;)
February 23, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Tasnim Ahmed & Aya Elamroussi of CNN: "Firearm deaths have overtaken car crashes are [as] the leading cause of death by trauma in the US, according to a new study. In 2017, there were 1.44 million years of potential life lost due to firearm deaths, edging out that of motor vehicle crashes (1.37 million years), according to the study published Tuesday in the journal Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open. And that trend continued in 2018. Those numbers are based on data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 2009 and 2018, the most recent year for which data was [were!] available.
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "... American Republicans view [Vladimir Putin] slightly more positively than they do leading Democratic officials. Between Putin and President Biden, it's a toss-up that leans in Putin's favor.... [Among Republicans,] Putin is viewed far less positively than is Trump -- but more positively than sitting Democratic leaders. Interestingly, only [President] Obama matches Putin's favorability among Republicans, certainly in part a function of his being out of office." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Here's a poll for you: Most Republicans are (a) reasonably intelligent; (b) somewhat stupid; (c) stupid; (d) very stupid; (e) extraordinarily stupid. Generally speaking, there can be no wrong answer in an opinion poll. This poll is the exception.
William Saletan, now of the Bulwark: "Eighty years ago, when a dictator rose to power in Europe and invaded his neighbors, he found an ally in the United States. The dictator was Adolf Hitler, and his ally was Charles Coughlin, a popular radio host. Coughlin belittled democracy, defended the Nazis, and opposed America's entry into the war, arguing that the movement to enlist the United States was a conspiracy on behalf of a sinister minority: Jews. Today, a new demagogue has taken up Coughlin's mantle: Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Like Coughlin, Carlson has spewed venom for years. And, like Coughlin, he has gradually made his treachery, nihilism, and bigotry unmistakable. To begin with, Carlson mocked the idea that rolling tanks into another country was wrong.... Carlson downplayed the putative moral differences between Russia, Ukraine, Canada, and the United States." MB: Yeah, TuKKKer, I'm now convinced the U.S. military should annex Ottawa, Toronto & Montreal.
The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here.
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The North Carolina attorney general's office says a constitutional prohibition on insurrectionists seeking federal office could be applied to GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn if a state board determines he aided or encouraged the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. In a late Monday court filing, state attorneys said a provision of the 14th Amendment -- disqualifying insurrectionists from holding federal office -- is not a defunct Civil War-era relic meant to apply only to former Confederates but a guard against future acts of insurrection. As a result, Cawthorn, who is fighting a challenge to his eligibility to run, could face that prohibition if the North Carolina State Board of Elections determines he meets the criteria, the state attorneys said." ~~~
~~~ Marie: If it works in North Carolina -- and it probably won't -- it could work elsewhere. Buh-bye, Jungle Gym Jordan.
Giulia Heyward & Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "The only trial to emerge from the nighttime police raid that killed Breonna Taylor began on Wednesday, but the case centers not on an officer who shot her, but rather on a former police detective accused of recklessly endangering her neighbors by firing into their apartment in Louisville, Ky. Brett Hankison, who was fired several months after the March 2020 raid, is facing three charges of wanton endangerment after firing 10 shots during the operation. The former chief of the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department said that Mr. Hankison had fired 'blindly,' and that several bullets entered a neighbor's apartment, endangering the three people who were sleeping there: a pregnant woman, her husband and their 5-year-old child."
~~~~~~~~~~
The New York Times' live updates of developments in the Ukraine/Russia crisis are here. The Washington Post's live updates are here. The Guardian's live updates are here.
Michael Shear, et al., of the New York Times: "The United States and its allies on Tuesday swiftly imposed economic sanctions on Russia for what President Biden denounced as the beginning of an 'invasion of Ukraine,' unveiling a set of coordinated punishments as Western officials confirmed that Russian forces had begun crossing the Ukrainian border. Speaking from the White House, Mr. Biden condemned President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and said the immediate consequences for his aggression against Ukraine included the loss of a key natural gas pipeline and cutting off global financing to two Russian banks and a handful of the country's elites. 'Who in the Lords name does Putin think gives him the right to declare new so-called countries on territory that belonged to his neighbors?' Mr. Biden said on Tuesday afternoon, joining a cascade of criticism from global leaders earlier in the day. 'This is a flagrant violation of international law and demands a firm response from the international community.'" ~~~
~~~ Vladimir Isachenkov, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden announced the U.S. was ordering heavy financial sanctions against Russian banks and oligarchs on Tuesday, declaring that Moscow had flagrantly violated international law in what he called the 'beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.' 'None of us will be fooled' by Russian President Vladimir Putin's claims about Ukraine, the U.S. President said. And he said more sanctions could be on the way if Putin proceeds further." (Also linked yesterday.) The Washington Post's report is here.
~~~ A transcript of the as-delivered speech, provided by the White House, is here.
Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN: "US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Geneva this week, he announced Tuesday, in the latest sign that diplomatic avenues with Russia over Ukraine are quickly closing. 'Now that we see the invasion is beginning and Russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy, it does not make sense to go forward with that meeting at this time,' Blinken said at the State Department on Tuesday. 'I consulted with our allies and partners -- all agree.'"
The Resistance. Emma Graham-Harrison of the Guardian: "If Russian forces try to take new territory in Ukraine, they will face an army that is far smaller and less well equipped than their own but hardened by eight years of fighting. Nearly a decade of war has also left Ukraine with nearly half a million combat-experienced veterans, many now preparing to fight again, officially or unofficially. That combination, and the sheer size of Ukrainian territory, means that even if Russia can outgun Ukrainian forces on a conventional battlefield, any military clash could lead to a protracted and bloody partisan conflict."
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden has interviewed at least three candidates for his Supreme Court nomination, a signal that he intends to fulfill his promise that he would choose a nominee by the end of the month.... The interviews began late last week, according to several people familiar with the process.... The White House emphasized on Tuesday that Mr. Biden had not made a decision but remained on track to make one before month's end." The three candidates whom the President interviewed were D.C. Appeals Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, California State Supreme Court Justice Leondra R. Kruger, and federal District court Judge J. Michelle Childs.
John Wagner & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "President Biden hosted a virtual event Tuesday with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), among others, to announce new domestic investments in minerals key to production of goods such as computers and household appliances. The afternoon event marked Biden's latest attempt to show his administration is addressing supply chain challenges that became more prevalent during the coronavirus pandemic and that Biden has blamed for inflation woes dogging his presidency -- a claim disputed by some economists.... Tuesday's event included multiple announcements...."
Joshua Partlow of the Washington Post: "The Biden administration on Tuesday said it found 'significant deficiencies' in a Trump-era environmental analysis of a controversial mining road that would cut through wilderness and Indigenous territory in northwest Alaska. The construction of Ambler Road is one of the most high-profile environmental issues in Alaska, as it would bring 211 miles of new road through one of the largest roadless areas in the country. The Interior Department said in a statement that the road proposal -- which includes about 50 miles of Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service land -- would cross the traditional homelands of Alaska Native communities including the Koyukon, Tanana Athabascans and Iñupiat peoples. In a federal court filing Tuesday, the administration asked the U.S. District Court for Alaska to send the permit approval back to the department so it can conduct a new environmental analysis. Interior said that it would suspend the right of way for the road while it carried out the new assessment 'to ensure that no ground-disturbing activity takes place that could potentially impact the resources in question.'"
Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday addressed for the first time the discovery of classified material in boxes of documents taken to ... Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, confirming the Justice Department has been in discussions with the National Archives about the matter but stopping short of promising a full investigation. Asked if the department would investigate how the boxes got to Mar-a-Lago, Garland said: 'As the archivist said in a letter that was sent to the Congress, the National Archives has informed the Justice Department of this and communicated with it. And we will do what we always do under these circumstances -- look at the facts and the law and take it from there.'"
Ashraf Khalil & and Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The Pentagon has approved the deployment of 700 unarmed National Guard troops to the nation's capital as it prepares for trucker convoys that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning next week. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin approved the request Tuesday from the District of Columbia government and the U.S. Capitol Police, the Pentagon said in a statement Tuesday night. The troops would be used to assist with traffic control during demonstrations expected in the city in the coming days, the Pentagon said. Four hundred Guard members from the District of Columbia Guard will be joined by 300 Guard members from other states, according to the statement. Guard members will not carry firearms or take part in law enforcement or domestic-surveillance activities, the Pentagon said."
Senate Races. Rick Scott's Bright Idea: New Taxes for Poor People. Michael Rainey of Yahoo! Finance: "Senate Republican leaders have made it clear that they aren't interested in detailing their plans if they win control of Congress in the midterms elections.... Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee, apparently has a different view. Scott has released an 11-point, 31-page plan laying out the conservative agenda.... The plan is heavy on culture war controversies and traditional right-wing talking points.... But Scott also proposes dramatic cuts to the federal government and calls for cutting the government workforce by 25% in five years.... Scott pairs his call for smaller government with a call for tax increases on millions of lower-income Americans.... 'Taken as a whole,' [the Washington Post's Jennifer] Rubin says, 'the agenda ... is ... a frightful expression of White grievance and contempt for the intelligence of voters. And it confirms what we have long suspected: Republicans don't lack an agenda; they're just shy about revealing how unpopular it is.'"
Many Americans may have shuddered & asked themselves in recent weeks, "What would Donald do?" about Russia's aggressive military threats to Ukraine. Well, the former American Traitor-in-Chief revealed his own aberrant thoughts Tuesday on Vlad the Invader's actions against Ukraine's eastern regions: ~~~
~~~ "This Is Genius." Ben Adler of Yahoo! News: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to send Russian troops into Ukraine to support Russian-backed separatists in the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. In an appearance on the right-wing talk radio program 'The Buck Sexton Show,' ... 'This is genius,' [Trump] said.... 'So Putin is now saying it's independent -- a large section of Ukraine. I said, how smart is that? And he's gonna go in and be a peacekeeper. We could use that on our southern border. That's the strongest peace force I've ever seen. There were more army tanks than I've ever seen. They're gonna keep peace, all right.'" MB: IOW, had he still been president*, Donald Trump's response to the Ukraine crisis would have been completely contrary to the best interests of the U.S., of Ukraine, of Europe and of Western liberal democracy. ~~~
~~~ AND Let's Ask Mikey. Michael Wilner of the Kansas City Star: "Of all the former secretaries of state under Democratic and Republican presidents, only one is taking to cable news and social media during a moment of peril in Europe to praise Russian President Vladimir Putin and chastise the Biden administration. Mike Pompeo has lauded the Russian strongman over the past month as a 'talented,' 'savvy,' 'capable statesman,' offering his praise during a slew of interviews after his political action committee spent $30,000 on improving his performance in media appearances. 'He is a very talented statesman. He has lots of gifts,' Pompeo told Fox News in January. 'He was a KGB agent, for goodness sakes. He knows how to use power. We should respect that.'... Pompeo has been visiting key primary states ahead of a potential run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024." Firewalled. ~~~
~~~ AND This Punk. Jake Thomas of Newsweek: "The Kansas City Star is accusing Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley of being a 'disgraceful voice of appeasement' in the run-up to Russia's invasion of eastern Ukraine. The Missouri-based regional newspaper on Tuesday published a withering editorial that placed Hawley among other conservative media and political figures who 'have demonstrated unseemly fealty' to Russia's autocratic president, Vladimir Putin. The editorial added, 'Few, though, have been as enthusiastic as our junior senator.'... 'His public two-step about the Russian threat -- amplified by countless tweets and television appearances -- has clearly provided aid and comfort to Putin and hard-liners in Russia,' reads the editorial." Both the Newsweek story & the KCS editorial are firewalled.
This Is Genius. Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump, a longtime critic of how Democrats debuted Healthcare.gov, is facing a bungled website launch of his own. His long-promised social network, Truth Social, has been almost entirely inaccessible in the first days of its grand debut because of technical glitches, a 13-hour outage and a 300,000-person waitlist.... The site had been heralded for months as the crown jewel of Trump's post-presidential business ambitions, with allies pledging it would revolutionize social media and take down the mainstream social networks where Trump is banned.... The site's early struggles also have fueled doubts that Trump's company will be able to handle tougher long-term challenges, such as policing for dangerous content and guarding against cyberattacks.... The site's problems extend beyond its waitlist: Its logo -- a broken capital 'T' with a period -- is identical to the logo of Trailar, a British seller of truck solar panels." ~~~
~~~ Marie: For someone with a Very Good Brain, it's odd that everything he touches turns to crap.
Fuhgeddaboudit. John Kruzel of the Hill: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned away an appeal by former President Trump in his dispute with congressional investigators who have sought access to Trump-era records as part of a House panel's investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The court's move, which came in a brief unsigned order issued without comment, comes after the justices denied Trump's emergency request to block the transfer of his White House records from the National Archives to the House select committee, a process that began last month. Tuesday's development formally ends Trump's legal effort to stymie lawmakers' efforts to obtain a batch of schedules, call logs, emails and other requested documents that the committee says could illuminate key circumstances surrounding the deadly Capitol riot." (Also linked yesterday.)
Hugo Lowell of the Guardian: "Donald Trump's former attorney Rudy Giuliani is expected to cooperate with the House select committee investigating January 6, and potentially reveal his contacts with Republican members of Congress involved in the former president's effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The move by Giuliani to appear before the panel -- in a cooperation deal that could be agreed within weeks, according to two sources briefed on negotiations -- could mark a breakthrough moment for the inquiry.... Broadly, Giuliani has indicated through his lawyer to the select committee that he will produce documents and answer questions about Trump's schemes to return himself to office on 6 January that House investigators had outlined in a subpoena issued to him last month." ~~~
~~~ Rudy's Last Hurrah? Marie: I'd guess that Rudy, who never saw a mic that didn't attract him (even if it was in a landscaping company parking lot), is missing all the attention he got while perpetuating the Big Lie and wants to star in anticipated public hearings.
Ian Millhiser of Vox: :In the past few years, the Supreme Court danced around the question of whether religious conservatives have a constitutional right to violate anti-discrimination laws -- and specifically laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ people. Now, it appears ready to come out and say that at least some businesses have a constitutional right to discriminate. On Tuesday, the Court announced that it will hear 303 Creative v. Elenis, a case that is likely to give at least some businesses a right to openly refuse services to LGBTQ customers.... 303 Creative ... involves a web design company owned by a woman named Lorie Smith, who refuses to create websites celebrating same-sex weddings. She claims that 'doing that would compromise my Christian witness and tell a story about marriage that contradicts God's true story of marriage.'... She wants the Supreme Court to give her license to design wedding websites for opposite-sex couples -- and only for opposite-sex couples.... At the very least, 303 Creative could give people in creative professions a sweeping new right to discriminate."
Danny Hakim & Jo Becker in the New York Times Magazine on how Ginni & Clarence Thomas are working to turn the country to the far-right. "Ginni Thomas insists ... that she and her husband operate in 'separate professional lanes,' but those lanes in fact merge with notable frequency. For the three decades he has sat on the Supreme Court, they have worked in tandem from the bench and the political trenches to take aim at targets like Roe v. Wade and affirmative action. Together they believe that 'America is in a vicious battle for its founding principles,' as Ginni Thomas has put it. Her views, once seen as on the fringe, have come to dominate the Republican Party."
Andrew Das of the New York Times: "A six-year fight over equal pay that had pitted key members of the World Cup-winning United States women's soccer team against their sport's national governing body ended on Tuesday morning with a settlement that included a multimillion-dollar payment to the players and a promise by their federation to equalize pay between the men's and women's national teams. Under the terms of the agreement, the athletes -- a group consisting of several dozen current and former women's national team players -- will share $24 million in payments from the federation, U.S. Soccer. The bulk of that figure is back pay, a tacit admission that compensation for the men's and women's teams had been unequal for years." (Also linked yesterday.)
Bill Pennington of the New York Times: "Phil Mickelson on Tuesday said he regretted his recent comments in support of a breakaway golf tour backed by Saudi Arabia and suggested he might take a leave from the golf course.... In an interview for an unauthorized biography to be released in May, Mickelson told the journalist Alan Shipnuck, the book's author, that he knew of the kingdom's 'horrible record on human rights,' but said he was willing to help the new league because it was a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' to dramatically increase the income of PGA Tour players. In a story posted last week on The Firepit Collective, a golf website, Shipnuck quoted Mickelson, a six-time major golf champion, as saying the Saudi authorities were 'scary' and using a profanity to describe them.... Mickelson's comments spurred a vociferous backlash from the highest-ranking players on the PGA Tour, almost all of whom have publicly rebuffed the new, alternative league." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Pro golfers may have realized that working for a murderous kingdom was beneath them. But that has not occurred to well-known scumbag entrepreneur Donald J. Trump (WashPo link).
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments are here.
The Washington Post's live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here. (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times' live Covid-19 updates for Tuesday are here.
New Zealand. Pete McKenzie of the New York Times: "Hundreds of demonstrators opposed to New Zealand's Covid-19 vaccine mandate are in their third week of encampment in Wellington[, the capital], erecting tents, illegally parking vehicles and establishing communal kitchens and toilets in a deliberate echo of the Canadian siege. Initially, the New Zealand occupation had a carnival atmosphere, with a popcorn stand and a doughnut truck and a number of children brought in by their parents. New Zealanders joked that it was the country's only Omicron-era music festival.... In recent days, however, after the police moved to evict some protesters, the demonstration has grown more violent. On Monday, protesters threw feces at the police. On Tuesday, a driver tried to ram a car into a large group of officers, and three other members of the force required medical attention after protesters sprayed them with what a police statement called a 'stinging substance.'"
Beyond the Beltway
Georgia. Russ Bynum of the AP: "The three men convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery's fatal shooting were found guilty of federal hate crimes Tuesday for violating Arbery's civil rights and targeting him because he was Black. The jury reached its decision after several hours of deliberation on the charges against father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and neighbor William 'Roddie' Bryan. During the trial, prosecutors showed roughly two dozen text messages and social media posts in which Travis McMichael and Bryan used racist slurs and made derogatory comments about Black people. The FBI wasn't able to access Greg McMichael's phone because it was encrypted. The McMichaels grabbed guns and jumped in a pickup truck to pursue Arbery after seeing him running in their neighborhood outside the Georgia port city of Brunswick in February 2020. Bryan joined the pursuit in his own pickup and recorded cellphone video of Travis McMichael fatally shooting Arbery." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times report is here.
Kentucky. Joe Drape of the New York Times: "Medina Spirit is no longer the winner of the 2021 Kentucky Derby. The colt, who died unexpectedly in December, was officially disqualified by Kentucky racing officials on Monday for failing a drug test after winning the race.... The ruling also erased the Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert's seventh Kentucky Derby victory, which had been a record. In addition, Baffert was suspended for 90 days beginning March 8 and fined $7,500." (Also linked yesterday.)
Michigan/Wisconsin. Adam Zagoria of the New York Times: "After slapping an assistant coach for the Wisconsin men's basketball team in the head in the handshake line after his team's loss on Sunday, Michigan Coach Juwan Howard was suspended for five games -- the remainder of the regular season -- and fined $40,000, the Big Ten Conference announced on Monday. He will be eligible to return for the conference tournament. In a statement on Monday, Howard apologized for the first time. 'After taking time to reflect on all that happened, I realize how unacceptable both my actions and words were, and how they affected so many,' Howard said in the statement. 'I am truly sorry.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Minnesota. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "... jurors on Wednesday will begin deliberating whether any of the three officers [involved in the murder of George Floyd] -- Tou Thao, 36; J. Alexander Kueng, 28; and Thomas Lane, 38 -- are guilty of violating Mr. Floyd's civil rights."
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Reader Comments (18)
"War is Peace."
No, not Big Brother.
The Pretender, praising Putin.
@Ken Winkes: A lot like Trump's Twitter-clone site "Truth."
BTW, according to Drew Harwell's report, linked above, "Although Trump has criticized social networks’ 'wildly aggressive censorship,' his site’s 'terms of service' mark some extensive restrictions for acceptable speech.... Trump’s company ... also prohibits anyone from attempting to 'disparage, tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our opinion, us and/or the Site.' Truth Social has already banned an account named for a Twitter parody that targeted former congressman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), who resigned from Congress to become the Trump company’s CEO."
“The Biden administration on Tuesday said it found 'significant deficiencies' in a Trump-era environmental analysis…”
Aren’t “significant deficiencies” and “Trump analysis [of anything]” synonymous?
Just the name “Trump’s Truth” should alert the public to make sure to keep pockets zipped and wallets out of sight, not to mention causing gales of laughter. Trump Truth. Yeeeeah.
And, of course, like everything else Trumpy, it’s a clusterfuck, like you read about. Topping (Or rather bottoming) it off, the whole thing is run by mental midget Devin Nunes.
To paraphrase Churchill, it’s a boondoggle wrapped in incompetence, inside a con. Nunes’ cow could have done a better job. Like so many of Trump’s Big Ideas, it’s a bloated narcissistic wet dream unleashed without any hope of a competent outcome. Another giant FAIL. Even the little old lady selling homemade jams online knows enough to double and triple check her website (it’s called Beta Testing, you dumbasses) before going live.
But not Trump and his warped little bobble head doll, Nunes.
Even better, it’s a thing called “Truth”, touted as a free speech haven, with tons of restrictions on what you can say.
Perfect Trump. A pile of bullshit presented as a gold mine. C’mon down, all you Trump suckers!
Truth Social: Applications from fact checkers not accepted.
So we are now seeing–-hearing–--certain Americans lauding Putin and I'm wondering how we have come to this point. These "certain Americans" are those with voices that travel the airways–-unlike a bloke in a bar somewhere hoisting his mug of beer to celebrate Putin's brilliance. We seem to have come this far and I fear for this country more than before. This is dangerous stuff.
The above link to the Ginni/Clarence Thomas duo is an extremely long and insightful article and has some new material that Jane Mayer's piece did not. These two honeybuns have been on my radar for years and I am grateful to these reporters for finally spreading the stench. Are we going to see any red flags flying re: these two? Will Clarence finally recuse himself in future S.C. decisions or will John Roberts continue to ignore this outrage.
P.S. AK: did you get my comment to you yesterday?
And kudos to that milky white guy who shot his wad––-Rick Scott done give away the store–-and what's in store for the GOP after this is anybody's guess. Nothing like revealing how truly evil you really are.
Ambler Access Road: https://ambleraccess.org/. This is about opening the Serengeti of the North American arctic to extractive industries. Once access is built, the access will never be "regulated" or undone. "Mining road" my ass. This would be an overland expressway immediately. And the native peoples and cultures of Northwest Alaska will be closer to extinction just like caribou. This sort of Texas-ification and diminishment or cultural standards needs to stop.
Some thoughts:
-- How long will it take for RWNJ comments to start asking how Hunter Biden is involved in the US policy against Russian invasaion of Ukraine. President Biden is vassal to Ukraine because (bullshitbullshitbullshit ...)
-- In the case of the web designer who won't design wedding websites for LGBTQ weddings -- is it not true that if the designer told customers "Sorry, I'm busy" there would be no issue? But if the designer said "Sorry, no websites for LGBTQs" then there is a Suprement Court case? So, if the case goes to the SC, it is really about your right to identify yourself as an assh*le, not your right to manage your workload. Or am I wrong here?
Addendum to the First Amendment: "And, also too, f'rinstance, the gummint cannot make no law stopping you from showing the world that you are a butthead. Right?"
Though I'll express it differently, I'm with Patrick on the source of (if not RWNJ's) the Pretenders' Ukraine animus.
Despite immense pressure, they refused to go along with the Pretender's plan to kneecap the Biden candidacy.
The Pretender sees the Russian invasion as the punishment he would have liked to levy.
See? Foreign policy ain't all that complicated.
PD,
Haha. Yes, I did. Thank you. Tea is very much a part of Irish culture. We grew up with it. It wasn’t unusual, when we were kids, to find that relatives from the old country who had recently passed on, left little behind, but we would always find a tea pot somewhere, and cups set aside for company.
But it’s different here. I was always slightly miffed when going to various conferences or meetings held in big hotels, that plenty of coffee would be supplied, but one would have to make a special request for tea. Then, you’d be lucky to get some off brand tea bag that had been sitting on a shelf for seven years. And forget about milk. You’d be given this sorry tea bag with Luke warm water and a little container of freakin’ half and half. Half and half with tea? Criminal.
I once went on a date with a woman, a reporter for a local newspaper in a very blue color fishing community on the North Shore in Massachusetts (okay, it was Gloucester). Next morning we went to a local diner for breakfast. She was impressed that I ordered tea. “No guys around here would have the guts to order tea in this place”. They would if they were from Galway. Anyway, it wasn’t guts, it was upbringing. My only dalliance with coffee was for about a year when a media job required me to be out of the house by 3:30 am. It was okay, but coffee, being a primary GI catalyst, didn’t sit with me as well as tea.
Visits to Ireland to see the relatives were incomplete without coming home with several months’ worth of Barry’s or Lyon’s tea, although this Christmas, my wife surprised me by ordering Barry’s on Amazon, a cup of which I had this very morning.
The Irish drink more tea than any other nation besides Turkey. And we drink it at all hours, weirdly enough, although that can get out of hand. In grad school, while writing papers, I would sit down at the typewriter (my old portable Royal electric) at 8 in the morning and work straight through to about 2:00 the next morning, going through about 10 cups of tea in that time. After a few days I couldn’t fall asleep for a pot of gold, when it struck me that perhaps five or six cups would be adequate.
So, not sure if tea increases my prolixity, but it provides a nice warm start to the day, and connects me to a long, and leafy past.
The point of civil rights law is to provide equal service to people who for one reason or the other belong to "covered groups." But it seems to me that it's lawful for a business to "discriminate" against people who ask me to do legal things with which I disagree. For instance, if I had a T-shirt printing company, I would turn down jobs in which I was asked to print Trump shirts or Give-a-Gun-for-Christmas shirts.
But if I wanted to discriminated against a covered group, it seems to me a better tack than putting up a "No Women" sign, would be to just take the business and do a crappy-assed job. For instance, if I were a Web designer like the 303 Creative lady, I'd design a site like "Trump's Truth" that would crash and crash and crash & had a logo I ripped off of another company.
Oh my, Ak, loved the TEA testimony. My friend, the one who got mugged, was reared in Britain, is Jewish but in her family tea was drunk just like yours. She, too, is averse to coffee and drinks tea all day long.
My Irish father wouldn't touch tea but then he had a penchant for the "hard stuff" and in later years it became a problem. One time, after he had died, I asked my mother why she never addressed his alcoholism; "Oh my no," she said, Daddy was NOT an alcoholic–-he just had a drinking problem later in life."
Tea for thee and blessed are we.
Tea.
In the early 80's we lived in Sri Lanka for a few years, and made friends with a family that ran a tea plantation near Bandarawela. Very old fashioned, set in hill-country paradise. (The husband, Sinhala Buddhist, said he had already reached nibbana; the Sinhala Catholic wife said it was more like Eden.) Our friend showed me the processing plants, which are like multi-level air-slat barns with mesh drying racks. At different levels, the tea leaves have reached different levels of moisture, and as the racks are moved up the tea is dryer. The bottom levels have green tea, the top the blackest. He explained to me how the leaves are sorted, tested, broken and boxed (tin-lined local wood cubes about 2ft/side if I recall, marked "Ceylon" and with the Sinhala Lion stencilled).
On each floor, there was leaf dust and twigs that had fallen through the mesh. I asked him how much loss there was to that, and he said "None. Those sweepings go to Lipton's for tea bags."
True story. Buy loose tea.
@Patrick: I find that very believable. My husband and I noticed when we were in England, the tea tasted a lot better. We couldn't figure it out because it seemed the tea was the same brands I usually bought at home. It wasn't till about ten years later than I realized I was buying mostly Lipton tea bags because they were a teeny bit cheaper than Tetley's. When I switched to Tetley's, the tea tasted just as it did in England. A-mazing. I guess Tetley doesn't use so many sweepings in its teabags. I've never bought Lipton again.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/02/23/usps-trucks-epa-climate-change/?
De Misery has gotta go-now!
For once I'm here on the right date, and I can't resist commenting. First, a thank-you to Akhilleus for the lovely discourse on tea. We all certainly need a tea break from the dreadful barrage of bad news we're subjected to these days. So I hope you all will allow me a small contribution to the thread.
My Very Best Friend Ever (the longhand version of BFF) is Irish, and a resolute coffee drinker. His wife (VBFE#2) is Chinese, but tends toward the green stuff.
I am Welsh, and relish both coffee and tea. As it happens, one of my two most cherished possessions is a tea set I was given at my christening by my godparents. They were an older couple, and the husband worked as a chef for my parents at the Brown Jug in Ann Arbor. The tea set is mother of pearl with 24 carat gold trim and comprises a teapot, creamer and sugar bowl with lid . It currently resides on the open shelf in my china cabinet and will of course pass to my dear friend, who will probably put it to better use than I have.
My other most cherished possession is a spinning chair, but I'll spare y'all the details on that one.
To keep this relevant to the news of the day, I'm wondering whether, since the SCOTUS is likely to rule in favor of discrimination, it wouldn't be possible for someone both technically savvy and brilliantly creative to found a business relating to weddings specifically for LGBTQ couples. Perhaps they could create a religion that sees MF unions as merely copulatory and not "spiritual" -- or some other nonsense -- so they could claim their right to discriminate based on religion. Just sayin'.
Also, Marie: I love the way your mind works.
Here's a Genius idea, we declare Mar-a-lago to be public land and give two weeks eviction notice to any residents living there. I'm sure Vlad would approve.
We can turn it into a first stop home for Afghani refugees or a homeless shelter or a home for kids orphaned during the Trump administration.
And think of all the money we would save on Secret Service costs.
What gives with the resignations of two prosecutors in the New York Trump probe?
Just reading this in the Washington Times and it does not look good for continuing the process.