Open Thread April 13, 2022

 Posted by at 7:19 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 132022
 

Yesterday was pretty quiet. Which was definitely fine with me!

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Short Takes –

Second Nexus – Devout Fox News Viewers Were Paid to Switch to CNN for a Month and the Results Have People Surprised
Quote – “Despite regular Fox viewers being largely strong partisans, we found manifold effects of changing the slant of their media diets on their factual beliefs, attitudes, perceptions of issues’ importance, and overall political views. We show that these effects stem in part from a bias we call partisan coverage filtering, wherein partisan outlets selectively report information, leading viewers to learn a biased set of facts. Consistent with this, treated participants concluded that Fox concealed negative information about President Trump. Partisan media does not only present its side an electoral advantage—it may present a challenge for democratic accountability.”
Click through for story. You may have seen this elsewhere; this is one of George Takei’s sites. To me the jaw-dropping part is that it only took one month to get significant change.

Cheney: Plenty Of Evidence To Make Criminal Referral For Trump
Quote – “But now, with the Justice Department appearing to ramp up a wide-ranging investigation, some Democrats are questioning whether there is any need to make a referral — and whether doing so would saddle a criminal case with further partisan baggage at a time when Mr. Trump is openly flirting with running again in 2024.” … Cheney downplayed the notion that there’s a “dispute” and told Tapper she was confident they’d come to an agreement soon.
Click through for more pros and cons. I’ve been wondering about the optics myself … and also whether a criminal referral by Congress (particularly at t time when the DOJ says it is 100 or 131 prosecutors short – and I absolutely believe that) might (and of course this is pure speculation) would push the DOJ into going to court without the best possible case, and/or without the best possible staff.

Daily Beast – The Obscure Law NY Prosecutors Could Use to Charge Trump Years From Now
Quote – Law enforcement in New York has five years from the date of an alleged crime to officially file charges for most felonies, but under New York law § 30.10(4)(a)(i), that clock stops for up to five more years when a defendant is outside the state. That 10-year grace period means Trump’s time in the White House and his post-presidential political exile at the Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida may be gifting prosecutors much-needed extra time.
Click through for details. Does Trump** know about this? I have no clue.

Food For Thought:

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Video Thread 4/12/22

 Posted by at 12:29 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Apr 122022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Don Jr.’s Deeply Treasonous Texts Make him a Charter Member of his Father’s Election Conspiracy

Meidas Touch – Trump lies at NC rally FACT-CHECKED in real time

The Lincoln Project – Truth Social vs Twitter

Ring of Fire – Capitol Rioter Lawyer DISBARRED For His Behavior

MSNBC – McFaul: The Battle Of Kyiv Will Go Down In History As One Of Great Defeats Of Russian Army

New John Deere commercial

Beau – Let’s talk about CPAC leaving the US and Republicans leaving democracy….

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Open Thread April 12, 2022

 Posted by at 7:05 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 122022
 

Yesterday, I pretty much caught up. At least I have two full posts today, and I have thrown a little PSA at the bottom of this one. A couple of people remarked about my “mask extender” project, and since knitting them is like eating potato chips – you can’t stop at one (or two. or six. or more) – I thought I’d make some available.

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Short Takes –

Mother Jones – Exclusive: Leaked Messages Reveal the Origins of the Most Vile Hunter Biden Smear
Quote – Late in the 2020 presidential campaign, trailing in the polls, Donald Trump and his allies worked to make a campaign issue out of a trove of files on a laptop that his opponent’s son, Hunter Biden, had apparently abandoned at a Delaware repair shop. The effort to publicize compromising emails, images, and videos from the device involved prominent Trump confidants including Rudy Giuliani and Steven Bannon. But it also featured an unexpected player: Guo Wengui, a fugitive Chinese tycoon who was working with Bannon to build a small empire of Chinese-language media outlets, nonprofits, and other ventures.
Click through. It never ceases to grab my attention how Republicans are so ready to give America away to anyone in exchange for criminal actions – while they won’t give a dime to American people who are starving, or homeless, or drowning in debt.

Crooks and Liars – Germans Intercept Russian Radio Traffic Discussing Murdering Civilians In Bucha
Quote – The Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), Germany’s foreign intelligence service, has acquired gruesome new insights into the atrocities committed by Russian military forces in the town of Bucha near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. DER SPIEGEL has learned that the BND intercepted Russian military radio traffic in which the murder of civilians in Bucha was discussed. Some of the intercepted radio traffic can apparently be directly linked to dead bodies that have been photographed in Bucha.
Click through for details. This may be all I have to say about atrocities. I’m not crazy about gory details. do like solid evidence.

PolitiZoom – Trump Flips Out On Manhattan D.A. After It’s Revealed They Made A New Demand On Trump Org
Quote – Maybe Donald Trump knows something that we don’t, because the New York Times article quoting Alvin Bragg on the current state of the Trump investigation in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office was bland at best. All Bragg said, in essence, was that he had shelved nothing and that he was looking into every aspect of the Trump case. It was also mentioned that a new demand had been sent to the Trump Organization, but that it was a follow up of previous requests. You know how Trump doesn’t respond to discovery requests. That’s why he’s got the state attorney general asking a judge to sanction the hell out of him for every day he delays with respect to that case. So that is what is publicly known as of the past 24 hours. Is that, and that alone, sufficient to trigger this harebrained, maudlin ramble?
Click through for Trump**’s rant. This is getting overripe for speculation – and very interesting.

Food For Thought:

PSA: Here is information on the mask extenders (some call them “ear savers”). They look like this:

The link is here. Download is free, though they will want an email and a password (possibly a name I know they jave my name – and address – becouase I occasionally order.) But no money and no commitment.
There is also a crochet pattern, but it isn’t free. However, it’s so simple I could write you a pattern from the picture. If you’d like that, or if you just want the knit pattern and don’t want to register, email me and let me know which you want and I’ll email it. Or if you want one but don’t want to make one, I can send one of those Heaven knows I’ve made enough – and if you want to put on your own buttons I can send one without buttons even easier. I will need a mailing addreess (PO boxes are fine.)

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Open Thread April 11, 2022

 Posted by at 7:31 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 112022
 

Yesterday, I sent the weekly email, went and saw Virgil, got home, and then sent a second one because columns went up while I was gone. Virgil, BTW, returns all greetings. Yes, he was ecstatic. They didn’t have masks and we got to sit as close to each other as we did before the pandemic – but we were socially distanced from other tables. The warden, whi is not brand new, but new within the last six months or so, has for now expanded visitation to 7 days a week. That doesn’tmean I can visit any time, because they have divided the population into 2 groups (which they are referring to as “pods”) and they are assigned alternate days. So, if that holds, I can expect to visit every other Sunday until the next variant hits. Yes, the traffic was probably the best I’ve ever seen it – there was some, but I never felt that I had too little space in case someone did something crazy. And what more can I ask?

I had a bunch of articles collected for Short Takes, and you will see three below picked almost randomly (News of the Weird?) But I am going to skip the Video Thread today. I’ll have more time later in the day to go searching for videos, so I’ll be back on schedule tomorrow.

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Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Have Patience. The DOJ Is Doing Its Job
Quote – Please, people. For the last 4 long years, you have become used to a DOJ that blatantly released salaciou details of investigations into people they had no chance of arresting and convicting. But Biden has restored a presidential hands off policy for the DOJ, And Attorney General Merrick Garland has it functioning just the way it always did. Patience, Grasshopper. Or to quote A Bugs Bunny movie line, Patience is a virtue, patience brings good luck. It is seldom found in humans, and never in a duck!
Click through for his reasoning. You can also read the knock-down-drag-out battle in the comments. I would certainly recommend that those who are the most frustrated (and, yes, that includes me) support Garland’s request for funding for over 100 additional prosecutors. (Although additional judges – of whom there are many nominated and not confirmed – would also help.) But all those prosecutors could at least get indictments, if not trial dates and convictions, before the midterms.

Anti-Abortion Terrorists Explain Those Five Fetuses In The Freezer
Quote – Remember our old pal, Lauren Handy, who was arrested by the FBI for terrorizing abortion clinics and patients, and who kept five fetuses in their home that had to be removed by the DC Police? Well, your C&L gal here has a little update. I want you all to rest assured that they did not keep five fetuses at her home. I promise. Completely untrue. They kept 115 fetuses at their home. One-hundred-fifteen. Fetuses.
Click through for details. Feel free to express yourself with expletives.

Democratic Underground (babsbunny) – Ran across this today
Quote – Someone shared a quote on Twitter: Yuri Bezmenov says that only 15% of KGB (now the FSB) work is in espionage. The other 85% attempts to undermine the U.S.A. via “ideological subversion,” which sets about to change our citizens’ perception of a reality where no sensible conclusions can be made.
Click through for the links they found to back this short quote up. It figures

Food For Thought:

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Video Thread 4/10/22

 Posted by at 11:38 am  Open Thread, Politics
Apr 102022
 

Glenn Kirschner – NY DA Bragg tries to double-talk his way out of his decision to end the Trump criminal investigation

Ring of Fire – Conservatives Have Complete Meltdown Over Oreo Cookies

MSNBC: “Extraordinarily Disgraceful” that American Officials would Support Putin, says Spanberger

Rebel HQ – Richard Ojeda SHREDS Moscow Mitch’s Lack Of Morals

Ths tweet is from Steve Schmidt of the Lincoln Project, and yes.

Mrs Betty Bowers – Schooling Ron DeSantis https://youtu.be/aUEnTcpLvV0

Beau – Let’s talk about West Virginia, solar, and stranded assets….

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Open Thread April 10, 2022

 Posted by at 7:23 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 102022
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was “La Nozze de Figaro,” which is usually translated “The Marriage of Figaro,” but I prefer “Figaro’s Wedding.” Like a wedding, it takes place in one day, wheras marriage (hopefully) lasts a lot longer (in fact, from the third play, we know they were still married 20 years later, and still happy and healthy and looking forward to more.) Of course, as wedding days go, it may not have been the worst wedding day ever (the ending is happy), but it qualifies, I think, as the most frantic. I think my favorite part of it is the section which starts with Marzellina’s lawsuit and ends with plans for a double wedding – because the misunderstanding is totally unforced. The other misunderstandings (and there are several) are set up deliberately, by different people, for one reason or another. But the opera is full of great music and amusiong (and emotional) moments. Afterwards, my day was a scramble to get ready for today.

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Short Takes –

NBC News – Two D.C. men charged with impersonating feds, several Secret Service agents placed on leave
Quote – The Secret Service is conducting an internal review of the interactions between four Secret Service agents and the two men accused of posing as federal agents, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. “We are looking into our people in terms of how their social circles collided,” one of the sources said. “We are only 72 hours into this review,” the source said, adding that “right now there’s no sign of nefarious activity.”
Click through for story. Shades of “The Great Pretender.” They are lucky that this is found out suring a scary war and some criminal investigations of real government officials. In a less hyper time, no one wuld be talking about anything else.  In a
related story …

Biden at war: Inside a deliberate yet impulsive Ukraine strategy
Quote – The Biden administration has stood up a second “Tiger Team” to internally game out different attacks and responses, but has been especially cautious about sharing any possible repercussions publicly. “We’ve had the opportunity to coordinate with our allies. We’ve had the opportunity to get organized internally. We’ve been clear publicly that Russia would pay a severe price,” Sullivan told reporters, flying from Brussels to Poland on Air Force One. “And beyond that, I’m not going to speak further to the issue.”
Click through for full analysis. As a Vatican II Catholic, and also a person who is 100% anti-war right up until the moment it becones necessary to save the world, I think I can identify with where Joe is comeing from. Certainly, like him, I’m emotionally invested. That’s not to say that anything about it is easy.

The 19th – Older women voters may play a big role in the 2022 midterms, and they are not happy
Quote – “One thing that’s so remarkable about this current moment is the way that cost of living is just cutting across every demographic line,” Anderson said. “Cost of living is a challenge whether you are 19 years old, just starting off in the workforce, and are trying to figure out how to pay your rent, or if you are retired, on a fixed income and you’re trying to pay your rent.” Matthews emphasized that older women are tired of out-of-touch politicians, abstract campaign promises and hostility permeating the political climate.
Click through for details. I find this terribly depressing. Ar e that many American women over 50 really so ignorant as to constantly blame the wrong people for what government does? If so, we are doomed.

Food For Thought:

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Video Thread 4/9/22

 Posted by at 12:11 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Apr 092022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Is DOJ Investigating Boxes of Classified Documents Trump Unlawfully Took to Mar-a-Lago? Glenn is wrong – the 1/6 committee is not accusing the Justice Department of anything. It is the House Oversight committee which is complaining about the Justice Department. It is not Bennie Thomas but Carolyn Maloney who is demanding these documents at this moment. Clearly he is frustrated – likely more so than he says directly. I barely looked at the comments, so I don’t know whether anyone else caught that.

Meidas Touch – Psaki HUMILIATES Republican with perfect response to classless stunt during confirmation vote

Thom Hartmann – Will the Billionaires Be Able to Quell the Growing Union Movement?

RepresentUs – The Problem With Wisconsin’s Election Investigation

MSNBC – Trump Criminal Case ‘Ongoing’: NY Prosecutor Makes Unusual Statement (Ve-ry In-ter=est-ing.0

Guy Offers Hand to a Giant Octopus — You Won’t Believe How He Reacts

Beau – Let’s talk about Russian state media telling us what’s coming….

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Open Thread April 9, 2022

 Posted by at 6:35 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Apr 092022
 

Yesterday, I received the first “gift link” I have ever seen from the Washington Post. (I’ve seen several from the New York Times, and I knew the Post had them too, but had not seen one until now.) It was sent by my cousin in California, who must really have my number. I’ll include it in tomorrow’s short takes, because I agree the story is worthy. And, even better, my new driver’s license arrived. I had verified that the  temporary one would be acceptable if it didn’t, but I’m still thrilled to get it in time for tomorrow.(Of course I immediately scanned it and put the scans in my “Credentials” folder. And a copy on my laptop.)

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Short Takes –

Democratic Underground (Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin) – Ammon Bundy headed to jail after Idaho judge says he ‘consistently’ defied orders
Quote – The gubernatorial candidate was found guilty of being in contempt of court Thursday after he refused to complete 40 hours of community service related to a July 2021 conviction. Bundy had argued that the stops made during his gubernatorial campaign satisfy his court-mandated community service. Ada County Magistrate Judge Annie McDevitt sentenced Bundy to 10 days in jail along with a $3,000 fine. He was immediately handcuffed and taken to the Ada County Jail on Thursday.
Click through for a little more (including the judge’s chewing out.) This is cited as being from the Idaho Statesman, but only provided a link to Yahoo! News Yeah, ten days is not enough, but it is something.

‘Leaving victims with the bill’: Sexual assault survivors are often charged hundreds of dollars for rape kits
Quote – The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) — reauthorized last month as part of Congress’ omnibus spending bill — requires states to bear full out-of-pocket costs of forensic medical exams to receive federal funds for law enforcement agencies, courts and victim services. Even if victims are fully reimbursed later, states that allow hospitals to charge patients are still violating the requirements laid out for them by the Justice Department to access those funds.
Click through for story. This is not a case of “There oughta be a law.” There IS a law (lapsed for a time, but back again) and it’s being regularly flouted.

The Daily Beast – Two COVID Variants Just Combined Into a ‘Frankenstein’ Virus
Quote – The first subvariant of Omicron, the latest major variant of the novel coronavirus, was bad. BA.1 drove record cases and hospitalizations in many countries starting last fall. The second subvariant, BA.2, was worse in some countries—setting new records for daily cases across China and parts of Europe. Now BA.1 and BA.2 have combined to create a third subvariant. XE, as it’s known, is a “recombinant”—the product of two viruses interacting “Frankenstein”-style in a single host.
Click through for details. I am not a scientist, but do you have to be one to suspect this could have been avoided had the world been taking the pandemic seriously?

Food For Thought:

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