Video Thread 12/19/2022

 Posted by at 11:54 am  Open Thread, Politics
Dec 192022
 

Glenn Kirschner – DC Bar counsel finds Rudy Giuliani committed ethics violation, recommends he be DISBARRED

MSNBC – Fauci Addresses Elon Musk’s Critical Tweets: ‘I Don’t Pay Attention To That’ (Ignore Mrs Greenspan – Fauci has something to say which needs to be heard.)

Robert Reich – How the Corporate Takeover of American Politics Began

Mrs Betty Bowers – Grooming Children with Bibles, Not Drag Queens!

Twitter Willow

Beau – Let’s talk about my son’s questions about Christmas cards….

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Open Thread December 16, 2022

 Posted by at 6:43 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 162022
 

Yesterday, I pretty much didn’t do anything. Didn’t even have any profound thoughts. I did notice that Weather Underground thinks I may get some snow tonight, but it’s only a maybe, and even if it happens, there shouldn’t be very much. I did work on some cartoons a bit.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – The Fed is Dead
Quote – The Fed [met Tuesday. Wednesday], presumably, it will [have raised] interest rates again in its continuing attempt to stem inflation by slowing the economy. But the Fed’s rate hikes aren’t working. Despite seven straight increases in just nine months, totaling a whopping 4.25 percentage points — a pace not seen since the Fed’s inflation fight in the 1980s — price increases are still hovering near four-decade highs. The Consumer Price Index measure climbed 7.1 percent in November compared to a year earlier. The Fed’s rate hikes are slowing the economy, but not prices. Why not?
Click through for full facts. We have Robert Reich, and we have Paul Krugman, and both know what they are talking about. I cannot grasp why Democrats aren’t paying attention.

Mediaite – Rachel Maddow’s Podcast ‘Ultra’ is Headed to Hollywood as Steven Spielberg Acquires Film Rights
Quote – The show has consistently been among the top ten podcasts on Apple, in the weeks since its premiere. Now, it’s in the hands of Spielberg. Although the Hollywood legend is not set to direct the film, he will produce the movie adaptation alongside Bridge of Spies producer Kristie Macosko Krieger. According to Deadline, the talks to purchase film rights to the podcast became a bidding war in recent months with Maddow taking meetings with high-level Hollywood execs in an attempt to find the show, which she wrote and hosted, a perfect home.
Click through for details. I am tickled about this. Withe Spielbergs’s name (and I expect him to do a great job), this story will reach many people who would never otherwise even know it existed. I can’t wait to see who gets cast for Coughlin

Food For Thought

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Open Thread December 3, 2022

 Posted by at 6:47 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 032022
 

Yesterday, I learned a new word – new to me, at least. A forb is an herbaceous flowering plant other than in the grass family. I get a “Bird of the Week” email from the American Bird Conservancy, and this week’s bird, the Chestnut-collared Longspur, they tell me, seeks shelter among grasses and forbs. Who’da thunk. I also continued listening to a Rachel Maddow podcast, “Ultra,” about a plot from 1940. There are 8 episodes altogether, and each episode has a complete ranscript whic has been edited and proofread, and indicates at all times who is speaking. It doesn’t get any better than that. Also, the episode I listened to on Wednesday included a few commercials, and the transcripts do not. The full 8-episode podcast corcens events which happened in 1940 of which you have probably never heard (I hadn’t) but which are spookily similar to today. (The one person whose name I had heard was Father Coughlin, and I was aware he was terrible, but exactly how terrible, no.) The fact is, eternal vigilance really is the price of liberty. And yet, it’s also true that Democracy requires a lot of mutual trust in order to finction well. Those two truths constantly work against each other, yet neither one is safe alone.

Cartoon

Short Takes –

truthout – Fracking Firm Agrees to Pay a Small Town’s Water Bills for 75 Years
Quote – After years of legal wrangling, the company formerly known as Cabot Oil & Gas agreed to plead no contest to 15 criminal violations of state environmental laws and pay nearly $16.3 million for the construction of a new public water supply for Dimock. Activists say some Dimock residents went years without access to clean tap water, and Coterra Energy, the company that bought Cabot, will pay their water bills for 75 years under a plea deal with Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro. It remains unclear whether Coterra would be permitted to frack the area in the future, but production was halted years ago as the scandal unfolded.
Click through for story – This is something we don’t see every day (but probably should.) I was thinking that if one ever wanted a prosecuting attorney, the prosecutor in this case would be the one you’d want… but he’s not available. He just got elected Governor.

Crooks & Liars – Russian Propagandist Admits: If Russia Loses, We’re All Going To The Hague
Quote – “I want to say that if we manage to lose, the Hague, conditional or concrete, is even waiting for the janitor who sweeps the paving stones behind the Kremlin wall. What do we need from the fact that another district of Kyiv will be left without electricity or not? The scale of the catastrophe for our country, if we manage to do it [lose] is unimaginable. To be afraid of The Hague – do not go into the forest, ”said Simonyan. However, propaganda host Vladimir Solovyov summed up at the end that if Russia loses, there will be no The Hague. According to him, if this happens, then “the whole world will go to dust.”
Click through for a little more. Yes, this fear has substance. The Iternational Court has formed (or is forming) a court specifically to investigate Russian war crimes.

The 19th – Bipartisan bill would require human trafficking hotline to be posted in every U.S. port of entry
Quote – Senators introduced on Thursday the Human Trafficking Prevention Act, bipartisan legislation which was shared first with The 19th. The bill would direct the Departments of Transportation and Homeland Security to ensure the hotline is also visible in every individual plane, bus and train restroom. The companion bill, introduced by Reps. Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, and Darrell Issa, a Republican, passed in the House in July. Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said transportation hubs are a “common-sense place to intercede” by letting victims and bystanders know who to call for help.
Click through for details – I’m going to try not to be snotty, and just say this is a good idea, and it’s good that it’s (at least to some extent) bipartisan.

Food For Thought (updated by me.)

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Open Thread December 2, 2022

 Posted by at 7:17 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Dec 022022
 

Yesterday, I got an email from Adam Frisch concerning the mandatory recount. In it, he cast some serious shade at the Republican PArty which would (if they had any shame) leave a mark (but they don’t.) Just one paragraph:

While I am fully supportive of the recount process, based on the history of Colorado recounts, I could not, in good faith, perpetuate false hope that there is a good chance of the recount changing the outcome of this election. That is why on November 18th, I publicly conceded this race to my opponent. When I launched this campaign, I promised to run this race with integrity because that is who I am. I could not look people in the eye and raise money when the votes were already cast, ballots cured, and the final election results were in the hands of Colorado’s competent Secretary of State – and no amount of money could change them.

I also received a grocery order. The weather was windy, and will be today, so I was glad I hadn’t put the carts out – it doesn’t take much to knock them over or sling them around, and I didn’t have enough in them to stabiize them.

Finally, Joyce Vance put out a quick newsletter to discuss the combination alsp in the face and kick in the gron which was the 11th Circuit’s response to Trimp** and Ailees Cannon.  One short quote: “Trump’s “task was to show why he needed the documents, not why the government did not.'”  Well, gee – surely they didn’t expect that he would tell the truth, that he wanted them to seel to the highsest bidders?

Cartoon

Short Takes –

Colorado Public Radio – The mother of the Club Q shooting suspect was arrested and charged the morning of the shooting
Quote – Laura Lea Voepel, 45, was charged with a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest and a petty charge of disorderly conduct by Colorado Springs Police between 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. on Nov. 20, according to court documents. Records show she was arrested on North Union Boulevard for making “unreasonable noise” near a private residence just hours after the shooting at Club Q…. Police records say Voepel used physical force and violence against officers during her arrest. Further details are unavailable at this time.
Click through if you like. There’s not much more detail, though there is a link to an earlier incident. File this under “Tha apple doesn’t fall far…” (Unless you prefer the NSFW version.)

HuffPost – House Votes To Impose Union Contract With Paid Sick Leave To Avoid Rail Strike
Quote – The measure now heads to the Senate where a vote is expected in the coming days…. The House also approved a resolution that would give rail workers seven paid sick days per year, but that separate measure seems unlikely to make it through the Senate and to President Joe Biden’s desk.
Click through for more.   IThe House is somewhat between a rock and a hard place here. If we could run this by the current House and next year’s Senate,we might get it through (with the extra seat in the Senate we might be able to dodge the filibuster.) But there isn’t the time for thaat, even if it were legally possible. The best we can do is make it clear that cutting the sick leave is not the work of the Democrats. And, if the cartoons I’m seeing are any indication, that fact may be met with disbelief anyway.  (Update – Looks like the Senate did vote testerday and killed the sick leave.)

Food For Thought

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Open Thread November 29, 2022

 Posted by at 7:06 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 292022
 

Yesterday, the weather prediction was for snow today – and very cold – with a high below 32°F. Since I start shivering and my teeth chatter at 72°F, I’ll be staying in (not that I don’t anyway.) I also received confirmation to visit Virgil Sunday (and snow is NOT predicted for Sunday.) Also too, I learned that last Saturday was the 100th birthday og Charles M. Schulz. Here’s a link to a page of cartoons, which starts with political ones, but also includes more birthday tributes to the creator of “Peanuts” than you would probably think possible (and one or two are conspicuous, to me at least, by their absence.)

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Axios – World’s largest active volcano starts to erupt in Hawaii
Quote – Hawaii’s Mauna Loa volcano — located on the Big Island — began erupting late Sunday night, the U.S. Geological Survey said…. “Based on past events, the early stages of a Mauna Loa eruption can be very dynamic and the location and advance of lava flows can change rapidly,” USGS said…. Webcams for the volcano can be found at https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna-loa/webcams
Click through for developing story. It appers when that say “largest,” they are talking about its perceived height, not the amount of damage it can do world wide. The latter would probably be Krakatoa. And the danger isn’t lava, but volcanic ash particles released into the air, whoch can block sunlight for years, sort of like a “nuclear winter.” Look up the year 536 CE (or “Worst year to be alive.”) Also, I don’t remember the year, but it wasn’t that long ago, when an eruption caused enough particles in the air over Europe that planes couldn’t fly for weeks. You may remember that too.

Wonkette – Buffalo Gunman Pleads Guilty To Hate Crimes, Will Spend Rest Of Life In Prison
Quote – This theory, whether it’s been called that or not, has been around for decades. Most people will date it back to the work of French crackpot Renaud Camus’s 2011 essay “Le Grand Remplacement,” in which he claimed that white citizens of European countries were being replaced by Black and Middle Eastern immigrants, or back to the “White Genocide” nonsense of 1990s white supremacists, but it’s always been there. A major feature of early 1900s antisemitism and racism in the United States was that Jewish people were supporting Black civil rights struggles because they wanted to replace WASPs with Black people and then take over the world.
Click through for more information. Today’s FFT summarizes my thoughts on this pretty well (it ain’t just Mexicans).

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 11/28/22

 Posted by at 12:01 pm  Open Thread, Politics
Nov 282022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump’s attack on wife of Special Counsel Jack Smith is a sign of Trump’s desperation

Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Holodomor Information Video 2022 (It was on Saturday the 26th. Better, I hope, late than never)

Ring of Fire – Matt Gaetz Goes On Thanksgiving Rampage Against Everyone And Everything

Real Subtitles? Wartime infomercial.

Tropical Bird Walks Into Family’s House

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, Evangelicals, and numbers….

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Open Thread November 19, 2022

 Posted by at 6:54 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Nov 192022
 

Yesterday – yup. it snowed. a few inches on the non-paved ground, and a few stray flakes and clumps on the concrete. So it won’t interfere with driving by Sunday. In bad news, Adam Frisch conceded to Lauren Boebert. Sigh. Sorry, guys. At least we have the Senate. And at least Colorado is sending a delegation of 5 Dems and 3 Qpubs, rather than a delegation of 4 and 3.  Also, I don’t nknow how long I will be able to keep up three short takes, but I have a bit of a backlog.  And – Merrick Garland has appointed a Special Counsel in the Trump cases.  His name is Jack Smith.  I’m betting he did this, not so much to avoid the appearance of partisanship, but to put this investigation  out of bounds for the GOP’s plans to “investigate” (read harass) everyone in the Biden administration.  Of course he’s not saying that.  Why give them ideas?

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Letters from an American – November 16, 2022
Quote – The election of a House speaker can be a way for different factions to test out their power at the beginning of a session. If McCarthy can’t muster the necessary votes, the speakership could open to a far more moderate Republican who could get Democratic votes. That shift might, in fact, look good to a number of Republicans who see how thoroughly voters in some areas rejected extremism in the midterms. Or the need for more moderate votes could swing McCarthy away from the MAGA crowd. It’s not clear yet, but it might tell us a lot. In 1856, at a time when party alignments were shifting markedly, it took the House two months and 133 ballots finally to choose Representative Nathaniel Banks of Massachusetts, and by then, everyone knew exactly who backed whom.
Click through for full letter. She covers several topics, but what caught my attention was her historian’s take on the Speakership.

Mother Jones – Why Lauren Boebert Might Lose
Quote – Most analysts assumed that Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) would cruise to victory in her solidly red district, which became even more Republican after redistricting. In 2020, Boebert defeated her Democratic opponent by six percentage points. This year, FiveThirtyEight gave Boebert a 97 in 100 shot of winning. In June, when Boebert won her primary, I declared, “It looks like two more years of Lauren Boebert in Congress.”
Click through for article. Of course, she didn’t lose –  but dayum, it was close.  Maybe next time.  Right now I’m hoping she does run again , because that would be our only chance for a Democratic pickup, but that may change.

Wonkette – Hey, Lame-Duck Congress! How About Ending The Stupid Debt Limit While You Still Can?
Quote – Under the weird rules governing the reconciliation process, budget related bills can be passed with a simple majority in the Senate, without Senate Republicans being able to filibuster. Taking the debt ceiling off the table would thwart already-announced GOP plans to use the debt ceiling as a lever to force big budget cuts, possibly including dangerous changes to Medicare and Social Security, like raising the retirement age, cutting benefits, or partially privatizing one or both programs. They’ve already said that’s what they’ll do if they take over the House. Out loud, with their mouths and everything.
Click through for more. I’m afraid they are saying they will not even consider it. That is really a pity, because it is, frankly, stupid.

Food For Thought

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Video Thread 11/8/22

 Posted by at 11:53 am  Open Thread, Politics
Nov 082022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s lawyers believed Clarence Thomas was their best shot at overturning the election results

The Lincoln Project – Country Over Party

Ring of Fire – Popular MAGA ‘Hot Babe’ Influencer Turns Out To Be Chinese Spy (It’s not just because they are easy to fool. It’s because MAGA weakens our democracy. And the more our democracy is weakened, the more of a superior position they are in with regard to us.)

Robert Reich – Debunking the Big Lies Coming From Republicans

Beau – Let’s talk about a message for this week….

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