Personal – Page 139 – Politics Plus

Open Thread March 10, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:55 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 102023

Yesterday, I did more work on cartoons. I had planned to get this done earlier, and then stuff happened, so now I’m kind of on deadline. I finished through the 15th, and, since there was only one more to go (the 29th), I finished it also. I’m not even going to look at April before next week sometime – bu it’s less sressful on me if I get them worked out well in advance.

Cartoon – 10 0310Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – McConnell Brandishes Inspirational Letter From Capitol Police Chief, Joins Schumer In Denouncing Fox News
Quote – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Tucker Carlson’s whitewashing of the Capitol insurrection was a “mistake.” “My concern is how it was a depicted … Clearly, the chief of the Capitol Police … correctly describes what most of us witnessed firsthand on January 6th.”
Click through for story. Obviously this happened before he fell – and you know at least some MAGAts are going to claim that his fall was retribution for this. I think not.

Crooks & Liars – Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Is About Abortion Rights
Quote – When the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe vs Wade, the State of Wisconsin immediately reverted to an abortion ban that was passed in 1849. This law is so old and archaic and so poorly written, it is practically unenforceable. It is also all but guaranteed to come before the Wisconsin Supreme Court at some point in time. This naturally makes it the top issue in the upcoming election for an open seat on the state supreme court.
Click through for details. I don’t like the idea of electing judges, but it is what it is. Janet Protasiewicz, the progressive, was the top vote getter in an3-way open primary, BUT she received only a plurality, not a majority, and the third place (loser) is throwing support to the second place MAGAt. So this is not only important, but also precarious.

Food For Thought

Open Thread March 9, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:40 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 092023

Yesterday, I slept late but woke up refreshed. In my emails, I found one from Lakota Law about a Two-Spirit Powwow held lastmonth in the San Francisco Bay Area. Unfortunately, there’s really nothing to link to, but I put up a remoinder for myself for (I hope) early enough next year that I will be able to find it and share links to live streaming. I also worked on some cartoons coming up

Added today at about 10:45 am Pacific – Mitch McConnell has been hospitalized following a fall at a DC hotel. Per a McConnell spokesman: “This evening [now last evening – JD], Leader McConnell tripped at a local hotel during a private dinner. He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment.”

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – Greed needs guardrails!
Quote – The Labor Department is still woefully understaffed, and penalties are still too low. Every time the department’s budget is up for review, members of Congress — mostly (but not entirely) Republicans — refuse to appropriate enough funds for inspectors or to increase penalties. So of course migrant children coming into the United States, fleeing violence and poverty, have ended up in dangerous jobs. In Delaware, Mississippi, and North Carolina, young children are working in slaughterhouses. In Michigan, young children are making auto parts used by Ford and General Motors. In Virginia, girls as young as 13 are washing hotel sheets. In Florida and Tennessee, 12-year-olds are doing roofing jobs. In South Dakota, children are sawing planks of wood on overnight shifts.
Click through for full argument – not that we don’t already kniw this, and know why, but he does say things so well.

Mother Jones – Inside the Secret Working Group That Helped Push Anti-Trans Laws Across the Country
Quote – The emails demonstrate close collaboration between groups working behind the scenes to push bills banning transgender health care, including [Alliance Defending Freedom]—which has defended state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people in Europe—and the ACPeds—which has opposed adoption by gay couples and supported conversion therapy for LGBTQ youth. In recent years, ADF has drafted legislation banning trans children from using school restrooms or playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity. (Both groups are also staunchly anti-abortion; ADF, which drafted the Mississippi abortion ban at the heart of the case that overturned Roe v. Wade, is currently representing ACPeds in a closely-watched lawsuit to ban an abortion pill, mifepristone, nationally.)
Click through for story. Back in the late seventies, when I was in my early 30’s and Bishop of Pueblo Charles Buswell was in his late 60’s, I met him as an informal gathering at my local church. Bishop Buswell was a truly good man (something which cannot be said about all bishops) and also a truly humble man (also rare – it’s easy to get caught up in all the ritual observabces and start believing one’s own PR.) I was chatting with him and the subject of transgender came up (at that time Trinidad, CO was about the only place in the country that a transgender could get gender-affirming treatment at all, and that was not as advanced as it is today.) He mentioned that a priest he had ordained, I don’t know how long prior, was transgender and the Bishop had released her and she had been treated in Trinidad. He then said, “I believe that in such cases the soul of a woman has been born into the body of a man,” and I replied, “That is my understanding too.” He grinned and said, “Well then, our diocese deserves the credit for having ordained the first woman priest.” He seemed qquite proud of that (as he had a right to be.) He died in 2008 (he would have been 95.) We need more like him – but I’m kind of glad he didn’t live to see all of this hatred.

Food For Thought

Personal Update March 8, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:57 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 082023

Yesterday, I decided whuch urgent care to visit, and went there – unfortunately I ended up walking completely around the building before finding the right door. I didn’t have to wait long. The doctor thought maybe a lipoma, maybe an abcess (I don’t think it’s an abcess – for one thing it’s not hot enough and for another all the abcesses I have seen [granted mostly in cats] hurt more constantly. This spot hasn’t hurt to speak of since last week at this time.) She sent me for an ultrasound and drew a line around the spot, which endeared her to the ultrasound tech (the spot today is the shape of a grand piano lid, except that the distance from thr bottom line nearest the keys to the rounded top is only 4 cm – less than 2″ (Last week this time it was about the size and shape of a standard playing card with the corners rounded off – seems it only increases in size when pain is present.) He did not find any fluid or underlying mass, so it’s still a mystery. I did just manage to pick up my prescription on the way home, and still get home – well, a couple of minutes after sunset, but with almost a half hour of “civil twilight” to spare. But I was exhausted. I have put up a half-sized video thread, using just videos where I have more than one in the queue from the source, in order not to get too behind or have to cut something good. Otherwise, see y’all tomorrow.

Cartoon –

Open Thread March 7, 2023

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

Mar 072023

Yesterday, I got the email that my prescription is ready, and the verdict from my doctor that (he doesn’t know either, and the) I should stop by an urgent care facility and have them look. So today I will be doing that. So, today, I have a couple of unusual articles, and tomorrow, there may be only a personal update, or maybe a personal updant and a video thread – those are a little easier to put together than the Open Threads. Oh, and I also got the confirmation to visit Virgil this coming Sunday.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Mother Jones – Finally, a Peek Into the Arctic Seed Vault That Could Save Humanity
Quote – The Global Seed Vault in the Norwegian Arctic, which opened in 2008, is closed to the public and shrouded in mystery, the subject of numerous internet doomsday conspiracy theories. Now, to celebrate the vault’s 15th anniversary, everyone is invited on a virtual tour to see inside the vast collection of tubers, rice, grains, and other seeds buried deep in the mountain behind five sets of metal doors. The deep-freeze, designed to last forever, is co-managed by the Norwegian government, the Crop Trust and NordGen, the genebank of the Nordic countries. The seeds could hold answers to agricultural challenges posed by climate crisis, invasive species, pests, changes in rainfall patterns and rampant biodiversity loss are studied, and it opens three times a year to accept new deposits from other seed banks around the world. Scientists say they hope people will learn more about their work through the virtual tour—without running the risk of falling prey to a polar bear.
Click through for story, and for the link to the tour, which is over the words “invited on a virtual tour to see inside the vast” – not highlighted, but there is a thin red underline.

Justice News – Readout of Attorney General Merrick B. Garland’s Trip to Ukraine
Quote – At the Opening Session of the conference, the Attorney General provided remarks in which he discussed, among other things, the Justice Department’s role in collaborating with the Ukrainian Prosecutor General and the moral and personal responsibility he feels in pursuing accountability. “Just over twelve months ago, invading Russian forces began committing atrocities at the largest scale in any armed conflict since the Second World War. We are here today in Ukraine to speak clearly, and with one voice: the perpetrators of those crimes will not get away with them,” said Attorney General Garland.
Click through for this news. I had no idea this happened while it was happening (not that anyone did outside of those with a need to know), but I’m glad it did. The meing included Ukrainian and Polish law enforcement, and possibly others. The print is very small – instead of using the magnifier, since there was so much of it, I copied the text ans pasted it into a blank document where I could adjust the font size.

Food For Thought

From 2021, but very pertinent

Open Thread March 6, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:49 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 062023

Yesterday, I was looking through videos for the video thread. Beau has been really hot lately, but I can’t share all of his because he’s doing 3-4 a day now and I wouldn’t have room for anything else. So I’m going to briefly sharethe information from one here. Last month, the 18th-19th, there was a “revival” in Kentucky (he didn’t specify, but “revival” sounds like Talibangelicals) and apparently someone who was there had an active case of measles. The possibility exists of new cases popping up just about everywhere in the US. I’m sure no one who reads here was there, and y’all already stay away from Talibangelicals, but it might be harder to avoid people who don’t systematically avoid Talibangelicals. The incubation period is 21 days, which would be March 11 or 12 (but of course anyone who caught it during that time frame would then have their own 21-day period.) If you ever go anywhere, or live with anyone who does, or have guests, check your immunizations and please be careful.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Letters From An American – March 3, 2023
Quote – Today (March 3) the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee demonstrated that they will actively fight back against Republicans’ false narratives…. Rather than permit them to establish a false narrative, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), and the top Democrat on the weaponization subcommittee, Stacey Plaskett (D-Virgin Islands), today released a deeply researched and footnoted 316-page report that shreds the Republicans’ story…. In a section of the report titled “An Analysis of Witness Testimony Shows That Committee Republicans Are Working to Advance a Politically Motivated Messaging Campaign Unsupported by the Evidence,” Nadler and Plaskett show how the witness testimony directly rebutted the Republicans’ talking points. Under examination, the witnesses disproved that the Department of Justice was trying to pad its case numbers regarding domestic violent extremism, that it had diverted resources from child abuse cases to pursue January 6 offenders, and that the FBI had overreacted to threats of violence against school administrators and local political officials, all Republican talking points.
Click through for more good refuting of bad and ugly. I am for statehood for Puerto Rico and DC, but danf, maybe the Virgin Islands first. Stacey Plaskett needs and deserves a VOTE in the House. And we need her.

Crooks and Liars – 58 Years Later, Black Vietnam War Hero Gets His Medal Of Honor
Quote: [Biden] continued, “And although the men who were with him on that June day immediately nominated Captain Davis to receive the Medal of Honor, somehow the paper — the paperwork was never processed, not just once, but twice. But, you know what Captain Davis said after learning that he would finally receive the Medal of Honor? Quote, ‘America was behind me.'”
Click through for more detail. I have read that he was named after Paris in the Iliad. I feel that Davis was a FAR better soldier than Paris – but it’s complicated, and Paris did, in a way, get the “last laugh.”

Food For Thought

Open Thread March 5, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:54 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 052023

Yesterday, the radio opera was “La Favorita,” by Donizetti. It is from way, way back (although new enough to have pretty good sound; it’s not as old as, say Caruso), as were all the historic broadcasts offered from which to pick the “Listeners’ Choice.” Pavarotti is in it, as is Shirley Verrett (one of my favorites.) I voted, but I don’t remember for what – my preference was not that strong. Now, if one of them had been”The GreatGatsby,” from1/1/2000 … but it wouldn’t have won. Sigh. Back on topic – the “favorite” is a royal mistress who has now fallen in love with a former monk who has become a soldier in the army of the king whose mistress she is. That’s complicated enough, but just to make if more interesting, the king’s queen is the daughter of the father superior of the monastery which the favorite’s new love has just left (not amicably.) A setup like that is not going to end happily, but then, it’s opera. Even Bugs Bunny knew operas don’t end happily. Some of the characters are historical people, others not so much. The time is the mid-1300s and the king is Alfonso XI of Castile (who did exist.) I guess i should add here that my side pains are pretty much non-existent today … I just haven’t made up the energy loss yet.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Expert Spells Out How Russians Bought The Republican Party
Quote – But the Russian scheme to pick our political leaders went much, much deeper than Trump, according to Dr. Ruth May. A Professor of Global Business at the University of Dallas and an expert on Russia, her expertise includes the reversal of market-based institutions in Russia under Vladimir Putin, and exposing Russia’s attack on our American democracy in the 2016 presidential election.
Click through for article and a video. I would have liked a little more detail, particularly since there’s not really anything we didn’t know. Dr. May is highly credentialed, so I don’t doubt that due diligence has been done here, but it’s not really visible.

ProPublica – 94 Women Allege a Utah Doctor Sexually Assaulted Them. Here’s Why a Judge Threw Out Their Case.
Quote – It was years, Mateer said, before she learned that her experience was in a sharp contrast to the conduct called for in professional standards, including that doctors use only their fingertips during a breast exam and communicate clearly what they are doing in advance, to gain the consent of their patient. Eventually, she gave her experience another name: sexual assault. Utah judges, however, have called it health care. And that legal distinction means Utahns like Mateer who decide to sue a health care provider for alleged sexual abuse are treated more harshly by the court system than plaintiffs who say they were harmed in other settings.
Click through for details. I try to give hanky alerts and trigger alerts – but this one needs a blood pressure alert.

Food For Thought

Open Thread March 4, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:41 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 042023

I have been so disorganized lately that I have not gotten around to sharing this website, not a new one, but one which has finally clicked for me: More Perfect Union. The name, of course, evokes the Constitution. But the “Union” they have in mnd in their name is a reference to labor unions. Their offerings include a YouTube channel called “The Class Room” with presentations which are sort of like TED talks garnished with documentary clips, only a little bit shorter. Notice that it’s not spelled “Classroom” but “Class Room.” tha “class” to which they are referring is not an academic class, but social class, as in Class Wars.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Trump Ordered Meadows To Leak Classified Docs To Discredit Adversaries
Quote – Brad Moss, an attorney specializing in national security law, explained to me: “Anything Trump had in his possession that was still classified and that he gave to a reporter or anyone else unauthorized to receive it, after 12:01 pm on January 21, 2021, was unlawful as a legal matter.” I’m sure this isn’t the only instance of Trump committing a felonious act with classified documents.
Click through for article. You can also click through to his source, Murray Waas, for a lot more detail (you may have to click “keep reading” on a popup). This behavior has never been litigated, because so far no one has ever been such an evil excuse for a human being as to do it, or so incompetent as to be caught doing it. As Pat would say, Holy cannoli!

The 19th – 99% of women-owned businesses say the federal government hasn’t done enough to support them, survey finds
Quote – That figure, from a new survey by Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Small Businesses Voices program, illustrates a frustration that is universally shared among women-owned businesses. The findings, first exclusively shared with The 19th, represent responses collected over the past week from nearly 900 women small-business owners across 47 states and Puerto Rico. As many as 89 percent of women small-business owners said they feel they are not on a level playing field with men who own businesses, and 72 percent said that if they had to grade the federal government on the effectiveness of its programs, services and resources, they would give it a “C” or below.
Click through for details. Ninety-nine percent is a substantial percentage. Anyone besides me remember “99 44/100% pure”?

Food For Thought

Open Thread March 3, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:56 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 032023

Yesterday, as you are no doubt aware, I was very late posting. Eventually, I did get both daily posts up, but not until after many hours had passed. I’ll try not to do that again. If you panicked, I;m terribly sorry. My best advice is not to panic unles it goes into a second day with nothing – and I’m not even sure you should panic then. I did eventually reach my doctor’s office, resolved my prescription, reported the pain in my side, found out my difficulty faxing was likely on account of their equipment, not anythng I was doing, and got an email address (yay!) which I can use for non-emergency communication.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

ProPublica – Barricaded Siblings Turn to TikTok While Defying Court Order to Return to Father They Say Abused Them
Quote – Two siblings in Utah have barricaded themselves in a bedroom at their mother’s home in defiance of a judge’s order to return to the custody of their father, despite state child welfare investigators determining that he had sexually abused the children…. The showdown is the fallout from the latest family court battle over “parental alienation” — a disputed psychological theory in which one parent is accused of brainwashing a child to turn them against the other parent.
Click through for story. I trust I don’t have to explain the misogyny underlying this abomination. The fact that these children are 15 and 12, not toddlers, also suggests that only straight, white, adult males are to be believed – which is almost beyond irony.

Colorado Public Radio – ‘They’re not gonna help you’: Why domestic violence survivors say they’re being failed by police and the ‘red flag’ law
Quote – The former couple are among the first people to go through Colorado’s new “red flag” process, which allows courts to remove firearms from people deemed a threat to themselves or others. The experience gave her a measure of power over a terrifying situation, she said, but it also left her disillusioned. Her story and others show just how difficult it can be for a private citizen to pursue an “extreme risk” petition — especially when local police aren’t helpful. It’s a situation playing out all across Colorado. In some cases, police simply aren’t familiar with the new law, or may be hesitant to use it. In others, the authorities are intentionally avoiding it.
Click through fpr details and implications. And this is in Colorado. Imagine if this couple were living in Texas or Florida.

Food For Thought

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