Open Thread for October 11, 2021

 Posted by at 7:17 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 112021
 

Yesterday, I was working on that final cotton knitting project, and was within spitting distance of finishing it, when the circular needle I was using on it “broke.” I put that in quotes because they don’t actually break – what happens is that the (nylon or plastic) cord which connects the two working ends has a glue failure, and slips out. Dropped stitches do ensue and often so does colorful language. But this time the dropped stitches were few and easily seen and picked up onto a stitch holder. I reglued it right away. But the jewelers’ super glue which I used is not like regular super glue – it has wiggle room and therefore must cure for 24 hours before being subjected to any stress. So I am still waiting. But it’s not like I have nothing else to do.

Cartoon – (This is from 2013.  How TC knew that David would die first so that this would still be valid … I can’t explain.)

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – The Battle of January 6th Has Just Begun
Quote – Trump is, per Pew and other recent polls, both the overwhelming favorite among Republicans for 2024 and their continuing spiritual leader. (Two-thirds of the Republicans and Republican-leaning independents that Pew surveyed wanted Trump to continue to be a major national figure, a total that’s gone up by ten points since January. Yes, that’s not a typo—it’s gone up.) Just as important, he has succeeded in selling his party on his Big Lie about the 2020 election, on January 6th revisionism, and on taking a series of specific actions—from changing how states certify elections to purging state Republican officials who did not go along with his 2020 coup attempt—that will affect American democracy for years to come, whether or not Trump runs again.
Click through for opinion. I see a lot of different takes on just how popular Trump** is or isn’t. I fear this one is closest to fact.

Crooks and Liars – Minn. Cops Went Hunting For Civilians During Protests
Quote – A sergeant leading the unit says, “Let ’em have it, boys, let ’em have it … Right there, get ’em, get ’em, get ’em, hit ’em, hit ’em!” At one point, an officer firing less-lethal rounds on a distant group of protesters says “Gotcha!” as he hits someone. There’s laughter, and the officer is congratulated on his shot with a fist bump and “Good hit, buddy.” “You guys are out hunting people now and it’s just a nice change of tempo,” one officer says. “F*** these people.”
Click through for details. I didn’t put this in the video thread because the video is not the point. The video is merely evidence for the point which needs to be taken fron this story.

ProPublica – Black Children Were Jailed for a Crime That Doesn’t Exist. Almost Nothing Happened to the Adults in Charge
Quote – A few weeks before, a video had appeared on YouTube. It showed two small boys, 5 and 6 years old, throwing feeble punches at a larger boy as he walked away, while other kids tagged along, some yelling. The scuffle took place off school grounds, after a game of pickup basketball. One kid insulted another kid’s mother, is what started it all. The police were at Hobgood because of that video. But they hadn’t come for the boys who threw punches. They were here for the children who looked on.
Click Through. You don’t need to read every word, but the title and one quote are not enough either. As Mark asks in today’s Doonesbury … “What country is this?”

Food for Thought –

And … for Squatch …

Share

Open Thread for October 10, 2021

 Posted by at 7:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 102021
 

Yesterday, the opera was “Billy Budd,” based on the novella by Herman Melville, and composed by Benjamin Britten. It goes to some dark places, and I can’t call the ending happy, though it does achieve a measure of peace. Of course the music is lovely. While it was on I organized both morning and evening meds for the next two weeks … so I am ahead of my usual accomplishment with them.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Bears Ears Inter-Tribla Coalition – “We Did It!”
Quote – The Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition (BEITC), comprised of delegates from the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Indian Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and the Zuni Tribe, issued a statement today in response to President Biden’s upcoming announcement that the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument will be restored…. This statement represents the joint views of the five Tribes making up the Coalition. Each Tribe, acting as sovereign nations, may also offer independent comments.
Click through for quotes from members. I certainly needed some good news today, and assume y’all do too. You can sign a thank-you note here, courtest of the Grand Canyon Trust, if you like (And you’ll get a nice reply pretty quickly.)

Quote – Unfortunately, in a big black eye for her reputation, Beeman’s own racist comments in a University of Connecticut online forum on “critical race theory” were noticed by Hartford TV station WFSB, which reported on the comments yesterday. The station didn’t specify when the forum took place, but it had a screenshot, and Beeman was quick to insist that heavens no, she didn’t mean anything bad when she’d typed “Helping kids of color to feel they belong has a negative effect on white, Christian, or conservative kids.” Of course she didn’t! Here’s the video, cued up to the story so you don’t have to be confused by several minutes of silence at the start, yeesh, guys, you work in teevee.
Click through for clip woth quote. “Tone deaf” doesn’t even begin to describe this. The implication alone that Chrstians can’t possibly be black is nauseating.

Crooks and Liars – Maryland Man Fatally Shot His Pharmacist Brother For ‘Killing People’ With The COVID Vaccine
Quote – Burnham is being held without bond in Allegany County, where he is charged with stabbing Rebecca Reynolds, 83, to death inside her Cumberland home on Sept. 29. Police said he took her car and fled to Ellicott City, where a day later he killed Robinette, 58, and his wife Kelly Sue Robinette, 57. He faces first and second-degree murder charges in the couples’ deaths.
Click through – Apparently we are already in a shooting Civil War. “Brother against btother.” (I didn’t look for Law & Crime’s take on this but I’ll bet it’s epic.)

Food for Thought – Chyron of the Year

Share

Open Thread for October 9, 2021

 Posted by at 6:35 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 092021
 

Yesterday, I realized I am starting to run ahead on news stories. I’ve had times when I was running ahead on videos (and I am that too now, but only a little bit), but haven’t seen this may good stories all at once since I started. And I hate to cut most of them out. So I hope you’ll be tolerant of the stories getting posted a bit late, and if there’s breaking news that you think we shouldn’t have to wait for, please feel free to put it in a comment.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Wonkette – Please Watch Frances Haugen’s ‘60 Minutes’ Interview Before Logging Onto Facebook Again
Quote – Facebook recruited Haugen in 2019 and she agreed to join only if she could work against disinformation because she’d watched a friend get trapped in the alternate reality of online conspiracy theories. She was assigned to Civic Integrity, a showy bit of PR sleight of hand intended to show that Facebook cared about disinformation during the 2020 election. However, the company pulled the plug once the election was over, which is true in only in the most literal sense. Practically speaking, the Big Lie is actively gaining ground, arguably thanks to Facebook.
Click through. I am putting this here and not in the Video Thread, partly because it’s a little long (at 13:36), but partly so that more people will see it. I know Nameless watched it when it aired, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Colleen also did. But I didn’t, and everyone should.

Center for Media and Democracy – ALEC Leaders Boast About Anti-Abortion, Anti-Trans Bills
Quote – At the 40th anniversary meeting of the Council for National Policy (CNP) in May, ALEC leaders boasted about their extensive efforts to advance state legislation to severely restrict access to abortion and limit the rights of trans students, as well as voter suppression bills. CNP is a secretive network of far-right Christian political figures and donors that works behind the scenes to influence Washington.
Click through for the status of the investigation. It just never ends!

Mother Jones – This Is the Newest Front in Anti-Vaxxers’ War on Instagram Misinfo Controls
Quote – Janny Organically is a person. Or maybe she’s a few people—it’s hard to tell. At any rate, Janny Organically is an Instagram account, and, with 104,000 followers, a decently popular one at that. Fans enjoy stylishly composed memes in fonts and hues that look like they might belong on a tea towel in a hipster souvenir shop, with lightly anti-authoritarian yet vague messaging. Janny Organically might be urging you to try a new yoga class, or fomenting a revolution, it’s not entirely clear. “Be careful not to confuse cowardice with morality,” reads one post in a script that evokes a 1970s romance novel, in front of some softly blurred flowers. Another one is less subtle: against a sepia-filtered photo of a desert road, are the words, “Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not.”
Click through for story. This is the nightmare of what happens when people with actual brains and skills get involved in right wing disinformation. It is horrifying.

Food for Thought –

Share

Open Thread for October 8, 2021

 Posted by at 6:54 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 082021
 

Yesterday, I went through all the ballot issues I wil be voting on and figured out all the Yesses and Noes. In Colorado, General Elections in odd-numbered years are never for people but only for issues, and are limited to issues involving money. So it’s a drag reading through all of them. I have 3 state issues, one county issue, and one special district issue to vote on. The special district issue was easy – our fire and EMT response times are dire, all due to insufficuent funds. The others were more difficult, and I had to go to Colorado Public Radio for actual English explanations to determine where the Republican shenanigans are hidden (and there certainly are some.) But I have it figured out now. Also yesterday, Mitch and I figured out a way that I can email him the Open Thread (not a link, the actual content) which is simple and easy. And of course he can reply with comments. So we can keep in touch to that extent anyway.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

USPS Testing Out Postal Banking. Thank The Postal Union!
Quote – The USPS got out of the banking business in 1966, but for decades, think tanks and policy geeks have said it would be a great thing to bring back, because there are millions of Americans who don’t use banks, yes in 2021. Instead, far too many Americans are unbanked — about five percent of us — and pay too much to cash their paychecks at payday lenders, (some) grocery stores, or Walmart. Starting last month, the USPS began testing out a new system where people can cash business checks up to $500 and receive the money in the form of a gift card that can be used pretty much anywhere. As David Dayen puts it at the American Prospect, this is a big effing deal: He calls it “the most far-reaching executive action that the Biden administration has taken since Inauguration Day.”
Click through for story. Elizabeth Warren is one who will certainly be happy. This is a pet project of hers (one of many.)

Rise in New Mexico earthquakes likely triggered by oil industry
Quote – There were 146 quakes through June so far this year. Those numbers are just in New Mexico — they are even higher over the border in the Texas portion of the basin. The overwhelming majority of the quakes are small and barely perceptible to people right in the area where they occur. But Dr. Mairi Litherland, the manager of the Seismological Observatory at New Mexico Tech, is paying close attention because, “we have seen that when you start to see more of these smaller events, it can lead to larger events.”
Click through for details (including bad kitty litter). Gee- ya think?

GOP Senate Candidate Seeks Gag Order On His Wife
Quote – And now, true to Trump form, he’s got problems with his treatment of women in his personal life, ahem. “Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Sean Parnell has asked a judge to seal records in his ongoing custody case and to ban his wife and her attorney from talking publicly about past protection-from-abuse orders against him — matters that have stirred political attacks and media scrutiny.”
Click through – This is just the primary. Lots could happen.

Food for Thought –

Share

Open Thread for October 7, 2021

 Posted by at 6:31 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 072021
 

Yesterday, I got an email from visitation staff that they are changing visitation dates and can I come on the 16th instead of the 17th. So that has changed. Considering how early I have to start, morning traffic will probably be not too bad. The afternoon may be a different story.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Guardian – Henrietta Lacks’ estate sues drug company that sold her cells
Quote – The lawsuit asks the court in Baltimore to order Thermo Fisher Scientific to “disgorge the full amount of its net profits obtained by commercializing the HeLa cell line to the Estate of Henrietta Lacks”. It also seeks an order permanently enjoining Thermo Fisher Scientific from using the HeLa cell line without the estate’s permission.
Click through for story. I hope the estate takes the company to the cleaners. Yes, I have benefitted from this crime – we all have – the polo vaccine is just one way – but most of us in complete ignorance. Thermo Fisher Scientific can’t claim that.

Two related stories:
HuffPost – FBI Raids NYPD Union Office And Home Of Its Right-Wing Leader
Quote – Mullins, a police sergeant detached to full-time union work, is in the middle of department disciplinary proceedings for tweeting NYPD paperwork last year regarding the arrest of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daughter during protests over the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. Mullins’ department trial began last month but was postponed indefinitely after one of his lawyers suffered a medical emergency.
Click through for more on the raid, and see the next story for at least one consequence.

CBS News – New York City police union leader resigns after FBI raids his office and home
Quote – Mullins has previously been accused of violating policy when he posted the police report from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daughter’s arrest during the George Floyd protests last year. He is currently facing a departmental trial over the accusation. “Ed Mullins dishonored his uniform, his city and his union more times than I can count. It was just a matter of time before his endless hatred would catch up with him. That day has come,” de Blasio tweeted late Tuesday following news of Mullins’ resignation.
Click through for some details. Knowing MAGAts, I’m sure there is far more left unsaid than has yet been said.

Food for Thought –

Share

Open Thread for October 6, 2021

 Posted by at 6:52 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 062021
 

Yesterday, JL and Pam and I exchanged some emails with Mitch about his internet issues. His correspondence included “[I} believe that the situation is just that I did NOT do Mac updates for years, and my system is unable to adapt to changes elsewhere.” I can’t really argue with that …

Cartoon – 6 6Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

The 19th – Elizabeth Warren isn’t in the White House. But she knows how to use the tools she’s got.
Quote – It wasn’t big news outside of higher education and financial circles, but their departures could result in roughly 15 million borrowers having their loans transferred to other institutions. The thought is that at better-regulated lenders, borrowers will have a greater chance at paying down debt loads that disproportionately weigh down people of color. But, Warren said, the best solution would still be to cancel $50,000 in federal student debt per borrower.
Click through for more. One doesn’t have to be President to accomplish stuff. Thank God.

The New Yorker – Why Republicans Are Still Recounting Votes
Quote – A more subtle mind than Trump’s would see the futility of having a questionable firm undertake an unnecessary recount only to offer findings that are counter to his immediate interests. But the point of the exercise, and of others like it taking place across the country, is not so much to delegitimize the past election as it is to normalize specious reviews of future ones—including, perhaps, a 2024 race in which Trump’s name is on the ballot. We have seen too much of this form of mainstreaming of the absurd in recent years to note every example, but its origins likely lie in Trump’s fixation on Barack Obama’s birth certificate. In that case, once the birther myths were finally dispelled, Trump pivoted to congratulating himself for forcing people to get to the bottom of the issue. In effect, he recast a conspiracy theory as a legitimate inquiry resolved by legitimate means. The danger is the probability that some illegitimate future inquiry will be used to achieve illegitimate ends. The groundwork for this is more advanced than we care to contemplate.
Click through for more about why this is so important.

Los Angeles Times – Jan. 6 rioters exploited little-known Capitol weak spots: A handful of unreinforced windows
Quote – Those upgrades were part of a well-publicized, large-scale renovation to the exterior stone and ironwork of the Capitol and surrounding office buildings. But the security improvements were not widely disclosed at the time. Most of the Capitol was covered in scaffolding during the multiyear project, and much of the work took place at night. Funding to reinforce the windows came from a mix of classified and unclassified appropriations, which helped mask the scale and cost of the project.
Click through for story. It is possible to argue against it, but I personally feel, given all the other information we have, that this reinforces the idea that they had help from inside and that many inside had prior knowledge. The Times has a paywall, so if you want to be able to access it any time, “printing” it to a PDF or other file might be a good idea.

Food for Thought –

This is from the Wonkette newsletter from yesterday. The newsletter is put together by the CEO’s (Rebecca) husband who goes by “Shypixel”:
My best friend for many years was a quadriplegic man named Shane. One of the reasons we got along so well, according to Shane, was that I would call him on his shit, when nobody else would. Everyone was always so tender to him, even when he was being a raging asshole, because he was in a wheelchair. He hated it, hated the pity behind it. So let’s all honor Shane’s memory by calling Madison Cawthorn a raging asshole, loudly, to his stupid face.
– The Shypixel loves you all and wants you to be happy.

Share

Open Thread for October 5, 2021

 Posted by at 7:22 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 052021
 

Yesterday, I tripped over many interesting articles … so many I may have Wednesday finished and be into Thursday, though I can always delay something for breaking news. Videos were a bit sparser, but I managed. I’ll have two posts tomorrow. I got my next appointment to see Virgil confirmed for October 17 (a Sunday.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

DOJ Accuses ‘Subversive’ Texas Legislature of Passing ‘Terrifying’ Anti-Abortion Law to ‘Outflank’ Supremacy of U.S. Constitution
Quote – U.S. Department of Justice attorney Brian Netter argued in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas that the state had enabled a regime of “vigilante justice” in direct contravention of the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of the right to a pre-viability abortion. He said the DOJ considered the state’s “ploy” to be an “open threat to the rule of law.” Netter later said Texas was “appointing vigilante bounty hunters” to enforce an anti-abortion measure that state actors would be immediately be blocked by a federal judge from enforcing on their own under the color of law.
Click through for story. We knew they were going to file this suit, but we didn’t – at least I didn’t – know they were going to use such inflammatory lahgiage in it.

The Guardian – ‘There’s tar everywhere’: large California oil spill fouls beaches and kills wildlife
Quote – The oil created a miles-wide sheen in the ocean and washed ashore in sticky, black globules along with dead birds and fish. Crews led by the US Coast Guard deployed skimmers and floating barriers known as booms to try to stop further incursion into the wetlands and the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.
Click through for the scope of the problem, Of course this is Orange County. Plus Californi still has fires as well as CoViD.

Vox – When the world actually solved an environmental crisis
Quote – “Projections suggested that the ozone layer would collapse by 2050,” the Future of Life Institute’s Georgiana Gilgallon told me. “We’d have collapsing ecosystems, agriculture, genetic defects.” The sudden plunge in atmospheric ozone heralded a coming disaster. But the world responded. With consumer boycotts, political action, a major international treaty called the Montreal Protocol, and a huge investment in new technologies to replace CFCs in all their commercial and industrial uses, new CFC production was brought effectively to a halt over the 1990s and early 2000s. It took a while to phase out existing devices that used CFCs, but CFC emissions have been steadily falling since the protocol went into effect.
Click through for details. Of course that was then. This is now. And to solve a problem one really needs to admit that it exists.

Food for Thought –

Share

Open Thread for October 4, 2021

 Posted by at 7:17 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Oct 042021
 

Yesterday, I did my best to rest. I worked a little more on that last cotton project I mentioned … I had to undo some after discovering I was working on the wrong side. But not too much. And it gives me a second chance to get a color change over short rows right. So I’m not complaining.

Cartoon – 4 4Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

AP News – NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn’t happen this week
Quote – Vaccinated people do not carry more coronavirus than the unvaccinate…. Social media users are misrepresenting comments made by Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore health commissioner, to make the false claim.
Click through for this and other stories. And maybe boolmark the home page of this feature, which comes out every Friday. 

Law & Crime – Texas Man Accused of Throwing Molotov Cocktail at Democratic Party HQ While Wearing American Flag as Disguise
Quote – Ryan Faircloth, 30, stands accused of arson and possessing a prohibited weapon. He is currently being detained at the Travis County Jail in Austin after being arrested on Friday. He also has a federal charge pending according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Click through for data and reminders of the crime – which we all saw on video. So glad they got him. I hope they keep him.

The Guardian – Facebook whistleblower to claim company contributed to Capitol attack
Quote – A whistleblower at Facebook will say that thousands of pages of internal company research she turned over to federal regulators proves the social media giant is deceptively claiming effectiveness in its efforts to eradicate hate and misinformation and it contributed to the January 6 attack on the Capitol in Washington DC.
Click through for story. This wil have been on 60 Minutes last night. She’s not claiming financial contributions, but she is claiming motivatinal contribution.

Food for Thought –

Share
 Older Entries  Newer Entries