Aug 262023
 

Yesterday, Colorado Public Radio announced that we on the Front Range may get some rain this weekend leftover fron a tropical storm – not from Hilary, but from Harold. The mountains are still a good barrier – the eastern plains, not so much. I did manage to do a bit of laundry and food prep. Also, earlier this week we spoke about clothing being speech. Today’s FFT shows that this can be true even if no one is wearing it. The quote is from a knitting newsletter I receive several times a year (hence the allusion to classes).I made the picture a live link to the exhibit – if you look around that site you can see more details larger. I’m reminded of the AIDS quilt, though the product and the cause are different.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Hubbell – A MAGA mugshot
Quote – In addition to impeachment, the Georgia legislature enacted a law this year (which will go into effect in October) that creates a commission empowered to hear complaints against district attorneys who allegedly refuse to enforce categories of crimes like low-level drug offenses, juvenile offenses, and abortion laws. Seventeen other states have enacted similar legislation to target progressive prosecutors who—in their view—refuse to enforce the law…. Four Georgia prosecutors have sued to invalidate the law…. If the Georgia Commission orders Fani Willis removed after a hearing, she can appeal to the Fulton County Superior Court and (ultimately) to the Georgia Supreme Court. That will take a while, to say the least. Even if Willis is removed, her assistants will continue to prosecute the case.
Click through (it’s Substack, so be prepared to click to keep reading, and to scroll down to reach that click if the page appears to freeze.) I’ve seen a lot of people (most of them at Democratic Underground, but also other places) expressing worry for Fani Willis concerning the new Georgia law allowing a Commission to remove DAs, which goes into effect in October. I’ve been saying it can’t be done just by thinking about it – there will be process – but IANAL. Robert Hubbell is a lawyer and he not only explains it better thn I , he also knows more twists and turns. There are a lot of contingencies addressed in this article also.

HuffPost – Ohio Republicans Twist Ballot Language For Pro-Choice Provision In Likely Attempt To Confuse Voters
Quote – In November, voters will consider a ballot initiative that seeks to enshrine abortion rights and other reproductive freedoms into Ohio’s Constitution. But the five-member Ohio Ballot Board, led by anti-choice advocate and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, on Thursday approved anti-choice language to be used in the initiative, which may confuse voters. The approved summary language uses “unborn child” instead of “fetus.” It does not include any language about the right to make decisions about miscarriages, fertility treatments or contraception — even though that’s a significant part of the proposed amendment.
Click through for details. Ohio has a bigger problem than abortion – a problem elephant-sized and elephant-shaped. I wish them luck. They’re going to need it.

Food For Thought

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Aug 252023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s Mar-a-Lago IT director gets out from under a MAGA lawyer, gets a new lawyer & flips on Trump

The Lincoln Project – JV

Farron Balanced – Mental Health Expert Warns That Trump’s Mental State Poses Grave Threat To Country

Rocky Mountain Mike – Midday Jail In Georgia – featuring Mary in Ann Arbor

Kitten Brothers Knock Over Every Water Glass In Their House

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump’s internet problems…..

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Aug 252023
 

Yesterday, I had not watched the debate, so I read about it some, and was very glad I had not tried to watch it. I can give you a link to Wonkette’s sassy and NSFW liveblog, but seriously, reactions to it are all over the net, and easy to find. Also from Wonkette, its newsletter contained a link to a different site (called “Atlas Obscura”), specifically to an article about Eleanor Roosevelt including some facts which today are certainly little known. Anyone who like me admired the heck out of Mrs. Roosevelt from the first day I heard about her will be interested.  I warn you that it’s a site which is easy to fall into and get lost for days. I mean that as a compliment.  Also yesterday, Trump** fired Drew Findling, a name you may remember from Monday’s Open Thread.  Gee, I wonder why /s.

Cartoon – 25 0825Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

New evidence bolsters downwinders’ claims as efforts to expand RECA advance in Congress


New Mexico Political Report – New evidence bolsters downwinders’ claims as efforts to expand RECA advance in Congress
Quote – Radioactive fallout from the Trinity Test site covered virtually all of New Mexico and reached as far away as Canada, according to new evidence. But the people who lived closest to the site, and have suffered the health consequences such as cancer, have not received any compensation from the federal government. The new evidence, along with new efforts to help residents of Missouri impacted by radioactive waste, may help New Mexico downwinders finally receive the compensation.
Click through for article. Almost 80 years and an opera and a few movies later, we are still dealng with the Trinity Project. (Of course, all those Republicans in office didn’t help a bit.)

https://otter.ai/u/R6n5K0u9-LkZMVFX_bT4XCbhUwk
Steve Schmidt – Tucker and Donald – a Dangerous Duo
Quote – The other travesty that took place last night was the bizarre interview between Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson. Here, I talk about why their message is so dangerous.
Click through direct to transcript. Steve is mostly posting videos now, and my link is not to his Substack page, but the  transcript site. If you want, you can listen while you read, and the site wll conveniently highlight each word as it’s said. But you don’t have to.  You can just read it.  It’s not long.

Food For Thought

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Aug 242023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s lawyers push for April 2026 trial in DC election theft case, & Jack Smith pushes back, hard.

The Ring of Fire – California Woman Murdered By Man Who Was Angry At Her Pride Flag

Thom Hartmann – GOP’s Violent Rhetoric Just Killed Another American! Are You Next?

Randy Rainbow – Don’t Arraign On His Parade

Dog Paralyzed With Fear Learns What Love Is

Beau – Let’s talk about how to predict the future….

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Aug 242023
 

Yesterday, I started looking at cartoons for September. You may remember that when I took over, I went back 8 years (to 2013 at the time) intending tto reuse as many cartoons as possible made by TC and if one was out of date, or there wasn’t one, to make one. Now it is 2023 so I am up to 2015, and next month is September. There are cartoons for the first and the second (both usable.) That was when TC slipped into a coma which resulted in the loss of his left leg below the knee. So. In the past couple of years, I have made 8 or 10 historical cartoons for dates in September. That leaves a bunch to be filled in. I have been through the historical calendar and picked out some events – there was one day when there really was nothing, so I will be using one with no particular date which I made recently just because I thought of it for that day. If while making them I decide that the event I selected is not really that interesting, I will do some filling in with undated images I have made using the Bayeux app, and if necessary, from memes I have put together which have no particular date but are still applicable. I will need to frame those (I have already framed the Bayeux ones) but that’s much faster than starting from scratch. So it will be interesting. Benedict Arnold and William Wallace ate likely to turn up as well as Mary Queen of Scots. Maybe Karl Marx. We shall see.  Also yesterday, I solve the New Yorker Name Drop on the second clue.  That would not have happened had I not, when it was newly out, watched every minute of Ken Burns’s multi-part documentary on country music.  That man can keep one spellbound for hours about a topic in which one has no interest otherwise.

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Short Takes –

Politico “Morning Money” – SCROLL DOWN to “What’s Biden’s Superman story?”
Quote – “Imagine a Superman movie where all Superman does is fly around Metropolis and never fights anybody,” [Adam Green] said. “That’s such a boring movie. If you want to position yourself as a hero, you have to have a villain in the story.”
Click through for a pretty short but definitely pointed article, which it took me an hour to find because of Politico’s linking system. Democrats don’t like demonizing anyone or even anything but Green is right. We have to find something – probably a policy rathr than a person or a group – or some behavior – because, while I am very happy woth “boring,” it’s a really tough sell.

HuffPost – Many Americans Still Wrongly Think Guns Make Us Safer
Quote – Though the poll found that percentages of Americans who believe that false claims are “definitely” true is small, the portion who think they are “probably” true is substantial. Overall, between half and three-quarters of the country belong to what KFF CEO Drew Altman called the “muddled middle,” saying that the false claims were “probably” either true or false. Perhaps most striking of the poll’s findings is the incorrect belief, held by many Americans, that guns make them safer.
Click through for discouraging story. These beliefs are mostly based on gut feelings, which are the hardest beliefs to change. They are impervious to facts and science. I’ve had a few of my own, and you probably have too.

Food For Thought

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Aug 232023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Judge FINALLY imposes gag order on Trump in his Georgia RICO case

The Ring of Fire – Trump Lawyers Beg Judge Cannon To Punish Jack Smith For ‘Derailing’ Trump’s Campaign

Robert Reich – It’s Time to Roast Starbucks

Liberal Redneck – Trump, Fani Willis, and Georgia (more after the commercial)

Sisters Rescue A Kitten At The Indy 500

Beau – Let’s talk about blended wing aircraft and dads….

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Aug 232023
 

Yesterday, I received an email from HuffPost with the subject line, “Drag is free speech.” I’ve never seen it put that way – but, as a former costumer, amateur and professiona – dam right it is! A fashion sttement is as much a statement as anything in words (and more so than some of the word salads we hear.) Back in the 19th century, when costume began to be thought of in terms of authenticity of period and place (prior to that it was mostly contemporary garb, but with some class distinctions and of course some drag) there was an actor/playwright named Dion Boucicault who would not start practiving his part until he had settled his costume – he actually used it as a means of getting into character. I’m not aware of any thespian today who is that exreme – but they don’t really have to be. The field of costuming today already requires costumer to be a little bit historians and a little bit psychologists. Also, at The New Yorker, David Remnick had an article about how much like a mobster Trump** is – and how bad at it he is. And elsewhere, a quote from Mike Pence revealed that he actually does know what his wife’s name is (unfortunately  – if appropriately – it is Karen.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Letters from an American – August 21, 2023
Quote – Today [August 21] the president and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden visited Maui, where after seeing the devastation, President Biden said that “the country grieves with you, stands with you, and we’ll do everything possible to help you recover, rebuild, and respect culture and traditions when the rebuilding takes place.” He promised that we will “rebuild the way the people of Maui want to build.”Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) said, “We in Hawaii have been through hurricanes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions—but we have never seen such a robust federal response. Thank you.”
Click through for full letter. It details everything done by the White House to support Hawaii. This includes a whole lot of stuff which did not make it into the mainstream media, and all of which goes to support Senator Schatz’s remark.

ProPublica – New York Workers Are Waiting on $79 Million in Back Wages
Quote – But the Department of Labor, which is responsible for both investigating wage theft claims and recovering back wages, has not been able to collect even a penny on behalf of [Saprina] James. [Mugisha F.] Sahini [and his company, Riverside Line,] flatly refused to pay for more than a year, James said, and then appealed the case, claiming that he wasn’t aware that the workers were earning less than minimum wage. The appeal has since been rejected, but James has yet to receive any payment. About to turn 60, James said she’s now unemployed and running through her savings to pay her bills. “I’m so upset,” she said. “This is ridiculous. I don’t understand why it takes so long.” Sahini did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Click through for article. And, of course, this is exactly why the rich want government underfunded and cash-strapped – because it help them get away with theft and greed. How they manage to get so many people who are being hurt by their theories to believe them has always been a mystery … but then division and hate are also a mystery to emotionally healthy people.

Food For Thought

This is a screenshot, so the video is not live. Sorry.

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Aug 222023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump posts that he’s fighting “7” cases? Are more state indictments on the way?

Thom Hartmann – Trump’s Most Dangerous Crimes You Don’t Know About…!

Joe Biden – Fought Back

Farron Balanced – Trump Lawyer Yells At Fox Host For Not Loving Trump Enough

Tiny Dogs Who Were Chained Up Insist On Getting Adopted Together

Beau – Let’s talk about government shutdowns, continuing resolutions, and more….

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