Glenn Kirschner – Who is on John Eastman’s pardon list & why did Sen. Grassley say he, not Pence, would preside on 1/6
Meidas Touch – Rep. Katie Porter EXPOSES Big PHARMA scam in epic SMACK DOWN you can’t miss
The Lincoln Project – 40 Feet
MSNBC – Lawrence: Trump Can’t Understand Why GOP Officials Wouldn’t Steal 2020 For Him
Rebel HQ – Veteran ROASTS Right-Wing Gun Nuts
Beau – Let’s talk about New Mexico, foreshadowing, and the committee….
Yesterday, I did some recovering and braced myself to be ready for tomorrow’s hearing. I did a little knitting – making some headbands with scraps of corron and cotton blend yarn that will just fir around my head at forehead level, which I can wet down and refrigerate for the days when th ceiling fan in the den isn’t enough. I had tried before, but they were always too big and wouldn’t stay put. but after making three now with smaller stitch counts, I have it right The old, too big ones, though, I’ll wet down and refrigerate to go around my neck, sort of like cowls, if I need that extra. Just for getting cool, they won’t be any use as ice packs for arthritis – they’re not thick enough. It’s was a bit cooler, so it seemed like a good time to make them – no pressure.
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Gizmodo – Hundreds of Little Blue Penguins Are Washing Up Dead in New Zealand Amid an Ocean Heatwave
Quote – New Zealand Department of Conservation post-mortem examinations revealed many of the birds were particularly vulnerable juveniles. The young penguins died of starvation and hypothermia, with no fat to help them hold onto heat in the water. Counterintuitively, seabirds dying of cold corresponds with hotter ocean temperatures caused by both climate change and the weather phenomenon La Niña, a Depart of Conservation representative, Graeme Taylor, told RNZ.
Click through for details. The quote uses the word “counterintuitive” (which is actually true of hypothermia in other ways too), and it strikes me that, in so many ways the things we need to do in the face of climate change are counterintuitive as well. Which is why it is so important to get solid science – exactly what people want to ignore. Sigh.
The New Yorker – Putting the Backlash Against Progressive Prosecutors in Perspective
Quote – In San Francisco, Chesa Boudin—a reform-minded district attorney—was recalled by voters by a significant margin last week. Boudin had instituted a number of progressive reforms, from liberalizing bail policies to reducing jail populations through diversion programs. But those changes were buried by the perception that the city had descended into a state of chaos. His recall has been cast as a referendum on crime and on the public’s attitudes toward progressive criminal-justice policies. What were the voters in San Francisco blaming on Boudin? The New Yorker staff writer Benjamin Wallace-Wells recently wrote about Boudin’s recall. He speaks with the New Yorker senior editor Tyler Foggatt.
Click through – it’s a podcast, but you can download a transcript. It did not offer me any file extension, but when I went to open it, my PC gave me a list of programs to choose from; I selected “Notepad” and it opened right up. “Wordpad” also works, but Adobe Reader doesn’t. It’s valuable information for anyone who cares about restorative justice, reforming our legal and prison systems, and the like.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Judge Luttig, darling of the right, says Trump “clear+present danger.” Trump proves it in TN speech
Meidas Touch – Real Seniors REACT in HORROR to GOP Plan to eliminate Social Security and Medicare
The Lincoln Project – Juneteenth
Don Winslow Films – #HowToConvictTrump
MSNBC – Why The Jan. 6 Committee Hearings Are ‘Exceeding Expectations’
Beau – Let’s talk about sharks, screens, shifting thought, and Hollywood…. (Beau has been on fire recently. I cut one I had peviously selected, but am still abit behind.)
Yesterday, I brought up the live hearing, coming in on the testimony of the Speaker of the Arizona House, Rusty Bowers. I then watched the testimony of Georgia’s Raffensberger and Sterling. I had to return later to catch the Georgia election workers Andrea (Shay) Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman. as well as the opening and closing statements. You know, we have been talking about Republicans putting party before country. But with regard to this insurrection, we have been wrong. They were putting prsonal gain – probably in some cases only personal whim – before both party and country. I’ve seen some people on the net saying, “I love it when they eat their oen,” I don’t. I don’t love bottom-of-the-cesspool depravity, and that’s what this is. Disgusting. And also dangerous. If they will eat their own, they will eat anything and anyone. We have also been saying they are moving toward fascism, and by the book they certainly are. But I question whether actual fascism is their goal, or whether tha goal is total chaos – a state with even less predictabiity than anarchy.
When I returned to the hearing at the YouTube link provided at house.gov (to the committee’s channel) I happened to notice that that channel has 29.4K subscribers. I know, not a lot in the scheme of things, but those are only the people who are watching at this channel. That does not include anyone who is watching at PBS, MSNBC/NBC, CBS, ABC, or CNN, or anyone who is watching with The Lincoln Project or Meidas Touch, and that probably does not exhaust the list of sources. Somewhere I also read even Fox is now carrying it (the implication being more than just on Fox Business), but I can’t verify that.
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The Daily Beast – Here’s What the Insecure Insurrectionists Don’t Get About America
Quote – America was not actually built on unlimited individual freedom, as a shocking number of Americans seem to believe it is these days. The foundation of our nation, the bedrock of its multi-century success, is the philosophy of democratic liberalism: the government will not interfere with your pursuit of happiness unless your pursuit interferes with that of other people.
Click through for more (including a point about the poem “America the Beautiful”), but the quote is the bottom line. I also feel that one verse of “America the Beautiful is not enough. I tend to focus onthe second verse (“God mend thine every flaw – Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law”), but the third verse may be even more important.
CPR News – A Colorado startup wants buildings to suck up carbon, one living concrete block at a time
Quote – His company’s proposed alternative is a “bio-cement” first developed at the University of Colorado Boulder. Inside the Colorado company’s warehouse, sand is loaded in block-shaped molds with micro-algae, which binds the material through the same process corals and oysters use to build their shells. The final masonry units feel like hardened sand castles. While the process takes energy, Burnett said algae absorbs enough carbon to make the blocks 90 percent less carbon-intensive than traditional concrete.
Click through for the interview – yes, it’s an interview, but there’s what appears to be at least a partial transcript. It’s good news locally but appears to have potential – and we need every possible step (and may already be too late.)
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Crimes of Trump lawyer Eastman exposed; will Ginni Thomas testify; DOJ demands all J6 transcripts
Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Texas Water Shortages and Power Outages
The Lincoln Project – This Was Planned
CNN – ‘Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ team arrested at Capitol
Guy Who Didn’t Like Cats Finds One Stuck In His Tire
Beau – Let’s talk about culture shifting and representation…. (So Simple – but ir really touched me.)
Yesterday was Federal Juneteenth in accordance with the Monday Holiday Law. CPR News reported that, as a rough estimate, about half of workers got the day off. CPR News also cited coverage by Denverite magazine of the Juneteenth Music Festival in the Five Points area of Denver, which, based on the photos and anecdotes, must have been a joy to behold. However, Occupy Democrats cited a Yahoo News story that 26 states have not authorized funding for the holiday That report inspired me to use the cartoon I chose today for Food for Thought. I remember thatit took forever to some states to recognize MLK Day also – and some I belive still haven’t. It’s a sobering thought indeed.
Cartoon – 21 0621Cartoon.jpg
Short Takes –
Crooks & Liars – Raskin Says Trump ‘Essentially’ Confessed: ‘I Did It And I’ll Do It Again’
Quote – “This public admission that essentially he wanted continues after laying out of all this evidence,” Todd said. “Is he confessing?” “Yeah, he essentially saying, yeah, I did it and I’ll do it again,” Raskin agreed, “which is what we have been contending all along, that if you allow impunity for attempts at unconstitutional seizures of power, which is what a coup is, then you’re inviting it again in the future.”
Click through for a little more including a short video clip. I wonder how Jamie got Chuck to ask an intelligent question.
The Daily Beast – This May Be the COVID Variant Scientists Are Dreading
Quote – A pair of new subvariants of the dominant Omicron variant—BA.4 and BA.5—appear to be driving the uptick in cases in the U.K. Worryingly, these subvariants seem to partially dodge antibodies from past infection or vaccination, making them more transmissible than other forms of the SARS-CoV-2 virus…. Eric Bortz, a University of Alaska-Anchorage virologist and public-health expert, described BA.4 and BA.5 as “immunologically distinct sublineages.” In other words, they interact with our antibodies in surprising new ways.
Click through for details. It also may not. But I believe it’s wise to stay on guard.
The Nib (Chelsea Saunders and Tristan J. Tarwater) Harriet Tubman’s Daring Civil War Raid
Quote:
Click through for as much of the story as can be captured in a graphic. The new $20 bill cannot come soon enough for me.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Trump pressuring Mike Pence to overturn election results is additional evidence of Trump’s treason
Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Lauren Boebert saying Jesus needed an AR-15
The Lincoln Project – Scam
MSNBC – Fascist, Paramilitary Groups Seen Aligning With Republican Political Targeting
Woman brings home a rescue dog. And then discovers she barks like a duck.
Beau – Let’s talk about pardons, votes, and Trump….
Yesterday, a bit of rain cooled us off a little (and today a cloudy dayis supposed to do even more. We shall see.) There was not a lot of email, so I took the Smithsonian’s Father’s Day “Pop Quiz” (is that a “dad joke” or what?) getting only two out of six. As a former costumer, I probably should have gotten the one on neckties, but I outsmarted myself with my general rule “It always happened earlier than you think it did.” This time it didn’t. This link may work if anyone want’s to try their luck. And I looked through July cartoons and determined I can use enugh from 2014 tha I only need to make 8. Generally, it was a calm day after a frenetic week (and I’m not the only one saying that. Two hearings was overwhelming for many of us who follow politics. But I really can’t wish for fewer in the weeks ahead. Let’s get this done.)
Also, Freya finished and posted the “Sound Off” she’s been eorking on yesterday, here at this link. Don’t miss it. (You can also look down at the bottom of the page, under the comments to the left, and click on the title there, if that’s easier.)
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HuffPost – Sonia Sotomayor Reassures Liberals As Conservative Decisions Loom
Quote – “When we, as institutions, have made mistakes,” Sotomayor said. “Other parts of the branches [of government]” and “the people have worked to make change. “Dred Scott lost his 11-year battle for freedom,” she said. And yet, with the decision in Brown, “He won the war. That’s why I think we have to have continuing faith in our court system, in our system of government,” she added, noting that that the system allows for constitutional amendments and legislation to address outcomes like Dred Scott.
Click through for more from her speech, and also for a little of what wasn’t in her speech. I absolutely agree we cannot give up.
Robert Reich – The Fed’s big mistake
Quote – I understand the Fed’s urgency, but it has entered dangerous territory. If the Fed continues down this path – as it has signaled it will – the economy will be plunged into a recession. Every time over the last half century the Fed has raised interest rates this much and this quickly, it has caused a recession. Besides, interest rate increases will not remedy the major causes of the current inflation – huge pent-up worldwide demand from two years of pandemic, shortages of goods and services responding to that demand, Putin’s war in Ukraine, and big profitable corporations with enough pricing power to use inflation as a cover for pushing up prices even further.
Click through for full argument. It’s deja vu all over again for those our age.
Food For Thought
