Art – Politics Plus

Open Thread August 26, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 262023

Yesterday, Colorado Public Radio announced that we on the Front Range may get some rain this weekend leftover fron a tropical storm – not from Hilary, but from Harold. The mountains are still a good barrier – the eastern plains, not so much. I did manage to do a bit of laundry and food prep. Also, earlier this week we spoke about clothing being speech. Today’s FFT shows that this can be true even if no one is wearing it. The quote is from a knitting newsletter I receive several times a year (hence the allusion to classes).I made the picture a live link to the exhibit – if you look around that site you can see more details larger. I’m reminded of the AIDS quilt, though the product and the cause are different.

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Short Takes –

Robert Hubbell – A MAGA mugshot
Quote – In addition to impeachment, the Georgia legislature enacted a law this year (which will go into effect in October) that creates a commission empowered to hear complaints against district attorneys who allegedly refuse to enforce categories of crimes like low-level drug offenses, juvenile offenses, and abortion laws. Seventeen other states have enacted similar legislation to target progressive prosecutors who—in their view—refuse to enforce the law…. Four Georgia prosecutors have sued to invalidate the law…. If the Georgia Commission orders Fani Willis removed after a hearing, she can appeal to the Fulton County Superior Court and (ultimately) to the Georgia Supreme Court. That will take a while, to say the least. Even if Willis is removed, her assistants will continue to prosecute the case.
Click through (it’s Substack, so be prepared to click to keep reading, and to scroll down to reach that click if the page appears to freeze.) I’ve seen a lot of people (most of them at Democratic Underground, but also other places) expressing worry for Fani Willis concerning the new Georgia law allowing a Commission to remove DAs, which goes into effect in October. I’ve been saying it can’t be done just by thinking about it – there will be process – but IANAL. Robert Hubbell is a lawyer and he not only explains it better thn I , he also knows more twists and turns. There are a lot of contingencies addressed in this article also.

HuffPost – Ohio Republicans Twist Ballot Language For Pro-Choice Provision In Likely Attempt To Confuse Voters
Quote – In November, voters will consider a ballot initiative that seeks to enshrine abortion rights and other reproductive freedoms into Ohio’s Constitution. But the five-member Ohio Ballot Board, led by anti-choice advocate and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, on Thursday approved anti-choice language to be used in the initiative, which may confuse voters. The approved summary language uses “unborn child” instead of “fetus.” It does not include any language about the right to make decisions about miscarriages, fertility treatments or contraception — even though that’s a significant part of the proposed amendment.
Click through for details. Ohio has a bigger problem than abortion – a problem elephant-sized and elephant-shaped. I wish them luck. They’re going to need it.

Food For Thought

Open Thread February 13, 2023

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

Feb 132023

Yesterday, Virgil and I had a good visit, even without cards. He is still dreaming things and thinking they happened, but if he starts to tell me about one, he now often catches himself up and says, “Oh, never mind.” And he did remember a few things that actually did happen, such as when a former boss of mine (whom we both adores) died – doing what she loved – rock climbing in Mexico. We were the only table for a couple of hours, but then gradually five others received visits. A couple of them left before I did, but the other three were still there when I left – at just the right time to minimize the sunset hindering me. There are some windows in the room, and they face roughly west. Their light on the floor gradually moves as the sun does, and eventually starts climbing up the wall, and acts as a makeshift sundial. When the top corner reaches a certain height, it’s time to leave. (If there isn’t sun, it doesn’t make as much difference when I leave because the sun won’t distract me if it can’t be seen.) Congratulations to Nameless on his team’s win (even though it still has an insensitive mascot. ;-)) After I got back and started looking around, I realized that Ohio is having an environmental catastrophe after a train derailment – near East Palestine – and I hope Spy Kat isn’t anywhere near it. Spy, I see you’ve been by (thanks for the upvotes) and I hope that means you’re fine and not in danger. On a happier note, Stevie van Zandt sent Jamie Raskin a gift – check this out.

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Short Takes –

Civil Discourse – Who Weaponized the Federal Government?
Quote – Yes, this subcommittee was a product of the “compromise” a desperate Kevin McCarthy struck to get the votes he needed to win the speakership on the 15th ballot. That’s apparent. But we need to understand the purpose the members who negotiated for its existence had in mind for it. We’ve already established it’s not about responsible governance. It’s purely performative. The goal seems to be producing a series of video clips and social media posts that Republicans can use for gotcha, for campaigning, and to advance fake claims that will only serve to push the country further into two opposing camps. It’s about writing bumper stickers and own-the-libs punchlines. Look no further than the fact that Fox News didn’t carry the hearing live. It’s all about some 60-second clips where Jordan and friends will be free to harpoon Democrats in a fact-free environment.
Click through for the details of her premise. While mostly obvious to us, it needs to be shouted from the rooftops. I do want to make one tiny correction – Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands is not a Congresswoman but a delegate (USVI is not a state). She doesn’t have a vote on legislation. I presume she does on the committee, and in any case she has a voice – a strong one.

(New York magazine) The Cut – Misty Copeland on Becoming a Mom, Writing a Memoir, and Returning to the Stage
Quote – The self-doubt that comes with the responsibility of being the first, going onstage and performing these roles — Raven Wilkinson dealt with it herself, right before she left the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She was being told by Nina Novak, who was the principal ballerina in the company, that her time pretty much was up. She was never going to be the White Swan. That’s just not a role for Black women. That was ingrained in us as Black women in the ballet world. So when I was given the opportunity to do Swan Lake, it was like this ancestral trauma that I’m bringing with me — this responsibility that if I don’t live up to these standards, what will that mean for future Black dancers taking on this role? Will they be given the opportunity, or will I be the reason not? All of these things were going through my head.
Click through for the rest of today’s Black History moment. I’m not a huge ballet fan, but I do admire Misty, and I’ve missed hearing/reading about her. (The first FFT is the cover of the children’s book she wrote – and the second is tips on how to use that.)

Food For Thought

Open Thread February 12, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:20 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 122023

Yesterday, the opera was a double bill – Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci, by Mascagni and Leoncavallo respectively. One is one act (though I could make a case for it being in two scenes; there is no intermission, but there is an instrumental interlude) and the other is in two acts. They are so often perfomred together the duo is known to opera lovers as “Cav and Pag.” There have been some efforts to pair one or the other with something else, but while no audience ever spit in their eyes, none has been successful enough for anyone to try to repeat any of them. Both are from the early 20th century, both are in the style called “verismo,” and both exemplify my quip “Opera – sex, betrayal, murder – what’s not to like?” (And, now that I think of it, in both it is the cheating partner on the receiving end of the knife.) They were played from a single recorded historical performance, the only matinee that Bernstein ever conducted. I’m not sure why that’s so – it wasn’t that he didn’t like opera – he wrote more than one himself, and the recording of his conducting Carmen with Marilyn Horne and James McCracken is legendary. I’d guess he probably just preferred evenings. I can definitely see that. If you leave after a matinee performance, even if it ends as late as 5 ot 6, there is still a fair amount of day ahead of you in which the spell can be broken. The leading singers are again legendary (which makes sense – there are so many recordings in the Met archives, why look for one without legends when there are so many with them?) I don’t really want to start on them; there’s way too much to say, and I need instead to share first, that here is my Superb Owl for the day – this one because he is a ring made from precious stones and precious metals – how could he not be superb? And secondly, that I chose two Colorado stories for today, and at least one of them is not intense. (Also, I promise to greet Virgil from everyone and to check in upon return.)

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Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – How an FBI Informant Derailed Denver’s BLM Movement
Quote – “If you post something, a story about me saying supposedly I work for the FBI, I will sue the shit out of you,” Windecker told Aaronson in a voicemail. “I will take you to court and I will break you off in court for defamation of character and slander. I have already notified my attorney about this. My previous landlord notified me and sent me these papers that you put on the old door that I used to live at, stating that I work for the FBI. I do not work for the FBI. I’ve never worked for the FBI. You get proof of me working for the FBI, then I’ll say otherwise, but there’s no proof because I didn’t work for them.” Presented with documents and recordings that showed his work for the FBI, Windecker stopped responding to Aaronson.
Click through for story. I could make the point that in the summer of 2020 this was Trump**’s FBI – but the fact is, there are Nazis everywhere in law enforcement, even when there are sane people at the top.

Colorado Public Radio – ‘Loving nature drove the success of my photography’: John Fielder on donating his life’s legacy to History Colorado
Quote – The 72-year-old Fielder is now donating a gift of the best of those photographs to the state he has called home for nearly half a century. He is giving his life’s work to History Colorado and thus to the people of Colorado. It will be free for anyone who wants to see Fielder’s work digitally. It will also be part of rotating displays at History Colorado. Fielder’s gift includes more than 5,000 photos he selected from his vast trove. It also includes reams of narratives that are part of his 50 books, along with oral narratives explaining what it took to capture some of those photos and Fielder’s thoughts on what drew him to special places. Some of the equipment it took to get there, as well as some of his photography apparatus, will also be part of the display.
Click through for background and a breathtaking sample. Fielder is giving his legacy to Colorado, and I want to pass it on to all of you. The destination site is still under construction, but save the link for when it becomes available.

Food For Thought

“Rocky Mountain elk in the aspens, Arapaho National Forest” by John Fielder.

Open Thread May 31, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:16 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 312022

Yesterday, I did more work on a physical conditin I haven’t yet mentioned – a wart. I’m sure part of my problem is that it must have taken me the=ree yers to igure out it was a wart. Hey, it’s right a at the end of my elbow. Have you ever tried to look at the end of your elbow? Even without shoulder issues, I doubt I could have seen it without a mirror, preferably a magnifying miirror. All that time I thought it was a callus.Anyway, it is somewhere in diameter between a penny and a dime. the normal wart remover applications which come with pre-medicated strips that look like bandaiuds have a medicated area the diameter of an aspirin. I’m using those – trying to move them around to cover different parts – but I’ alternating that with other things. Today I received my order of gel and am using that. It has been impossible to keep the other strips in place for 48 hours (the recommended time frame – I doubt the tiny patches which come with the gel will last any longer, if so long. They’s be foe for an aspirin sized wart. I think they might cover mine if I could ut them on with a mocrometer. Maybe duct tape might help – allthough it didn’t much with the original strips. I suppose I should get some cheese to go with this whine.

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Short Takes –

Daily Kos (David Neiwert) – Far right trains its eliminationist sights on LGBTQ community with deluge of threatening rhetoric
Quote – The mood at far-right chat rooms has grown more openly violent as well, particularly as white nationalists have embraced the Buffalo shooter and his eliminationist “replacement theory” motives—and the threatening rhetoric around Pride events such as the one planned in northern Idaho in June has sharpened. As this recent study warned, the previous year’s relative calm in terms of far-right violence is manifestly over.
Click through – though it’s hard to stomach, if we ignore it, it will only get louder.

Crooks and Liars – Audience Mocks Boebert Relentlessly At Primary Debate
Quote – Coram is challenging Boebert for her Congressional seat, positioning himself as a rational Republican (I know, I know, but his site and the media he shares really does suggest he’d be more of a friend to Democrats than Joe Manchin is,) and Bobo actually shows up to debate him. Speaking a mile-a-minute (from notes, which was prohibited by the debate rules,) she sounds like an unprepared 6th-grader making up lies about a girl she’s trying to beat out for a date with the dodgeball king
Click through for one-liners (and video.) There used to be some rational Republicans in Colorado, so maybe there still is one. I don’t know how heavily the new district is rated Republican, but I certainly would hope Coram wins the primary, and maybe some of those atendees are Democrats feeling the same way. And if so, I would certainly forgive them for ratf***ing the primary.

The Mountain Ear – Carousel of Happiness: A history of making smiles
Quote – After rescuing the empty frame of the Looff carousel, [Scott] Harrison immediately began hand-carving wooden animals to help bring the carousel back to life. Harrison still carves to this day, and has created more than 50 unique animals for his vision, each with a story and a deeper meaning to their creator. Once the Carousel of Happiness (COH) was completely restored Harrison created a non-profit organization and, with help from the Nederland community, raised the $700,000 needed to build the carousel its permanent home on 20 Lakeview Drive.
Click through for a little joy in a sorrowful time. Harrison is a Vietnam veteran, so this story is not completely off topic. (Closeups of the animals can be found here.)

Food For Thought

Open Thread May 6, 2022

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:20 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

May 062022

Yesterday, as I expected, it was sunny, so I got out to run the car. I also checked google maps to make sure i remembered the route, and check the time. they say 46 minutes. If I add 10 minutes toget gas and amother 10 to get lost (because this is not one facility but 5 , and I don’t know how hard ir will be to find the visitation center that serves all of them, I need to leave before 7:00. But I am likely not to post Erintes until I get back, even if I have it ready the night before (which I certainly plan to), or send out the email either. That will give anyone else who may want to put up a post more time to do so and still be included in the email. (also, sorry about getting the posts backwards yesterday. I put up the video one first because I had the material together first, and forgot that when I was schedulimg. Almost did it again today. Scatterbrain.)

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Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – The One Mistake Putin Is Dying for Us to Make
Quote – After [World War II], some top [German] generals claimed that in 1938, when Hitler began threatening Czechoslovakia, they were planning to oust him if it looked like he was about to plunge Germany into a war with the West that it was not prepared for at that point. Whatever the accuracy of their accounts, any resolve they may have had evaporated when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and French Premier Edouard Daladier acquiesced to the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia by signing the infamous Munich agreement that September.
Click through for op-ed. Like any opinion piece, it may be wrong. Even when grounded in history – as it points out, there is a lot of history, and which part of history one looks at influences one’s opinions. But it makes a strong point.

Denverite – Some local Chicano murals are being recognized nationally as endangered — which could help preserve them. Quote: [Huitzilopochtli]

Click through for story. “Huitzilopochtli” means “Hummingbird Warrior.” (What, you expected a verbal quote for an art story?)

Opinion: The Republican blueprint to steal the 2024 election
Quote – The Republicans’ mystifying claim to this day that Trump did, or would have, received more votes than Joe Biden in 2020 were it not for actual voting fraud, is but the shiny object that Republicans have tauntingly and disingenuously dangled before the American public for almost a year and a half now to distract attention from their far more ambitious objective. That objective is not somehow to rescind the 2020 election, as they would have us believe. That’s constitutionally impossible. Trump’s and the Republicans’ far more ambitious objective is to execute successfully in 2024 the very same plan they failed in executing in 2020 and to overturn the 2024 election if Trump or his anointed successor loses again in the next quadrennial contest.
Click through for op-ed. Yes, two op-eds in one day. The author of this one is by no means a liberal or progressive, and maybe that makes it easier for him to see what the Republican Party is up to – we liberals and progressive believe in basic human goodness, after all. But we need to learn when not to – and what to do about it. There’s some commentary in New York Magazine here.

Food For Thought

Open Thread for September 25, 2021

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 7:22 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Sep 252021

Yesterday was another day with the portable heater on. I guess that’s the new normal, so I’ll have to find something else to talk about. Hopefully something less whiney.

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Short Takes –

The Hill – CDC panel authorizes COVID-19 vaccine boosters for high-risk people, those over 65
Quote – The CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 15-0 to recommend a booster dose for Americans age 65 and older and people in long term care facilities. ACIP also fully recommended giving a single booster dose to people between the ages of 50 and 64 with certain high-risk conditions, by a vote of 13-2. The panel did not define what the qualifying underlying conditions are, but the CDC is expected to make that determination.
Click through – but some questions are not even being addressed. For instance, if your initial course was Moderna, should you be getting a Pfizer booster? Also, How long should you wait? An article in The Atlantic included a wide range of estimate – just about in the middle was eight months from the first shot. For me, that’s next year. But for those of you who got the first jab in February, that’s coming right up. I’d like to hear something official.

Mother Jones – Inside the Private Facebook Groups Where Anti-Vaxxers Plot to Get Religious Exemptions
Quote – Medical exemptions can be hard to come by—they require a documented diagnosis of one of the very few conditions that prevents someone from getting vaccinated. Religious exemptions are easier: They rarely require proof that an employee belongs to an organized religious group that opposes vaccines. (Few faiths do.) Rather, the onus of explaining the religious beliefs is left to the individual—and the employer must then decide whether the belief they describe is sincere, explained Poonam Lakhani, an employment attorney with the Prinz Law Firm in Chicago. “That’s a really difficult line for the employer to walk.”
Click through for story. If they would mask up (with N95 or stronger) and take dailt rapid CoViD tests (which are actually more uncomfortable than the vaccine), or else stay in quarantine, they could go unvaccinted for all I care. But they won’t. Free-dumb.

Washington National Cathedral – Reimagining the Confederate Windows
Quote – Washington National Cathedral today announced that it will replace its former stained-glass windows featuring Confederate iconography, removed in 2017, with racial-justice themed windows created by world-renowned artist Kerry James Marshall, described by The New Yorker as “a virtuoso of landscape, portraiture, still-life, history painting, and other genres of the Western canon.” The Cathedral’s commission represents Marshall’s first time working with stained-glass as a medium, and the windows are expected to be his first permanent public exhibition anywhere in the country.
Click through for more. I googled his work and I think his style is a natural for stained glass. It appears to be based more on shape than on line. There has also been a poem commissioned for this project.

Food for Thought –

Video Thread for 7/11/21

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:52 am Open Thread, Politics

Jul 112021

Glenn Kirschner – Trump Org Terminates CFO Weisselberg From Some Duties. Is Trump Org Setting Him Up to Take the Fall? (when I first heard this I figured Scotland forced him to do it. The Scots don’t mess around. But Glenn is probably closer.)