Open Thread – Page 319 – Politics Plus

Open Thread for July 23, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:58 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 232021

This is the 71st week that the Metropilitan has been streaming full operas free of charge nightly, and it is the last week of this program. I am sad to see it go, but hopeful that they will be able to hold the complete season they are planning startin gin September. What with the Delta and Lambda variants, that appears to me to be far from certain. In any event, I watched “Tales of Hoffmann” last noght, and plan to watch “A Masked Bsll” Sunday night, which will be the very last one to appear.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Republicans Protest Lack of Rioters on January 6th Commission
Quote – “Nancy Pelosi’s handpicked Democratic panel members all have one thing in common: none of them took part in the riot,” McCarthy said. “Without an equal number of rioters on the panel, we’ll never get to hear both sides of this thing.”
Click through for the rest. Sure, that’s why we included Al Qaeda members on the 9/11 commission – oh, wait.
Related story – Kevin McCarthy Proposes Removing January 6th from Month of January

Law and Crime – FBI Report Shows Explosive Components Allegedly Found in Home of Ex-Cop Charged in U.S. Capitol Breach
Quote – Despite the box’s markings labeling the contents a “prop,” the FBI said that the components could have formed a deadly weapon. “The resulting explosion from an IED of this type could cause property damage, personal injury and/or death,” Christopher Rigopoulos, of Quantico’s explosives unit, wrote. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi called that conclusion “highly relevant” to the judge’s pending ruling on whether to revoke Robertson’s conditions of release.
Click through for story. This dude had better get sentenced to longer than months.

The Guardian – FBI failed to fully investigate Kavanaugh allegations, say Democrats
Quote – Whitehouse said they asked “why the FBI failed to contact witnesses whose names were provided to the FBI as possessing ‘highly relevant’ information; how involved the Trump White House was in narrowing the scope of the investigation; whether the FBI had used a tip line in previous background investigations to manage incoming allegations and information regarding a nominee; and more.”
Click through for details. This is s “No s**t, Sherlock” story … but Senator Whitehouse does have a way with facts.

Food for Thought:

Video Thread for 7/22/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:08 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jul 222021

Glenn Kirschner – Will Trump AssociateTom Barrack Cooperate w/Prosecutors Now That He’s Facing 50 Years in Prison

Political Voices Network (Glenn is a guest) – “He Constantly Surrounds Himself With Criminals.”

Meidas Touch – Rep. Swalwell: Fox News LAUGHS at Their “Dumb” Viewers

Now This News – Fox News Loses It Over ‘Secret List’

Robert Reich – Imagine a World Where Workers Have Power

VoteVets – Abdulla

Keith Olbermann – second video – slightly longer than the first one which went up yesterday.

Beau on the January 6 committee – One to save and share, Very, very clear.

Open Thread for July 22, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:34 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 222021

Tuesday night after I finished posting I attempted to play an older game on my desktop.PC. Many of the older games, being designed for a lower resolution, make my desktop look as though icons are missing, but when one exits the game they are actually all there Not this one – When I exited the game many of the icons in the bottom half of my desktop were still MIA. I recovered a few key ones then, and when I got up yesterday installed the offending game (and its sequel) on my Win7 laptop prior to uninstalling them on the Win8, so that won’t happen again. I tend to over-accumulate text documents and shortcuts which I really don’t need to keep, so this will be a good excuse to clean house … but it won’t happen all at once. And, for architectural reasons, the room the laptop is in stays cooler than the one the desktop is in … .

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Short Takes –

CNN – Indonesian Covid-positive man disguises himself as wife on Citilink flight in order to fly
Quote – After that, “the airport immediately contacted the Ternate City Covid-19 Handling Task Force team to evacuate the man while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), and then taking him in an ambulance to his house (in Ternate City) to self-isolate, where he will be supervised by Task Force officers,” Ternate Covid-19 Task Force Operational Head Muhammad Arif Gani told reporters Once his self-isolation period is complete, local police have stated they intend to prosecute “DW.”
Click through for background. I used to thnk that “American Exceptionalism” applied only to insanity. Well, I was wrong. It doesn’t even apply to that.

Raw Story – Nancy Pelosi Rejects 2 GOP Picks For The Jan. 6 Committee
Quote – “With respect for the integrity of the investigation, with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these Members, I must reject the recommendations of Representatives Banks and Jordan to the Select Committee,” Pelosi said in a statement. “The unprecedented nature of January 6th demands this unprecedented decision.”
Click through fpr names and sequence of events (of which I predicted what Pelosi would do. I failed to predict McCarthy’s response, though I probably should have been able to.)

Common Dreams – ‘Tremendous News for Workers and Consumers’: Biden Picks Kanter as DOJ Antitrust Chief
Quote – Progressive groups including MoveOn had urged Biden to tap Kanter to be assistant attorney general for the antitrust division at the DOJ, Politico reported Tuesday, “because of his work over the past decade representing companies, including Microsoft, that lodged antitrust complaints about Google.”
Click through for more. Now we just need to get him through the Senate.

Food for Thought:

Video Thread for 7/21/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:08 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jul 212021

Glenn Kirschner – Trump Associate Tom Barrack Indicted for 7 Felony Crimes, Unlawfully Acted as Foreign Agent (Sure glad Glenn read those 46 pages so I didn’t have to.)

Meidas Touch – Rep. Eric Swalwell SLAMS Republicans for WWE Approach to Politics (Love Eric – not sure about the beard – but it’s not my face.)

politicsrus #3: – GOP Murdering Americans

Now This News – a few moments from the Voting Rights hearing.

Liberal Redneck – Texas Klan Plan

Rob Rogers – Climate Crawl

Keith – OLBERMANN VS…THE NYC WILDFIRE SMOKE AND ACRID SMELL. IT’S FROM THE CALIFORNIA AND OREGON FIRES.

Beau – Let’s talk about the Biden administration’s information campaign….

Open Thread for July 21, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 212021

Those of us who remember polio, measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox, and all that went with them, may sometimes have trouble getting through to (and in the process become frustrated by) nnti-vaxxers, who don’t remember that. Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and other masterpieces) lost a daughter to measles – to measles encephalitis, to be precise. He wrpte about the experience years after, and someone at Democratic Underground found the piece and shared the story. Of course it’s a huge hanky alert. But if you can think of anyone who might be helped by hearing or reading it … you’ll find it at the link. Dahl was ot a perfect human being (for one thing, he was known to be anti-Semitic.) But no one deserves that.

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Short Takes –

Acosta Warns Of A Five Alarm Fire – Coups, Hitler, Voter Suppression
Quote – What will you do if a second insurrection happens? What if they are successful in taking over the government? We are standing there, rule book in hand, screaming at the other side to FOLLOW THE RULES, while they shoot us with mace and bear spray, fire assault rifles at us, cover their faces with war paint, and scream “MAGA MAGA MAGA!”
Click through for story and video. Of course he’s right. I hope people who need to listen do listen. And that they don’t disregard him because he doesn’t yell or scream.

APNews – New chief selected for Capitol Police after 1/6 insurrection
Quote – The decision comes as the Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies are struggling to determine the best way to secure the Capitol and what direction to take the 2,300-person force that guards the building and the lawmakers inside it and functions as mashup of a national security agency and local police department…. The Capitol Police Board, which includes the House and Senate sergeant at arms and the Architect of the Capitol, is charged with oversight of the police force and led the search.
Click through. The 1/7 interim appointment was not intended to be permanent.

The Hill – Trump ally and ex-campaign adviser Thomas Barrack charged with secretly lobbying for UAE
Quote – “The conduct alleged in the indictment is nothing short of a betrayal of those officials in the United States, including the former President,” Lesko said. “Through this indictment, we are putting everyone — regardless of their wealth or perceived political power — on notice that the Department of Justice will enforce the prohibition of this sort of undisclosed foreign influence.”
Click through for more. Also, Glenn Kirschner discusses this in today’s video thread. Incidentally, there’s been a story floating that the Biden DOJ declined to prosecute Wilbur Ross for lying to Congress. That’s false. It was the Trump** DOJ which did that.

Food for Thought:

Video Thread for 7/20/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:32 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jul 202021

Glenn Kirschner – Defendant Hodgkins Receives Lenient Sentence. How Will It Impact Other Insurrection Prosecutions?

Thom Hartmann – GOP Killing Kids & Grandma to Own the Libs?

politicsrus hasn’t posted for a while, but now has three up. First: Smart campaigning is here

politicsrus #2: Make John Happy – looks old, but we can’t take these Senators for granted. And we need to keep then

Now This News – Police Use Bag of Chips to Save Stabbing Victim’s Life

Puppet Regime – Putin Has a Solution for US Democracy

Beau – Let’s talk about Legos, being your own worst enemy, and the Block 19…. From what Beau says, it apears Lego just made the Legos, and the kits were the brainchildren of (and assembled by) someone else.

Open Thread for July 20, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:53 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 202021

Here’s a personal opinion, with which anyone is welcome to disagree. I believe that the DOJ should research court records to determine the longest sentence that anyone has ever received for a conviction of a single count of possession if narijuana for persona l use Then, the sentence for Capitol rioters should all be at least one day longer then that. I’m pretty sure eight months doesn’t meet that criterion. It is, however, definitely better than nothing.

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Short Takes –

AP News – In step to shut Guantanamo, Biden transfers Moroccan home
Quote – Almost 800 detainees have passed through Guantanamo. Of the 39 remaining, 10 are eligible to be transferred out, 17 are eligible to go through the review process for possible transfer, another 10 are involved in the military commission process used to prosecute detainees and two have been convicted, a senior administration official said. The 10 eligible for transfer are from Yemen, Pakistan, Tunisia, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates.
About goddam time. Click though for story.

Reuters – France honours Rev. Jesse Jackson with the Legion d’Honneur
Quote – A political activist, minister, and former shadow U.S. senator for the District of Columbia representing the Democratic party, Jackson has been involved in civil rights activism since the 1960s, when he worked alongside Martin Luther King…. “From your earliest years, you were hungry for knowledge and justice, and you are a special friend of France, a brother for us,” Macron said in a solemn address at the Elysee palace.
Click through for a little more, including photo.

The 19th – Senate Democrats take fight to protect voting rights to Georgia
Quote – Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic head of the Senate Rules Committee, which oversees federal elections along with the chamber’s day-to-day procedures, said the panel decided to convene its first field hearing in more than 20 years in Georgia because its legislature passed an “egregious” restrictive voting law earlier this year. “We cannot keep our heads in the ground, you’ve got to go out there and see exactly what’s happening,” Klobuchar told The 19th ahead of the hearing.
Click through for details. It’s not guaranteed to work, but it is something. It can’t hurt.

Food for Thought:

There is a new book out about plants. The title is “This Is Your Mind on Plants.” The last name of the author is “Pollan.” Yes, you probably could make this up, but who would believe it?