Aug 242022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Glenn’s regular video in sequence is a report n a Team Justice get-together. Glenn’s first grandchild was there (cute as a button), but Glenn didn’t make the keynote speech, and it;s long. So I’m substituting this, which includes information not yet covered on “Justice Matters.”
Political Voices Network – No Sweetheart Deals! There Are a Whole Host of Crimes that Apply to Rudy & Trump.

Meidas Touch – Texas Paul REACTS to Adam Kinzinger MOCKING Trump as whiny ‘victim’

Lincoln Project – Receipts

Really American – Republican endorsement of extreme behavior is proof that they are #GOPTerrorists

Parody Project – THE CRIMES THEY ARE ARRANGING

Beau – Let’s talk about WHO changing names and changing as a person….

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Aug 232022
 

Yesterday, I slept in about an hour – again. I’ve been having a glitch or two getting to sleep, so that when the alarm goes, I’m not ready to get up. I do realize this is a self-sustaining thing … but it has happened before and usually resolve within a week. I refuse to fret about it – I only mention it in case anyone has noticed I’m running a little late on comment replies. It’s not to worry.

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Short Takes –

Just Security – Trump Associate’s Stated Plan to Publicly Release “Declassified” Documents
Quote – As this article was going to press, ABC News published a report that weeks before the Mar-a-Lago search, former President Donald Trump’s associate Kash Patel “vowed to retrieve classified documents from the National Archives and publish them on his website.” If that scheme involved Trump himself and the Mar-a-Lago documents, it could have significant legal implications for the Justice Department’s ongoing criminal investigation. Any plan to release the documents could potentially trigger specific elements of the Espionage Act and other criminal statutes designed with the core purpose of preventing unlawful dissemination of classified and other sensitive government documents. As I discuss below, credible evidence of such a plan also would likely factor into the Justice Department’s decision on whether to bring criminal charges.
Click through for details. “Just Security” you might say is a specialty news website. I’m linking to their mission statement. (I also bookmarked then, since they don’t call attention to themselves – they just quietly analyze.

Letters from an American – August 20,2022
Quote – When former president Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, he left the participants to continue without the U.S., which they did as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). He also left open the way for a free trade deal in the region dominated by China, called the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or RCEP, which went into effect on January 1, 2022. This left the Biden administration with two politically poor choices: try to reestablish U.S. participation in the region through the CPTPP, which would have been hotly contested at home and thus unlikely to get through Congress, or let China dominate the region, with damaging long-term effects. So the administration found a third way.
Click through for background. This is kind of a compliation of who has visited Taiwan from the United States recently, and when, and under what circumstances (not what you probably think from the press coverage.) Also, other recent history, including Trump**’s destructive actions (in my quote).

Food For Thought

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Aug 042022
 

Yesterday, it was pretty quiet. I did need to get another grocery delivery, as the last one sorted me on green salad. I have plenty of frozen vegetables stocked, but I enjoy sommer meals more and feel better if I have a green salad daily while it’s warm. This time I got everything I asked for, so I’m set for a while. Otherwise, a quiet day. My shoulder is still being annoying, but I have a shoulder brace coming, and I used some arnica gel on it today, which helped..

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Short Takes –

Crooks & Liars – Ted Lieu Introduces Act Naming Russia As Terrorist State
Quote – Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) is leading a bipartisan group of House members in sponsoring the Russia is a State Sponsor of Terrorism Act in response to their invasion of Ukraine. Those members include Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Jared Golden (D-ME), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Tom Malinowski (D-NJ).
Click through for story. Ted Lieu may not be Jamie Raskin (but then, who but Jamie is?) or even Eric Swalwell (ditto), but he does have a history of presenting truth forcefully. I appreciate him.

Letters from an American – August 2, 2022
Quote – But this moment increasingly feels like it’s about more than abortion rights, crucial though they are. The loss of our constitutional rights at the hands of a radical extremist minority has pushed the majority to demonstrate that we care about the rights and freedoms that were articulated—however imperfectly they were carried out—in the Declaration of Independence. We care about a lot of things that have been thin on the ground for a while.
Click through for everything. This was the day of the primaries in many states and there is significant news from more than one of them. There is also more new information abut Trump** information sedition. Any of these news items could be found elsewhere, but Richardson wraps it all up nicely and ties a bow on it.

Food For Thought

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Jun 172022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Day 2 of J6 public hearings: Republican witnesses prove Donald Trump’s criminal intent

The Lincoln Project – Last week in the Republican Party – June 14, 2022

Meidas Touch – Merrick Garland and DOJ ABSOLUTELY watching Jan 6 Hearings (We knew this I think – but it’s still watchable) Prosecutors will be looking for COURT evidence of course. Incidentally, Tish James also watched.

No Dem Left Behind – Have We Lost Our Way in the Past 20 Years? True Americans Must Stand Against the Treason Caucus

Parody Project – Mark Meadows

Beau – Let’s talk about how political parties determine your health….

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Jun 172022
 

Yesterday, I went to see VirgilWe kissed (we are allowed 2, one coming and one going) and hugged (ditto), and we also, as we didn’t do for quite a few years, played some cribbage – for some reason we find that having something to do with out hands stimulates conversation, though it took us years ti realze that.. How the Department of Corrections handles games and game playing during visits wold take a whole column, and I won’t start on thet today. I passed on all greetings you all exprressed to Virgil, and he returns all with thanks.

After getting home, I checked my email inbox whch had hit almost 150 emai and then turned to the hearings. I had pre-written today’s posts except for this introduction, so after getting home and making dinner, I was able to jump into today’s hearing. Again, none of the actual evidence surprised me – even things I didn’t know had happened were so in tune with Republican morals and behavior they were not surprising. But I did get two non-evidential surprises – first, that I can now see why those who are not totally disgusted with his political positions might actually like Mike Pence (I will never understand that about Trump**). Second, I was surprised to learn there is one Republican who has not only actually read goodly chunks of the Bible, but understands it well enough to come up with a whole chapter that is extremely pertinent (it was one of his former attrorneys, a Mr. Jacobs, and the chapter was Daniel 6 [which could be differently numbered in the translation used by Catholics – I know that book has some extra stuff in it which is not in the Bible most Protestants use].) Again, I used the recording from the house.gov link here.  And then I goofed around a little and went to bed exhausted.

And – I almost forgot – the email telling me my ballot had been received came in at 11:34 am and the one saying it has been counted came in at 5:35 pm.

Cartoon – 17 Mahal RTL

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – ‘Pack Your Stuff and Get Out of My House,’ Says Patriot Front Member’s Mom
Quote – Amsden said that after her son was released from jail, he told her he’d continue to stand with the group, so she delivered an ultimatum. “I told him, ‘Well, then you can’t live here. You can choose between Patriot Front and your family.’ And he’s like, ‘Well, I can’t quit Patriot Front.’ I’m like, ‘Well, then you’ve just chosen. So pack your stuff and get out of my house.’”
Click through for background. Old saying: “desperate times require desperate measures.” This must break her heart (I assume he doesn’t have one) – but I don’t see what else she could have done.

Wonkette – CNN’s New Boss Remaking Network Into Centrist Safe Space For Republicans
Quote – Licht will give existing talent “a chance to prove they’re willing to uphold the network’s values so that they don’t tarnish CNN’s journalism brand.” If they can’t adjust, they’ll presumably join Chris Cuomo on the unemployment line. Axios specifically mentions Jim Acosta and Brian Stelter as being under the partisan microscope[.]
Click through for more. Personally, I would trade Chuck Todd for Acosta in a heartbeat – but I’m not in a position to.

Food For Thought

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Jun 142022
 

Glenn Kirschner -Jarod Kushner’s pardon palooza will be damaging to both Donald Trump and to Kushner himself

Meidas Touch – Furious Texas Paul Reveals TERROR CELL Inside the GOP – Such a sweet, kind offer in such NSFW languague!

Robert Reich – This is How We Help People Fight Inflation at the Gas Pump

VoteVets – ‘The AR-15 Is A Weapon Of War’ – Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Paul Eaton

Liberal Redneck – First January 6 Committee Hearing Takeaways

Beau – Let’s talk about if medical training is worth it…. (and you know this appies to a lot more than medical training.)

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May 192022
 

Yesterday, I watched a Sixty Minutes segment (during that hour I avoid the radio -its only about 27 minutes, so I also watched something else – a documentary about the WWII British equivalent of Tucker Carlson – mildly interesting.) If you watch 60 mnutes you have probably seen the segment. If not, you may want to bookmark this for when you have a spare half hour. It’s the story of a black family who purchase a large home which turns out to have been, not just a plantation, but the plantation on which their ancestors were enslaved. Simply amazing. Here’s the link. I also managed to get trash ans recyclables out to the curb (It only took me about a half hour and a few extra CBD gummies to recover from that.)

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Short Takes –

CPR News – ‘I’m not giving up’: Sen. Michael Bennet’s drive to make the expanded Child Tax Credit permanent
Quote – The pandemic-relief package, known as the American Rescue Plan, expanded the Child Tax Credit for one year, made it fully refundable, so the poorest families could benefit, and for the last half of 2021, sent it in the form of monthly checks to families, turning it into a reliable income supplement…. Bennet’s frustration that the expanded benefit was not made permanent, or even just extended, is palpable…. “I’m not giving up. And I don’t think we should give up. And I, frankly, I’m not giving up until we have an economy that when it grows, it grows for everybody, not just the people at the very top. And I think we can do that too,”
Click through for story. Colorado would have to be crazy not to re-elect Senator Bennet. (And it’s because part of Colorado IS crazy that I became a – small- monthly donor to the campaign.)

HuffPost – Living With The Far-Right Insurgency In Idaho
Quote – [White nationalist Vincent James Foxx] is one of many far-right activists who have flocked to Idaho in recent years, where a large and growing radical MAGA faction in the state’s Republican Party has openly allied itself with extremists to a shocking extent, even for the Trump era. This faction is accruing more and more power in Boise, the state capital: Imagine a statehouse full of Marjorie Taylor Greenes and Steve Kings. At the local level, they have seized seats on school boards and county commissions at a fast clip.
Click through for details. Idaho is pretty much every bit as LDS as Utah – just not as publicly. I don’t know what the position, or the participation of the LDS Church is in this – but I’ll bet there is some. The church just possibly could surprise us.

The Hill – House passes domestic terrorism bill in mostly party-line vote
Quote – The bill calls for establishing a Domestic Terrorism Unit in the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the DHS, which would be tasked with observing and examining domestic terrorism activity, in addition to a Domestic Terrorism Office in the Counterterrorism Section of the National Security Division of the DOJ, which would look into and prosecute domestic terrorism incidents and communicate with the Civil Right Division about occurrences that may be considered hate crimes.
Click through for discussion and details. This could work, if only the government (federal and atate) would stop assuming that it’s only terrorism if a non-white person does it – when the reverse is closer to the truth.

Food For Thought

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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May 162022
 

Glenn Kirschner – Federal prosecutors open grand jury probe into Trump’s removal of top secret docs to Mar-a-Lago

The Lincoln Project – Thank you, Jen.

MSNBC – America ‘Needs To Prepare For’ Insider Threats To Elections

Twitter – CNN – White supremacist terrorism

Politics Girl – Quick Civics

Food-Obsessed Cat Has Taught Himself To Open Containers With His Teeth

Beau – Let’s talk about a cliff analogy….

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