Glenn Kirschner – Trump asserts he used DOJ/FBI to stop vote count in 2018 to help DeSantis become Florida governor
MSNBC – Rep. Adam Kinzinger: We Need To Make An Uncomfortable Alliance For Democracy. (It looks clear to me he is talking about “up and down” – authoritarianism vs. small-d democracy – not “left and right. That’s exactly why the alliance will be “uncomfortable.” But it wasn’t clear to people commenting where I saw the clip first. So I decided to mention it.)
Farron Balanced – Judge Won’t Let Struggling Conservative Outlet OAN Escape Defamation Lawsuit
Mrs. Betty Bowers – LIVE from Kari Lake’s Campaign Headquarters
People Rescue 700-Pound Moose From Railroad Tracks (I heard you. And with so many of my sources taking a breather, this appears to be a good time to add more rescue stories.)
Beau – Let’s talk about elephant, zebras, and drought….
Yesterday, the radio opera was “L’Amant Anonyme,” the only surviving opera by Joseph Bologne {Chevalier de Saint-Georges) whom I assume no one here has ever heard of. He was a close contemporary of Mozart (10 years older and lived for 8 years after Mozart died.) History has forgotten a number of competent composers who were contemporaneous with Mozart, simply because he was such a towering fugure, but in the case of Saint-Georges there was more to it. But he was an interesting guy. He was born in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, the son of a wealthy plantation owner and his wile’s maid, a Senegalese enslaved girl. When he was 7, his father was falsely accused of morder, and he was sent to Paris and enrolled in school there to prevent him from being sold into slavery should the accusation stick. Apparently it didn’t, because when he was 13 his father came to Paris with his mother, at which time he was enrolled in fencing school, in which he excelled perhaps even more than he did in music, and which probably kept him alive. It also got him appointed to the king’s personal guard and named a “Chevalier” (i.e. knighted) in his own right (as an illegitimate son, he could not inherit his father’s title.) In 1769 he joined a newly organized orchestra, of which he later became concertmaster and then conductor. in 1776 the Paris Opera needed new direction, and he was the obvious choise (and Marie Antoinette’s choice) to be the new Director. But three divas petitioned her not to appoint him on racial grounds, and he withdrew his name from consideration in order not to embarrass her. (Apparently, whatever her failings, she was not a racist, as so many philosphers of the French Enlightenment {I’m looking at you, Voltaire}, were.) He did, however, with backing from Count D’Ogny, commission Haydn to composed 6 symphonies (known as the Paris Symphonies), and he conducted their premiere. When the French Revolution began, he bcame the commanding officer of the first “citizens’ army” recognized in history (no one seems to want to count Wat Tyler’s fighters or William Wallace’s fighters as “citizens’ armies.”) I apologize for getting carried away by the composer, but I assure you, all this barely scratches the surface of his amazing life and accomplishments. The opera itself is reminiscent of Mozart, though perhaps not as complex musically – but a bit easier to follow on that account. It was recorded by Chicago’s Haymarket Opera Company, which specializes in baroque and early classical opera. It tells a sweet little story with a happy ending for all the characters. Next week – actually for the next four weeks – it’s back to China for one French and three Italian operas, and then, on December 10, the Met season begins.
Also – We can hope (I certainly hope) that this is the last time we will have to upend ourlives (and those of our animals – those who have them) but “falling back.” Just one more “spring forward” and then we get to set it and forget it. (as Arizona, for one, already does.” Although , since stats are allowed to deviate, who knows. Another reason to vote. As if we needed one.
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The Daily Beast – Your Uber Data Is Being Mined to Prevent Bridge Collapses
Quote – Overall, even with relatively few trips, the researchers found that just 10 datasets were 90 percent accurate at predicting bridge vibrations, and about 80 datasets increased the accuracy to 97 percent. Matarazzo and his team had specifically designed the system to distinguish vibrations pertinent to a bridge’s health from statistical noise that might be caused by variables like potholes and traffic. The more than 100 trips considered in the study amounted to less than 0.1 percent of the trips made on the Golden Gate Bridge daily, indicating that smartphone data represent “an enormous sensing potential,” the authors wrote in the study. “When fueled with long-term monitoring data, artificial intelligence has the potential to provide bridge engineers and owners with unprecedented information for maintenance and operation at virtually little to no extra cost.” Click through for article. There is no Uber data on me personally, since I’ve never used it. And, if there were, I would have zero hesitation about it being used to prevent bridge collapses, especially collapses like the one in India this week. But God help anyone whose data Republicans get their hands on.
Wired – When Your Neighbor Turns You In
Quote – “If the rule of law starts breaking—and especially if there’s a regime that is supportive of those actions—that’s really giving space for people to take actions that are illegal,” Amat says. “Knowing you will not be prosecuted is a big thing.” All of these sorts of things create a culture of fear in authoritarian countries. People are afraid of their neighbors, afraid to speak freely, and afraid of what might happen next. This fear is made worse by the fact that the citizens dealing with oppressive forces have no ability to hold those in power accountable when they go too far. CLick through for details. I don’t suppose anyone here needs any more incentive to vote – in fact, you probably already have voted. But I wish there were a way to get this knowledge to every indecidid voter in the nation in the next two days.
Yesterday, I gather there were a few flakes of snaw, but I had a little difficulty getting to sleep the previous night, and you all know I am not a bit shy of sleeping in when that happens – so, I blinked and missed it. No more precipitation of any kind is predicted for the next nine days. And Weather Underground is pretty good at this. Those high winds we had last Sunday – WU predicted them nine days in advance. Also, I heard from James (who had his leg amputated) – he now has his prosthesis, and while it’s requiring some adjustment, he’s pain free and hoping to go back to work earlier than was anticipated before the surgery.
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The Daily Beast – Russia Now Has a Second Frontline Set Up Just to Kill Its Deserters: Intel
Quote – Ukrainian intelligence on Thursday released an audio recording that appears to capture in disturbing detail the mayhem and internal rifts between Russian troops on the battlefield…. It was not clear where exactly the soldier was based. But there have been myriad reports of Russian commanders threatening to execute any of their own men who try to ditch the war. Click through for article. I believe something like this was done by Confederates during our Civil War. But I don’t recall hearing or reading of it being done by Hitler, or Mussolini, or Stalin, even – at least, not systematically.
CREW – Secret Service received shooting threat against Chuck Schumer on January 6
Quote – Right-wing news channel Newsmax received a voicemail suggesting a shooting threat against Schumer shortly before 4 pm on January 6, roughly an hour after the Senate chamber had been breached and well before law enforcement was able to clear them out. A Newsmax editor emailed the voicemail to the Secret Service at 3:59 pm, indicating the timestamp at which the threat was made…. US Capitol Police did not receive the voicemail from PID until more than an hour after Newsmax had sent it. The records do not show how explicit the threat was made in the voicemail. Click through for details. I’m sure it’s no news to anyone here that the Secret Service need to be purged – an ugly word but I cann’t think of a better way to describe what’s needed.
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
It’s all very well to discuss how to deal with a tyrant or an autocrat when you actually have one – whether in your own country, or from the outside looking in at another country. But, you know, things change. It seems pretty clear that Texas, for instance, is a virtual autocracy right now. But it hasn’t always been so. Ann Richards was governor once – up until 1996. Between then and 2015, something happened. But what exactly? During those years, one assumes Texas was sliding into autocracy. How exactly?
NATO was formed to be an alliance of western democracies. Turkey is a member. Turkey is being described as “sliding into autocracy.” How far down that slippery slope is it really? Is it far enough to be expelled from NATO? Is there even any provision for a country to be expelled from NATO if it ceases to be a democracy? At one point does a nation cease to be a democracy?
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Why Turkey isn’t on board with Finland, Sweden joining NATO – and why that matters
After decades of neutrality, the two Nordic states that have to date remained out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by declaring an intention to join the American-led alliance. But there is a major obstacle in their way: Turkey.
Erdogan is alone among NATO leaders in publicly stating that he is against the two countries’ joining the alliance.
Harboring terrorists or grudges?
The Turkish president’s opposition is based on his view that Finland and Sweden support “terrorists.” What Erdogan means is that both countries have given protection and residence to members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK – the major armed group mounting resistance to Turkey’s harsh treatment of its millions of Kurdish citizens. The plight of the country’s Kurds, part of a large but stateless ethnic group in the region, has long been a bone of contention between Turkey and parts of the international community.
Despite the PKK’s being listed by the U.S.and EU as a terrorist group, Finland and Sweden have been reluctant to extradite members of the group to Turkey over human rights concerns. Erdogan has responded by calling Sweden a “hatchery” for terrorism and claiming neither country has “a clear, open attitude” toward terrorist organizations, adding: “How can we trust them?”
Erdoğan’s ire with Finland and Sweden has also been exacerbated by the country hosting followers of Turkish scholar and cleric Fethullah Gulen. These followers are part of an educational and political movement with which Erdogan had been allied, but with which he broke as it grew more powerful. The Turkish president accuses the Gulenists of staging a failed coup against his government in 2016.
Foreign policy is almost always intimately tied to domestic concerns. In the case of Turkey’s government, a major fear is the threat to its grip on power posed by the Kurds – and international pressure over Turkey’s record of repressing the group.
Finland and Sweden are neutral countries not beholden to the strategic compromises that the United States and NATO are forced to make to hold the alliance together. Both countries have to date been free to take a moral position on Turkey’s position on Kurdish rights and have officially protested the repressions of dissidents, academics, journalists and minority groups.
Meanwhile, NATO countries have equivocated before their fellow member, agreeing to label the PKK a terrorist organization.
So where does this all leave Finland and Sweden’s application for NATO membership?
As such, Turkey can effectively veto the entry of Finland and Sweden.
The standoff highlights an underlying problem the alliance is facing. NATO is supposed to be an alliance of democratic countries. Yet several of its members – notably Turkey and Hungary – have moved steadily away from liberal democracy toward ethnonational populist authoritarianism.
Finland and Sweden, on the other hand, fulfill the parameters of NATO membership more clearly than several of the alliance’s current members. As the United States proclaims that the war in Ukraine is a struggle between democracy and autocracy, Turkey’s opposition to the Nordics who have protested its drift to illiberalism are testing the unity and the ideological coherence of NATO.
Yesterday, among other things, I heard from Mitch (our Mitch, I mean, of course – not BBM!) I had passed on a little info from comments about how we all are doing, and he was grateful to know and sends encouragement. He also gave me permission to pass on that he had his first cario rehab (yesterday); and it went well. It was a combination of assessment and workout, and he did more execcise than he had done since the day before the attack, and ended up not feeling not that bad. This coming Monday he will be doing it 3x weekly. He’s not up to commenting yet. He’s grateful for everyone’s concern. Of course I told him to take all the time he needed (where have I heard that before?)
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CPR News – After almost 80 years, roses from Colorado’s Amache internment camp may bloom again
Quote – It was during an archaeological dig that the rosebush was discovered. Bonnie Clark, an archaeologist with the University of Denver, and her team were on-site at Camp Amache when they found the bramble crawling across the remnants of a barracks doorway in 2012. It had survived a dark time in American history and the unforgiving extremes of Colorado’s southeastern plains…. Clark, who leads the DU Amache Research Project and Field School, believes people who were imprisoned at the camp planted the roses. “It’s hard to know which family planted them,” she said. “But most of the people who lived in the block where we found them at Amache were from Los Angeles.” Click through to learn what all it took to accomplish this. Not only is this good news, but it comes at a time when the White House Rose Garden has just been partially restored and is colorful again.
Robert Reich – What you need to know about the anti-democracy movement
Quote – Peter Thiel, the billionaire tech financier who is among those leading the charge, writes “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible.” Thiel is using his fortune to squelch democracy. He donated $15 million to the successful Republican Ohio senatorial primary campaign of J.D. Vance, who alleges that the 2020 election was stolen and that Biden’s immigration policy has meant “more Democrat voters pouring into this country.” And Thiel has donated at least $10 million to the Arizona Republican primary race of Blake Masters, who also claims Trump won the 2020 election and admires Lee Kuan Yew, the authoritarian founder of modern Singapore. Click through for more – I suppose, since no one is perfet, there are times when the Reich on the left is not right, but I haven’t seen it yet. This may be the most important thing about our drift to autocracy which has yet been said – that it isn’t a drift, it’s a conscious push.
Crooks and Liars – Katie Porter: Dems Are Actually Doing Something About Inflation
Quote – “We have monopolies today in virtually everything. There is a bread monopoly, there’s a cereal monopoly, beef monopoly. So we need to create this competition. It’s going to help not only consumers, but small businesses wanting to enter these marketplaces. More competition is better for our economy, period. The only people who benefit from monopolies are the monopolists themselves.” Click through for some details and how to message. This is difficult because it is complex yet the solution is pretty clear – and proven to work (Remember the Sherman Anti-Trust Act?) there’s also a video, if you can stand Joe and Mika for a few minites.
