Millions of our fellow citizens are ensnared in a web of lies, cynically put forth by almost the entirety of the office holding members of the republican party and their insidious propaganda machine.
They’ve continuously lied about Covid-19 throughout the pandemic, leading to hundreds of thousands of needless deaths.
They’ve been lying about climate science for decades, complicating our efforts to mitigate an existential disaster.
They’ve lied about immigrants, minorities, women, and sexuality as a means to foment division and distrust within our population.
They’ve lied about their bumbling attempt to overthrow democracy, trying to characterize treason, open rebellion and sedition as “legitimate political discourse.”
They’ve shamelessly defended the countless ways in which TFG debased, disgraced and despoiled the office of the Presidency of the United States.
When you cut to the chase, they contribute nothing to our society, except fear and cruelty.
To summarize, they’ve abdicated their ethical, moral, and constitutional responsibilities in search of power for the sake of power. There’s no vision or purpose outside of their selfish venal desires.
It is long past time for them to go away and leave our future in the hands of people who actually care about our country and the planet.
If we work together we can and will make this happen. History, demographics and actuarial tables are on our side.
Keep your heads up and keep working together. We’ve got this.
Up the Resistance
(to continuing republican depredations)
There is a new video from Randy Rainbow.
And we are on to the Wass Up section (aka the news).
The Crimes They Are a Multiplyin’
In the ongoing fiasco of Rippergate (or Scotch Tapergate), TFG has previously been outed as a ripper, shredder and burner of Presidential records in direct violation of the Presidential Records Act. Now he’s also on the hook for stealing Presidential records and dragging them along to his not-so-secret villain’s hideout at Merde al Lardo. It’s not just fast food menus he wanted to frame and hang in his bedroom. Among other things, he took his fawning communications with Kim Jung Un.
The potential criminal liability for TFG is another reason for him to feel those old walls getting oh so much closer.
Destruction and/or removal of records, depending on the content of said records, can be prosecuted using the following laws (summaries sourced from the Co-Equal Project).
- Under 18 U.S.C. § 2071, individuals who willfully remove or destroy records “filed or deposited” in “any public office” --- or who attempt to do so --- may be subject to fines or up to three years of imprisonment if they deprive the government use of those documents (United States v. Rosner, 352 F. Supp. 915 (S.D.N.Y. 1972)). Supervisors who direct supervisees to violate this statute can themselves be found guilty under 18 U.S.C. § 2(b) (United States v. Salazar, 455 F.3d 1022, 1023 (9th Cir. 2006));
- Under 18 U.S.C. § 793(f), individuals with possession or control of records reflecting national defense information who permit their removal, loss, or destruction by “gross negligence” are subject to fines or imprisonment of not more than ten years; and
- Under 18 U.S.C. § 1924, individuals who remove classified materials without authority and with intent to retain them at another location may be fined or subject to imprisonment of up to five years.
There are also specific criminal prohibitions against destroying records relevant to congressional or federal investigations:
- Under 18 U.S.C. § 1505, individuals who destroy records to impede or influence a congressional investigation or proceeding before any U.S. agency may be fined or subject to imprisonment for up to five years.
- Under 18 U.S.C. § 1519, individuals who destroy records to impede or influence an actual or contemplated investigation under the jurisdiction of any U.S. agency may be fined or subject to imprisonment of up to 20 years (United States v. Katakis, 800 F.3d 1017, 1023 (9th Cir. 2015).
That’s a heapin’ helpin’ of legal exposure for one very large repetitive set of TFG’s lesser crimes.
Slate: Daniel Politi: Trump Reportedly Ripped Up Hundreds of Documents Illegally During Presidency
We already knew former President Donald Trump had a thing for ripping documents while he was in the White House. But now the Washington Post reveals that the practice, which often was in violation of the Presidential Records Act, was far more widespread than previously known.
Trump’s ripping of documents had recently taken center stage again amid the House select committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The committee received documents from the Trump White House that had been taped back together by National Archives staff. Turns out that was quite a common practice and the White House staff even implemented a protocol that would involve aides going in behind Trump to grab all the ripped-up paper he left behind. Staffers from the White House Office of Records Management would then be tasked with taping the documents back together. “He didn’t want a record of anything,” a former senior Trump official said. “He never stopped ripping things up.”
Trump kept ripping documents even after he was warned by at least two chiefs of staff and the White House counsel of the importance of preserving records. Although it’s unclear how many records were lost or destroyed, it’s likely that “hundreds of documents, if not more” were torn up, reports the Post. It wasn’t just Trump either. One senior official tells the Post that it was often White House staffers who unilaterally decided what should be destroyed and placed in “burn bags.”
Salon: Igor Derysh: Trump’s “love letters” from Kim Jong-un spirited from White House, seized at Mar-a-Lago: report
Former President Donald Trump improperly removed boxes of documents from the White House that were seized last month by the National Archives And Records Administration, according to the Washington Post.
Trump has repeatedly run afoul of the Presidential Records Act, which requires all official documents and gifts to be preserved. Trump repeatedly tore up documents in violation of the law and White House staffers routinely put documents in "burn bags" to be destroyed, the Post reported last week. The National Archives said that some of the documents it has turned over to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot were torn up and had to be taped back together.
The National Archives also retrieved boxes of documents that had not been turned over at Mar-a-Lago in January, according to the Post. Trump advisers denied any "nefarious intent" to the outlet, which noted that the boxes contained gifts and letters from world leaders, including a letter from former President Barack Obama and letters from North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, which Trump once described as "love letters."
"There is a very good chance that at least some of this material was classified – diplomatic confidential or otherwise," tweeted Jon Wolfsthal, a former national security adviser to Obama. "It is not just about Presidential Records act, but also protecting national security."
Wonkette: Liz Dye: Will GOP Demand Trump Go To Email Jail For Shredding And Stealing Government Docs? LOL.
"What if Hillary ..." is not a productive game. Republicans operate in such blatantly bad faith that they tried to pin an attack on a US embassy halfway around the world on her. But it is pretty breathtaking to behold the GOP's total lack of interest in Donald Trump's continuous and deliberate violation of the Presidential Records Act after the party spent the past eight years braying to put Clinton in email jail for setting up a server in her basement.
The Washington Post has back-to-back stories on the former president's utter disregard for federal records retention statutes. The first on Saturday described Trump's habit of ripping up documents, despite being told repeatedly by "two chiefs of staff" that every piece of paper and electronic communication in the White House must be forwarded to the National Archives for preservation. (That would be Reince Priebus and John Kelly, since Mick Mulvaney and Mark Meadows were more famous for the flexibility of their spines than for standing up to their boss.)
Fair Districts Are Possible
Ever since Elbridge Gerry enacted the first Gerry-mander back in 1812, they’ve been a bane on fair and honest representation. Republicans have turned gerrymandering into an art form and core part of their attempts to turn the US into a minority ruled autocracy. It looks like our judicial backstop against electoral corruption is coming through in a few places this year.
Mother Jones: Noah Y Kim: North Carolina Supreme Court Strikes Down Republican Gerrymanders
The North Carolina state Supreme Court has thrown out a set of district maps that were assailed as “racially gerrymandered” after being ushered through the Republican-controlled legislature, finding them to be an unconstitutional violation of voters’ civil rights.
Even though 49 percent of North Carolina voters cast ballots for Joe Biden in 2020, out of 14 House seats, the maps would have contained only four Democratic-leaning or competitive congressional districts. The nonpartisan Princeton Gerrymandering Project gave all three maps struck down by the court—the congressional map, and state house and senate maps—an F grade for pro-Republican partisan advantage. The maps’ state legislative districts would have put Republicans within spitting distance of veto-proof majorities; in the state senate, Republicans currently hold 28 out of 50 seats; the struck-down map was expected to out two more seats solidly in Republican hands, and leave Democrats with seven new vulnerable districts.
According to the court’s 4-3 ruling, issued along party-lines late on Friday, the maps’ skew violated the state constitution’s free elections, equal protection, free speech, and freedom of assembly clauses. “When, on the basis of partisanship, the General Assembly enacts a districting plan that diminishes or dilutes a voter’s opportunity to aggregate with likeminded voters to elect a governing majority… the General Assembly unconstitutionally infringes upon that voter’s fundamental right to vote,” the Democratic justices wrote. The court’s Republicans dissented, accusing the majority of having tossed “judicial restraint aside.”
When They Came Out Against Science, They Also Dumped Math
I think this is a case of racist republicans bragging about their “one black friend.” I wonder if they even realize how bad this makes them look? Of course, when you put it up against them killing their own supporters with oceans of misinformation, I suppose it’s not that big of an issue for them.
Raw Story: Sarah K Burris: Republican Party mocked after bragging 'a record' .5 percent of their candidates are Black
The GOP Twitter account tried to promote their candidates of color on Sunday by saying that among state and federal office they have 40, "a record number of Black Republicans running for office and winning at all levels."
But those well-versed in math and others well-versed in history couldn't help but notice that 40 out of over 7,500 officials around the country isn't exactly the best number. In fact, it's just .533 percent of all GOP candidates who are Black, according to those numbers.
Professor Dan Smith said that the numbers are actually higher than 7,500 offices. He explained that there are 90,000 local offices in the United States. He's presumably counting city councils, county commissions and everything else. Using that number, it would mean that Republicans have fewer than .05 percent of their candidates who are Black.
Beating Back the Brutish Book Banners
If book banners win, the nation loses. I guess speech is only free when it’s their speech. People who want to ban books should be banned, shunned and expelled. Send them somewhere where bigotry and intolerance is acceptable — like an uninhabited island where they can all hang out together and whine without inflicting their crap on the rest of us. This article appeared last week so it’s slightly old good news.
Vice: Dexter Thomas: Furries Are Leading the War Against a Book-Banning Mississippi Mayor
Last week, a Mississippi mayor tried to strong-arm a local library into banning some books. The result was swift, and in retrospect, entirely predictable: A group of furries got on Twitter to do something about it. ✂️
In an attempt to assist this Mississippi library, the furry community has launched a fundraising frenzy over the past few days, to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. While book banning, or attempted book banning, has recently become something of a theme around the country, this small-town mayor seems to have inadvertently picked a fight with the wrong crowd. ✂️
Restricting access to books is becoming something of a common page in the conservative political playbook. Last year, a school district in Texas removed over 400 books about gender, sexuality, and race, including Ta-Nehisi Coates’ memoir Between the World and Me, for being “vulgar.” More recently, a school board in Tennessee banned Maus, a graphic novel by Art Spiegelman that depicts the horrors of the Holocaust through the use of drawn animals, citing eight curse words and nude imagery contained in the book. ✂️
“These nazi bastards won't get away with this,” reads the reply from a scruffy opossum with antlers. “I'm donating some on payday.”
Your Biweekly Borowitz Fix
This reasoning makes sense to me. Totally plausible.
The New Yorker: Satire from the Borowitz Report: Putin Says He Deserves Ukraine as Consolation for Losing White House
MOSCOW (The Borowitz Report)—Offering the diplomatic community a new rationale for his recent actions, Vladimir Putin said that he deserves Ukraine as consolation for losing the White House in 2020.
“Losing control of the most powerful nation on earth was a bitter pill for me to swallow, to say the least,” the Russian President said. “Giving me Ukraine would make things somewhat better.”
Another Recycling Breakthrough
We’ve been taking steps to move away from the use it and toss it mentality of the planned obsolescence crowd for several decades. It’s still just baby steps, because of inertia, apathy and greed. This advance may breakthrough to engage with the greedy part of that crowd, as reuse has the potential to be considerably cheaper than opening new mines.
Scientific American: Jordan Wilkerson: Recycled Lithium-Ion Batteries Can Perform Better Than New Ones
Lithium-ion batteries are at the heart of nearly every electric vehicle, laptop and smartphone, and they are essential to storing renewable energy in the face of the climate emergency. But all of the world’s current mining operations cannot extract enough lithium and other key minerals to meet skyrocketing demand for these batteries. Establishing new mines is an expensive, years-long effort. And mining also creates a host of environmental headaches—such as depleting local water resources and polluting the nearby region with runoff debris—that have led to protests against new mines.
All of this means the ability to recycle existing batteries is crucial for sustainably shifting the global energy system. But recycling lithium-ion batteries has only recently made commercial inroads. Battery manufacturers have hesitated over concerns that recycled products may be lower in quality than those built from newly mined minerals, potentially leading to shorter battery life or damage to the battery’s innards. Consequences could be serious, particularly in an application such as an electric vehicle.
But new research published in Joule has hit upon what experts describe as a more elegant recycling method that refurbishes the cathode—the carefully crafted crystal that is the lithium-ion battery’s most expensive component and key to supplying the proper voltage. The researchers found that batteries they made with their new cathode-recycling technique perform just as well as those with a cathode made from scratch. In fact, batteries with the recycled cathode both last longer and charge faster. The team’s approach and successful demonstration are “very unique and very impressive,” says Kang Xu, an electrochemist at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, who was not involved in the study.
Musical Interlude
First performed in 1861, Ben E King’s Stand By Me has been recorded by more that 400 artists over the years (including John Lennon and Muhammad Ali, although not together).
No, I won't be afraid
Oh, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
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!
>>>>>>The slogging goes on, and persistence counts! Pramila Jayapal’s “Medicare for All” now has 120 co-sponsors in the US House. That number is a majority of the Democratic Caucus. Still a long way to go but siege warfare takes persistence. I continue to hope that the US will join the civilized world in my lifetime with universal healthcare……
>>>>>>In Michigan there was that plot by the fur-faced MAGA hats to kidnap Governor Whitmer. They were caught and arrested (apparently thanks to a mole in the group.) Well now comes WORD that one of the fools, a 27 year old facing life in prison, has cut a deal with the feds and will testify against his fellow fur faces. And one of my favorite local TV characters growing up in Columbus was “Flippo the Clown”…...who knew his show lives on…..
February 8ths (yes, the 8th, after yesterday’s goof) of Februaric Yore that have shown snowy moments (except in Australia) of snow-ball-able Goodness and ski-able Goofiness, all enjoyed with hot chocolate on your frosty morning over breakfast.
1586 Hamburg, Germany Birth of Jacob Praetorius (Schultze), organist, composer. One of the early masters of the organ, Praetorius (same name but unrelated to composer Michael Praetorius) was already organist in a large church by age 18. Had several students that established the German organ tradition and set the table for Bach to crown their efforts. Apparently wrote several works of a more secular character but only his sacred pieces (motets, masses) have survived.
1802 Grafton, MA Although he had invented it in the mid-1790s, only in 1801 had Simon Willard applied for a patent, which was issued today, for what was called a Patented Timepiece. This was the ‘banjo clock’ for its shape and string-like lines hanging down from a round body. It had a pendulum hanging below, counterweights on chains and only needed to be wound every eight days. It sold for only 30 dollars (a substantial sum, but in reach for a growing number). Willard (and his brother Aaron, who was also a clock builder with his own shop a quarter mile away) already had a statewide superb reputation making “Tall case” clocks (now ‘grandfather’ clocks), featuring mahogany cases, brass trim, and master cabinetmaking. They were considered accurate to within 30 seconds/month (!) and surviving ones go at auction for $20,000 on up. This Patented clock gave them a national reputation among a much wider audience. A Willard clock hangs in the White House to this day. Universities commissioned huge public clocks from them for their “Main Hall”. Ex-President Madison not only ordered a clock from Willard (still at his mansion) at full price, but presented Willard with a cane trimmed in solid silver and etched with a personal thank you.
1828 Nantes, France Birth of Jules Verne author. A voracious reader already in boarding school, he had a teacher who was the wife of a sea captain who had disappeared 20 years before. She told the boys she still waited for him to return from being a castaway, a tale that profoundly influenced Verne. Jules’ father expected him to follow him into law, and Verne made it through 2nd year before turning decisively to literature (disappointing his father.) Wrote several comic plays and short stories but was fascinated by the idea of a “Roman de la science” (‘Novel of science’) that led him to spend endless hours happily in the national library in Paris reading and researching. He is considered the father of science fiction: “From the Earth to the Moon,” “Around the World in 80 days” and “20,000 Leagues under the Sea” for instance. Was a wild success at the time but has lost some of his luster as our science and lives have caught up with his fictions. (Not having studied French I am intrigued to find “roman” means “novel”; gives my efforts a certain ancient dignity……)
1831 Christiana, Delaware Birth of Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler, nurse and doctor. A black woman born to free parents she was greatly influenced by an aunt who was considered so skilled in self-taught medicine that half her clients were white folks. Rebecca moved to Massachusetts in the 1850s and learned the nursing trade. A doctor was so impressed he took her on as a medical apprentice. When the Civil War came the demand for medical services exploded, opening new opportunities. In 1861 Crumpler was admitted to the New England Female Medical College and graduated three years later after a full course of study. She was the first African American Woman to become a medical doctor. (The 1860 US census had counted over 54,000 doctors in the US….only 300 of whom were women…….and none were black……yet…..)
1898 Massachusetts On this day John Ames Sherman received a patent for his invention, a machine that took paper and folded it into a finished envelope, complete with a gum-edged flap for licking shut. The price of envelopes dropped sharply and letter writing grew apace.
1922 Washington DC During the Civil War President Lincoln kept in touch with the Union Armies via a telegraph across the street. In the 1880s the White House had installed a telephone. In the early 1890s the mansion was wired for electricity (although President Benjamin Harrison always had someone else work the switches.) Now, 100 years ago TODAY President Warren Harding had a radio installed in the White House. The tech revolution has washed this high…….
1932 New York City DOUBLEHEADER COMPOSER HAPPY 90th TODAY!! Birth of John Towner Williams, composer. Born into a proud family of Mainers, Johnny grew up mostly in NYC, but the family moved to LA when he was 16. He finished at North Hollywood High, then attended UCLA for two years before joining the Air Force. They made him a pianist and bandsman and when his enlistment ended in 1955 he was accepted at Julliard in New York City. Seriously considered a concert piano career but finally settled on composing. Playing the piano part in Mancini’s Peter Gunn, and likewise for Bernstein’s West Side Story, made 2 jazz albums (as “Johnny Williams”), then caught on writing episode and then theme music for TV shows. Broke into movie scores with Valley of the Dolls, then Goodbye Mr. Chips and won an Academy Award for Fiddler on the Roof. Scored the themes for several Irwin Allen disaster films, then wrote the menacing theme for Jaws. Since then, THE composer for the screen: Star Wars series, Indiana Jones series, Superman series, ET, Close Encounters, Harry Potter series among scads of others. (Spielberg asked him to score Schindler’s List. He and Williams watched a rough cut together and Williams was shaken. “This is so emotional. I think you need someone better than me to score it.” Spielberg: “I know, but all of them are dead.”) Also over 20 concertos, a half dozen chamber pieces, and many orchestral works.
1944 Washington DC Newspapers, and more recently, radio networks, have assigned a reporter to the White House beat. Casually, the White House Press Corps has been evolving (and there have been some experiments in labs that might mean there some day might be television reporters assigned to the place as well.) But on this day Harry McAlphin becomes the 1st African American to be accredited as a member of the White House Press Corps, announced as he attended this day’s press conference. (I wonder, was or is there a custom or 2 for welcoming someone new? Like letting them ask the first question of the day?)
1952 London Seventy years ago TODAY Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor was formally proclaimed Queen of England, Elizabeth II, following the Feb 6 death of her father, King George VI. (The formal installation waited for June; very practical for MUCH better weather.)
May all your News be Good, comforting and inspiring.
Shalom.
On the Lighter Side
Quote(s) of the Day
He who helps the guilty, shares the crime. — Publilius Syrus
No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot — Mark Twain
Why waste your money looking up your family tree? Just go into politics and your opponent will do it for you. — Mark Twain
Nothing comes from doing nothing. — William Shakespeare
The wicked are always ungrateful. — Miguel de Cervantes
A very little key will open a very heavy door. — Charles Dickens
Pressley’s Picks
My first thought was, “Are republicans trying to infiltrate the Pentagon?” Since this is a real chicken, not one of those spineless cowardly metaphorical chickens that make up the republican party, it’s not likely that she’s a republican.
The Guardian: ‘Nervous’ wandering chicken caught at US Pentagon security checkpoint
Wandering chicken, after being captured by security forces
Why did the chicken cross the road? To break into the Pentagon, apparently. Or is it now the Hentagon – and is America about to have a new peck-retary of defense?
A wandering chicken was caught sneaking around a security area at the Pentagon this week, a local animal welfare organization said.
The hen was found running loose early Monday morning near the US Department of Defense headquarters on the outskirts of Washington DC, the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, Virginia wrote on social media.
“Apparently, the answer to ‘why did the chicken cross the road’ is to get to the Pentagon,” the group posted.
Many of my friends have encountered this problem. Cats intruding into our space and hogging our beds. This response may get you some sympathy, but doesn’t really address the situation.
You’ll have to open the solution in a new tab as my poor doggy brain can’t manage to embed a tik-tok video directly in the page (NNNE wasn’t any help, either). The best to deal with having a cat hog your bed.
This is what I call horsing around.
Closing Notes
