Yesterday, after Saturday was rough, I slept till 2 pm- and started nodding off at about 4 pm. Normally, Trinette would have been by, but she has had a cold and doesn’t want to expose me to anything. If and only if she feels well enough, she’ll come today. Also over the weekend, a really beautiful fundraising email for Zoe Lofgren, authored by Liz Cheney, was sent out. Of course there’s no link. But Liz called Zoe “an unsung hero” for the Constitution, said she is “a thoughtful and serious member, and she operates with zero ego ‑‑ a rarity in Congress,” and that she “has been a source of wisdom and good judgment for me and many Members in Congress.” Her closer was “Although we don’t share many views on politics or public policy, I can assure you that we need Zoe in Congress and on the frontlines as we continue to protect and secure the future of our democracy.” Knowing, as we do, exactly how much they do disagree on policy, that’s one glowing recommendation.
From the Root. If you thought this was over, it isn’t. Chance may be gaining weight, but his respiratory issues are likely to be lifelong – however long that may be. I don’t even know what to wish for little Chance and his heroine of a grandmother.
This from The New Republic was referred by Daily Dose of Democracy. I think everyone here has a pretty good idea of what makes an economy healthy and why – but it isn’t necessarily all that easy to explain to people who for one reason or another have it backwards. I think this is a helpful analysis. I seldom if ever read The New Republic, but I checked that is has a strong reputation with the watchdogs for publishing just the facts.
Yesterday, I hadn’t slept well, and got up with a (fortunately mild) headache. But I managed to hear the radio opera anyway. It was “Der Rosenkavalier” by Richard Strauss. It’s technically a comedy, and it does have some humor, but the basis for the category is really just that there’s a more or less happy ending. The plot is complicated AF, and the premise of the tradition of the “Knight of the Rose” is something Strauss and/or his librettist made up. I first heard (and saw) it on TV when I was pretty new at USAA, and I vaguely remember dreaming afterwards I answered a call from the general’s wife (“Marschallin” in German) to add her as a driver on his auto policy. The Opera is late Strauss, and considered his masterpiece, so there is little if any deliberate dissonance, as there was (appropriately) in Salome or Elektra, and the waltzes in particular are gorgeous (anachronistic, but gorgeous.). Not much like those of the Johan Strauss family (no relation to Richard) but equally lovely in different ways. Also, I found and listened to a conversation between Heather Cox Richardson and Sherrod Brown – just under 30 minutes.
This was shared by Daily Dose of Democracy. There isn’t a paywall, but there is an ad blocker wall. My browser will allow me to turn off the ad blocker for just one site (and I can always turn it on again when I leave.) I thought the story well worth it.
This is from Wednesday, and it’s not as if you don’t know what happened. But the analysis about how rare it is is delightful so I saved it for Sunday.
The 6 Cheetah cubs at the Metro Richmond (VA) Zoo are doing well and have been moved to the public portion of the compound so visitors can see them in person. (photos at link)
Yesterday, an email from Robert Reich informed me that his new book – “Coming Up Short: a Memoir of My America” is number one on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list. That is great – and Bob was deeply touched – but if the Times can see it is so popular, why won’t they take his advice about reporting? (No, don’t tell me – I do know – but it’s a crying shame.) Also, some one came up with a great nickname for RFKJr – “Obi-Wan Baloney” (apologies to lunchmeat.) Also – this was actually a couple of days ago – Joni Ernst will not seek reelection to the US Senate in Iowa. Certainly this is a kind of a victory – I just hope it isn’t a Pyrrhic one. Her dropping out is a sign that both she and the party know that she cannot now win. So instead, they are going to try to find someone who can. And I am afraid that that is possible. There are many ways to overperform – but this one is the most dangerous.
There are I believe, reasons why the concept of the “Wounded Healer” is so powerful. One can become an expert is, for example, brain surgery without every experiencing it oneself – because the brain is an objective reality which can be seen, diagrammed, studied from outside. But the mind cannot. The only way to become a true expert in, for example, depression is to suffer from it. Yes, some of us have more natural empathy than others, and are quicker to grasp others’ feelings. But there’s nothing quite like being there.
This from Robert Reich sounds very practical – and do-able. And considering that his latest collection of videos have been moving Trump**(*) voters up to 16 points, I think he’s on to something.
When I saved this to my list, I marked it “Extreme tissue alert.” I just watched it again, and yes, the warning is appropriate.
Yesterday, I received an email from Dr. Barber and others containing a copy of a letter they prepared in response to the Apricot Antichrist being quoted as saying he wanted to get into heaven. It is totally honest, while at the same time being kind and filled with love. God help the person who has to read it to him (he’d never be able to read it himself. It’s too honest, has too many words and ideas he wouldn’t grasp – you get the picture, I’m sure.) But if anyone who has never met or even seen a real Christian is interested in knowing how one thinks and at least aspires to act, this would be a good place to look. I don’t have a link but am saving it as a reminder of who I am supposed to be. Also yesterday – remember Trey Gowdy? One of the candidates for dumbest Congressman and IIRC also showing up in Separated at Birth memes, though I forget with whom (possibly the Malfoy brat?) He’s on Fox now, and under fire for suggesting that it might, just possibly might, be a good time to discuss gun control. And, speaking of guns, one more thing – yesterday NPR reported that the Mississippi Department of Archives and History has acquired the gun with which Emmett Till was shot
Two hundred fifty years after the birth of our nations, and after many amendments to the Constitution (and I’m proud to say that all of them have been to expand the voting population), there are still people who say “My vote doesn’t count.”
Joyce Vance is correct – it isn’t just our history of slavery which condemns us – our history of internment is not much better, if at all. I might suggest that fear is a somewhat less venal and more understandable motivation than financial gain, But neither is exactly moral high ground stuff.
I had to squeeze in this from Wonkette. I don’t really have words for it. My state is another state which is prone to wildfires.
P,S. – Obviously this did not get scheduled and is therefore being posted about 15 hours late. I would like to say it won’t happen again, but I am afraid it will. Since getting started with my new PCP, my thyroid dosage has been lowered three times, I have been instructed to give up anti-inflammatories (I can have acetaminophen), I have been instructed to give up omeprazole (I can have Pepcid), and I must now take alendronate sodium weekly. Every one of those changes has normalized my blood work – and every one of those changes has negatively affected either my energy level of my pain. I wasn’t surprised – acetaminophen has never worked for me any better than a sugar pill, I tried all kinds of acid relievers before I found omeprazole, and Pepcid was the best I found prior, but there was really no comparison. And of course thyroid is directly related to energy. I am far from the first person in the world who has been instructed to give up or cut down on something that makes me life better (it’s just that one doesn’t expect those orders when it’s not something obvious like alcohol or nicotine or heroin or cocaine or meth – I’m sure y’all can think of others.) So I’m sure I can expect ore days when I conscientiously prepare the post, put it into the blog, activate the links, and possibly even fill in the time to schedule if for but then fail to hit the “schedule” button. Please try not to worry, and feel free to send me an email, or, if yu are an author or an administrator, to just go into the dashboard and post it.
Yesterday, I got an email from Trinette in which she mentioned medicine. I called, and it turned out she had caught a cold from one of her sons. Today was the third day of it and she was feeling better (and sounded pretty good, fingers crossed.) Of course I urged her to take care of herself.
This just may be one of the most optimistic posts that The F* News has ever posted. And of course he is right. Jury nullification happens, and it’s not always the best resolution to a case, but when it is, it is. Just look at the three grand jury nullifications in a row on the same case that Judge Boxwine just endured.
On Sunday’s parody music video, I remarked that I guessed AI was actually good for something. If you didn’t believe me then, you may believe it after reading (or even just skimming) this article from The Root. The only one it missed was Rush Limbaugh.
Yesterday, POGO released information on a new investigation showing that officials of the current regime are aligned with (and profiting financially from their alignment with) the tech bro manosphere – surprising, I suppose, absolutely no one. If anyone is surprised, it’s probably because when they think of tech, they think STEM, which does require intelligence – but forget they there are different kinds of intelligence (or different ways of perceiving the universe other then through intelligence – the jury is still out on which is more accurate), and it is clearly possible to be highly competent, even expert, in a limited specialty while not understanding the first thing about the real world.
Robert Reich quotes in full an essay from the Daily Yonder regarding how real people are coping with the regime and the uncertainty.
This letter from Heather Cox Richardson is a few days old (sorry) and I doubt if any on our readers needs it to know how we got here. But as a blow-by-blow account, I’ve not seen a better one. Should you ever need to explain this, you’ll be better prepare with this in your intellectual armory.
Yesterday, I got my usual weekly email from RBG’s son Jim, the record producer, about the week’s featured release. Among other things, it includes a new or newish piece which contains a musical reflection on what “home” means. This reminded me of Robert Frost’s famous quote “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in,” which seems timely in the context of the regime’s lust for deportation. It has always bothered me because it seems so cold. And it is cold. But I don’t think it was what Frost believed. He was using it in a character study of a very cold person (possibly a MAGAt long before his time.) Although today’s MAGAts are even colder – they won’t take you in, home or not. It comes from “The Death of the Hired Man.” I think Frost’s belief was closer to what the character’s wife answers – “I should have called it Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.” Also yesterday, the House Ethics Committee has had it with Republican crap and has instead sued the Epstein Estate (Axios).
You can, and maybe have, found this information elsewhere (Among others, Wonkette cites Mother Jones). But personally I find that their style makes one feel it as real, rather than just another news story. You may disagree.
Allow me to introduce this from the Contrarian, and why I’m posting it. When I had more free time than I do these days, I used to watch history videos from reliable sources from time to time. It’s “been a minute,” so I can’t now remember whether I got this information from two different videos or the same one, but here’s some information I learned about Russia and Ukraine. Back in the day when the Vikings pretty much owned the waterways, one of the places they raided was Russia. You probably have a mental image from British history and maybe other areas of people living in the invaded territory being killed off or at least fighting the invaders for their lives. Whatever territories that may have happened in, Russia apparently was not one of them – or at least not for long. The Russian people decided that the Vikings were highly organized and maybe even smart, so they invited the Vikings to stay and become their government. And enough did that for a goodly time (I can’t say how long since I didn’t follow it up – at the time I didn’t know how relevant it would be) the ruling class in Russia was composed of Vikings. Meanwhile, the Ukrainians were Cossacks (that’s still in their national anthem.) Cossacks were mercenary soldiers who worked for anyone who could and would pay them. But their agreements with these monarchs always included a clause that they were guaranteed self government. And I assume that means they never took an oath of fealty to any of them. And no, I don’t actually think that’s genetic – certainly not 100% or people like RFK Jr and Stephen Miller and Paul Gosar, whose families strongly reject their ideas, would all have to be adopted or illegitimate, and there’s no evidence for that at all. But if there is such a thing as national character, both nations have one which is eerily consistent with their centuries-old history.
This from The F* News is kind of connected to my introductory rant about what home means. You have probably seen the news, and I don’t suppose it takes much of either imagination or decent human feelings to see what is going on here. I believe Senator Van Hollen met in person again with Abrego Garcia over the weekend. The Uganda thing was not announced until Monday morning. Ketanji Brown Jackson brought up Calvinball in connection with the Court recently – but the regime is definitely playing it too.
Yesterday, going to see Virgil was easy and being with him did raise my spirits. Coming home, on the other hand – it was perfectly clear skies and sun until I got on the Interstate – and from there it was rain and/or hail all the way. Several people (probably with more sense than I have) pulled over to wait it out. Those of us who persevered – none of us was going faster than 60 in the 75 zone, and some of us slower. There were actually very few scary moments, and I got home safely well before 5:00 pm.
It was actually Saturday I read about this. There’s no longer any effort, it appears, to disguise the malice as anything decent at all. It’s just revenge and retaliation – in this case retaliation for truthfully making public that the regime makes mistakes.
From The Intercept. I really do not know what to say.
ProPublica‘s investigations do turn up the least expected and often the least publicized things – with one thing in common – injustice.
Well, this from The F* News – which you may not see elsewhere (possibly The Guardian, but not in U.S. MSM) won’t surprise anyone here – but it should be shouted from the rooftops.
