Greetings. fellow resisters. Happy 13th of the month.
Are you fed up with the endless strident attacks on our foundational principles of democracy? In their quest for unfettered power, republicans have cursed themselves with a terminal case of political idiocy. You have to be permanently nose blind to put up with the stench that emanates whenever they open their mouths. Revulsion is probably the tamest emotion they inspire among anyone with more that three functioning brain cells.
Turn over any rock in our political garden and you are likely to find a republican operative doing something vile to the democratic process. It who they are and what they do. They are too far gone to be able to find a way back, so they just keep upping the crazy.
Today’s republican party is like a gas station sushi rack, sitting outside in the sun, next to the pumps, soaking up the fumes and marinating in the heat. No matter what style of republican you pick, they are likely to make you violently ill (especially the anti-vax variety).
Their messaging is generated by creeps, collusionists and crooks.
Covid and climate are the albatrosses wrapped around their big orange albatross.
In the last few weeks, some of the inmates in the Reich wing silo have started chewing on each other with wild abandon. This is more pronounced than their normal snapping and bickering. Legal exposure has a lot to do with it. They are worried and it shows. I think some of them have realized that they can run, but they can’t hide. We’ll see more and more of them try to scramble out of their basket and pretend they hadn’t spent the last five years wallowing there.
Of course, now that our indictment fantasies, lurid as they are, are finally being fulfilled, we need to talk about the dangers of post-indictment bliss. Sure, we share a warm feeling of accomplishment. We deserve it. Indictmentgasms take a lot of effort. That doesn’t mean we should stop.
We can work to make republican indictments a regular part of our lives. I think several times a week would be ideal. Those who advocate for a continuous orgy of indictments are in danger of diminishing the special relationship between an informed electorate and its justice system. Moderation is the key. Well, that and a really heavy book to throw at the bastards.
Up the Resistance
(we continue to resist the ongoing depredations of the Reichwing)
Last night, Colbert, when discussing one of the current Covid-19 Delta variant outbreaks, said, “Branson, Missouri — The tourist mecca for people who are afraid of Mecca.” I’m still chuckling.
How about we check out the news.
Hi, Allen. I’m Your Bus. Please Lie Still
To flip or not to flip, that is the question. Shall he be a burnt pancake or a lightly browned piece of toast. Only Allen knows for sure. What will push him over the edge? Stay tuned and watch as he gets closer and closer to becoming the next Michael Cohen.
CNN: Indicted Trump Organization CFO removed as an officer from several company subsidiaries
(CNN)The Trump Organization has removed Allen Weisselberg, its chief financial officer, from officer positions at several of its subsidiaries, including Mar-a-Lago, after he and former President Donald Trump's namesake business were indicted for allegedly running a 15-year tax fraud scheme.
Weisselberg's role and title at the Trump Organization could change, but he will remain at the company, a source close to the Trump Organization told CNN. The source described Weisselberg's removal from the positions as "prudent corporate governance."
Weisselberg has pleaded not guilty to 15 state charges, including grand larceny.
Other subsidiaries that he has been removed from as an officer include the Trump Payroll Corp., which was also named in the indictment, Trump National Golf Club, Trump International Hotels Management and the Trump International Golf Club in Scotland, according to publicly filed corporation documents.
et tu, Faux News?
Are those dirty Fauxers worried about getting sued for all the lies they promote? It sure looks like it. I wonder what will happen to Faux, once Dominion Voting Systems takes ownership.
Vice News: Paul Blest: Trump Got Slapped With a Fact-Check on Fox News. Yes, Fox News.
Fox News has apparently decided it doesn’t need to be sued yet again for boosting false election claims.
On Sunday, the network carried live coverage of former President Donald Trump’s headlining speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). To the surprise of no one, the former president repeated a bunch of falsehoods about how he actually won the election, and Fox News had to perform some legal ass-covering in real time.
“I got more votes—75 million—than anybody in the history of the presidency,” Trump, exaggerating his actual vote count, which was 74,216,156, and casually omitting the fact that 81,268,924 people voted for President Joe Biden. Trump also said he “lost,” using air quotes.
Later, after Trump shifted topics to the subject of 2024, Fox News ran an all-caps chyron disclaimer under him saying: "The voting system companies have denied the various allegations made by President Trump and his counsel regarding the 2020 election."
They Are Krakening Up and Falling Apart in Michigan
It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of sleazy treasonweasels. They’ve got two weeks to come up with something more effective than holding their breath and stamping their feet, while claiming the aliens made them do it. After that — welcome to Sanction City.
Reuters: Judge eyes sanctions on pro-Trump lawyers who claimed voter fraud
WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday appeared likely to reprimand Sidney Powell, a former campaign lawyer for Donald Trump, and other attorneys over a lawsuit they filed in Michigan seeking to overturn Democratic President Joe Biden's election victory.
U.S. District Judge Linda Parker in Detroit suggested the pro-Trump lawyers should have investigated the Republican former president's voter fraud claims more carefully before suing.
"Should an attorney be sanctioned for his or her failure to withdraw allegations the attorney came to know were untrue?," Parker said during a court hearing via video conference. "Is that sanctionable behavior?"
She said she thought affidavits in the case had been submitted in "bad faith."
Lin Wood, one of the lead liars staring at sanctions, couldn’t even wait an hour to violate a gag order.
Talking Points Memo: Lin Wood Deletes Telegram Post That May Have Violated Court Order
It doesn’t end in Michigan
Forbes: Alison Durkee: It’s Not Just Michigan: All The Places Sidney Powell, Lin Wood And Pro-Trump Attorneys Could Be Punished For ‘Kraken’ Lawsuits
And the Hits Lies Just Keep Coming
Don’t believe your lying eyes is the core republican message these days. That only works on people who are already delusional. [I was unable to find a copy of the video to share, so I’m linking to a story about it instead. Sigh.]
Raw Story: Chilling supercut contrasts Trump's lies about 'love' at Capitol riots with brutal violence of his supporters
Former President Donald Trump over the weekend blatantly lied about the actions taken by his supporters at the January 6th Capitol riots by saying that his supporters were "peaceful people" who were filled with "such love."
MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan on Monday showed a supercut video that contrasted Trump's description of his supporters with brutal footage of the rioters beating police and vandalizing the Capitol.
As footage of the deadly riots played, Trump can be heard falsely claiming that the doors to the Capitol were opened up to his supporters, despite the fact that footage shows Trump fans breaking through windows to get access to the building.
Take that, foul Abbott
In Texas, their purple-faced blowhard of a poor excuse for governor is currently in danger of hospitalization for apoplexy. Poor fellow can’t seem to get his voter suppression initiative passed into law. His MAGAhole supporters can’t decide whether to whine piteously or spit bile — so they are spitting out their whines. I can’t wait for Texas to go blue, so we can watch the door slamming into them on their way out.
HuffPost: Lydia O’Connor: Texas Democrats Leave State In Effort To Block Restrictive Voting Laws
Texas’ Democratic lawmakers left the state Monday in order to deny Republicans a quorum during a special legislative session, blocking a vote on a restrictive elections law and several other contentious GOP bills, several media outlets have reported.
At least 51 of the state’s Democrats fled Austin on Monday, with most of them heading to Washington, D.C., on a pair of chartered planes. They could need to stay there for up to several weeks, until the special session called by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) comes to a close.
Without those Democrats present, Republicans won’t have the quorum of two-thirds of lawmakers that the Texas Constitution requires for conducting any legislative business. That means a pair of voting measures that Republicans have been rapidly advancing in the past few days won’t be able to move forward.
I’ll take Broken Brains for $800, Alex
I don’t have a clue as to how the culture warriors decide on which molehill battles to fight. I’m pretty sure there’s a hell of a lot of stupidity involved. Probably some envy, too. I’m kinda surprised they haven’t called for all books to be burned, because literature and education makes them look bad.
Wonkette: Stephen Robinson: Captain America’s Dream Has Always Been The Conservative Nightmare
Conservatives are still upset that Captain America isn't one of them. However, Captain America is fictional and unlike modern conservatives, he has character. Steve Rogers questions "the American Dream" in the new mini-series "The United States of Captain America," and the very concept disturbs conservatives who haven't read the book or apparently any Captain America stories from the past 60 years.
Rogers, who literally fought Nazis, is wary of "the white picket fence fallacy that, if we're not careful becomes nationalism, jingoism." He states:
“That dream isn't real. It never was. Because that dream doesn't get along nicely with reality, other cultures, immigrants, the poor. The suffering people easily come to be seen as “different" or “unAmerican." The white picket fence becomes a gate to keep others out. We're our best when we keep no one out. A good dream is shared. Shared radically. Shared with everyone. When something isn't shared it can become the American lie.”
Republicans predictably responded as if Steve said all this in Chinese while burning a flag. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton said Cap deserved a "demotion to lieutenant for that speech," which Fox News anchors shared with him during an outrage segment.
Depression Might End on a High Note
I know you’ve been wondering why hippies are so much happier than the rest of the population (and maybe smarter too).
GoodNewsNetwork: Psychedelic Found in Magic Mushrooms Spurs Growth of Neural Connections Lost in Depression, Landmark Study Finds
The psychedelic drug psilocybin, a naturally occurring compound found in some mushrooms, has been studied as a potential treatment for depression for years. But exactly how it works in the brain and how long beneficial results might last is still unclear.
In a new study, Yale researchers show that a single dose of psilocybin given to mice prompted an immediate and long-lasting increase in connections between neurons.
“We not only saw a 10% increase in the number of neuronal connections, but also they were on average about 10% larger, so the connections were stronger as well,” said Yale’s Alex Kwan, associate professor of psychiatry and of neuroscience and senior author of the paper.
Your Tuesday Palate Cleanser
After reading about republican failed attempts to destroy the world, we all need a positive finale.
sunny skyz: This Doctor Has Been Showing Up After Weddings To Bring Back Flowers To Patients
A medical student at VCU School of Medicine founded The Simple Sunflower, a service that delivers flowers - regifted from weddings - to patients at VCU Medical Center.
Eleanor Love found a way to make wedding bouquets special twice — not just for the couple's family and friends on the wedding day, but for patients in hospital beds.
The idea for The Simple Sunflower came after Love spent a year working in a flower shop part time while volunteering with the National Health Corps in Philadelphia providing health care to underserved populations.
"I think that's where my love of flowers and the idea that I could actually make a beautiful arrangement stemmed," Love said.
Musical Interlude
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
WineRev’s History Lesson
Our resident history professor’s always interesting history lesson will appear here as soon as I notice he’s posted it in the comment section. Until then look for it in the comment section.
Take it away, WineRev
>>>>>>Yesterday was Federal Court Sanctions Day in Michigan, where Lin Wood and Sidney “Kraken” Powell had to appear (via Zoom) before federal Judge Parker. The City of Detroit sent their city attorney to weigh in on what these 2 clowns were saying about his city in particular and his state in general during the last Presidential Election. By all accounts, Judge Parker was thorough, careful and firm----which of course meant that Wood & Kraken got put through the wringer. The judge had the temerity to actually READ OUT some of the affidavits used in support of those “Steal the Vote” law suits. One of these was (and I nearly quote verbatim) “I heard somebody say they understood something was off” in the vote counting. (The Detroit DA noted sharply that a trial judge had already labeled this a TRIPLE HEARSAY----and Judge Parker agreed.) End of the day: Parker gave Wood & Kraken 2 weeks to read today’s transcript and file briefs in response---AND the briefs are to be brief, no more than 25 pages. A week after that Judge Parker will RULE, so we will know something solid in penalties around August 1.
Nice diary HERE. Stupid move by lawyer Sidney Powell HERE. And on a related note, Lawrence Tribe weighs in HERE with a Constitutional and legal angle that could hang the Jan. 6 Coup legally around DJT’s neck (thanks to a law on the books from the Grant Administration! That man Grant keeps marching on to save the Union, doesn’t he?!)
>>>>>>Bad News for Trumpers is Good News for Us Dept. We already know there is rising bad blood between the Mango Menace and Ron DeSantis over the 2024 GQP nomination. Good. Let them fight with each other. But now comes WORD that Michael Flynn (still un-arrested, un-court-martialed, un-jailed) is making some moves to a) put Trump on the shelf as a political has-been and b) hijack the MAGA-deplorables for himself and his own ambitions. May they fight and tear each other apart while we stand back and egg them on……
July 13ths from the past that nonetheless look forward one more month to August 13th (a Friday!) for that major political Goofy called “Reinstatement Day”, all while unleashing various Good and Goofy moments from other July 13ths to jump up and down on My Pillow, Your Pillow, Our Pillow as the History Corner for today.
1568 London. The 4th of July, 1776. The Battle of Hastings, 1066. The Muslim conquest of Spain in 711. Yes, these are standout dates, but they all tug the forelock and bow to this one, right? All hail Alexander Nowell! He was the Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral (so an ordained sort…says the Wine REV!) and on this day he perfected a way to bottle beer! Out in the parking lot everyone let down the tailgate on the oxcarts, waved pennants, heard from the coach that in the big game they would beat the Catholics and bring home the bacon (on the hoof!) and celebrated, and we have ever since.
1608 Graz, Holy Roman Empire (now Austria) Birth of Ferdinand Ernst, composer, politician. Ferdinand was third in line for various thrones, but 2 older bothers died while he was a tweener and a teen, so he moved to the head of the line. Excellent Jesuit education and spoke multiple languages. At age 29 succeeded his father as Holy Roman Emperor----for the last 10 years of the Thirty Years War (a major, bloody European war between Catholics and Protestants.) Being King of Bohemia, King of Hungary and Ferdinand III, HRE, he had his hands full his entire adult life with matters of state, war, peace, negotiations, raising 6 children, etc. BUT also enjoyed taking music lessons from an Italian master Valentini and German keyboard master Froeberger. Composed several Masses, motets and other church works but also several secular pieces and some of these gave an important push to the rise of secular theater and watered the roots of opera as a genre. A lot of composers had a side job to support themselves, but rarely a side job like this!
1787 Philadelphia The Confederation Congress (still a couple months before the Constitutional Convention) today passed the Northwest Ordinance, finally getting things organized “out West” (you know, beyond Pittsburgh?) Instructions were laid out for sectioning the land, determining boundaries, declaring that at least 3 but no more than 5 states would be formed from the Territory, the population requirements for statehood AND holding of slaves declared illegal. Laid the basis for the admission of the Great state of Ohio. (That’s O-H and I-O, getting full value out of each letter and syllable; home of Gambrinus and Wiedemann’s beer and the MIGHTY Cleveland Browns) and some of those other states full of “I”s in their names or waterlogged by Great Lakes.
1832 West-Central Wisconsin Territory, (now Minnesota) a good 100 miles northwest of the settlement at St. Paul (one day a state capital.) American explorer Henry Schoolcraft has paddled and bush-whacked his way to yet ANOTHER lake in this endless forest (“There must be 10,000 lakes in this land…”) but finally succeeds in a quest that has eluded others. He is the first of European descent to discover the source of the Mississippi River. It was the outflow of (yet another) lake, rather than some rill or bubbling artesian gusher. Living up to his surname, Schoolcraft showed off his education and wanted to call the place Veritas Caput, Latin for "true head” (since there had been many other claims over the years that had all been shown to be mistaken.) Some pioneers in the area thought Latin was too fancy, but other thought it gave the place a bit of class. They settled for running “Veritascaput” together as one word, then lopping off the ends. To this day it is Lake Itasca. (A nice place; I’ve been there and crossed the Mighty Mississippi on a single log footbridge. You can too….)
1835 New York City. Steam boilers are being fitted with steel wheels on rails and called “locomotives”. They are also being mounted aboard ships and linked to paddles, either to port and starboard (“sidewheelers”) or, like many of the river steamers, mounted aft (“sternwheelers.”) Swedish immigrant John Ericsson had a better idea and this day received a patent for his design for a bladed propeller that would turn like a screw completely underwater and push a ship. In the 1840s Ericsson’s designs were being tested and the “hull leaking at the propeller shaft issue” had been solved. Ericsson kept refining his propeller designs (and earning more patents) and the principles he discovered and laid down in the field of fluid dynamics are still in use, both in water and in the air. (In 1861 Ericsson designed the USS Monitor, a Union ironclad ship with a revolving turret that battled the CSS Virginia/Merrimack to a draw. The Monitor had twin screw propellers that gave her a top speed of almost 14 mph, vs. her opponent’s lumbering 5 at full steam. In the fight the Monitor literally ran circles around the Virginia, giving her 15-inch diameter shot and shell from a distance of 25 feet (srsly!). The Viriginia’s iron plates held (barely) but many of the crew were half-unconscious or bleeding from the ears from the concussions that close.)
1889 St. Remy, France Vincent van Gogh is in an asylum, receiving medical treatment and gentle nursing care as he recovers from a mental breakdown. On this day he painted a famous canvas: "Moonrise." Oddly enough, we know today is the exact date he painted it, not from information in 1889 but by calculation. In 2003 a physicist used a computer with astronomical data of the moon’s orbit, moon data from the painting, and the longitude and latitude of St. Remy to say today was THE day.
1923 Gobi Desert, Mongolia (A RARE Location marker!) American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews discovers some very unusual rocks which were later identified as the world’s first discovery of dinosaur eggs.
1940, 1942, 1944, 1946 (Not quite sure if this is 1 History Corner entry….or 4…) In a very odd sequence of July 13 birthdays, there is this series at exactly 2 year intervals: 1940, Mirfield, UK (Sir) Patrick Stewart (Future Captain….far future)/ /1942, Chicago, Harrison Ford, (Hollywood carpenter, hot rod greaser, Future Captain….long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far, away….and, like Jean-Luc Picard, an archeologist…..)// 1944, Budapest, Hungary, Erno Rubik, professor of architecture and inventor (of his own Cube, Rubik’s Cube…..)// 1946, Los Angeles, Richard Anthony Marin, stand-up comedian, going by a stage name of “Cheech” and teaming up with Tommy “Chong” produced several, erm….. “chemically-enhanced” comedy albums and the 1978 movie “Up in Smoke.”
May all your News be Good, comforting and inspiring.
Shalom.
On the Lighter Side
REDACTED shared this story (and most of today’s memes) with me. Thanks, REDACTED.
A king wanted to go fishing, and he asked the royal weather forecaster the forecast for the next few hours. The palace meteorologist assured him that there was no chance of rain. So the King and the Queen went fishing.
On the way, he met a man with a fishing pole riding on a donkey, and he asked the man if the fish were biting. The fisherman said, “Your Majesty, you should return to the palace! In just a short time I expect a huge rain storm."
The King replied: "I hold the palace meteorologist in high regard. He is an educated and experienced professional. Besides, I pay him very high wages. He gave me a very different forecast. I trust him." So the King continued on his way. However, in a short time a torrential rain fell from the sky. The King and Queen were totally soaked. Furious, the King returned to the palace, and gave the order to fire the meteorologist.
Then he summoned the fisherman and offered him the prestigious position of royal forecaster. The fisherman said, “Your Majesty, I do not know anything about forecasting. I obtain my information from my donkey. If I see my donkey's ears drooping, it means with certainty that...it will rain."
So the King hired the donkey. And thus began the practice of hiring dumb asses to work in influential positions of government. The practice is unbroken to this date...
Quote(s) of the Day
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and man. — Mark Twain
Dealing with backstabbers, there was one thing I learned. They're only powerful when you got your back turned. — Eminem
The chief internal enemies of any state are not spies nor saboteurs nor the paid agents of foreign governments. They are, on the contrary, those myriads of public officials who betray the trust imposed upon them by the people. — Dalton Trumbo
If your voice is heard by more people because you've earned some kind of name and fame, your silence on an issue of urgent moral importance is even more of a betrayal. Privilege is obligation. — Ursula K. LeGuin
Required Pet Photo
Pressley made a new friend the other day. Dogs are getting bigger and bigger, aren’t they?
Pressley’s Picks
First, the news:
For those of you in the TL/DR crowd — Dogs rule and wolves drool.
Scientific American: Tess Joosse: Wolves Raised by Humans Can’t Understand People like Dogs Can
You and your dog no doubt have a special bond. But it’s deeper than all those scraps from the table or trips to the dog park. Something far in the shared evolutionary past of dogs and humans has linked the two species, making our canine companions especially good at understanding when we want to help or communicate with them. Point in the direction of wayward kibble on the kitchen floor, and your dog likely will follow your guidance to gobble it up. That is a skill that not even our closest relative in the animal kingdom can match.
“Chimpanzees can run circles around dogs on so many things,” says Brian Hare, who studies the evolution of cognition at Duke University. “But they’re not particularly good at understanding cooperative communicative gestures.” Hare and his colleagues are interested in the so-called domestication hypothesis: the idea that in dogs, the ability to comprehend human gestures is an evolved inherent trait rather than something learned by individual animals as they mature. Previous studies had shown conflicting results regarding whether both dog and wolf puppies are instinctively able to read human gestures. So Hare’s team put a group of young dogs against their wild cousins to test the question out.
...
The scientists put 44 dog and 37 wolf puppies, all between five and 18 weeks old, through a slate of tests and challenges. In one task, researchers placed a treat in one of two bowls, then pointed a finger at the bowl containing the snack three times. The dog puppies were twice as likely to understand where to go even though they had experienced far less human contact, results that held up when the researchers made sure the pups were not just smelling the morsel of food. And in a separate test, the dogs were 30 times more likely to approach an unknown human and made significantly more eye contact with people than the little wolves, the researchers report today in Current Biology.
I’ll bet you a bag of Pupperoni you didn’t know this:
Why don’t more of you treat us like this? You know we deserve it.
Hell, if we have to, we’ll even work for it. Just remember carrots are not treats.
Bonus pick submitted to Pressley’s Picks by buglady. For those of you who only care about cats — we care for them all the time.
Closing Notes
Thanks for slogging on through to the end of another Roundup. Remember to stay active and involved, while also looking out for your health. Your country needs you!
hpg keeps on keeping on. Last night’s Evening Shade: PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN---DAY173---Evening Shade-Monday
We’ll close out with a reminder that, Insurrection Twins excepted, men are bringing up the rear. Here’s a 1989 cover of a Harry Belefonte song with Bobby on lead vocal of a song always guaranteed to get the crowd up and dancing. This was also once covered by Ricky Ricardo and his wife Lucy on their TV show.
Disclaimer: They know it. We know it. They did it. Consequences are rolling down the road, taking up both lanes and most of the berm.