Personal – Page 183 – Politics Plus

Open Thread March 26, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:35 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 262022

Yesterday, I didn’t get my groceries. However, I did get my refund approved. The amount of the refund was $144, out of an order which (before delivery charges, which I didn’t expect to get refunded) was $177. Fortunately, there was nothing I neded urgently -I basically wanted to stock back up. But I can definitely wait. It was just frustrating. And I will say they were prompt. The interval between the email that said they were looking at it and the one that said it was approved was 14 minutes. I applid and was approved on Wednesday, and by yesterday the credit was already showong on my card. So that was good. Unfortunately, the car didn’t start. So I put in an online request for “roadside assistance,” which is covered by my insurance policy.And he came so fast (I was expecting a call with ETA, but the call that came was “I’m here”) I hadn’t gotten out to the living room. I won’t say it started right up – but when he got everything adjusted just right, it started right up. I ran it for an hour (sitting in the car with a small knitting project and listening to a CD), so it should be fine Monday.

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Short Takes –

NM Political Report – Advocates call for end to Trump-era policy that prevents asylum seekers from crossing border
Quote – Nonprofit groups have called for an end to the Trump era policy, called Title 42, which prohibits asylum seekers from crossing the border. Trump initially said he was implementing the policy in order to protect the U.S. from the spread of the respiratory disease just a few days into the pandemic. Rodriguez said that, by now, the U.S. has the means to prevent disease spread among individuals who cross the border and with the numbers of cases in a downward trend and mask mandates lifting, the policy is even less defensible now than it was two years ago.
Click through for details. This is not just a bad policy. It is a violation of international law. I don’t say it might not have been justified as a temporary measure in a pandemic But two things – there needed to be quarantine accomodations so people would not have to live in misery, and also, temporary means temporary.With proper testing facilities we could have dealt with a lot of this two years ago, before it even started to become the humanitarian crisis it now is.

Mother Jones – Why Josh Hawley Is Smearing Ketanji Brown Jackson as Soft on Pedophilia
Quote – In trying to paint Jackson as a pedophile sympathizer, Hawley is tapping into the same thing as Posobiec: the recurring impulse of reactionaries who are on their back heels to try to reset an imperiled position in the culture wars. It’s a mini-version of the pedophile conspiracies QAnon, Pizzagate—which, uncoincidentally, Posobiec was a key early proponent of—and the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, when numerous false child sex ring accusations were leveled at daycare centers.
Click through for more examples and reasoning. I had this penciled in for today before I saw Nameless’s article yesterday, but kept it because it doesn’t detract from his, but does offer additional information about motivations (and evidence that we are not the only ones looking at how dumb he is.).

Women’s history – Wikipedia – Rebecca Latimer Felton
Quote – Rebecca Ann Latimer Felton (June 10, 1835 – January 24, 1930) was an American writer, lecturer, feminist, suffragist, reformer, white supremacist, slave owner, and politician who was the first woman to serve in the United States Senate, although she served for only one day. Felton was the most prominent woman in Georgia in the Progressive Era, and was honored by appointment to the Senate. She was sworn in on November 21, 1922, and served just 24 hours. At 87 years, nine months, and 22 days old, she was the oldest freshman senator to enter the Senate.
Click through for bio. This is not the “first woman U.S. Senator” we would have liked to see. But she is the one we got. And I think her story has some educational points. But I promise to get positive again for the rest of the month (what’s left of it.)

Food For Thought:

Open Thread March 25, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:32 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 252022

The night before last,as I was checking email before heading to bed, I found an email that said mu order had been delivered at 7:45 pm. I went to the porch, as=nd there were some grocery bags – but it was far from my full order. All it was was Gatorade and carbonated beverages and nowhere near all of those – and what was left also included substitutions. Needless to say, that did not leave me oin the best of moods, but I did manage to sleep anyway. Today I shall be on the phone with them – trying not to scream. Later: Well, they must not be prepared for screaming – or else they are prepared, and their preparation consists of having customers fill out a refund request on line. So that’s done. But it took a good part of the day. Also, I looked through April cartoons, and there are a bunch that need to be made. But thatwill have to wait until next week. Today, I really need to make sure my car startts, and if not, get a jump and let it run, because I will need it badly Monday.

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Short Takes –

Colorado Public Radio – Black and brown riders say Colorado’s stop sign bill would keep them safer from cars and police
Quote – That encounter was years ago, but it’s still on top of Alpian’s mind. It’s a key reason why he supports a bill in the Colorado Legislature that would allow cyclists to roll through stop signs at empty intersections and treat stoplights like stop signs. Bill sponsors and cycling advocates say the proposed legislation to allow what’s often referred to as “Idaho stops” — named after the first state to enact the law — would help cyclists limit the amount of time they spend at intersections. Statistics show those are the most dangerous places to be on a bike. Data from states with such laws, including Idaho and Delaware, suggest the change helps reduce crashes.
Click through for an improvement I never thought about. I biked a lot as a teen, and yes, there are places and situations where a cyclist would be safer without the need to conform to a law meant for motorized vehicles. Keeping cyclists safer would also lessen the likelihood of a motorist accidently causing harm. It would even beneft police by lightening their workload slightly. I hope it doesn’t get shot down because it helps black and brown people most. That is less likely here than in some states, but, sadly, not impossible.

The Conversation – How fairy tales shape fighting spirit: Ukraine’s children hear bedtime stories of underdog heroes, while Russian children hear tales of magical success
Quote – Folklore is important for understanding people’s cultural narratives – story lines that describe something unique to the culture’s history and its people. They help to define a cultural identity and, in subtle ways, shape future choices…. Most adults don’t walk around thinking about the fairy tales they heard as children. However, these early stories, experienced through the magnifying glass of childhood emotions, shape our understanding about the world. They determine the repertoire of our actions, especially in times of crisis.
Click through for article. Yes, this is something I don’t think gets enough attention. I have also heard it said (more accurately, read about) western European fary/folk tales giving boys the idea that they are entitled to a princess. Some of them of course mature out of that. But you only have to look around to see what happens to those who don’t

Women’s Histpry – Foreign Affairs – Revenge of the Patriarchs: Why Autocrats Fear Women
Quote – Generally, movements seeking to topple autocratic regimes or win national independence are more likely to prevail when they mobilize large numbers of people; shift the loyalties of at least some the regime’s pillars of support; use creative tactics, such as rolling strikes, in addition to street protests; and maintain discipline and resilience in the face of state repression and countermobilization by the regime’s supporters. Large-scale participation by women helps movements achieve all these things.
Click through for article. This is not the kind of women’s history we like to see – but, unlike Republicans, we do not put our heads into the sand because truth makes us uncomfortable. (Also while we’re on the subject of women, RIP Madeline Albright.)

Food For Thought (Pat B):

Open Thread March 24, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:46 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 242022

Yesterday, I had a grocery order coming – or, at least, I thought I did. When there was just a half hour left in the delivery window, I refreshed the tracking page and it said it had been cancelled. It appears to have been rescheduled for today in the same window – of course I will do my best to confirm that. Good thing I always try to order well ahead of need.

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Short Takes –

No More Mister Nice Blog – Republicans Live In A Disinformation Bubble Just Like Russians
Quote – In the same way that we’ve come to realize, with astonishment, that Russians simply weren’t told that their troops had invaded Ukraine, and didn’t believe there was a war, Republican voters, I’m sure, don’t believe President Biden is doing anything effective on Ukraine’s behalf, and that only Republicans could save Ukraine. Russian citizens have an excuse for their ignorance: Media outlets that don’t toe the Kremlin line are suppressed. In America, it’s purely voluntary:
Click through for full post. From last week, but timeless – and putting information and disinformatin side by side does help us see what we are up against.

The New Yorker – The Shaming-Industrial Complex
Quote – Owen Flanagan, a professor of philosophy and neurobiology at Duke University, suggests that our tense political climate is the product of poor emotional regulation…. [T]he data-scientist-cum-journalist Cathy O’Neil suggests that shaming is structural: its ubiquity is the fault not of individual vigilantes but, rather, of the many industries that manufacture and exploit mortification for profit. At the heart of these diverging perspectives is an ambiguity built into the very concept at issue. Shame is an emotion—a person can suffer from its bilious bite, as Sacco did—but it is also a state of affairs.
Click through for full article. There’s no solution here, but lots think about. I’ll add a few thoughts of mine to the brew: Emotions cannot be controlled, but our actions in response to them can. People who shame others may need to be shamed for it, as it may be the only language they understand (however, the shameless cannot be shamed.) And anger is in itself not only a bad thing, but the only motivation for change – it’s all in how one uses it.

A military veteran knows why your employees are leaving
Quote – It has been an intense period full of unknowns. It’s hard to be self-aware enough to see the full impact of all these changes. I redeployed five times, and I got better at reintegrating each time. I had the benefit of practice, which allowed me to acknowledge what I was feeling, understand it better, and move forward. But the pandemic is a one-time thing, and most people never got a briefing from their chaplain about what to expect.
Click through for article. This is addressed to busines leaders, and it’s a couple of months old. But it has life lessons whichare far from stale. It’s sort of like a different kind of PTSD – one to which the pandemic made everyone vulnerable.

Food For Thought:

Open Thread March 23, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:47 am Open Thread, Personal, Plus, Politics

Mar 232022

Yesterday, my mail contained a jury summons. That’s the kind of mail that gets me off my fanny to go out to the mailbox, and of course I did. Now, I’ve seen this film before, so I know it doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll have to serve. Also, it isn’t until the end of April. So it’s cool. Also, I had a hard time finding things that were both interesting and not repetetive. There was a whole lot of repetition going on yesterday. I got to the point that if I had had to read one more story about a racist Republican Senator, I might have barfed. So I filled in with the Smithsonian, which is trivial, but at least different. (The Food for Thought is also just for fun.)

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Short Takes –

The New Yorker – Radio Ukraine
Quote – The station staff has dispersed, with Bogdan Bolkhovetsky, the general manager, and Roman Davydov, the program director, holed up in a town in the Carpathians, keeping production moving over unreliable Internet and communicating with listeners by text. They don’t know how many of their broadcasting stations are still functioning, and their tower in Kyiv could be destroyed at any time. But “we are not doing anything heroic,” Bolkhovetsky told Nicolas Niarchos, who visited their makeshift studio. “We are still in a lot of luck, having what we have right now. Thousands of people were not so lucky as we are. . . . We’re just doing what we can under these unusual circumstances.”
Click through for David Remnicks podcast and/or even more articles on the war.

Smithsonian – Take the cherry blossom personality quiz to see which species speaks to you!
Quote – Six varieties of cherry blossom trees bloom in the Smithsonian Gardens, each with its own unique flowers and features.
Click through for the quiz. As usual, there are questions for which no answer is right for me, and it will probably be the same for you. But at least it’s fun looking at the pictures. (I came out as the “weeping” cherry tree.)

Women’s History – Wikipedia – Rosalind Franklin
Quote – Rosalind Elsie Franklin … was an English chemist and X-ray crystallographer whose work was central to the understanding of the molecular structures of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), RNA (ribonucleic acid), viruses, coal, and graphite. Although her works on coal and viruses were appreciated in her lifetime, her contributions to the discovery of the structure of DNA were largely unrecognized during her life, for which she has been variously referred to as the “wronged heroine”, the “dark lady of DNA”, the “forgotten heroine”, a “feminist icon”, and the “Sylvia Plath of molecular biology”.
Click through for bio. You may have heard of her. Watson and Crick could not have completed the DNA model without her work Women from prehistory and up to the end of the Middle Ages appear to have had less difficulty getting recgnized for their accomplishments, and lso more freedom to make them, than from the Industrial Revolution forward.

Food For Thought:

Open Thread March 22, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:42 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 222022

Yesterday, I overslept – probably primarily because, the day before, I had attempted a few times to install updates to my laptop, and, although it said it was “preparing to install,” it never did. I’d come bacl to check on it and it would be back to “you have important updates.” I finally figured it was not going to complete the process unless stayed there. And that worked , but it had wasted so much time fizzling that by the time it finished there was a new one. Of course I said “Arrrrrgh!” but in for a penny, in for a pound, and I got that one installed also. It reminded me of how I once asked an IT person why, every time we got updates, we lost functionality, and he said, “That’s a good question.” So I said, “Well, what’s the answer?” “I don’t know, but it’s a very good question!” But I may have figured it out for myself now. All the “important updates” are or include securoty measures, and it’s not unreasonable to think that many of the procedures we use a lot because they are quick and easy are also the features which become security holes, exactly because they are quick and easy. I don’t know how accurate that is – but I do find it consoling. So I thought I’d share it. We can all use consolation.

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Short Takes –

The 19th Explains: What to know about Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing
Quote – The first day of hearings yielded few surprises. Republican senators outlined several lines of criticism against Jackson that were highly anticipated. Democratic senators celebrated the significance of Jackson’s nomination to the high court and touted the value of her diverse professional and personal background as a former federal public defender and vice chair for the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Republicans, however, spent a notable portion of time expressing grievances over how Democrats have treated past conservative Supreme Court nominees — most notably current Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose confirmation process in 2018 was consumed by allegations of sexual misconduct.
Click through for more. Do you, like me, have a feeling that you could have written that short summary even before it happened?

https://crooksandliars.com/2022/03/sen-karen-berg-delivers-epic-smackdown
Sen. Karen Berg Delivers Epic Smackdown To Anti-Abortion Colleagues
Quote – For you to sit here and say that at 15 weeks, a fetus has a functional heart, a four-chamber heart that can survive on its own is fallacious. That is not true. There is no viability. I look around at my colleagues on this committee. I am the only woman on this podium right now. I am the only physician sitting on this podium. This bill is a medical sham. It does not follow medicine. It does not even purport to listen to medicine.
Click through for story, including short video.

Women’s History – Wikipedia – Matilda of Tuscany
Quote – Sometimes called la Gran Contessa (“the Great Countess”) or Matilda of Canossa after her ancestral castle of Canossa, Matilda was one of the most important figures of the Italian Middle Ages. She lived in a period of constant battles, intrigues and excommunications, and was able to demonstrate an innate leadership ability, even during difficult times…. Matilda became a myth in Italy, which found its expression in numerous artistic, musical and literary designs as well as miracle stories and legends. This legacy reached its peak during the Counter-Reformation and the Baroque Period. Pope Urban VIII had Matilda’s body transferred to Rome in 1630, where she was the first woman to be buried in Saint Peter’s Basillica.
Click through for bio. “Matilda” is the Latinized form a name of Teutonic origin, meaning “mighty in battle. She was no Boadicea (or Boudicca or whatever), but apparently she was one heck of a negotiator, and without question highly respectedin her own time. No wonder we’ve never heard of her.

Food For Thought:

Open Thread March 21, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:19 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 212022

Yesterday was the Vernal equinox (at 9:33 am where I am).However, I have been keeping track of the times of sinrise and sunset for several months now – and the day that there was exactly 12 hours each of daylight and dark was not yesterday, but last Thursday. Three days off. That is close, but not close enough to be a rounding error. There musy be another factor. The fact that the eastern plains stretch out so evenly (gradually going down a little)? Maybe the altitude itself? I was tracking sunset at the winter solstice, but not yet tracking sunrise then. If Colorado transitions to year-round daylight time by November (states have some options and I think they have until next year to do it anyway), I won’t need to track any more for safety reasons, but now I’m intrigued.

Also yesterday, I received (as I do daily) Robert Reich’s newsletter. On Sundays there is always a cartoon caption contest. This week I actually thought of a caption. Because the site where one posts entries is for paid subscribers and I am a free one, I didn’t post it, but I’ll share it here.
“How much longer are we going to have to wait for these Karens to quit screaming and leave?”

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Short Takes –

The Guardian – Star Trek makes Stacey Abrams president of United Earth – and stokes conservative anger
Quote – Sonequa Martin-Green, who plays [Captain Michael] Burnham, told Variety she was “taken aback … and really moved” by Abrams’ performance. “It really signaled the culmination of the season having her there,” she said, “because she’s such this symbol of hope and strength and connection and sacrifice and building something bigger than yourself that will last generations, and that’s exactly what we’re talking about doing in the story.”
Click through for story. Keep an eye out for the show if yu use whichever streaming service it is that carries Discovery (I’m not on any.) I did see a gorgeous photo of her in cosyume over on one of George Takei’s sites. (If an actor, in order to “deserve” a role, had to be able to do IRL everything the character does – that would be the end of stunt doubles. And also of the Marvel franchise.)

Eight House Republicans Side With Vladimir Putin Against The United States
Quote – The Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act, which passed by a 424-8 margin, allows President Joe Biden to increase tariffs on products coming from the two countries and requires the US Trade Representative to seek suspension of Russia’s participation in the World Trade Organization.
Click thrugh for list. I don’t know whether anyone else is calling them “The Hateful Eight,” but I certainly am. And particularly when one considers the numbers and names of the low-lifes who did vote for it.

Women’s History – Wikipedia – Andrée Borrel
Quote – Andrée Raymonde Borrel, code named Denise, was a French woman who served in the French Resistance and as an agent for Britain’s clandestine Special Operations Executive in World War II. The purpose of SOE was to conduct espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance in occupied Europe against the Axis powers, especially Nazi Germany. SOE agents allied themselves with resistance groups and supplied them with weapons and equipment parachuted in from England. In September 1942, Borrel was the first female agent of SOE to arrive in France by parachute.
Click through for bio. Women in resistance movements in any war under any government are well aware they may not have a long life. Andrée Borrel did not live to see her 25th birthday. But what she accomplished in that roughly 24 and a half years was remarkable.

Food For Thought:

Open Thread March 20, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:29 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Mar 202022

Yesterday, the opera was “Rodelinda” (by Handel) which dates from before 1750. It is an opera seria, a form which was still used in Mozart’s time (and he wrote a few, including one when he was 14), but he largely moved away from the form. Opera was characterized by featuring noble characters being noble (and others, of course, in opposition to them) and really didn’t have any dialog, but was a series of arias through which the story was told. There was no chorus, but all the soloists were singers I am familiar with and like., including Sasha Cooke, whom I hadn’t heard since she played Kitty Oppenheimer in “Dr. Atomic.” That was in 2008, and she doesn’t appear to have aged a day.

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Short Takes –

Democracy: a Journal of Ideas – “Middle-Out” Biden’s New Deal?
Quote – When Biden speaks of middle-out versus trickle-down he is doing more than drawing a political contrast. He is making a highly consequential argument about economic cause and effect, how prosperity is created, and the role of government. And we’ll give you a hint about what he means: The answer is not tax cuts for the rich.
Click through for analysis by a couple of dudes who have been working on these principles for years.

Law and Crime – Project Veritas Loses Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN for Depicting Twitter Ban as Part of ‘Misinformation’ Crackdown
Quote – “Furthermore, while there is some difference between violating a policy by providing incorrect or misleading information and violating a policy by truthfully providing someone’s private information (and potentially exposing a person to harm), the distinction is not enough to make the statement at issue actionable as both violations are similarly damaging to the journalist’s reputation,” the ruling continues. “Project Veritas’s allegations and arguments do not plausibly suggest that the truth (as pled in the Complaint) would have a different effect on the mind of the average reader in terms of the reputational harm.”
Click through for more, including full ruling if you are so inclined. My translation would be “Just because the reporter made a mistake on which loe-life thing you did this time doesn’t make it defamation.” So nice to see “Project Varitas” lose.

Women’s History – Wikipedia – Ada Lovelace
Quote – [Ada Lovelace] was an English mathematician and writer, chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage’s proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She was the first to recognise that the machine had applications beyond pure calculation, and to have published the first algorithm intended to be carried out by such a machine. As a result, she is often regarded as the first computer programmer.
Click through. A spiritual ancestor of Grace Hopper – and an interesting human being in her own right.

Food For Thought:

Open Thread March 19, 2022

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

Mar 192022

Yesterday, I had not slept terribly well, and kept nodding off. I did accomplish a little knitting, but not much, and not much else either.

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Short Takes –

Rolling Stone – Manchin’s Coal Corruption Is So Much Worse Than You Knew
Quote – At this point in human evolution, burning coal for power is one of the stupidest things humans do. Coal plants are engines of destruction, not progress. Thanks to the rapid evolution of clean energy, there are many better, cheaper, cleaner ways to power our lives. The only reason anyone still burns coal today is because of the enormous political power and inertia that the industry has acquired since the 19th century. In America, that power and inertia is embodied in the cruel and cartoonish character of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who, paradoxically, may have more control over the trajectory of the climate crisis than any other person on the planet right now
Click through for details – lots of details and links to more. But right now we really don’t have a choice. This is why it is SO important to gain a REAL majority in the Senate as soon as possible.

The New Yorker (Jill Lepore) – Why the School Wars Still Rage
Quote – A century later, the battle over public education that afflicted the nineteen-twenties has started up again, this time over the teaching of American history. Since 2020, with the murder of George Floyd and the advance of the Black Lives Matter movement, seventeen states have made efforts to expand the teaching of one sort of history, sometimes called anti-racist history, while thirty-six states have made efforts to restrict that very same kind of instruction…. While all this has been happening, I’ve been working on a U.S.-history textbook, so it’s been weird to watch lawmakers try their hands at writing American history, and horrible to see what the ferment is doing to public-school teachers.
Click through for story. Besides the “new” stuff, evolution is still a bone of contention. Teachers in the line of fire are very visible – but my biggest worry is what will happen to America whenit becomes a nation whose citizens know noththing of real history.

Women’s History – Wikipedia – Christine de Pizan
Quote – Venetian by birth, Christine served as a court writer in medieval France after the death of her husband. Christine’s patrons included dukes Louis I of Orleans, Philip the Bold of Burgundy, and his son John the Fearless. Considered to be some of the earliest feminist writings, her work includes novels, poetry, and biography, and she also penned literary, historical, philosophical, political, and religious reviews and analysis. Her best known works include The Book of the City of Ladies and The Treasure of the City of Ladies, both written when she worked for John the Fearless of Burgundy.
Click through for bio. Not only did she write and get published in her own name … but she made a living doing it. That was a first for a woman, as far as we know.

Food For Thought:

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