Politics Plus

Yesterday, I learned a couple of things about Disqus which I didn’t know, although have used it for years. I did know that you can post a video by simply including the USL in a comments. I didn’t realize, however, that if you include a video URL in a comment, the video will post whether you want it to or not, and the only way to remove it is to delete the whole comment. Secondly, I learned how to delete a comment. Anyone can do this unless you are not registered with Disqus (commenting as a guest.) If you look at the top right of your comment, you’ll see (I see it very fainyly, but knowing what to look for helps) you will see three dots and a down arrow: … v Hover on the down arrow and you will get a dropdown list which includes the option to delete. Isn’t it fun to learn from one’s mistakes?

Also, starting today, Mitch will be off line, so I won’t be posting comments from him. I don’t know the exact reason, but it’s a pleasant one, and he doesn’t have an exact return date, but expects to be back within two weeks.

Cartoon – 25 Thomas Jefferson Loaded

Short Takes –

ABC News – US preparing to approve evacuation from embassy in Ukraine: Sources
Quote – That contingency planning has been underway for weeks now, as ABC News first reported last month that the embassy was preparing for an authorized or ordered departure. An authorized departure allows families and non-emergency staff to evacuate, usually on commercial flights, while an ordered departure requires them to do so.
Click through for context. Here we go again. Sigh. At least this is very early notice, just a heads up really, so hopefully it can be avoided.

Newsweek – Rudy Giuliani, Michael Flynn Stripped of Honorary Degrees From University of Rhode Island
Quote – “After reviewing the recommendation from the President, who endorsed the committee’s recommendation, the Board voted to approve the revocation of these honorary degrees,” URI Board of Trustees chair Margo Cook said in the press release. “The Board of Trustees supports the University and its mission to uphold its values, especially its commitment to intellectual and ethical leadership and fostering an environment of diversity and respect.”
Click through for background.  If I told you this was going up yesterday, I apologize.  I don’t always have tim to double checy which day something is scheduled for (and I also sometimes don’t have a very strong sense of what day it is.)

Mother Jones – Newt Gingrich Sure Sounds Like He Wants January 6 Committee Members Jailed
Quote – Gingrich’s suggestion is a spectacular escalation of the concern that should Democrats lose the House, Republicans will start launching various efforts, including investigations, aimed at impeaching President Joe Biden…. But, rather unsurprisingly, the suggestion that committee members could face jail time does appear to have landed with some of the more colorful members of the GOP.
Click through for one of multiple stories on this. I can’t figure ut whether he is serious, or simply wants his base (and as many others as he can reach) to view Trump** and Co.’s real and serious crimes as no worse that pissing off the other side. Either way, it’s beyond scary.

Food For Thought:

Yesterday, I pushed myself to take out some trash and recyclables. It was definitely time, and I’m glad it’s done, but it is tiring. So afterwards, I relaxed a little, by knitting a little and gaming a little.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Cavalier Daily – University Counsel Tim Heaphy removed by Attorney General Jason Miyares
Quote – Attorneys in the Office of University Counsel serve the attorney general. Miyares’ recent inauguration began an onslaught of over 30 firings within just over a week — these firings included the entire conviction integrity unit, a group of individuals that oversees the investigation of wrongful convictions.
Click through for the story from the Unuversity’s newspaper. “Coincidentally,” Mr. Heaphy is on leave to Work as Chief Investigative Counsel for the 1/6 Committee. Clearly this is a purge.

Mediaite – Biden Gets His Best Polling News of 2022 From … Fox News?
Quote – FiveThirtyEight, which tracks the reliability of various pollsters, gives Fox News an A rating — making it one of the most credible in the field, according to the Nate Silver-founded site. So this number could be a sign that the tide is turning for the president.  Still, the Fox News poll was not all sunshine and rainbows for the Biden team. The survey found that 60 percent of registered voters would pick “someone else,” if the election were held today.
Click through. Inexplicable – but I’ll take it. Some good news is better than no good news.

The Guardian – Michael Flynn allies allegedly plotted to lean on Republicans to back vote audits
Quote – Stern, who runs the intelligence firm Tactical Rabbit and is a Republican vying for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania, in multiple interviews with the Guardian said two Flynn associates with the rightwing Patriot Caucus group enlisted his help in April in a scheme to seek potentially damaging information on two Republican members of Congress to prod them to back an audit of the 2020 vote that Joe Biden won.
Click through for details. It’s not a bad bet that there is some dirt yo be gotten on a Republican – but, seriously, “Tactical Rabbit”? How could anyone trust intelligence which came out of a rabbit hole?

Food For Thought:

(Here’s the full story)

Yesterday, the radio opera was “La Bohème,” quite possibly the most popular opera ever composed. Of course, that comes with disadvantages – an opera lover of my age has probably heard/seen it over a hundred times (particularly since it was the first opera I ever owned a complete recording of … 55 years ago.) But it still charms. Almost every line and every note tug at the heartstrings, because every character is sympathetic in one way or another, and every character has at least one moment in which you see (and/or hear) their pain. And, after that, I put away my grocery delivery. What a comedoen!

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – The curse of financial entrepreneurship
Quote – A direct line runs from public anger over the bailout of Wall Street to the Occupy movement and the candidacy of Bernie Sanders, on the left; and to the Tea Party movement and the election of Donald Trump, on the right…. [I]n early 2016 in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Ohio, and Iowa… I heard references to the bailout of Wall Street as proof that the economy was “rigged” against ordinary Americans, and that America needed a president who would champion average working people.
Click through for more, including the podcast, if you would rather listen than read. If he mentions that part of the problem is that product entrepreneurs, when successful, become paper entrepreneurs, I missed it.

Good News Network – IKEA Buys Land Damaged by Hurricane in Florida to Plant Forests
Quote – If Ingka can keep the forests healthy and alive, in 40 years they will pull carbon out of the air equal to a certain percentage of the carbon placed into the atmosphere by IKEA’s operations, while providing valuable habitat to vulnerable species like the red-cockaded woodpecker, gopher tortoise, pine snakes, and dusky gopher frogs.
Click through for details and a couple of other tidbits (if you read between the paragraphs). I grant this is somewhat self-serving, but it beats the heck out of no good news at all.

The New Yorker – Is Ginni Thomas a Threat to the Supreme Court?
Quote – “Virginia Thomas has direct access to Thomas’s clerks,” [Artemus] Ward said. Clarence Thomas is now the Court’s senior member, having served for thirty years, and Ward estimates that there are “something like a hundred and twenty people on that Listserv [of his current and former clerks].” In Ward’s view, they comprise “an élite right-wing commando movement.” Justice Thomas, he says, doesn’t post on the Listserv, but his wife “is advocating for things directly.” Ward added, “It’s unprecedented. I have never seen a Justice’s wife as involved.”
Click through for full story. Jane Mayer is an actual investigative reporter, so this information should be solid.

Food For Thought: (by Robert Reich)