2024 archive
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Ring in the harvest with politeness.
We are a broken society.
And what’s the lowest common denominator?
It’s not the stupid.
It’s the guns.
Nor Any Drop To Drink, Reprise 0
I once visited Lake Powell and went tubing in the Colorado River below Glen Canyon Dam.
Apparently, it now bears little resemblance to what I saw there three decades ago. Here’s a bit from the article by Zak Podmore:
Nearly every boat ramp on Lake Powell was unusable last spring, and there was barely enough water to sustain hydroelectric generation. One more bad snow year would have pushed the Colorado River system to the brink of collapse, dropping the reservoir’s surface toward the lowest outlets on the Glen Canyon Dam—a point known as “dead pool.”
A Tune for the Times 0
Mangy offers a tune for those “undecided” voters.
“They Want Apartheid Back” 0
Thom talks with a caller about why some people vote Republican, even though Republicans’ “policies” are inimical to their health and well-being. He offers a simple explanation.
As someone who grew up under Jim Crow and remembers my Daddy making sure he had paid his poll taxes, who was in school during desegregation, who trained in U. S. History with an emphasis on U. S. Southern, and who freaking pays attention to what’s going on, I find it difficult to take exception to Thom’s argument.
Fly the Fiendly Skies 0
Honest to Pete, you couldn’t make this up.
Nor Any Drop To Drink . . . . 0
The lede, from Truthout:
The Global Commission on the Economics of Water, affiliated with the Dutch government and comprised of global experts, published the study on Thursday, warning that policymakers must urgently “reframe the hydrological cycle as a global common good,” recognizing that it is “deeply interlinked with the climate and biodiversity crises.”
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
Speaking of Rhymes . . . . 0
The Kansas City Star has a long article about efforts by parents, aided by the ACLU, to fight back against Oklahoma’s mandating the (Trump) Bible in Oklahoma public schools. One bit of it leapt out at me; it quotes a Southern Baptist pastor of Native American descent whose children attend Oklahoma public schools and who is one of the plaintiffs in the suit:
Randall said his personal family history is another reason why he opposes the mandate.
He said his great-grandmother and her sister were removed from their home in Broken Arrow and sent to a boarding school where they weren’t allowed to speak their native language and they were forced to attend church.
“All of this was done at the funding of the government,” Randall said. “It’s a haunting history that Oklahoma has when it comes to mandating religion for public education when children are a captive audience.”
Follow the link for the rest.
In related news, Leonard Hitchcock, writing at the Idaho State Journal, shares his thoughts on Establishmentarians’ school voucher money grab. A snippet:
“History Does Not Repeat Itself, but It Often Rhymes”* 0
The EFF hears a rhyme:
Follow the link for a parsing of the poesy.
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*Mark Twain.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Yet another “responsible gun owner” feels it proper to proffer his portable phallus to a passer-by on the pavement.
So many guns. So much stupid.
Gutting Out the Vote 0
Nebraska executive branch meets the Simpsons.
Afterthought:
I do not think it a stretch to suggest that the reason Republicans are so intent on gutting out the vote is simple.
They sense that their chances of remaining in office when faced with free and fair elections may be–er–somewhat less than optimal.