story – Kevin McCarthy Proposes Removing January 6th from Month of January

Law and Crime – FBI Report Shows Explosive Components Allegedly Found in Home of Ex-Cop Charged in U.S. Capitol Breach
Quote – Despite the box’s markings labeling the contents a “prop,” the FBI said that the components could have formed a deadly weapon. “The resulting explosion from an IED of this type could cause property damage, personal injury and/or death,” Christopher Rigopoulos, of Quantico’s explosives unit, wrote. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi called that conclusion “highly relevant” to the judge’s pending ruling on whether to revoke Robertson’s conditions of release.
Click through for story. This dude had better get sentenced to longer than months.

The Guardian – FBI failed to fully investigate Kavanaugh allegations, say Democrats
Quote – Whitehouse said they asked “why the FBI failed to contact witnesses whose names were provided to the FBI as possessing ‘highly relevant’ information; how involved the Trump White House was in narrowing the scope of the investigation; whether the FBI had used a tip line in previous background investigations to manage incoming allegations and information regarding a nominee; and more.”
Click through for details. This is s “No s**t, Sherlock” story … but Senator Whitehouse does have a way with facts.

Food for Thought:

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  10 Responses to “Open Thread for July 23, 2021”

  1. Cartoon: I’d be sitting right next to that sweet cat. Ummmmm…..yummy!
    NYer: You bring humor and laughs to the table, Andy. Keep it up!! LOL 
    L&C: Gulp! Holy Cannole! Scary! Thankfully, he was found and caught. I read that ALERRT was developed by Texas State University. He should be behind bars too. Thanks for the link to the ‘Active Shooter Resource. I heard from some of my retiree friends that schools have mandatory classes for school staff now too.
    The Guardian: How sad !! I remember watching and listening to Ms. Christine Blasey Ford with her riveting testimony, with Kavanaugh lying through his teeth.  He should have not been selected, nor placed for the Supreme Court at all. 
    FFT: Look at that big happy smile! GOOD PUPPY! Give that sweet pup a big bone, he deserves it. 
    Glad to read that you are enjoying your operas. Sad that it will be ending for you though. Thank you for post. Have a good day/evening, Joanne. 

    This Just IN:   “Seems like every person in front of a microphone who spreads health disinformation or anti-vax BS should have to disclose if they took the vaccination.” ~ Claire McCaskill ~
    2. “Since I took office six months ago, we’ve gone from 60,000 new jobs per month – to 60,000 every three days. That’s the fastest job growth at this point in any Administration in history.” ~ President Joe Biden ~
    3. “Canada announcing it will begin allowing asymptomatic vaccinated Americans to cross the Northern Border starting August 9th is a major victory for separated families who have long awaited the opportunity to reunite. The U.S. must follow suit. @LetUsReunite.” ~ Rep. Brian Higgins D-NY ~
    4. “Interesting how Jared Kushner’s name appears to be absent from all the controversy, indictments, and arrests. Is he next to fall, or a cooperating witness? Knowing what a snake he is, I bet the latter. ~ Michael Cohen ~ 
    5. “John Lewis was a warrior for freedom who helped transform America with his courage, patriotism and goodness. As the ‘USNS John Lewis’ sets sail, may this beautiful ship be a beacon of strength & inspiration as we carry on John’s life mission: to pursue a more perfect union. #GoodTrouble ~ Nancy Pelosi ~
    https://news.usni.org/2021/07/18/navy-christens-usns-john-lewis

    • TJI #1 – Right. Like they’re going to tell the truth. And of course, if you claim you did get vaccinated, you can prove it … If you claim you didn’t, that doesn’t prove you didn’t.
      TJI #2 – Sadly, too many of those jobs are minimum wage (or worse, tipped minimum wage) jobs.
      TJI #3 – It does seem reasonable.
      TJI #4 – Yeah, that also seems reasonable too.
      TJI #5 – 

    • TJI#1: Yep, they definitely should. But like Joanne mentioned, we wouldn’t know if they’re telling the truth?  
      TJI#2: Keep it up, Joe!
      TJI#3: Good to hear. Curious if it will stay that way, with the numbers going up?
      TJI#4: Wouldn’t surprise me.
      TJI#5: Seen it on my local news channel. Beautiful christening. Well deserved honor! 

  2. “Un ballo en Maschera” was my grandfather’s favorite opera, he once told me.
    ‘Toon: A day worth celebrating!
    Andy: He almost had me fooled with the first piece.  Good stuff!
    L&C: I could not see the right hand side of the L&C story, as was the case last time.  
    The Guardian: Of course thee was no real investigation, and the supposed “Tops” line was bogus, as I read yesterday, or was bogus in that it just lay there, dormant, within TOT’s admin.
    FFT: Soooo Marvelous!!!!!!!

    • This version has Sondra Radvanovsky, Kathleen Kim (Oscar), Stephanie Blythe, Marcelo Álvarez, and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and is costumed and set roughly during the nineteen-teens.   The director sees Gustavo as a kind of Icarus, and uses Icarus imagery throughout – but doesn’t beat you over the head with it.  UnBallo is, I think, so particularly sad because of the tragic misunderstadings.  In other operas (at least Verdi operas), peope who get killed may not deserve to die for what they’ve done, but they have at least done something.  Gustavo only thinks about doing something and when push comes to shove decides not to – and gets killed anyway for presumably having done it.

      L&C – Again, I’m no Mac expert, but do you have any way to “print to file” or “print to pdf”?  Sometimes that works.  I use the absolutely no frills free version from bullzip dot com – but, again, I dn’t know Mac.  You might run the idea by Mrs. Mitch.

  3. TJI#1: They certainly should, and they certainly should be indicted, maybe on charges of “Involuntary manslaughter.”  MTG was full of BS, yesterday, when she accused that reporter of a HIPAA violation.
    TJI#2: Joe rocks!
    TJI#3: Yes, I got a copy of the order in e-mail, yesterday, from a Canadian friend who could not get to the U.S. last fall.
    TJI#4: JK is proof that there are, indeed, aliens, on the planet!
    TJI#5: A wonderful honor!

  4. FBI failed to fully investigate Kavanaugh allegations

  5. Cartoon: Yummy, love eating them especially during these hot humid days we’ve been having.
    Andy: What an idiot mCcarthy is. Times like that you kind of wish that some of his rotten buddies would of gotten hurt, so they’d think differently about the insurrection. He wants to take it off the calendar? Hate to tell him that isn’t the way it goes in real life.
    L&C: Scary. Glad to see that he was caught and arrested. No telling what he may of still be planning with all of that evil explosives. Hopefully he’ll be locked up for many years. 
    The Guardian: We have good ole tRump and his rotten evil buddies to thank for that. 
    Food for Thought: Good doggie. Proud of your great job. Extra treat for you.
    Nice hearing that you’ve been enjoying watching your operas. Do you think with the new Covid-19 variants out there, that they might change their mind about stopping them? Hopefully they will.
    Hope your day went well. 
    Had P.T. today, half way thru still have 6 more to go.
    Take care. Thanks Joanne

  6. Make sure you take enough time off to fully enjoy your last free operas, Joanne. I hope with you that the Met can start and finish a full live season but I’m equally doubtful that’s going to happen. Not with American vaccination rates falling as they do.

    TNY: Andy, you’re getting to be a mindreader and McCarthy’s is an open book to you. I’m convinced this is an argument he considered using.

    L&C: This idiot is doing everything to get himself a long prison sentence. It’s unclear from the story if the ex-cop had this device, that easily could be turned into an explosive, at the time he was first arrested and didn’t get rid of it when he was released or if he acquired it after his release. Either way, the man’s incredibly stupid while thinking he’s smarter than the FBI.

    TG: It was clear even then that someone or some group didn’t want to have Kavanaugh investigated any further, knowing the outcome would block his appointment to SCOTUS. Even without furder investigation, Kavanaugh had to be dragged into SCOTUS by the heels. But it’s a little late now, isn’t it? If a new investigation is started, they need to be very certain that Kavanaugh will tumble. Otherwise, it will be a very welcome diversion from what matters for Republicans.

    FFT: It’ll be just as difficult to get rid of Republicans.

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