Video Thread 2/2/2023

 Posted by at 11:57 am  Open Thread, Politics
Feb 022023
 

Glenn Kirschner – NY DA Alvin Bragg opens a grand jury probe & AGAIN begins investigating the crimes of Donald Trump (I would remind y’all that the investigation being discussed involves a case which was dead under the NY statute of limitations, involves a crime regarding which NY has just opened a sort of amnesty window under which it may now be considered.)

The Lincoln Project – RNC Chaos

Thom Hartmann – Will Right Wing Sheriffs Perp Walk America Right Into Fascism? (Colorado has a cople of those Sheriffs too.)

Mrs. Betty Bowers – The Secret To Reading an Inconvenient Bible

Couple Saves ‘Gargoyle’ Dog After 8 Years On The Streets

Beau – Let’s talk about what escalation is….

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Open Thread February 2, 2023

 Posted by at 6:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 022023
 

Yesterday, the weather site I use was predicting highs in the 40’s and 50’s for the next ten days, and no snow. That will certainly make life more comfortable for me. While I am of course concerned about the snowpack, snow here does not translate into snow in the snowpack. Menot getting any doesn’t mean the snowpack is a lost cause (of course it also doesn’t mean it isn’t.)  Denver (measured at DIA) did get the heaviest snowfall this year (so far) than they have seen in over ten years.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Good in Us by Mary L. Trump – A Failing of Basic Humanity
Quote – The great Sherrilyn Ifill [responded] “I suggest that what Friedersdorf sees as failure, is instead his own inability to recognize the power and resilience of white supremacy, and its hold on the institution of American law enforcement. Those of us in this work have long explained the systematic and cultural hard-wiring of racism in policing, while so many leaders in the white community have insisted that it is only “bad apples.” We explained that so deeply-imbedded is the culture of white supremacy in policing that even Black police officers can participate in brutality against Black victims, because they too are responding to the messages of white supremacy in their profession that promotes and rewards officers who know whose lives matter and whose don’t.”
Click through for full opinion. It’s long – but Mary gets it (as does Sherilynn – IIRC a niece of the late Gwen.)

Daily Beast – Racist RSVP Cannot Ruin 9-Year-Old’s Birthday
Quote – Dr. Ijeoma Nnodim Opara[, MD, FAAP, FAIM] sent [her daughter] to school with party invitations [for the girl’s 9th birthday] in bright yellow-and-white envelopes for her close friends. But the daughter still had one of the invitations when she returned home. Her explanation pained Opara as both a Black mother and a physician researcher who studies systemic racism in health care. “She said this person will not be able to come because their grandfather does not like Black people,” Opara told The Daily Beast….
[B]efore Opara spoke, her daughter responded exactly how the mother would have hoped. “She said ‘I know it’s racist, and I told [the classmate] so,’” Opara recalled.
Click through for bittersweet story. So many responded wanting to send her a card that D. Opara is opening a PO Box just for tehm. But it should not have been necessary.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 2/1/2023

 Posted by at 11:58 am  Open Thread, Politics
Feb 012023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump goes out for ice cream while the folks he told to attack the US Capitol go to prison

PoliticsGirl – Why Less Tax is Actually More Tax

Farron Balanced – Kevin McCarthy Goes Absolutely Nuts When Reporter Asks About George Santos

Robert Reich – The One Thing That Would Make Elections Better For Everyone

This Cat’s Obsessed With One Movie

Beau – Let’s talk about Biden’s impeachment and the GOP Senate….

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Open Thread February 1, 2023

 Posted by at 6:48 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Feb 012023
 

Yesterday, I received a breaking news alert from Axios – ” George Santos tells colleagues he’s stepping down from House committees.” That will be nice if it happens. But he’s such a liar, how can one tell? I also spent way too much time untangling – but that, alas, is what it takes, and it has to be done if I’m going to use the yarn. Today is the first day of Black History Month (except in FLorida.) I”ll be doing what I can – which means not every short take is going to be current.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Mother Jones – How a Sunken Slave Ship Set Off “a Search for Ourselves”
Quote – [M]aritime archaeology has tended to focus its masked eye on the wrecks of rich and famous ships rather than those that traded in flesh and blood. Redressing that archaeological, academic and sociocultural imbalance was the driving force behind the Slave Wrecks Project, a partnership established in 2008 between the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and other institutions and organizations in Africa and the US. “People talk about the slave trade; they talk about the millions of people who were transported, but it’s hard to really imagine that, so we wanted to reduce it to human scale by really focusing on a single ship, on the people on the ship, and the story around the ship,” says [Lonnie] Bunch [NMAAHC Director]. “Yes, we tell you about the thousands of ships that brought the enslaved, but we also say: ‘Here’s a way to humanize it.’”
Click through for story. Not everyone wants to know about their ancestral history, and that is true of people from all backgrounds (and compinations of backgrounds. But those who do want to know should have equal access to that information. Henry Louis Gates Jr. has done wonderful work in that field, but anyone who has watched his show knows that the history of slavery in the U.S. presents a huge stumbling block, much as fires destroying records do, with the revealing difference that this suppression was deliberate. Anything which can help cut through that curtain is welcome.

Daily Beast – Florida Explains Why It Blocked Black History Class—and It’s a Doozy
Quote – The Florida Department of Education says it banned AP African American History because it teaches students about activism, intersectionality and encourages “ending the war on Black trans, queer, gender non-conforming, and intersex people,” according to a document the department sent to The Daily Beast…. DeSantis’ administration further made their anti-LGBTQ stance known in their explanation for prohibiting the class, simply listing “Black Queer Studies” as a violation of state law. The document further admonishes the teaching of intersectionality, claiming it is “foundational to” Critical Race Theory, without explaining how.
Click through for details. I’m not sure “doozy” is the right word – “doozies” are supposed to be positive (it’s derived from “Duesenberg.”) This is so negative, and so far right – I’d call it a “Q-zy,” as in QAnon.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 1/31/2023

 Posted by at 11:59 am  Open Thread, Politics
Jan 312023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Will beating death of Tyre Nichols prompt politicians to take seriously the need for police reform?

The Lincoln Project – Still Here

MSNBC – Biden speaks to family of Tyre Nichols

Armageddon Update – Murder Moron!

Couple Tries Rescuing Two Puppies for Six Hours At The Beach

Beau – Let’s talk about Newport News and remembering your training….

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Open Thread January 31, 2023

 Posted by at 6:44 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 312023
 

Yesterday, I slept later than I have for months – apparently after all that worry I needed to. Of course the disadvantage of thet is that the longer I sleep, the worse the aches and pains are when I arise. Fortunately the TENS makes short (not instant, but short) work of that. Virgil called – his friend dialed for him – so I was able to accept the call. I stressed that he needs to gethis friend to dial for him when he calls – it’s not a matter of money (an “unaccepted” call is not charged for), but the stress to bothe of us (probably more to me than to him, since I am more aware of what’s going on.) I’m not sure how much he actually absorbed, but his friend will get the point.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

ProPublica – How Congress Finally Cracked Down on a Massive Tax Scam
Quote – After six years of failed efforts by the IRS, Justice Department and lawmakers, new legislation is expected to prevent the worst abuses of a tax-avoidance scheme that has cost the U.S. Treasury billions of dollars. Tucked into the massive, $1.7 trillion government spending bill signed into law by President Joe Biden on Dec. 29, a provision in the law seems poised to accomplish what thousands of audits, threats of hefty penalties and criminal prosecutions could not: shutting down a booming business in “syndicated conservation easements,” which exploit a charitable tax break that Congress established to preserve open land.
Click hrough for details. I had never heard of this, though it doesn’t realy surprise me. Sometimes, thankfully, our elected representatives are more knowledgeable than we are, which is good, since one can’t advocate on something one doesn’t even know is a problem.

PolitiZoom – Pelosi Attacker Calls SF Television News to Apologize… For Failing to Kill Paul Pelosi, ‘Unprepared’
Quote – David DePape called the KTVU newsroom from San Francisco County Jail Friday, the same day a superior court judge ordered video of the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi to be released. The call was unexpected. He told our reporter he had an important message…. In the chilling and bizarre phone call, he apologized for not going further. “I want to apologize to everyone. I messed up. What I did was really bad. I’m so sorry I didn’t get more of them. It’s my own fault. No one else is to blame. I should have come better prepared,” he says.
Click through for story. C.S. Lewis once penned the phrase “the disinterested hatred of evil for good” (not meaning a lack of intellectual interest, but an absence of an ulterior motive, such as greed or fear) in a way that suggested it didn’t really exist. I think it does – it may be rare, but some actions seem so far out as not to be explainable otherwise. Is this one of them? I don’t know.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 1/30/2023

 Posted by at 12:03 pm  Politics
Jan 302023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump’s deranged rants on his third-rate social media platform signal he knows what’s coming

PoliticsGirl – Who Cares About Ethics?

Ring of Fire – Proud Boys Want To Subpoena Trump To Testify At Their Trial

Insurrection LLC (a creation of Eric Swalwell)

Stray Cat Convinces His Friend They Should Move Into Woman’s House

Beau – Let’s talk about insight into Trump’s Georgia situation….

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Open Thread January 30, 2023

 Posted by at 6:41 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Jan 302023
 

Yesterday, I did get to see Virgil. It was snowing and cold – but I really had to see him because omething had gone wrong in the phone system; he had tried 3 times to call me Friday but I wasn’t able to accept ythe call and I wanted to tell him it was not I who was haning up on him. Fortunately, he didn’t think that, and I got to talk with the inmate who helps him place calls and tell him what happened. I had called the provider, and I did get an answer – frankly it didn’t make sense to me, but I shared it anyway because it’s not something I can fix, and if they are going to they need all available information – at least. I wasn’t able to finish scraping the windshield before starting out in the morning; I got the driver’s side and part of the passenger side clear, but part of it was just rock solid, despite my having turned the defrost on for over a half hour and of course kept it on while driving. I was worried about having to deal with that before leaving for home, and I was also worried, as by this time the snow had reached Pueblo and was coming down, about getting on to the interstate. But by the time I left, the rock hard ice had melted so thoroughly that a couple swipes of the windshield wipers took care of it, and when I got to the interstate there was a huge gap to get into, and just about everyone was driving slowly anyway, plus it was practically dry, both directions (I don’t know how Colorado snowstorms know to fall most heavily on residential areas and frequesntted commercial areas, and less on highways, but they do a good job of it.) So there are three more proofs of one of my favorite sayings (see right). As usual, Virgil returns all greetings. He does appreciate all of you – he knows, among other things, you are company for me, which he can’t be under the circumstances.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Washington Post (no paywall) – Justice Department asks FEC to stand down as prosecutors probe Santos
Quote – The Justice Department has asked the Federal Election Commission to hold off on any enforcement action against George Santos, the Republican congressman from New York who lied about key aspects of his biography, as prosecutors conduct a parallel criminal probe, according to two people familiar with the request…. “Basically they don’t want two sets of investigators tripping over each other,” said David M. Mason, a former FEC commissioner. “And they don’t want anything that the FEC, which is a civil agency, does to potentially complicate their criminal case.”
Click through for story – From WaPo’s keyboards to God’s iPhone.

Timothy Snyder – Thinking about… – The Specter of 2016
Quote – The reporting on this so far seems to miss the larger implications. One of them is that Trump’s historical position looks far cloudier. In 2016, Trump’s campaign manager (Manafort) was a former employee of a Russian oligarch (Deripaska), and owed money to that same Russian oligarch. And the FBI special agent (McGonigal) who was charged with investigating the Trump campaign’s Russian connections then went to work (according to the indictment) for that very same Russian oligarch (Deripaska). This is obviously very bad for Trump personally. But it is also very bad for FBI New York, for the FBI generally, and for the United States of America.
Click through for analysis. Snyder is a historian and this falls right into his special area, namely Europe. What strikes me here is that we all seem to be laboring under themistaken impression that if a responsible adult is aware that there is a problem under his or her purview, he or she will take some action. That does not appear to be the case Look at the 6-year-old school shooter – other students reported to multiple adults that he had a gun, starting early in the day. One of, I guess, the last to hear, just said, “Don’t worry, the school day’s almost over.” And then there was the entire police department in Uvalde. I understand the impulse, I really do, to mind one’s own business, but we citizens deserve better. Just because fascists want to supervise inappropriately doesn’t mean that we must fail to exercise supervision at all.

Food For Thought

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