Mar 302023
 

Yesterday, it was pretty quiet. Getting my taxes done was probably the high point of the day. Which is really how I like it. But it does leave me with little to say.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Warning – Must read: The Washington Post’s “The Blast Effect”
Quote – In response to my video commentary, which I shared last night, on the devastating tragedy at The Covenant School in Nashville, a The Warning community member suggested that the media do the “horrendous but necessary” job of showing what a semi-automatic weapon does to a child’s body. This morning, The Washington Post did just that. I would encourage you to read this, and to share it with your family and friends…. Entire categories of weapons have been illegal in America since 1934, including the Thompson submachine gun (the “Gangster gun”) and sawed-off shotguns.
CLick through for the article if you like but the real story is in the Post. It did not paywall me, and I think that may have been deliberate (in case the connection to Schmidt was why, I did not cut the link.) Trigger warning – it’s hard to get through. It’s interctive, so if any animation stops scroll down just a tad to restart the movement. That’s deliberate, to give you time to read the accompannying text. And share it if possible. If I find a gify long or an archive link after this posts, I’ll put it in a comment or in the next day’s post.

Crooks & Liars – Al Franken Reveals How To Get Around ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law
Quote – But Franken revealed a workaround: “Luckily, though, it doesn’t say you can’t sing about being gay,” he said, before breaking into a pertinent ditty. Franken continued by wishing Florida teens good luck. “I think you’ll really enjoy reading classics like, “Moby Large Whale With No Subtext Whatsoever,” he added.
This is not the only humor, and there is a video also. The first short take being so serious, I though some relief was needed. (Incidentally, I believe I know why Beethoven became so profoundly deaf, and it wasn’t hereditary.)

Food For Thought

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Mar 292023
 

Yesterday, Looking at the 10-day weather forcast, I said to myself, “I guess spring is really here.” But for those who haven’t lived in the Rockies, I think I had better qualify that. The predominant spring weather in Colorado is wind. And six of those ten days, including both the 30th and the 31st, showed wind as the predominant weather. So, after coming in like a grumpy lamb, March may go out like a blustery lion after all. (But we can also expect some warmer, possibly up to 70°F.) Also, I found I had overcut the extra yesterday – here’s the correct link (plus it’s now on YouTube.)

Cartoon – 29 Niagara rtl

Short Takes –

The 19th – Nashville shooting suspect’s gender sets attack apart from most mass shootings
Quote – Law enforcement officials in Nashville released the identity of the shooter, whose last name was Hale. Chief John Drake of the Nashville Police said the authorities currently believe that the shooter is transgender. However, local authorities and news media reports have varied on how they refer to Hale’s gender identity, as well as what pronouns they have used. The 19th is waiting on further information related to Hale’s identity before publishing a first name.
Click through for more. Yes, everyone has heard about the shots and the victims. I’m using the 19th because it is not afraid to look at this from a different perspective (and is being very careful not to over-report.)

PolitiZoom – Will Ivana Sabotage Donald From the Grave? SECRET FBI Files Released Under FOIA Reveal Investigation
Quote – What if I was to tell you that I was writing a fiction story about a supposed KGB asset, groomed since the 80’s, and his fashionista wife, whom the FBI has also been watching since the 80’s, and then we fast forward to the 21st century, where the alleged asset has been elected president of the United States, with the help of Vladimir Putin, and then a few years later the fashionista wife tumbles down the stairs of her condo one night when she’s alone and breaks her neck?
Click through for juicy details. This seems pretty far-fetched to me. But then everthing involving Trump** is far-fetched. And Ursula doesn’t even mention the suspicious weight of the coffin considering she was cremated.

Bonus News of the Weird:

Law & Crime – Jurors subject ‘dominatrix’ to potential 25-year prison term for trying to murder lookalike eyelash stylist with cheesecake tainted by powerful Russian benzo
Quote – Nasyrova allegedly fled Russia in 2014 before she could be charged with the drugging and murder of a different friend, this one a man. During a 2018 interview with 48 Hours while she was detained at Rikers Island, the so-called dominatrix Nasyrova was also asked whether it was true that she had also drugged and robbed men she met through dating sites. Nasyrova denied the allegations and said (according to a translation), “I would be happy to comment on that, but I can’t talk about it.”
CLick through for story. The concept of identity theft is not new. It appears in countless fairy tals, certainly from all over Europe – I can specifically pint to one in Czechoslovakia,one in Scandinavia, and at least a dozen in Germany collected by the Grimm brothers. And the victimgenerally either survives or is magically resurrected – fairy tales are big on justice for victims. But the detail of the perp being an alleged “dominatrix” is new.

Food For Thought

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Mar 172023
 

Yesterday, I got an email from Move On, who have an insidious plot. They did not post the contents of the letter so I can’t provide a link, and will summarize. They want to put up three billboards with quotes on the route which Trump** must use to get to the airport, since his Mar-a-Lago heliport is gone. They want each one to highlight a different Tucker Carson text from the trove in which he admittied he does not care for Trump** This, they believe, will cause Trump** to post – let’s say shade – at Carlson every time he takes that road. This will cause Tucker’s viewers to leave him. That’s far more than they say even at the donation site. I think they don’t want the right to get even a hint of it unless and until it’s a done deal. That’s a pity, because it’s quite amusing, but it’s a good strategy. If and when they get the billboards up, we can share the details. Also, I got The New Yorker’s Name Drop answer from the first clue – and actually, any of the clues alone would have given me the correct answer. In this case it was just someone I know so much about that it would have been difficult to wrtie a clue whivh wouldn’t have given me the answer immediately.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

CPR News – As gun deaths rise, Colorado is trying something new — a public health approach to gun violence prevention
Quote – In a first-of-its-kind partnership, the Office of Gun Violence Prevention within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is teaming up with researchers from the Injury and Violence Prevention Center in the Colorado School of Public Health. They’ll create and maintain a resource bank of regularly updated and accurate materials regarding gun violence in Colorado. In addition to the resource bank, officials at the new office also developed a grant program to fund evidence-and-community-based gun violence prevention initiatives.
Click through for details. I really thought it was more widely known than apparently it is that guns are a public health problem. It’s too early to say what this iniriative will accomplish, but we can hope

The Conversation – The retention problem: Women are going into tech but are also being driven out
Quote – So, questions arise: Why does the technology industry have a retention problem? Why are women who are employed by the technology industry quitting in such high volumes? What factors contribute to this low retention of women in the technology industry, and what kind of support do women need to stay and succeed in it?… Mainstream media often reports on open-source software’s toxic “tech bro” culture. In recent years, high-profile leaders in open-source software have been exposed for their abusive behavior.
Click through for full article. Back in the day, women who went into male dominated professions knew we had to be tough and we prepared for it. Is it a drawback of greater societal acceptance in general that we don’t sufficiently prepare kids to cross invisible lines?

Food For Thought
Now, this is what I call trolling!

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Feb 162023
 

Yesterday, yes, the ground was white. And the sun was shining. And the snow which was being predicted for this time next week had disappeared from the forecast. Just another day in Colorado weather. Also, I learned that Sarah Silverman is a contender to be the new host of The Daily Show. Apparently, in her first “Guest host” appearance, she skewered Fox (among other things.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – The death of shame
Quote – Shame once reenforced social norms. Through most of human history, survival depended on extended families, clans, and tribes. To be shamed and ostracized for violating the common good often meant death. Charles Darwin, in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, thought shame may have evolved as a way to maintain social trust necessary for the survival of a group and, therefore, of its members…. But today, shamelessness has gained a certain elan. Audacity, insolence, and impudence are welcomed. Irreverence is celebrated. We hoot when someone gives society the bird. Many Americans love Donald Trump’s loutishness.
Click through for full opinion. I remember during the eighties some psychologists working with addiction decided that shame was a contribuying factor to addicton, and encouraged and facilitated eliminating it. I don’t remember ever being comfortable with that. Certainly what anthropologists call a guilt culture is more advanced than a shame culture – but for a guilt culture to work, a sufficient number of its members must be ethically advanced enough to accept responsibility. When has that ever happened, outside of a few small, self-selected communities?

CPR News – What one ‘red flag’ case in Denver says about how the city removes guns
Quote – The first time John walked into Richard’s townhome he found a night-vision scope pointed at the door. The place was littered with pistols and rifles. There was a trip-wire attached to shotgun and flash-bang shells. Soon, Richard started showing off a pistol — pulling back the slide and trying to chamber a round — all while pointing the barrel at John. The family had always been familiar with guns and John himself is a concealed carry permit holder. Still, he was alarmed. “Very alarmed,” John explained. “Anybody would’ve been.” Richard had recently shot his own computer with one of his pistols, his brother said. And he had previously made “vague implied threats” to the board of his homeowners’ association, though no one had wanted to file criminal charges, according to court records.
Click through for details. Note that this is specifically about Denver. You cannot assume this transfers to all of Colorado. Too many Sheriffs, including mine, have refused to enforce red flaglaws. When you see on the map which accompanies the story that there have been enforcements in El Paso County, assume that they have occurred within the City of Colorado Springs rather than in any unincorporated portion of the county, such as where my home is.

Food For Thought

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Feb 022023
 

Glenn Kirschner – NY DA Alvin Bragg opens a grand jury probe & AGAIN begins investigating the crimes of Donald Trump (I would remind y’all that the investigation being discussed involves a case which was dead under the NY statute of limitations, involves a crime regarding which NY has just opened a sort of amnesty window under which it may now be considered.)

The Lincoln Project – RNC Chaos

Thom Hartmann – Will Right Wing Sheriffs Perp Walk America Right Into Fascism? (Colorado has a cople of those Sheriffs too.)

Mrs. Betty Bowers – The Secret To Reading an Inconvenient Bible

Couple Saves ‘Gargoyle’ Dog After 8 Years On The Streets

Beau – Let’s talk about what escalation is….

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Jan 262023
 

Yesterday, a couple of days of sleeping late and then falling into knitting rabbit hole had put me a bit behind. So I decided to try to get abit ahead instead. did go through February and figured out what days I will need new cartoons for (and one I think I can update) and picked subject matter. i didn’t actually make anything yet, except the update, which I wanted to finsh while it was fresh in my mond, but that is still a head start. And I still managed a little knitting.  Also, yesterday was another good day to play Name Drop.  I was fortunate enough to get it on the first clue, but I can’t imagine anyone in our generation NOT getting it before the last one.

Cartoon – I see I already poseted today’s yesterday.  So, here is yesterday’s, today:

Short Takes –

Scientific American – Why Are White Men Stockpiling Guns?
Quote – The short, broad-brush answer to the first part of that question is this: men, who on average possess almost twice the number of guns female owners do. But not all men. Some groups of men are much more avid gun consumers than others. The American citizen most likely to own a gun is a white male—but not just any white guy. According to a growing number of scientific studies, the kind of man who stockpiles weapons or applies for a concealed-carry license meets a very specific profile.
Click through for description and some eye-opening stats.

Robert Reich – Five truths about the pending debt-ceiling fight that the mainstream media doesn’t want you to know
Quote – Truth #1: The fight is being waged solely by the Republican Party. The Democrats did not pick this fight. When Trump occupied the White House, Republicans voted to increase the debt limit three times without incident. Over the last quarter century, it has been raised over a dozen times. You wouldn’t know this from the way it’s being covered. Last Thursday’s [New York] Times, in an article titled “Months Before a Potential Crisis, Both Parties Kick Off a Fiscal Blame Game,” leads with the wildly false equivalence that:
Click through for more detail on #1 and for the other four. Bob is angry, and justly so.

Food For Thought

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Jan 192023
 

Yesterday, although also trying to catch up on some personal stuff, I did play the New Yorker’s “Name Drop” puzzle and actually got it on the third clue. While there, I looked at the Daily Cartoon. I’d love to peproduce it here, but it’s so good everyone is going to be all over it, so I’ll just link to it instead. Don’t miss it . and don’t miss Freya’s new Sound Off. Yes, it will be in the weekend email, but if you’re here, why not see it now?

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Another Trump Ally, Michael Flynn, Now Suggests Biden Was Set Up
Quote – Saturday, I wrote abouttwo of Trump’s closest allies (Sean Hannityjob and Ronny Jackson, proposing, against all expectations, that Joe Biden, rather than being clumsy, negligent or incompetent in his handling of classified materials, that something more sinister is afloat… that Biden is being “set-up” – supposedly by his own people – to take a fall…. Well, now another traitor has been heard heard from, Gen. Michael Flynn, newly reinstated to Twitter by chaos agent Elon Musk on the 2nd anniversary of the Capitol riot, here weighing {and} pushing the same line as others close to Trump… that the President is being undermined by “others” in the White House.
Click through for details (and a lot of chatter.) There’s an old saying (which I am butchering, but it has multiple variations anyway): Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times looks like projection.

Crooks & Liars – Dad Arrested After Toddler Seen Playing With Loaded Gun On Live TV Show
Quote – All of this was captured on camera. A lot of people watched it Saturday night because Beech Grove police are featured on a show called “On Patrol: Live,” which airs on REELZ. A police report confirms officers recovered the weapon, a 9-millimeter handgun with 15 rounds in the magazine…. Osborne is due in court for his initial hearing Tuesday [rescheduled for Thursday] afternoon.
Click through for story. You know, back in the day, as recently as the 1970’s, the NRA stood for gun safety and responsibility. Today, they’ll probably file an amicus brief for this dad. Are there actually any responsible gun owners left?

Food For Thought

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Nov 282022
 

Yesterday, I finished knitting a sweater, finished knitting a collar extention onto a sweatshirt, started a new sweater – and took a fairly deep dive into Joyce Vance’s newsletter, which was in the category of “The Week Ahead” – she doesn’t do one of those every weekend, but she often does. For this coming eeek, she is anticipating the circus (not her term, my interpretatin only) than can be expected in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals pursuant to Jack Smith’s demolition of Judge Cannon. It’s long and nerdy (she says so herself), and I’ll not try to boil it down further here, but I do provide a link. I do hope she is 100% correct – and I feel there is a good chance of it.  ALso, I did a few December cartoons – just enough to take me several days past my next visit to Virgil (this Sunday).

Cartoon – 28 Blackbeard loaded

Short Takes –

Democratic Underground (multigraincracker) – Her mother was also her uncle, DNA test.
Quote – The mother had XY chromosomes in her blood and saliva, but her hair and cheek cells had XX chromosomes. Parts of the daughter’s genome matched each kind of her mother’s mismatched DNA. The daughter had inherited some DNA from her mother which originally belonged to her mother’s fraternal twin brother, who was never born. That makes the mother a chimera, the result of an embryo that had absorbed and incorporated cells from a twin who had vanished before anyone knew he had existed.
Click through for article, and don’t neglest the comments, which include more links to other anomalies. We are constantly learning so much more about genetics – and all of it makes the arrogance of people who insist there are two sexes, period, more outrageous.

Mother Jones – Hundreds of New York Women Are About to Sue Alleged Rapists (and Enablers) Under a Revolutionary New Law
Quote – Now, Carroll and thousands of other sexual assault survivors in New York state are getting a new chance to seek legal accountability against people who harmed them years or decades ago. Under the Adult Survivors Act, New Yorkers who were sexually assaulted as adults but who have run out of time to seek accountability in court will have a one-year “lookback window” to sue their abusers, as well as institutions that were negligent in responding to the assault.
Click through for details. To me, in a kind of rarefied way, this is analogous to the Federal statute of limitations’ exception for availability. But here, its society’s contempt for and distrust of women which conctitutes the unavailability.

DNYUX (also the NY Times, which is paywalled) – At Protests, Guns Are Doing the Talking
Quote – Across the country, openly carrying a gun in public is no longer just an exercise in self-defense — increasingly it is a soapbox for elevating one’s voice and, just as often, quieting someone else’s…. Whether at the local library, in a park or on Main Street, most of these incidents happen where Republicans have fought to expand the ability to bear arms in public, a movement bolstered by a recent Supreme Court ruling on the right to carry firearms outside the home. The loosening of limits has occurred as violent political rhetoric rises and the police in some places fear bloodshed among an armed populace on a hair trigger.
Click through for more – examples and analysis. This is what happens when people (I’m looking at you, SCOTUS) are allowed to conflate speech with something which isn’t speech at all.

Food For Thought

(Just till after the runoff)

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