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Open Thread October 19, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 192023

Yesterday – actually the day before, but it was reported yesterday, a civil suit which the NAACP had filed in federal court against one Donald J. Trump** et al., for attempting to disenfranchise black voters, was reassigned – to Judge Tanya Chutkan. My, my. It really is normal to assgn cases with the same defendand in the same jurisdiction to the same judge. But it’s still very amusing.

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Short Takes –

Wonkette – Biden Campaign Joins Trump’s ‘Truth Social,’ Just To Be A [Troll]
Quote – The [Biden campaign regime] signed up using the “Dark Brandon” meme as their profile pic, and their first “truth” was “Well. Let’s see how this goes. Converts welcome!” They typed “Well.” for their first word. Just like that. They told Fox News Digital that they’re “meeting voters where they are.” There is no part of this that isn’t trolling. This didn’t cost them money. There is not one inbred moron on Truth Social the Biden campaign is truly seeking out as a voter. But sure, converts welcome!
Click through (to Substack) for details. “Let’s see how this goes” indeed. ROTFL.

The 19th – Women donors are underrepresented in fundraising for state elections. The impacts are wide-ranging.
Quote – It’s a nationwide phenomenon,” Sanbonmatsu said. “It is an important form of participation, and we do find large imbalances in how much money women and men are giving to politics — and it’s less visible than looking at voter turnout.” The share of all money raised from women donors was as low as 14 percent in Nebraska and 18 percent in Illinois, the report found. Colorado led the nation in this time period with 46 percent of all money raised coming from women donors, as it became the second state to elect a majority-woman legislature.
Click through for details – There are some (though I wish there were more.) Yes, I’m proud that Colorado is leading the way here. I also noticed that, in Colorado, if you look at women’s tosal donations as a percentage of men’s total donations, that figure is 85% Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that close to the figure which represents the wages women earn as a percentage of what men earn?

Food For Thought
For another opinion., click on the image. 😀

Open Thread October 18, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:06 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 182023

Yesterday, this paragraph was in the public radio newsletter: “Colorado said the bridge that collapsed near Pueblo in a fatal train derailment was owned by the railroad company, but the company says the state owns it.” It’s going to be a long wait. Sigh. “Photos and videos posted by authorities showed the partially collapsed bridge with the semi-truck caught beneath in the right lane. The images also show a pileup of train cars and wheels scattered across the scene and loads of coal covering a portion of the highway. Thirty-nine cars of the 124 being hauled derailed, the National Transportation Safety Board said.”

Also, my ballot arrived. I already knew how I wanted to vote on the two issues, but there is also a school board election. Five candiedates. Two vacancies. At least this time Ballotpedia came through on a couple of them (one yes, one no) and another candidate ‘s name was unusual enough that just her name brought up that she’s registered D. So I had two that I could vote for, and did. The other two should have filled out the questionnaires.

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Short Takes –

John Pavlovitz – The One Place to Stand in The Israel-Palestine Violence
Quote – As a person of faith, morality, and conscience, I don’t know where to stand in times like these—other than with squandered, brutalized life. That means I don’t get off so easy as to be able to make a tidy little declaration and walk away feeling good about myself. It means I have to leave the shallows of ambiguity and into deep waters of nuance and history and human nature. It means I have to read and learn, to listen and reflect, to pray and wrestle. It means I’ll end up with fewer answers and more questions and I might be sick to my stomach. But this place of staring at the ugly unfigureoutable is where I am, where many of us are.
Click through for full secular sermon – which is what I found it to be. Yes, John is a pastor, but he does his best to speak to everyone, and often succeeds. I think he succeeds here.

Colorado Public Radio – Navy honors sailor who helped stop Club Q shooting
Quote – During a ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 5, Rear Adm. Scott Robertson, director of Plans, Policy and Strategy for North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command, presented the medal on behalf of the Navy…. “I myself can only hope that I would channel the courage in our Navy core values like he did,” Robertson said. “But, we don’t have to wait for crisis to apply core values. We can and should apply them every day. That’s what I am taking away from the lessons you taught us all.”
Click through for full story. This is a week or more old – I saved it until Pat got back. Thank God Tommy Tuberville didn’t have his way before this occurred – it could have been much worse.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 17, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:50 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 172023

Yesterday, I received confirmation for my visit to Virgil. I also learned that, on Monday, a train derailed on I-25 “near Pueblo” and that I-25 is closed indefinitely. I looked deeper and discovered that in this case, “near Pueblo” means at about exit 106, and that, when it derailed, it took a railroad bridge with it, dumping the bridge remnants onto the interstate. I normally use the interstate from Exit 128 to Exit 99, so I expect to need an alternate route. (I suppose I can be grateful the train didn’t explode.) I’ve been looking at road maps, and it’s pretty clear that the safest route which I can depend on it being there is via Cañon City. Virgil was in Cañon City for a few montjhs last year, so I know the route, or most of it, and the part I don’t know is US 50, so it should be well marked. An extra half hour should probably do it. Of course that also means I’ll be home later than usual, so please don’t worry. I’ll do my best to be extra oprganized in advance as much as possible so I don’t have to cut into sleep time.

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Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Dad of Palestinian Boy Stabbed 26 Times in Chicago Reveals Last Words (hanky alert)
Quote – The Chicago landlord suspected of stabbing a Palestinian-American six-year-old 26 times had a “good” relationship with the boy and her mother before the killing, the child’s father told The Daily Beast on Sunday…. “[Wadea Al-Fayoume, the boy] “He is an angel. Basically a small angel in the form of a person. To this minute, I cannot believe how this could have happened,” the father, Oday El-Fayoume, told The Daily Beast. “My ex-wife and son knew him, and they had a good relationship. It is hard to picture this man holding a knife about to stab my son. I keep thinking that my son was probably running towards him before getting stabbed, trying to give him a hug.”
Click through for story – which you probably have heard, since it is egregious, so it’s all over. I should also provide a barf bag alert, because I can already hear the gun crazies yelling, “See! See! Guns aren’t the problem!”

The 19th – This Latinx geologist and TV show host is disrupting stereotypes of who can be a scientist
Quote – On a sunny day, perched on slanted beige rocks of the San Andreas Fault line, Michelle Barboza-Ramirez is dressed in a white sun hat, with retro sunglasses and dangly flower earrings, discussing how plate tectonics transformed the Los Angeles landscape as the camera rolls. “Take a look behind you. These rocks are tilted. Like hella tilted,” they tell Blake de Pastino, a fellow host of the popular PBS show “Eons.” The camera pans to the background. “If you didn’t know anything about geology, you’d see them and you’d be like, ‘Wow, that’s so weird that these rocks formed sideways.’” This conversational tone makes Barboza-Ramirez, who is a paleontologist and geologist, relatable to viewers.
Click through for article. Don’t get confused that Barboza-Ramirez’s pronouns are they/their. There is actually only one of them. (Not that there shouldn’t be more – Latinx scientists, that is.)

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 16, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:05 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 162023

Yesterday was one of those days I just couldn’t seem to get ahead. Sometimes that happens – but it doesn’t give me a lot to talk about, nor time to talk in. Not being Seinfeld, or one of his writers, I can’t really get any content out of it. Maybe that’s not a bad thing.

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Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – GOP Activist Who Couldn’t Wait For RBG To Die Shoots Wife, Kills Self
Quote – Fun fact: Alembik first received national attention after he tweeted that “Ruth Bader Ginsburg can’t die soon enough,” and of course, now he’s dead…. I’m glad his wife was not killed. Btw, we need common sense gun laws. Everyone in his orbit seemed to know that he was struggling with mental health issues — and he had a gun. In fact, he had a concealed carry permit, or at least he did in 2007
Click through for story. Personally, I”m wondering what’s wrong with people who said he was always smiling. That’s not a smile. (Not to be confused with “alembic,” which was a medieval Arabian still used in alchemy.)

Western Slope Now – Ouray’s new via ferrata!
Quote – A via ferrata is a protected mountain pathway consisting of a series of rungs, rails, cables, and bridges embracing the rock face…. the via ferratas became a civilian attraction in Europe by the 1950’s and have moved into the USA only within the last decade…. This course climbs 1200 feet across 12 pitches, with trails intermixed between.
Click through for details. Yes this article is lightweight. That’s fine with me. Ouray, named for a Ute chief, is an adorable little town, sadly in a very red part of Colorado. There’s a small hotel where Lillie Langtry once stayed. The website has a short video which includes some lovely scenery.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 14, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:51 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 142023

Yesterday, I got to thinking that a House of Representatives with no Speaker, at a time when we have no budget, and have our foreign policy focused on the Middle East shooting war, is pretty damned convenient for Russia. Ukraine is holding strong so far, but there’s going to come a point when it will need resources badly. Is anyone investigating, or contemplating investigating, Matt Gaetz for being a Russian agent? Yes, I know he’s a pedophile and is himself intellectually and emotionally an adolescent (and will probably never grow up.) But that doesn’t mean he can’t be useful to Russia. Au contraire. See the Food for Thought below.

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The Root – What In The Actual Hell: CVS Abortion Med Mixup Led To Black Woman’s IVF Termination
Quote – [Timika] Thomas and her husband had trouble getting pregnant and after two ectopic pregnancies, Thomas had to have her fallopian tubes removed. Even though their insurance didn’t cover IVF, they decided to do it and pay out of pocket anyway. Thomas’ doctor prescribed a vaginal suppository to replace the injections required to jumpstart her hormones. After taking two of her required doses, she immediately knew something was wrong…. “They just killed my baby. Both my babies, because I transferred two embryos,” [Thomas said.]
Click through for story. This would be unacceptable, no matter how the pregnancy occurred, but for an IVF pregnancy it’s exponentially worse. IVF is expensive, so expensive that it’s a last resort among fertility treatmernts. It often doesn’t “take” for multiple attempts. The best analogy I can come up with is – one is like you studued and worked hard, took the SAT or whateve they are using, sweat blood over your essay, and got turned down. the other is like you decided when you were five you wanted to go to a particular college and started saving monet from your allowance and odd jobs. You applied in your seniot year of high school and wewre turned down. You alloied in the first year after graduation and were turned down again. the second and third year after graduation you applied again and were turned down both times. Finally, in the fourth year after graduation, you applied and were accepted. Two days before freshman orientation the college burned down.

PolitiZoom – Anti-WOKE: Even Your Name Can Get Book Banned
Quote – Imagine if you will having had a successful career as a children’s book author. Your work has been widely acclaimed, published in a dozen languages and you’ve won lots of awards. Your work includes several series including a pair of them about siblings – one from the perspective of a little girl named Stella and the other from her little brother named Sam. The Stella series which ran from 1999 to the last book about Stella and Sam building a doghouse was published in 2013. including one about the adventures of a little girl named Stella and her brother…. Does the book delve into topics that might, only might mind you raise “content” questions about whether topics like human sexuality or race relations or religion are “age appropriate?” Nope, as I’ve stated it’s about a pair of siblings building a dog house. So by now you’re wondering why the hell this book wound up on a “we’ve got to BAN these books from the library” list in the first place. The author’s name is Mary-Louise GAY.
Click through for article. Yes, compared to the first short take, this is small potatoes indeed. But it still hurts people. And the people most harmed are among the most vulnerable.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 13, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:59 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 132023

Yesterday, Jim Jordan threw his support behind Steve Scalise, and a vote of the full House was held. The result was Scalise 113 to Jordan 99 (That adds up to 212, which, coincidentally, was the exact number of votes cast for Jeffries.) I am no fan of Scalise (except maybe = MAYBE – as compared to Gym Jordan) but he is at least predictable. Jordan and other MAGAts, you never know what cockamamie idea they will come up with nect – nor even whether they’re serious about it or just being outrageous. Planning is next to impossible. And then, after all that, Scalise dropped oout of the race! Also yesterday, the jury reached a verdict in the case of the two officers charged in the death of Elijah McClain (the forst of three trials for five defendants). From CPR: “One Aurora police officer was found guilty on Thursday for his role in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain. Randy Roedema has been convicted on the lesser charges of criminally negligent homicide and assault in the third degree. The other officer on trial, Jason Rosenblatt, was found not guilty.”

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Short Takes –

Daily Beast – North Carolina Republicans Are Creating a ‘Secret Police Force’
Quote – This new entity, formally known as the Joint Legislative Committee on Government Operations, or “Gov Ops” for short, will be chaired by Senate Leader Phil Berger (R) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R). It grants the state the authority to investigate various matters, including “possible instances of misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, mismanagement, waste, abuse, or illegal conduct.” Gov Ops, a product of North Carolina’s most recent state budget, was established via a comprehensive bill passed in late September. Despite Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s refusal to sign the legislation, the Republican majority in the state legislature pushed it through just 10 days later, thanks to their veto-proof majority and the state’s laws restricting the governor’s ability to make line-item vetoes. Gov Ops is slated to take effect next week.
Click through for more. I have fond memories of North Carolina from when I was stationed there. This kind of thing just sinks them as the iceberg sank the Titanic.

Atlanta Black Star – ‘Want to Go In … Start Flipping Over Desks’: Kamala Harris’ Supporters Race to Her Defense After Anonymous Staffer Criticizes Vice President for the ‘Amount of Time Dedicated to Hair Care’
Quote – According to The New York Times Magazine, Democrats have also insulted Harris and questioned her skill set. A top Democratic consultant reportedly claimed that the vice president “has a little Ron DeSantis in her.” Another Democrat donor said that Harris serving as the vice president “is not ideal, but there’s a hope she can rise to the occasion” as Biden’s running mate. One particularly petty microaggression revealed in the article noted the amount of time that the country’s first Black vice president spends grooming her hair. “Sometimes the arguments against her feel more petty,” said the article. “A member of Harris’ staff remarked on the amount of downtime the vice president schedules on trips, which includes an inordinate amount of time dedicated to hair care.”
Click through for full article. All of this is petty, and IMO clearly more misgynistic than racist. 2016 should have taught us that Democratic misogyny is a force which is powerful, and which needs to be considered if we don’t want to lose our democracy. But no one wants to hear that. I find it terribly painful that some of the finest minds and greatest talents in the nation are not electable. But I find the prospect of living in 1984 Orwell – or 1930’s and 40’s Stalin – or Russia or Iran today even more painful. Another lesson we should have learned even longer ago – this one as long ago as Reconstruction – is that bigotry cannot be eradicated by ignoring it or denying it exists.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 12, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:59 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 122023

Yesterday, a little-known conversation from many years ago (which was recently quoted by Steve Schmidt) popped up in my mind to haunt me. I can’t say it any better then Steve did, so I’ll quote him: “There is an extraordinary account of a late night meeting that took place between FDR and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in the White House from Nigel Hamilton’s “FDR at War“ trilogy. The two leaders talked late into the night. King returned to his room and wrote down the details of the conversation. FDR outlined to King his vision for what would come after victory in World War II. He said something chilling from the perspective of 2023. He said that nothing lasts forever, and that included his vision for the future. He told King that he hoped it would endure for as long as everyone who was alive on the day the war was won was still alive. The youngest of those people are 77 years old today.” Well, I am 78, and I’m still here. So is Mitch, whio is a bit older. The rest of us who think here are younger (as was TC). I wish all of us long lives free of world war. Also yesterday, Steve Scalise defeated Jim Jordan to be the nominee for speaker. We shall see whether Republicans can come together on this or any nominee. Oh, and The New Yorker had an article on dizziness/vertigo in their daily newsletter. I haven’t had any symptoms for months, but I “printed” it anyway (to my C drive for now – I’ll copy to a portable hard drive eventually.)

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The Daily Beast – ‘Violence-Ready’ Militia Group Says Jan. 6’ers are Idiots
Quote – A male-only movement in the U.S. dressed up as a sports club catering to white men is taking over the right-wing social scene—and promising some dangerous results…. The clubs advertise as sporting groups designated for white-only men, but their real objective, Ritzmann tells The New Abnormal, “is to essentially train a white supremacist militia.”… [Ritzmann] says “Day X” could look similar to the events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, but adds of the rioters, “they have [been] discussed as being a bunch of idiots who don’t know how to storm a building properly. And they discuss this in a, let’s say, indirect way, because they don’t want law enforcement to focus on them.”
Click through for details. The podcast the article references is also on the page,. and I listened to the whole thing so you wouldn’t have to. The part which expands on the artile starts at approximately 18:40 and ends at 36:35. I also encourage anyone who has not seen Rachel Maddow’s podcast “Ultra” to look it up (and everyone who has seen it to refresh their memory.) It was not easy then to bring America together to oppose fascism, and it won’t be easy now. When I said we needed Joe Biden to be another FDR this was not what I had in mind. But apparently, it comes with the territory.

Jeff Tiedrich – holy shit, Donald Trump gave classified Israeli intel to Putin — probably more than once
Quote – let’s take a closer look at a thing I mentioned at the end of yesterday’s post. Donald Trump fucking loves to collude with Russia. Trump desperately wants to be Vladimir’s bestie. he does everything he can to stay in Putin’s good graces. why? is it because Donny dreams of opening a Trump Tower in Moscow? is it something more insidious, like kompromat? in the end, it doesn’t matter. what matters is that Donald Trump is a Russian asset.
Click through for article. Yes, Jeff has a pottymouth, but he tends to be accurate in both facts and interpretation.

Food For Thought

Open Thread October 11, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Oct 112023

Yesterday, I had calmed down some and thought maybe I was cool enough to address the Middle East war – though still not in my own words. I’m going to give you three articles without comment. One of them appears to be on Substack – it doesn’t exactly say so, but the quote function it uses looks like Substack’s. At least the clicking to continue is not too onerous – certainly less so than YouTube has become. While I was putting it together, my keyboard – um -started pining for the fjords -I tried new batteries, but no luck. So I’ll be getting a new one. I may be able to find a corded one I can use as a temp. The on-screen one is not that much slower, but it obscures part of the screen. Update – I found it. It’s laid out a bit funny but it works. And as a postscript – George Santos was hit with 23 new charges, including identity theft.

Cartoon – Number 2 of 4.

Short Takes –

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/09/israel-war-hamas-benjamin-netanyahu-government
The Guardian – We feel fear, anger and helplessness: all of Israel is in a state of war. But revenge is not the answer
Quote – Here in Jerusalem, we are trying to hold on to the hope that Hamas won’t launch missiles towards the city due to its proximity to al-Aqsa mosque, but the general anxiety still lingers. Schools have been closed, as have all businesses, and very few people are on the streets. Those who don’t have to, do not leave their homes. On Saturday night, after hours of anxious staring at the television and social media, my daughter was panicked by the fear that Hamas militants, armed and still inside Israeli territory, might make their way to Jerusalem and attack us in our home. Only after a thorough tour of the public shelters in the neighbourhood did she calm down slightly and manage to fall asleep.

https://www.dogshirtdaily.com/p/how-not-to-respond-to-a-terrorist
Dog Shirt Daily – How Not to Respond to a Terrorist Attack
Quote – The reason I don’t write about Israeli-Palestinian matters much is that the more time I have spent with them, the less I think I have anything useful to say on the subject. The process of spending time with the actual conflict has humbled me to the point that I am these days much more interested in asking questions than I am in making pronouncements. I am much more interested in conveying information than I am in telling people what I think—when I even know what I think, which is increasingly infrequent.

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/how-israel-was-duped-hamas-planned-devastating-assault-2023-10-08/
Reuters – How Hamas duped Israel as it planned devastating attack
Quote – A careful campaign of deception ensured Israel was caught off guard when the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched its devastating attack, enabling a force using bulldozers, hang gliders and motorbikes to take on the Middle East’s most powerful army. Saturday’s assault, the worst breach in Israel’s defences since Arab armies waged war in 1973, followed two years of subterfuge by Hamas that involved keeping its military plans under wraps and convincing Israel it did not want a fight. While Israel was led to believe it was containing a war-weary Hamas by providing economic incentives to Gazan workers, the group’s fighters were being trained and drilled, often in plain sight, a source close to Hamas said.

Food For Thought

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