Personal – Page 7 – Politics Plus

Open Thread February 4 2025

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:08 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 042025

Yesterday, the blood work went smoothly – I didn’t feel a thing. However, it took forever and was exhausting because I had a lot of trouble finding the place and was pretty late. Fortunately they took my blood anyway – and the results were in by the time I got home. What wasn’t in my inbox was anything from Lona. But – thankfully- that came before the end of the day:

Thanks for asking, Joanne, but fortunately for us this is some 700km north of us. We’ve had plenty of water ij December and January, with some flooding, even from the creek running at the end of my property, but no damage. Just a road blocked for a day or two.

The amounts falling further north from Townsville, where the major floods are now, is absolutely ridiculous. 1 meter (more than 3 feet) in 48 hours and in one spot 1.2 meters in 24 hours. Some villages are completely cut of from the rest of the world because of rads and bridges being swept away.

While in the South a heatwave is killing people (+43 degrees Celsius for days on end) and in the West, whole National Parks are burning out of control. I feel so sorry for them, as I do for the people in California.

I haven’t been able to look at much email, so I’ll be in email jail for a while – and today I have the bone density test. I did note skimming through that the resistance appears to be stepping up with Black History resources, so that’s good.

Heather Cox Richardson for Black History Month. One of many who know this is important, and who will recognize and celebrate it no matter who tries to kill it. I know, I don’t feel much of a celebratory mood either (in a way it reminds me of last week’s opera. But I think that Black people and Black history month can be resurrected, unlike Violetta. It qill take all of us and all of our effort. But without it, there’s no justice – and therefore no peace.)

Yes, this was posted Sunday night and now its Tuesday. But I only promised not to miss a post, not that all posts would have scoops. That’s not happening. Even on Tuesday, “The Week Ahead” is worthwhile.

In the interest of Black History, this from The Root is around a dozen moments from Black History in the US. So it isn’t so much what I think is important as it is what Black people consider important. Each event is described very briefly – but with enough key words to look it up if you don’t remember it.

Open Thread February 2 2025

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Feb 022025

Yesterday, the radio opera was Verdi’s “La Traviata,” which can be counted on to bring me to tears, possibly not at the end when the heroine dies, but in the second act, when it is all foreshadowed. The Met these days takes February off, and this year, they have asked three singers and a conductor to pick operas they love starring someone who is a role model for them. At least one of them go way back and includes people who were dead before i was listening regularly. However, the conductor chose Leonard Bernstein, and I think most people have heard of him. Also, today is Groundhog Day, and thinking of that made me think of the musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” from 1961 (if you missed it, there was a movie in 1967 and revivals in 1995 and 2011, the last starring Daniel Radcliffe in the role Robert Morse won a Tony for.) Why, you ask, would anyone think of that in connection with Groundhog Day? Well, because the original CEO of the company the Morse character ends up the Chairman of the Board of went to college at Old Ivy, whose mascot is the groundhog, and the Robert Morse character pretends to have done so too. And the two of them break into the college fight song. The version I picked from YouTube is just the song, no dance or anything, but from the original cast album with Morse and Rudy Vallee and it’s a hoot. But you can find it with the dancing from the movie or from either of the two revivals and even from a high school production which is surprisingly competent. All of them have the same choreography, which, though not credited to him for reasons which are very much to his credit, was by Bob Fosse. The music and lyrics were by Frank Loesser (who also wrote Guys and Dolls.)

Tomorrow I am having bloodwork done, and on Tuesday a bone density test. The blood work is lightning fast, and I don’t expect the bone thing to take much longer, but there is always getting to and from, not to mention compliance with what and what not to do beforehand. I don’t expect to miss a post, but I thought I would mention it.

I had to get this in for today because of the deadlines. Sadly, I didn’t have that much, so the one I had in this position will not get used – it wasn’t that impressive. This, though it’s not exactly new, it’s been a tradition like forever, is at least pleasant and fun.

Here are three – related – good news stories from Lakota Law. I wish I could just link to a news page there instead of three separate links, but I’m sure that Lakota Law has more important things to do than post their newsletters, particularly if their website isn’t set up for that. So I’ll just quote from their letter, signed by Darren Thompson: “This trio of important wins for Indigenous-led movements will preserve and protect a range of traditional Indigenous lands on the West Coast from additional harm.”

Xtra – here is the link to the donation page for Josh Weil, the blue candidate in the first of the three special elections to replace Congressmen appointed to executive positions. We really need to win all three. I realize not everyone can donate.

Open Thread January 27 2025

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 272025

Yesterday, I got to see Virgil. The drive down was mostly not as bad as two weeks ago, but I did miss my exit and by the time I managed to get off the interstate I was far enough past where I should be to get lost. I eventually made it though. We played cribbage. I always deal the first hand since I’ve had the cards and been shuffling while he’s be getting to the visiting room. But on the second hand, which he dealt, he got a hand with two double runs of three over the 7 and 8 (the fifth card was a 9) – in the crib. If you’ve ever played, you know how unlikely that is – it’s the highest score I’ve ever seen in a crib. So that set a nice tone for the day. Coming back home was much easier than getting there, fortunately. On the way there the windshield wiper fluid was still frozen. Coming back, I just picked up a handful of snow and rubbed it over the driver’s windshield and ran the wipers. And that was all I needed for good vision all the way.

Huff Post points out that “America First” policy could make Americans physically ill. The CoViD pandemic was apparently not enough for him – he wants to make a pandemic out of patchwork.

Well, this is chilling. As much of the news coming out of ProPublica is. And that’s because investigations is what they do. And in particular the things which have the potential for the most danger. I pulled this one from the newsletter, but there are more. Sigh.

Open Thread January 17 2025

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 172025

Yesterday, I made an appointment on line to get blood work done. Besides being able to make appointments on line, and communicate with providers through what is essentially email but on their site, so with all the privacy of HIPAA. Another is that they have multiple locations, so if the lab closest to you is booked up through March, nd they want it done in early February, you can choose another location. Yes, the lab I chose is farther, but I can get to it on the Interstate, so it should take about the same amount of time. It’s also in one of my old neighborhood – one of them – so I know exactly where it is.

On Wednesday, Steve Schmidt, after a short rant about Pete Hegseth, addressed the My Lai massacre, it’s [lack of] consequences for the murders, and finally described his own journey to Viet Nam and the forgiveness he found there (he was not born yet when My Lai happened, but what he found was an attitude of forgiveness for all.) I was alive then – I was on active duty in the Marine Corps – but I was not aware of all the details he includes (and of course it did not become public knowledge for quite a while.) Someone who was aware of it was Scott Peck (known as the author of “The Road Less Traveled,” though I personally consider his second book, “People of the Lie,” far more significant – and about eight years ago would have been a good time for it to become popular again.) It is, I think, obvious why Schmidt connects My Lai to Hegseth, since a military filled with war criminals who are “tough” is the kind of military Trump** wants, and wants Hegseth to make it so. Steve sees this as an issue of courage – I see it as an issue of truth – but we are really in the same position in the end. Anyway, consider this a plug for “People of the Lie.”

I really don’t have much, if anything, to say about this Talking Points Memo article. Except that it would have been nice to know about it years ago, like, say, early in Obama’s first term, when we might have been able to start a reform movement. We won’t be able to do that during this administration, and even if we could, it’s already too late to accomplish much. Hopefully we may get another chance, down the road.

Open Thread January 13 2025

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 5:52 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jan 132025

Yesterday, Virgil and enjoyed each other’s company and also cribbage. We had another almost brand new deck – there was one little tear in one card, but they we so slick they were sliding. Getting there, now – that was a challenge. The roads, including the interstate were still slippery, even though asphalt underneath was mostly visible and the snow and ice which hadn’t melted was already wet enough that just driving in traffic splashed enough water into the air, and that water picked up so much dust, for a while there I was spraying cleaning fluid onto my windshield about every other mile. Going home was easier – although I had to stop for gas – my own fault – I had dealt with the snow on the car windows by running the engine for an hour with the heater on high. Had I spent the hour brushing and scraping, I couldn’t have gotten them nearly as clear, and I would have worn myself out and likely sprained something. I know that from long experience including a couple of fender-benders. But even going home took over an hour – getting there was closer to two hours. It wasn’t even that big a storm, and the sun was out and melting stuff all day, but the temperature never got above 32°F (0°C). OK, I’ll stop whining now and concentrate on getting this post up.

Wonkette referred me to this Mother Jones article on climate. So Republicans again are deliberately creating a mess for Democrats to clean up later so they can make another mess. Not news. But the details will be new – since the world has not has a worldwide climate crisis before, or I should say, while the human race was alive and recording history.

Heather Cox Richardson posted this summary of the California wildfires, with a concentration on the lies of the Apricot Antichrist and his supporters, late last Wednesday night, so it’s not new. But it’s a convenient summary up to that point. They’ve probably invented some new lies by now. (Off topic and not in this post – but she plays cribbage with her husband too! Except they play “killer cribbage” whereas we play “patience with the bad vision and bad memory” cribbage.)

Open Thread December 30 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:03 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 302024

Yesterday, we lost one of the only two Presidents (of my lifetime – because I wasn’t the ones before that through good chunks of their lives. I have thoughts but no evidence.) whose entire lives were marked by a deep love of, and an equally deep commitment to, pure goodness. I’m just not able to process it yet. Nameless, however, has posted an In Memoriam – you’re on the home page just scroll down one post, and if you are on the page which allows comments, go back one post with the direction under the comments section. (And, after that, do whatever you did one more time to read a new “Sound Off” by Freya. I’ll try to send a letter out but don’t know whether I’ll be able to. As nearly as I can tell, he died while Virgil and I were playing cribbage (and enjoying it immensely.) I don’t believe he would have minded that one little bit.)

I do wish Robert Reich would take a look at The Political Compass. Yes, I realize everything is linked – but for those of us not as smart as Robert (and I am certainly one), looking at them all at once is distracting. And, frankly, the pictures help. I would have no problem to adding civic morality to economic systems and government style to make a three dimensional graph – which I guess Windows can now do that. (Adding personal morality would alienate far too many Americans.) Also, I disagree with myth #11. I’m afraid that one’s true. I grant they may not have been ignorant before they started following Trump** – but having done so for eight or nine years – they are ignorant now.

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Christmas is over, but Hannukah continues, Kwanzaa has begun, and New Year’s Day awaits. So it’s still the holiday season. (And Robert Hubbell also has a surprise holiday gift in the astrophotography today.)

Open Thread December 29 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:01 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 292024

Yesterday, the radio opera was “Hansel and Gretel” by (the original) Englebert Humperdinck. It was a performance from 1982 (Christmas Day, actually) which featured Judith Blegen as Gretel. I mention her because she is an unusual talent – she could as easily had a career as a violin virtuoso as she had as a operatic soprano, and I know that because I took lessons from one of her former violin teachers. You won’t find his name in Wikipedia, because only some of her teachers of voice and violin are named there. Gian Carlo Menotti denied that he had written his opera “Help, Help, the Globolinks” with her in mind – but he certainly had no difficulty with her playing Emily in the American debut, which requires the lead soprano to also play the violin. Hansel was played by Frederica von Stade, whom I mention because of her sense of humor. One of her voice coaches was a cat person, and at their first lesson, the coach’s cat threw up on her shoe. All she said was, “I hope it wasn’t my singing.” That’s not to belittle the rest of the cast, who were also excellent – just personal memories of mine. Off to see Virgil now – will check in when I get home.

From Wonkette, a piece of good news that everyone else appears to have missed. I thought it belonged on Sunday. I doubt we’ll get many more for some years.

And one more piece of good news, also from Wonkette. No spoiler.

Okay, this, from Steve Schmidt is now VERY late (yet still far more recent than the history it discusses.) Steve Schmidt may not know as much history as Heather Cox Richardson does. But he does have a flair for knowing about moments of history which invoke strong feelings – and for telling them so that you almost feel you are there. The Christmas he tells of here was also in a dark night for America. That we came through it may give us some hope. But you may still need a hanky.

Open Thread December 26 2024

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:05 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Dec 262024

Yesterday, I continued knitting, finishing a couple of small things. I also tried a cup of coffee flavored with Torani’s white chocolate flavor syrup. The flavor of white chocolate seems to me such an unobtrusive, mild flavor that I wasn’t expecting much, but they nailed it ) Earlier this month they sent me an email announcing it was their 100th anniversary. I’ve dealt with them before – they’ve always made more flavors than you’ll ever see in the stores, but I wasn’t prepared for just how many they do make. I splurged on a sampler pack of flavors designed to go with coffee, and the white chocolate was one of those. Also, I stepped away from the computer for a while because the mouse I am now using is one that you never have to change the battery, but you do have to charge it periodically, and it ran out of charge. It’s charged now obviously, since this post is up. I hope y’all had as peaceful a day as mine, whatever, if anything, you celebrate.

This, by Marc Elias, was recommended by Joyce Vance a few days ago, and I put it aside until after Christmas. Maybe I should have put it aside until after New Year’s Day, hoping we would all gather more strength by then to grasp it and act on it. But here it is. I have to hope that he is at least correct in not expecting us to have a full-blown fascist government. I am not so confident.

Heather Cox Richardson on the history of polarization in the United States, starting with Nixon. To my mind she omits the one thing Gingrich did which had the most dire consequences, although there is plenty of evidence without it. (He removed the requirement for Congressfolk to maintain a residence in DC. Yes, that could be reinstated, but it would take far longer to build trust back again than it required to deteriorate it.)

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