Oct 052024
 

Yesterday, I discovered Brave New Films has released its newest documentary – about the E. Jean Carroll case (They have quite a catalog – the earliest one I remeber them putting out was exposing the Koch Brothers, u they also did one with Ed Asner playing the Fox-owned grandfather. That’s just what I remember. there are lots more.) Also, Robert Reich posted the newest video/article in his current series.

This is not election news, but it is equally disgusting. Since the article is in a local paper, it’s not that specific to where this is happening, but Wonkette, who referred me to it, identifies the district as being in Yotk County, PA. Since we are in the overlap of Hispanic Heritage Month and LGBTQ’s month, I thought I’d share this even without any Hispanic link. My response to this would be a lot of every-thing-proof black paint on the inside (along with protesting.)

Heather Cox Richardson‘s column from Thirsday nigh started me thinking. I am not thrilled by our two party system, yet I fear the formation of a third party because in my lifetime I have seen too many spoiler candidates negatively affect our government. But what if we had four parties, and each one stood for one quadrant of the political compass? I think potential leadership actually exists – Kamala Harris is clearly a strong leader in the lower left quadrant. Jill Stein appears to represent the upper left, and Liz Cheney (along with Adam Kinzinger and Michael Luttig, and likely a lot more who have not spoken out) is clearly in the lower right quadrant. I can think of far too many “leaders” who are solidly in the upper right quadrant, and I expect so can you, and though I would love to make a statrmrnt by alluding to a woman here, I can’t think of one who would actually have that party’s support (Sarah Huckabee Sanders may be the closest.) I doubt whether any one of the four would have a majority without forming a coalition of some kind. It might be fun to speculate who would form a coalition with whom and on what grounds. And it would be much easier to setermine where any given candidate “really” stands. It certinly couldn’t happen in my lifetime. But maybe some day (aessuming we don’t lose the 2024 election.)

Joyce Vance finished and posted here analysis of Jack Smith’s superseding indictment and I, at least, am not disapponted. I hope you’ll think it was worth waiting a day for also. It clarifies the hoops he had to jump through as well as how he did it. When – not if – this comes to the Supreme Court, ALito and Thomas should, of course recuse, but won’t, and can’t be forced to. Although if we get a majority in both the House and the Senate, we may be able to tell them “recuse or be impeached.” If we could get rid ofjust those two, I’d be a happy camper. We’d have a 5-4 majority, and Gorsuch respects tribal law (most Republicans and even some Democrats don’t), and Barrett is a nebbish.

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Oct 012024
 

Yesterday, a radio program dedicated to American composers featured Robert Russell Bennett. If you think you have never heard again, let me tell you what I have been calling him for almost 50 years now: “the man who wrote Rodgers and Hammerstein.” Seriously, hammerstein wrote the words, which is not a trivial thing, and rodgers wrote the melodies, also not a trivial thing. But bennett did all the prchestrations – yhe harmonies, the non-verbal countermelodies, the instrumentation – wrote out all the parts – and to do that, you must also know how to transpose some parts, because some instruments play in different keys from others. it ain’t easy – and it’s also not all mechanical. To do it, you must be a real musician. And he also found time to compose original works. (There is also a Richard Rodney Bennett, who is no relation – he’s a Brit -who has composed a whole bunch of movie and TV scores and been knighted for them. I have to keep pinching myself to remember they are not related, the names and their talents being so similar.) Does all this qualify as a “Now you know the rest of the story”?

Mary Trump’s morning dispatch addresses CBS’s decision not to fact check on TV in real time. If I am reading her correctly (and if she is reading them correctly) they will fact check in real time in their live blog in social media. But it seems pretty cowardly of them to fear being yelled at by Trump** – even to fear a lawsuit from him which would surely fail. I wanted y’all to know this in advance in order for you to find a more principled source (in fact, I bumped another of her articles to Thursday to make room for this one. And, if you already learned it elsewhere and have prepared, she also includes a meaty section on how finland teaches its citizens to discern propaganda.)  Also, I should say I plan on watching the debate tonight, but am not looking forward to it.

Rasmussen Reports used to have a halfway decent reputation. They were known to have a mild Republican bias, but only about 1.5 point. But then Nate Silver stopped using them, which says something – and now, I guess, they’ve lost any reputation they ever had.

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Sep 082024
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades” based on Pushkin’s novelle of the same name. (There is also a comic opera by the same name by Franz von Suppé supposedly based on the same story, but it’s very different. The Tchaikovsky opera is as serious as a heart attack – in fact, there’s a heart attack in it. Leave it to Tchaikovsky to kill off all three principals in the same opera.) None of the characters is particularly admirable, but they are interesting. There’s a paranormal twist at the end. It’s one of only two opeeras I know of where the old lady is a soprano and the young one is a mezzo (the other being “The Consul” by Menotti.)  Lots of drama and also nice music.

Also – I’m not going to try to describe this email from Sean Astin – I’ll have to quote from it:
This Sunday, I’m inviting you to the Heroes 4 Harris Kamala-Con national livestream event with heroes from Star Wars, The Avengers, Hellboy, Batman, Dark Knight, Lord of the Rings, The Princess Bride, Hercules, The Neverending Story, and so many other sagas.
You can see me, Sam Gamgee, and others talk with real-life democracy heroes like Adam Schiff, Alexander Vindman, and the Tennessee Three about how we can defeat real-life foes in 2024.

https://www.cpr.org/2024/09/05/msu-denver-simulation-skills-hub-lab-health-care-training/
I was afraid I wouldn’t find another good news story worth sharing, but it appears I had too little faith. This one – well, it’s summed up by this quote: “Having a simulation gives me the opportunity to learn from my mistakes,” Mercado said. “Whereas in the real world, I would learn from my mistakes, but it could be at the cost of somebody’s life.”

This link will take you, if you wish, to a long comment by a user whi has been an economist for 18 years, and who debunks the idea the the only obligation of a corporation is to the shareholders. He suggests that corporations should also be responsible to other stakeholeders – such as workers, consumers, and the environment. When I was in grad school for my MBA, we were actually taught that (except the environment was not mentioned – it was just over 50 years ago and although the destruction was already well under way, few then realized it.) I have no idea what happened to this philosophy. Of course even then it was more honored in the breach than the observance. But today, corporations don’t even bother to talk the talk.

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Aug 112024
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Verdi’s “Don Carlo,” which takes place in Spain during the Spanish Inquisition, and features mostly actual historical figures of very interesting people, not entirely accurately. This one came with lots of pictures, and it must have been beautiful to see. However I would have found it distracting that the tenor singing the title role resembles RFK Jr. (Thatmay be more historically accurate than the libretto, since the real Don Carlo was a real jerk.) But this opera is one of my favorites, and it’s not heard that often, so I was grateful. Also, Steve Schmidt has a new “The Schmidt Storm” up. And now I’m off to see Virgil.
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We all know this in general terms. But the numbers are getting horrifying. I wonder whether we could convince any by arguing that is public schools stopped requiring students to be vaccinated, they would lose their excuse to send the kids to private and charter schools or to home school and would have to send them to public schools. Nah, probably not.

This is also a couple of days old. But it has some information about Project 2025 which will be good to know. (And he shares another astronomical photo. He is no relation to the Hubble telescope – it’s spelled differently. He’s just good at using what he does have.)

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Jul 302024
 

Yesterday, as usual on a Monday, I slept later than usual. It’s not the sress on the driving and the visit that does it. It’s appears to be that the stress of worrying about it ahead of and during is my last atraw – and Sunday night, that stress is gone. I still have plenty to worry about … but when that last straw drops off, I apparently can relax enough to get to sleep and keep it up. Who knew?

There is more in this than the US Postal Service, but that’s the main point. Does the Senate have a provison for Discharge Petitons, or something similar?

In a development which should surprise no one, Climate Change is now affecting the quality of education. I feel for the kids who will grow up inadequately educated because of this (and other Republican ideas.) /and I feel even worse fo those who will in the future have to deal with them.

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Apr 212024
 

Yesterday, the radio opera was Puccini’s “La Rondine” (The Swallow), his only comic opera (which still has a suffering heroine, but she doesn’t die.) It was written on commission from a Viennese theater. and was intended to be an Italian version of a Viennese operetta. Certainly some of them do not end with the lovers living happily ever after – off the yop of my head, thre’s “Juditta” and “The Land of Smiles”. Viennese operettas do, if I’m not mistaken, all have spoken dialogue, but Puccini only accepted the commission woth a stipulation of no spoken dialogue. The theme is true love v. riches and comfort. Basically, in the first act a poet’s newest work starts a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of both. in the second act she “flies like a swallow” from her sugar daddy to true love, and in the third, she “flies” back. Of course the music is luscious. Also yesterday, the House passed the foreign aid package after months of Republican anal retention (the reference is not to the content of the package necessarily, but to the conduct of Republicans.)

After the package was passed in the House, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) – toold them the truth and they thought it was hell.

This is heartbreaking – but it needs to be widely known. It explains a whole lot. And the article he links to should also be widely spread.

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Aug 312023
 

Glenn Kirschner – Jack Smith investigates Rudy Giuliani’s drinking & its possible impact on Trump ‘s January 6 crimes

Thom Hartmann – Frightening Study Reveals Personality Disorder That Turns Politicians Into Chaos Agents

MSNBC – Biden unveils 10 drugs Medicare will target for price cuts

Armageddon Update – No Teachers, NO AMERICA!

Four Tiny Foster Kittens Heal Woman’s Broken Heart

Beau – Let’s talk about important Hawaii news about housing….

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Aug 162023
 

Talking Feds – Team Trump’s SINISTER MOVE in Georgia has Backfired Massively

The Lincoln Project – Back To School With The GOP

[Long and rambling – but they had just got the indictment ab=nd were thinking aloud a lot
MSNBC – BREAKING: Donald Trump indicted in Georgia election case

[Scared Ketchup’s motto is “Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to combat genuine stupidity.”]
Scared Ketchup – AI Republicans Make Laxative Ad {NSFW}

Rescue Dog Loves Riding On Mopeds

[And this is why SoSes are very quiet about taking him off of any ballots. And he has a point.]
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump vs Federalist Society members….

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