Open Thread September 12, 2022

 Posted by at 7:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 122022
 

Yesterday, I visited Virgil, who returns all greetings. Neither of us had a lot to say, but we enjoyed each others company. The drives down and back were uneventful, and I seem to have finally mastered the difference in what one can and cannot bring in and what one must or need not present between here and all the other facilities. I still have a couple of questions (in my mind) about the dress code, which is visibly more lenient here. But since it’s easy to prepare by the stricter rules, I’ll probably just do that unless a need arises.

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Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Laurence Tribe – Trump Must be Charged with Espionage and Obstruction in Washington D.C.
Quote – National Defense and security forum Just Security along with Philip Lacovara and Dennis Aftergut, reminds us that drumpf’s all-star lineup of corrupt judges in Florida and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, many of who he appointed for the sole purpose of getting him out of hot water when the nation inevitably learned of his crimes, should not be a factor in the DOJ’s prosecution of der Gropinfuhrer for his theft of Nation Security secrets, but that The Superior Court of the District of Columbia, the venue with jurisdiction over Washington D.C., where the crime actually occurred, should be where drumpf is indicted and tried.
Click through for full article. It’s not just the judges … it’s also the juries. A fair jury is going to be much easier to seat in D.C. than in Florida.

The Warning – They saved the Capitol and killed the enemy
Quote – The passengers and crew of United 93 were combatants. They represented the greatest virtues of patriotism and sacrifice in a defining moment. They defended their country and should be recognized and decorated accordingly…. There is something called a brevet. It is arcane and no longer in use [JD note – I believe it may still be available for certain battlefield promotions – emergency use, as it were], but has a long tradition in the US military. It should be used again to properly recognize the fierceness, valor and sacrifice of the men and women of United 93 who were the equals of the men who stood their ground at Lexington, Bastogne and Gettysburg. They died as Americans fighting back against a foreign enemy. They huddled, organized, voted and formed an American armed force, and attacked the enemy and killed him. They saved the Capitol of the United States and thousands of lives.
Click through for story and passion. I agree with him. I’m an unpaid subscriber, so usually I get a half or a third of his articles, but this one arrived in full, and appears to be available in full at his site for all, including non-subscribers.

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Open Thread September 11, 2022

 Posted by at 6:56 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 112022
 

Yesterday’s radio opera was “I Puritani” by Vincenzo Bellini. Bellini was a composer of “bel canto” opera (Italian for beautiful singing), a style from the early 19th century which was pretty much out of fashion until brough back into prominence by Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland in the 1950’s and ’60’s, and has been part of the standard repertory since. Of course all opera is supposed to have beautiful singing, but bel canto specifically refers to a style which has lots of vocal ornaments and very little key changes or complexity. So in one way it’s virtuosic, but in another it’s simple. Opera singers say that singing it is good for the voice, compared to even mid-19th-cebtury like Verdi, but certainly compared to early 20th century like Puccini (“verismo”) and especially early-to-mid 20th century like Berg amd Schoenberg. It is filled with lovely melodies that leave listeners humming – in their minds, because unless you are trained you likely can’t produce all the twists and turns, especially at the tempos some of them are. Next week’s opera – in fact the next four weeks’ operas – were recorded in China – but only the last one will be in Chinese. The first three will be in French, Czech, and German respectively.

Cartoon – 11 0911Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

Letters frm an American – September 8, 2022
Quote – On this day in 1974, President Gerald Ford gave former president Richard M. Nixon “a full, free, and absolute pardon…for all offenses against the United States which he…has committed or may have committed or taken part in” during his time in the presidency. In the pardon proclamation, Ford said he issued the pardon to help the nation heal from the trauma of the Watergate scandal. A trial would “cause prolonged and divisive debate over the propriety of exposing to further punishment and degradation a man who has already paid the unprecedented penalty of relinquishing the highest elective office of the United States.”
Ford’s pardon of Nixon removed from our democratic system the principle that all of us are accountable to the same laws.
Click through for full letter. There was an episode of Antiques Roadshow to which someone brought a letter from Gerald Ford, written before he was Presient or Vice Preident, but not too long before that. It was written to his former first grade teacher, who he had just learned used to call him “Naughty little Gerry Ford.” Maybe she was right all along.

Civil Discourse – DOJ’s Motion For A Stay Explained
Quote – DOJ’s tone is respectful throughout, but the government does not mince words when it comes to arguing that the judge’s order is wrong, as in, missed the boat completely kind of wrong. And in delicate, polite tones it clarifies the precise nature of the damage she, a lone federal judge in Florida, is poised to do to our national security. This is exactly the tone experienced appellate litigators take when they are about to pillory a lower court’s ruling, which is what DOJ does in its motion.
Click through. Legal documents are usually written at a JD reading level. Vance interprets this at about a foourth grade reading level, so it should be pellucidly clear (or as much so as possible allowing for missing facts.) Because I get her newsletter, I have not tried navigating the site, but if it’s easy, she has two, possibly three columns after this (just ignore the stuff about knitting.)

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Open Thread September 6, 2022

 Posted by at 7:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 062022
 

Yesterday was, of course, a holiday – so I was going to fall back on “News of the Weird” in the short takes for a little comic relief. Then I saw the article on Ken Burns’s newest docuentary, whch is about the Holocaust, centering on American behavior during that period, and staring soe truths in the face that most of us would rather not see.I encourage everyone to look it up on your local PBS station, especially if your local station has more than one channel (mine does, and they’ll be screening it on the main one 9/18-9/22 and on the fourth one from 9/25-10/10), but essentially there are just three episodes (which may or may not be 2 hours each), named after lines in the Emma Lazarus poem on the Statur of Liberty: “The Golden Door,” “Yearning to Breathe Free,” and “”The Homesless, the Tempest Tossed.”

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The Conversation – Dog owners take more risks, cat owners are more cautious – new research examines how people conform to their pets’ stereotypical traits
Quote – In another study, we wanted to get individual-level data, so we used an online survey tool to recruit 145 owners of either a cat or a dog – not both. We gave participants an imaginary US$2,000 and asked them to invest any portion of it in either a risky stock fund or a more conservative mutual fund. Dog owners, who made up 53% of participants, were significantly more likely to invest in stocks and also put more money at risk than cat owners.
Click through for details. I see only correlation here – do cat peole avoid ridk because their pets do, ot do risk avoiders seek out cats as kindred spirits? I know I am a cat person and a risk avoider, but since I have been around cats literally since I was born, I have no way of knowing which came first. I do know that. when I vote (which I would do in any case), what’s uppermost in my mind is generally avoiding the havoc that Republicans would wreak.

The Daily Beast – Why Ken Burns Is Exposing America’s Evils During the Holocaust
Quote – An in-depth study of fascism, intolerance, and the push-pull between ideals and complex political/social realities, The U.S. and the Holocaust, buoyed by testimonials from scholars and survivors of the Holocaust, is informative and heartbreaking in equal measure. For Novick, it’s also an inquiry that’s apt to shock many. “I think this will be, for the general public, somewhat surprising and a little hard to ingest,” she says. “That we could be both the liberators of freeing the world from tyranny and fascism, and unwilling—as Daniel Greene says in the film—to do much to rescue the victims of fascism.”
Click through for article and interview.

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Open Thread September 5, 2022

 Posted by at 6:57 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 052022
 

Yesterday, I came across a video related to “Saint Javelin.” I already have some material on “Saint Javelin,” the image (which came from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia) and some of the story. The image is based on an icon of the Virgin Mary, which has shocked some people – I assume mostly people who don’t realize what a badass Mary actually was. Should I do a piece on this? Thoughts?

Cartoon – 05 Labor Day RTL

Short Takes –

Robert Reich – What must we expect of journalism in this crisis?
Quote – Two Sundays ago, CNN’s Brian Stelter said: “It’s not partisan to stand up for decency and democracy and dialogue. It’s not partisan to stand up to demagogues. It’s required. It’s patriotic. We must make sure we don’t give platforms to those who are lying to our faces.” That was Brian Stelter’s last show on CNN. Today, CNN White House reporter John Harwood said: “The core point [President Biden] made in that political speech about a threat to democracy is true. Now, that’s something that’s not easy for us, as journalists, to say. We’re brought up to believe there’s two different political parties with different points of view and we don’t take sides in honest disagreements between them. But that’s not what we’re talking about. These are not honest disagreements. The Republican Party right now is led by a dishonest demagogue.”… Shortly afterward, Harwood announced he was no longer with CNN. (A source told Dan Froomkin of Press Watch that CNN had told Harwood last month that he was being let go despite his long-term contract with the network, and that Harwood used his last broadcast to “send a message.”
Click through for story. We talk about getting the Fairness Doctrine back. But that really isn’t what we need. We need a TRUTH doctrine.

Aeon – The African Enlightenment
Quote – The ideals of the Enlightenment are the basis of our democracies and universities in the 21st century: belief in reason, science, skepticism, secularism, and equality…. But what if this story is wrong? What if the Enlightenment can be found in places and thinkers that we often overlook? Such questions have haunted me since I stumbled upon the work of the 17th-century Ethiopian philosopher Zera Yacob (1599-1692), also spelled Zära Yaqob.
Click through for details. This is an article which I can guarantee will be banned in Texas and Florida schools – and that just for starters. But, whether you call us “Democrats and Republicns,” or “Liberals and Conservatives,” or “Progressives and Reactionaries,” both groups have existed everythere and in every time.

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Open Thread September 4, 2022

 Posted by at 6:42 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 042022
 

Yesterday, the Radio Opera was “La Gioconda” by Amilcare Ponchielli. No, it’s not about the Mona Lisa – she is a different “smiling woman.” It has, not a love triangle nor square, but a love pentagram. It also has the Inqusition, a spy, an assumed identity, betrayal, extortion, murder, attempted murder, and suicide. And, of course, the Dance of the Hours. I was wondering why a good Italian mother would name her baby boy after Hamilcar, the brother of Hannibal, the two  from Carthage who went so far as to bring elephants over the Alps to attack Rome, and caused Cato the censor to end every speech with “Carthage must be destroyed.” But I had forgotten that when he was born (he was a slightly younger contemporary of Verdi) Italy was not a united nation. In fact he was born in the north, in a territory including Lombardy and Venice, and who cared about Rome there? It was an intentional reference – he certainly must have thought so, since he named his own son after Hannibal. But I digress. “La Gioconda” was based loosely on a play by Victor Hugo (without whom Italian opera of the 19th century, and even musical theater today, would have been a lot less fun.)

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Robert Reich – The second-biggest Republican lie
Quote – Wynn isn’t the first to dream up the bogus story about the IRS going after average working people. Senator Ted Cruz warns of a “shadow army of 87,000 IRS agents,” threatening Americans, and Kari Lake, the Republican candidate for Arizona governor, ties the increase in IRS agents to the FBI’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago and concludes that, “Not a single one of us is safe.” Many other GOP candidates are telling the same lie.
Click through for article. Messaging should not be about “fairness,” but about truth. But dang, it’s unfair that Republicans can nessage any lie they want to and get away with it, while we are limited tothe truth. I don’t thik we are the ones who should have to change.

Sacramento Bee – California lawmakers pass bill to create fast food labor council, give it power over wages
Quote – California would become the first state to establish a fast food council charged with setting pay and workplace standards for the entire industry under a bill the Legislature is poised to send to Gov. Gavin Newsom. Assembly Bill 257, also known as the FAST Act, passed the Senate on Wednesday in a 21-12 vote. Hours later the Assembly sent it to Newsom on a final 41-16 vote…. Under the legislation, a 10-member council composed of workers, employers and government appointees would negotiate to set industry standards and pay. It would apply to any fast food chain with at least 100 locations nationwide and cap any minimum wage increase at $22 an hour next year. The council would be a first in America’s fast-food industry.
Click through for story. It CAN be done. Although it is easier in a blue state than in a red one. But what’s done in California may eventually help the nation.

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Open Thread September 2, 2022

 Posted by at 7:10 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Sep 022022
 

Yesterday marked the 83rd anniversary of the start of World War II – Hitler’s invasion of Poland. But of course, that wasn’t the real start. The real start was runs through the building of the Nazi party, the selling of white supremacy, Krystallnacht, the Reichstag fire, street violence so common that magistrates couldn’t be bothers to address it, and a host of hatred, fear, and greed. And appeasement by England and France (which, among other things, led to renewed attention to Kipling’s 1911 poem “Dane-Geld.” Steve Schmidt’s newsletter on substack brings up the invasion of Poland. As an unpaying subscriber, I don’t yet know how deeply he goes into “Appeasement,” but I’ll bet it’s more than cursory. Because that’s where we are right now – contemplating appeasement – and we must not.

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Mother Jones – The Psychiatrist Who Warned Us That Donald Trump Would Unleash Violence Was Absolutely Right
Quote – About 15 years ago, Lee and [James] Gilligan began examining deaths by violence in America since 1900. As Lee sliced and diced their massive data set, she was shocked to find significantly higher national rates of violent death under Republican presidents than under Democratic ones. What’s more, murder and suicide rates were higher in states that had voted for Republican presidential candidates than in those that had voted for Democratic candidates. Their key findings were published as a 2011 monograph, Why Some Politicians Are More Dangerous Than Others.
Click through for lots more than Trump**. Republican violence is not only a fact, it’s a fact that was true for over 50 years befor Dixiecrats became Republicans. Yes, it’s long  But worth it.

Common Dreams – Teachers Union in Ohio Went on Strike for Students—and Won
Quote – The new pact is the result of CEA’s first strike since 1975. A whopping 94% of members voted to authorize a work stoppage last Sunday after monthslong negotiations with Columbus City Schools, which the union accused of “walk[ing] away from the bargaining table,” collapsed just ahead of the start of the fall semester.
Click through for details. Good news is always welcome.

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Open Thread August 27, 2022

 Posted by at 7:01 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 272022
 

Yesterday, the redacted affidavit from the Mar-a-Lago search warrant was released. So much was NOT redacted that I suspect all that was redacted was any information which might tend to identify the witnesses, or otherwise compromise DOJ sources (and also, just maybe, other Federal laws they are investigating him for). Yes, there are some all-black pages – but by my count they make up just under half of the complete document. Like all legal documents, the phrasing and vocabulary are as unsensational as possible, but the facts are there and are made clear. Of course MAGAts would not be convinced FPOTUS did anything wrong even if Jesus came back to earth and denounced him. But anyone with an open mind who can manage to get through the legalese should get it.

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Short Takes –

Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance – Tomorrow Before Noon
Quote – Here’s the bottom line. Kemp delayed testifying, despite the DA’s persistent efforts—first voluntary and then by subpoena, to bring him in. Now, months into the process, he says she shouldn’t be able to make him testify before his election in November, even though he’s responsible for the delay. But Kemp is a fact witness. If he’d observed a car wreck and was called to testify, would he argue he shouldn’t have to before the election? Of course not. It’s a bad argument, tantamount to asking for special treatment because he’s on the ballot and doesn’t want to have to testify against the former president before the voting starts. And I’m sure that if the court permits him to delay past November, Kemp will find fresh reasons to claim he can’t testify after the election. Kemp also argues that he has sovereign immunity as the state’s governor, which should prevent his grand jury testimony. But again, Kemp isn’t a target of the investigation, he’s just a fact witness, so that doctrine shouldn’t apply.
Click through for details. Like Richardson, Vance sends her newsletter late at night, so “Tomorrow” in her title is now “Yesterday.”

Robert Reich – My father and Senator Joe McCarthy
Quote – During the Army-McCarthy hearings, McCarthy’s chief counsel was Roy Cohn. Cohn had gained prominence as the Department of Justice attorney who successfully prosecuted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for espionage, leading to their execution in 1953. The Rosenberg trial had brought the 24-year-old Cohn to the attention of J. Edgar Hoover, who convinced McCarthy to hire Cohn as chief counsel for McCarthy’s Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, where Cohn became known for his aggressive questioning of suspected communists. My father thought Roy Cohn almost as despicable as Joe McCarthy. After McCarthy’s downfall, Cohn proved useful to a young New York real estate developer named Donald Trump who was then undertaking several large construction projects in Manhattan and needed a fixer and mentor. Cohn filled both roles.
Click through for story. Although I’m almost a year older than Robert, I didn’t even know there was such a thing as television until the nid-fifties, and we didn’t have one for a lot of years after that. I’m glad he did, and was old enough to remember that occasion. But … we are still (not again, still) fighting the same ogre today.

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Open Thread August 18, 2022

 Posted by at 6:51 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 182022
 

Yesterday, it was quiet enough that I was abke to get everything moved on the porch – not necessarily to where it is going to be, but enough that I could completely finish sweeping off the dust and dead leaves.That is a definite achievement (although it may not quite rise to the level of BFD.) After that, I decided to call it a day.

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Short Takes –

Robert Reich – The Origins of Trumpism (Part 4): Gingrich
Quote – January 7, 1995 – The press is declaring Newt Gingrich [who has just taken over as House majority leader] the new king of Washington and according him the celebrity normally reserved for new presidents at inaugurations. I couldn’t help thinking how different it would be had Bob Michel remained. Bob Dole has taken over the Senate and is trumpeting his victory as well. Gingrich and Dole seem to have taken command of the United States government. In our system, power is found where the public seems to have conferred it, and the two of them are credibly claiming to have most of it.
Click through for the full column, which comprises two quotes from his diary. One thing Gingrich did when he became Speaker was to remove the requirement for members to maintain a residence in DC. Because it’s easier to diss and defame someone who isn’t your neighbor. That requirement was one of the last checks on the loss of decency.

The 19th – Experts debunk monkeypox myths as misinformation spreads
Quote – Daniel Uslan, co-chief infection prevention officer at UCLA Health and clinical chief of infectious diseases… said… that he is not aware of recorded cases where handshaking is the suspected route of transmission. But skin-to-skin contact with someone who has an open lesion can still occur if those lesions are on the hands, [Stephen Abbott, medical director at Whitman-Walker’s Max Robinson Center] noted — and some lesions are so small that patients don’t notice them
Click through for other misinformation, much of which is based on fear of non-binary people.

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