Yesterday, the electrician came and fixed my kitchen light in about 20 minutes. the problem was in the switch. He said that outlets and switches generally last abut 20 years (and I am at 23 – I had everything rewired before moving in in 2002.) And added that my switch box panel is in good shape (they last 30-40 years.) He only charged for a service call (I would have been happy with up to 3x the amount, or at least would have if parts had been needed.) It’s good to have light!
Last might Carrie B (NannyCarrie from Care2) emailed that her husband Barry is in the hospital with what they think is a brain stem stroke. He can’t breathe without a ventilator. She is terrified and asks for prayers, vibes, or as TC would say, however you communicate with the universe. If anyone wants her email please let me know in a comment.
Well, we don’t have to go back to the Third Reich to understand the politicization of the military – the seventies and eighties are well within the lifetimes of most of us.
This link is to a petition, but scrolling down brings you to the article explaining why the petition. Please read that first. Then, if you want, feel free to sign. My goal is for you to be aware this is happening.
Since RFK Jr is so hung up on prenatal acetominaphen being the cause of autism (though autism has been around a whole lot longer than acetominaphen has), when I read this (and all of the comments -they contain many more stories as well as gratitude), I thought it might be good for us to have something more accurate – and more sane – to read on the subject
Yesterday, Trinette didn’t feel she was safe to come over, but is pretty sure she will by Wednesday evening. I sent her a Jacquie Lawson card with a recipe for chicken soup. I did get a little knitting done – not a whole lot, but enough to get me finished with a yarn that was dragging me down (a ladder yarn to be precise). I’ll be finishing the garment with a normal worsted yarn which is mostly recycled fibers (I am guessing mostly acrylic.)
As Robert Reich points out, nothing here is any reason for complacency. But they are reasons for hanging in there and fighting as much as we individually can.
There are several topics in this The F* News article, but the main one, the first one, is public health – and those of us who live in blue states can all be grateful for the news here. Those of us in red states … your nearest blue state may be a good place to look for vaccines.
I threw this in as a sort of extra, because it made me so angry. The Mango Moron is not smart enough to know about the 30-day minimum himself – so some veteran must have broken his (or her) oath and told him.
Yesterday, I got my usual weekly email from RBG’s son Jim, the record producer, about the week’s featured release. Among other things, it includes a new or newish piece which contains a musical reflection on what “home” means. This reminded me of Robert Frost’s famous quote “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in,” which seems timely in the context of the regime’s lust for deportation. It has always bothered me because it seems so cold. And it is cold. But I don’t think it was what Frost believed. He was using it in a character study of a very cold person (possibly a MAGAt long before his time.) Although today’s MAGAts are even colder – they won’t take you in, home or not. It comes from “The Death of the Hired Man.” I think Frost’s belief was closer to what the character’s wife answers – “I should have called it Something you somehow haven’t to deserve.” Also yesterday, the House Ethics Committee has had it with Republican crap and has instead sued the Epstein Estate (Axios).
You can, and maybe have, found this information elsewhere (Among others, Wonkette cites Mother Jones). But personally I find that their style makes one feel it as real, rather than just another news story. You may disagree.
Allow me to introduce this from the Contrarian, and why I’m posting it. When I had more free time than I do these days, I used to watch history videos from reliable sources from time to time. It’s “been a minute,” so I can’t now remember whether I got this information from two different videos or the same one, but here’s some information I learned about Russia and Ukraine. Back in the day when the Vikings pretty much owned the waterways, one of the places they raided was Russia. You probably have a mental image from British history and maybe other areas of people living in the invaded territory being killed off or at least fighting the invaders for their lives. Whatever territories that may have happened in, Russia apparently was not one of them – or at least not for long. The Russian people decided that the Vikings were highly organized and maybe even smart, so they invited the Vikings to stay and become their government. And enough did that for a goodly time (I can’t say how long since I didn’t follow it up – at the time I didn’t know how relevant it would be) the ruling class in Russia was composed of Vikings. Meanwhile, the Ukrainians were Cossacks (that’s still in their national anthem.) Cossacks were mercenary soldiers who worked for anyone who could and would pay them. But their agreements with these monarchs always included a clause that they were guaranteed self government. And I assume that means they never took an oath of fealty to any of them. And no, I don’t actually think that’s genetic – certainly not 100% or people like RFK Jr and Stephen Miller and Paul Gosar, whose families strongly reject their ideas, would all have to be adopted or illegitimate, and there’s no evidence for that at all. But if there is such a thing as national character, both nations have one which is eerily consistent with their centuries-old history.
This from The F* News is kind of connected to my introductory rant about what home means. You have probably seen the news, and I don’t suppose it takes much of either imagination or decent human feelings to see what is going on here. I believe Senator Van Hollen met in person again with Abrego Garcia over the weekend. The Uganda thing was not announced until Monday morning. Ketanji Brown Jackson brought up Calvinball in connection with the Court recently – but the regime is definitely playing it too.
Yesterday, I had a good night’s sleep the previous night. I suspect because, though heaven knows I have plenty of stuff to worry about, major changes in my medications aren’t among them. Also, this from John Pavlovitz caught my eye, and since it’s in the periphery of politics rather than being actually political, I decided to put it in as an extra. It just makes sense that authoritarian men (and women) are weak, since they need the assurance of authoritarian power. Egalitarians would naturally be stronger, because by definitions they (we) have faith in their (our) own judgment.
This from Lever News has a few popups, including, ironically, one for a popup blocker. But they all closed and I could read the whole article. However, I went to archive.is for those who don’t like popups – and, also ironically, the archived version has a frozen popup – it only hides most of the title and part of a photo, and the article is intact. Either should work.
This is from the “Wolves and Sheep” Substack, which is not part of but does have a relationship to Bowers News Media, to which I do subscribe. It doesn’t state much, if anything, which isn’t obvious if you think about it. But who has time to think in this chaos? And there’s alwaus a need for Captain Obvious, because the obvious, exactly because it is obvious, can be difficult to see as obvious, as opposed to being a given (and therefore safe to ignore.) I for one am grateful that someone – someone on our side – is not ignoring it.
Yesterday, Wonkette decided to quote La Marseillaise in its “TABS” email (the first of the day with links to other sources and just a little snark in the description) and threw in the clip from “Casablanca.” That scene is always a gut-punch for me, yet somehow in a good way, sort of like grand opera. (The young actress whose tears in the scene are so memorable was in real life a refugee. Those tears were real, and may not even have been scripted.) Also yesterday, this came out from Colorado Public Radio. Not that it’s news that we have crazy people in Colorado (particularly in the same Congressional District that Tina Peters is in.) Personally I would say he should never have been granted bail. And finally, July 17 – the 5th anniversary of John Lewis’s death, is July 17 (Thursday). National protests will be held. Here’s a link to find and RSVP to one.
This is good advice from Robert Reich – although I don’t think I’m quite capable of following it to the letter. I don’t feel I’m on the front line, but in more of a supporting role (which is nothing new. Most of the time I was in the Marine Corps the only women allowed in combat zones were nurses, and the Corps has no nurses, or for that matter, doctors. Medical personnel serving Marines are in the Navy.) The first Woman Marine assigned to a combat zone had been my platoon leader in basic training, and she had an administrative specialty, which is a command specialty, but not a combat specialty. Still a support role.) Support is important, but is less likely to make those filling it feel gung ho. But it is something i can do.
Joyce Vance writes primarily about measles and measles vaccinations here. But measles is only one part of the picture of disease, and disease itself is only one part of the picture of public health. There are also things like guns, floods, fires, toxic chemical exposure both knowingly and unknowingly (in which I would include recreational drug use), transportation crashes, other hazardous products, and more. I can’t imagine authoritarians caring a rodent’s posterior about any of them.
Yesterday, I spent about 17 minutes watching a video on Pete Buttigieg’s Substack – an interview with the mother of twin girls, one of whose lives depends on Medicaid. This shows why Pete is the best communicator in the Democratic Party – and one of the best in history. Tissue alert.
Here are two articles from the 19th. One is a detailed story of one person who is a victim of ICE. But even in the context of this incident an entire community is affected. And the regime is taking this to such lengths that anyone could be affected. But the other article is about trends which absolutely will affect everyone over time – everyone who is still above ground.
Joyce Vance on the Supreme Court. I see I am not the only one who turns to Greek mythology to interpret present day events. That – and animals and knittng – I guess are reasons I feel somehow connected to Joyce.
Yesterday, I got the news (and you probably did too) that Zohran Mamdani won the NYC mayoral Democratic primary so handily that Andrew Cuomo conceded before they even started looking at ranked choice. That does not mean he cannot run as an independent – but it might mean that he won’t. There are a couple of other human monkey wrenches interested in the position, but the more of them run, the stronger Mamdani’s win is likely to be. So, a little good news for Thursday. David Hogg is overjoyed. Off topic, but a while ago, I responded to one of his emails that, while I’m on board with his mission, I was unhappy with his ageist framing of it. I did not receive a reply, so I don’t know whether he got it, or if so, whether anything will change. To offset that good news, SCROTUS greenlighted the regime to deport people to third countries (i.e., neither this country nor the country they are from) with little if any process. They did it with the shadow docket, of course. Also, if you want to wish Justice Sotomayor a happy birthday, here’s a link where you can do so. Few people deserve a happy birthday more than she does. And one more thing – I am always saying that religion itself is not the problem in making our government and society terrible – it is the abuse of religion. And John Pavlovitz now has a term for “the abuse of religion” – he calls it “holy shit.”
Patriotic Millionaires PAC passed this on – it was written by one of their members. Already in the subhead, she puts her finger on a big part of the problem.
Joyce Vance discusses Emil Bove, and how to talk with your Senator(s) about him. Wonkette as good as called him a vampire in their article about him. Joyce’s content is similar, but her wording and phrasing is more conventional. If you have a Senator who resonates with hyperbole and other figures of speech, you might want to look up Wonkette. But Joyce’s presentation is definitely more controlled.
Tis is a Substack video just under 31 minutes. I delete a lot of Substack videos without looking at them. This one caught my eye because it brings together Pete Buttigieg and Bishop William Barber, brought together by Jonatnan Wilson-Hartgrove. It was recorded and is likely on all three Substack’s but the link goes to Pete’s. I note that the Bishop’s remarks bear directly on political strategy even more than those of the other two speakers. Feel free to skip it, but I thought it would be irresponsible of me not to make it available.
Yesterday, Bowers News Media reported “n a welcome development, Senate parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough has ruled against the provision in the House-passed version of the Republican megabill that would have made it more difficult for federal judges to enforce contempt charges. This means that, at least right now, there are no provisions in the megabill that would reduce the power of the courts.” I don’t think he can fire her – but I hope she has security.
Since this from The Intercept is an ex post facto analysis, I figured it could wait a few days. Also, there’s little if anything we don’t already know. But seeing it in print kind of gives it an authority it would otherwise not carry. And that is why the betrayal of the mainstream media is so tragically important.
This is an “Oregon leads the way” story from Democratic Underground. I don’t know whether the poster is the writer, and DU is strict about copyright infringement, so I am “printing” it to a pdf. Let me know if the link is broken and I’ll send that to you.
I’m afraid I think this is a good idea – and maybe not just now. They are obviously out to get anyone who in any way makes like more bearable for non-billionaires, and they are out there regardless of who is in office, and too many of them are armed.
