Politics Plus

Yesterday I woke up, logged in, and realized the Open Thread had not published when I wanted it to because I had a typographical error in the schedule. Sorry to all. I’ll try to proofread better! Otherwise, the day went fine.

Cartoon – blood wedding

Short Takes –

Fascist Goons Disrupt Katie Porter Town Hall, Welcome To Post-January 6 GOP Politics
Quote – Yes, she ran toward the trouble to protect people. She’s even a hero when she doesn’t have her white board handy. Porter told MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell Monday night that she was worried for the safety of a couple of attendees “who were using walkers, who couldn’t move out of the way,” and that she simply wanted to be sure they weren’t knocked over while police were on the way.
Click through for details and for a short video from Lawrence O’Donnell. Katie is a superb negotiator. But no one can negotiate with these – people. Holding back tears of anger.

Daily Beast – Lego Tells U.S. Company to Stop Making Gun That Looks Like Child’s Toy
Quote – Culper Precision of Utah has been producing a pistol that looks like a kid’s toy made of Lego blocks, saying that its “Glock 19” weapon was made to show people that firearms are “for everyone” and that shooting things is “SUPER FUN!”
Click through for more, including actual photo and link to Washington Post. Unbelievable.

The Hill – US to evacuate Afghans who assisted US military
Quote – Flights out of Afghanistan for those who are already in the process of obtaining special immigrant visas (SIVs) will start in the last week of July, a senior administration official said in a statement.
Click through for what details are available. We knew this was going to be done, but there were no details available, and only a few now, but it’s clear the dates have been moved up.

Food for Thought (probably not true. I have changed a little bit – but not much – possibly not even all in the same direction.):

I was very lacking in energy yesterday, and didn’t get much done. But now that I don’t have any impending doom (in the form of communication outage or inability to get to my vccinaton) hanging over my head, that’s OK. I can go slowly. There are a lot of “things” (you know, “stuff”)  accumulated in my work space, many of which got migrated to extremely inconvenient places while I was attempting to deal with my internet outage, and all of those will have to either be returned to where they live or relocated somewhere else. But I don’t need to hurry, or to stress. I don’t think the lack of energy is a reaction to the shot (it might be a reaction to the stress lifting, but I kind of doubt even that.) In any case, I’m here, with news and later with videos.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Hill – Missouri becomes ground zero for COVID-19 battle
Quote – Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) this week slammed the White House over its door-to-door vaccination campaign in underserved communities, which is part of the administration’s efforts to deal with outbreaks in hot spot areas…. Parson pushed back on the Biden administration’s door-to-door coronavirus vaccination strategy, arguing that it was not a “welcome strategy.”
Click through for the story. I’m not trying to throw shade. But I want Nameless to be well and stay well.

Law & Crime – Capitol Siege Defendant Who Allegedly Wanted to Hang Nancy Pelosi Claimed to Be in Court ‘By Special Divine Appearance’
Quote – “Bring them out,” Bauer allegedly said when recorded by body cam footage from the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. “We want them out here…You bring them out or we’re coming in. Bring them out now. They’re criminals. They need to hang. Bring her out. Bring Nancy Pelosi out here now. We want to hang that fucking bitch. Bring her out. We’re coming in if you don’t bring her out. What are you trying to protect a fucking Nazi. Is that what you’re protecting?”
Click through for bizarre details. Aother example of why self-representing is a bad idea.

Reuters – Billionaire Branson soars to space aboard Virgin Galactic flight
Quote – Reaching its high-altitude launch point at about 46,000 feet, the VSS Unity passenger rocket plane was released from the mothership and fell away as the crew ignited its rocket, sending it streaking straight upward at supersonic speed to the blackness of space some 53 miles (86 km) high. The spaceplane’s contrail was clearly visible from the ground as it soared through the upper atmosphere, to the cheers of the crowd below. At the apex of the climb with the rocket shut down, the crew then experienced a few minutes of microgravity, before the spaceplane shifted into re-entry mode, and began a gliding descent to a runway back at the spaceport. The entire flight lasted about an hour.
Click through for story. Science has more or less arbitrarily decided that the 50-mile mark is where being up in the sky officially becomes “space.” One could argue, but I’m pretty sure that 50 miles is substantially farther than any measurable atmosphere extends. In any cas, that was Sir Richard’s mark, and he slightly exceeded it, and was the first to do so. Hey, better him than Jeff Bezos (though I grant Bezos was gracious about it.)

Food for Thought