Personal – Page 206 – Politics Plus

Open Thread for September 20, 2021

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

Sep 202021

Yesterday, I left home at a little before 7 am (Mountain), and I got back a little before 7 pm (ditto,) completely exhausted. I am sure part of that was because I didn’t sleep all that well Saturday night … although I managed not to yawn or feel drowsy while driving – but that was also exacerbated by the fact that the Air conditioner kept overheating. I know what to do when that happens, but I’ll be emaiing my mechanic to ask whether I should really have to. So, this will be it for the Open Thread today. There will be a full video thread, because I already had that ready with holdovers and leftovers (but good ones.) I’ll make it back for comments eventually. Oh yeah, almost forgot, Virgil says “Hi” to all.

Cartoon –

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for September 19, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 192021

Yesterday, I listened to the opera on the radio (an even more obscure one than last week) but mostly just got ready for my long day today… and by the time wou read this I was be on the road. Yes, I promise to drive safely.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Law & Crime – North Carolina Court Issues Permanent Injunction Against State’s Voter ID Law Because of ‘Discriminatory Purpose’ Against Black Residents
Quote – “The majority of this three-judge panel now concludes that the evidence presented to the Court, when viewed in the totality of circumstances, points to the conclusion that S.B. 824 was enacted in part for a discriminatory purpose and would not have been enacted in its current form but for its tendency to discriminate against African American voters,” the court concluded… “[T]his Court permanently enjoins the law in full,” the judges noted.
Click through for details and some background. You may already have seen this good news, but not in this much detai.

Reuters – Amid high security, small pro-Trump crowd rallies at U.S. Capitol
Quote – About 100 to 200 protesters showed up, some carrying the flags of the right-wing group Three Percenters over their shoulders. It was far fewer than the 700 people organizers had expected and the thousands who brought mayhem to the Capitol on Jan. 6. Hundreds of officers patrolled the Capitol grounds and a black eight-foot-high (2.44 m) fence that surrounded the white-domed building for about six months after the attack was reinstalled, reflecting unease about a potential repeat of Jan. 6. One hundred National Guard troops were on standby.
Click through for the story. I assume everyone knows this by now, butI still didn’t think it right to ignore it.

The Guardian – Jared Polis becomes first sitting governor to marry in same-sex wedding
Quote – “The greatest lesson we have learned over the past 18 months is that life as we know it can change in an instant. We are thankful for the health and wellbeing of our family and friends, and the opportunity to celebrate our life together as a married couple,” Polis and Reis said in a joint statement…. Reis told the Colorado Sun that Polis proposed last winter while the couple battled Covid-19 in their Boulder home. Right before Reis was hospitalized, Polis got down on one knee.
Click through for a bit more, including photo. Mazel tov, my governor. Mazel Tov. L’Chaim!

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for September 18, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:26 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 182021

Yesterday, it was cool enough for me to turn off all the ceiling fans. Unfortunately, the same cannot be predicted for tomorrow. All protections against destruction by overheating of electronic, food, and whatever are go. Ironically, the visitation room itself is kept so cold all year round that I will still need a winter sweater inside (as well as a tank top under it to drive home in.) Good times.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Wonkette – Philly Cops Beat A Woman And Stole Her Kid For An Insipid Photo-Op — Now She Gets $2 Million
Quote – Philadelphia police have never even attempted to justify or explain their actions that night, which they normally do. They normally at least make up some kind of story about how they were frightened for their lives, how they thought the person they assaulted was someone else. But they didn’t, which sure does make it look like these cops were just enraged by the protests over another horrific police shooting and decided to take that out, violently, on a random Black woman, teenager, and toddler who were just trying to get home.
Click through for the story. This takes me back five years to when I started doing “Everyday Erinyes” and could easily find up to three stories like this every week (without the settlement) – except that this one is uglier than most. I guess I’ll seriously start calling it Phobadelphia, PA

The Hill – Pandemic frustrations zero in on unvaccinated Americans
Quote – Experts support stricter actions like mandates to boost the vaccination rate and protect the public, although several also encourage patience while acknowledging the increased irritation. President Biden and others, however, have indicated their “patience is wearing thin.”
Click through for advice which may be good but is virtually impossible to folow. Turns out sane people do not like people who willfully endanger them and their loved ones. Who knew.

Crooks and Liars – Dirty Trickster James O’Keefe Loses $165K To ‘Fraudsters’
Quote – Take a deep breath. Try not to laugh. Remember, this is an exercise in pretending to care, or at least giving the impression that you could be convinced to give a s!@#. Project Veritas has been had! They’ve been took! Hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run amok! They’re out $165,000 due to what O’Keefe calls an “attack” by “fraudsters.”
Clck through for details. (File this under “karma”)

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for September 17, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:52 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 172021

Yesterday was another quiet day – and also cooler, which was nice. I pulled together what I’ll be wearing Sunday

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

HuffPost – Militia Leader Gets 53 Years In Minnesota Mosque Bombing
Quote – Hari made a brief statement before she was sentenced, saying, “For how blessed my first 47 years of life were, I can’t complain about what the last three have looked like … considering my blessed and fortunate and happy life, I can’t ask the judge for anything further.” She also said the victims who testified during Monday’s hearing have been through a “traumatic ordeal” and she wished them “God’s richest blessings in Christ Jesus.” Frank said he was prepared to recommend Hari, who is transgender, go to a women’s prison, but said the Bureau of Prisons would decide.
Click through for story. Long in coming … but it looks like justice. 47 + 53 = 100, which is a healthy expectancy even for someone who is not trans.

ProPublica – THE SECRET IRS FILES
Quote – Taken together, [the collection of documents] demolishes the cornerstone myth of the American tax system: that everyone pays their fair share and the richest Americans pay the most. The IRS records show that the wealthiest can — perfectly legally — pay income taxes that are only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions, if not billions, their fortunes grow each year.
Click through for lots more. The link I’ve provided takes you to the cover page with a list of – and links to – all the articles that are related. The quote is from the lead story.

The Hill – How lawmakers aided the Afghan evacuation
Quote – The Hill spoke to nearly 20 lawmakers and staffers in both parties about what their offices went through over the fraught two weeks between when Kabul first fell, on Aug. 15, and the last U.S. military flight, just before midnight Aug. 30. The mission was personal for many of them: Some are veterans, or relatives of veterans, of the 20-year war, and some had even worked with local interpreters whom they considered key to their survival.
Click through for more. Traditionally, a part of every Congressperson’s job is to step in like an ombudsman for oppressed constituents. This is what that can look like. And, yes, it can be heart-wrenching. But it could also have been so much worse.

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for September 15, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:18 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 152021

Yesterday, I changed my mouse battery – twice – because the first “new” battery didn’t work. That may have been the high point of the day – which is fine with me!

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The 19th – Texas is pushing the most anti-trans bills in the country. Advocates fear deadly consequences.
Quote – “We just have a fraction of the data and can see that we’re in crisis,” said Victoria Kirby York, deputy executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition. “It’s past epidemic, and these state legislatures are making things worse.” … As greater numbers of anti-trans bills have been introduced across more states within the last two years, more trans homicides have taken place in those states. Last year, 56 percent of trans homicides took place in states that attempted to pass anti-trans legislation, per a review of ACLU and Human Rights Campaign data by The 19th. Still, research proving any direct link between the deaths and the legislation is lacking.
Click through for story. There have always been trans people and I don’t remember it being an issue when I was a child or a teen or a twenty-something. I do remember Christine Jorgensen, however. (I don’t remember her getting death threats, though yes, she did get some harassment, but it wasn’t amplified, nor was it legitimized.)

The Hill – Five things to watch in the California recall election
They are – 1. What’s turnout like?
2. Does Democrats’ strategy pay off?
3. Were the polls right?
4. What does the result tell us about the state of politics in California and nationwide?
5. How does scrutiny affect Elder?
Click through for discussion of one or more. By the time you read this, it will be over (though mayme not couted.) Even those of us who don’t live there can learn from watching.

Wonkette – Anti-Maskers Try To Pull A January 6 On School Board, Swear Selves In As Replacements
Quote – Last week, a ragtag group of people who don’t even have children in California’s Poway Unified School District invaded a closed school board meeting, as part of a rally organized by dark money-funded astroturf group “Let Them Breathe,” and refused to leave. Police declined to force them out and instead suggested the school board adjourn the meeting instead. You know, for their own safety.
Click through. I’m not trying to terrify Colleen, especially on e recall election day, but this is all over the news and I can see why. These people have what a former boss of mine ised to refer to as “brass balls the size of church bells.”

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for September 14, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 142021

Yesterday, I received a grocery delivery. It was all there – and no substitutions – and I was smart enough for once to put out an insulated backpack on the porch for frozen stuff that melts rather than just thawing. So I got it all in with I’m pretty sure no loss. So I have a sense of accomplishment.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Hill – Dodd, Frank urge Biden to reappoint Powell
Quote – In a Monday op-ed for The Hill, former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) argued that Powell’s reappointment would give Biden “strong support” to pass a multitrillion-dollar infrastructure and social services plan — what they called the “most important issue facing us today…. We believe the national interest will be best served by President Biden reappointing Jerome Powell to chair the Federal Reserve System,” Dodd and Frank wrote.
Click through for more. Yes, it’s THAT Dodd and THAT Frank. They have earned enough respect for me to listen and pay attention when they speak, whether or not I end up agreeing.

HuffPost – Texas Embalmer Shares Nightmare COVID Experiences: ‘Unlike Anything I’ve Seen Before’ TRIGGER ALERT
Quote – These folks were so swollen they were completely unrecognizable. We were also getting sent a lot of people who had died from COVID in nursing homes back at that time, and many of them had not been dead very long at all…. The blood tends to settle out because it’s no longer flowing and it’ll gravitate to the dependent part of the body. The longer a body sits, the more blood clots that they develop. I was having people that had only been dead for a few hours and there were major clotting issues. The clots were the size of pancakes ― you never, never see those with someone who didn’t die of COVID.
Click through if you can take it (it gets worse). I won’t say we have been lied to, but we have definitely not been fully briefed on what CoViD does to the human body. I can see why not … but I still thik it was a mistake.

Mother Jones – 59 Percent of Republicans Say It’s Important to Believe Trump Won the Election
Quote – Donald Trump definitely did not win the 2020 presidential election, but nearly six in 10 GOP voters polled by CNN say it’s at least somewhat important for Republicans to continue believing that he did.
Click through for the story. Fortunately it’s short.

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for September 13, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:31 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 132021

Yesterday was pretty quiet. For a while in the afternoon rin poured and thunder roared, which at least kept the temprature down. My energy, however, remained low.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – The Agent
Quote – Yemen was a particularly difficult place to start a terrorist investigation, as it was filled with active Al Qaeda cells and with sympathizers at very high levels of government.
Click through if you will. It’s quite long because it’s quite in depth, and it’s hair-raising. I chose that quote because you could make it present tense, substitute “the United States” for “Yemen” and “Y’all Qaeda” for “Al Qaeda,” and it would be true.

Law & Crime – Judge Refuses to Let Jacob Chansley Out of Jail Ahead of Sentencing, Calls Him a ‘Mascot’ for QAnon and ‘Hopes’ He’s Really Had a Change of Heart
Quote – The federal judge who has presided over Jacob Chansley’s criminal case doesn’t appear to be entirely convinced that the so-called “QAnon Shaman” of Jan. 6 has had a change of heart and renounced the sprawling conspiracy theory for which he is a “mascot.” Senior Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, said in a memorandum opinion and order unsealed Friday that Chansley will not be allowed to get out of jail ahead of sentencing for obstruction of an official proceeding.
Click through for story. Hey, it’s something.

The Guardian – Six US Capitol police officers could face discipline for 6 January actions
Quote – Investigators were able to identify officers involved in 26 of the cases [out of 38 investigations], the statement said, and found no evidence of wrongdoing in 20. Of the other six, it said, three are cited for conduct unbecoming, one for failing to comply with directives, one for improper remarks, and one for “improper dissemination of information”.
Click throughfor little detail but much privacy. We did know some of the officers were more accommodating than needed be. We can hope these are they.

Food for Thought –

Open Thread for September 12, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:13 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 122021

Yesterday was an important and sad anniversary. I did tune in to the Saturday opera (an obscure one) but afterwards, both that statin and y local one were playing mostly solemn music and American music and solemn American music – very appropriate. Especially to listen to while looking at Nameless’s beautiful tribute. Our high temperatures are looking to be in the high eighties to low nineties (30C plus or minus 1) for the next week or so. It’s OK. I’m not ready for fall.

Cartoon –

Short Takes – I’m approaching this a little differently today. Political cartoons may have started with Benjamin Franklin and taken hold with Thomas Nast, but in these days of exploding media types, including graphic novels, a type of political cartoon which I would prefer to call a “graphic essay” is beginning to come into its own. Today I want to share three, by different artists, but related, which tell a bigger story together than separately. They are too long to reproduce entire, but I’ll provide a beginning panel or two with a link. Being graphic, they don’t actually take all that long to read. I hope they will be enjoyed (at least in the Latin sense.)

Do You Remember?