Mar 242022
 

Yesterday, I had a grocery order coming – or, at least, I thought I did. When there was just a half hour left in the delivery window, I refreshed the tracking page and it said it had been cancelled. It appears to have been rescheduled for today in the same window – of course I will do my best to confirm that. Good thing I always try to order well ahead of need.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

No More Mister Nice Blog – Republicans Live In A Disinformation Bubble Just Like Russians
Quote – In the same way that we’ve come to realize, with astonishment, that Russians simply weren’t told that their troops had invaded Ukraine, and didn’t believe there was a war, Republican voters, I’m sure, don’t believe President Biden is doing anything effective on Ukraine’s behalf, and that only Republicans could save Ukraine. Russian citizens have an excuse for their ignorance: Media outlets that don’t toe the Kremlin line are suppressed. In America, it’s purely voluntary:
Click through for full post. From last week, but timeless – and putting information and disinformatin side by side does help us see what we are up against.

The New Yorker – The Shaming-Industrial Complex
Quote – Owen Flanagan, a professor of philosophy and neurobiology at Duke University, suggests that our tense political climate is the product of poor emotional regulation…. [T]he data-scientist-cum-journalist Cathy O’Neil suggests that shaming is structural: its ubiquity is the fault not of individual vigilantes but, rather, of the many industries that manufacture and exploit mortification for profit. At the heart of these diverging perspectives is an ambiguity built into the very concept at issue. Shame is an emotion—a person can suffer from its bilious bite, as Sacco did—but it is also a state of affairs.
Click through for full article. There’s no solution here, but lots think about. I’ll add a few thoughts of mine to the brew: Emotions cannot be controlled, but our actions in response to them can. People who shame others may need to be shamed for it, as it may be the only language they understand (however, the shameless cannot be shamed.) And anger is in itself not only a bad thing, but the only motivation for change – it’s all in how one uses it.

A military veteran knows why your employees are leaving
Quote – It has been an intense period full of unknowns. It’s hard to be self-aware enough to see the full impact of all these changes. I redeployed five times, and I got better at reintegrating each time. I had the benefit of practice, which allowed me to acknowledge what I was feeling, understand it better, and move forward. But the pandemic is a one-time thing, and most people never got a briefing from their chaplain about what to expect.
Click through for article. This is addressed to busines leaders, and it’s a couple of months old. But it has life lessons whichare far from stale. It’s sort of like a different kind of PTSD – one to which the pandemic made everyone vulnerable.

Food For Thought:

Share
Mar 222022
 

Glenn Kirschner – As Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Confirmation Hearing Opens, the Republicans Launch their Attacks

American Bridge – Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s opening statement

Meidas Touch – Legal Expert Harry Litman Day 1 Confirmation Hearing Recap

MSNBC – Facing Racist Dog Whistles In The Senate

The Lincoln Project – Ohio GOP Debate – Any Questions

Farron Balanced – Tucker Carlson Freaks Out After Being Accused Of Spreading Russian Propaganda

Beau – Let’s talk about the Russian space agency’s new tone….

Share
Mar 212022
 

Glenn Kirschner – A Tale of 2 Americas: First Black Woman Headed to the Supreme Court vs. Trump’s Racism & Misogyny

Meidas Touch – The GOP BLOCKED US on Twitter!! (Congratulations, Broothers!)

No Dem Left Behind – Marjorie “Traitor” Greene wants us to turn our backs on Ukraine and let Putin win!

VoteVets – War Powers

Radio Free Europe – Taking Calls On Ukraine’s Help Line For Russian Military Moms (and dads and sibs) – hanky alert

Brent Terhune – Elon and Grimes’ secret baby

Beau – Let’s talk about HB 800 in Tennessee….

Finally, I want to give a hat tip to a video Lona posted – a stirring prody of “London Calling called “Kyiv Calling. You can click on the link, or scroll back a few posts to see it (with her comments.)
https://youtu.be/9guzUoTNxeE

Share
Mar 202022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Mark Meadows’ Double-Wide Voter Fraud: Meadows Now Faces Federal AND State Criminal Investigation

Lincoln Project – The Parties on Putin

Tweet – Presidents Clinton and Bush bring sunflowers to Ukrainian church to show solidarity

MSNBC – GOP Fears Losing SCOTUS Clash To Biden, As Judge Jackson Rallies Dems

Liberal Redneck – Hunter Biden’s Laptop

Cracked – If Toilet Paper Commercials Were Honest

Beau – Let’s talk about Ukraine’s personnel problem….

Share
Mar 182022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Putin’s Acts Against Ukraine & Trump’s Acts Against the US: Political Acts or Acts of Evil? (“Why not both?” – JD)

Robert Reich – The Real Reason Congress Gets Nothing Done

Rebel HQ – Veteran RIPS Lauren Boebert For Disrespecting Military (As I’ve said elsewhere, I expect she got a letter from the [Fascist] mother of a Marine Lance Corloral [E3] which is abbreviated LCpl. Granted to be what she said it should have been “LtCpl,” but no other service uses the word “Lance” in a rank, so she just assumed. I wonder what she would have done with GySgt.)

Zelensky visits hospitalized girl who shielded her younger brother from Russian gunfire

The Lincoln Project – Putin’s Puppet

Puppet Regime – CoViD-19

Beau – Let’s talk about the country in the mirror….

Share
Mar 162022
 

Enjot Betty and Randy – I decided not to hold either one.  There’s enough grimness already today.

Glenn Kirschner – Trump Endangers America’s Teachers: When Will DOJ Decide We’ve Reached the Arrest Tipping Point?

Crooks and Liars – Ali Velshi Struggles Through Tears Discussing Slain Ukrainian Family

Rebel HQ – Richard Ojeda Reacts To Trump’s Latest Con Job: Trump Force One

Republican Accountability Project – Republicans are suffering from Partisan Derangement Syndrome

Mrs Betty Bowers – My Intervention with the Gremlin in the Kremlin

Randy Rainbow – GURL, YOU’RE A KAREN

Beau – Let’s talk about Putin banning words and what we can learn….

Share
Mar 132022
 

Glenn Kirschner – AG Garland: “DOJ Will Hold All Accountable”, Starting w/”Cases in Front of Us & Build From There”

Meidas Touch – Ban Putin Propaganda

American Bridge – America is on the move

No Dem Left Behind – Don’t Say Gay Bill, the GOP’s Long Strategy of Weaponizing Fear & Hate

Liberal Redneck – Gas Prices and Joe Biden

Sky World- By Bear Fox performed by Teio Swathe – [In English and a Native language, I do not know which] Words: “Let us put our minds together and remember those who have passed on, their lives’ duties accomplished, they are living peacefully in the Sky World.”

Beau – Let’s talk about North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and the Supreme Court….

Share
Mar 132022
 

Yesterday, the opera was “Ariadne auf Naxos,” which, in the announcements this week, was referred to as a combination of “high drama and hijinks.” It’s about two groups of actors who have been hired to provide after-dinner entertainment for a count’s (or duke’s, I forget which) party (so you can add high privilege to the mix.)  In the first act (which Strauss called the “prologue”) we meet all the actors as they squabble about which group is to go first (and other things). Finally, they get orders that both are to perform simultaneously. Of course, there’s more squabbling; no one likes that, since one is an opera comoany with a grand opera, and the other is Commedia dell’Arte, including slapstick. It appears impossible. In the second act (which Strauss called the opera), they do the impossible. I wouldn’t describe how they manage it (even if I could) because that’s kind of the point. But for this performance, the Met made it even more complex by starting with the chorus singing the Ukrainian National Anthem.

As incongruous as it sounds, there was a time (around WWI) when our nantional anthem did open every opera performance,  just as sports events still do. But that was long ago, and even those who survive to remember it have I suspect mostly forgotten it. So this gesture — well, I applaud it, but I admit it carries a lot of baggage. For as long as I can remember, the Met has worked hard to stay detached from world events. And there has been pressure on it to recognize some world events, but it hasn’t budged. Until now. I suppose, given that it has disinvited Anna Netrebko from next season, I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Mother Jones – I’m a Cop With a Trans Daughter. Lawmakers Want Me to Arrest the Doctors Who Saved Her Life.
Quote – I mean, if I think back to before the doctors, I’ve got pictures of her from the year before she came out, and you can see the look on her face. Like she’s not there. As her health care kicked in and she got more confident about who she was, she became more outgoing, making friends. She never used to talk to people hardly at all, unless she really, really knew them. Now you get her started and you can’t get it to stop. She started her own online group on Discord for kids like her, so they’d have some place to talk. She’s trying to write a book. Before she never wanted to be in crowds, and last night we went to a Billie Eilish concert together.
Click through for article. I’ve been saying that misogyny is more powerful even than racism. I don’t exactly think anti-LGBTQIA is part of misogyny (I don’t want to disregard or diminish the effect of any form of bigotry), but I do say they are related as part of opposition to anything other than straight male. And I believe that opposition does transcend racism even.

Democratic Underground (majdrfrtim) – I heard from one of my UKR paratrooper buddies Tuesday.
Quote – Anyway, for most of the rest of my times being deployed I sent him money every month to help him and his growing family so they could buy an apartment. Just after the invasion two weeks ago he sent me a photo of his military kit (rucksack, sleeping bag, bedroll, etc.) with the caption, “All your presents are at work again.” That took my breath away. Since then, I’ve been checking that platform several times daily looking for word from him, his wife, or any of the other guys I know. As the situation over there has worsened, I have engaged every resilience option at my disposal to just get through each day.
Click through for this very personal account. It’s easy to get caught up on the big picture of big events and thereby to miss how such events affect every person individually.

Women’s History – HuffPost – Congress Finally Renews The Violence Against Women Act
Quote – It’s been an embarrassingly bumpy road for VAWA reauthorization in Congress. The law’s authorization lapsed three years ago. Once upon a time, this was legislation that passed unanimously in both chambers, and it was uncontroversial to support programs credited with stopping violence against women and saving people’s lives.
Click through for details. We once again lost out to the NRA, and the renewal is only for five years. But it’s something. We still have a lot of work to do if we are going to be able to keep it – and the rest of our democracy.

Food For Thought:

Share