Yesterday was pretty quiet. Which is just fine with me. I’ll just mention that the yard sign below is the brainchils of John Pavlovitz. You can find it, along with some shirts with the design, in his merch. I’m not trying to be pushy, but so many times I’ve read “I want one of those!” as a comment on an article sharing something clever – I’m trying to be pro-active.
Here’s another feel-good story from Colorado. The video will keep playing as long as you let it, and there are some other popups which I hope won’t annoy you too much. Vallecito is down in the southwest corner of Colorado, 18 miles from Durango.)
In case this got lost … I’ve seen a couple of mentions of it but this is the most detailed (and I love the lede.)
Yesterday, the Arizona State House voted to overturn the 1864 abortion law, the one whose author has been so discredited. If it gets through the Senate, the Democratic Governor will, I am sure, sign it. Arizona appears to be on a roll – they also indicted some election conspirators, including Giuliani and Meadows. Also, my radio station was playing Passover music (it’s not till Tuesday night, but this DJ normally only works this station on Wednesdays, so next week would be late. (The rest of the time he works at the sister station whoch features jazz.) That made me think that 613’s Passover piece might be up, and it is. They are a group which makes videos for Jewish holidays, picking an artist to parody and then signing information about the holiday in a nedley of that artist’s works. This year’s is titled “Matza Mia”, parodying Abba (of course).
If you are looking for some really juicy news about what a fiasco Trump’s trial is being (especially on Trump’s side), Mary Trump is your go-to source. This column is dated Wednesday, but looks back to Tuesday
Joyce Vance has links to trial transcripts and documents. This might be a good one to save as a fact-checker reference.
Yesterday, I got an email from Katie Porter (not that that’s unusual.) We all know ahe will no longer be in Congress after 2024 is over. But this kind of makes it real, Since she will no longer be campaigning for herself, but only for her PAC, “Truth to Power,” she is liquidating all of her campaign merchandise. There are Tshirts, sweatshirts, socks, hats, lapel pins, key chains, and other stuff, including an actual whiteboard. I ordered her kitchen kit to remember her by (it’s something I will actually use. I use keychains, but already have so many.) I expect the store to be open, but with either more general merch, or merch for particular candidates, as opposed to merch tied to Katie.
It’s about time that someone made this so clear that most people should be able to see it. (Of course there are always some who can’t – or won’t.)
Talking Points Memo has done a striking summary of the first day of the trial (do I need to say which trial? I didn’t think so) in several sections. Even if you already know most of it, it’s a good summary (and has good links – the ones which aren’t paywalled.)
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss Jr (“The Waltz King”). This and “The Merry Widow” bY Lehar are the only two operettas I can think of which are sometimes done by regular opera companies. Both can be described as “zany.” Of course so can Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas – and, really, most operettas of the period. People have always enjoyed far-fetched humor. “Fledermaus” means “Bat,” and the premise is that, a year before the operetta, the lead tenor and the baritone went to a an event together, something between a party, a costume ball, and an orgy, and both got drunk. The baritone, who dressed as a bat, passed out, and the tenor (dressed as a butterfly) left him in a public park to sober up, and he woke to crowds pointing and laughing. This year, he wants revenge – and he gets it. And everyone except the tenor gets amusement and laughs at the tenors expense. When I was working as a volunteer costumer for my local college’s music department (before I got hired and paid by the theatre department), this was one of the shows I dressed. That was even longer ago than when the recording was made which they used yesterday to celebrate the operetta’s 150th anniversary (it premiered in April, 1876.) Also, I heard from Pat, who said her doctor’s apointment went well, and she is greatly relieved.
This is neither political, medical, financial, or helpful in any other way. It’s just interesting in that it reveals issues in the way we think about time (and probably other things as well.)
Many sources are discussing the decision by the Arizona Supreme Court that an abortion law from 1864 can stand. Much of the coverage includes lurid detail about the life and actions of the author of the law, which may be interesting, but really isn’t germane to the merits (and demerits, which outnumber the merits) of the law itself. This (gift-linked) article from the Washington Post doesn’t go there, instead concentrating on the effect of the ruling on the 2024 general election, both statewide and nationwide, and the reactions of Arizonans both in and out of politics.
Yesterday, I finally took a few duck eggs out of the freezer ((I’m allergic to chicken eggs, n=but not to duck eggs or goose eggs) to use as toppers to corned beef hash (yes, I’m old – that used to be a popular meal, particularly for breakfast). I froze some when my source retired. Freezing eggs is an awkward business – you have to take them out of the shell, because if you don’t, they will break in the freezer, and you also have to at least pierce the yolk. And if you don’t want to use them all together, you need to put each one into a separate plastic bag. So hardboiled eggs are not an option. Traditionally, with hash, they were poached, but that’s not an option either, since the yolk is pierced. I just made a “valley” in the “mountain” of hash and put an egg (out of the plastic bag) into it, then microwaved it. It wasn’t as good as the meals I remember, but it wasn’t bad either. However, the best use of frozen (and then thawed) eggs is in baking. Maybe I’ll feel up to that eventually.
I always enjoy reading Amanda Marcotte. She sees things that otber people, including me, don’t. I don’t claim she’s always right, but what she has to say always bears consideration. I should point out that Salon, where she is a senior writer, is also now on substack (as is I presume her personal newsletter which they mention.)
As Nameless often says, good news is always welcome. And I find this news particularly good coming from Texas. I suppose the whiny Texas GOP will be taking it to the Supremes, but at least there are injunctions for the interim. And the Supremes might turn it down. If they’re smart enough (I know some are.)
Yesterday, I found it refreshing for an earthquake to be newsworthy in some place other than California. (And, since there were no injries, the humor is a nice touch. “The Empire State Building”sent some messages via Xitter: “I am fine.” “I am still fine.” and then another “I am fine.”) Also I got my lost made of people whom I haven’t yet paid. There are seven of them, one of them whom I guess I saw twice, so there are eight charges. When new bills come in they should be easy to find. Also – the “Phone Call” Robert Hubbell prodived a summary for yesterday – Beau did a video on it It’s over 10 minutes, so I sdon’t wast to embed it. But it’s detailed enough i do wany to make it available. So, here’s the link.
This really is madness. Sadly it’s predictable (and in-character) madness. Russia is not going to be destroyed by migrants. But it very wwell may be destroyed by its own government.
Very often I can’t find a particular story on “Law and Crime,” appaently because there’s so much crime that stories get pushed to the back. This time I found the one I was looking for. A value of $40.000.00 sounds like grand theft to me.
Yesterday, another uneventful day for me. But not for a number of public figures, one in particular.
Mary Trump would like us non-lawyers all to calm down and take a deep breath. (I’d like that too. Things are bad enough without us interpreting anything we don’t like as a catastrophe. Whych is why I don’t report more on the Trump** trials.)
Now that i’m getting the Borowitz report again, I can share him. And this is a good one. There is only one female character in the Revelation of Saint John. And I can definitely see why he’d think of her.
I was concerned about this – we probably all were – I even included a Beau video (yesterday) discussing the possibility of a veto. Well, we didn’t.
Yesterday, I did listen to Turandot after all. Of course it was lovely – but I was also fascinated to observe that the Met’s announcer as well as the steeped-in-opera expert who seerves as her sidekick (you know that opera which the listeners voted on a few weeks ago? Well, he was at that performance when it happened. And was an adult at the time) both pronounced the name of the opera “Turandot” but the singers pronounced it “Turandough.” I believe “Turandough is more technically correct, based on a letter Puccini wrote suggesting that pronunciation, but I do like the sound of “Turandot” better myself. Not that it really matters. Oh, the conductor was the first Ukrainian, and therefore also the first Ukrainian woman, to conduct at the Met. Aside from that, I basically just laid out (in tiny bottles) my meds for the next two weeks. Boring, but it has to be done.
I am not deliberately seeking for Women’s History month stories which are also Black History – I just keep running into them, and they’re good ones.
Heaven knows I cannot generally recommend the New York Times for journalism, but this appears to have some valuable information. Hopefully you won’t be negatively affected by all the eye-blinking in the caricatures.
