Sep 132021
 

Yesterday was pretty quiet. For a while in the afternoon rin poured and thunder roared, which at least kept the temprature down. My energy, however, remained low.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The New Yorker – The Agent
Quote – Yemen was a particularly difficult place to start a terrorist investigation, as it was filled with active Al Qaeda cells and with sympathizers at very high levels of government.
Click through if you will. It’s quite long because it’s quite in depth, and it’s hair-raising. I chose that quote because you could make it present tense, substitute “the United States” for “Yemen” and “Y’all Qaeda” for “Al Qaeda,” and it would be true.

Law & Crime – Judge Refuses to Let Jacob Chansley Out of Jail Ahead of Sentencing, Calls Him a ‘Mascot’ for QAnon and ‘Hopes’ He’s Really Had a Change of Heart
Quote – The federal judge who has presided over Jacob Chansley’s criminal case doesn’t appear to be entirely convinced that the so-called “QAnon Shaman” of Jan. 6 has had a change of heart and renounced the sprawling conspiracy theory for which he is a “mascot.” Senior Judge Royce Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, said in a memorandum opinion and order unsealed Friday that Chansley will not be allowed to get out of jail ahead of sentencing for obstruction of an official proceeding.
Click through for story. Hey, it’s something.

The Guardian – Six US Capitol police officers could face discipline for 6 January actions
Quote – Investigators were able to identify officers involved in 26 of the cases [out of 38 investigations], the statement said, and found no evidence of wrongdoing in 20. Of the other six, it said, three are cited for conduct unbecoming, one for failing to comply with directives, one for improper remarks, and one for “improper dissemination of information”.
Click throughfor little detail but much privacy. We did know some of the officers were more accommodating than needed be. We can hope these are they.

Food for Thought –

Share
Sep 122021
 

Glenn Kirschner – is late. So I threw in the kitten vid.

Meidas Touch – E. Jean Carroll says she has SLAM DUNK sexual assault case against Trump

Now This News – George W. Bush Compares Domestic Extremists to 9/11 Hijackers (or, When you’ve lost W…)

Really American – Texas Abortion Law Targets The Poor

MSNBC – What You Need To Know About The Planned Sept. 18th Rally – The white dude doesn’t convince me, and I’m glad to see he doesn’t convince the others either.

Cracked – If Dentists Were Honest | Honest Ads

Kitten Who Needed An Incubator To Survive Grows Up To Be A Spitfire – Personal story – I had a cat give birth on my bed (while I was in it.) She had 5 kittens, but rejected the last two. One was still in the placenta and not breathing, but the other was (mostly) out of the placents and was breathing, but cold. I warmed him in my hands, found a doll bottle, and tried to feed him a little milk (I had no KMR and no time to waste.) He took very little, if any, but it got all over him. In despair, I laid him down by MomCat to try to figure out what to do next. To my surprise, she perked up – “What’s this” – and started bathing him. I guess he must have smelled better and tasted good from all that spilled milk. Anyway, after that, he never looked back. In fact, he became her favorite of the litter. Totally by accident … but someone else might be able to use it sometime.

Beau – Let’s talk about VP Harris and bail….

Share
Sep 112021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Garland Announces DOJ Suing Texas to Protect Constitutional Rights, Addresses Domestic Terrorism

MSNBC – New Grand Jury Activity In Trump Org Case Is Reminder That Investigations Are Ongoing

Thom Hartmann – 50 Years After Attica Massacre Prisoners Are Still Rioting

Really American – Republicans Hate Black People

Liberal Redneck – On Confederate Statues Bein’ Dumb

Keith Olbermann – The Legacy of 9/11 is not those we mourn. It’s cruelty with which we responded which now blights us.

Beau – Let’s talk about the media being surprised by the predictable…. https://www.democraticunderground.com/emoticons/sarcasm.gif

Share
Sep 112021
 

Yesterday, not a lot happened, and what did happen was mostly annoying small stuff.  Plus, it was hot – hotter than it’s been for over a week.  So let’s just all move on from that.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Medium – Statement from Senator Amy Klobuchar
Quote – Of course this has been scary at times, since cancer is the word all of us fear, but at this point my doctors believe that my chances of developing cancer again are no greater than the average person.
Click through for full statement. Pat already TJI’ed the news, but I think it’s worth a repeat (with a picture and an exhortation.)

White House Press Release: President Biden Names Seventh Round of Judicial Nominees
Quote – The President is announcing eight new candidates for the federal bench, all of whom are extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution. These choices also continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country — both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds.
Click through for a few stats and all 8 names and short bios.

The New Yorker (Borowitz) – Fox News Accuses Biden of Using Federal Government to Improve Country
Quote – “Joe Biden came into office claiming that he wanted to be the President of all the people,” Sean Hannity said. “Now, however, his real agenda has become clear: he wants to increase Americans’ life expectancy. How long one lives should be a personal choice,” Hannity continued. “But not if Joe Stalin-slash-Biden has anything to say about it.”
Click through for what sounds like pretty straight news to me.

Food for Thought –

 

Share
Sep 102021
 

Yesterday, I decided to stay in bed after my alarm went off (I really only use it as a guide anyway.) And I’m very glad I did. I went back to sleep for another hour and a half, and it was in that hour and a half during which I had a dream in which I was able to share a hug with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. What a gift! I don’t remember the other ircumstances of the dream except that they were equally unlikely but also mostly pleasant.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

The Atlantic – The Next Face of the Democratic Party
Quote – Democratic members of Congress won’t talk about any of this publicly, as if Pelosi might suddenly appear and pull their hearts from their chests. Jeffries, carefully, left it at telling me that growing up in a Black church taught him to respect and value his elders. But none of the two dozen Democratic members of Congress and party insiders I spoke with privately could present a serious alternative to Jeffries. He’d have the support of the Congressional Black Caucus, which is stacked with influential members. He’s popular with his colleagues, even those who grumble that he was too meek to challenge Pelosi earlier—“Hakeem is really good at taking in both ideas but also criticism, and not being defensive about it,” said Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, Jeffries’s close ally in House leadership, who is expected to end up in the No. 2 spot if he’s No. 1. In conversations with colleagues, Clark and Jeffries have said they’re moving forward as a team, determined to avoid the rumbling rivalry Pelosi and Hoyer have had since their days as congressional interns, in 1963.
Click through for the story. The Atlantic has a paywall, but you get a couple of free articles per month, so you may want to “print” it if you are interrupted.  Of course this is pure speculation.

HuffPost – Republicans Already Lying That California’s Recall Election Is ‘Rigged’
Quote – Former President Donald Trump ― who was impeached for inciting the violent Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection with lies about the 2020 presidential election ― weighed in on the Sept. 14 California recall on Tuesday with a complaint about the state’s early vote-by-mail system. “It’s probably rigged,” Trump said during an interview on right-wing cable channel Newsmax. “They’re sending out all ballots ― the ballots are mail-out, mail-in ballots. I guess you even have a case where you can make your own ballot. When that happens nobody’s going to win except these Democrats.”
Click through for details. Of course they are. While that in itself is bad news, it is good news that they are this worried. But it’s not an excuse not to vote.

The Hill – Police brace for Capitol rally defending Jan. 6 mob
Quote – The Capitol Police declined to comment Tuesday on any specific security plans for Sept. 18. But Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger said the department is “closely monitoring” the event and expressed confidence that “the work we are doing now will make sure our officers have what they need to keep everyone safe.” The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is also planning an “increased presence around the city” where demonstrations will take place on Sept. 18 and may close off some streets, a spokesperson said.
Click through for what’s known and a few thoughts. I truly hope I am seeing ghostss, but I am concerned that September 18 and September 11 are both Saturdays, and one of those dates has symbolic significance. And Republicans lie. I hope they are also preparing for tomorrow. It never hurts to be prepared.

Food for Thought –

Share
Sep 072021
 

Yesterday, I piddled around with a bunch of small household tasks. Can’t say as I really accomplished much, but sometimes getting a bunch of little stuff out of the way does feel like accomplishment.

Cartoon – Incidentally, I own a framed copy of the print made from this rendition by Bryan Moon of that occasion.  I love his work.

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Pathetic Arizona Manbabies Cosplay Gomer Pyle At Elementary School
Quote – Now, I could write a normal article, citing The Washington Post and Daily Beast, outlining the absurd and outrageous details of this dangerous nonsense. Frankly, these three don’t deserve the national attention or my resultant rise in blood pressure. Instead, I shall vent my spleen, and open a good, old-fashioned can of Brooklyn whoop-ass on them, as god and my DNA intended.
In case you missed this, click through. The principal is physically fine, as is the other staff member, but both were naturally terrified. Since, she has received so much support from the community, she can’t talk about it without tearing up with gratitude

CNN (H/T Carrie B) – Like Washington and Jefferson, he championed liberty. Unlike the founders, he freed his slaves
Quote – It was 230 years ago Sunday that Robert Carter III, the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in Virginia, quietly walked into a Northumberland County courthouse and delivered an airtight legal document announcing his intention to free, or manumit, more than 500 slaves. He titled it the “deed of gift.” It was, by far, experts say, the largest liberation of Black people before President Abraham Lincoln signed the District of Columbia Emancipation Act and Emancipation Proclamation more than seven decades later.
Click through for the full (and virtually unknown) story. It deserves to be known far and wide. (Without going into detail, it appears possible that Carter Burwell, composer of the music for many films, especially Coen Brothers films, is a descendant.)

Common Dreams – House Dems Introduce Bill to Lower Medicare Age to 60
Quote – Researchers have found that there is a massive increase in the diagnosis of cancer among Americans who reach the age of 65 that could have been detected much earlier if they had access to Medicare.
Click through for some whats, whos, and whys. If we have to do it five years at a time, then that’s the way we will have to do it.

Food for Thought (Good news for mw) –

Share
Sep 042021
 

Meidas Touch – Jaime Harrison DESTROYS ‘Criminal’ Kevin McCarthy

MSNBC – Deadline White House

MSNBC – Figliuzzi: Senate Asked All Wrong Questions About The Pro-Trump Attack On Capitol

Acurate Transcript here

Lakota Peoples Law Project – NoDAPL: Ruby Montoya is Not a Terrorist

Really American – Hillary Proven Right Again

Corey Ryan Forrester – Anti Vaxxer Defends the Children at City Council Meeting

Beau – Let’s talk about that law in Texas and tattoos….

Share
Aug 252021
 

Glenn Kirschner – Proud Boy Enrique Tarrio Sentenced to Prison But the Fed Prosecutors Might Not Be Done With Him Yet. Ask an American what the word “jurisdiction” means, and, unless you are asking an attorney or a cop or an amateur student of crime (in fact or fiction),you may get a blank stare. (And then people complain about the “justice system” – as if there were one, not hundreds.)

Don Winslow Films – #VoteRacistTrumpOut

Really American – Governor Abbott downplays COVID, gets Sick

The Hill – Jen Psaki CALLS OUT Fox News reporter for misrepresenting what she said

PBS – The Pandemic That Lasted 15 Million Years. Well, this is a fine kettle of fish (and other species.) There is A LOT of information in it so you may want to come back to it.

PUPPET REGIME – The Delta Skelter Song

Let’s talk about Trump’s most presidential act….

Share