Yesterday, SCOTUS dropped its decision that tariffs are illegal and must be refunded (don’t get excited – the refunds will go to whatever importers paid them first, and anything past that depends on good will.) The decision was 6-3, with Roberts, Gorsuch, and Barrett joining the liberals. Also, I watched a Substack video with Mary Trump, Joyce, and Katie Phang, which they began by sharing their coffee cups. Mary Trump was using one from her merch – on one side it says “Mary Trump Media” and on the other “Where Fake News Goes To Die.” I had to smile. And yes, all three takes today are from CPR. First time I’ve ever seen it quite so hot.
This was reported by Colorado Public Radio, although the lawsuit is significant everywhere and the trial is happening in California, because a mother in Colorado is one of the plaintiffs
This one was reported by CPR because it’s very Colorado. I’ve been hoping for this for a while now.
This story, both Colorado and national, is longer than it looks at first. It isn’t over until you get to “Related coverage.”
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Iolanta” by Tchaikovsky. It’s in one act with four scenes, and is set in the 1400s, which if not exact, is probably close enough to the era in history when Islam had all the good scientists and all the good physicians (although probably not good enough to give vision to someone born blind – but hey, it’s an opera.) Like the opera “Ruslan and Ludmilla”, it’s popular in Russia and little known elsewhere, but the Met did do it for a Saturday matinee some years ago and later televised it, so I have seen it once. It’s very pretty and has a happy ending. The Muslim doctor, I think, has the best line and certainly the most relevant today: “Without inner desire, change cannot take place.” Wikipedia has a great article on it, including (not that I think anyone but me cares) the fact that the name in the Danish play from which the libretto was derived was “Iolanthe” – like the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta – and that both names are forms of “Yolanda” – which makes perfect sense but was news to me. It’s also very short for an opera – well under 2 hours – so I was able to have a little additional treat. My local station, which could not afford the second half od the summer season, decided that instead they would play a recording of a complete opera starting at the same time, so I was able to hear a substantial part of Handel’s “Rinaldo” after “Iolanta” finished. I’ve seen it once – almost certainly during the pandemic, when the Met allowed people to stream a different opera every day/night for free. When I turned it on, it was during a recitative scene, but very soon it went to an aria, and lucky for me, it was the aria which has been frequently performed in concert and recorded away from the opera (including by Celtic Woman), so I recognized it and was able to identify the opera quickly.
“Friday” in this from Democratic Underground was probably the 14th. I didn’t receive it in time for the 16th.
From The Guardian. I am putting this into Sunday’s post as good news because the judge did the right thing. However, I personally have mixed feelings. I was hoping this would backfire – that reducing the number of Republicans in some of the darkest red districts would actually make them competitive and increase our representation, not theirs. Now that will not happen – at least not in Texas.
This was from a local ABC affiliate in New Jersey, but I found it through The Smile. (off topic, but the part of the URL I cut off ended with “bfd.” Yeah, I would say so.)
Yesterday, Carrie B (“NannyCarrie”) emailed me the link to this article. 44 years it was there. That’s longer than I’ve been married. And the Papaya Poopy-Pants lived in the White House for four years out of those 44 and apparently never noticed it. And has now lived there for more then seven additional months and never noticed it. But it’s “a hazard” to people visiting the White House. No one could make this up.
also yesterday, there was an update on the “Ban Atwood in Alberta” story.
Not paywalled, but you’ll have to close a pop-up subscription ask. I said a while ago that I’d have to start looking at The Lever more closely. This is a good example.
I referenced the RFK hearing last week and provided a link to the video – but it was quite long and appeared to contain nothing we hadn’t heard before, so I didn’t really expect anyone to watch. Kudos if you did. Whether you did or didn’t, Heather Cox Richardson‘s analysis should be valuable.
Well, this from The F* News is interesting, to say the least. I wouldn’t call it credible. Has anyone seen this elsewhere? I did see it in “Daily Dose of Democracy.”
Yes, this is a cartoon. You just don’t usually see them along with the complete back story.
Yesterday Iit was a little warmer, but not too bad. I just kind of took things slow and easy as much as I could.
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Short Takes
The Hill – Supreme Court decision could set off gerrymandering ‘arms race’
Quote – To be sure, the courts will continue to have a role to play in the looming redistricting fight. At the federal level, for instance, it remains illegal to carry out gerrymanders based on race. According to Parsons, however, state lawmakers will be particularly careful to frame their map drawing as motivated by party interest, as a way to side-step federal litigation. “In the wake of Rucho I expect many states will pack districts quite aggressively and explicitly argue that they are doing so based on partisan affiliation and not race,” he said. Click through for deets and implications. This is not good. And saying, “Hopefully, Congress accepts that invitation before it’s too late” is not helpful. The House has written and passed the For The People Act which would address this. The Senate will not allow it to move forward – barring a miracle. So let’s not blame “Congress.” More than half of the states have some legislative or costitutional protection which could challenge attempts to gerrymander (or preclude them before they start) – but it only needs a few heavily gerrymandered states to poison the entire House and/or Senate. Ballotpedia and the National Council of State Legislatures have state-by-state information if anyone wants to check their own state.
The Week – The USPS awarded a $120 million contract to a company with financial ties to the postmaster general
Quote – “There’s no question he’s continuing to profit from a Postal Service contractor,” said Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Even if DeJoy complies with legal requirements, Canter added “it does create an appearance issue about whether it’s in his financial interest to continue to make policy that would benefit contractors like XPO.” Click through for story.
CBS News – Florida breaks record for new daily Covid cases for third time this week
Quote – “This is real. And it didn’t have to be this bad,” Nikki Fried, Florida’s commissioner of agriculture and consumer services, tweeted Saturday. “We need everyone to do their part — #GetVaccinatedNow & #MaskUp. If not for yourself, for your friends, family, and neighbors. For our kids. For our doctors & nurses. For Florida.” Click through for more info. You will be happy to know (even though it means he’ll be missig here) that our Mitch is outta there for a bit under a week (and having fun.)
Yesterday it unbelievably sstayed fairly cool. Also, I may be in that golden period where, after it gets so hot, the same temps which led up to that and felt hot at the time don’t feel as hot now as they did them. Whatever it is, it’s pleasant.
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Short Takes
DATA GEMS: How to Download the Complete Set of 2020 Census Redistricting Files for Your State
Quote: In this Data Gem, you will learn about where to find and download the complete P.L.94-171 Redistricting Data Files from the 2020 Census for your state using the Census Bureau’s File Transfer Protocol site. This is a great resource for users looking to download large data files to use with software such as Microsoft Access, SAS, SQL, Sqlite, Oracle, Tableau, ArcGIS, and more. You will also learn about some of the critical resources that will enable you to successfully work with these data. Click through if interested. Colorado is s state which requires an independent commission to draw the districs, and it has a history of being as fair as it can be – based on the data it is given. So I won’t be looking. But it anyone does need or want to know amore about this, well – the horse’s mouth.
CNN – House select committee begins taking over January 6 investigation from other committee
Quote – The newly formed House select committee is taking the lead on investigating January 6 going forward, consolidating the investigation, as other committees looking into the matter begin handing over their work, according to a multiple sources familiar with the matter. That includes interviews with key figures related to that day that were already scheduled to meet with other committees but were postponed. Click through for story. This is a normal thing to happen – Benghazi is just one example – but the kerfuffle about the committee selection, which resulted in the Republicans on the Select Committee being the only two who are committed to finding the truth, makes it different. Republicans on Oversight might have obstructed. Now they can’t. And the same is true for any other regular committee which has any knowledge or evidence. GlennKirschner will go even farther in his video in today’s Video Thread.
Food for Thought – I’ve used this before in the gif version), but it fits today with the census date information.
Now This News – Florida – Hey, I canfeel where they are coming from – but they are still wrong (not that Florida’s government officials have any moral high ground here. They don’t.)
Now This News – Fighting back against substandard medical care based on race.
Robert Reich – Unrigging the GOP’s Minority Rule
Jesse Dollmore – This is long and a bit repetetive, but it is also the first I have heard of any suggestion – at least any sworn suggestion – that the Secret Service was involved in the January 6 insurrection.
Beau – Forecasting for the GOP with at least one interesting takeaway
