Climate Change – Page 3

Open Thread August 20, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 202023

Yesterday, the radio opera was “Manon” by Jules Massenet (Puccini also wrote “Manon Lescaut” based on the same book, and so did a number of other composers whose works are not in the repertory.) It’s based on a 1731 novel written by a French priest, which IMO is Exhibit A for why priests should not do marriage counseling. Manon is described as “capturing the heart of everyone she encounters,” but in no version that I have seen is she even likeable. She’s a gold digger who can’t even be consistent in digging gold, and she doesn’t just manage to get into trouble herself, but destroys the one man who truly loves her (which doesn’t say much for him either.) But of course the music is wonderful (in both this one and the Puccini) so I listened to it all the way to the end when she and her lover are “lost in the deserts of Louisiana,” even though I can’t help snickering at the thought of any part of Louisiana being desert (you can blame the book for that.) This performance is from Barcelona, and the production looks like someone’s fantasy of modern Las Vegas (well, there is a fair amount of gambling in the opera.)

Also, a PSA – about 11:00 a.m. today Hurricane Hillary is expected to reach the Mexico-California border and by 11:00 p.m. to have passed Los Angeles. If you know anyone in the vicinity (Colleen already has it), here’s a link on preparations. And the LA Times has a map following and estimating its path. California has not experiened a hurricane in living memory – of those alive at the time of the Spanish Conquest. And who knows for how long before that. I know I’m late with this, but if you know anyone it would help, here it is.

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Short Takes –

The Warning – The peaceful transfer of power
Quote – American greatness has been fueled and sustained by qualities of character that are timeless and sorely needed during these days of national crisis. There should be no mistake about this being a moment of crisis or blindness about its cause, or who specifically is responsible…. (discussion of three Presidents’ characters) …Truman, a decorated combat veteran of the First World War, recalled his emotions this way, telling reporters the following day: “I felt like the moon, the stars and all the planets had fallen on me.” Why did he feel that way? What burden was thrust upon him? It was the burden imposed by the most solemn oath that exists in American public life. Thirty-five words long, it is specifically proscribed in the US Constitution, and was taken for the first time on March 4, 1789, by George Washington. When Truman raised his hand, he was the 32nd person in American history to swear it. When he did, he became president of the United States of America. His styling was simple and unadorned. “Mr. President” is what we call the person who swears that oath. Here it is: “I do solemnly swear to faithfully execute the office of President of the United States and to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Click through for article. As always on substack, what looks like a paywall isn’t – the message may have an option to “let me try it first” or to “keep reading”or even “no thanks.” There may even be more than one. Whatever it is, click it and you’ll be in. This article is a little pep talk for us who already realize the gravity of our situation.

Upworthy – Daughter comes out as trans, gives dad courage to come out as well: ‘We’re stronger as a family’
Quote – Eric remembers his daughter being bullied as a kid. One of the first incidents of bullying was when Corey was pushed down a hill covered in frozen ice. She suffered injuries to her face and was forced to move to another school, as a result, said Eric, reported ABC News. Eric said the new school’s staff and students were more accepting of his daughter and treat her just like any of the other girls. “She’s allowed to use the girls’ bathroom and locker room, and play on the girls’ sports team and cheer team if she wants to,” said Eric. “We are just like any other kids. We only want people to accept and love us for who we are,” said Corey.
Click through for details. It’s a pretty good bet that anything you see on Upworthy is – worthy to be uprated and upraised. Crooks and Liars recently re-posted the video mentioned (the one with the captions.)

Food For Thought

Open Thread August 17, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 172023

Yesterday, I learned that over the weekend, the chyron atop a news outlet’s building in Surgut, a Russian city far from Moscow, read (in Russian) “Putin is huylo and a thief.” “Huylo” is NSFW and one translator says, “Think of the worst, most obscene possible expression for a very bad person—and that’s the word you need.” Over recent years Russia has put a lot of money and effort into training hackers. I’m sure Putin never expected his face to be eaten. Also, just so y’all know, I am not going to try to keep up with the Trump** trials here. If there is an earth-shaking annoucement midday I may address it in a comment. But the first video in the cideo thread will always be from a legal expert, which means it likely will be about Trump**. Depending on what’s happening, it may not be the only one.

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Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Fight Breaks Out Among Russian Forces That Leaves 20 Dead, 40 Injured
Quote – Around 8:00 p.m. [on Saturday, August 12], in the Central Park area of the village [of Mykhailivka], a verbal altercation took place between Kadyrivians and Dagestanis from another division of the Russian Armed Forces. During the quarrel, one of the occupants opened fire in the air from a small automatic weapon. In the course of the fight, one of the occupiers was inflicted with numerous stab wounds, incompatible with life. This led to an open confrontation between units using underbarrel grenade launchers GP-25 “Koster”, hand grenades and small automatic weapons.
Click through for story. “Friendly fire.” I often go to the original when a story is from a single source, but I thought I would take their word for this information from the Ukrainian government site. I trust Ukraine … but it’s also under attack – and as my intro noted, Russia has hackers.

The 19th – After hottest summer on record, heat-related illnesses are now being tracked nationwide
Quote – “Each year heat kills more people than any other type of extreme weather event, and the heat is getting worse,” said John Balbus, acting director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Climate Change and Health Equity. Balbus’ department, in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is responsible for developing and maintaining the dashboard. Balbus told The 19th that the dashboard has been in development for about a year and was initially inspired by a similar dashboard that tracks opioid overdoses.
Click through for details. I’m glad someone is taking climate change seriously. It’s sad that this is necessary – but it is. The highest temperature at which a human can survive is probably lower than you think it is.

Food For Thought

Open Thread August 14, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 142023

Yesterday, I saw Virgil and we were able to play cribbage. I think I’ve mentioned that the deck is not new, so it’s sticky, and there are at least a half dozen cards, 0maybe as many as 10, that bend in half, both of which make it hard to shuffle and also hard to deal, which can result in some strange happenings. For example, I had a hand with two 7’s, two 3’s and one 5 (including the starter.) Well, that’s a nice hand, but I don’t recall seeing anything quite like it before. But several hands later, I got the exact hand again, And several hands after that, I got a hand with two 9’s, 2 aces, and a five – which is essentially the same hand, just different denominations. And a few hands after that, I got that exact same hand again. Very strange. All in good fun, of course. I guess a little weirdness never hurts.

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Short Takes –

The New Yorker – Can “Cop City” Be Stopped at the Ballot Box?
Quote – I reached out to Mayor Dickens to ask whether he believes that Atlanta voters should be able to decide, after all the conflict and concern expressed in the past two years, whether to build the training center in the South River Forest. A spokesperson, in an e-mail, disputed the notion that a referendum could repeal a city ordinance. This initiative, he wrote, “would violate the constitutional prohibition on the impairment of contracts. That said,” he added, “we welcome public dialogue and engagement around our goal to build the most progressive Public Safety Training Center in the nation.”
Click through for story, of which, if you aren’t aware, it is not Freya’s fault. I would point out that “”progressive” does not mean the same thing in training police that it does in politics. In police training, it appears to mean something like all the latest gadgets to more effectively vcontrol people. Also, IANAL, but the theory that a referendum cannot revoke a city ordinance appears to me to be in violation of the people’s right to petition the government for redress of grievances, a right guaranteed by the First Amendment. It’s an empty right if the government in question claims in advance that there can be no redress.

al dot com – ‘Get them off their fannies:’ Gov. Kay Ivey on how to grow Alabama’s workforce
Quote – According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Alabama has a labor participation rate of 72.1 percent. Only three states rank lower even as the state’s workforce of about 2.3 million represents a new high mark. Still, ranking near the bottom nationally in labor participation somewhat offsets the fact that Alabama is 7th nationally with a 2.2 percent unemployment rate. The unemployment rate, of course, only includes those looking for jobs. “Today, over 2.1 million people are employed in Alabama,” Ivey told the chamber audience. “That’s the most in state history, y’all.
Click thrugh for details. If you have so many job openings that you can’t fill them all, even with people who are not looking for work (and probably NOT “sitting on their fannies”), woudln’t it be a good idea to make your state more friendly to potential workers? Like with reproductuve rights and other health care, and diversity and friendliness? What am I missong? (Heck, they can’t even keep both Senators in the state. Tuberville has moved to Florida – not that he isn’t a good fit there.)

Food For Thought

Open Thread August 10, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 102023

Yesterday, Ohio’s victory was all over the news (as it should be!) Steve Schmidt in his Substack quoted the same Garfield speech which Heather Cox Richardson quoted Sunday (and which I quoted from her quote on Tuesday.) Steve quoted slightly different parts of it, and between them, they made me want to look up the whole speech. And I found it quickly in the Library of Congress. Garfield, besides being an anti-racist, was an interesting fellow. He was not just ambidestrous, but “could write a sentence in Latin with one hand while simultaneously writing the same sentence in Greek with the other.” (The History Channel thinks that may be a slight exaggeration, but whatever he did, it definitely impressed people.) When one looks at all the Americans who have been assassinated, and I don’t mean Presidents only, but other leaders, I have to wonder how many of these killings were done for money, and how much of that money came from greedy plutocratss. I’m not a historian, and I’m not a trained researcher, but I can look into history as far as a couple thousand years and see at least some assasinations which were quite convenient for the wealthy of the time. I wish someone who is a historian would take this on.

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Short Takes –

HuffPost – Alabama Boaters Charged After Attack On Black Co-Captain Spurred Riverfront Brawl
Quote – [A] massive brawl in Montgomery, Alabama, … began when white boaters attacked the Black co-captain of a riverboat…. The incident began at around 7 p.m. on Saturday after the riverboat, The Harriott II, attempted to dock in its usual spot but was blocked by a pontoon boat. The riverboat, which was carrying more than 200 passengers, waited nearly 40 minutes for the smaller boat to move, Albert said…. Multiple videos show the moment [Damien] Pickett[, the co-captain of The Harriott II] is attacked, which led to an all-out brawl as others, including workers with The Harriott II, came to Pickett’s defense. That included a 16-year-old identified as Aaren, who was seen on video jumping into the water and swimming to Pickett to defend him.
Click through for details – such as they are. I have to say it’s nice to here that the white attackers were arrested and charged (although – misdemeanor?) in Alabama, particularly after other recent news from there. Illegal parking on land is problematic enough – illegla parking on water – well, let me put it this way. Boaters who aren’t aware that harbors and docks have assigned parking for good reason may not be competent to be on a boat at all. I might just add that earlier reports, including the video showing Aaren, identified Pickett as a “deckhand.” I mean, either way, he was doing his job – but thats a heck of a thing to call a captain.

The Daily Beast – ‘Green Jim Crow’ Is a Ridiculous Insult to Black Communities
Quote – Black and Brown communities face the brunt of failed climate action and lackluster environmental policy. But there are those who believe it’s actually government efforts to ease the effects of calamitous effects of climate change that are to blame for the hard times of lower income communities. They’re calling it “Green Jim Crow.”… Though there are some compelling arguments in [self-described left-leaning environmental and civil rights lawyer Jennifer] Hernandez’s study—such as the proposed new housing map designed to increase the use of public transit only serves to reinforce segregative housing policies of the past—the premise of the idea is simply wrong.
Click through for article. I hadn’t heard the term, but, since everything with Republicans and racists is projection, I can’t claim to be surprised. This verbiage was bound to be picked up by them, since it solves nothing.

Food For Thought

Open Thread August 7, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:07 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Aug 072023

Yesterday, Steve Schmidt wrote about a forthcoming debate between Gavin Newsom (CA) and Ron DeSantis (FL) which is to be hosted on Fox by Sean Hamity. He fully expects Newsom to triumph, and is looking forward to seeing it. Having steeped myself in the Alt-Right Playbook, I will not be watching.There will be far too many people unable to understand what the are seeing and unable to accept any victory but that of a bully. I have screamed about that too may times and am quite hoarse already. Though I’d love to be wrong. Steve says Gavin gave him the best parenting advice he has ever received, and to this day asks whenever they meet how his son is doing. MAGAts’ idea of parenting advice is “Raise your son to be a monster.” Yes, some of them actually say that. Along with make sure your kids have guns. I just can’t. Anyway, the date has not been set, but Steve promises updates as soon as available. Backing up a little, earlier this week (most of you probably got this) our Mitch sent a photo of a Monarch on the milkweed he had planted to attract them, and remarked that he hoped for caterpillars. Yesterday, he sent a couple of photos of caterpillars. Of course I congratulated the butterfly foster daddy!

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Short Takes –

HuffPost – The Network Behind Trump’s Election Lies Hasn’t Backed Down — Despite His Indictment
Quote – But Trump’s attempts to overturn the election were enabled by a fertile environment to bolster his groundless claims. Several co-conspirators allegedly helped manufacture and push the lies that fueled his attempt to steal a second term, per the indictment, in addition to a network of supporters who have invested their time and energy over the past three years in supporting the big lie. While none of these allies were charged in the indictment ― Trump is the sole named defendant ― it’s hard to deny the culture of election denial they helped create.
Click through for essay. If it were just Trump**… we could deal with it. It’s this that’s the problem going forward.

CNN – Black mayor of tiny Alabama town says he was ousted by his White predecessor
Quote – LaQuenna Lewis said she was introduced to Braxton as the mayor by a mutual friend when she was looking to find a base for her non-profit food distribution work. She told CNN he helped with that request and then she decided she had to help him over his disputed mayorship. “I was just in disbelief because I had never seen or heard of anything like that,” said Lewis, who added that her family had lived around Newbern “forever.” It took time to find the right attorneys and get the lawsuit going, she said, but it was still relevant even more than three years after Braxton was told he was mayor. “I was noticing that people felt like this is a small town, it didn’t merit the attention,” she said. “But this is definitely major. This is something that if it’s happening here, you never know where else it’s happening.”
Click through – yes, I covered this when it came out locally, but it’s now national news (a good thing) and there are some updates.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 8/2/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:01 pm Open Thread, Politics

Aug 022023

Somewhere Glenn missed another day … but I see no need to apologize for this presentation.
Talking Feds – Trump INDICTED in BIGGEST CASE IN US HISTORY