Glenn Kirschner – Dominion v Fox settles: Fox admits to election lies; pays 3/4 of a billion dollars. Justice? Hardly
CBS New York – 2 arrested for operating illegal police station for Chinese govt. in NYC
Ring of Fire – Trump Made $160 MILLION From Foreign Governments While President
Titus and Bradley – Nightly News with Bob Vale and Annie V
Cat Becomes Totally Obsessed With His ‘Dog Person’ Dad
Beau – Let’s talk about Biden, Ireland, mistakes, and context….
Yesterday, I managed to get trash and recyclables out to the carts, and then the carts out to the curb, all before sunset. Of course sunset is later now than it has been the last few times I didn’t manage to get everything out until after dark, but I still impressed myself. A note about the first short take – I could have put it in the video thread, but wanted to make sure Pat saw it – and wanted to use this particular FFT with it. And there is transcript, so if the video doesn’t work for you, you’ll still get the facts.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
democratic Undergroud (In It to Win It) – Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday just destroyed Republican talking points that attacked …
Quote – Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday just destroyed Republican talking points that attacked a non-binary Navy Officer who was proud that they had the chance to read a poem to their crew mates on an LGBTQ spoken-word night.
Click through. Tommy Tuberville is the Senator whom Alabama was – unfortunate – enough to put in instead of Doug Jones.
Daily Beast – Trump’s Fake Georgia Electors Are Now Ratting on Each Other
Quote – According to the memo, prosecutors in July last year dangled immunity deals for “alternate electors” who were willing to cooperate with the investigation—but their defense lawyer is now accused of never telling them about the potential deal. Following a special purpose grand jury recommendation in December that the DA seek indictments against some people involved in the fraudulent scheme, investigators have turned up the pressure. It turns out, these Republican officials and political operatives are now starting to squirm, identifying illegal behavior by their colleagues while trying to save their own skin—a sudden pivot that came when Willis’ investigators met with these fake electors last week.
Click through for details. Good.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Judge REJECTS Donald Trump’s attempt to delay E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. Trial begins 4/25
The Lincoln Project – How to Manufacture a Debt Ceiling Crisis
Farron Balanced – Former Trump Associate Says Ex President Has Become Too Boring For Voters
MSNBC – Ralph Yarl: Charges filed in shooting of teen who rang wrong doorbell
2-pound Wild Boar Grows Up Believing She’s a Puppy
Beau – Let’s talk about Jordan falling into a trap….
Yesterday, when I turned on Colorado Public Radio on the computer, what was playing wa Alan Hovhaness’s Symphony #50, which has the subtitle “Mount St. Helens,” and yes, he wrote it literally during the 1980 eruption – he was living within view of it. CPR – both the news side and the music side – are going all out for Earth Day. Today’s newsletter from Mother Jones included a few pointed paragraphs on people who are progressive enough to vote for Biden but not progressive enough to support a housing project of the kind needed to make replacing fossil fuels actually work, because NIMBY (“Not in my backyard.”) I can’t give you a link, since those remarks are in the newsletter only, but I can link to the lead story by a different author with the same theme. It made me think that maybe part of the problem of getting a strong progressive political majority is a kind of Catch-22 – really good education and money tend to go together. But people without money need a really good education in order to see the quakity of and the need for progressive policies. And for those who have both the educatin and the money, the money tends to corrupt. Here’s one ver short quote from the newsletter – “Some on the left continue to be quite acrobatic in their defense of blocking housing, ignoring all evidence that this mostly benefits rich homeowners.”
In other news, Fox and Dominion settled for about $785 milliom. For anyone who (like me) is disappointed by this, I have ne word – Smartmatic.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
CPR News – Gov. Jared Polis signs bills protecting access to abortion and gender-affirming care in Colorado
Quote – Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis on Friday signed a set of health care bills enshrining access to abortion and gender-affirming procedures and medications, as the Democrat-led state tries to make itself a safe haven for its neighbors, whose Republican leaders are restricting care. The goal of the legislation is to ensure people in surrounding states and beyond can come to Colorado to have an abortion, begin puberty blockers or receive gender-affirming surgery without fear of prosecution. Bordering states of Wyoming and Oklahoma have passed abortion bans and Utah has severely restricted transgender care for minors.
Click through for details. This is the right thing yo do, but it can’t be denied that it will also strengthen Colorado’s medical community, and also bring dollars to the state. It makes me proud of my state and my Governor. But…
CPR News – Colorado Catholic health clinic joins forces with D.C. law firm to challenge state’s new abortion-access law
Quote – In a lawsuit, Bella Health argues that the new law targets religious clinics’ duty to help pregnant women in need — which they say is a violation of their constitutional rights. They say those duties include helping women continue their pregnancies after they take mifepristone, a pharmaceutical drug used in medication abortion, and later change their mind. “We opened [the lawsuit] because of our belief that life is a precious gift from God, worthy of protection at all stages,” said Dede Chism, a nurse practitioner and co-founder and CEO at Bella Health and Wellness, in a release. “When a woman seeks our help to reverse the effects of the abortion pill, we have a religious obligation to offer every available option for her and her child.”
Click tthrough for the other side of the story. I don’t normally use the same source twice, but in this case, the story is not complete without both. This part makes me ashamed of the misogyny and stupidity of – some of us – some people, and no state can claim not to have them.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Dominion v. Fox defamation trial begins: could this lawsuit signal the end of Fox “News”?
Thom Hartmann – You Won’t BELIEVE What the NRA Is Up To Now…!
Ring of Fire – Ted Cruz Runs For Reelection On Platform That He Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Hold Office (I don’t agree with Farron. Term limits in practice hurt Democrats – if not every single time, still more than 2/3 – enough to dislike them.
Scared Kitten Learns How To Be A Happy Cat
PUPPET REGIME – Putin’s pep talk for Trump
Beau – Let’s talk about Jordan falling into a trap….
Yesterday, I received a “Damn-Giver Dispatch” email from John Pavlovitz. Some of y’all probably did also. But, in case you didn’t, or in case you did but missed this column, I want to link to it: “Yes, I’m A ‘Hateful’ Human Being.” I really like the way he turns things around. It’s the closest we can come to holding a mirror up to the deluded. Some, of course, will never see anything but what they want to see. But – sometimes – we have to try.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Daily Beast – Black Teen Shot in the Head After Ringing the Wrong Doorbell: Family
Quote – The alleged gunman, who has not been identified [to the media], was taken into custody and brought to a police station to give a statement. Placed on a 24-hour hold, he was released pending further investigation, something the chief of the Kansas City Police Department spent much of a short Sunday press conference justifying. “The vast majority of cases to include violent crime involve the suspect being released pending further investigation,” Chief Stacey Graves said. “In this case, the prosecutor requires more information from investigators that would take more than 24 hours to compile throughout the weekend.”
Click through for story. You may have seen it. The killer opened the main door, and there was a glass door which he shot through. There is video of him calmly sweeping up the broken glass. The “right” house was one block over, on a street with the same name except “Terrace” instead of “Street.” The victim is still alive, miraculously. Virgil was 21 when he survived major head injuries (from a car crash). No one ever fully gets back everything lost from injuries like that.
The 19th – A Black Texas couple chose their midwife’s care over a hospital. Now their newborn is in foster care.
Quote – A custody case currently unfolding in Texas has separated a newborn from her parents and highlighted two systemic realities in the United States: the policing of Black families by child welfare systems and the disregard of midwifery expertise by many doctors. It has been 20 days since infant Mila Jackson was taken from her parents by Child Protective Services in Texas after they sought guidance from their licensed midwife to treat a common infant condition rather than following a directive from their pediatrician. Now a court will decide if she’ll be returned to their custody.
Click through for details. With good prenatal care and no complications, a trained midwife is at least as competent as a doctor. Women were having babies assisted by midwives for centuries while doctors thought it was a waste of time to wash their hands between patients and were killing people thereby. Some of these child welfare people need to be tied down and forced to watch all the seasons of PBS’s “Call the Midwife.”
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Justice Clarence Thomas violates federal financial disclosure laws; DOJ MUST investigate!
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – April 11, 2023
Thom Hartmann – Proof Trump Committed Wire Fraud?
Mrs. Betty Bowers – God Gets Salty About Guns (It is on YouTube – but one must sign in “to confirm your age.”
Fox Has Been Visiting Her Favorite Person For Years
Beau – Let’s talk about Missouri libraries….
Yesterday, it was pretty quiet (she said thankfully.) I”ve been working on some doll clothes latelt, which has the advantages that the pieces are small (therefore light), they go fast (compared to human-sized sweaters), and they can be done with small amounts of yarn (with the caveat that, if I overestimate the amount of yarn I have, I may have to do some emergency re-designing.) Another disadvantage is that the stitches are so small they can be hard to see. That is less of a problem when the yarn is smooth and more of problem when it is fuzzy, of course, but the fuzzy yarns can be so effective in those little projects that I can’t resist using them sometimes.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
NM Political Report – Homeless shelters aren’t equipped to deal with New Mexico’s most troubled foster kids. Police see it for themselves.
Quote – More than 1,100 times from January 2019 through June 2022, someone at a shelter housing foster kids in New Mexico called emergency dispatchers for help with runaways, violent outbursts, disorderly conduct or mental health crises. Many of the kids placed in these shelters by CYFD have severe mental health or behavioral problems, including PTSD and depression, but shelters don’t provide psychiatric services. Kids break down, get into fights, destroy property, threaten staff or run away. Sometimes they say they want to kill themselves or try to. In these moments of crisis, it’s police and paramedics, not mental health professionals, who intervene.
Click through for full report, which is a joint product of ProPublican and a BGO called “Searchlight New Mexico.” If this is happening in New Moxico, you can bet it is also happening elsewhere. One word: priorities.
npr – Swimming pools and lavish gardens of the rich are driving water shortages, study says
Quote – More than 80 metropolitan areas around the world have faced severe shortages in the last two decades, a figure that’s only projected to rise, impacting more than one billion people in the next few decades. And the threat doesn’t discriminate between hemispheres or climates. Moscow, Miami and Melbourne, Australia, were among the most impacted in the last decade. For the purposes of the study, researchers zeroed in on just one location, Cape Town, South Africa.
Click through for full study. They used Cape Town because it was easy (for less than admirable reasons.) Humanity has known since before there was English to say it in that the love of money is the root of all evil (Radix malorum est cupditas, if anyone cares.) Beau of the Fifth Column (who appears regularly in the Video Thread) prefers to call it “power coupons.” Maybe we all should.
Food For Thought
