Sep 152023
 

Wednesday, I received an email from my cousin with s gift link (= no paywall) to a story at the Washington Post which totally charmed me. I guarantee it will charm you if you enjoy the animal videos, and even if you don’t, this probably will charm you anyway. Also Wednesday, i checked out all the cartoons I have made for dates in October, There are 10, but 2 of them are for the same day, so that means I have 9. Then i gathered all the ones I have made which don’t apply to any particular date. I found 10 of those, which mweans i need 12 more. Probably this weekend, I’ll start looking through the historical calendar and see whaat events really grab me.If there are more than 12, I’m home free. Going through all the cartoons I have made, I noticed a lot with November and December dates, so October may end up being the hardest for the rest of this year. Then, yesterday, I got an email from Faithful America with a link for resources for “talking to Christian Nationalists” which includes responding to their comments on the internet or replying to their letters or emails. “Talking” isn’t always necessarily face to face. Yes, it’s designed for [authentic] Christians, but if that isn’t you, it could still be useful. And one other thing – Hunter Biden was indicted on gun charges. Now, I may be misremembering, or just wrong, about this, but my understanding was that the Judge who rejected the plea deal was not upset about the deal itself but about some missing steps and/or paperwork. If that’s the case, this may only mean that the special counsel is housekeeping.

Cartoon – 15 use Republican Education (+JNY)

Short Takes –

Robert Hubbell – Biden’s five-day world tour
Quote – After a grueling schedule and multiple diplomatic successes, the leading story in much of the media is the press conference that was tucked into the schedule in Vietnam on Sunday after eleven meetings over the prior two days. The NYTimes (which covered Biden’s trip fairly and focused on substance) described the press conference as follows: “Although Mr. Biden fielded questions on a range of foreign policy issues, including China’s economic troubles and climate change, he spoke softly and appeared tired. To make a point about climate deniers, Mr. Biden rambled into a familiar story about liars in a John Wayne movie, which left some in the audience deeply perplexed.” That’s it. That is all it took to set right-wing media sources aflame with proclamations that “Joe Biden is too old” (or worse).
Click through for full article. Mr. Hubbell’s point, of course, is that what Joe just did would tire anyone out, even people who are not yet forty, and it should be – absolutely is – evidence for his fitness, not against it.

Colorado Public Radio – Kroger and Albertsons agree to sell more than 50 stores in Colorado as part of merger plan
Quote – Albertsons and Kroger have reached a deal to sell hundreds of stores, including more than 50 in Colorado, to a New Hampshire-based wholesaler. The sale moves the supermarket giants a step closer to completing a $25 billion merger. The companies, which own King Soopers and Safeway in Colorado, are offloading 413 stores across the U.S. to C&S Wholesale Grocers. The deal ensures that no stores will close as a result of the merger, no frontline jobs will be lost, and all current collective bargaining agreements will be upheld, according to a joint statement from Albertsons and Kroger.
Click through for article. Of course this affects me. But since they intend to include “hundreds of stores,” it probably also affects you if you live in the US. Both chains have been deliberately concealing the extent of their monopolies by ceasing to change the names of stores in smaller chains they have bought. Even if you have neither an “Albertson’s” nor a “Kroger” in your neighborhood, you are likely to have one under a different name which they own, Or more than one.

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Sep 142023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump and his criminal associates are flooding the courts with motions seeking to avoid prosecution

Future Forward USA Action – Trevor

Ring of Fire – Appeals Court Steps In To Save MAGA Congressman From Prosecutors

Brent Terhune – Trump’s Mug Shot

Disabled cat asks for one specific thing every day

Beau – Let’s talk about Biden starting early for 2024….

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Sep 142023
 

Yesterday, the sun shone, and the temperature barely broke 70, so the yard got done. Mitt Romney announced he will not run for re-election. Liz Cheney had some choice words for what she calls “the Putin wing of the Republican Party” (AKA the Sedition Caucus.) In Pennsylvania, they found and captured the escaped prisoner. And I picked two ery different short takes from very different sources, and – surprise, surprise! – They’re both on Substack. So crank up your mouse to click on “continue reading.” Everyone on Substack whom I have seen talk about it is very happy to be there – it’s easy for authors to use, and it saves them a lot of money compared to other venues. So I don’t see any of them moving away from it any time soon.

In case you noticed Nameless missing a few days, he’s healthy, but tied up with taxes, in his own state and in the state in which a relative lived from whom he received an inheritance. He’s on an extension, but the date for that is getting closer faster than he would like

Cartoon – On 14 September 1867 —

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – Who’s most responsible for the monopolization of America?
Quote – Yet the federal courts have been reluctant to do anything about this and are pushing back against the Biden administration’s efforts. Why? Because of a man named Robert Bork…. I first met Bork in September 1971, when I took his class on antitrust at Yale Law School. I recall him as a large, imposing man, with a red beard and a perpetual scowl…. We kept challenging his view that the only legitimate purpose of antitrust law was to lower consumer prices…. Even in our mid-20s, we knew this was bullshit.
Click through for history. If you didn’t already know, you will learn why “borked” is now a synonym for “inoperable,” chaotic,” or even “SNAFU.”

Wonkette – Lauren Boebert Kicked Out Of Theater For Acting Too Lauren Boebert-y
Quote – U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was escorted out of a Sunday night performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical in downtown Denver, accused by venue officials of vaping, singing, recording and “causing a disturbance” during the performance. VAPING. The woman was VAPING. The paper says they got warned during intermission that others around them were complaining (LMAO), so clearly it was time to shape up and sit nicely with our hands folded in front of us, even though it is a fun show like Beetlejuice. We can go to Chuck E. Cheese afterward, OK? The incident report states that after receiving the intermission warning, about five minutes into the second act security officials received “another complaint about the patrons being loud and at the time (they) were recording.” Taking pictures or recording is not permitted at shows. Tacky.
Click through to read embarrassing details and see optional surveillance footage. The part in italics is direct quotes from the Denver Post.

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Sep 132023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump continues spewing his jury-pool-poisoning lies. When will prosecutors & judges limit his lies?

Thom Hartmann – If the GOP obstructs…the Dems Plan To Inflict Maximum Political Pain

MSNBC – Velshi: Donald Trump’s ‘banana republic’

Scared Ketchup – The Trump Show Ep 14 PROMO w/cohost MTG (AI PARODY)

Couple brings home a blind pup. Then came the surprise.

Beau – Let’s talk about Wisconsin and the GOP not getting the answer they wanted….

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Sep 132023
 

Yesterday, it rained, and I do not want anyone out in my yard with an electric weed whacker in the rain. So we are trying for today instead. Qevin McQarthy opened an impeachment investigation into Joe Biden. The New Yorker is doing reruns of Name Drop this week – Monday’s was from February 2022 and I blew itboth times. Yesterday’s was from May 2023 and I got it on the second clue – in May, it took me till the third clue to get it.  If I’d remembered just a littlemoreI might have jumped 2 clues.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Hartmann Report – SCOTUS Has Placed Itself Above Congress, the Constitution, and the Founders
Quote – The author of the Declaration of Independence and America’s third president predicted today’s Supreme Court corruption. Congress should have been listening then; it must listen now. If Democrats can retake the House and hold the Senate and White House in 2024, they must hit the ground running in 2025 with legislation to limit the corruption and powers of the Supreme Court. Which means they need to get started now. Here’s the backstory, and what needs to be done.
Click through for the backstory and what needs to be done. I don’t subscribe to Hartmann (yet), but it is Substack so you’ll need to click. I cannot argue with a single word.

Newsweek via MSN – Russian General Admits Ukraine Just a ‘Stepping Stone’ to Invade Europe
Quote – “I think there’s still plenty of time to spend. It is pointless to talk about a specified period. If we are talking about Eastern Europe, which we will have to, of course then it will be longer,” the general said. “Ukraine is only a stepping stone?” the interviewer then asked. “Yes, absolutely. It is only the beginning,” Mordvichev responded, who went on to say that the war “will not stop here.” Newsweek reached out to the Russian embassy via email for comment.
Click through for story. Newsweek and MSN can usually be relied on for accuracy. Russian generals, not so much. But the bigger question is, why say it? It won’t scare NATO off – it will only make the West more determined to crush this aggression. Russians need to wake up and realize they are no longer Vikings.

Food For Thought

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Sep 122023
 

The grand jury that recommended these indictments was a Special GRand jury, which, in Georgia, has thepower of subpoena but not the power to indict. The regular Grand Jury, which has the power to indict, didn’t. So my guess would be “not in Georgia.”

Glenn Kirschner – Georgia grand jury recommends indicting Lindsey Graham, Mike Flynn, & others. Will they be indicted?

PoliticsGirl – The Next Big Election

Farron Balanced – Gaetz Accidentally Admits That Trump Supporters Are Dangerous Lunatics

Armageddon Update – THE DEMOCRATIC CONSPIRACY!

Woman brings home a cat and discovers he ‘talks’ to walls

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, Georgia, Willis and the most important takeaway….

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Sep 122023
 

Yesterday, Talking Points Memo’s newsletter included an update on a lawsuit in Colorado which I don’t think I have mentioned here, although I was vaguely aware of it. The Citizens for Reponsibility and Ethics in Washington (acronym CREW) has filed a lawsuit in Colorado’s State courts seeking to disqualify Donald Trump** from the Presidential ballot here. (And you know that whatever happens here will not just stay here. It will go up and up.) I’m not sure why the Emperor of Delay decided to do something which would only speed it up, but the accused filed a motion to remove the case to Federal Court. Here are the reasons given in a CREW motion to countermand: “1. lack of Article III standing for plaintiffs in federal court. 2. Lack of required consent by a codefendant.” I don’t know who the codefendant(s) would be in this case – Heaven knows there are plenty of possibiities, indicted and unindicted, elsewhere – but yeah, that second one is pretty clear, even to a non-lawyer. If that’s required and he doesn’t have it, his moton is a non-starter.  Today, I’m expecting my BFF’s son to come work on my yard, so, if the threads are short tomorrow, that will be why.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – House Freedom Caucus Has Surprise Foe: The US Senate
Quote – Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington … [and] Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who together lead the Appropriations Committee, announced Wednesday that they have reached a deal on a spending package that will include funding for Military Construction and Veterans Affairs; Transportation; Housing and Urban Development; Agriculture, Rural Development, and the Food and Drug Administration, as well as agencies under those larger umbrellas…. To get these bills considered quickly, they’ll have to be advanced by unanimous consent…. Any single senator… could derail that with a simple objection. So far, however, there hasn’t been much in the way of government-shutdown cheerleading from the usual [sosp]ects in the Republican Senate conference.
Click through for article. The avoidance of a shtdown is the point here, but these two are not the only senators who have been quietly helpng to get stuff done.

Wonkette – ‘Radical’ DA Charges Cop With Murder For Shooting Man, Lying His Ass Off About It
Quote – As Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia district attorney, said at a Friday news conference, “The videos speak for themselves. Firing six consecutive shots at close range at a vital part of the body of a person, under the law, is strongly supportive, together with other evidence, of all of these charges.”… Investigators did find two knives in Irizarry’s car — a kitchen knife and a serrated folding knife. Irizarry’s sister told the Times that he always carried a pocketknife with him but “always as a tool, not as a weapon.” Guns are obviously more lethal weapons than knives and, in many parts of the US, just as easily accessible. But I’m sure that Dill’s defense will make a big deal about the knives.
Click through for details. Larry Krasner is the one progressive DA who is nationally known and has managed to keep his position in the face of frenzied Republican efforts to remove him. They are going to be trying again. If I come across any petitons in support of him, I will certainly sign them and share them here.

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Sep 112023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Meadows loses in federal court; will be tried in Georgia state court together w/Trump in RICO case

Robert Reich – Why Does Flying Suck So Much?

Ring of Fire – Biden Comes Out Swinging With Harsh Insult Aimed At Climate Change Deniers

Brando has done vids for Meidas Touch, but this is on his own channel. Looks like we didn’t stop posting Maher a minute too soon.
Tennessee Brando – What Happened to Bill Maher?

Homeless kitten adopts a human

Beau – Let’s talk about Biden, Alaska, and oil….

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