REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments - The Conversation -- December 7, 2024

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Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code: <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

New York Times: "Neil Cavuto, a business journalist who hosted a weekday afternoon program on the Fox News Channel since the network began in 1996, signed off for the final time on Thursday[, December 19]. Mr. Cavuto could be an outlier on Fox News, often criticizing President Trump and his policies, and crediting the Covid-19 vaccination with saving his life."

Have Cello, May Not Travel. New York Times: “Sheku Kanneh-Mason, a rising star in classical music who performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018 and has since become a regular on many of the world’s most prestigious concert stages, was forced to cancel a concert in Toronto last week because Air Canada refused to allow him to board a plane with his cello, even though he had purchased a separate ticket for it.... 'Air Canada has a comprehensive policy of accepting cellos in the cabin when a separate seat is booked for it,' it said in a statement. 'In this case, the customers made a last-minute booking due to their original flight on another airline being canceled.' The airline’s policy for carry-on instruments, outlined on its website, specifies that travelers must purchase a seat for their instruments at least 48 hours before departure.”

Here are photos of the White House Christmas decorations, via the White House. Also a link to last year's decorations. Sorry, no halls of blood-red fake trees.

Yes, You May Be a Neanderthal. Me Too! Washington Post: “A pair of new studies sheds light on a pivotal but mysterious chapter of the human origin story, revealing that modern humans and Neanderthals had babies together for an extended period, peaking 47,000 years ago — leaving genetic fingerprints in modern-day people.... [According to the report in Science,] Neanderthals and humans interbred for 7,000 years starting about 50,500 years ago.... Modern humans, Homo sapiens, originated in Africa about 300,000 years ago. Somewhere around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, a key group left the continent and encountered Neanderthals, a hominin relative that was established across western Eurasia but went extinct about 39,000 years ago.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: Maybe you parents were upset when you told them you planned to marry someone of a different race or religion. But, hey, think how distressed they would have been if you'd told them you were hooking up with a person of a different species!

There's No Money in Bananas. New York Times: “A week after a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur bought an artwork composed of a fresh banana stuck to a wall with duct tape for $6.2 million at auction, the man, Justin Sun, announced a grand gesture on X. He said he planned on purchasing 100,000 bananas — or $25,000 worth of the produce — from the Manhattan stand where the original fruit was sold for 25 cents. But at the fruit stand at East 72nd Street and York Avenue, outside the doors of the Sotheby’s auction house where the conceptual artwork was sold, the offer landed with a thud against the realities of the life of a New York City street vendor. [Even if it were practicable to buy that many bananas at once,] the net profit ... would be about $6,000. 'There’s not any profit in selling bananas,' [the vendor Shah] Alam said.”

Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post on what's to become of MSNBC: “In the days that followed [the November election], MSNBC began seeing a significant decline in viewership (as has CNN), as left-leaning viewers opted to turn off the channel rather than watch the aftermath of Donald Trump’s victory. One of the network’s most valuable franchises, 'Morning Joe,' faced backlash after hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski revealed Nov. 18 that they had traveled to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in an effort to 'restart communications.'... Questions about the future of the network picked up considerably Nov. 20, when parent company Comcast announced that it would spin off MSNBC and some of its other cable channels into a separate company.... The fear inside the building is about whether the move could portend a less ambitious future for MSNBC — with a smaller, lower-compensated staff and a lot less journalism, considering the network will be separated from the NBC News operation that contributes much of the reporting.”

New York Times: “Chris Wallace, a veteran TV anchor who left Fox News for CNN three years ago, announced on Monday that he was leaving his post to venture into the streaming or podcasting worlds.... He said his decision to leave CNN at the end of his three-year contract did not come from discontent. 'I have nothing but positive things to say. CNN was very good to me,' he said.”

New York Times: In a collection of memorabilia filed at New York City's Morgan Library, curator Robinson McClellan discovered the manuscript of a previously unknown waltz by Frédéric Chopin. Jeffrey Kallberg, a Chopin scholar at the University of Pennsylvania as well as other experts authenticated the manuscript. Includes video of Lang Lang performing the short waltz. ~~~

~~~ Marie: The Times article goes into some of Chopin's life in Paris at the time he wrote the waltz, but it doesn't mention that he helped make ends meet by giving piano lessons. I know this because my great grandmother was one of his students. If her musical talent were anything like mine, those particular lessons would have been painful hours for Chopin.

New York Times: “Improbably, [the political/celebrity magazine] George[, originally a project by John F. Kennedy, Jr.] is back, with the same logo and the same catchy slogan: 'Not just politics as usual.' This time, though, a QAnon conspiracy theorist and passionate Trump fan is its editor in chief.... It is a reanimation story bizarre enough for a zombie movie, made possible by the fact that the original George trademark lapsed, only to be secured by a little-known conservative lawyer named Thomas D. Foster.”

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks. ~~~

~~~ Update: With the help of contributor Forrest M., I found that probably the easiest to get the Onion's latest videos is by entering into your search box: https://www.youtube.com/@TheOnion

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Saturday

Dec072024

The Conversation -- December 7, 2024

Marie: I do have an appointment with the Geek Squad this afternoon. I don't expect them to fix my computer on the spot, but maybe I'll have to buy a new one, in which case there's a vague possibility I'll have something for you by Sunday. In the meantime, this is the best I can do. Do check the Comments, though, as yesterday several people found some very useful reports & opinion pieces to link. Many thanks to them for the help. And don't be shy about adding your own suggestions.

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Reader Comments (8)

Trump's new cabinet of chickens dancing to his guitar playing:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DC95NnoA3Bp/

How did that Black one get in his cabinet?
Sorry, I still can't get a link to work. Someday maybe.

December 7, 2024 |

ForrestMorris

"In news deserts, Trump won in a landslide

Donald Trump won the 2024 election with one of the smallest popular-vote margins in U.S. history, but in news deserts – counties lacking a professional source of local news – it was an avalanche. Trump won 91% percent of these counties over his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, according to an analysis of voting data by Medill Journalism School’s State of Local News project.

While Trump’s national popular-vote margin was just under 1.5%, his margin in news deserts was massive. He won these counties by an average of 54 percentage points. In the few won by Harris, her margin was a comparatively slim 18 points, the analysis shows.

The findings are based on results from 193 of the 206 counties Medill has identified as news deserts, in states where county-level election results are currently available.

But if you’re exposed only to national news, you’re unlikely to know about actions they’re taking, or planning to take, for your state. In that case, “the only thing that’s going to be relevant to you is which candidate shares your views on national issues,” reinforcing basic partisan identity, he said.

In fact, access to local news appears to increase split-ticket voting, moderating the partisan drift"

December 7, 2024 |

RAS

McSweenys

"Welcome to Your Blue Cross Blue Shield GoFundMe PPO
by Brett Shollenberger

We know health care can seem complicated, but with your new GoFundMe PPO, it doesn’t have to be. Once you’ve hit your deductible and out-of-pocket max, Blue Cross will automatically launch your GoFundMe campaign, so you can get the coverage you need.

What’s Covered?
Most insurance plans don’t cover everything. Ambulance rides, major dental, even prescriptions from your own doctor—your insurance can just decide that you don’t actually need those. But with GoFundMe PPO, everything is covered 100% (by your family and friends)."

December 7, 2024 |

RAS

Heist

"Chris Hayes Sounds the Alarm on Republican Bill That Would Transfer $100 Billion to Bitcoin Owners

He aired another clip of Lummis explaining how her bill would mandate the purchase of one million Bitcoins, and that the government could only get rid of them before a period of 20 years to pay down the national debt.

Hayes explained:

Reduce our debt? You can’t pay the debt down in Bitcoin. Are you tracking this? Are you tracking what’s being planned and announced in person here, right? The U.S. government handing billions of dollars into the pockets of rich crypto-holders. The plan is the Bitcoin Act would have the government sell off some of its gold reserves – you know, the stuff from Fort Knox – and use the money to buy a [million] Bitcoin at current market value that would cost $100 billion."

December 7, 2024 |

RAS

I should have realized by now that taking over a country is not really an impeachable offense, but I guess I'm still naive to the world we live in.

South Korea

"South Korea’s president avoids an impeachment attempt over short-lived martial law

South Korea’s embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol avoided an opposition-led attempt to impeach him over his short-lived imposition of martial law, as most ruling party lawmakers boycotted a parliamentary vote Saturday to deny a two-thirds majority needed to suspend his presidential powers.

The scrapping of the motion is expected to intensify protests calling for Yoon’s ouster and deepen political chaos in South Korea, with a survey suggesting a majority of South Koreans support the president’s impeachment. Yoon’s martial law declaration drew criticism from his own ruling conservative People Power Party, but the party is also determined to oppose Yoon’s impeachment apparently because it fears losing the presidency to liberals."

December 7, 2024 |

RAS

RAS,

Seems to be little distance between Korea's People Power Party and our own weak-kneed Republicans, neither of which is interested in handing their power over to the people.

Power does not only corrupt; it trumps all else.

December 7, 2024 |

Ken Winkes

Mike Baker and Ruth Graham, in the 12/05/24 New York Times add to the scary reporting on Pete Hegseth.

"In Tennessee, the Hegseth family joined Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship, a small church opened in 2021 as part of the growing Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. The denomination was co-founded by Doug Wilson....
Mr. Wilson is a self-described Christian nationalist, which he defined in an interview with The Times as someone who sees that 'secular nationalism doesn’t work,' and who wants to limit the power of the government to impose restrictions on Christians....
In his writings, Mr. Wilson has argued that slavery 'produced in the South a genuine affection between the races,' that homosexuality should be a crime and that the 19th amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote was a mistake. He has written that women should not ordinarily hold political office because 'the Bible does say that when feminine leadership is common, it should be reckoned not as a blessing but as a curse.'"

and so on and so on. How could any president* or senator entertain appointing this man to a leadership role?

New Christian Crusade

December 7, 2024 |

laura hunter

Pity none of these foreign leaders can afford to tell Trump to come back and talk policy when he has his big boy britches on. He's so eager to get back behind that desk old Joe may find him there when he gets up one morning.

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/711009-donald-trump-talks-with-world-leaders-advances-foreign-policy-agenda/

With Trump loading his cabinet with Florida politicos y'all may find checking Floridapolitics.com worthwhile.

December 7, 2024 |

Bobby Lee

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