Glenn Kirschner – NY authorities preparing for Trump indictment; Trump’s lawyers says Trump will turn himself in
PoliticsGirl – Must Do Before April 4!!
Ring of Fire – Texas Republicans Push ‘Bounty Hunting Bill’ Targeting Drag Queens
Robert Reich – This One Thing Would Increase Wages By $300 Billion
Spicy Kitten Needs To Be Wrapped in Purrito
Beau – Let’s talk about what went down over Ukraine….
Yesterday, the radio opera was Richard Wagner’s “Lohengrin,” which is a sequel to his prior opera, “Parsifal.” Parsifal is identified with Sir Percival of the Round Table and both names are associated with the Holy Grail. Neither of these two operas is racist, but both are misogynistic to a degree. But anyone who can handle the misogyny in Disney, and the story of Cupid and Psyche, can probably handle these. While the Met was free streaming during the pandemic, I watched a production of it, and it had no trouble holding my attention. I was about to type “It has a bittersweet ending,” and I stopped to think, and the fact is most of Wagner’s operas do not have the kind of catastrophic endings for which opera is famous. If his are not exactly gleeful, at the very least they are triumphant. Even the end of the Ring cycle, with Siegfried murdered and Brunnhilde dies along with her horse in his funeral pyre, and the day of the gods is over, the balance of nature is restored when the Rhine maidens get their god back and the age of humans begins. I would not call that a total loss. I wonder whether that was one reason he didn’t want them called “operas” but “music dramas.” Anyway, the story – Elsa is accused of murdering her little brother after their father died, making the brother the Duke of Brabant. This was in the 12th century, when the custom was trial by combat, and Elsa has no one to fight for her until this dude shows up, in a boat powered by a swan, and says he will fight for her and marry her, but she must never ask his name. He wins, and spares the life of the other guy (not really a mistake as the real villain is that guy’s wife) and marries Elsa. That other dude’s wife (whose name is Ortrud) works on here like Fox News and gets her to ask his name. Just at that moment the guy who lost the combat breaks in and the anonymous groom kills him in self defense. He then calls a town hall, explains he must now leave, reveals his name (Lohengrin) and that he is the son of Parsifal, and denounces Ortrud. Ortrud is all “Durned right I’m a witch, and I did all that and also turned the Duke into a swan.” At this point he goes over to his swan, kneels, and prays, and the swan turns into Elsa’s brother, very much alive. Ortrud is outgunned. Lohengrin still has to leave, though – the knoghts of the Grail lose their powers when they cease to be anonymous – but it is certainly a happy ending for the people of Brabant who get their rightful Duke back, and Elsa loses her husband but gets her brother back, and no one gets killed but the bad dude.
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Mother Jones – “This Was My Baby”: The Family of Black Man Killed By Cops While Experiencing Mental Crisis Speaks Out
Quote – According to [the family’s attorney, Mark] Krudys, the video at Central State Hospital shows Otieno seated on a chair at one point and then lying on his stomach on the ground, however it’s unclear whether or not he got there on his volition. For nearly 12 minutes, Krudys said all seven officers were on top of him, ultimately asphyxiating him. Virginia State Police weren’t notified about his death until three hours after the fact, according to [Prosecutor Ann] Baskervill.
Click through for story. It didn’t take very long to send the case of the seven officers to a grand jury, nor to charge three of the hospital staff. This is a case which is likely to get a lot of national attention.
The 19th – Toni Morrison is the face of the new Forever stamp from the U.S. Postal Service
Quote – Morrison is the newest face of the Forever stamp from the United States Postal Service. Set against a gold background, a photo of the “Beloved” author with a cherry-red smile, thick gray locs and silver orb earrings graces the stamp revealed last week at a Princeton University ceremony attended by her son Ford Morrison and other relatives. A faculty member from 1989 to 2006, Morrison was the Robert F. Goheen professor in the humanities at Princeton and part of the university’s creative writing program. Each year, the Postal Service chooses up to 30 people to feature on a stamp, selecting them from a list of 30,000 individuals recommended by the public. Morrison made the cut because of her “extraordinary and enduring contributions to American society,” a Postal Service spokesperson said in a statement.
Click through for more. I have used the stamp as today’s FFT. It won’t actually have the black line through “Forever” – that’s to prevent counterfeiting.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Who will be the FIRST TO INDICT Donald Trump: Georgia DA Fani Willis or NY DA Alvin Bragg?
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – March 14, 2023
Thom Hartmann – Reckless Greed Behind Bank Failures?
Farron Balanced – Capitol Rioters Tell Judges That Tucker Carlson’s Edited Footage Exonerates Them
Weatherman Rescues A Chicken Caught In A Blizzard
Beau – Let’s talk about Pence, history, Trump, and strategy….
Yesterday, I woke up to find that there had been a power failure while I was asleep. I don’t mind resetting the clock and the microwave, but I also had to reset the radio in the computer room, and that is a real pain. Both speakers fell; they weren’t damaged, but the first one knocked a full glass of water off the desk, drenching the desktop, the floor, and one of my sleeves. The one positive consequence was that it stretched me just right so that I didn’t need to use the TENS. Nevertheless, it is NOT something I want to do every day. The luck of the Irish was not with me (not surprising, since I have no Irish DNA – I have one redneck grandparent, but she was English/Scottish.) I did figure out how to send everyone a greeting card directly through the blog, and since TomCat did a two-day Saint Patrick’s Day cartoon sequence, here is your card to go with day two.
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PolitiZoom – Jimmy Carter Asks President Biden to Deliver His Eulogy: Will Trump Show Up?
Quote – Some people go very quickly after pulling all the meds that had kept them alive. Others? Well, they’re tougher, for all we know, Carter could live another six months. But he is preparing now and he asked President Biden, two of the finest men to ever live, to give his eulogy…. These two go back a long time. “When Jimmy Carter ran for president the first US Senator to endorse him was Joe Biden.”
Click through for details and speculation. You may have seen the headline, but, even if you’re as old as I am, you may not realize quite how far back the relarionsship goes. As for TFG, can we hope that some court will take that out of his tiny hands?
Robert Reich – How to stop playing whack-a-mole with the banks [Spoiler: Bring back Glass-Steagall]
Quote – It’s time to admit that banks that take in deposits are public institutions that shouldn’t gamble with those deposits. Regardless of size, no bank has the capital on hand to manage a sudden full-blown bank run. This is why, ever since the bank bailouts of 2008, the biggest banks have been “too big to fail.” And it’s why last weekend the government decided to backstop smaller banks, too…. The Glass-Steagall Act was the law of the land until 1999. It prohibited banks from making profits off of the deposits entrusted to them. I say, bring it back!
Click through for article – He doesn’t mention something I read elsewhere this week – that Glass-Steagall was repealed because “It worked so well, we don’t need it any more.” I wanted something to beat my head against.
The best analysis I have seen about the arrest warrant out on Putin (and one of his ministers) is that of Heather Cox Richardson. In order to get it up fast, I’ll just share the link.
Food For Thought
This is old – about 2 years old – but it seemed like a good time to remember it
Glenn Kirschner – Georgia grand jurors say what’s coming Trump’s way, “Is gonna be MASSIVE!”
PoliticsGirl – To My Fellow Democrats… (And may I just say AMEN!?)
Ring of Fire – Capitol Rioter In Trouble After Lying To Prosecutors To Attend CPAC (You can stop @ 4:00)
Randy Rainbow – Life’s a F***ing Fantasy for Santos
Cat Does The Funniest Thing When His Parents Get Him A New Brother
Beau – Let’s talk about DOJ looking at specialized police teams….
Yesterday, I got an email from Move On, who have an insidious plot. They did not post the contents of the letter so I can’t provide a link, and will summarize. They want to put up three billboards with quotes on the route which Trump** must use to get to the airport, since his Mar-a-Lago heliport is gone. They want each one to highlight a different Tucker Carson text from the trove in which he admittied he does not care for Trump** This, they believe, will cause Trump** to post – let’s say shade – at Carlson every time he takes that road. This will cause Tucker’s viewers to leave him. That’s far more than they say even at the donation site. I think they don’t want the right to get even a hint of it unless and until it’s a done deal. That’s a pity, because it’s quite amusing, but it’s a good strategy. If and when they get the billboards up, we can share the details. Also, I got The New Yorker’s Name Drop answer from the first clue – and actually, any of the clues alone would have given me the correct answer. In this case it was just someone I know so much about that it would have been difficult to wrtie a clue whivh wouldn’t have given me the answer immediately.
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CPR News – As gun deaths rise, Colorado is trying something new — a public health approach to gun violence prevention
Quote – In a first-of-its-kind partnership, the Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is teaming up with researchers from the Injury and Violence Prevention Center in the Colorado School of Public Health. They’ll create and maintain a resource bank of regularly updated and accurate materials regarding gun violence in Colorado. In addition to the resource bank, officials at the new office also developed a grant program to fund evidence-and-community-based gun violence prevention initiatives.
Click through for details. I really thought it was more widely known than apparently it is that guns are a public health problem. It’s too early to say what this iniriative will accomplish, but we can hope
The Conversation – The retention problem: Women are going into tech but are also being driven out
Quote – So, questions arise: Why does the technology industry have a retention problem? Why are women who are employed by the technology industry quitting in such high volumes? What factors contribute to this low retention of women in the technology industry, and what kind of support do women need to stay and succeed in it?… Mainstream media often reports on open-source software’s toxic “tech bro” culture. In recent years, high-profile leaders in open-source software have been exposed for their abusive behavior.
Click through for full article. Back in the day, women who went into male dominated professions knew we had to be tough and we prepared for it. Is it a drawback of greater societal acceptance in general that we don’t sufficiently prepare kids to cross invisible lines?
Food For Thought
Now, this is what I call trolling!
Russian state media: Finns will die of cold in winter due to cutting ties with Russia
Finns: pic.twitter.com/QYG51KRA3D
— Very Finnish Problems (@VFinnishProbs) March 13, 2023
Glenn Kirschner – Michael Cohen appears before NY grand jury. Here’s why Cohen is the PERFECT WITNESS against Trump
MSNBC – Remembering women’s rights and gender equality trailblazer former Rep. Pat Schroeder (Yes, this is Mrs. Greespan. But the subject is Pat Schroeder, one of my heroes – She came up with the phrase “The Teflon President” for Reagan)
Farron Balanced – Trump Loses Defamation Case After His Lawyers Screw Up Again
Robert Reich – The Big Mistake That Led to Silicon Valley Bank’s Crash
16 Year Old Shelter Dog Starts Galloping Like A Puppy With His Foster Dad
Beau – Let’s talk about 3 debt ceiling scenarios….
Yesterday, I noticed the high for today should be 69°F – and tommorw, we drop back into the deep freeze for four days. March came in like a lamb here (a geouchy lamb, but still a lamb), which means it’s supposed to go out like a lion. Maybe a tame lion? I’ll just have to wait and see. Incidentally, today is the 55th anniversary of the My Lai massacre, and Steve Schmidt has some thoughts. I don’t know whether a hanky alert or a trigger warning is more appropriate, so I’ll just offer both.
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NM Political Report – Bill to protect LGBTQ individuals from discrimination heads to Guv desk AND Gov. signs safe gun storage bill into law
Quote 1 – The bill updates the language in the Human Rights Act, which was written in the 1970s. The updated language replaces the word “handicap” with “disability,” and updates the definition for sexual orientation and gender identity. It also ensures that public bodies, which receive public dollars, cannot discriminate against LGBTQ individuals. An individual who alleges discrimination would take their grievance to the state Human Rights Commission.
Quote 2 – Supporters have dubbed the bill the “Bennie Hargrove Act,” in honor of the 13-year-old Hargrove, who was shot and killed at Washington Middle School in Albuquerque in August 2021 as he tried to intercede in a bullying incident. Authorities say the boy accused of shooting Hargrove brought his father’s gun to school to commit the crime. “This bill would hold people accountable for their firearms,” Molina said during a news conference held at the Capitol on Tuesday.
Click through for one or both. When Susana Boxwine was Governor, we very seldom got stories about actual legislative accomplishments of any kind. Besides the conten of these two, I’m impressed just at how much they are getting done.
Remembering former Rep. Pat Schroeder in Colorado and beyond
Quote – President Joe Biden said Schroeder “stood up for basic fairness, sensible policy, and women’s equal humanity. “I saw firsthand Pat’s moral compass, legal mind, and political savvy when we worked together on the Violence Against Women Act,” Biden said in a statement. “She was the primary sponsor in the House; I led the charge in the Senate. Together, we got it done. With Pat as my partner, I never doubted that we would.”
Click through for full obit. There’s a lot in it that I didn’t remember, and one or two things maybe missing that I did remember. She was first elected in ’72, I settled in Colorado in ’76, and Focus on the Family was founded in ’77. Would I have come if I had known about that last one? I don’t know. It’s quite possible, certainly.
Food For Thought
