Yesterday, I watched (but mostly listened to) a conversation with Mary Trump and Ruth Ben-Ghiat (as I’m sure you know, an expert – maybe the expert – on “strong men” governments). It was about 23 minutes – shorter than I expected – but highly informative. (just in case anyone wonders, my substitutes for yoga and getting out into nature are knotting and computer solitaire.)
Well, this is welcome news. Ohio has a Democratic Congresswoman who has a spine. That probably isn’t news to SpyKat. But it’s always nice to see a Congrescritter from one’s own state getting national attention for a righteous reason. I know I was stoked when Jason Crow was on the Jan6 Committee, and again when he was one of the six in what most people probably think of as “Mark Kelly’s video.”
I’m sneaking in a second video by treating this as an article – which, if I hadn’t tripped over a video, I would have had to do as an article. Judge Boasberg appears to be a national treasure. It’s 15 minutes, and worth it.
And here’s another judge who may well be a national treasure. Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. of Nashville.
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, the radio opera was Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino,” and I actually got to hear it on the radio, which I hadn’t expected, since it is pricey for a station to carry the series, and especially now, with the Mango Monster trying to remove all Federal funding. But my local station has decided to air at least the first half. It was a performance from La Scala in Milan, an opera house even more storied than the Met. With quite a cast. It was lovely – sad of course, but lovely. Also, Just as Carlo was executing his sister, I received a certified letter from Virgil’s facility asking me whether I’d be willing to hold his Medical Durable Power of Attorney. Well, I hadn’t thought about it, but if I had, I would have realized that was only a matter of time before that would happen. I think I’m competent, and I also think it’s part of my job. I emailed and said so and added that I’ll be down today if anyone is there and would like to talk with me. And now I’m off to visit him.
I almost hope this gets such wide coverage that I’ll need to look for something else by the time this posts. I doubt it’s news to anyone here that animals have more smarts than humans, but it’s a lovely story.
It isn’t enough … but it’s something. If it would catch on, that would be a much bigger (and better) story.
Now this story – this is personal (I don’t mean to me – I mean it involves and affects real individual people.) In a way it reminds me of an animal rescue story, except that this object is inanimate.
Today is Father’s Day. From the ACLU, here is a letter from Mahmoud Khalil to his newborn son. You will have to scroll down some, since the donation section is at the top. (I’m not really good at remembering Father’s Day, since mine died a few days after I was born. But I can recognize love when I see it.)
Today is the day we are all supposed to avoid buying anything, in person or on line. Robert Reich is one of those calling for this action. The more who participate the better, as there will always be some who didn’t get the words, and some who will over-buy just to spite us. Today is also the beginning of Ramadan. It can come at any time of the year, being based on a specific lunar calendar unique to Islam, but when it comes at this time of the year, it can be tempting to think “Oh, that’a the Islamic version of Lent.” It isn’t. Both involve fasting, sure, but with a different approach. With Lent the approach is penitential, and it’s nos supposed to be fun. In Islam, the fasting is approached with joy. And while both come to an end of triumph of some kind, that too is different from the Christian calendar. There’s a big gap between being gifted with the Holy Book and rising from the dead. I am not in any way about to say the one is better – rather I hope to call a little attention to the fact that loving our neighbors becomes easier if we are open to looking at our similarities and differences though others’ eyes and not just through our own.
Mary Trump is, quite reasonably, not happy that main stream media outlets are not taking the danger we are in seriously. And she is right. There are a few people on MSN we can still trust – but we have to wonder for how long. And being able to trust a few individuals does not mean being able to trust the station. I was aware of each point Mary made before reading this, and I expect all the readers here were also. But that’s because we care. So many people don’t – so many claim to “not do politics” and apparently have no idea that politics does them. Sigh.
Robert Reich sums it up. Not everyone on Substack allows unpaid subscribers to read comments – but Reich does. And his readers mange to have actual conversations (which you can see by clicking on the number of replies listed under each post shown.)
ProPublica exposes the collaboration of HUD. Although with all the Mango Monster’s nominees getting confirmed, I don’t expect them to be alone. What’s happening at Defense may be the most obviously scary, but there is plenty of other damage which is being done.
Yesterday, Trinette was by and helped me with the stuff I either cannot do, or cannot do without wearing myself out, or am nervous about doing any given week. And then we chatted for a while. She is not only a great friend, she is also a lot of fun. Also, Axios, which I mostly subscribe to for the breaking news alerts, came out with a story on which states give the Federal government more then they receive from it, and vice versa. We all know the ones that give more are mostly blue states, but it’s handy to have the names, the figures, and the color-coded maps.
This sounds from the headline as if it ought to be a good news story, but it isn’t, because the things which divide us, not being fact based, are extremely difficult to debunk. When your platform is based on “owning the libs,” who are supposed to believe in killing and raping children (project much?), it’s tough to get past that.
If there was ever a week to post Joyce Vance’s “The Week Ahead” column, this would be it. I expect everyone has heard of the “SAVE Act” and y’all probably have a pretty good idea of what is in it, but this makes it pellucidly clear. And that’s just the start. There are other things going on – so many other things that I’m having trouble coping, and I’m sure you are too. Hopefully a little clarity, even if it doesn’t help all that much, can’t hurt.
Yesterday, having gotten my Windows 8.1 back on the internet Tuesday with the help of a technician (I knew it was an ethernet cable that wasn’t plugged in, and I even knew which cable but I had no idea where it should go), I went to the 8.1 first to deal with emails. I had 99, and in under an hour I got it down to 44, and that included not just deleting, but unsubscribing where appropriate and signing all petitions – and even adding back in a couple of thanks for signing emails. It is so much faster than the Win10 – and my browser there doesn’t keep bumping me out of the Net. There are a few things I like about 10, like being able to make the mouse pointer both large enough for me to see it and changing to contrasting colors so it jumps out. And there are some things it can do that the 8.1 can’t. But it is so slow. The technician couldn’t get my second and third phone handsets working, but he did explain why (essentially my phone lines are inside the walls) and what I can do about it – several options – and I went with the cheapest and easiest, ordering some new equipment, even though that means I have to wait a bit. It will give me more and better control in the long run. In other news, Josh Hawley said something which was not only intelligent, but Constitutional, and even moral. To reach it at this link you need to scroll down past the second Aaron Ruper Xeet five paragraphs – the one with the quote begins with “This culminated in…” I think you’ll find it worth it. Hawley said it in a Xeet of his own, and I won’t go there, nor make you go there. Finally, for Valentine’s day, the Holocaust Museum has love stories to share. Here’s one.
https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/the-last-guardrail
This from The F* News is more about Musk than Trump** – and possibly more scary, although that’s close to a toss-up. This certainly lays out the grounds for calling Musk “Dork Vader.” The cartoon below is from Steve Schmidt – I don’t know whether he made it, but he owns it, since he is not just allowing but encouraging anyone who sees it to spread it widely.
Doktor Zoom at Wonkette takes on the confirmation of RFK Jr sardonically, as is to be expected. In a separate Substack, Andy Borowitz advises that the NAFD (National Alliance of Funeral Directors) publicly applauded the confirmation. I don’t know about them (assuming they exist, which, Andy being Andy, is not terribly likely), but I do know and am embarrassed to say that the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH) is happy with the confirmation (I unsubscribed when they wanted me to ask my Senators to vote to confirm Bobby. ANH has some good ideas, but also some terrible ones, and don’t know – and clearly a lot of member don’t know – where to draw the line.
Yesterday, I actually cooked – oven roasted a chicken breast with a sauce I came up with. My oven won’t do any temperature but 350 °F, which is not high enough to get it as crisp as I would have liked, but it still tasted nice. And it wouldn’t be Thanks giving if I didn’t have leftovers – it looked more like a turkey breast than a chicken breast. I managed to eat about a third of it. 🙂 And, also of course, Virgil called. And I managed to make an appointment on line for blood work to be taken Monday. I am liking being able to do things on line.
This is from Colorado Public Radio. I did not know about these geological features – but it certainly makes sense, and makes the most sense to put it out. I hope that we are allowed to complete the project, which requires us ti get already authorized federal fundings. Just now, I wouldn’t bet on it.
Robert Reich writes about the misogyny, not just of Trump**, but of those with whom he surrounds himself, and those with whom he wants to associate in his cabinet. I haven’t heard the expression “testosterone poisoning” in quite a while. But it certainly fits.
Yesterday, for a change, I caught up on my email. That doesn’t mean I didn’t find anything in my inbox this morning, of course. I hope the featured image doesn’t squish today. I tripped over the quote, from a survivor of the Holocaust, but finding the right background and getting the quote into the right place took time. Just in case: “I also bear witness to the unexpected extent to which man is capable of defying and braving the worst conditions conceivable
“I wasn’t going to post anything about Matt Gaetz following his dropout, but Amanda Marcotte used him as our poster boy to help us decide exactly what to oppose and exactly how to oppose it. Of course at this point I don’t suppose anyone ia 100% correct on that (though there probably are some who are 100% wrong), but Amanda Marcotte writes well and makes a good case. There isn’t a pay wall, but there is an ad blocker wall. You can keep the trackers blocked.
You may have already heard this from The F* News, but maybe not said so well, and maybe not in quite as much detail. This would not be the only thing where what’s floating around is not 100% accurate. In fact, I used one yesterday.
I wanted to get this up for the holiday because is is something I have been concerned about for a while now off and on, and maybe you have also – conservatives pushing an Article V convention. In fact, I’m going to quote a couple of sentences: “Two bodies can propose constitutional amendments: Congress or a “convention of the states” called under Article V of the Constitution. But regardless of which body proposes a constitutional amendment, an amendment does not become effective until it is ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures (38). Accordingly, any 13 state legislatures can block ratification of a constitutional amendment.
