Yesterday, I received an email about an upcoming demonstration, not sprcifically on electoral politic, but on climate, called Sun Day. It’s scheduled for September 21. They havealready scheduled over 350 events in 46 states – fewer that, for instabnce, No Kings, but very large for a climate demonstration. And they’d be happy to add more if there’s not one near you. For anyone interested, here’s the link.
As if the murder of Charlie Kirk wasn’t enough, we had another school shooting in Colorado on Wednesday. Colorado Public Radio reports.
It’s been a week with lots of news – and too much of it important for me to be able to begin to share it. But this by Robert Reich, which came out Tuesday has to be shared. We can’t afford not to. Reich is a specialist in labor, and from that place also an economist. He knows it will hurt. He also knows that any other course of action will hurt worse in the long run.
This is long for a Borowitz Report (at least it is for a free one) and it’s not terribly funny (although it is cute in its way). But it may come in very useful.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, CHARLIE KIRK WAS SHOT AND KILLED LAST NIGHT WHILE SPEAKING IN UTAH.
Yesterday, I’m not excited about rehashing things, especially when there is so much rapid-fire news. On the other hand, G. K, Chesterton had it eight when he said “The human race does not need to be instructed so much as it need to be reminded.” We know that George Washington warned us about Trump**(*) (not a prediction so much as a general knowledge of human nature.) But The Conversation recently published a scholarly article addressing the details of that warning. Also yesterday, this from Liza Donnelly – you may find some of it elsewhere, but as I type, it’s all new to me (some, but nowhere near all, is from Heather Cox Richardson – I checked because they are close friends.) And also, I have noticed that Heather Cox Richardson and Joyce Vance have done a Substack Live and I have really wanted to see it – and today I was able to see it through Preet Bharara’s Substack. Both are knitters (and I knitted while watching.) If you want to watch but skip the knitting talk, start at 4:20. Also, it says it ends at 52:47 but it actually ended at 48:43 – and that’s including a bit about book tours, which can be skipped.
I have gotten to the point that when I come to a headline in The Root which begins “Black People Need To Know About”, my immediate gut reaction is “Sure, but do white people and other non-Black people know enough about this, since we are the ones doing it, and maybe the ones in the best position to do something about it?” In this particular case, sane white people have been opposing it for decades – maybe forever – and haven’t had much luck. But now is not the time to give up.
I think of Jennifer Rubin as being a journalist, not a lawyer – but I looked her up in Wikipedia and she does have a Juris Doctor degree – in fact, headed her law school class. So her opinions on the Courts – what they are doing, and what it means – are at a minimum educated thoughts.
Yesterday, Carrie B (“NannyCarrie”) emailed me the link to this article. 44 years it was there. That’s longer than I’ve been married. And the Papaya Poopy-Pants lived in the White House for four years out of those 44 and apparently never noticed it. And has now lived there for more then seven additional months and never noticed it. But it’s “a hazard” to people visiting the White House. No one could make this up.
also yesterday, there was an update on the “Ban Atwood in Alberta” story.
Not paywalled, but you’ll have to close a pop-up subscription ask. I said a while ago that I’d have to start looking at The Lever more closely. This is a good example.
I referenced the RFK hearing last week and provided a link to the video – but it was quite long and appeared to contain nothing we hadn’t heard before, so I didn’t really expect anyone to watch. Kudos if you did. Whether you did or didn’t, Heather Cox Richardson‘s analysis should be valuable.
Well, this from The F* News is interesting, to say the least. I wouldn’t call it credible. Has anyone seen this elsewhere? I did see it in “Daily Dose of Democracy.”
Yes, this is a cartoon. You just don’t usually see them along with the complete back story.
Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we played cribbage. We had a wide variety of hands. If you have seen the riddle that Nameless posted Saturday, and read the comments, you may note that one hand I had was quite pertinent to it. Virgil was quite forgetful, but in a good mood (he pretty much always is when I visit.) The drive was uneventful both ways – the weather and the traffic both cooperated. Also yesterday – here’s a little backstory – some months ago, one of the announcers at my local public radio station started a new program – his first themed continuing program) featuring Broadway musicals. Sometimes he’ll feature just one show, but more often it will be four or six shows which have something in common. I have missed having a regular Broadway feature – and it’s been so long since one has been available, I have gotten totally out of touch with the genre, so I listen to it pretty faithfully. Yesterday his show featured just one show – “Come From Away.” I had never heard of it nor of its writers or stars. Well, I have really missed out on something very powerful. It ran for well over 600 performances and won a bunch of awards, so it isn’t that it didn’t have publicity that I missed it – it was just me being out of the loop. I realize many people do not care for, or about, musical theater of any kind. But if you do, and if you aren’t familiar with this one, I don’t think you’ll regret looking it up.
This from The F* News suggests to me that irony may not be dead after all.
Dan Froomkin at Press Watch has the New York Times’s number. I can’t remember having heard or seen the term, “weasel word,” for a long time – possibly because the GOP hasn’t been using any, because they’ve been outright lying and misrepresenting everything. The word “great” really can’t be construed as a weasel word for “dictatorship.” And there are so many ways to spread lies.
Of course it’s not really possible to predict what someone is going to do, and it’s even harder when that someone is demented. But it is possible t recognize a playbook = especially one as well documented as that used by would-be dictators. And the Brennan Center does its homework.
Yesterday, the radio opera was a double bill: “Dido and Aeneas” by Henry Purcell and “The Seven Deadly Sins” by Kurt Weill. The performance was from Copenhagen. The two don’t have much in common, but perhaps that was the intention. Purcell lived from 1659-1695, during the baroque period. Kurt Weill lived from 1900 to 1950. We all know Weill from “Mack the Knife,” of course – but (at least in my generation) know “September Song” equally well but don’t know that it was also from a Broadway show – “Knickerbocker Holiday.” His “The Seven Deadly Sins” was called a “ballet chanté” rather than an opera because the man who commissioned it was married to a dancer who bore a strong resemblance to Weill’s wife, singer Lotte Lenya, and it was written for them, so the central character, Anna, is written as a split personality. I have heard of it, and read about it, but never actually heard it until yesterday. It is satirical – I would not take moral advice from it. For just one example, the last sin addressed is greed – and the conclusion is that Greed is good – just like Gordon Gecko. Danielle de Niese, who doesn’t just sing opera, but also on Broadway, in films, and on television – though much of that is not in the U.S. – but y’all might have heard of her – sang both personalities as well as Dido in this broadcast. The most famous aria from “Dido and Aeneas” is one of those “Don’t Cry for Me” pieces which irritate me in principle, because I don’t think you need to be Elizabeth Kübler Ross to be aware on some level that grief for someone’s death is really grief for our own loss of that person, not “for” the person who has died, so telling us not to grieve is really telling us not to heal. Not that I would expect the character of Dido, who, if she lived, did so in the 12th or 13th century BCE – and the aria is well known because it is beautiful. Off to see Virgil – will check in upon return.
NBCU Academy is clearly associated with the National Broadcasting Company, since the peacock is in their logo. And it appears to be working to ensure that aspiring journalists can get excellent education for that career. Given that (for just one example) Alan Dershowitz was educated at (and later even taught at) Yale Law school, their participants are not going to be 100% ethical. But it’s still a good thing, and far better than nothing. And this story from their project really is good news.
And this story from The 19th is really just amazing – and, in Louisiana, you know they did not get a lot of encouragement or assistance from the state, so they were working with virtually nothing but themselves.
Yesterday, I received an email from Catholics for Choicea addressing the myth that the Catholic Church “cannot change,” which is historically, demonstrably false. I won’t do a rant on this, but for anyone who cares about women’s rights, I’ll provide the link.
Pro Publica takes a deep dive into what the regime is on to about “mortgage fraud.” It’s about what constitutes a primary residence. Apparently, in many cases claiming two primary residences is perfectly legal. I don’t know what the criteria are for that, but I can certainly see it in the cases of “snowbirds,” who have a primary summer residence and a primary winter residence. Yeah, most people couldn’t afford that, but in thse cases that really is how they are using their properties. But even if some of these case aren’t technically lawful, anyone he attempts to prosecute will have a great “selective prosecution” defense, since three of his Cabinet members have multiple primary mortgages.
Steve Schmidt from The Warning. Yeah. That ship we just attacked was carrying drugs exactly like all those men we sent to CECOT were MS-13. Right. I’m positive of that.
Joyce Vance shares an analogy made by a federal judge and presented by NBC News. The anonymous judge, along with other quoted in the episode, was anonymous for self-defense. Theres a link to the (print) article in Joyce’s post. All of the article is onsistent with what I see and probably most hee ee, which eans that it may not be encouraging, but it does appear accurate.
Yesterday, A hearing in the Senate Finance Committee took (unsworn*) testimony from RFK Jr. It was pretty much a dumpster fire. Wonkette covered it. (* Senator Wyden requested he be sworn in and was overruled by Chairman Mike Crapo [now there’s an appropriate name if there ever was one.]) There’s video if the ful hearing but of course it’s long. Wyden’s opening is only about 6 minutes.
Yes, Professor Richardson sent this several days ago – but at least I managed to post it on the exact anniversary of the original event. (I would love to know how the jewelers’ union managed to be the ones to put together and bring a marching band. Musicians in general are not known for being wealthy enough to buy jewels, though of course a few do reach that plateau.)
I figure if The Root feels black folks need to know this, it wouldn’t hurt everyone else to know it also. I can’t say it did much to alleviate my fears.
Probably no one cares about this except me – and, because I essentially only shop sales, I have enough projects in hand to keep me busy for the rest of the Persimmon Palpitine’s term and beyond (what I don’t finish will just have to be part of my estate.) But creating with yarn and/or thread is so much more than just the end products. It is good for the soul. My heart goes out to anyone unprepared for this.
Yesterday, Trinette came by after her work day ended. She works at home, for the state of Colorado, on a program which was new last year to assist mothers and children. If it were for the Federal Government, she would be out of work now, you betcha. I am SO grateful she is working where she is! Also yesterday, I got the first fundraising email from the first candidate for one of California’s new provisional Congressional districts. She is a federal labor attorney and will run against Darrell Issa. She previously flipped a city council seat within the new district. You go, girl! Also, the press conference with Epstein survivors was recorded on video (by PBS News) and is available here. it’s almost an hour and a half but I really don’t know how it could have been much shorter. (you can always skip the introductions – although heaven knows it’s remarkable to hear MTG make sense. And all of them together only come up to about 18 minutes. Questions begin at about 52 minutes)
You may have read about this incident – I did – but I didn’t have the analysis then. Talking Points Memo is generally pretty good at that.
I drink coffee again, after I don’t know how many years not doing so. And I have to say I’m glad the EU is doing this, because we certainly won’t. Yes, it will affect prices. But too many people have somehow convinced themselves and others that there is no price to pay for keeping our planet livable. Or, for that matter, for doing right by others on a daily basis. And that just isn’t so.
It’s no secret that I’m big on analysis. Sometimes without good analysis (and occasionally even with it) it’s tough to tell whether news or potential news is good or bad. Take, for example, the possibility of the Mango Monster dying. Many people are all for it. I, o the other hand (and along with John Pavlovitz, among a few others) am terrified by the possibility. But I digress. The Brennan Center, which is also keen an analysis, is addressing “the shape of the big showdown on presidential power” in an article titled “Appeals Courts Rule Against Trump on Tariffs and Deportations.” Brennan doesn’t always link to specific articles, but I think I found a direct link to this one.
