Video Thread 6/28/21

 Posted by at 1:00 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jun 282021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Bill Barr’s Shocking Atlantic Interview Reveals Incriminating Evidence of Trump’s Corrupt Intent (Referring to oneself in the third person has a name – it’s called “illeism.” It is not exclusive to marcissists – far from it – but they, monarchs, and toddlers are probably the groups which use it the most.)

Meidas Touch – Joe Tripp – On other words, it’s not right v. left, it’s up v. down. Seriously – see The Political Compass. https://www.politicalcompass.org

CNN – Stelter: I watched Hannity’s show for a week. Here’s what I found. Political amnesia is real. If you don’t think so, that’s because you have it. (It can be slective.)

Rebel HQ – OK, funny, but the message is serious. And there will be people injured – there always are.

A different kind of blast from the past – an interview.

Dodo – Two Orphaned Baby Foxes Go Nuts When They Meet For The First Time

Beau – Let’s talk about DeSantis beating Trump….

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Open Thread for June 28, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 282021
 

I’m trying to get little smarter about finding the news,since letting it come to me is not always enough any more. We’ll see how it goes in the long run.  We can be glad Colleen is recovering even though the recovery is not yet complete.  I also heard from Carrie B last night, and she has a couple of spots on her face which she worries may be cancerous, and is stalled waiting for a referral to a dermatologist.  Prayers for her please.

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Short Takes –

Axios – Bill Barr on Trump’s election fraud claims: “It was all bullsh*t”
Quote – Barr said that Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had been urging him to speak out against Trump’s false claims since November but would not do so himself. McConnell did not want to upset Trump as he needed Trump to campaign in Georgia. “Look, we need the president in Georgia,” McConnell said, according to Barr. “And so we cannot be frontally attacking him right now. But you’re in a better position to inject some reality into this situation. You are really the only one who can do it.”
Click through for as much of this profile in cowardice as they are willing to print from a book not yet released

Insider – 14 years after a sexual assault in Tampa, a man has been charged with rape because he entered his own DNA into a genealogy database
Quote – DNA evidence was collected at the time but did not find any matches, and the case remained unsolved for more than a decade. In 2020, however, detectives revisited the case and began to search genealogy testing databases, including GEDmatch and FamilyTree, two services often used by people who are researching their ancestry, to find potential matches…. Florida was the first state to establish its own forensic genealogy unit in 2018. Similar units have since been created in California and Utah to solve cold cases.
Click through for more. I believe in giving credit where credit is due, even to Florida.

The Guardian – Rattlesnakes everywhere: the odd consequences of California’s drought
Quote – Surprisingly, disease-carrying mosquitoes, which most people associate with wet times rather than dry, thrive in cities during times of drought when waters recede and grow still. Webb explains that human-made structures like pipes, pits and ponds are prime spots for stagnant water to become a breeding ground for the insects. “Fish and other animals that live in these systems die and the mosquitoes have free rein”.
Click through for details, and a multitude of consequences, obviously, of climate change. And yet, some still deny it.

Food for Thought

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Video Thread 6/27/21

 Posted by at 1:00 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jun 272021
 

Glenn Kirschner – NY DA Vance to Indict Trump Org. Will this Inspire Other Jurisdictions to Finally Indict Trump? (I guess now we know what it takes to make Glenn be a smart-ass. “Tip of the Weisselberg” indeed.)

MSNBC covered multiple aspects of the Chauvin sentencing – TRMS – Judge Sends Message With Historic Prison Sentence For Derek Chauvin

Prosecutor In Chauvin Trial: ‘Sense Of Peace’ With Sentencing

MSNBC also paid considerable attention to the Trump** saga – TRMS – Increasing Pressure Threatens To Burst Trump Bubble With Potentially Concerning Fallout

NYT: Trump Admin. Considered Using Military On Floyd Protests – The 11th Hour

Expected Charges Against Trump Org. Are Far From ‘Minuscule’ – The Last Word

Corey Ryan Forrester – An important PSA…

Beau – Let’s talk about Biden’s plan for the interpreters and more…. This is (at least mostly) good news, but it comes with a cost. We owe Beau tthanks for the warning, and need to be ready.

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Open Thread for June 27, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 272021
 

Yesterday was strange – not that nothing happened around the nation and the world, but that so many of the things that did happen were so odd.  We can blame climate change for some of it, but not for all, certainly.  I think I remember that Colleen’s delayed surgery was for carpal tunnel or somethiing of the sort – if so, she may be recovering just fine but not feel up to commenting yet.  I hope that’s the case, but also hope to hear soon.

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Short Takes – News of the Weird today!

WFAA – ‘Once you see one, you’ll see another’: Have you seen one of these worms in your yard? They’re toxic. Here’s how you deal with them.
Quote – “The way this flatworm harms our ecosystem is it eats earthworms, which are necessary for our forests, our crops…our gardens to survive,” Morgan-Olvera said, “In order for it to digest earthworms, it secretes a chemical, or a neurotoxin, and that can cause an allergic reaction on your skin if you’re handling it.”
Click through for full story, including what – and what not – to do.

NBC News – Vehicles stuck on Detroit freeways after torrential downpour
Quote – [I]t was predicted that the city would get close to two inches of rain Friday night, but nearly seven inches fell. “The intensity of these storms exceeded the design standards for pump stations and combined sewer overflow facilities serving the Detroit region,” Brown said at a press conference on Saturday. There was so much rain that there was nowhere for the water to go, he explained, other than flooding streets and basements.
Click through for more. (But there’s no such thing as climate change. Right.)

NextShark – Australian Woman Who Woke Up From Surgery With Irish Accent May Be Stuck With It for Life
Quote – This week, Yen underwent a brain scan which confirmed “nothing wrong.” But she was diagnosed with Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS), a rare medical condition that may be triggered by neurological or psychological damage, according to speech pathologist Kirrie Ballard. “Foreign Accent Syndrome is a legitimate disorder. It’s described as a person’s speech changing, so that it sounds as though they’re speaking in a different accent to their habitual accent,” Ballard told 60 Minutes.
Click through for the story. Bizarre, but true. And it says a lot about how we humans treat each other – none of it good.

Food for Thought

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Video Thread 6/26/21

 Posted by at 1:00 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jun 262021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Giuliani Law License Suspended is Part 1 of Accountability: SDNY Criminal Investigation is Part 2

No Dem Left Behind – Hold Them Responsible

Armageddon Update – “Voting Wrongs”

Rebel HQ – Trump Fanatic Facing Extra Jail Time After GOP Law Backfires (Karma is quite a lady.)

Randy Rainbow has a Tribute Parody for Barbra Streisand – it’s not satirical, so I’m not embedding it, but I thought I’d provide the link for those who love Randy as much as I do (and as mush as he loves Barbra)

Otter Reaction to Popcorn Maker (trilingual CC) These little maniacs are pretty cute. No, we don’t domesticate otters in the US. But this isn’t in the US and these are not US otters.

Beau – Let’s talk about Texas building the wall on its own….

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Open Thread for June 26, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 262021
 

Colleen was expecting to get released after her surgery around 3 or 3:30 pm.  i’m hoping she did – but I also realize that there are many benign reasons whay that may not have happened.  My day here was quiet enough.  I hope everyone will be kind to b=me and overlook typos, duplications, and whatnot for a week starting monday, as the Met streams 7 American operas, one each day, for the week.  I’ll try not to slack off, but I may be a wee bit short on sleep by Sunday.

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Short Takes

The Hill – Department of Justice sues Georgia over voting law
Quote – The suit was announced alongside another initiative from the Justice Department to battle rising threats made against local election officials. A memo from Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco establishes a task force across the FBI, as well as DOJ’s criminal division, the civil rights division, and the national security division.
Click through for the full article.

The Hill – Chauvin sentenced to 22.5 years prison for murder of George Floyd
Quote – Per state guidelines, the maximum sentence for unintentional murder in the second degree is 40 years, but because Chauvin has no previous criminal record, the presumptive sentence is 12.5 years, with an acceptable deviation range of 10.67 years to 15 years. But because Cahill agreed with the prosecution’s aggravating factors motion, the judge had the discretion to increase the sentence.
Click through for more, and of course it’s also being reported elsewhere.

Politico – Graham: Biden made GOP look like ‘f—ing idiots’
Quote – “If he’s gonna tie them together, he can forget it!” Graham said. “I’m not doing that. That’s extortion! I’m not going to do that. The Dems are being told you can’t get your bipartisan work product passed unless you sign on to what the left wants, and I’m not playing that game.”
Click through if you don’t mind thir format which makes it a bit tough to be sure you’re still in the same article. (Personally, I’m all for any Dem who can make the GOP look like – what he said.)

Food for Thought

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Video Thread 6/25/21

 Posted by at 1:00 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Jun 252021
 

Glenn Kirschner – NY Court Suspends Rudy Giuliani’s Law License for Stream of “Uncontroverted” Lies About the Election

Lost Class – powerful. Background on how it was made  And a petition

This is a project which Amy McGrath is working on and promoting.

VoteVets – “Take Them Too” – I truly hope and pray this gets the attention it deserves in the circlles that need to see it – and act on it.

Rocky Mountain Mike – Treason Blues

Beau – Let’s talk about veterans getting what they deserve….

Beau II – Let’s talk about Giuliani’s license….. When Mitch berought this up yesterday, ne was accurate. But apparently others are jumping to conclusions (conclusions devoutly to be wished, but conclusions not happening.)

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Open Thread for June 25, 2021

 Posted by at 7:00 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jun 252021
 

I know all our thoughts are with Colleen, but there’s still some news too, and some commentary. Thank God It’s Friday. I guess.

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Short Takes

Washington Post – States across the country are dropping barriers to voting, widening a stark geographic divide in ballot access
Quote – Seventy-one new laws easing voting rules are poised to benefit 63 million eligible voters in 28 states, or about one-quarter of the U.S. voting population, according to the Voting Rights Lab report, which tracked policy changes as of June 13. Thirty-one new laws in 18 states create more barriers to the ballot box, affecting 36 million eligible voters, or 15 percent of the national voting population, the report stated. Legislative debates over restrictions are underway in key states such as Texas and Pennsylvania, leaving open the possibility that new limitations affecting millions more voters still will be enacted this year.
Click through if you don’t mind fighting a paywall. Bottom line, it’s somewhat bleak,but not all break.

CNN – Why Democrats were desperate to win Joe Manchin’s vote for an already-doomed election bill (opinion)
Quote – See, now all 50 Democrats will vote to move forward with election reform legislation and all 50 Republicans are expected to oppose that move, Democrats can then go to their base ahead of the coming 2022 midterms and say something like: Every single Democrat wanted to make elections more fair and open. And every single Republican stood in opposition to that effort.
Click through for full analysis. He may be right, or there may be more, but this theory falls in well with Auntie Maxine’s vide vote request.

Crooks and Liars – Ohio Republican Who Forged His Father’s Signature To Vote Twice Calls It ‘An Honest Mistake’
Quote – “It was there with a pile of other paperwork,” Snodgrass said of the absentee ballot. “I was sleep-deprived and not thinking clearly. But I’m not going to run away from it. I was simply trying to execute a dying man’s wishes,” he added, saying that it would be wrong to characterize what he did as “just Trump voter fraud.”
Click through for a little more. Sadly they must be saving his picture for the poster for IOKIYAAR.

Bonus Headline: Americans Shocked to Learn That Giuliani Had Law License (Borowitz) You can click through also.

Food for Thought

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