Heather

[Steam Flyer]

The facts still aren't clear on the Russian missile strike into Poland. But IMHO a strong NATO response is warranted.

It should be made clear to Russia, the options they have to choose from: Lose, or lose worse, or total disaster befalls them and everybody they've ever known plus their pets.

 

[billy backstay]

The facts still aren't clear on the Russian missile strike into Poland. But IMHO a strong NATO response is warranted.

It should be made clear to Russia, the options they have to choose from: Lose, or lose worse, or total disaster befalls them and everybody they've ever known plus their pets.

Sounds like it was an errant Ukraine missle, not Russian. Still, wish there was a simple way to get rid of the maniacal Putin!!?

November 16, 2022

It turns out that caution was warranted before drawing conclusions about the missile that fell into Poland yesterday, killing two civilians. Today, Polish president Andrzej Duda told reporters that the missile was likely an “unfortunate accident” caused by Ukrainian attempts to counter a group...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

 

[billy backstay]

November 17, 2022

Yesterday, midterm results gave Republicans control of the House of Representatives after a campaign in which they emphasized inflation; today, Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who has received his party’s nomination to become speaker of the House, along with other Republican leadership...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

 

[billy backstay]

If the price of oil just went down, why did my home heating oil just jump from 4 dollars a gallon to 5 in 2 months time? I guess I should have made them wait until the tank was lower, as it was still 2/3 full!!

November 18, 2022

The price of crude oil this morning was $78.47 a barrel, down from $92.61 a barrel on November 4, falling by at least 18% over the past two weeks. This should help to relieve high costs of gas for consumers, although when the price falls to around $70 a barrel, the administration will begin to...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

 

[billy backstay]

November 21, 2022​

Heather Cox Richardson

Two big stories landed over the weekend.

The first harks back to the furor last May when the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health—the decision overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that recognized abortion rights as a constitutional right—was leaked to Politico before it was released. At the time, Chief Justice John Roberts called the leak a “singular and egregious breach of…trust” and ordered an investigation to find the leaker. In late October, Justice Samuel Alito told the Heritage Foundation that the leak was a “grave betrayal of trust by somebody, and it was a shock” that had made the court’s right-wing majority “targets for assassination.”

On Saturday, Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker of the New York Times reported that the Reverend Rob Schenck, formerly an antiabortion activist, wrote to Roberts in July (although the letter was dated June 7, 2022) to say that in 2014 he had received advance notice of the court’s decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby—the decision allowing corporations to deny their employees contraceptive health care coverage—from a woman who had just had dinner with Justice and Mrs. Alito. The dinner guest told Schenck that she had learned that Alito was writing the decision and that it would favor evangelical Christians. Schenck, who has become an advocate of choice as he is trying to mark himself as a progressive evangelical leader, signed the letter to Roberts, “Yours in the interest of truth and fairness.”

Schenck provided the reporters with contemporary emails suggesting he knew the outcome of the Hobby Lobby case ahead of time, and they talked to four people who confirmed that he had confidential information about it before the court handed it down. He used that information to prepare a public relations push ready to go the minute the decision was public.

The leak of a Supreme Court decision is shocking and potentially illegal, but even more shocking than the revelation that there have been two major leaks from the court—both of right-wing opinions authored by Alito—was the story the reporters unraveled of the degree to which evangelical activists worked to become close to the justices, especially through participation in the court’s historical society, as well as religious events, a plan Schenck called “Operation Higher Court.” Their goal was to influence the justices quietly, and it appears to have been at least somewhat successful: in July, Peggy Nienaber, the executive director of Liberty Counsel’s D.C. ministry, who worked with Schenck, was caught on a hot mic saying she prayed with certain Supreme Court justices.

On Sunday, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) wrote to Chief Justice John Roberts to say that if the court is not going to investigate the breaches, lawmakers will.

New York Times reporters were evidently busy this weekend, because Eric Lipton and Maggie Haberman reported Sunday that the Trump family has begun to work not just with foreign nationals, but with foreign governments themselves. The Trumps have recently signed a $4 billion deal with a Saudi Arabian real estate company that is backed by the government of Oman.

The Trumps are deeply tangled with the Saudis already, of course, hosting the LIV Golf tournaments backed by the Saudi government and—in Jared Kushner’s case—investing $2 billion of Saudi government funds, a deal that Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, personally approved after the panel that screens investments advised against the deal.

Meanwhile, prosecutors today called their last witness in the criminal trial of the Trump Organization for fraud and tax evasion. Key witness Allen Weisselberg, former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, has painted a picture of an organization that avoided taxes by paying officers with private school tuition, cars, and rent money. The company denies all charges and says the fraudulent movement of money can be tied to Weisselberg alone.

Finally tonight, on a lighter note, this morning President Joe Biden pardoned turkeys Chocolate and Chip, lucky turkeys indeed in this season where supply chain choke points and the late season, virulent avian flu meant the culling of 7.3 million birds earlier this year, at least 3.6% of the nation’s turkeys. Chocolate and Chip will live out their lives on the campus of North Carolina State University.

Later, the president and First Lady Jill Biden had a “Friendsgiving” dinner this afternoon at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, with service members and military families, greeting them table by table and then thanking both the “best fighting force in the history of the world” and those at home who, in the words of poet John Milton, “stand and wait.”

—

Notes:
https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/05/...court-confirms-authenticity-of-draft-opinion/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...-opinion-made-majority-targets-assassination/
https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/roberts-letter-redacted-annotated/fb6e34bb904bfafa/full.pdf
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/is-it-illegal-leak-us-supreme-court-opinion-2022-05-03/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/us/supreme-court-leak-abortion-roe-wade.html
https://www.salon.com/2022/07/07/pr...-boasting-about-praying-with-scotus-justices/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/20/us/politics/trump-organization-oman-deal.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/us/jared-kushner-saudi-investment-fund.html
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/11/20/supreme-court-roberts-whitehouse-johnson-00069673
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-organization-criminal-trial-prosecutors-rest-today-2022-11-21/
https://apnews.com/article/biden-holidays-obituaries-christmas-c98e1ce25e97dbe097f2ed37d9c7a4c2
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing...embers-and-military-families-cherry-point-nc/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/21/dining/thanksgiving-turkeys-cost-inflation-supply-chain.html

 

[billy backstay]

"New York Times reporters were evidently busy this weekend, because Eric Lipton and Maggie Haberman reported Sunday that the Trump family has begun to work not just with foreign nationals, but with foreign governments themselves. The Trumps have recently signed a $4 billion deal with a Saudi Arabian real estate company that is backed by the government of Oman.

The Trumps are deeply tangled with the Saudis already, of course, hosting the LIV Golf tournaments backed by the Saudi government and—in Jared Kushner’s case—investing $2 billion of Saudi government funds, a deal that Saudi leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, known as MBS, personally approved after the panel that screens investments advised against the deal."

 

[Steam Flyer]

About the turkey story-
NC State has several huge research farms in the areas outlying Raleigh. Chocolate & Chip will have a nice retirement.

 

[billy backstay]

November 23, 2022 (Wednesday)

The past week has brought seven mass shootings in the United States. Twenty-two people have been killed and 44 wounded. I’ll have more to say later about our epidemic of gun violence, but tonight, on the night before Thanksgiving, when I traditionally post the story of the holiday’s history, I...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

 

[billy backstay]

November 25, 2022

Yesterday, Representative Mary Peltola (D-AK) won Alaska’s House seat for a full term after taking it this summer in a special election to replace Representative Don Young (R-AK), who died in office in March after 49 years in Congress. Peltola is the first woman to represent Alaska and, as...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

"In the past two years, Democrats have successfully pushed back on forty years of efforts to dismantle the business regulation, basic social safety net, promotion of infrastructure, protection of civil rights, and international cooperation that were the fundamental principles underpinning American government after the Depression and World War II. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, along with the Democratic Congress, have rebuilt some of the economic fairness of the old system and invested in infrastructure, while Biden, Harris, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have strengthened the foreign alliances that the former president had undermined.....

......That female candidates won so many seats—some contests had women running against each other—is “a really good reminder that women get to be as diverse in their viewpoints and perspectives, priorities, et cetera, as their male counterparts,” Dittmar told Jasmine Mithani of The 19th. “We get to see that being a woman candidate, being a woman doesn't mean the same thing for everybody.”

The expansion of our political representation to reflect the many different people in our diverse democracy can only be a good thing."

 

[hasher]

November 23, 2022 (Wednesday)

The past week has brought seven mass shootings in the United States. Twenty-two people have been killed and 44 wounded. I’ll have more to say later about our epidemic of gun violence, but tonight, on the night before Thanksgiving, when I traditionally post the story of the holiday’s history, I...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

Excellent read. Thank you.

 

[billy backstay]

November 26, 2022

I hate to break up a holiday weekend with a political post, but I want to put down a marker for the record. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, November 22, former president Trump hosted the antisemitic artist Ye, also known as Kanye West, for dinner at a public table at Mar-a-Lago along with...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

 

[BeSafe]

I do find it curious how the media is working so hard to include DeSantis in these stories. Why include the last paragraph? Its a non-sequitir to the narrative. To me, it's pretty obvious framing - as DeSantis and Trump continue their sparing - which is going to get worse unless DeSantis bends the knee - pop media is really afraid that DeSantis might squirt out and seem like a 'normal republican' by comparison. So they gotta keep working to keep him in the extremist box, even though Trump is trying to push him out.

 

[Ishmael]

I do find it curious how the media is working so hard to include DeSantis in these stories. Why include the last paragraph? Its a non-sequitir to the narrative. To me, it's pretty obvious framing - as DeSantis and Trump continue their sparing - which is going to get worse unless DeSantis bends the knee - pop media is really afraid that DeSantis might squirt out and seem like a 'normal republican' by comparison. So they gotta keep working to keep him in the extremist box, even though Trump is trying to push him out.

Rhonda belongs in the extremist box, you just have to look at how he transformed Floriduh into a police state.

 

[Steam Flyer]

Rhonda belongs in the extremist box, you just have to look at how he transformed Floriduh into a police state.

Rhonda Satan is just a sadistic pig, completely amoral. He could have been Dick Cheney.

Ron will not be the first to whip out the Nazi flag but he will welcome Nazis into his tent and march right alongside them. And argue strenuously, all the way to the ribbon-cutting for the concentration camp(s), that he's not prejudiced, not a fascist, etc etc.

As mentioned in another thread, you're judged by the company you keep. IMHO there is not much point in continually raising a stink about Repubs associating with Nazis. Yes they do it. Yes it should have a light shone on it. But the people who are going to stop voting Team R! because nazis have mostly already done so, and there are a lot of other persuasive facts to bring up.

 

[billy backstay]

November 27, 2022

Another quick note at the end of this holiday weekend to mark yet another story that shouldn’t be overlooked: Protests have broken out across China after the country’s strict zero-Covid policies appear to have delayed firefighters responding to a deadly apartment fire Thursday night in Urumqi...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

 

[billy backstay]

November 28, 2022

Four of twelve unions have rejected the deal the administration brokered in mid-September between rail carriers and union workers to avert a national strike. They remain concerned about their lack of paid sick days. More generally, though, they oppose a new staffing system implemented after...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

Railroads record profits, Warren Buffett presides....

Railroading workers

Railroad workers across the country are threatening to go on strike on December 9, delivering a potentially crippling blow to the American economy. According to the Association of American Railroads, a nationwide rail shutdown could cost more than $2 billion per day. There are 140,000 miles of...

popular.info

 

[Steam Flyer]

How many paid sick days do the railroad executives get, and how many trains are at risk of crashing if they come in to work sick?

This does not make ANY sense, on any level other than stupid short-sighted greed.

 

[billy backstay]

How many paid sick days do the railroad executives get, and how many trains are at risk of crashing if they come in to work sick?

This does not make ANY sense, on any level other than stupid short-sighted greed.

The Golden Rule!

 

[billy backstay]

November 30, 2022

The Democrats in the House have voted in new leadership. Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who grew up in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and who represents a district that includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens, will replace Nancy Pelosi of California as speaker. A 52-year-old lawyer...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

"For decades, it has been a stereotype that Democrats are in disarray, but after two years in which Democrats have managed with just a small House majority to pass an extraordinary slate of major laws, after a midterm election in which Democrats did far better than pundits expected, and now with a strong new team of leaders in place with party members standing behind them, “disarray” now belongs to the Republicans.

As if to illustrate the deep factions in the Republican Party that have made them unable to agree on much of anything except what—and whom—they hate, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) today, in response to a logical question, offered to Kristin Wilson, Paul LeBlanc, and Clare Foran of CNN something that sure sounded like word salad."

 

[billy backstay]

Judge Cannon overruled; Judge Dearie is dismissed.

December 1, 2022

Some stories wrapped up today: In Atlanta the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit said that the district court had no jurisdiction to block the U.S. government from using the records it seized in the criminal investigation of former president Trump. That is, when U.S. District Judge...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com

The panel noted in their decision that they were unwilling to “carve out an unprecedented exception in our law for former presidents.” The judges acknowledged that “t is indeed extraordinary for a warrant to be executed at the home of a former president,” but “[t]o create a special exception here would defy our Nation’s foundational principle that our law applies ‘to all, without regard to numbers, wealth, or rank.’”