Joanne Dixon

Open Thread August 20, 2022

 Posted by at 7:14 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 202022
 

Yesterday, although I know I have to rest today (being an opera day), I tried to rest, and especially to rest my shoulders and knee. I’m succeeding in managing them, but it’s delicate, and I want to be sure to be able to get all those bags out for the pickup Thursday. Some things I can put out in advance – but even the heaviest duty 30gal (that’s 113 and a half liters) bags will deteriorate if left outside for more than a day or two. And I want to be sure I can get them all out by the end of Wednesday.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Democratic Underground (kpete) – The forever war has been cut back by like 95 percent and Biden has gotten no credit for it
Quote – [E]very time I point this out the main reaction is astonishment. both Biden’s people and the press are falling down at communicating a real basic fact about the world
Click through for more. This is a compilation (links provided) with readable charts and facts which need to be more widelt known.

CREW – Secret Service held onto Pelosi threat until after insurrection
Quote – On January 4, Secret Service agents discovered a Parler account, which we’ve chosen not to name, posting a series of violent threats towards lawmakers. Other profiles with the same name appeared on Twitter, MeWe, Bitchute, Youtube and Facebook. On December 31, the account posted, “January 6 starts #1776 all over again…Fight for EVERYTHING” and listed “Enemies,” including Pelosi. At 5:55 pm on January 6, after hours of defending the United States Capitol from a violent mob, the United States Capitol Police received the post along with a message from the Secret Service: “Good afternoon, The US Secret Service is passing notification to the US Capitol Police regarding discovery of a social media threat directed toward Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Click through for full story. After Trump** fired a number of IGs for telling the truth about his lies, Joe promised not to fire and IG, and I get it. But Cuffari needs to go. A ongressional investigation might accomplish that, keep Joe out of it, and perhaps even make the wrongdoing more public than CREW can.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 8/19/22

 Posted by at 12:19 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Aug 192022
 

Glenn Kirschner – The mystery of the seizure and subsequent return of Donald Trump’s passports . . . solved? (This could explain why the diplomatic passport was returned along with the other two, even though he’s no longer entitled to have it.) [Actually he is, as Nameless will, I’m sure, be happy to explain.  In fact, he already has, in previous posts’ comments]

Meidas Touch – Legendary Watergate Reporter compares Trump to Gangster AL CAPONE, calls Republicans ‘cowards’

The Lincoln Project – Outsider

Ojeda Live – What it Means to Hold Top Security Clearance

Liberal Redneck – Liz Cheney and the New GOP

Beau – Let’s talk about tfg’s claim about his passports….

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Open Thread August 19, 2022

 Posted by at 7:10 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 192022
 

Yesterday, I pretty much stayed inside. I did take some time getting more stuff together. I can’t take most of it out too soon, since if I do, the plastic bags will deteriorate. But I did make a little room out of the traffic lanes so I can fill more. I also got caught up on responding to my cousin’s emails. I had let her know I wasn’t ignoring her and why – she was sweet enough to say “Your predicaments make mine seem like tiny glitches. Just one of your current situations would drive me up a wall.” That, of course, is nonsense – her whole career was as a public school teacher, so I’m sure she could cope with anything.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Axios – Biden’s three-headed cybersecurity team
Quote – The big picture: The Biden administration has earned praise from experts for stabilizing and strengthening an executive-branch cybersecurity operation that had grown wobbly in the Trump era…. Biden has three top officials, including two in the White House, and signed a wide-reaching executive order last year to toughen federal agencies’ cybersecurity.
Click through for background, and why it mstters. “Three heads” reminds me of Cerberus – except that Cerberus could be bribed, and I trust these three cannot.

Vice News – Woman May Be Forced to Give Birth to a Headless Baby Because of an Abortion Ban
Quote – Earlier this month, the Louisiana Department of Health released a list of medical conditions that would make a pregnancy “medically futile” and clear the way for a pregnant person to get an abortion. At the time, medical professionals criticized the list as incomplete. “I can already see things are missing on this,” Dr. Rebekah Gee, an OB-GYN and the former Louisiana secretary of health, told Nola.com. “I can name one, and I’ve just looked at this list for 30 seconds.”
Click through for just how bad this is, including how many other conditions are left out besides acrania.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 8/18/22

 Posted by at 12:10 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Aug 182022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Lindsey loses in court; Rudy’s now a target in GA criminal probe; Trump says FBI took his passports?

Please note: after this video was recorded, the Department of Justice reportedly indicated that Trump’s passports were not seized. So Donald Trump may have . . . lied about that? Shocking, said absolutely no body. – Glenn Kirschner – 08/15/2022.

Meidas Touch – Military Veterans Facing Toxic Exposure REACT to President Biden Signing PACT Act

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in The Republican Party – August 16, 2022

Ring of Fire – Rest Of The World Is Freaking Out That Trump May Have Leaked Nuclear Secrets

Mrs Betty Bowers – “Religious Freedom is Neither”

Beau – Let’s talk about thr ultimate American test…. (Spoiler” There are a hundred questions avaiable, but the examiner chooses ten for any given applicant or group of applicants. Six is passing. I got 7 [and two more half right, which would not count, but would not need to.])

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Open Thread August 18, 2022

 Posted by at 6:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 182022
 

Yesterday, it was quiet enough that I was abke to get everything moved on the porch – not necessarily to where it is going to be, but enough that I could completely finish sweeping off the dust and dead leaves.That is a definite achievement (although it may not quite rise to the level of BFD.) After that, I decided to call it a day.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – The Origins of Trumpism (Part 4): Gingrich
Quote – January 7, 1995 – The press is declaring Newt Gingrich [who has just taken over as House majority leader] the new king of Washington and according him the celebrity normally reserved for new presidents at inaugurations. I couldn’t help thinking how different it would be had Bob Michel remained. Bob Dole has taken over the Senate and is trumpeting his victory as well. Gingrich and Dole seem to have taken command of the United States government. In our system, power is found where the public seems to have conferred it, and the two of them are credibly claiming to have most of it.
Click through for the full column, which comprises two quotes from his diary. One thing Gingrich did when he became Speaker was to remove the requirement for members to maintain a residence in DC. Because it’s easier to diss and defame someone who isn’t your neighbor. That requirement was one of the last checks on the loss of decency.

The 19th – Experts debunk monkeypox myths as misinformation spreads
Quote – Daniel Uslan, co-chief infection prevention officer at UCLA Health and clinical chief of infectious diseases… said… that he is not aware of recorded cases where handshaking is the suspected route of transmission. But skin-to-skin contact with someone who has an open lesion can still occur if those lesions are on the hands, [Stephen Abbott, medical director at Whitman-Walker’s Max Robinson Center] noted — and some lesions are so small that patients don’t notice them
Click through for other misinformation, much of which is based on fear of non-binary people.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 8/17/22

 Posted by at 11:48 am  Open Thread, Politics
Aug 172022
 

Glenn Kirschner – John Bolton’s dangerous disregard for the national security threat posed by Donald Trump

Meidas Touch – Beto O’Rourke STUNS in town hall TURNING Republicans into Supporters (one at a time, yes … but they may spread it.)

Crooks and Liars – 72-year-old Ukrainian takes out a Russian 014 military column

Ojeda Live – Is Donald Trump the Most Dangerous Opposition Our Nation Has Ever Faced?

Brent Terhune – Nuclear Documents

Beau – Let’s talk about Cracker Barrel and sausage….

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Open Thread August 17, 2022

 Posted by at 7:19 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 172022
 

Yesterday was pretty quiet. And restful. My biggest physical achievement was taking a bag ou to the trash (from the porch) and a bag out to the recyclables (from the house.) I don’t expect to be putting either bin out this week – possibly recyclables next week if I get very ambitious, but I have a lot else going on, so maybe not. Also it was cooler, on account of rain. Lots of floods – mostly fladh floods – all over Colorado. My house has 99 problems, but flash flooding isn’t one of them. I’m on top of enough of a hill thatit’s beyond unlikely a flash flood would flood here. I tried to rest wnough to have more energy today – but we’ll see. Did everyone catch Al Franken as guest host of Jimmy Kimmel Live last night? If not, there should at least be some cuts up here. Katie Porter was a guest. How can you top that?
https://www.youtube.com/jkl/videos

Cartoon – 17 Hendrix loaded

Short Takes –

Mother Jones (MoJo Wire) – We Didn’t Deserve Freya the Walrus
Quote – But as Freya’s legend grew, more and more folks wanted to see her up close. As the New York Times points out, the Oslo Fjord is full of water-going recreationists in the summer, and people started swimming with Freya, taking her picture, and even throwing things at her—so much that she had begun chasing off paddle boarders and kayakers. The Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries warned the public to stay away from Freya, for their safety and hers. Last week, officials said they were weighing several options, including relocating Freya, but warned she might have to be killed if people wouldn’t listen.
Click through for sad story. Some of us, I think, did deserve her – but those who did not were, and are, out of control.

AP News – Some Capitol rioters try to profit from their Jan. 6 crimes
Quote – Facing prison time and dire personal consequences for storming the U.S. Capitol, some Jan. 6 defendants are trying to profit from their participation in the deadly riot, using it as a platform to drum up cash, promote business endeavors and boost social media profiles…. The Justice Department, in some instances, is trying to claw back money that rioters have made off the insurrection…. Many rioters have paid a steep personal price for their actions on Jan. 6. At sentencing, rioters often ask for leniency on the grounds that they already have experienced severe consequences for their crimes.
Click through for many examples – but they all sound like the apocryphal dude who murdered both his parents, then begged the court for mercy because he was an orphan.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 8/16/22

 Posted by at 11:42 am  Open Thread, Politics
Aug 162022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Why Donald Trump’s possible violation of the Espionage Act must be prosecuted

Meidas Touch – Navy Vet REACTS to Trump’s Acts of Espionage

The Lincoln Project – Peril

Robert Reich – Why Does Krysten Sinema Want to Keep This Tax Loophole Open? [What has happened is that it was replaced by a 1% excise tax on stock buybacks. That is not as good as closing the loophole, but at least it hits corporations rather than normal people. It was John Hickenlooper’s idea and CPR is very proid of that but I’m unimpressed. It is approximately the same amount of money coming in.)

Brent Terhune – They stormed Mar-a-Lago

Beau – Let’s talk about Pennsylvania, Perry, and subpoenas….

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